Overnight Defense: North Korea fires missile | ACLU seeks immediate halt to transgender ban | American ISIS fighter captured | Senate sets hearing on Navy collisions

THE TOPLINE: North Korea has fired an “unidentified” missile eastward from Pyongyang, South Korea’s military said Friday, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

“North Korea fired an unidentified missile eastward from the vicinity of Pyongyang this morning,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement reported by Yonhap.

The statement added that the U.S. and South Korea are analyzing the launch.

Japan’s NHK broadcaster reported the missile flew over northern Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean. It’d be the second such launch in the past few weeks after North Korea fired a missile over northern Japan in late August.

Japan and South Korea were both reportedly holding emergency national security council meetings on Friday.

North Korea’s reported missile launch Friday came hours after Trump reassured Americans that they are “very safe” despite the country’s advancing nuclear program.

“I think a lot of effort is going to be put into this,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while returning from a trip to Florida to survey damage from Hurricane Irma.

Read more here.

ACLU SEEKS IMMEDIATE HALT TO TRANSGENDER BAN: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is asking a court to immediately halt President Trump’s ban on transgender troops.

On Thursday, the group filed a motion in its lawsuit against the ban asking for a preliminary injunction while the case works its way through the court.

“Men and women who are transgender should be allowed to serve their country rather than being exposed to this level of uncertainty and harm,” Josh Block, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, said in a statement. “We’re confident that the courts will eventually strike down this unconstitutional ban. So we’re demanding a court order to prevent this shameful policy from ever being implemented.”

Read more here.

AMERICAN ISIS FIGHTER CAPTURED IN SYRIA: The U.S. military has detained an American captured in Syria fighting for ISIS, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed Thursday.

“Syrian Democratic Forces turned over to U.S. forces an American citizen who surrendered to SDF on or around Sept. 12,” Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway said in a statement. “The U.S. citizen is being legally detained by Department of Defense personnel as a known enemy combatant.”

The Pentagon’s confirmation comes after The Daily Beast first reported the capture earlier Thursday.

The SDF is a mostly Kurdish force that has been fighting to rout the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from its former de facto capital of Raqqa, as well as in the Middle Euphrates River Valley north of Deir el-Zour, where ISIS leadership is believed to have fled before the Raqqa battle.

Read the rest here.

NAVY OFFICIALS TO TESTIFY ON SHIP COLLISIONS: The Navy’s top officer and civilian will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the recent spate of ship collisions that killed 17 sailors, the committee announced Thursday.

Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson will be joined by John Pendleton of the Government Accountability Office at the hearing, slated for Tuesday.

In June, the USS Fitzgerald destroyer collided with a Philippines-flagged container ship southwest of Japan, killing seven sailors.

About two months later, the USS John S. McCain guided-missile destroyer collided with a Liberian-flagged oil tanker east of the straits of Malacca and Singapore, killing 10 sailors.

Read more here.

FORT BRAGG TRAINING ACCIDENT: Eight special operations soldiers were injured during training at Fort Bragg, N.C., the Army said Thursday.

U.S. Army Special Operations Command said the soldiers were injured during a “demolitions training incident” at the command’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

The injured soldiers were transported by air and ground to multiple hospitals, the command said.

“The command is investigating the events leading up to the incident and is caring for its soldiers and their families,” it said.

Read the rest here.

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW:

The Pentagon will hold a POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony at 10 a.m. Watch live at defense.gov/live.

ICYMI:

— The Hill: Senate defense bill at standstill over amendment fight

— The Hill: Trump on North Korea threat: ‘People in this country will be very, very safe’

— Associated Press: Mattis’ message: US not intimidated by North Korea

— Washington Post: Pentagon removes chief of Armed Forces Retirement Home agency

— Associated Press: US extends Iran sanctions relief while bemoaning behavior

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