Military

Navy Recommends Reinstating Fired Carrier Captain

The New York Times reports: Capt. Brett E. Crozier should be restored to command of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, the Navy’s top officials recommended on Friday. But Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, who was briefed on the recommendations, has asked for more time to consider whether to sign off on the reinstatement of the captain of the nuclear-powered carrier. …

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Top Marine Issues Letter On Confederate Flag Ban

The Marine Corps Times reports: The top Marine says the Confederate battle flag “has the power to inflame feelings of division” as one of his reasons for his call to “exclude from our Corps public displays” of the battle flag carried by the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger posted the letter …

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Pentagon Unveils Plan To Test All Service Members

The Military Times reports: The Defense Department has set a goal to be testing 60,000 service members a day for coronavirus by June, but they won’t get there all at once. The plan is to start testing the most at-risk and most essential troops first, then work their way toward the rest of the force as testing capacity increases. Of …

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Pentagon Plans Multi-City “National Unity” Air Shows

The Washington Post reports: The Pentagon is planning a multicity tour of the U.S. military’s top flight demonstration teams to “champion national unity” amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to senior U.S. officials and a memo obtained by The Washington Post. The Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds, the demonstration squadrons for the Navy and Air Force, will fly over some cities …

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Trump Orders Navy To Fire On Harassing Iranian Boats

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had instructed the U.S. Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass it at sea, a week after 11 vessels from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came dangerously close to U.S. ships in the Gulf. “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any …

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Pentagon To Seek Billions For Defense Contractors

The Hill reports: The Pentagon will ask for billions of dollars in the next version of a stimulus package to help defense contractors hit by closures or other effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said Monday. “We’re taking billions and billions on that one,” Ellen Lord, under secretary of Defense for acquisition and sustainment, said at …

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Pentagon: No Travel By Military Members Thru June 30

NBC News reports: The Department of Defense announced Saturday that it would extend travel restrictions for all military personnel through June 30th due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The travel restrictions were initially in place through May 11th. The new date will go into effect on Monday, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Matthew P. Donovan told reporters …

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Clue: Majority Of Infected Sailors Are Asymptomatic

Reuters reports: Sweeping testing of the entire crew of the coronavirus-stricken U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt may have revealed a clue about the pandemic: The majority of the positive cases so far are among sailors who are asymptomatic, officials say. The possibility that the coronavirus spreads in a mostly stealthy mode among a population of largely young, healthy people showing …

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Former Navy Sec Lied About Carrier Captain’s Warning

The Washington Post reports: As a coronavirus outbreak swept through a U.S. aircraft carrier crippled off the coast of Guam, the ship’s commander tapped out an e-mail urging senior Navy leaders to evacuate most of the 4,800 sailors onboard. Capt. Brett Crozier opened his March 30 message to three admirals by saying he would “gladly” follow them “into battle whenever …

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Reinstating Ex-Carrier Captain May Hinge On Trump

The New York Times reports: The Navy is looking into whether it can reinstate Capt. Brett E. Crozier, who was removed from command of the carrier Theodore Roosevelt after he pleaded for more help fighting a coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship, Defense officials said on Wednesday. Adm. Michael M. Gilday, the chief of naval operations, has indicated that he may …

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Trump Claims Executive Privilege In Amazon Lawsuit

Politico reports: The Pentagon’s inspector general “could not definitively determine” whether the White House influenced the procurement process for a major cloud computing contract because senior Defense Department officials were barred from answering questions on the subject during interviews, according to a 313-page report released on Wednesday. Department personnel who evaluated proposals and awarded the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract …

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Plan To Withdraw From Open Skies Treaty Raises Alarm

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reports: Reports emerged this week that the White House may be moving “soon” on withdrawing from the Open Skies treaty, a nearly two-decade-old agreement that allows 34 countries to fly and share reconnaissance missions over each other to promote military cooperation and transparency. Last month, defense secretary Mark Esper said he was freezing a long-overdue …

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US Aircraft Carrier Now Has At Least 550 COVID Cases

NBC News reports: At least 550 crew members aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week after its captain, Brett Crozier, was relieved of duty for sounding the alarm about an outbreak on the ship. The Navy said 92 percent of crew members have been tested for COVID-19. More than 3,600 tested negative. The …

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Defense Secretary Open To Reinstating Carrier Captain

The Hill reports: Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he is open to reinstating the Navy captain who was removed from his post last week shortly after asking for help with a coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship. “We’ve taken nothing off the table,” Esper said on CBS News Friday morning. “My inclination is always to support the chain of command, and …

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Meghan McCain Blasts Trump’s “Honoring” Of POWs

The Hill reports: “The View” co-host Meghan McCain on Tuesday knocked President Trump’s tweet honoring former prisoners of war after he previously attacked her father, the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), for being captured during the Vietnam War. The president honored National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day on his Twitter account, saying, “We pay tribute to these Patriots for …

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Esper Accepts Modly’s Resignation, Successor Tapped

CNN reports: Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned on Tuesday, a day after leaked audio revealed he called the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt “stupid” in an address to the ship’s crew, according to a US official and a former senior military official. The Navy and Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment. Undersecretary …

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Astronaut’s Estranged Wife Charged Over Space Crime

Space.com reports: NASA astronaut Anne McClain’s estranged wife has been charged with lying about a “space crime” that she alleged McClain committed. In August 2019, the New York Times reported that amid their separation, Summer Worden [photo] complained that McClain had allegedly accessed Worden’s bank account from the International Space Station. The accusation immediately generated a tremendous amount of media …

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Acting Navy Sec Offers To Resign Over Speech Scandal

Politico reports: Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly offered to resign on Tuesday following an uproar over a profanity-laced address to the crew of the coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on Sunday, according to a senior defense official with knowledge of the matter. Modly submitted his resignation letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday after meeting with his boss …

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Defense Sec Ordered Apology For Attack On Ex-Captain

The Daily Beast reports: Defense Secretary Mark Esper directed Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to apologize for his remarks about Capt. Brett Crozier, hours after the military official had publicly doubled down and said they were “from the heart.” The defense secretary’s order prompted Modly’s apology about his speech to the crew of the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt …

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Navy Sec Apologizes For Scathing Attack On Ex-Captain

CNBC reports: The Navy’s top civilian issued an apology Monday night after ridiculing a captain whose letter pleading for help amid a coronavirus outbreak on a U.S. warship was leaked. “Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naïve nor stupid,” wrote acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly in a statement. “I believe, precisely because …

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