News of the Force: Thursday, February 23, 2017 - Page 1

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Thursday, February 23, 2017 - Today is Red Army Day

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China supporting Taliban terrorists

    

    China started secret negotiations with Taliban terrorists at least as early as late 2014, and last week diplomatically supported the Taliban, along with its allies, Pakistan, Iran and Russia.

    Meanwhile, U.S. officials accusing China of intending to deploy long-range surface-to-air missiles on its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea.

 

Pakistan's army launches nationwide anti-terror operation

    Pakistan has launched its first-ever nationwide military operation "to eradicate the threat of terrorism," in response to a recent surge in suicide bombings and militant attacks that have killed scores of people in the country.

 

Somalia's new leader inaugurated

    

    Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed spoke at his inauguration ceremony in Mogadishu, Somalia, yesterday.

 

Brazil's foreign minister resigns

    Brazil's foreign minister has resigned from his post, citing health problems and upcoming medical treatments as the main reasons.

 

Ukraine to restore its air defense systems

    

    Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has said that the restoration of the Ukrainian air defense system in 2017 will become a vital priority for the country. He added that Ukraine will spend $333 million on arms procurement this year.

 

More tests needed on Russian U.N. ambassador's cause of death

    

    New York City medical examiners who performed an autopsy on Russia's ambassador to the United Nations have said that more tests are needed to determine how and why he fell ill in his office and later died.

 

U.K.'s MOD signs contract to upgrade the RAF's long-range missiles

    

    The U.K.'s Minister for Defense Procurement, Harriett Baldwin, has announced a £146 million contract with the MBDA to regenerate the Royal Air Force's air-launched missile.

 

UAE signs $700 million anti-tank missile contract with Russia

    Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a contract on delivering anti-tank missiles for the UAE's army.

 

Tough fight ahead in the battle for Mosul

     

    This past weekend, Iraqi military forces began the assault to retake the western half of Mosul from ISIS in what is expected to be a tough fight.

    And U.S. and Coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes consisting of 62 engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government: Near Beiji, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed a tactical vehicle and a heavy machine gun; and suppressed a mortar team; Near Mosul, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units, destroyed three mortar systems, two ISIS-held buildings, two vehicle-bomb factories, a supply cache, a fighting position, a front-end loader, an excavator, a dump truck, a generator trailer, a weapons cache and a vehicle, damaged 15 supply routes and three tunnels and suppressed 17 mortar teams and an artillery team; Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed a weapons cache; Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three ISIS-held building and a vehicle; and near Tal Afar, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and an ISIS staging area and destroyed two weapons caches, a vehicle-borne bomb, a front-end loader, an improvised-bomb factory and an ISIS-held building.

 

Canada will continue to take asylum-seekers from the U.S., Trudeau says

    

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will continue to take in asylum- seekers from the United States, while promising additional steps to ensure the safety of Canadians.

 

Malaysia seeks investigative help from Interpol

    

    Malaysia is seeking the help of Interpol to trace suspects in the investigation into the killing of Kim Jong Nam, Kim Jong Un's half brother, in Kuala Lumpur.

    Diplomatic relations between Malaysia and North Korea are getting more strained by the day, in the wake of the brazen public murder.

 

Le Pen refuses head scarf

    

    An aide of Lebanon's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian gave a head scarf to French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen to wear during her meeting with the Mufti, but she refused it and nixed the meeting.

    Meanwhile, under French military supervision, four golden eagle chicks hatched last year atop drones - born into a world of terror and machines they would be bred to destroy.

 

Mexico 'bristles' at President Trump's new immigration rules

    

    Mexico reacted with anger yesterday to what one official called "hostile" new U.S. immigration guidelines just hours before senior Trump administration envoys began arriving in Mexico City for talks on the volatile issue. Mexico is pushing back against the Trump administration's new immigration directives that could have dramatic implications for the United States' southern neighbor, as top U.S. officials came to visit the country.

    Meanwhile, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan will take his first tour of the U.S. southern border today, kicking off in earnest House Republicans' bid to fund Donald Trump's wall with Mexico and potentially even change laws governing the arrival of undocumented immigrants.

 

Bodies of 74 migrants headed for Europe wash up on Libya's coast

    

    At least 74 bodies of African migrants have washed ashore in western Libya, the Libyan Red Crescent says, the latest tragedy at sea along a perilous but increasingly popular trafficking route to Europe.

 

Tehran wraps up military drills

    

    Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) wrapped up its military drills yesterday by launching precision-guided projectiles and heavy artillery fire in the northeastern part of the country, according to reports.

 

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Fifty-six terrorists killed, two more al-Bab districts liberated

By Lisa Levine, News of the Force Tel Aviv

    

    Fifty-six Daesh terrorists have been killed by airstrikes and shelling in northern Syria's al-Bab over the last 24 hours, as part of Turkey's "Operation Euphrates Shield," which is in its final stage to clear terrorists from the town, Turkey's military said today.

    Meanwhile, a ban on female army officers in Turkey wearing the Muslim headscarfs has been lifted by the government. The military is the last Turkish institution to see the ban removed.

    The Syrian opposition called yesterday for face-to-face talks with the government's delegation, saying it was hoping for a "serious partner" in negotiations starting in Geneva today while casting doubt on Damascus' readiness.

    The U.N.'s chief mediator for the intra-Syrian talks says he does not see any imminent breakthrough on the horizon.

    Iran has sent its military students to the front in Syria.

    U.S. Sen. John McCain made a trip to Syria last week, his office confirmed yesterday. Julie Tarallo, a spokeswoman for McCain, said he made the official but unannounced visit to northern Syria as the campaign to take ISIS' de facto capital continues.

    Coalition military forces conducted 24 strikes consisting of 32 engagements against ISIS targets in Syria yesterday: Near Abu Kamal, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four oil refinement stills and a vehicle. Near Bab, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle-borne bomb. Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed seven oil separation tanks, and oil wellhead, an oil tanker truck and an oil inlet manifold. Near Palmyra, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed four tactical vehicles. Near Raqqa, seven strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and an ISIS staging area and destroyed three pump jacks, a command-and-control node, a fighting position and a tactical unit. Near Shadaddi, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed four fighting positions and an ISIS headquarters. Near Tamakh, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tactical vehicle. And near Tanf, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two tactical vehicles.    

    Israel has appointed four new Supreme Court judges, tilting the court to the right. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked praised the moves: "Today we made history. This evening's judicial appointments reflect the human and legal diversity so needed in our society, and which until now has been so lacking on our highest court."

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed the demand by two former Australian prime ministers that their nation recognize the "Palestinian state."

    The "mainstream" media is grossly misrepresenting Israel's "Regulation Law" as a "land grab," when it actually helps the Palestinians.

    And the nation's first responders medevaced a Palestinian boy who was electrocuted, saving the boy's life.

 

'Every person deserves to rest in peace,' Muslim groups say

    After the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis, Mo., over the long holiday weekend, an incident in which more than 150 headstones were toppled or damaged, two American Muslim activist groups have started a fundraiser to help pay for needed repairs.

    Even from the air it looks chaotic, like someone has angrily scattered previously tidy rows of toy blocks. A view from the ground shows a more somber reality - scores of granite and marble tombstones, toppled and damaged in the historic Jewish cemetery.

    Vice President Mike Pence and Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens yesterday added their voices - and cleanup skills - to those condemning the vandalizing of the Jewish cemetery in a St. Louis suburb.

 

Passenger kicked off flight to Houston for 'racist' remarks

    A man was taken off a United flight headed to Houston, Texas, after making "racist" remarks towards passengers on Saturday.

 

A rescue in Central Park

    

    A group of seven children and teenagers were rescued from a Central Park pond in New York City on Monday night after the ice beneath them cracked and they plunged into the freezing water. The teens fell through the frozen Central Park pond while taking selfies. Two male models at a nearby photo shoot jumped into the freezing pond and rescued them.

 

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    Couzin Gym's Thought for the Day: Men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all the other alternatives.

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U.S. Air Force

    

    Readiness is central to the military services, and the biggest challenge for the U.S. Air Force lies in its growth as its smallest-ever force takes on growing missions, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein said today.

    Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., the general said that, at 660,000 active-duty personnel, today’s Air Force is "the smallest we’ve ever been." Goldfein said the Air Force has "serious challenges" in terms of its readiness. "For an air component, there are five things that go into building readiness," the general said. "You’ve got to have trained people, a weapons system sustainment program and a program that pays for the actual flying." Once airborne, there must be places to train and the time to train, he added. The general said that for him and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, people are the No. 1 readiness priority. "There’s talk of going to a year-long continuing resolution," Goldfein said of the Defense Department budget. "That’s $1.3 billion. I’m not going to be able to hire the people I need to get those aircraft airborne or get the pilots to fly those missions. I’m not going to be able to get aircraft in a depot; the lines are going to stop. The civilian hiring freeze will continue for the remainder of the year. I’m not going to have the flying hours to get those things airborne, I’m not going to be able to invest in the training and I’m not going to have any relief on the time." The demands on the Air Force have been consistent for the last 15 years in four key areas, he said: space; cyber; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and nuclear enterprise. With mandatory budget cuts across the Defense Department, the Air Force, for example, has had to make reductions in its personnel, infrastructure and conventional airpower capacity, the general said. "You could explain those cuts in 2013, but when Russia became active in 2014 and invaded another country, and when China got active and started militarizing islands in the South China Sea, when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria came back, the world changed," Goldfein said, "and the path the Air Force was on didn't make sense anymore. So, right now, we’ve got to get balance back. And for me, the No.1 thing we’ve got to get after is people. I’ve got to get the formations built back up for the many missions we’ve been given," he said. Goldfein outlined what he sees when he looks at long-term readiness and future conflict. "I think future conflict victory will go to that individual who can turn data to decision, command and control his or her forces in a way that you can produce multiple dilemmas from multiple domains and multiple components, at a rate and decision speed that overwhelms the adversary, while denying him the ability to do the same," he said. What the Air Force needs for the future is to "get the network piece right, which is how we tied together all the domains and components and weapons systems with apps riding on the network to get to decision speed," the general said, adding, "That’s a major effort we as an Air Force are focused on as we think toward where we are going in the future." Industry plays a vital role in the U.S. military’s future, he noted. "I’m in continual dialogue with chief executive officers of all the major corporations and I describe this as one of the problems I need their help solving," Goldfein said. "I think industry is going to help solve this one and get it right."

    The Air Force is expanding development opportunities for the civilian workforce by offering them 2-year associate degree programs at little or no cost.

    The U.S. Air Force says can't account for $1 billion in savings that President Donald Trump said he's negotiated for the program to develop and purchase a new Air Force One.

    As the military service responsible for leadership of space, the Air Force is focused intensely on making sure that if and when conflict comes, they're ready to fight it in space.

    Senior Hayden Graham had a historic night to lead Air Force past UNLV, 81-58 last night in a Mountain West game at the Clune Arena.

    The Air Force Chaplain Corps College officially returns to Maxwell AFB, Ala., on April 1st.

    The U.S. Air Force and the Royal Air Force have worked together to save a crew stranded on a yacht.

    A redesign of the Airforce.com platform redefines the modern career searching process.

    Brig. Gen. Christopher P. Azzano, commander, 96th Test Wing, Air Force Materiel Command, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is being reassigned to director, air, space and cyberspace operations, Headquarters, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

    Brig. Gen. Russell L. Mack, director of plans, programs, and requirements, Headquarters, Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., is being reassigned to vice commander, Headquarters, Pacific Air Forces, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

    Brig. Gen. Ricky N. Rupp, senior defense official and defense attache, U.S. Embassy, Tel Aviv, Israel, is being reassigned to director of operations and plans, Headquarters, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

    Members of the Vermont Air National Guard returned home from fighting ISIS yesterday at the Vermont Air National Guard base in South Burlington.

    The members of a North Carolina Air National Guard unit are being deployed to Afghanistan. More than 100 airmen will be leaving the North Carolina National Guard Base over the next three days.

    In Syracuse, N.Y., an underage girl who was coerced into sex by an Air Force colonel is now suing the perpetrator for "grooming" and "brainwashing" her. Col. Andrew Green, 50, of Jamesville, N.Y., pleaded guilty in state court to third-degree rape last October and was sentenced last month to 6 months in jail and a decade on probation for having sex with the 15-year-old victim in 2015. Green admitted to a felony because the girl was under the age of consent. At sentencing, the girl described being so distraught over the encounter that she nearly drowned after drinking herself into a stupor. Green was reassigned from his post at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, N.Y., and later retired. The lawsuit accuses Green of grooming the victim: "Defendant intentionally began to ‘groom’ the victim by spending a lot of individual time alone with her, speaking with her about various issues and generally gaining her trust from his position as an authority figure in the community," the girl's attorney said. After that, he had sex with her at least twice, the lawsuit states. Green had been charged with three counts of rape, but admitted to only one as part of his plea deal. The lawsuit also accuses Green of brainwashing: using manipulation to convince the victim it was OK to have sex with him. "The ordeal will force the victim to undergo years of counseling and medical treatments," the lawsuit states.

    The North Dakota National Guard says it cost them nearly $9 million to protect the Dakota Access Pipeline with 1,272 soldiers from the Army National Guard and 149 airmen from the Air National Guard deployed there.

    And the 2017 Air Force Association (AFA) Aerospace Awards for the Air Force Reserve Command were just announced, and its 926th Operations Group swept up half of them.

 

Homeland insecurity

    

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued immigration memos to its employees. The memos instruct all agents - including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) - to identify, arrest and deport illegal aliens.

    The Department of Homeland Security wants to hire thousands more immigration and border security agents to help implement the administration's immigration enforcement plans. The department wants 15,000 more officers and an end to the "catch and release" policy.

    U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said yesterday on a visit to Guatemala that there won't be mass deportations by the U.S.

    And the Trump administration says all deportees will be returned to their "country of origin," regardless of where they actually came from.

 

DOD announces launch of 'Code.mil'

    

    The Department of Defense (DOD) has announced the launch of Code.mil, an open source initiative that allows software developers around the world to collaborate on unclassified code written by federal employees in support of DOD projects.

    The DOD is working with GitHub, an open source platform, to experiment with fostering more collaboration between private sector software developers and federal employees on software projects built within the DOD. The Code.mil URL redirects users to an online repository that will house code written for a range of projects across the DOD for individuals to review and make suggested changes. This is a direct avenue for the department to tap into a worldwide community of developers to collectively speed up and strengthen the software development process. In exchange, the DOD program code hosted on GitHub will be open and available for individuals to reuse and repurpose for personal and public projects.

    Open source and free software (which refers to software freedom, not free of cost) are industry best practices and integral parts of modern software development. They, however, are concepts yet to be widely adopted within the department. With Code.mil, the DOD can access a depth and breadth of technical skill previously underutilized while offering software tools created by the government for free public use.

    Another objective for Code.mil is to create a network of peers between the federal government and the developer community to encourage participation, share knowledge, and make connections in support of DOD programs that ultimately service our national security.

    The Defense Digital Service (DDS) spearheads the Code.mil initiative. The DDS was established in 2015 to bring private sector best practices, talent, and technology into the department. The DDS is a team of self-described nerds who come in on short stints from companies such as Google, Amazon, and Netflix to work on problems impacting the DOD. Current projects include "Hack the Pentagon," Next Generation GPS (OCX) and Defense Travel System modernization.

    The DOD faces unique challenges in open sourcing its code. Code written by federal government employees typically does not have copyright protections under U.S. and some international laws, which creates difficulties in attaching open source licenses. Code.mil is experimenting with a legal pathway of using contract law in the Defense Open Source Agreement to add commonly used licenses to DOD software projects. The DDS consulted with the Open Source Initiative and Free Software Foundation on devising a comprehensive approach to both open and free software. We want to better incorporate the norms of the open source and free software communities into the department,” said Sharon Woods, the DDS' legal counsel. "We hope this agreement will serve as a bridge so we can use widely adopted open source licenses even without U.S. copyright protections."

    In true open source fashion, the DDS is hosting an open call to developers, lawyers, and other members of the open source and free software communities across the government and private industry to comment and review a draft open source agreement that is currently available on Code.mil. The agreement will outline the terms of use and participation, and will be finalized by the end of March. The draft can be found at: https://github.com/deptofdefense/code.mil/blob/master/LICENSE-agreement.md.

    The DDS will be the first to host project code written by their team of developers on Code.mil upon finalization of the open source agreement.

 

More than 200 Inauguration Day protesters indicted on rioting charges
By Katherine Rodriguez, Breitbart.com

    

    A total of 214 people involved in protests on Inauguration Day in downtown Washington, D.C., have been indicted on felony rioting charges.

    A grand jury in the D.C. charged five individuals on Tuesday with felony rioting in addition to the 209 other defendants indicted on felony rioting charges earlier in February, CNN reported. The penalty for felony rioting carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

    The protests took place in a four-block stretch around downtown Washington while President Trump was being sworn in. Protesters burned waste canisters, threw the embers at police, and broke the windows of businesses downtown.

    Police used pepper spray and "sting balls" against the crowd. Six police officers suffered minor injuries due to the protests, with three of the officers hit in the head with flying objects, WUSA reports.

    The indictment accuses the defendants of concealing their identities with dark clothing and accessories through a tactic called "Black Bloc."

    The D.C. Police said the several hundred violent protesters were out-numbered by the non-violent protesters in town for the inauguration.

 

U.S. Coast Guard

    

    U.S. Coast Guard crews in San Diego, Calif., have launched a search for a possible missing boater whose vessel was found near Mission Bay.

    After a two-day Coast Guard search, a missing U.S. Army veteran has been found safe in a San Diego hospital.

    The U.S. Coast Guard has upgraded its helicopter fleet service Lake Superior.

    The city of Sarasota, Fla., has approved the operation of a ferry service from the city's beachfront to Bradenton Beach. The operation does not yet have a formal embarkation point, but is eyeing the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary location next to the Van Wezel Auditorium as a possible basing point.

    The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded five fixed-price contracts for the design and building of new polar icebreakers. Icebreakers are a "national security asset," the Coast Guard says.

    The U.S. Navy's NAVAIR College of Program Management (CPM) recently developed and delivered essential acquisition training to the U.S. Coast Guard's acquisition force.

    The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries and APSO deputies have searched the Red and Atchafalaya waterways for a missing fisherman, without success.

    Under Title 14, Sec. 634(b), of the U.S. Code, "Commissioned officers in the U.S. Coast Guard may be appointed as United States Deputy Marshals in Alaska."

    Feedback from the public about the remote operation of the drawbridges spanning Sturgeon Bay, Wis., is being sought by the U.S. Coast Guard.

    U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 59, in Stuart, Fla., is marking 75 years of service to the boating community.

    And in Dunedin, Fla., the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's next "Boating Skills & Seamanship" course will be taught in five two-hour sessions scheduled for next month.

 

U.S. Army

    

    A Japanese court today awarded record compensation for thousands of residents of Japan over noise emanating from a U.S. Army base.

    Nearly a dozen members of Congress are urging the U.S. Army not to issue an exclusive license to Sanofi Pasteur to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus.

    In North Dakota, the Morton County Sheriff's Office has promised to enforce the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' threat of issuing citations to the Dakota Access pipeline protesters who set fire to their camp as the Army moved in.

    The Army's Watervliet Arsenal announced this week that it has secured a $4.6 million contract to produce mortar systems for the Australian army.

    The most recent Regular Army Call to Active Duty program is expanded for Army National Guard and Army Reserve commissioned officers and warrant officers this year.

    By October 1st of this year, the United States Army hopes to add 6,000 active duty troops. U.S. Army leaders recently announced the need for 6,000 additional active duty recruits and 1,500 additional Army Reserve recruits by the end of September. 

    Service King Collision Repair Centers recently welcomed members of the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Army's Soldier For Life Program.

    President Trump's federal hiring freeze is forcing at least two U.S. Army bases to indefinitely suspend pre-kindergarten and other programs for the young children of service members.

    Military Police officers protect the lives and property on Army installations by enforcing military laws and regulations. They also control traffic, prevent crime and arrest offenders.

    A special guest came out to lead Miami Beach, Fla.'s fire department recruits in the Pledge of Allegiance, Chief Warrant Officer Ivan Chavez, of the U.S. Army Reserve. Chief Chavez is the father of one of the new firefighters.

    Two South Shore residents are among the newest batch of recruits to complete their basic training and join the New York Army National Guard.

    And the Wyoming Army National Guard has dedicated a memorial to its fallen soldiers.

 

News from the U.S. Marshals Service

    

    The U.S. Marshals with the assistance of the Government of Mexico, were able to locate and arrest Alfredo Lomeli-Garcia last week. He was wanted in Sparks, Nev., for a rape and armed robbery which occurred in 2011.

    The U.S. Marshals say Jermaine Robinson was caught thanks to a viewer tip after his profile ran on the Detroit's Most Wanted television series.

    The owner of a popular Miami, Fla., gym has been arrested, along with ten other people, on illegal steroid charges. During the initial raid by the DEA and U.S. Marshals, the man was reportedly found at Miami International Airport. ready to board a flight.

    The U.S. Marshals have arrested the suspect in a shooting at the American Legion post in Wheeling, W. Va.

    And an Albuquerque, N.M., man has been arrested by the U.S. Marshals. He's charged with punching a K-9 officer while fleeing from the Albuquerque Police.

 

UFO news

    

    A UFO hunter claims to have filmed activity at a top-secret U.S. Air Force base for the last three years, and claims spacecraft are regularly flying in and out of the base.

    And the International Space Station's UFO video is fast becoming a most-searched-for phrase on the Internet's search engines, and this is because of the news of six UFO's appearing on the ISS' live video feed.

 

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