Category Archives: US Military

Biden to award Medal of Honor to army pilot who rescued soldiers in Vietnam

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President to recognize Larry Taylor, who risked his life rescue a reconnaissance team that was about to be overrun by the enemy

The White House says Joe Biden will award the Medal of Honor to a Vietnam war-era US army pilot who risked his life to rescue a reconnaissance team that was about to be overrun by the enemy.

The president will recognize Larry Taylor of Signal Mountain, Tennessee, at a ceremony on 5 September. The Medal of Honor is the American military’s highest decoration given to service members who go above and beyond the call of duty, often risking their lives through selfless acts of valor.

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CEO grilled at fiery inquiry – as it happened

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Stephen Jones on stage-three tax cuts: ‘very, very few’ young Australians he knows will benefit

The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, was asked about the stage-three tax cuts while appearing on ABC RN this morning, and reaffirmed the governments commitment to them:

[The] prime minister made a promise before the election and there’s been no change to our policy.

We’ve made it quite clear that our priorities [are] multinational tax avoidance [and] ensuring we have greater compliance with the existing tax laws before we were to go to Australians and say we think you need to pay more.

Very, very few.

[The] stage-three tax cuts benefit everybody over $45,000 a year and before you jump into it, yes, I know, the greatest benefit flows to the people on the highest incomes, no doubt about that.

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US military identifies Marine Corps pilot killed in San Diego combat jet crash

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Maj Andrew Mettler – known as ‘Simple Jack’ – was a native of Georgia and a leader of the Fighting Bengals squadron

The US military has identified the Marine Corps pilot who was killed on Thursday when his combat jet crashed near a San Diego base during a training flight.

Maj Andrew Mettler was piloting an F/A-18D Hornet when it went down at 11.54pm on Thursday near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the Second Marine Aircraft Wing said in a statement from its headquarters in Cherry Point, North Carolina. He was the only person on board.

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North Korea claims US soldier crossed over as he was ‘disillusioned by society’

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Travis King entered the country while on tour of a border village on 18 July, becoming the first American detained in nearly five years

North Korea asserted Wednesday that a US soldier who bolted into the North across the heavily armed Korean border last month did so after being disillusioned at the inequality of American society.

It is North Korea’s first official confirmation of the detention of Private 2nd class Travis King, who entered the North while on a tour of a Korean border village on 18 July. He became the first American detained in the country in nearly five years.

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US and Beijing spar over shipwreck-turned-military outpost

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Vessel becomes potential flashpoint as Beijing orders Philippines to remove wreck housing marines in South China Sea

An international row is growing between the Philippines, the US and China over a rusting ship that has been turned into a crucial military outpost in the South China Sea.

The dilapidated second world war-era ship was deliberately run aground on a tiny reef in the South China Sea in 1999 by the Philippines, and a small contingent of troops continue to stay on board to stake the country’s claim in the highly disputed water.

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US dispatches warships after China and Russia send naval patrol near Alaska

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Combined naval patrol appeared to be largest such flotilla to approach US territory and ‘highly provocative’, expert says

The US dispatched four navy warships as well as a reconnaissance airplane after multiple Chinese and Russian military vessels carried out a joint naval patrol near Alaska last week.

The combined naval patrol, which the Wall Street Journal first reported, appeared to be the largest such flotilla to approach US territory, according to experts that spoke to the outlet.

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US declines to classify soldier who entered North Korea as prisoner of war

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Decision means Travis King, who is detained in North Korea, is not covered by prisoner of war protections

The US has declined so far to classify army soldier Travis King as a prisoner of war (PoW) despite his being detained in North Korea after he crossed into the country last month, four American officials told Reuters.

The decision, which could mean King is not covered by the protections entitled to prisoners of war under the Geneva conventions, is highly sensitive for the US military given its commitment to leave no soldier behind enemy lines.

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Armed US troops may guard oil tankers against Iranian hijackings

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Commercial vessels would be invited to carry sailors and marines in Strait of Hormuz, part of Persian Gulf where Pentagon is beefing up presence

The US could soon offer to put armed sailors and marines on commercial ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, two US officials have said, amid alleged attempts by Iran to hijack ships in international waters.

The Pentagon in July sent additional F-35 and F-16 fighter jets along with a warship to the Middle East after Iran’s seizure and harassment of commercial shipping vessels.

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US navy sailors arrested on charges of passing sensitive material to China

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Jinchao Wei, 22, and Wenheng Zhao, 26, accused in separate cases of ‘violating commitments they made to protect the United States’

Two US navy sailors have been arrested on charges of handing over sensitive national security material to China, US officials said on Thursday.

Jinchao Wei, a 22-year-old sailor assigned to the San Diego-based USS Essex, was arrested on Wednesday on a charge related to espionage involving conspiracy to sending national defense information to Chinese officials. In a separate case, the justice department charged Wenheng Zhao, 26, for allegedly collecting bribes in exchange for giving sensitive US military photos and videos to a Chinese intelligence officer.

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Pentagon hit by ‘critical compromise’ of US air force communications – report

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Forbes reports claim that engineer at Arnold air force base in Tennessee had taken home government radio technologies

The Pentagon is investigating a “critical compromise” of communications across 17 US air force facilities, according to reports.

The US department of defense’s investigation comes amid a tip from a base contractor that a 48-year-old engineer at the Arnold air force base in Tennessee had taken home various government radio technologies, Forbes first reported Friday.

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Former Taliban prisoner Bowe Bergdahl’s desertion conviction vacated

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A federal judge ruled that the military judge in former US soldier’s trial failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest

A US judge has vacated the military conviction of Bowe Bergdahl, a former army soldier who pleaded guilty to desertion after he left his post and was captured in Afghanistan and tortured by the Taliban.

The ruling from federal district judge Reggie Walton in Washington says that military judge Jeffrey Nance, who presided over the court-martial, failed to disclose that he had applied to the executive branch for a job as an immigration judge, creating a potential conflict of interest.

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Russian fighter jet fires flares at US drone in Syria

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Latest aggressive intercept by Russia in region sees drone damaged, a week after jet flew dangerously close to US aircraft

A Russian fighter jet flew within a few meters of a US drone over Syria and fired flares at it, striking the American aircraft and damaging it, the latest in a string of aggressive intercepts by Russia in the region.

A senior air force commander said the Russians attempted on Sunday to knock the MQ-9 Reaper drone out of the sky. It came just a week after a Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to a US surveillance aircraft carrying a crew in the region, jeopardizing the lives of the four Americans on board.

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West must focus on preparing Ukraine’s troops – or we will all pay the price | Jack Watling

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A bureaucratic, peacetime approach to training and stockpiling among Zelenskiy’s allies is posing a threat to European security

For two months Ukrainian forces have been endeavouring to fight their way through densely fortified Russian positions to breach the so-called Surovikin line in an attempt to liberate their territory. Fighting has been exceedingly hard, with heavy losses of equipment and personnel on both sides. Irrespective of how much progress is made over the coming months, Ukraine’s international partners need to focus their assistance on preparing Ukrainian armed forces for the next fight.

It is important to understand the challenge the Ukrainians are trying to overcome. Russian troops are fighting from successive layers of concrete-hardened positions, each behind 120-500 metres of complex minefields. They are backed up by significant artillery and attack helicopter support and protected by dense electronic warfare and air defences. Although Ukrainian troops tend to win when they get into close combat with the Russians, getting there without taking unsustainable losses is not always possible.

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North Korea fails to answer entreaties about US soldier who crossed border

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Travis King had finished prison term in South Korea for assault and was supposed to be returning to Texas

North Korea is not responding to US attempts to discuss the American soldier who crossed the heavily armed border and whose prospects for a quick release are unclear when military tensions are high and communication channels inactive.

Pte Travis King, who was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, after finishing a prison sentence in South Korea for assault, ran into North Korea while on a civilian tour of the border village of Panmunjom on Tuesday. He is the first known American to be held in North Korea in nearly five years.

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US soldier was reportedly laughing when crossing border into North Korea

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Soldier, identified by US and Korean officials as Travis King, gave ‘out a loud “ha ha ha”’, member of tour group says

A US soldier who crossed into North Korea while on a tour group after escaping military detention was laughing as he fled over the inter-Korean border, according to media reports.

US and Korean officials identified the soldier as Private 2nd Class Travis King, according to CBS News. King, 23, was being held in custody by South Korea at the airport in Incheon, near Seoul, and in the process of being expelled when he fled.

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House Republicans pass defense bill, setting up clash on abortion policy

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Senate must now consider bill to fund US military containing amendments on abortion, transgender healthcare and diversity

The Republican-led House of Representatives on Friday approved a huge defense bill that includes amendments overturning the Pentagon’s policies on covering abortion services for the military, healthcare costs for transgender service members and diversity initiatives – setting up a historic clash with Democrats and the Biden administration that could imperil spending on the armed forces.

The amendments, pushed by the GOP’s right flank with the support of the speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, represent the latest instance of conservative lawmakers using their influence in Congress’s lower chamber to attempt to change Joe Biden’s policies on a range of issues that chiefly animate the Republican base.

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Missing California teen found inside Marine Corps barracks in San Diego

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The 14-year-old’s grandmother had reported the girl’s absence and authorities said a marine had been taken briefly into custody

Two weeks after a 14-year-old girl’s grandmother reported that she had run away in early June, the teenager was found in an unusual location: inside the barracks at a California Marine Corps base north of San Diego.

Federal law enforcement officials said Monday that they are investigating and had taken a marine with the combat logistics battalion 5, 1st marine logistics group into custody briefly for questioning. He has since been released to his command while the investigation continues, said Marine Capt Charles Palmer of the 1st marine logistics group at Camp Pendleton, about 40 miles (65km) north of San Diego.

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The US and China are talking again, but what happens next?

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After years of deepening economic and military mistrust between the superpowers, they were finally back in a room together

When Janet Yellen left Beijing on Sunday after four days of talks, the US treasury secretary in effect admitted that the delegation achieved its main objective simply by sitting down with top Chinese officials.

After years of dangerous and deepening separation between the people running the world’s two biggest economies, they were finally back in a room together.

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US says it killed Islamic State leader Usamah al-Muhajir in Syria

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Statement says that strike was carried out by the same drones that were earlier harassed by Russian aircraft

The US military said on Sunday it conducted a strike that killed Usamah al-Muhajir, an Islamic State leader in eastern Syria.

“The strike on Friday was conducted by the same MQ-9s that had, earlier in the day, been harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that had lasted almost two hours,” a statement from US Central Command said.

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Lyft driver who worked as US interpreter in Afghanistan shot dead in Washington

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Nasratullah Ahmadyar, 31, who left Afghanistan on last flight from Kabul in 2021, died in hospital after being shot in his car

A Virginia man who previously served as an interpreter for the US military in Afghanistan was fatally shot this week working as a rideshare driver in Washington.

Nasratullah Ahmadyar, 31, was shot and killed on Monday while driving for Lyft, WUSA 9 reported. He had worked as an interpreter with the army special forces, but left Afghanistan on the last flight out of the country during the US withdrawal in 2021.

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