THE HILL REPORTS:The Hill Defense
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THE TOPLINE: The U.S. on Tuesday saw its third service member — a Navy SEAL — killed by enemy fire in the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

ISIS fighters penetrated the Kurdish peshmerga forces’ front lines in Iraq, according to a U.S. military official. The service member was three to five kilometers behind the front lines but killed by “direct fire,” the official said.

The Navy SEAL was identified by the Associated Press as Charlie Keating IV. Keating’s grandfather was Charles Keating, Jr., who was involved in the savings and loan scandal of the late eighties, early nineties.

Defense officials and a military trainer who witnessed the fighting told Fox News that the firefight was “extremely heavy, extremely intense,” and that the SEAL was killed by small arms fire.

“The Peshmerga were trying to hold the line, but Navy SEALS – at least 20 – came in and pounded the s— out of ISIS,” military trainer Matthew VanDyke told Fox News. He added that “scores” of militants died.

“ISIS kept sending in suicide bombers, SEALs pounded them and the [U.S.] airstrikes did a lot to help. Bullets flying everywhere, machine gun fire from ISIS, really intense firefight,” VanDyke said.

This is the third U.S. combat death in Iraq in recent months, following the deaths of U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin in northern Iraq, after ISIS attacked his unit with rocket fire, and of U.S. Army Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler in October during a raid to rescue hostages held by ISIS.

For the Fox News interview with witnesses, click here.

For our report, click here.
BUT WAS IT ‘COMBAT’? The White House on Tuesday said the death of a U.S. Navy SEAL in Iraq shows that U.S. troops are “doing dangerous work” while advising the mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but did not use the word “combat.”

“I think what is true is that Iraq and Syria are dangerous places and our men and women in uniform, who are engaged in a mission to offer training, advice and assistance to Iraqi forces that are fighting for their own country, are doing dangerous work,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a press briefing.

The remarks came in response to a question on whether U.S. troops are moving “closer to combat and danger” than they were at the beginning of the U.S. campaign against ISIS.

Read more here.
DEFENDING NATO: Defense Secretary Ash Carter and the outgoing U.S. commander in Europe defended the necessity of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Tuesday.

“For nearly seven decades, the guarantor of prosperity and stability on this continent has been the NATO alliance,” Carter said Tuesday in Germany. “For generations, our member nations have stood for enduring principles, including the peaceful resolution of disputes, non-aggression and the spread of freedom and democracy.”

Carter was speaking at the change of command ceremony for the commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO. Gen. Philip Breedlove has served in those roles since May 2013 and was replaced Tuesday by Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti.

The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel has more here.
OBAMA SPEEDS UP GITMO REVIEW BOARDS: The Obama administration has quietly been speeding up the pace of review boards for Guantánamo Bay detainees in an attempt to whittle down the number of prisoners.

Since mid-April, the Pentagon has scheduled about two review boards per week through the end of May, up from about two to three per month earlier this year.

So far, the number of review boards scheduled and conducted for 2016 is 21, almost double the 12 conducted in 2015. Two more reviews are planned but don’t have dates scheduled.

“All initial hearings are planned to be completed by the end of the fall,” said Navy Cmdr. Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman.

The Hill’s Kristina Wong has more here.
TROOPS QUESTION ISIS MEDAL RULES: Some troops deployed to support the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are questioning the Pentagon’s decision to limit a new campaign medal to those who are physically serving in Iraq and Syria.

Hundreds of troops have been deployed just outside of Iraq and Syria to assist the military campaign against ISIS, stationed in places like Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

While all of those troops are part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the Pentagon says only troops who serve in, fly over or sail within waters contiguous to Iraq and Syria will be eligible for the campaign medal.

A service member confronted Defense Secretary Ash Carter about that decision last month during Carter’s visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Read more here.
ON TAP FOR TOMORROW:

Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, talks about the future of war at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at 11 a.m.
ICYMI:

— The Hill: Trump: Israel should keep building West Bank settlements

— The Hill: Kerry hopes to salvage frayed Syrian peace

— The Hill: Senate Dems worried US-backed Syrian groups fighting each other

— The Hill: Snowden cheers increasing pace of government leaks

— Marine Corps Times: Fighter squadrons don’t have enough working aircraft

— WaPo: Israeli who burned Palestinian teen alive is sentenced to life in prison

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