Tag Archives: military

Raw Story reports: The White House on Monday confirmed that President Donald Trump will not visit Arlington National Cemetery on Veteran’s Day. According to Washington Post correspondent Josh Dawsey, the White House announced “a lid” on presidential movements at 10 a.m. ET, meaning the president is not scheduled to leave the White House for the remainder of the day. Weather.com …

Axios reports: Troops at the border are sleeping in tents that house 20 soldiers and have no electricity or air conditioning, with some suffering heat exhaustion within days of starting the mission. There’s no mess hall — only pre-made “Ready-to-Eat” meals — and the only phone chargers available are attached to “a few generators that power spotlights around the living …

The Washington Post reports: The total price of President Trump’s military deployment to the border, including the cost of National Guard forces that have been there since April, could climb well above $200 million by the end of 2018 and grow significantly if the deployments continue into next year, according to analyst estimates and Pentagon figures. The deployment of as many …

CNN reports: When the Trump administration first asked the Pentagon to send troops to the southern border, they wanted them to perform emergency law enforcement functions, CNN has learned. The Pentagon said no. According to two defense official familiar with the request, the Department of Homeland Security asked that the Pentagon provide a reserve force that could be called upon …

Axios reports: President Trump said Friday there are no plans to have troops shoot at the caravan of Central American migrants approaching the U.S.-Mexico border. When asked if he promises troops won’t shoot, Trump said, “Well, I hope they won’t.” Why it matters: Trump claimed Thursday troops deployed to the south border would shoot at migrants if they threw rocks, …

NPR reports: The U.S. military will be sending 5,000 support troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, the Pentagon announced on Monday. The exact number could be slightly higher or lower, a Pentagon official told NPR. The official said the deployment is being done to support the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection. The uniformed troops will likely be …

Defense News reports: The U.S. inked $55.6 billion in foreign military sales during fiscal year 2018, easily smashing past the previous year’s total — and the Pentagon’s point man for security cooperation expects more in the future. “This is a 33 percent increase over last year and I’m very optimistic that this positive trajectory will continue,” said Lt. Gen. Charles …

An excerpt from the new book by WaPo’s Greg Miller: When told that the CIA flew surveillance flights over Syria but that only the military conducted strikes — an Obama policy meant to return the agency’s focus to its core espionage mission — Trump made clear he wanted those restrictions wiped away and for the agency to start firing. “If …

Politico reports: U.S. President Donald Trump is “very seriously” considering Warsaw’s request for a permanent U.S. military base in Poland, he said on Tuesday. Speaking at a joint press conference with Andrzej Duda in Washington D.C., Trump said the security of the Central European country was “almost as important” to him as to the Polish president. “Poland is willing to …

The New York Post reports: A US Coast Guard member was yanked from his duties on the Hurricane Florence response team after making an “offensive” hand symbol during a MSNBC live TV segment, officials said. The unidentified worker was sitting behind Sector Charleston Commanding Officer Capt. John Reed during the interview Friday, when he briefly looked at the camera and …

Bloomberg reports: The Trump administration defended a new military policy that will allegedly result in HIV-positive service members being fired in violation of their constitutional rights when it takes effect Oct. 1. The “Deploy or Get Out!” directive is intended to improve military readiness by weeding out soldiers who can’t deploy overseas for more than 12 consecutive months “for any …

CNN reports: The US officially re-launched the US Navy’s Cold War-era Second Fleet Friday, a move that comes amid renewed concern over the threat posed by Russia. “US Second Fleet has a storied history, and we will honor that legacy,” Vice Adm. Andrew “Woody” Lewis, who took command of the fleet Friday, said during a ceremony marking the fleet’s re-launch. …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump is increasingly venting frustration to his national security team about the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and showing renewed interest in a proposal by Blackwater founder Erik Prince to privatize the war, current and former senior administration officials said. Prince’s idea, which first surfaced last year during the president’s Afghanistan strategy review, envisions replacing troops …

Yahoo News reports: The Pentagon is laying the groundwork for a future Space Force, moving closer to an order from President Trump earlier this summer to create a sixth branch of the armed forces. Speaking at the Pentagon on Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence announced sweeping changes that reorganize how the Department of Defense handles space operations, even if Congress …

The Hill reports: Defense Secretary James Mattis said Tuesday that he “absolutely” supports the creation of a new space branch for the military, but declined to say whether it would be the separate Space Force President Trump has pressed for. Mattis said he supports establishing a new combatant command for space and that the Pentagon is “in complete alignment with …

Defense One reports: The U.S. Defense Department this week will take the first steps to create the Space Force, a new branch of the military ordered up by President Trump but not yet fully backed by Congress. In coming months, Defense Department leaders plan to stand up three of the four components of the new Space Force: a new combatant …

USA Today reports: Following a standing ovation from his teammates, Air Force sophomore defensive back Bradley Kim became the first openly-gay athlete at a service academy when he publicly announced his sexual orientation on Friday. “I almost gave up my dream of playing Division 1 football for fear of not being accepted by everyone,” Kim wrote as part of an …

Axios reports: President Trump wants to update the paint job on the next version of Air Force One, ditching the iconic robin’s-egg blue (which he calls a “Jackie Kennedy color”) for a bolder, “more American” look. “He can do it,” said a source, when asked about whether Trump can make the change. But the change could cause friction with the …

Photo caption from the Navy Office of Community Outreach: Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Kyle Toby, from Anchorage, Alaska, cuts a cake on the mess decks of the Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) during an LGBT Pride Month celebration. Chancellorsville is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the …

Guilty but NOT booted out of the Corps. ABC News reports: The U.S. Marine who marched with neo-Nazis in last summer’s “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been found guilty in a summary court-martial after he reportedly bragged online about participating in the violence that day. Lance Cpl. Vasillios Pistolis was convicted Monday of failing to obey an …