Thursday, September 7,
2017
Today is National Threatened Species
Day in Australia
NOAA news
For more than a day, monstrous Hurricane
Irma has sustained Category 5 winds of 185 miles per hour while ripping through
the northern Lesser Antilles and the Virgin Islands. As of 5 p.m.,
ET, yesterday, Hurricane Irma remained a potentially catastrophic Category
5 storm moving west-northwest at 16 mph toward South Florida. No evacuation
orders will be issued in Miami-Dade County, Fla., yet, Mayor Carlos Gimenez
said yesterday. And a rumor that scientists would create a new hurricane
category for Irma led people to believe that the storm had already
received a Category 6 designation, but there is no such thing.
Princess Julianna Airport on the island
of St. Martin has been "severely damaged" by Hurricane Irma, according to Air
France.
For the most complete coverage as of
this morning on Hurricane Irma, visit:
Three teams of U.S. Public Health
Service Commissioned Corps personnel are standing ready to assist in the
aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
Find Florida evacuation routes,
information on traffic congestion, storm surge, flood information and much more
through the dropdown menus here:
U.S. adds launchers to THAAD systems in South
Korea
Dozens of people were injured in clashes
between South Korean protesters and police today as the U.S. military added more
launchers to the high-tech THAAD missile-defense system it installed in a
southern town.
Days after a massive underground bomb
blast, there are signs North Korea may be preparing a new missile launch. South
Korea has responded with another show of force: This time, its navy has
conducted live fire drills.
Japan yesterday again upgraded its
estimated size of North Korea's latest nuclear test to a yield of around 160
kilotons - more than ten times the size of the Hiroshima bomb.
A day after predicting a "global
catastrophe" if North Korea's nuclear tests lead to anything other than talks,
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the situation may be "impossible" to
resolve.
A U.S. proposal for new United Nations
sanctions against North Korea would clamp an embargo on its oil and textile
trade and slap a full asset freeze and world-wide travel ban on leader Kim Jong
Un and key regime members.
President Trump's approach to the
rapidly rising threat from North Korea has veered from empathy for the country's
bellicose leader to finger-pointing at China to quick-tempered threats of
possible military action.
The Trump administration yesterday
circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would
effectively empower the United States Navy and Air Force to interdict North
Korean ships at sea and inspect them for weapons and other illegal cargo.
Relatively few Americans know many
details about how a war between North Korea, the U.S., South Korea and United
Nations would look.
And South Korean commandos will work
with U.S. Navy SEALs who killed Osama bin Laden to create a special unit to
assassinate Kim Jong-un in the event of war, an Australian newspaper is
reporting.
Airstrikes continue on ISIS in
Iraq
U.S. and Coalition military forces
continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday,
Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve
officials reported today.
In Iraq, Coalition military forces
conducted eight strikes consisting of 15 engagements against ISIS targets: Near
Anah, two strikes destroyed an ISIS headquarters and an ISIS communication node;
Near Huwayjah, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed five oil
stills, two ISIS-held buildings, two ISIS headquarters and a front-end loader;
Near Qaim, a strike destroyed two ISIS front-end loaders; and near Rawah,
a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held
building.
Catalonia sets independence vote for Oct.
1st
Voters in Spain's prosperous Catalonia
region will be asked to choose in less than a month if they want to secede from
Spain, the region's pro-independence ruling government announced yesterday in a
move that puts it in open defiance of the national government.
Syria's army says Israeli airstrikes hit western
military facility
By Lisa Levine, News of the Force Tel Aviv
Syria's army said Israeli air strikes
today killed two people at a military facility in the country's west, a zone
where the regime has been accused of developing chemical weapons. Syria says the
raid killed two soldiers and caused material damage. The reported air raid came
as Israel is conducting its biggest military exercise in 19 years on its
northern border.
Syria's opposition must accept that they
have not won the six-and-a-half year war against President Bashar al-Assad, the
U.N. says.
In Syria yesterday, U.S.-led
Coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 15
engagements against ISIS targets near Raqqa, destroying 13 ISIS fighting
positions, damaging five fighting positions and suppressing two fighting
positions.
U.N. human rights investigators have
concluded that the Syrian air force carried out a chemical weapons attack on a
rebel-held town in April.
Iran has boasted that it has
tricked the world and can now start making nuclear weapons. Just as Israel had
warned, Iran has not honored the Obama-brokered agreement and is now openly
saying so.
And a religious Zionist youth
movement is officially reopening in Germany, 79 years after being shut down
under the National Socialist regime there.
Couzin Gym's Thought for the
Day: I didn't make it to the gym today. That makes five years in a
row.
'Trump's not going to heaven,' Jessie Jackson
says
Imagine that a white
conservative religious leader had said that President Obama wasn't going to
heaven. Imagine that, say, Franklin Graham or Jerry Falwell, Jr., said Obama
"would not qualify to get into Jesus' kingdom." Well, that's exactly what The
Rev. Jesse Jackson just said about President Trump. That deafening silence you
hear is the response of the mainstream media.
D.C.'s National
Cathedral removing two stained-glass windows
Washington, D.C.'s
National Cathedral is slated to remove two stained-glass
windows of Confederate generals.
Meanwhile, students wearing a Confederate
flag at an Indiana high school can now face suspension for their
clothing.
Homeland
insecurity
Today's
Democratic Party screams "racism!" at the mere mention of a border wall. They
ignore a few poignant points. First, dozens of countries around the world have
border walls; this isn't something new. Second, many prominent Democrats were
for the border wall - until the unthinkable happened. Donald Trump was elected
President. If he is for something, by definition, the Democratic Party is
against it.
Pennsylvania has submitted another
request for a REAL ID enforcement extension from the federal Department of
Homeland Security.
And the
Department of Homeland Security announced yesterday that the agency will not
carry out immigration enforcement operations in areas hit by Hurricane
Irma.
U.S. Air
Force
Air Force
Lt. Col. (Dr.) Brent Waldman, the 386th Expeditionary Medical Operations flight
commander and dentist, performed a root canal procedure on a military working
dog in Southwest Asia on Aug. 30th. Waldman worked with the Army's veterinary
clinic to provide the medical treatment to the dog.
The
California Air National Guard was busy assisting Texas in the after-math of
Hurricane Harvey, and now the 129th Rescue Wing,
based in the Silicon Valley, will be heading to Florida in anticipation of
Hurricane Irma, which is sweeping through the Caribbean heading toward Florida.
The wing plans to deploy about 100 of its members this week,
including para-rescuemen, The San Diego Union-Tribune has reported.
They plan to operate two HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopters and three MC-130P
Combat Shadow aircraft out of Hurlburt Field, in the
Florida panhandle, the news report said. The 129th was credited
with 113 saves while operating in Texas.
The
U.S. Air Force secretary has visited Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to
discuss the future of the base's aircraft as she said the base's future is
unclear.
An
Iraqi F-16 warplane crashed while on a training mission in open terrain in
Arizona on Tuesday, the Iraqi Air Force has announced in a statement. The pilot
was killed.
Maxwell AFB, Ala., and other
federal agencies are preparing for Hurricane Irma. Maxwell Air Force Base serves
as the Incident Staging Base for the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA).
This week marks the end of an era at
Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., as the U.S. Air Force's last C-5A Galaxy
is scheduled to leave.
First as a member of the U.S. Air Force
Reserve for six years, then in the King County (Wash.) Sheriff's Office for
33 years, and most recently as a seven term U.S. congressman, Rep. Dave Reichert
says he will not seek re-election.
Glancing over a 1985 family
portrait, a man is awestruck at the image of his younger self. The snapshot of
his mother cradling him as his siblings welcomed their father back from a
deployment captured a moment that was stronger than words. Although
he was too young to remember the moment, Air Force Major Jonathan Elliott, the
23rd Logistics Readiness Squadron's director of operations at Moody AFB, Ga.,
began his own search to retrieve this piece of heritage, which became the event
that forged a stronger bond between father and son, who both served as Team
Moody airmen and Air Force officers. "We were completely unaware of
the photo's existence," said retired Air Force Lt. Col. Gary Elliott, a 347th
Tactical Fighter Wing F-4E Phantom II pilot from 1983 to 1986. "When the picture
was taken, my whole attention was on my family, and I didn't know we were the
subject of an impromptu photo. I didn't know if the photo had ever been used in
an article or the base newspaper, but it was slice of life in our family
history, and we wanted to obtain it." The wife of a former squadron
mate who lived in Valdosta, Ga., sent the family a snapshot of the framed
photograph that hung on the wall at the officers' club there.
Determined to find it, the Elliotts asked the Moody Field Club and
base photo lab for a chance to reprint the photo, but unfortunately, the host
wing had changed, resulting in the removal of the large frame from the heritage
wall, derailing their plans. However, in the summer of 2015, fate
would have it that another Elliott would spearhead the continued search.
"When I moved here, one of the first places I went was the field
club," Jonathan said. "I was excited to finally get to see the actual picture,
and I wanted to get copies of it for my family. But it wasn't there,
disappointingly. So, I started asking around to try to locate it. I talked with
the club management, the wing historian and any civilian I crossed paths with
who'd been working on base long enough to have seen it." Although
everyone he asked was incredibly gracious and tried to help, Jonathan said, he
kept coming up empty while he rummaged through various storage closets and boxes
of old pictures. One day in May 2016, however, that all changed. As Air Force
Col. Susan Riordan-Smith, the 23rd Mission Support Group's commander, gave a
briefing in the First Term Airmen Center, she saw the picture that Jonathan was
searching for all along and immediately notified him. "I was
shocked and relieved because it seemed too good to be true," Jonathan said. "I
went over to the First Term Airman Center immediately so I could see it for
myself. It was a bit surreal as well, because it's my parents, siblings and me.
It naturally created an emotional connection with me, and yet, the
photographer perfectly captured the joy of a military member and family reunited
in such a way that it makes an emotional connection, even if you don't know the
people in the picture," he added. "It just has that iconic look."
While he was tempted to immediately tell his dad of the finding, he
said, he wanted to savor the moment for a special day. As all parties in the
photo were present in Washington state in June, on Father's Day, Jonathan
uttered the words, "I have something for you, Dad." As Jonathan
brought out a large, thin package in brown paper wrap, Gary handled it and
wondered if it might possibly be "the photo." "As I unwrapped it
and saw that it was, I was a little choked up," Gary said. "I think the whole
family was a bit emotional. They had all seen the little snapshot on a shelf in
our dining room, and knew that we had searched in vain for the actual photo.
Everyone was happy that Jon had been able to track it down and get one for the
family. He had it beautifully matted and framed, and it was a very special
Father's Day gift!" For Gary, no gift could compare to the strong
bond that he and Jonathan have forged over the years. "Sharing the
United States Air Force Academy as our alma mater
strengthened this bond, and when I visit him at his duty stations, he always
takes me in to his unit and helps me understand the mission and his
responsibilities," he said. Gary said he also appreciates Jonathan
wearing his old squadron's paraphernalia and highlighting his heritage, which is
among the many things he says brings him pride. "Two of my most
proud moments of Jonathan was presenting his Air Force Academy appointment
certificate and administering the oath upon his promotion to major," Gary said.
"I put my uniform on for both of those occasions, and although it's not the
current style, it's still Air Force blue and is a bond to Jon in his blues. I'm
proud to wear it, and I think Jon is proud to see me wear it.
Beyond the Air Force bond," he continued, "it is still hard for me
to stand for the national anthem and look at our flag without being a little
choked up, and I trust Jon will always share this mixture of pride, humility,
and gratefulness with me."
Col. Gregory Schnulo, who shepherded
Springfield Air National Guard Base, Ohio, after a major transition from
training fighter pilots to flying unmanned drones, is retiring from the Air
Force.
The
Louisiana Wing of the Civil Air Patrol is photographing the extent of
Hurricane Harvey's effects and floods in Louisiana.
The
Civil Air Patrol, the all-volunteer U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, is well known
for its expertise in search and rescue operations.
Make plans to attend the 2017 Fremont
County Air Show from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Sept. 16th, in Canon City, Colo.
Handicapped parking available - ask Civil Air Patrol's volunteer parking
attendants.
A
Civil Air Patrol search is on for a missing aircraft in the Wetzel/Harrison
County border area of West Virginia.
Just in time for the hurricane, CAP Lt.
Col. Michael Harding, the commander of the Civil Air Patrol Florida Wing's Boca
Raton Composite Squadron, and Group 6 commander Lt. Col. Jaime Lichi, welcomed
the members of the Boca Raton Airport Board in inaugurating the CAP's new hangar
at Boca Ration Airport and displayed their new
CAP aircraft.
In less than a week, the
Civil Air Patrol's AirPower History Tour is flying into the Branson Airport, in
Missouri.
And
Robert C. Abbaticchio, 85, of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., passed away on Aug. 30th.
He was a member of the Florida Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. In lieu of flowers,
contributions in Robert's name may be made to the Civil Air Patrol's Office of
Development, 105 S. Hansell St., Bldg. 714, Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6332.
U.S. Coast
Guard
The
U.S. Coast Guard has closed the Columbia River near Troutdale, Oregon, due to a
large wildfire in the Columbia River Gorge.
Bollinger Shipyards, in Lockport,
La., delivered the future USCGC Jacob Poroo, the 25th Fast
Response Cutter (FRC), to the Coast Guard on Aug. 5th.
U.S. Coast Guard crews are working to
pull out the remains of a sunken sailboat out of the water near San Luis Obispo,
Calif.
The
U.S. Coast Guard has fined a cruise ship passenger for jumping from the vessel.
The Coast Guard issued the fine on Tuesday, saying intentionally jumping into
the water from a passenger vessel is considered interfering with the
crew.
The
U.S. Coast Guard says two men were taken aboard a 47-foot life boat when they
were rescued from their sinking boat on the Columbia
River.
Florida boat owners should secure their
vessels now, says the Coast Guard. And large vessels may be
ordered out of ports because of Hurricane Irma.
You
can't make this stuff up: The U.S. Coast Guard has towed a decoy resembling Boca
Raton, Fla., into the Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to lure Hurricane
Irma away from Florida, saying the plan was the best option for mitigating
the potential damage from the storm.
And
in Florida, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's Jacksonville Beach Flotilla 14-04
is offering three boating safety courses over the next several
weeks.
Canada mulls
buying used fighter jets from Australia
By Jim Corvey, News of
the Force St. Louis
Canada, embroiled in a dispute with the
Boeing Co. over the planned purchase of 18 new Super Hornet fighters, could buy
older jets from Australia instead, the defense ministry said
yesterday.
The
Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suspended talks with Boeing
over the planned acquisition after the U.S. firm launched a trade challenge
against Canadian plane maker Bombardier, Inc., in April.
Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan says
Canada needs the 18 jets to act as a stopgap measure until it is able run an
open competition to replace its veteran CF-18 fighters, a process that could
take five years. The CF-18 is the Canadian version of the F-18 Hornet, a design
that is 40 years old.
"In
light of Australia recently notifying all allies about their intent to dispose
of their F-18 fleet, Canada visited them to inquire about the state of their
equipment and spare parts," Sajjan's office said in a statement. "It is too
early to provide detailed information about other options," it
added.
Trudeau on Tuesday complained about
what he called Boeing's "unfair and aggressive" trade challenge against
Bombardier, which the U.S. firm alleges is dumping passenger planes in the
American market. Trudeau said he'd spoken to Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens to
outline his concerns. Super Hornets are made at Boeing's plant in north St.
Louis County. Boeing's
Canadian network of aerospace suppliers has urged Trudeau to buy the Super
Hornets, noting the firm supported more than 17,000 jobs in Canada. "Our
partnership is deep and enduring, but it needs your engagement," said a letter
from 10 firms, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. Signatories included CAE,
Inc., Heroux Devtek, Inc., and Honeywell International, Inc., as well as the
Canadian arms of the General Electric Co. and the Raytheon Co. CAE, which has
close ties to Bombardier, later noted the letter had not mentioned the Boeing
dispute.
Asked for a reaction to the letter, a
source familiar with government thinking said the Canadian aerospace sector
supported many jobs in the United States.
Australia bought 24 Super Hornets as an
interim fleet until it could take delivery of F-35 planes from the Lockheed
Martin Corp. Canada's former Conservative government said in 2010 it would buy
65 F-35s but later scrapped the decision, triggering years of delays and
reviews.
Ahead of the 2015 election that brought
him to power, Trudeau campaigned against buying the F-35 on the grounds it was
too expensive. Officials now say the plane would be eligible to participate in
the competition.
Page 1