News of the Force: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 - Page 1

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Wednesday, October 25, 2017 - Today is Constitution Day in Lithuania

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China unveils new leadership

    

    China's new Politburo Standing Committee was introduced today at the Great Hall of the People.

 

The U.S. needs a 'robust' missile defense

    

    It's now an almost weekly headline that North Korea is announcing or conducting highly provocative intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

    President Trump should "lower the volume of rhetoric" on North Korea and instead focus on diplomatic and long-term efforts to bring the country to negotiations, former U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said.

 

Kurds offer to 'freeze' independence referendum

    

    Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government said it's prepared to freeze the results of last month's independence referendum that triggered deadly clashes with government troops and hurt oil exports. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) offered today to put the independence referendum on hold as part of efforts to end the military confrontation with Iraqi forces and resolve the crisis with the central government.

 

Getting tough on the Taliban

    

    After years of failed peace talks and following one of the deadliest weeks of suicide attacks on Afghan forces, the Trump administration is said to be pushing for the Taliban's Qatar-based office to be closed down in an increasingly ironfisted approach.

 

Saudi crown prince says he's taking on extremists

    

    At an event yesterday in Riyadh meant to highlight the kingdom's influence in the business world, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Saudi Arabia was returning to "moderate" Islam and intended to "eradicate" extremism.

    As top investors and executives from across the world gather in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for a summit this week, the country's economic progress lags, but its social progress is real.

    And the Saudi Arabian government says it will build a $500 billion mega-city, with the goal of diversifying its economy. It says the megacity will be 33 times larger than New York City.

 

U.S. State Dept. approves foreign military sale to Greece

    

    The U.S. State Department has approved a package of upgrades valued at $2.4 billion to raise the Hellenic Air Force's fleet to the F-16V standard, a Defense Security Cooperation Agency notice says.

    During a joint speech at the White House with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece last week, President Donald Trump highlighted the potential sale and praised Greece’s commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

 

U.S. considering sanctions on Myanmar

    

    The United States is taking steps and considering a range of further actions over Myanmar's treatment of its Rohingya Muslim minority, including targeted sanctions under its Global Magnitsky Law, the State Department has said.

 

Genetically modified super-human soldiers?

    

    Genetically-modified superhuman soldiers "worse than a nuclear bomb" and whom will have no fear or pain could soon become a reality, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

Iran sentences 'Israeli spy' to death

By Lisa Levine, News of the Force Tel Aviv

    

    Iran has sentenced to death a doctor found guilty of spying for Israeli intelligence, allegedly providing information that led to the assassinations of at least two of Iran's nuclear scientists.

    Nicaragua has signed the Paris climate agreement, meaning that the U.S. and Syria are the only two countries not to be giving the accord their support.

    In a shockingly absurd move, Europeans are awarding the father of a slain Palestinian terrorist.

    And Israel is facing an immigration crisis no less serious than those making headlines in America and Europe.

 

Homeland insecurity

    

    As President Donald Trump's travel ban restrictions expire, the administration will allow in refugees from all countries - but with new, enhanced vetting rules, the administration announced yesterday. The Trump administration will resume refugee admissions, but will impose new security measures on 11 nations. President Donald Trump issued an executive order yesterday to restart the refugee resettlement program, which was suspended for 120 days.

    Nine months after President Trump took office, the first tangible signs of progress on one of the central promises of his campaign have appeared along the U.S.-Mexico border.

    A Georgia appeals court has ruled against DACA recipients seeking free in-state college tuition. 

    The tropical island-nation of Singapore now boasts the world's strongest passport, according to a new ranking. It's the first time an Asian country has topped the list.

    In a statement released today, the Oakland County (Mich.) Homeland Security Division has alerted the public that an unknown person has been posing as a an official of the Oakland County Emergency Operations Center in order to take advantage of a water crisis there.

    The Department of Homeland Security is hosting a cybersecurity round-table with Pensacola, Fla.-area government, business and academic leaders.

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has granted Pennsylvania an extension on the Real ID Act through Oct. 10th.

    And the top Democrat on the Senate homeland security committee wants to know how the elimination from government computers of a popular Russian anti-virus system is going.

 

U.S. Coast Guard

    

     USCGC Forward (WMEC-911)

    Drug smugglers are known for their ingenuity when they explore different ways to move narcotics under the noses of law enforcement authorities, and the U.S. Coast Guard says it's seeing a "surge" in the use of drug-laden submarines.

    USCGC Baranof, in Bahrain, is flying the Houston Astro's team's flag with permission.

    The U.S. Coast Guard has rescued a 31-year-old passenger from the cruise ship Carnival Sunshine off the coast of Port Canaveral, Fla.

    The Coast Guard has suspended its search for two people who were swept out into Lake Superior during a storm. The U.S. Coast Guard used a helicopter to search for the man and woman for several hours after they were reported missing yesterday afternoon.

    The U.S. Coast Guard and Honolulu Fire Department crews have rescued the master of a fishing vessel off Waikiki, Hawaii, and are struggling to remove his grounded vessel.

    USCGC Forward has returned home to Portsmouth, Va., after assisting with hurricane relief efforts in the Caribbean Sea.

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have notified the Coast Guard that missing Sonoma County, Calif., resident Justin Greer, 35, has been found and is safe.

    A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, Alaska-based MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew forward deployed to Cold Bay, Alaska, has medevaced an injured crewman from his cargo ship.

    And from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., PT, on Saturday, Oct. 28th, the Coast Guard Auxiliary will offer an in-depth recreational Boating Safely class to the public in Ilwaco, Wash.

 

NOAA news

    

    A NOAA National Weather Service team confirmed yesterday that two EF-2 tornadoes have touched down in South Carolina, and possible tornadoes have flipped planes and destroyed hangars at a North Carolina airport.

    And the Trump administration is preparing to launch a new weather and climate satellite. The first is the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, a joint NOAA and NASA satellite.

 

U.S. Army

    

    The oldest U.S. active duty military unit will be honored on Friday. A statue honoring the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment - known as "The Old Guard"  will be dedicated at 5 p.m. on Friday at the Powder Magazine Museum in the Jefferson Barracks Park near St. Louis, Mo. The work is of military figures, each representing a different aspect of The Old Guard. Centered between the figures is a replica of the grave markers used in the Arlington and Jefferson Barracks national cemeteries. The 3rd Infantry by sculptor B.J. Mungenast consists of three bronze, larger-than-life-size for the unit that has served the nation since 1784. It is the Army's official ceremonial unit and escort to the president, and it also provides security for Washington, D.C., during national emergencies and civil disturbances. Sculptor Mungenast will unveil the monument. The keynote speaker is James F. Laufenburg, a retired Army colonel and former head of the Old Guard. Other guest speakers include County Executive Steve Stenger and St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar.

    The U.S. Army is considering a 2018 solicitation for a new, light ground mobility vehicle.

    U.S. Army navigation and targeting experts are ready to kick off a 10-year program to build an electro-optical all-weather day-and-night target designation and laser range finder system to help forward observers guide smart munitions to their targets.

    Armored combat vehicle experts at Textron Systems will build as many as 255 Mobile Strike Force Vehicles (MSFV) and vetronics for use in Afghanistan under the terms of a $332.9 million contract. 

    The remains of a St. Louis, Mo.-born man who was listed as missing in action after a battle in the Netherlands during World War II arrived at the airport in St. Louis today en route to central Illinois for burial. The remains of Army Staff Sgt. Michael Aiello arrived in St. Louis a little after 3 p.m., according to PJ Staab, II, of the Staab Funeral Home in Springfield, Mo. A Patriot Guard escort will be on site for the arrival. There will then be a procession up Interstate 55 to the town of Sherman, Illinois, where Aiello lived after moving from St. Louis as a child. Aiello was born in 1909 in St. Louis. Three years later, his family moved to Sherman where he attended grade school. After finishing the eighth grade, Aiello became a coal miner at the age of 13. Aiello’s family moved to Springfield in 1918. Aiello later owned and operated a restaurant in Springfield, but primarily worked as a coal miner until he entered the Army in 1942. Within two years, Aiello advanced to the rank of staff sergeant and was assigned to a glider infantry regiment. He was involved in the D-Day Invasion and later in 1944 his unit was assigned to Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands. Operation Market Garden called for glider and airborne troops to seize bridges in the Netherlands and hold them until British armor units arrived. The operation, portrayed in a book and the 1977 movie, A Bridge Too Far, failed. Military records indicate Aiello went missing on Sept. 30, 1944, during fighting near the bridge at Nijmegen. While no remains were officially identified as his, the military issued a presumptive finding of death a year later. Aiello was 35 when he went missing. About eight years ago, the military disinterred a set of remains that were later identified as Aiello. Relatives in the Springfield area provided DNA samples to confirm the identity. Aiello will be buried at the Camp Butler Cemetery at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The ceremony at the cemetery is open to the public.

    The team of U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers that were ambushed in Niger this month, which led to the deaths of four soldiers, was reportedly collecting intelligence on a terrorist leader. The U.S. military believes someone in a Niger village may have tipped off attackers to the presence of U.S. commandos and Nigerian government forces.

    The U.S. Army is making a $41.7 million investment in its manufacturing center at Watervliet Arsenal, N.Y.

    Nick Walters, a longtime test pilot at the U.S. Army's Redstone Test Center in Alabama took his final flight yesterday upon his retirement.

    Researchers from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory recently participated in the Department of Defense Allied Nations Technical Corrosion Conference in Adelphi, Md.

    Comtech has been awarded a $7.5 million order from to provide  tropo-scatter equipment to support U.S. Army activities.

    The Concurrent Technologies Corp. has won a competitively-bid contract to support the U.S. Army with the manufacturing of ground combat vehicles.

    John Dillard has been elected chairman of the Denton County, Texas, Republican Party.  Dillard spent 25 years with the Army National Guard in the 49th Armored Division and in the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

    Nearly 50 U.S. Army Reserve soldiers put their boots back on American soil at Ft. Hood, Texas, a few days ago after being deployed overseas for a year.

    Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone has hosted a panel to show off the Army's cyber talent. Nakasone said the Army plans to build 11 additional cyber protection teams from the Army National Guard and 10 from the U.S. Army Reserve.

    The South Carolina Army National Guard has activated its first unit dedicated to protecting South Carolina and the U.S. from cyber attacks.

    The Mississippi Army National Guard has announced an upcoming deployment for some of its soldiers in 2018.

    And the Washington Army National Guard has trained with the Summit Pacific Medical Center and Grays Harbor County as part of a regional first responders' exercise.

 

FCC to roll back media ownership rules

By Jim Corvey, News of the Force St. Louis

    

    The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote at its November meeting to roll back landmark media ownership regulations that limit the ability of companies to own multiple TV stations and newspapers in the same market and remove other restrictions, Chairman Ajit Pai told a congressional panel today.

    The move would be a win for newspaper companies and broadcasters that have pushed for the change for decades, but was criticized by Democrats who said it could usher in a new era of media outlet consolidation.

    The FCC in 1975 banned cross-ownership of a newspaper and broadcast station in the same market, unless it granted a waiver, to ensure a diversity of opinions. The FCC allowed existing ownership structures to remain in place.

    Lifting ownership limits comes on the heels of the FCC's controversial decision this week to eliminate a nearly 80-year-old requirement for TV and radio stations to maintain a main studio in or near the communities they serve.

    Critics said that move would lead to more consolidation, less diverse programming and industry job cuts.

 

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps

    

    A U.S. Navy warship has blasted a missile out of the sky using a weapon with the force of a "10-ton truck going at 600 mph."

    U.S. Navy airborne surveillance experts needed eye-safe laser range-finders for the electro-optical Navy Raytheon Multi-Spectral Targeting System (MTS). They found their solution from the L-3 Technologies Advanced Laser Systems Technology (ALST) segment in Orlando, Fla.

    In Virginia, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard has wasted $21 million for equipment and gear for what's being called "an unauthorized" security force.

    Reserve Force Master Chief C.J. Mitchell was piped ashore after his retirement ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C.

    Military unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) experts at the Northrop Grumman Corp. are continuing their efforts to install a sophisticated surface-search radar system on the U.S. Navy's fleet of MQ-8C Fire Scout shipboard unmanned helicopters.

    Shipboard electronics designers at Global Technical Systems (GTS) in Virginia Beach, Va., will provide the U.S. Navy with additional rugged water-cooled open-architecture shipboard computers under the terms of an $10.6 million order announced on Monday.

    The Marine Corps is experimenting with the idea of using rocket launchers from ships in amphibious assaults even before a beachhead is carved out.

    U.S. Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) are unloading emergency care items at the St. Thomas Cyril E. King Airport in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

    Senior U.S. military officers are warning against cuts to the U.K.'s Royal Marines, with one U.S. Marine Corps colonel saying that it would be "very damaging."

    The 12th annual Mt. Vernon U.S. Marine Corps Ball is planned for Nov. 4th at the American Legion in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.

    Vice President Mike Pence on Monday honored the memory of 241 U.S. service members killed in the 1983 Marine barracks attack in Beirut, Lebanon.

    And the Pensacola, Fla., Marine Corps League concludes its 2017 "Heroes Among Us" speaker series tonight with a tribute to police, firefighters and first responders.

 

 

 

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