November 16 Joint Base Lewis-McChord Daily News Clip
Local/Regional Pacific:
Stars and Stripes
Combined command in South Korea completes ‘historic’ move to Camp Humphreys
(Key words): Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas, now serves as the headquarters for U.S. Forces Korea, U.N. Command and the Combined Forces Command. Roughly 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, the majority of them at Humphreys. USFK commander Gen. Paul LaCamera and Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup during a ceremony at the new headquarters welcomed Soldiers from both countries and thanked them for their help in maintaining the South Korea-U.S. alliance. Since its creation in 1978, the Combined Forces Command coordinates the defense of South Korea with troops from Seoul and Washington. The command has operational control of over 700,000 active-duty U.S. and South Korean troops. https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2022-11-15/combined-command-usfk-un-korea-humphreys-8058722.html
Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
Team McChord Promotes interoperability during RF-A, Rainier war
(Key words): Members from Team McChord participated in Exercise RED FLAG, Alaska 23-1 and Exercise Rainier War 22B, October 3-21. During the nearly month-long exercises, multiple U.S. and allied aircraft and personnel practiced executing simulated combat missions in and over training areas above Alaska. RED FLAG-Alaska is a series of Pacific Air Forces commander-directed field training exercises for U.S. forces, providing joint offensive counter-air, interdiction, close air support, and large force employment training in a simulated combat environment. https://www.dvidshub.net/news/433296/team-mcchord-promotes-interoperability-during-rf-rainier-war
Tacoma Weekly
Theater District Hosts 77th Annual Holiday Tree Lighting
(Key words): The community open house begins in the Pantages lobby at 4 pm with performances by Tacoma’s Resident Arts Organizations, an opportunity to visit with Santa Claus, holiday storytelling, cookies from Corina Bakery, complimentary hot beverages, and a performance from Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s 56th Army America’s First Corps Band. Remarks will be made by Mayor Victoria Woodards (City of Tacoma), Brigadier General Martine Kidd (Joint Base Lewis-McChord), David Schroedel (Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce), and Lynn Carlotto (Tacoma City Theaters/ASM Global). The open house is sponsored, in part, by KNKX, with station personality Paige Hansen acting as emcee. https://tacomaweekly.com/theater-district-hosts-th-annual-holiday-tree-lighting-p4229-117.htm
The Suburban Times
JBLM will conduct mortar training Nov. 15-15
(Key words): Joint Base Lewis-McChord will conduct day and nighttime mortar training from Nov. 15 at 6 a.m. to Nov. 16 at 11:59 p.m. Public queries or comments about noise may be directed to JBLM Public Affairs.https://thesubtimes.com/2022/11/14/jblm-will-conduct-mortar-training-nov-15-16/
Commentary
South Korea’s defense minister lays out four results from trip to US
(Key words): Earlier this month, I co-chaired the annual Republic of Korea-United States Security Consultative Meeting in Washington, D.C., with the event in its 54th year and involving U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The SCM functions as a ministerial-level defense consultative body and has served as the symbol of the South Korea-U.S. alliance. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2022/11/14/south-koreas-defense-minister-lays-out-four-results-from-trip-to-us/
Fox 13 Memphis
Killer Army vet charged in 1974 double murder of Oregon teens
(Key words): An Oregon Army veteran who spent more than a decade behind bars for killing his commanding officer 46 years
ago is now charged with gunning down two high school students as they worked on a car’s engine in 1974.
Steven Paul Criss, 65, of Aloha, was arrested Nov. 3 and charged with the murders of Peter Zito Jr., 18, of Beaverton, and Donald Bartron, 16, of Aloha. Criss is being held in the Washington County Jail. Criss is accused of using a .22-caliber handgun — the same gun he used to kill Army Sgt. Jacob “Kim” Brown two years later in Washington state — to kill Zito and Bartron the morning of Oct. 3, 1974.https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/trending/killer-army-vet-charged-1974-double-murder-oregon-teens/GHXMCCUAZ5GJXCNQLYHUSKG5C4/
National:
The Marine Times
Hawaii Marine honored for jumping off cliff to save woman’s life
(Key words): A Marine received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal — the highest non-combat award for heroism — for saving the life of a woman who had been swept off a cliff in Hawaii. Cpl. Robert Farmer, a small arms repair technician stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, was spending his Labor Day at the China Walls cliffs, a popular destination on Oahu. Then he saw a huge wave sweep a woman off the side of a cliff, according to an Indo-Pacific Command press release on Nov. 3. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2022/11/15/hawaii-marine-honored-for-jumping-off-cliff-to-save-womans-life/
The Associated Press
NTSB investigating vintage military aircraft crash in Dallas
(Key words): Officials on Monday identified the six men killed in a deadly collision between two vintage military aircraft at a Dallas air show, all of whom were experienced aviators with years of flight training. The Commemorative Air Force, which put on the show, identified the victims as: Terry Barker, Craig Hutain, Kevin “K5″ Michels, Dan Ragan, Leonard “Len” Root, and Curt Rowe. https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2022/11/14/ntsb-investigating-vintage-military-aircraft-crash-in-dallas/
Air Force Times
Can the Air Force train new pilots without planes?
(Key words): Airmen are gearing up for what could be the most consequential move in military pilot training since the Air Force was created in 1947: teaching students to fly without stepping foot in a real airplane. The new program, known as “Air Mobility Fundamentals-Simulator,” is the Air Force’s next step in a yearslong attempt to modernize pilot training without sacrificing quality. https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2022/11/16/can-the-air-force-train-new-pilots-without-planes/
Roll Call
Senators to DOD: Address ‘bad actors’ among military landlords
(Key words): In a six-page letter sent Monday to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and obtained by CQ Roll Call, the senators urged him to change or kill contracts with these companies if necessary. “The vast majority of the military housing providers have voluntarily agreed to uphold these rights, and it is time to address the remaining bad actors,” the senators said. If the companies “continue to refuse to provide these rights,” they added, “we urge DoD to exercise its right to terminate these agreements.” https://rollcall.com/2022/11/15/senators-to-dod-address-bad-actors-among-military-landlords/
Task & Purpose
Are US military aircraft really as broken as a government watchdog says they are?
(Key words): A new report from Congress paints a dire picture of the state of U.S. military aviation, revealing that the services have not been able to meet their mission readiness goals for most fighters, transports, bombers, helicopters and other aircraft over the past 10 years. But some experts say that the “mission capable” statistic the report hinges on is not an adequate tool for measuring whether U.S. military aircraft can respond to a crisis.https://taskandpurpose.com/news/military-aircraft-mission-capable-rates-gao/
Defense News
Army awards Lockheed $500M deal to replenish rockets stockpile
(Key words): The U.S. Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a deal worth $521 million to replenish U.S. stocks of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, which were supplied to Ukraine to beat back Russia’s invasion. The service on Oct. 21 and Nov. 2 issued contracts funded by Congress’ supplemental appropriation to support Ukraine. “These awards demonstrate the significant impact GMLRS are having on the battlefield as a vital combat capability for our international partners,” William LaPlante, the Under Secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said in a Nov. 14 statement. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2022/11/14/army-awards-lockheed-500m-deal-to-replenish-rockets-stockpile/
NBC News
Pentagon and Army sued over decades-old policy barring recruits with HIV
(Key words): After a successful effort earlier this year to ease longstanding restrictions on service members living with HIV, LGBTQ rights advocates are now pushing for more change. They want to end the U.S. military’s decades-old policy of barring people with HIV from enlisting. LGBTQ advocacy group Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit Thursday on behalf of three individuals living with HIV: Isaiah Wilkins, a gay police officer in Georgia; a transgender lesbian woman who left the military in 2013 to transition and a straight woman who had dreams of becoming a parachute rigger. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/pentagon-army-sued-decades-old-policy-recruits-hiv-rcna56783
Observation Post
‘Inspection’ director calls new Marine film the ‘Black, gay Rocky’
(Key words): Elegance Bratton is an expert in fiction. Throughout his career in the U.S. Marine Corps, he learned how to pretend to be things he wasn’t. It was how he survived as a Black gay man during the era of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. It comes as no surprise, then, that Bratton has carved out a post-military career in filmmaking. His directorial debut, “The Inspection,” is a fictionalized retelling of his own experience as a young, gay Black man who, after being shunned by his own mother for coming out, decides to join the Marine Corps. https://www.armytimes.com/off-duty/2022/11/15/the-inspection-director-calls-his-marine-film-the-black-gay-rocky/
International:
NBC News
Navy, Coast Guard intercept boat with 180 tons of Iranian explosive material headed to Yemen
(Key words): The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard intercepted an enormous Iranian shipment of explosive materials headed to Yemen last week, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command. The stateless fishing boat was carrying more than 180 tons of urea fertilizer and ammonium perchlorate when the Coast Guard ship USCGC John Scheuerman and Navy guided missile destroyer USS The Sullivans came across the dhow in international waters of the Gulf of Oman on Nov. 8. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/navy-coast-guard-seize-180-tons-iran-explosives-yemen-rcna57169
Military News
Biden, Xi Clash on Taiwan but try to ‘manage’ differences
(Key words): President Joe Biden objected to China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions” toward Taiwan during the first in-person meeting of his presidency with Xi Jinping, as the two superpower leaders on Monday aimed to “manage” their differences in the competition for global influence. The nearly three-hour meeting was the highlight of Biden’s weeklong, round-the-world trip to Asia, and came at a critical juncture for the two countries amid increasing economic and security tensions. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/11/14/biden-xi-seek-manage-our-differences-meeting.html
ABC News
Amid tensions with China, Taiwan shows off military drones
(Key words): Taiwan displayed its self-developed drone technology Tuesday, amid rising concerns over China's threats to use force to assert its claim to the self-governing island republic. The National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, which develops military technology, offered a rare look at the Chien Hsiang drone designed to destroy enemy radars, and other unmanned combat aerial vehicles. A dozen of the single-use drones, officially termed loitering munitions, are carried on a truck. Launched with a built-in rocket, they are guided by a propeller engine before crashing into their targets. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/amid-tensions-china-taiwan-shows-off-military-drones-93325921
CNN
US studying how to modify powerful armed drone as Ukrainian demand grows
(Key words): As Russian forces have retreated in Ukraine’s south, the Biden administration has announced a slew of new military aid packages for Ukraine, but all were missing a piece of weaponry that Ukraine’s military has long sought: the multi-use Gray Eagle drone, armed with Hellfire missiles. According to two officials, the US has been looking into modifications that can be made to the deadly drone. Changes that would make the potential of losing any – with their sensitive onboard technology – less of a danger and possibly increase the likelihood of Ukraine receiving them. https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/14/politics/us-ukraine-military-drones-gray-eagle/index.html