Tag: america

According to Dolan, “intercepts near Russian territory” are “expected” and “in a word – commonplace.” He adds “aggressive behavior by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy in the Strait of Hormuz” also “is nothing new.”

Some critics, however, blame the encounters on President Obama’s foreign policy weakness, both toward Iran, with the hammering out of the Iran nuclear deal, and toward Russia, with the administration’s measured response to the 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea.

Dolan thinks, however, there’s “strategic communications” in the incidents.

Why is this important? The intelligence community deals with such a large amount of data, you can’t always assume people who have the “need to know,” and who should have access to the data, have seen all of the available information on any topic. The challenge of the intelligence professional is to rapidly sort through all of the data in order to develop usable intelligence analysis, enabling decision makers and warfighters to make informed decisions. Depending on the scenario, these decisions sometimes have to be made within minutes. Sometimes seconds.

Think of someone shoving you into a room filled with thousands of puzzle pieces, and then telling you to put it together in a few hours.

Russia’s new, asymmetric approach is perhaps best exemplified by its state-run nuclear contractor Rosatom’s strategy of creating security vulnerabilities in Europe. A recent report from a think tank in Finland – where Rosatom partly owns a nuclear power plant being built in Pyhajoki – suggested that the Kremlin is striking deals such as these to create dependencies in other countries. Separately, Lithuania has said it may file a lawsuit over the poor-quality construction of the Astravets nuclear power plant, which is being built by Rosatom in neighboring Belarus with no supervision and at a very low cost. Lithuanian officials are worried that Rosatom is using substandard Russian security systems that are likely much weaker than their Western equivalents – a state of affairs that analysts believe could pave the way for a nuclear disaster. Recent reports that at least ten workers died in mysterious circumstances while working at Astravets, and that a 330-ton reactor shell was dropped thus triggering an emergency situation, have hardly reassured Vilnius. Outside of Europe, Rosatom is also playing a very delicate role in Iran’s nuclear program, working on the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant while the Obama administration tries to preserve its controversial Iran nuclear deal.

Soldiers faced many challenges at a Special Forces Readiness Evaluation held by members of B Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group in Albemarle, N.C.

“The Special Forces Assessment and Selection process, and subsequent Special Forces qualification training are very challenging experiences — experiences that can be made more difficult with the additional pressure that often comes with focused media attention on particular individuals due to their race, color, gender, religion, national origin, and sexual orientation,” Lt. Col. Robert Bockholt, the command’s public affairs director, said in an email.
The female soldier’s failure to complete the Special Forces class follows reports earlier this month that the first woman to try out for the 75th Ranger Regiment has failed to complete the course. The 75th Ranger Regiment is an elite group of light-infantry soldiers specializing in day and night raids often on short-notice combat deployments around the world.

The vehicle is able to hold up to eight SEALs and their gear, in addition to a pilot and navigator.

The submersible consists of three compartments: a swimmers’ compartment where the SEALs will ride for the duration of the time, a “line in and line out” compartment where they exit and enter the submersible, and a compartment for the navigator and pilot.

The swimmers’ compartment is only about 10 to 12 feet long, which could be a tight squeeze for eight SEALs.

In looking into Brumit’s case and his disability benefits, the Army had conducted a “Line of Duty” probe to determine the circumstances of his injury. Their determination that he was reckless increased the likelihood he would face an other-than-honorable discharge and potentially lose benefits.

For now, those medical expenses are paid for. Brumit lives at his parents’ place in Georgia and has had seven surgeries to date. A denial of benefits could leave the family facing millions in lifetime medical costs, though some charity efforts have been launched.

While much of the press surrounding Special Operations forces have centered around a relatively small component of it — the SEALS — Thomas said the issue of unwelcome publicity is spread across the various components of his command.

“Enforcing it isn’t exclusive to one camp of special operators,” Thomas said. “We’re hurting ourselves with this gratuitous release of movies, books and whatnot.”

Step up. Don’t be the soldier who spends an hour trying to skate out the crappy job it would have taken five minutes to do. If you get the rep as a weasel, you’ll never shake it.

There will be something you will be afraid of, or your body will tell you you’re afraid of. Remind yourself that if you give in you’ll have to live in the body of a coward for the rest of your life.

“I don’t care what you do for a living. If you don’t do your best, you are beaten,” he said.

“You train the hard way so you can live the easy way. Most people will always go for the easy,” he also mentioned.

“Pain and misery have made me who I am,” said the outdoors boy from Texas, then acknowledging he had left all he had this day on the forum stage, just as he had during his time in the military.

“That’s all I got for you,” he said.

In addition to the ongoing cartel violence, innocent citizens have also been affected by the lawlessness that has taken over the city. Drug cartels have been resorting to kidnapping and extortion as a way to make fast money for their ongoing wars.

Lieutenant Hess explains the division was responsible for the defense of Bastogne leading up to the Battle of the Bulge. As Lt. Hess recounts the action, we see snow-covered scenes of the battle and the frozen bodies of soldiers killed in action. Lt. Hess tells of one of the most famous events in WW2 history.

On December 22, 1944, German emissaries asked for the American surrender, to which General McAuliffe answered tersely, “Nuts!” (Lt. HessHess explains that it was “just GI American for ‘Go to hell!’”) A few days later the skies cleared, allowing Allied air forces to retaliate and to drop much-needed food, medicine, and weaponry to ground troops. On Christmas Eve, the Americans allowed the Germans to get as close as possible before opening fire. “You could hear them hollering, ‘Comrade!’ Begging for mercy. Asking for a break. Oh sure. We gave ‘em a break,” says Lt. Hess as the film shows the dead, frozen bodies of Nazi soldiers in the mud and muck. “The German supermen. They didn’t know what the hell had happened.”