Tag: Acting Secretary Of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan

Military June 19, 2019

Task & Purpose: Last surviving medic from ‘Band of Brothers’ Easy Company laid to rest; The Iraq War’s first living Medal of Honor recipient could also receive 15 years’ worth of back pay; The trial of Navy SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher has officially kicked off and more ->
 
 
 
 
Military.com: Investigation Still Open in Death of Marine Shot at Beaufort Air Station; Senator Joins Call to Allow Troops to Sue for Military Medical Malpractice; Major Power Shift Underway at Pentagon as Army Leaders Step Up; Lawmaker: Close GI Bill ‘Loophole’ that Benefits For-Profit Colleges
 
 
 
 
Statement From Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan
 
 
 
 
https://youtu.be/3ngNDyBEJaw

Military May 30, 2019

The Associated Press | By Jeffrey Schaeffer and Julian Styles: Rare Color Footage Brings D-Day Memories Alive, 75 Years On
Stevens Jr., a writer, director and founder of the American Film Institute, later made a documentary with the footage, “George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin.”

“My father referred to his experience in World War II as having a seat on the 50-yard line. And seeing men at their best and at their worst,” his son said.

Long before social networks and smart phones, the outside world had little visual evidence of the Nazis’ attempted genocide of the Jews.

His father’s unit “went into Dachau, the concentration camp, and nobody had anticipated what they were going to find there,” Stevens Jr. said. “It was this harrowing sight of these emaciated prisoners and typhus and disease and dead bodies stacked like cordwood. … Rather than just being a recorder of events, he became a gatherer of evidence, and he himself took a camera and went into these boxcars, with snow on the ground, with frozen bodies.”
 
 
 
 
En Route Press Gaggle by Acting Secretary Shanahan
 
 
 
 
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | By By Kelly Yamanouchi: Airplane Passenger Mauled by Veteran’s Support Dog Files Lawsuit
 
 
 
 
Military.com | By Richard Sisk: Robert Mueller: A ‘Magnificent Bastard’
What was even stranger — he didn’t curse, at least in front of them — and that was decidedly uncommon for a Marine. They also said that he was “solid,” and knew how to listen. And they also liked that he was a “Mustang” — he had enlisted out of Princeton and gone through Parris Island boot camp just like them, and then through Officer Candidate School.

Mueller would earn the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry in his time in Vietnam. The citation for his Bronze Star said that during an attack on his rifle platoon, “2nd Lt. Mueller fearlessly moved from one position to another, directing the accurate counterfire of his men and shouting words of encouragement to them.”

During the firefight on Dec. 11, 1968, Mueller “personally led a fire team across the fire-swept terrain to recover a mortally wounded Marine who had fallen in a position forward of the friendly lines,” the citation said.
 
 
 
 
Chairman Describes Threats From Iran
Speaking at the Brookings Institution, Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, describes the scenario that prompted an increase in forces in the Gulf region to counter Iranian threats, May 29, 2019. Pool video
 
 
 
 

Military May 22, 2019

The Associated Press | By Brian Melley and Julie Watson: SEAL’s Lawyer Wants Prosecutor, Judge Booted Off Murder Case
“The leakers are investigating the non-leakers and, funny, they found nothing,” Parlatore said.
 
 
 
 
Military.com | By Oriana Pawlyk: Trump Taps Former Diplomat as Next Air Force Secretary
“I am pleased to announce my nomination of Barbara Barrett of Arizona, and former Chairman of the Aerospace Corporation, to be the next Secretary of the Air Force,” he wrote. “She will be an outstanding Secretary! #FlyFightWin.”
 
 
 
 
The Associated Press | By Alan Suderman: Virginia Town Remembers the High Price Paid on D-Day
The dead were country boys who came of age during the Depression and joined the National Guard before the war for extra income and uniforms that local girls thought looked sharp, according to author Alex Kershaw’s 2003 best-seller “The Bedford Boys.”

Frank Draper and Elmere Wright were local baseball standouts. Wallace Carter worked at the town’s pool hall. Earl Parker left behind a young bride and a daughter he never got to meet. Twins Ray and Roy Stevens hoped to run a farm after the war, but only Roy survived.

Their time in combat was short. Among the first waves in the assault on Omaha Beach, Bedford’s soldiers were wiped out by Nazi machine guns and mortars within minutes after their landing craft hit the sand.

“They were waiting for us, the minute the ramp went down, they opened up,” said Elisha Ray Nance, one of the few Bedford Boys who survived that deadly beach landing, in comments recorded in “Bedford Goes to War,” a book by local historian James Morrison.
 
 
 
 
By Haley Britzky: The Army is exchanging a general officer with France for the first time in history
For the first time ever, an Army general officer is heading to Marseilles, France, to command France’s 3rd Armored Division.

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Todd Wasmund and French Brig. Gen. Hubert Cottereau are the first approved exchanges in the U.S. Army’s Military Personnel Exchange Program (MPEP).

Wasmund is set to begin his assignment early next year, according to the Army, while Cottereau, who will take over as deputy commanding general for readiness of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, will start this summer after arriving at Fort Stewart earlier this month.
 
 
 
 
By Paul Szoldra: Former Marine Commandant tells Trump that pardoning troops accused of war crimes ‘relinquishes the moral high ground’
 
 
 
 
By Jared Keller: Mattis cautions against war with Iran in first public remarks since leaving the Pentagon
 
 
 
 
By John Woolfolk, The Mercury News: ‘American Taliban’ John Walker Lindh to get early release from prison this week
On Thursday, John Phillip Walker Lindh, whose haunting image captivated America after his 2001 capture in Afghanistan, is set to be released from an Indiana federal prison after serving most of his 20-year sentence.

“I guess the question we have to ask is, does he represent a threat?” said Alice Hoagland, of Los Gatos, whose son died a hero in the bin Laden-directed Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
 
 
 
 
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan: Remarks by Acting Secretary Shanahan at an Enhanced Honor Cordon in Honor of the Presidents of the Freely Associated States of Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands
Q: Mr. Secretary, can you talk about how the Defense Department is working with the Justice Department and the White House ahead of the possible pardons of Navy SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher, Mathew Golsteyn and the three Marine scout snipers?

SEC. SHANAHAN: Jeff, but I would just say, at this point, I’m not really going to speculate on any of the pardons. But I would just say, we’ll leave it to the White House to comment on the situation there. OK.

All right. Hey, thanks, everybody. See you later.
 
 
 
 
NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace is used to going fast. It’s how he makes a living. But after a recent visit to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, he went faster than he’ll ever go in a race car.
 
 
 
 
In preparation for the upcoming Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR driver Ryan Newman pays a visit to troops at Fort Bragg, N.C. He said he won’t be racing alone — he’ll have some very special company in the cockpit.
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Most Americans know the story of the Alamo, and yet know little about the battle referenced on a memorial there. The parallels between the story of the defense of the Alamo and the 1575 Battle of Nagashino demonstrate that the East and West share a common definition of heroism.

Military April 19, 2019

By Corey Dickstein: West Virginia National Guardsman Killed in Parachute Accident Identified
“This is a guy who didn’t have to be doing what he was doing yesterday,” Hoyer said. “He had served his time, served his country well, served in multiple combat zones. It’s a testament to the kind of person he was.”
 
 
 
 
By Steve Ranson: Remains of 15 Unclaimed Veterans Get Military Funeral
 
 
 
 
By Jeff Schogol: First came the explosion. Then, the cover-up.
 
 
 
 
Media Availability by Acting Secretary Shanahan Prior to an Honor Cordon Welcoming Albania’s Minister of Defense Olta Xhaçka to the Pentagon
 
 
Department of Defense Off-Camera Press Briefing by Acting Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Charles E. Summers Jr.
 
 
 
 
The Angry Staff Officer: Thursday Thoughts: Warfare in 5G
 
 
 
 
By Drew Brooks, The Fayetteville Observer and Other: Generals Again Warn That America’s Youth Are Getting Too Fat Or Dumb To Join The Military
 
 
 
 
By Richard Sisk: Racism Kept Some WWI Troops from Receiving Medal of Honor, Lawmakers Say
 
 
 
 
By Hope Hodge Seck: Marine Aviation Training Unit Commander Fired
 
 
 
 
NSFW

 
 

Military January 30, 2019

By Stars & Stripes: Rosemary Mariner, Groundbreaking Navy Aviator, Dies at 65
 
 
Captain Rosemary Bryant Mariner (née Merims, formerly Conatser; April 2, 1953 – January 24, 2019) was an American aviator, one of the first six women to earn their wings as a United States Naval Aviator in 1974.[2] She was the first female military aviator to achieve command of an operational air squadron.[3]

Read more ->
 
 
 
 
Off-Camera Press Briefing in the Pentagon Briefing Room Acting Secretary Of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan
 
 
 
 
By Nikki Wentling: Court Decides ‘Blue Water’ Navy Vets Should Be Eligible for Agent Orange Benefits
 
 
 
 
By Joel Schectman And Christopher Bing, Reuters: Ex-NSA Mercenaries Developed A Cyberweapon To Hack Enemies Of The UAE
 
 
 
 
By Emma Moore: What The US Army Should Learn From the British Army’s Punchy Recruiting Campaign
 
 
 
 
By James Clark: These Veterans Charities Aren’t Real, But Goddammit They Should Be
 
 
 
 
How Japanese Troops Became Invisible During WWII Battle