News of the Force: Saturday, October 14, 2017 - Page 1

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Saturday, October 14, 2017 - Today is World Standards Day

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North Korea threatens attack on Guam

    

    North Korea has renewed its threat to attack the U.S. island territory of Guam with missiles, warning that President Donald Trump's social media antics and military moves are pushing Pyongyang "over the edge."

    "We have missiles that can knock out a missile in the air 97 percent of the time, and if you send two of them, it's going to get knocked down," U.S. President Donald Trump has said.

    The U.S. Congress was warned this week that North Korea is capable of attacking the U.S. today with a nuclear EMP bomb that could indefinitely shut down the electric power grid and kill 90 percent of "all Americans" within a year.

    And as he plots the next moves in his rogue nuke and missile programs, North Korean despot Kim Jong Un is constructing one other immense show of power just down the road from where his military tests his prohibited rockets. He's building his own "Mar-a-Lago" while his people starve.

 

Iraqi forces demand Kurdish withdrawal from Kirkuk

    

    Iraqi forces have demanded that Kurdish troops withdraw from oil fields and military bases around the contested city of Kirkuk, Kurdish officials and a senior militia leader said yesterday, leading to a tense standoff around the city.

 

Global powers standing by the Iran nuclear deal

    Global powers, including key U.S. allies, have said they will stand by the Iran nuclear deal which President Donald Trump has threatened to tear apart.

 

Freed family returns home to Canada

    Former hostage Joshua Boyle said upon arriving back in Canada late yesterday that the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network in Afghanistan had killed his infant daughter and raped his wife during the years they were held in captivity. Caitlan Coleman and her husband, Josh Boyle, were abducted in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Haqqani network.

 

India rules out joining nuclear treaty

    

    India has ruled out the possibility of joining the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapon state, but said it remains "committed" to a unilateral voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosives testing.

 

The U.S. will retain its Family Reunification Program for Cuba

    The United States will maintain the Family Reunification Program in Cuba but has not yet offered more details on how the process will be carried out following the suspension of all visa processing at its embassy in Havana.

 

Raqqa to be liberated within 2 to 3 days

By Lisa Levine, News of the Force Tel Aviv

    

    The liberation of Raqqa has slowed because Daesh militants are using civilians as human shields in their operations. However only several districts are still under the control of the terrorists and they will be liberated within several days, sources in Syria say.

    The Islamic State is on the verge of defeat in Syria's Raqqa and the city may finally be cleared of the jihadists today or tomorrow, the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia says.

    Some 100 fighters from the Islamic State group handed themselves over to U.S.-backed fighters in the northern city of Raqqa yesterday as fighting continued with remaining gunmen in a pocket inside the city.

    And ISIS now controls less than 8% of Syrian territory, the Russian Defense Ministry says. Syrian government forces are continuing their successful advance near Deir ez-Zor, taking control of a large area on the right bank of the Euphrates River, the ministry added.

 

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    Couzin Gym's Thought for the Day: The soul is healed by being with children.

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U.S. Air Force

    

    Peng Zhang, an assistant professor at Michigan State University's College of Engineering, has been awarded the 2018 Young Investigator Program Award from the U.S. Air Force.

    Four U.S. Air Force service members from Shaw AFB allegedly spray-painted satanic symbols on a historic South Carolina church, authorities have said.

    At the request of the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Travis AFB is now supporting the fight against California's wildfires.

    U.S. Air Force Gen. Robin Rand, the Air Force Global Strike Command commander, spoke during the 36th Fighter Squadron Flying Fiends' Centennial.

    A Jacksonville, Ark., man who was a member of the U.S. Air Force when arrested in late 2015 was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in a federal prison for taking pornographic photographs of a 6-year-old girl and posting them online. Cameron Dee Neal, 34, pleaded guilty last May 19th to a charge of production of child pornography, admitting that over a six-month period, he took numerous images of the young girl while posing her in women's underwear, and then uploaded 75 of the images to the Internet, where undercover federal agents in Boston, Mass., discovered them in December 2015. Department of Homeland Security investigators in Boston analyzed the images - which they said represented a new "series" of child pornography - until they were able to match the background in one image to an openly available image of a Jacksonville dance studio, according to court documents. The investigators contacted fellow agent Toby Rowe in Little Rock, who said he was able to obtain the girl's identity from representatives of the studio, where she had taken dance classes. He said a female investigator with the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division then interviewed the child, who said Neal told her the photographs were their "secret." Neal was indicted on Jan. 5th, 2016, by a federal grand jury in Little Rock on charges of producing and distributing child pornography. He was eventually discharged from the Air Force. On Thursday, he stood before U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall, Jr., acknowledging that he knew he had a serious problem before he was arrested and saying he was grateful for the help he has since received.

    The U.S. Air Force is currently proposing changes to airspace it uses for flight training that could potentially bring new models of F-16 fighter jets from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., farther into airspace over the Gila National Forest and nearer to Silver City. The proposal is already at the end of its scoping phase, with little input from folks in Grant County. The change in question would add a new military operations area - the Lobos MOA - just northwest, as near as 15 miles, of the town of Silver City. In this proposed area over the Gila Valley, the Air Force plans aircraft activity down to 500 feet above ground level, supersonic activity at or above 30,000 feet mean sea level, and the use of defensive chaff and flares within certain parameters. In its notice of intent to conduct an environmental impact study for the proposal, the Air Force claims the current military operations areas for Holloman AFB no longer fulfill its needs for contemporary military jets. In a no action alternative - one in which nothing is changed, as are studied in all National Environmental Policy Act assessments as a control - "Aircrews would continue to be limited to SUA that was developed for legacy aircraft more than 30 years ago and does not have the optimum volume, proximity to the installation, availability, or other attributes to efficiently support the Holloman AFB flying mission," according to the notice of intent. Specifically, the Air Force claims the change would be necessary to appropriately train pilots in flying the current F-16C/D aircraft flown at Holloman AFB. According to the Holloman Air Force Base website, this process is still in its earlier stages. The Air Force kicked off the scoping stage in early September, which included open houses in Carlsbad, Truth or Consequences and Las Cruces, notably skipping over anywhere in Grant or Catron counties. The scoping process, which ended this week, wraps with the publication of a draft environmental impact statement. That publication begins a 45-day public review period, followed by another 45 days for public comment. At the end of those periods, the final environmental impact statement will be published, kicking off the final 30-day wait period before a record of decision is scheduled. But, in addition to holding no open house or meeting in Grant or Catron counties - where the Lobos MOA would be - the Air Force also neglected to directly inform or consult local government agencies. Staff for U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce - a retired U.S. Air Force and current private pilot himself - said he was aware of the proposal and urged local input in the process. "The office is aware of potential changes to the airspace," Pearce's Press Secretary Keely Christensen said. "The congressman believes any changes must include and consider the input of the local communities. The military missions in New Mexico are essential to our national security, but must also consider equitable access to airspace, impacts to the environment, and the local economy. The NOI lists public meeting dates and locations, including information on comment period. The congressman will continue to reach out to stakeholders such as the General Aviation (GA) community for their input and has encouraged all citizens to share their comments." Maps of both the additional proposed Lobos MOA near Silver City and other expansions and changes included in the Holloman plan can be found here: http://www.hollomanafbairspaceeis.com/Alternatives.aspx . A main portal to information regarding the proposal and directions to submit comments can be found here: http://www.hollomanafbairspaceeis.com/Default.aspx .

    Congress has authorized - and the Pentagon has spent - nearly $40 billion purchasing approximately 189 F-35s that, in their current configuration, will never be able to perform the way they were expected to when taxpayer dollars were used to buy them, according to the Project on Government Oversight (POGO).

    The 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass. plans extra F-15 flights this week.

    Unsafe levels of toxic chemicals from old firefighting foam use have contaminated the groundwater at the Michigan Air National Guard Base in Alpena.

    And Deming Gray, a Hixson, Tenn.-based professional photographer and volunteer for the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), answered the call to service when he received the request to report for duty in Puerto Rico. Even before he landed in San Juan, he could see the extent of damage done by hurricanes Irma and Maria was vast. He reported to the Incident Commander, Lt. Col. Ande Boyer at the Incident Command Center, which was located in a closet at one of the San Juan hospitals. There wasn’t a lot of room, but he said they were all thankful to have electricity, air-conditioning, and access to the Internet, especially considering that 84% of the island is reported to not have electricity restored yet. Capt. Gray said, "Tennessee, Alabama and Puerto Rico were serving with us. Additionally, we utilized CAP members stateside to help form a virtual Incident Command Post.  We were not alone in Puerto Rico, CAP members everywhere were willing and able to assist us as needed. We had five aircraft that we tasked daily to conduct photographic reconnaissance of the island of Puerto Rico." The Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the official Auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is known for conducting 90% of the nation’s inland search and rescue when planes go down unexpectedly. Increasingly, CAP has also been working for governmental agencies. For example, this assignment was tasked by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Capt. Gray says that he flew about 30 hours during his week there, which is a lot of time in a small aircraft. He was tasked to fly one sortie (each flight is called a sortie) in the back seat as a mission scanner and airborne photographer. On a second sortie, he was assigned the role of mission observer, tasked to assist the pilot and assist the successful execution of the mission from the right seat. The remainder of his flights last week were flown from the left seat as mission pilot. FEMA had tasked their sorties to fly around the island of Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands, to photographically document and assess storm damage to structures and infrastructure, search for individuals and communities in need of help, and monitor situations that might lead to an additional loss of life or property. Capt. Gray said, "Everywhere we flew, we saw horrific damage from the fierce winds of hurricane Maria. On all the islands, we saw power lines down everywhere. We saw many powerline towers down, which means extensive work was required just to restore electrical power. The damage done to houses and buildings on the islands was extensive. For example, on one sortie, we identified one small town that was completely isolated due to a bridge being washed out on one end of town, and a mudslide covering the road on the other.  We found folks who had painted messages on roofs and parking lots, requesting food, water, or other immediate needs." Capt. Gray was one of ten CAP members from the CAP's Tennessee Wing who took thousands of photographs as requested by FEMA. He says that the photographs were being utilized to assess damage and prioritize resources. Capt. Gray, who serves as the Group II commander for the Tennessee Wing, said that, "As members of the Civil Air Patrol, we regularly train and practice our skills during SAREX’s (Search and Rescue Exercises), but this was not a training exercise. When we hit the ground, we were expected to perform. There was no time to train on how to accomplish our tasks. We were tasked to accomplish our mission, and we set out to do it. The aircrew was tasked daily to take digital photographs of the dams on the island, due to concerns of potential dam failure, which continues to be an immediate concern. Capt. Gray said, "We awoke at 5 a.m., and got to work as soon as we could. At the end of a long day, we returned to our rooms and crashed. The CAP is unofficially referred to as 'America’s Best Kept Secret'" Capt. Gray continued, "However, there were three different times during the week, talking to people around the area or in the hotel’s elevator, when FEMA or military officials recognized my CAP uniform and expressed extreme gratitude for the work that the Civil Air Patrol was accomplishing. It makes you realize that all the training we have done can actually be put to work and we can deliver a service and product that has real value. It was very satisfying," he said. "It was a hard week, but I’m so glad that I went, and felt privileged to have the opportunity to serve our country in this way."

 

Watchdog finds majority of Pentagon whistleblowers out of luck

    

    A new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found significant inconsistencies in how civilian, contractor, and intelligence whistle-blower allegations are handled by the Department of Defense Inspector General.

 

Homeland insecurity

    

    A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer is being punished for reporting wrongdoing. The officer raised concerns that his colleagues were violating Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures by stopping drivers who had turned down the street to the Canadian border by mistake.

    And the DHS has suspended immigration enforcement operations in the areas of Northern California hit by a string of destructive wildfires.

 

Crime stories

    

    Officials have identified a New Orleans, La., police officer who was shot to death while on routine patrol. The police yesterday identified the slain officer as Marcus McNeil, 29, a three-year veteran of the force. He spent years volunteering to teach children to read, and is survived by a wife and two children.

    Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's Office of Statewide Prosecution, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the arrests of two more members of a large drug-trafficking organization in Miami. The organization operated primarily in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Nereida Milagros Ortiz Almonte, 50, and her daughter-in-law, Ashley Alexandra Laguna, 19, both from Miramar, continued the illicit activities of the drug ring, following the arrest of Raúl Ponce, Jr.,18, Ortiz Almonte’s son and Laguna’s husband. Investigators now believe Almonte and Laguna sought to collect drug debts and transport stolen narcotics and a firearm on behalf of Ponce and the larger organization.
Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Hunter Davis, with Attorney General Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, will prosecute the defendants in the Broward County Circuit Court.

    Several naturalized Americans from The Gambia planned an unsuccessful coup against the government of their homeland in 2014, violating the Neutrality Act, a little-known federal law, the FBI says.

    Securitas Mobile Patrol Officer Marcus Johnson has received the Ralph Day Security Officer Award. His selfless response to an incident also earned him a letter of commendation from the Alexandria, Va., chief of police.

    It seems former U.S. Rep. David Rivera is eluding the U.S. Marshals. The U.S. Marshals have attempted to serve the Miami, Fla., Republican with a summons tied to a Federal Election Commission lawsuit since July. Rivera also avoided criminal charges in an unlawful campaign-finance scheme he was suspected of masterminding.

    In Milwaukee, Wis., a history of violence is how agents describe the life of 39-year-old gang member Abram Jefferson who is wanted by the U.S. Marshals.

    A former Prattville, Ala., church employee has been arrested by the U.S. Marshals. He's charged with sex crimes against children.

    Matthew Chappell, a Detroit, Mich., fugitive labeled a dangerous killer is wanted by the U.S. Marshals for a shooting in August. That victim died just this week, upping Chappell's charges to murder.

    An Austin, Texas, homicide suspect has been arrested in south Texas. Ricardo Santos, 34, faces a charge of murder for his alleged role in the death of Fabian Michael Gutierrez, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

    The U.S. Marshals Service says a man wanted for robbing a California family at gunpoint three years ago has been captured in South Dakota.

    Amanda Memmelo got off a plane in Mexico City in mid-July and there has been no known trace of her since. Memmelo turns 17 at the end of the month, but she has the mental capacity of a 12-year-old. She doesn't speak Spanish and her uncle unexpectedly took her with him to the other end of North America and no one seems to know why or for what purpose. "I miss her very, very much," said Amanda’s mother, Mary Foy, who lives in Ormond Beach, Fla., and whose ex-husband lives in Hamilton, Ontario. "I was believing that she was coming home soon." Memmelo, who is autistic, had spent more than a year with her father and his family in Canada before she disappeared three months ago. The Hamilton Police Service is among the law enforcement agencies investigating the missing-persons case. Foy said, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, co-founded by anti-crime crusader John Walsh, also is involved. "We are working with other agencies both inside and outside of Canada to assist with locating and resolving this investigation," said Hamilton pPolice spokeswoman Jackie Penman. She declined to give more details of the investigation, but confirmed that investigators think she is likely still in Mexico and in the company of her uncle, 53-year-old Bruno Memmelo. Amanda Memmelo also has epilepsy and requires medication to combat seizures. "It was really awful," the 51-year-old Foy said, recalling the moment she realized her daughter was missing. "I’ve barely been able to eat," she said. "Oftentimes I haven't slept at all." Foy said her daughter was last seen on July 18th, but her father did not report her missing until Aug. 1st. The night before she went missing, Foy and her daughter swapped text messages for the last time. Afterward, Amanda’s father took away her phone privileges. Whenever Foy called her ex-husband’s house phone in Hamilton, he wouldn't allow her to talk to her, she said. Or so she thought. On or around July 18th Amanda Memmelo and her uncle traveled 2,400 miles to Vancouver and then flew to Mexico City, Foy said. Amanda’s father, Pat Memmelo, told a television news reporter with CHCH-TV in Hamilton that he is convinced his daughter is safe and there is no reason to worry. "I know where my brother is," he said. Pat Memmelo declined to be on camera, but his voice was recorded. He also described a religion that he and his brother follow. Pat Memmelo denied following it to a tee, but he does believe in some of the tenets. The news reporter compared it to Scientology and then Pat Memmelo started comparing people to unidentified flying objects. "I tell ya, we are UFOs," Pat Memmelo told the reporter as he was flipping through a book titled, Forbidden Knowledge: Revelations of a Multi-Dimensional Time Traveler. "That’s what we are," he said. "We are UFOs." Efforts to reach Pat Memmelo were unsuccessful. Amanda Memmelo went to Hamilton in June 2016 and the original plan was for her to return in January, but she decided to stay because she wanted to attend another semester of school. There also was a dance she really wanted to attend, Foy said. The deal was for Foy to get her daughter back in the summer, but Amanda Memmelo skipped the United States altogether when she got on the plane. Foy said her daughter had told her shortly before their communication ended that her uncle had wanted her to stay in Hamilton "to learn spiritual principles" related to the religion her uncle and father were practicing.  In April, Foy noticed a change in her daughter. She was talking like she had been brainwashed - and was talking about various conspiracy theories. Among them was the theory that David Bowie was still alive. She also told her mother that she stopped taking her epilepsy medication because she was told that the universe could heal her. "It was getting too weird," Foy said. In early August, Amanda posted on her Facebook timeline how much she missed her best friend and couldn’t under-stand why she couldn’t see her. That is the last thing she has communicated, according to her mother. The trip to the airport that Bruno Memmelo and Amanda took was during the middle of the night, while the girl’s father was asleep. The cab driver, Foy said, was later questioned by police. Foy also said there was footage captured of her daughter at the airports in Vancouver and Mexico City. The Mexico City video is the last known footage of her. For roughly four weeks, Foy never heard a word about Amanda’s disappearance, she said. She was worried, but under the impression that her ex-husband had simply taken away her phone privileges. On Aug. 13th, Pat Memmelo finally called his ex-wife and told her that Amanda was gone. Foy described Bruno Memmelo as a "dominating person." Amanda has no medication for her epilepsy. She is in a foreign country. She has the cognitive and social skills of a 12-year-old. She is under the supervision of a domineering man who took her in the middle of the night without permission. Amanda’s own father isn't showing any signs of concern, at least not to Foy. The past three months for Foy have been rife with anxiety, confusion and bitterness. She traveled to Canada hoping for answers. She came back empty-handed. "I don’t know what else to do," she said.

    And Jesus Campos, the Mandalay Bay security officer shot by gunman Stephen Paddock - who opened fire on thousands of concert-goers in Las Vegas - has reportedly vanished moments before he was scheduled to speak to the press. Campos was booked for five interviews on Thursday night, all of which were mysteriously canceled. As of yesterday, his whereabouts are reportedly unknown.

 

U.S. Coast Guard

    

    Seven pilot whales initially washed up along Hawaii's Kalapaki Beach early yesterday morning, north of Nawiliwili Harbor. The U.S. Coast Guard says at least three of them have died in the mass stranding.

    U.S. Cost Guard crews are searching for a Buffalo, N.Y., Police Under-water Recovery Team member who went missing in the Niagara River during a training exercise.

    The U.S. Coast Guard has rescued two women stranded on the rocks at the Hug Point State Recreation Site on Oregon's northern coast.

    The U.S. Coast Guard on Oct. 12th hosted its first-ever Douglas Munro Birthday Event at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., to honor the legacy of Doulas Munro, its only Medal of Honor recipient.

    United States Coast Guard Station Juneau, Alaska, is hosting its annual Halloween event, called "Haunted Station."

    The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 19 foreign fishermen and their American captain from a U.S.-flagged commercial fishing vessel that ran aground off the shore of Waikiki on Wednesday. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Sara Muir said yesterday officials are working to get diesel fuel off the boat, which carries almost 50,000 liters of gas and hydraulic oils. There was no sign that any fuel or other hazardous materials had leaked into the water, Muir said. Officials did not receive a distress call from the Honolulu-based Pacific Princess when it ran aground in shallow water less than 370 meters offshore. Eyewitnesses on land reported the incident to the Coast Guard, which responded with the Honolulu Fire Department by boat, jet skis and helicopter. No one was injured. The Coast Guard does not yet know why the captain or crew did not call for help. "The Coast Guard is investigating the circumstances of why the vessel grounded and I’m sure that’s a question they are asking," Muir said. All but three of the men aboard the boat were moved to a nearby Coast Guard vessel and returned to shore. The captain and two crew members were hoisted from the fishing boat by helicopter and flown to Honolulu International Airport. The boat’s crew is being held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at Pier 17 in Honolulu because they do not have visas to enter the United States. Hundreds of foreign workers are employed in the Hawaii fishing fleet due to a federal loophole that allows them to work but exempts them from most basic labor protections. Many come from impoverished Southeast Asian and Pacific nations to take the dangerous jobs, which can pay as little as 70 cents an hour.

    Old Station Nauset, on Coast Guard Beach in Eastham, Mass., was open to the public today as part of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's 78th anniversary.

    And U.S. Coast Guard federal agents plan to investigate a recent in­ci­dent at Coast Guard Base El­iz­a­beth City, N.C., that a top base of­fi­cial de­scribed this week as "racial ha­rass­ment" and a "hate in­ci­dent." Capt. Randy Hartnett, then commanding officer of the base’s Aviation Logistics Center, said the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) has launched an investigation into the Sept. 25th incident at the ALC’s Heavy Maintenance Facility. The facility is used to overhaul and restore both Coast Guard C-130 search-and-rescue aircraft and law enforcement aircraft. Hartnett declined to confirm the nature of the incident, saying it might jeopardize the CGIS' probe. But he described it as racial harassment-motivated. It was what we would call a form of harassment that would lead down the road to what the Coast Guard Civil Rights Manual would classify as a hate incident," Hartnett said. He wasn’t sure how many contractors, civil service employees or uniformed personnel with access to the Heavy Maintenance Facility encountered the incident. "It wasn't out in the open and I think it had limited exposure, so to speak," he said. Nonetheless, the incident "definitely violates" the Coast Guard’s values of honor and respect, specifically respect for others, and the agency's devotion to duty, Hartnett said. He also said the incident was significant enough that Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft has been notified of it. Hartnett said he addressed contractors, civil service employees and uniformed Coast Guard personnel at the Heavy Maintenance Facility about the incident on Wednesday. He said the point of the meeting was to send a message, loud and clear, that the Coast Guard "absolutely cannot tolerate anything like this in our workforce." The message appeared to be well-received among those in attendance, he said. Hartnett, who assumed command of the ALC in June, noted he worked for the command from 2006-11 as the C-130 engineer and product line manager. "And we never had anything like this happen," he said.

Hartnett said no employees have been suspended or fired as a result of the incident. "It's was kind of one of those things that you couldn't easily tell who had done it," he said. Asked if there are cameras in the Heavy Maintenance Facility that could have videotaped the incident, he declined to confirm that there are. "That will come out in the course of the investigation," he said. Keith Rivers, the president of the Pasquotank County branch of the NAACP, said he was unaware of the incident at the ALC. But he said the military has always been proactive about incidents involving racial harassment, often taking a hard line to ensure they're not repeated. "If there's cancer somewhere, they go in and normally cut it out," said Rivers, a Navy veteran. "A lot of times, you can't control some things that happen, but it's what you do after you discover what it is." The ALC is responsible for providing material and technical support to Coast Guard air stations and aircraft. The Heavy Maintenance Facility is an aircraft hangar formerly owned by DRS Technologies but was purchased by the Coast Guard last year.

 

 

 

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