Category Archives: US Military

Pete Buttigieg condemns Trump’s reported remarks about wounded veteran

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Ex-president reportedly told Gen Mark Milley in 2019 that severely wounded soldier should be banned from public appearances

Pete Buttigieg, the US transport secretary and a military veteran, has criticized Donald Trump after a report that he sought to bar a severely wounded veteran from public appearances during his presidency.

In an interview with the Atlantic, Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said Trump had been irritated after Luis Avila – who lost a leg and suffered brain damage after an IED attack in Afghanistan – sang at Milley’s 2019 welcome ceremony.

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‘Not sure where the airplane is’: bizarre 911 call details events before F-35 crash

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Four-minute recording involves a South Carolina resident trying to explain to a puzzled dispatcher how ‘we got a pilot in the house’

A military pilot whose advanced fighter jet went temporarily missing over the weekend is heard repeatedly requesting an ambulance in a perplexing 911 call from the South Carolina home where he had parachuted to safety, according to an audio recording released Thursday to the Associated Press.

The four-minute recording captures the bizarre circumstances for the three unidentified people involved: a North Charleston resident calmly explaining that a pilot just parachuted into his backyard, the pilot who doesn’t know what became of his F-35 jet and a puzzled dispatcher trying to make sense of it all.

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Bear raid on Krispy Kreme! Ursine invaders sack Alaska doughnut truck

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An unattended pastry truck was irresistible to a bear mom and her cub, who gorged on doughnuts before being chased away

Two bears on an Alaska military base raided a Krispy Kreme doughnut van that was stopped outside a convenience store during its delivery route.

The driver usually left his doors open when he stopped at the store but this time a sow and one of her cubs that loitered nearby sauntered inside, where they stayed for probably 20 minutes on Tuesday morning, said Shelly Deano, the store manager for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson JMM Express. The bears chomped on doughnut holes and other pastries, ignoring the banging on the side of the van that was intended to shoo them away, Deano said.

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Authorities locate debris of F-35 fighter jet that crashed in South Carolina

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Recovery team worked to secure the debris field of a Marine Corps F-35 fighter jet after pilot ejected and parachuted to safety

Authorities found a debris field Monday from a Marine Corps F-35 stealth fighter jet that crashed in South Carolina after the pilot ejected and parachuted to safety.

The debris field was located in rural Williamsburg county, according to the Marine Corps’ Joint Base Charleston. The field is about two hours north-east of the base, and residents were being asked to avoid the area while the recovery team worked to secure it.

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US military asks for help to find missing F-35 fighter jet after ‘mishap’ sees pilot eject

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Search for F-35B Lightning II fighter jet focused on two lakes after Marine Corps pilot ejected over North Charleston for unknown reason

US military officials have appealed to the public for help to find a fighter jet after losing track of it somewhere over South Carolina when the pilot ejected.

A Marine Corps pilot safely escaped the F-35B Lightning II jet over North Charleston on Sunday afternoon after a “mishap”, military officials said, and the search for his missing aircraft was now focused on two lakes north of North Charleston.

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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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