An American soldier died and four others sustained injuries during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. officials confirmed. In a Tuesday statement, the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission reported that combat took place in the Achin district of Nangarhar province on Jan. 1. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said the U.S. Army identified the deceased soldier as Sgt. 1st Class Mihail Golin from Fort Lee, N.J. Two wounded service members are receiving treatment at a nearby medical facility while two others returned to duty, the statement said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited troops Thursday at the American Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It was the first trip there by a secretary of defense in almost 16 years. Mattis met with troops but did not tour the detention center, which still houses 41 inmates despite former President Barack Obama’s attempts to empty and close it. During his tenure, President Donald Trump hasn’t released any Guantanamo prisoners nor added any to the list of men who have been officially cleared to go home or to a third country for resettlement.

WASHINGTON—A federal judge ruled Monday that the Pentagon must permit transgender Americans to enlist in the military on Jan. 1, despite President Donald Trump’s disapproval. In July, Trump announced on Twitter the military would no longer allow transgender troops to serve, calling the issue a distraction and a burden on the U.S. military. Court challenges quickly followed, and two U.S. District Court judges ruled against the ban. The Trump administration appealed, and on Monday Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S.

The U.S. Navy on Friday ended the search for three sailors missing since Wednesday, when a transport plane crashed in the Philippine Sea. Rescue crews plucked eight people from the water shortly after the C-2A “Greyhound” went down on its way to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Officials are still investigating the cause of the crash and have not identified the missing sailors. The plane was carrying passengers and cargo from Japan to the Ronald Reagan as part of a joint exercise with the Japanese navy. This is the third fatal accident for the U.S.

The U.S. Navy said it had recovered eight of 11 passengers aboard a Navy transport plane that crashed into the western Pacific Ocean on Wednesday afternoon. The Navy in a tweet said the eight rescued people, who are in good condition, are on board the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier as the search for the three others missing continues. The C-2 twin-propeller plane was bringing passengers and cargo from Japan to the USS Ronald Reagan, operating in the Philippine Sea during a joint U.S.-Japan naval exercise.

A military judge decided Bowe Bergdahl should serve no prison time for abandoning his post in Afghanistan, which led to his capture by the Taliban. The judge gave Bergdahl a dishonorable discharge, reduced his rank to private, and ordered him to forfeit pay equal to $1,000 per month for 10 months. Bergdahl pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy and faced up to life in prison. Prosecutors sought stiff punishment because some service members were wounded in the search for Bergdahl after he disappeared in 2009.

WASHINGTON—Top Trump administration officials warned lawmakers Monday night against repealing the longstanding use of military force authorizations. There is growing bipartisan momentum to strike down the measures passed by Congress in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and in 2002 before the start of the Iraq War. Lawmakers want to replace those with a new authorization specifically targeting terror groups. But Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the old authorizations still hold merit.