Tag Archives: military

Reuters reports: The U.S. Navy is expected to relieve the commander of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote a scathing letter that leaked to the public asking the Navy for stronger measures to control a coronavirus outbreak onboard, U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Captain Brett Crozier was being relieved not …

Bloomberg News reports: The Pentagon is seeking to provide as many as 100,000 military-style body bags for potential civilian use as the U.S. warns that deaths could soar in the coming weeks from the coronavirus pandemic. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested 100,000 body bags, known as Human Remains Pouches, through an interagency group that directed it to the …

The Navy Times reports: The Navy’s senior leadership was aware of both the COVID-19 outbreak onboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and the concern about properly isolating sailors well before the ship’s commanding officer, Capt. Brett Crozier, sent a letter Monday up his chain of command sounding the alarm, the Navy’s top admiral told reporters Wednesday. “Let me emphasize that …

The Washington Post reports: The Navy plans to remove some 2,700 sailors from a coronavirus-inflicted aircraft carrier in Guam in coming days, senior Navy officials said Tuesday, after government officials on the island secured hotel rooms for many of them. The move comes amid intense scrutiny, after a letter from the ship’s captain circulated in the media drew attention to …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. Coast Guard has directed all cruise ships to prepare to treat any sick passengers and crew on board while being sequestered “indefinitely” offshore during the coronavirus pandemic. The new rules require daily updates on each ship’s coronavirus caseload for vessels in U.S. waters, and come with a stiff warning: Any foreign-flagged vessels “that loiter …

Fox News reports: The Trump administration is sending more than 500 troops to the southern border, as part of the ongoing effort there to combat the coronavirus threat by preventing more infections coming into the U.S. interior. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made the request that the Defense Department provide 540 personnel to support Customs and Border Protection (CBP) …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: The captain of a nuclear aircraft carrier with more than 100 sailors infected with the coronavirus pleaded Monday with U.S. Navy officials for resources to allow isolation of his entire crew and avoid possible deaths in a situation he described as quickly deteriorating. The unusual plea from Capt. Brett Crozier, a Santa Rosa native, came …

Just in from the US Naval Institute: The Pentagon is starting the process of activating Navy hospital ships USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) and USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) as part of the Defense Department’s domestic response to the spreading COVID-19 virus, USNI News has learned. “We’ve already given orders to the Navy… to lean forward in terms of getting them ready to deploy,” …

Courthouse News reports: An attorney for a men’s rights group argued Tuesday before the Fifth Circuit that the military’s all-male draft registration system, which the Supreme Court upheld in 1981, should now be struck down as unconstitutional. Marc Angelucci, representing the National Coalition for Men and two men challenging the male-only draft, said a 2015 decision by the military to …

Agence France-Presse reports: The Taliban said Monday they were resuming offensive operations against Afghan security forces, ending the partial truce that preceded the signing of a deal between the insurgents and Washington. The declaration comes only a day after President Ashraf Ghani said he would continue the partial truce at least until talks between Afghan officials and the Taliban kick-off, …

The BBC reports: The US and the Taliban have signed an agreement aimed at paving the way towards peace in Afghanistan after more than 18 years of conflict. The US and its NATO allies have agreed to withdraw all their troops from the country within 14 months if the militants uphold the deal. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and …

From the military blog Task & Purpose: Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger has ordered all Confederate-related paraphernalia to be removed from Marine Corps installations, his spokesman confirmed on Wednesday. Military analyst B. A. Friedman first tweeted a document showing the commandant’s decision on Wednesday. The document did not say when all of the Confederate-related paraphernalia needed to be removed …

Roll Call reports: The spread of the coronavirus in Europe is affecting operations and services on some U.S. military bases in Italy, and precautions could soon extend to the thousands of personnel stationed in Germany, the general in charge of the military’s activity on that continent told senators on Tuesday. Air Force Gen. Tod D. Wolters, who leads U.S. European …

NBC News reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, uniting against a Trump administration idea to withdraw U.S. troops from part of Africa, pushed back during a fiery exchange with Defense Secretary Mark Esper here over the weekend, according to four people present at or familiar with the meeting. At one point, Graham warned Esper that there …

Posted to the official Space Force website: The U.S. Space Force is looking for feedback from U.S. military space professionals on what Space Force members should be called – similar to how the Air Force refers to its members as ‘Airmen’ or the Army refers to its members as ‘Soldiers’. Given the significance a name has to the identity and …

Space News reports: The Trump administration’s $740.5 billion budget request for national defense in 2021 includes $15.4 billion for the U.S. Space Force, according to documents released by the Pentagon on Friday. The U.S. Space Force was established Dec. 20 as an independent service under the Department of the Air Force. In the 2021 budget the U.S. Air Force transferred …

The Military Times reports: U.S. Northern Command is executing plans to prepare for a potential pandemic of the novel coronavirus, now called COVID19, according to Navy and Marine Corps service-wide messages issued this week. An executive order issued by the Joint Staff and approved by Defense Secretary Mark Esper this month directed Northern Command and geographic combatant commanders to initiate …

The Insider reports: President Donald Trump has doubled down on his assertion that the injuries suffered by US troops during an Iranian missile attack on US forces are “not very serious.” Speaking to Fox Business, the president said that he “stopped something that would have been very devastating for” the Iranians, an apparent reference to US de-escalation in the aftermath …

The military blog Task & Purpose reports: Membership in a white supremacist or neo-Nazi group won’t necessarily get a U.S. service member tossed out of the military, defense officials told a House subcommittee Tuesday. The officials, including representatives of Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, appeared to make a distinction between membership in an extremist organization …

The New York Times reports: The Philippines said Tuesday it had officially informed the United States that it was scrapping a military pact that has given the longtime American ally a security blanket for the past two decades. The notice to terminate the pact, the Visiting Forces Agreement, comes as President Rodrigo Duterte has warmed up to China while distancing …