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(Key words): Over 1,200 turkeys were distributed to selected junior enlisted service members with families on Joint Base Lewis-McChord during Turkey Drop 2022. The event was coordinated by JBLM’s Chaplains Corps along with command support. “It was a fantastic day,” said Chaplain (Col.) Jason Nobles, JBLM Garrison chaplain. “It’s a great partnership of the community and our JBLM units, command teams and service members; and great effort by our unit ministry teams across base who organized this effort.”https://www.army.mil/article/262058/jblm_turkey_dropdistributes_1200_turkeys

(Key words): The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed in a hearing Wednesday that it will follow military families potentially exposed to jet fuel during the Navy’s Red Hill fuel spills for decades to come. Thousands of people were sickened nearly year ago by the fuel-tainted tap water, but lawmakers and families are worried people could get lost in the government system as service members retire. Meredith Wilson, whose husband is in the Air Force, lived in military housing at Pearl Harbor when last year’s fuel spills contaminated the Navy drinking water system that serves 93,000. https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/11/17/us-veterans-affairs-track-red-hill-fuel-exposure-decades/

(Key words): It's November, which means the holiday season is here. Holiday weight gain can be a concern for many military members. Americans gain an average of 1-2 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's. With the right mindset and self-regulation, weight gain around the holidays is preventable. https://www.army.mil/article/262061/managing_holiday_food_weight_gain

(Key words): A female artillery officer will make history next week when she becomes the first woman to command the Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon. Capt. Kelsey M. Hastings, a native of Seattle, Washington, was selected to serve as the Silent Drill Platoon Commander for the Marine Barracks Washington 2023 parade season. She will assume command on Monday, Nov. 21.
The Silent Drill Platoon is a 24-Marine rifle platoon that performs a unique precision drill exhibition without verbal cadence or commands. https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/3219894/marine-corps-first-female-silent-drill-platoon-commander/

(Key words): Ranger Challenge acts as the varsity sport of the U.S. Army’s reserve officer training corps program. Each team consists of nine cadets who are tested individually and as a team in various challenges. These events range from physical fitness exams to simulated operations not unlike those that they will undertake as officers once they complete the ROTC program. With their strong placement, members of the Cougar Battalion team will go on to represent WSU at the 8th Brigade Ranger Challenge competition January 26-29 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. https://www.bigcountrynewsconnection.com/news/wsu-army-rotc-team-advances-to-next-round-in-ranger-challenge/article_5e2edb68-653f-11ed-b484-471ead669a45.html

(Key words): Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said Wednesday that long-range precision fires will be the service’s “No. 1 priority” when it comes to modernization. McConville, speaking at the Politico 2022 Defense Summit in Washington on Wednesday, reiterated that the main takeaway from the National Defense Strategy, released last month, is the “pacing challenge” that China poses, and the “acute threat” that Russia presents. McConville said the key will be making sure the United States has the adequate amount of forces stationed in the Indo-Pacific, and that allies and partners are integrated. https://insidedefense.com/daily-news/mcconville-long-range-precision-fires-armys-no-1-modernization-priority

(Key words): Defense Department officials on Wednesday promised changes to oversight in their Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps programs at high schools across America in the wake of multiple cases of sexual abuse of students, but lawmakers said those moves don’t go far enough. “This is a scandal,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Armed Services Committee’s personnel panel. “It is chilling to think that after we have been addressing this issue for years within the military, where we know that cases exceed 30,000 a year, to come and see this going on in our classrooms in high schools.” https://www.armytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2022/11/16/sexual-misconduct-in-jrotc-programs-higher-than-previously-reported/

(Key words): The U.S. Navy said Tuesday it found 70 tons of a missile fuel component hidden among bags of fertilizer aboard a ship bound to Yemen from Iran, the first-such seizure in that country's yearslong war as a cease-fire there has broken down. The Navy said the amount of ammonium perchlorate discovered could fuel more than a dozen medium-range ballistic missiles, the same weapons Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have used to target both forces allied to the country's internationally recognized government and the Saudi-led coalition that supports them. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-navy-70-tons-missile-fuel-iran-yemen-93309123

(Key words): As the Pentagon racked up its fifth comprehensive audit failure, its chief financial officer on Tuesday said Ukraine’s fight against Russia offers a “teachable moment” for the U.S. military to accurately tally its weapons and property. In a call with reporters to release the results of the audit, Defense Department Comptroller Mike McCord said he told Pentagon personnel to envision U.S. troops in the position of their Ukrainian counterparts — dependent on precise tracking of their arsenals. https://www.armytimes.com/pentagon/2022/11/16/dod-fails-audit-cites-ukraine-as-teachable-moment-in-accountability/

(Key words): Disorganization and bureaucracy could hamper the US military's production of ammunition, according to a new report from a government watchdog. This could spell trouble as US arms shipments to Ukraine have depleted American military stockpiles and sent the Pentagon scrambling to ramp up production of artillery shells and other munitions. "The Army faces challenges in managing the procurement and production of conventional ammunition," the Government Accountability Office warned in a study published in October.https://news.yahoo.com/

(Key words): Republican House lawmakers want to know if the Department of Veterans Affairs’ embattled electronic health records system is responsible for the recent deaths of two Ohio veterans, and whether the entire program needs to be scrapped. In a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough, House Veterans Affairs Committee ranking member Mike Bost, R-Ill., and Ohio GOP Reps. Mike Carey and Troy Balderson said department officials need to supply more information on the deaths in order to restore faith in the records system, VA leadership and the department as a whole. https://www.armytimes.com/veterans/2022/11/16/did-vas-health-records-problems-cause-two-patient-deaths-in-ohio/

(Key words): Private industry has solved many problems related to the rapid onboarding of new sensors and sites. The use of automation from networks to applications will enable the Services and OSD to rapidly create the logical integrations necessary to achieve Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or JADC2. As units move to support combatant commands, unit assets need to reduce the time to connectivity. Additionally, there needs to be a focus on automating connections between data distribution nodes and any relevant data backbones.

(Key words): it was the summer of 2021. I had just had a conversation with my first sergeant, who was planning on making his exit from the Army. He informed me that the timeline for starting the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) if you were retiring was different than if you were ETSing (end of time in service ... ing?) This was news to me — splendid, wonderful, exciting, overwhelming news. https://www.armytimes.com/education-transition/2022/11/15/leah-kilpatrick-tap-into-available-programs-to-prepare-for-transition/

(Key words): With the question-and-answer portion of the on-Broadway Arts in the Armed Forces event drawing to a close on Nov. 7, an Army explosive ordinance disposal veteran stood and gripped the microphone. His voice and hands were shaking. The veteran, who did not give his name, turned to Star Wars actor and Marine Corps veteran Adam Driver, who was sitting in the wing of the theater, and thanked him and the event’s cast for what the organization and the evening had given him. https://www.armytimes.com/news/2022/11/15/adam-drivers-non-profit-brings-broadway-to-vets-service-members/

(Key words): Trent Davis, a 21-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Kansas, was killed on his first mission with the International Legion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Nov. 8 near the southern city of Kherson. He is at least the eighth American to die fighting in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Davis joined the International Legion out of a sense of duty, he told family members, and was eager to help Ukrainians repel the Russian invasion that began last February. After a stint with a smaller foreign volunteer outfit that declined to send the inexperienced Davis to the front in the spring — he never deployed as a U.S. soldier — the hopeful volunteer found a more willing unit with the International Legion this fall. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2022/11/16/us-army-veteran-killed-fighting-on-ukraines-southern-front/

(Key words): U.S., Japanese, Australian and Canadian warships are currently staging extensive joint drills in Japanese and international waters, the U.S. Navy said Wednesday. Without mentioning China directly, the 7th Fleet said the two-week biennial “Keen Sword” exercises include scenarios designed to “challenge the critical capabilities required to support the defense of Japan and stability of the Indo-Pacific region.” https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/11/16/us-others-hold-joint-naval-drills-amid-china-concerns.html

(Key words): The world's largest satellite ground station, on the Svalbard archipelago off Norway, is used by Western space agencies to gather vital signals from polar-orbiting satellites. This January, one of two fibre-optic cables on the Arctic seabed connecting Svalbard to the mainland was severed. Norway was forced to rely on a back-up link. In April 2021, another cable – one used by a Norwegian research laboratory to monitor activity on the Arctic seafloor – was ripped away. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nato-allies-wake-up-russian-supremacy-arctic-2022-11-16/

(Key words): NATO member Poland and the head of the military alliance both said Wednesday a missile strike in Polish farmland that killed two people did not appear to be an intentional attack, and that air defenses in neighboring Ukraine likely launched the Soviet-era projectile against a Russian bombardment that savaged the Ukrainian power grid. https://www.armytimes.com/news/2022/11/16/poland-nato-say-missile-strike-wasnt-a-russian-attack/

(Key words): Britain plans to boost its undersea capabilities in the face of growing threats from Russia, with the Ministry of Defence preparing to release tender documents in the next few weeks aimed at purchasing a deep-water remotely operated vehicle. The Defence Equipment and Support arm of the MoD is currently in the process acquiring the remotely operating vehicle in a program likely to cost the British £20 million, or $24 million. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2022/11/16/uk-military-ups-investments-in-undersea-surveillance/

 

 

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