NewzIntel.com

Category: Americas

  • MIL-OSI USA: Disaster Recovery Center in Galax, Va. Will Open Nov. 2

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: Disaster Recovery Center in Galax, Va. Will Open Nov. 2

    Disaster Recovery Center in Galax, Va. Will Open Nov. 2

    BRISTOL, Va.– A Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) will be opening in Galax at 816 Glendale Rd. on Saturday November 2, 2024, at 8 a.m. Disaster survivors can visit any DRC to receive assistance. This will be the ninth DRC open in the impacted area; to find the DRC closest to you, including addresses and hours, visit FEMA.gov/drc or text DRC and a ZIP code to 43362. A Disaster Recovery Center is an accessible facility that survivors can visit in person to learn more about FEMA and other agencies providing disaster assistance in Virginia. Residents, property owners, and business owners can go to a DRC to apply for assistance and obtain resources from other agencies based on their needs. Survivors do not need an appointment at a DRC to receive assistance. The center is located at:City of Galax816 Glendale RdGalax, VA 24333Hours of operation:Monday – Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.Closed SundaysSurvivors do not have to visit a DRC to register with FEMA. You can call 800-621-FEMA (3362). The toll-free telephone line operates seven days a week. If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA the number for that service. You can also register online at DisasterAssistance.gov or through the FEMA App on your phone.The deadline to apply for FEMA disaster assistance is Dec. 2, 2024.If you have received a letter from FEMA about your application status, visit a DRC to learn more about next steps. DRC staff can help you submit additional information or supporting documentation for FEMA to continue to process your application and answer any questions you may have. Learn more about what to expect at a DRC here.FEMA has set up a rumor response webpage to clarify our role in the Helene response. Visit Hurricane Helene: Rumor Response.For more information on Virginia’s disaster recovery, visit vaemergency.gov, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management Facebook page , fema.gov/disaster/4831 and facebook.com/FEMA.  ###FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during and after disasters. FEMA Region 3’s jurisdiction includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Follow us on X at x.com/FEMAregion3 and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/femaregion3.To apply for FEMA assistance, please call the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-3362, visit https://www.disasterassistance.gov/, or download and apply on the FEMA App. If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA the number for that service. Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish and 3 for other languages). Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency, or economic status. Any disaster survivor or member of the public may contact the FEMA Civil Rights Office if they feel that they have a complaint of discrimination.  FEMA’s Civil Rights Office can be contacted at FEMA-OCR-ECRD@fema.dhs.gov or toll-free at 833-285-7448. 
    erika.osullivan
    Thu, 10/31/2024 – 14:29

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Statement from CWA Following Studio Closures and Layoffs at Sony Interactive Entertainment

    Source: Communications Workers of America

    Sony Interactive Entertainment’s announcement that it will shut down and lay off video game workers at two of its studios, Neon Koi and Firewalk Studios, makes it clear that now more than ever, video game workers deserve a free and fair opportunity to join together to form unions. Union membership not only gives workers a seat at the table to bargain for fair compensation but also a voice on the job to have a say over how they will be impacted by job cuts.

    This devastating news comes on the heels of record layoffs across the video game industry. These decisions by highly insulated video game CEOs are creating perilous working conditions for video game workers by eliminating their job stability. Last month, former Sony Computer Entertainment Europe President Chris Deering suggested that laid-off game workers should “go to the beach for a year,” further demonstrating the lack of respect executives have for their workforce amid layoffs.

    Alongside these layoffs, Sony’s decision to dissolve studios outside their walled garden of PlayStation-exclusive content rather than making games that have to compete in the highly diverse and competitive mobile game market should be a cautionary warning sign of Sony’s interest in furthering its monopoly position in the video game industry. CWA plans to raise the anti-competitive impacts of Sony’s increasing monopoly and monopsony power with the appropriate antitrust regulators, policymakers, and stakeholders.

    We will continue to support workers across the video game industry who seek to form a union and improve their workplace.

    ###

    About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

    cwa-union.org @cwaunion

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: IAM Members Hit the Ground in North Carolina to Boost Union Turnout for Pro-Labor Candidates 

    Source: US GOIAM Union

    IAM members are actively campaigning in the crucial state of North Carolina to support Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who have both demonstrated a strong commitment to labor rights, in their run for the presidency. Partnering with the North Carolina AFL-CIO, IAM members are canvassing union households, aiming to boost turnout among union voters.

    The labor walks will continue through Election Day, with IAM members and other union affiliates working hard to secure a pro-labor victory at the polls. The AFL-CIO is leading an extensive effort to mobilize union members to vote for candidates who support labor. Teams of union members are going door-to-door, sharing election information and encouraging households to make voting plans.

    The North Carolina AFL-CIO is the federation of unions of working people in North Carolina, representing over a hundred thousand union members working together for good jobs, safe workplaces, workers’ rights, consumer protections, and quality public services on behalf of all working people.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: IAM GOTV Teams Canvass Philadelphia to Educate Union Member

    Source: US GOIAM Union

    This past week in northeast Philadelphia, several hundred union members from various unions gathered at the Sprinkler Fitters Local 692 Hall, coordinated through the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, for its Saturday labor walk. The walks are organized to canvass the city and educate union members at their homes by dropping off materials so they can make an informed decision in this year’s presidential election.

    Watch the video here.

    U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) came to the hall to speak to all the members and thank them for their work educating union members.

    “The same Supreme Court that took away a 49-year right for women would easily take away the right to organize a union established 80 years ago,” said Casey. “We have to remind them the right to organize a union is on the ballot this election.”

    The Pennsylvania State Council of Machinists has endorsed Casey for his reelection to the Senate. This year, IAM and other union members also have two presidential and vice presidential candidates to choose from on the ballot.

    The two tickets are ideologically opposite on labor issues and worker rights. Candidates Trump and Vance would be fine firing striking workers not paying overtime to workers, and both have crossed picket lines. On the other hand, the IAM-endorsed candidates Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have both walked picket lines and support the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.

    One of the unionists participating was retired IAM Local 796 Eastern Airlines ramp serviceman Paul Baicich, a dedicated unionist who came to canvass the area.

    “This is the most important election in my lifetime,” said Baicich. “Electing pro-Labor candidates is extremely important. It’s all on the line, and people need to vote! “

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: United States Files Suit for Unpaid Duties and Penalties for Alleged Failure to Pay Duties on Imported Chinese Bedroom Furniture

    Source: US State Government of Utah

    The United States has filed a civil lawsuit against Lawrence Bivona, who was the President of LaJobi Inc., a Delaware corporation that imported Chinese-manufactured children’s bedroom furniture into the United States. The lawsuit alleges that Bivona made false statements to customs officials and, as a result, avoided paying antidumping duties owed on the imported furniture.

    At the time merchandise is entered into the United States, the importer is responsible for providing all information necessary to enable Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess the applicable duties owed on the goods, including any antidumping duties applicable to the merchandise. Antidumping duties are trade remedies that help protect domestic industries from unfair trade practices by foreign businesses and countries, such as government subsidies or below market sales.

    The United States’ complaint contends that Bivona caused LaJobi to misrepresent the identity of the manufacturers of the children’s furniture imported from China. In particular, the United States alleges that Bivona falsely represented that the furniture was manufactured by Chinese entities subject to duty rates of approximately 7% or less, and failed to disclose that the furniture was actually manufactured by entities subject to duty rates of 216%.

    “Anti-dumping duties play an important role in countering illegal foreign trade practices and protecting U.S. manufacturers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will continue to pursue those who seek to gain an unfair advantage by violating our trade laws.”

    “These civil penalties support the seriousness of CBP’s trade mission and protect the U.S. economy, while maintaining fair trade and preserving American jobs from predatory practices,” said Executive Director Susan Thomas of CBP’s Cargo and Conveyance Security, Office of Field Operations. “CBP’s antidumping and countervailing duties enforcement aims to mitigate harm by anti-competitive behavior and supports a level playing field for U.S. companies injured by unfair trade practices.”

    “We take very seriously our role in protecting the U.S. economy from illegal and predatory trade practices,” said Assistant Director Ivan J. Arvelo of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Global Trade Investigations. “HSI is committed to working alongside CBP and partners to stop those who engage in fraud to circumvent U.S. trade laws.”

    The complaint seeks the recovery of over $7 million in import duties and over $15 million in civil penalties.

    HSI Newark led the investigation with CBP Trade Regulatory Audit Newark, CBP Associate Chief Counsel New York, CBP Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising (CPMM) Center of Excellence and Expertise. CBP and HSI are the agencies responsible for enforcing U.S. laws related to the importation of merchandise into the United States, including the collection of duties and assessment of penalties.

    Trial Counsel Daniel Hoffman of the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, National Courts Section, is handling the case.

    The case is filed in the Court of International Trade and captioned United States v. Lawrence Bivona No. 24-00196.

    To combat trade fraud, including avoidance of import duties, the Justice Department created a Trade Fraud Task Force. The Task Force partners with CBP and other law enforcement agencies to ensure compliance with U.S. trade laws.

    The claims in the complaint are allegations only. There has been no determination of liability. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: BW Energy Limited – Prospectus approved for listing of bonds

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BW Energy Limited – Prospectus approved for listing of bonds

    Reference is made to the announcement by BW Energy Limited (the “Company”) on 7 June 2024 about the successful completion of a new senior unsecured bond issue with an initial issue amount of USD 100 million with ISIN NO 0013259663 (the “Bonds”).

    The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway has today approved a prospectus prepared by the Company in connection with the application for admission to trading and listing of the Bonds on the Euronext Oslo Børs. The admission to listing of the bonds is expected on or about 4 November 2024.

    The prospectus will be made available on the company’s website: www.bwenergy.no/investors/


    For further information, please contact:

    Brice Morlot, CFO BW Energy, +33.7.81.11.41.16 ir@bwenergy.com


    About BW Energy:

    BW Energy Limited is a growth E&P company with a differentiated strategy targeting proven offshore oil and gas reservoirs through low risk phased developments. The Company has access to existing production facilities to reduce time to first oil and cashflow with lower investments than traditional offshore developments. The Company’s assets are 73.5% of the producing Dussafu Marine licence offshore Gabon, 100% interest in the Golfinho and Camarupim fields, a 76.5% interest in the BM-ES-23 block in, a 95% interest in the Maromba field in Brazil and a 95% interest in the Kudu field in Namibia, all operated by BW Energy. Total net 2P+2C reserves and resources were 580 million barrels of oil equivalents at the start of 2024.

    This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Overshooting 1.5°C is risky – that’s why we need to hedge our bets

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Research Group Leader, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

    Further warming hugely increases the risk we will pass climate tipping points, such as the collapse of Greenland’s ice sheet. Michal Balada / shutterstock

    The global response to climate change has gained momentum since the 2015 Paris agreement, yet it remains inadequate to meet the scale of the challenge. That agreement established the goal of holding global warming to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. To achieve this, greenhouse gas emissions should peak and decline as soon as possible.

    The latest reports of the UN Environment Programme, the International Energy Agency and others have suggested that we are on the cusp of global emissions peaking. However, halting the increase in annual emissions is only the first step. Failure to act earlier and more decisively to bring emissions down to net zero has made limiting global warming to 1.5°C an uncomfortably close call.

    The IPCC has looked at “pathways” to keeping 1.5°C in reach. In nearly all of these, temperature rises will exceed 1.5°C, after which warming is reversed by humanity removing more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits. This temporary breach of 1.5°C for at least a few decades is referred to as “overshoot”.

    In a recent study in the journal Nature, we discuss the pitfalls of being overly optimistic about the feasibility and safety of such temperature overshoot scenarios. Excessive confidence could lead to underestimating the risks associated with going over 1.5°C – even temporarily.

    There is a need to be clear about what climate science does and does not know about overshoot, and plan accordingly. This means that, while some risks can be directly reduced by global climate action, others may require additional measures. A responsible strategy to limit near- and long-term climate risks requires both stringent near-term emission reductions and to develop a large-scale carbon removal capacity.

    What if the planet warms more than we expect?

    Even if warming goes below 1.5°C after the overshoot, the impacts of climate change will not automatically and uniformly reverse. Overshoot comes with irreversible consequences for people and ecosystems, such as species extinction, and the world we return to will be different from the one we failed to safeguard.

    We can’t be certain how much warming a given amount of greenhouse gas emissions will lead to, and overshoot projections are often based on a best estimate. The IPCC, for instance, talks about high overshoot pathways exceeding 1.5°C “by 0.1–0.3°C”.

    But those numbers are just the middle of a wide range of possible outcomes. In reality, uncertainty about how some features of the Earth system will respond to warming, such as the carbon cycle, means that peak warming could be substantially higher – by up to 1°C or more. We cannot even rule out continuous warming after reaching net zero carbon emissions. Every fraction of a degree of warming counts – exceeding 1.5°C by as much as an additional 1°C would come with grave repercussions.

    We may have to remove billions of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere.
    TR STOK

    A capacity to remove several hundred billion tonnes of CO₂ in this century might be needed to hedge against the risks of high warming outcomes, and to ensure we can bring warming back to 1.5°C once this has been exceeded.

    In fact, our results imply we might need close to 10 billion tonnes of CO₂ removal a year after 2050 (about 25% of current annual emissions). This would require a massive effort, but might just be possible with the rapid scaling up of a range of methods.

    These include well-known strategies such as restoring forests and wetlands and managing the soil better. But it also includes novel methods such as direct air capture technology, in which carbon would be sucked directly from the sky, or bioenergy and carbon capture and storage, which involves extracting CO₂ from the atmosphere and storing it underground.

    Some of these methods may not work out as envisioned due to technological, economic, social or sustainability limitations. But even if they do not work at the scale envisioned, or not at all, we still need to try.

    Limiting near- and long-term climate risks

    Because we can’t be certain exactly how much the climate will warm, we’ll need to limit the risks as much as possible.

    First, we must reduce emissions as fast as possible to slow down Earth’s temperature increase, limit peak warming, and reduce how dependent we ultimately are on removing large amounts of CO₂ to achieve net zero emissions.

    The Paris agreement accommodates such temperature reversal. Even if 1.5°C is exceeded, countries are obliged to hold peak temperatures to “well below 2°C” and to aim for long-term temperature decline.

    However, every fraction of warming will disproportionately make poor and vulnerable people suffer greater hardship, so delaying stringent emissions cuts is not a resilient strategy. The urgency to reduce emissions now should guide the next round of countries’ targets for cutting emissions that are due early next year.

    Second, we should consider hedging against high-risk, high-warming outcomes by building up our capacity to remove carbon and reverse warming. Just as governments hold strategic food and water reserves to weather unexpected disruptions, the world needs to develop the ability to remove large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. But, given potential limits to how much carbon removal we can scale up in time, we also cannot afford to squander this capacity on any emissions that could be avoided in the first place.

    Investing in this kind of removal capability, on top of pursuing the most ambitious emissions cuts possible, is a no-regrets strategy. Should we have certainty that a more fortunate climate outcome will materialise, being able to remove this scale of carbon would enable us to bring temperatures down faster. And if the warmer side of our projections are realised, we will have put ourselves in a position in which we are best equipped to make temperatures decline again.

    Achieving temperature decline in the long run would limit longer-term climate impacts. For instance, in our study we showed that temperature decline could shave off about 40cm (and potentially up to 1.5 metres) of global sea level rise in 2300. This could be the difference between having a future or not for whole nations of people. It may also limit risks from triggering tipping points in the Earth system, such as the collapse of the Greenland ice sheet or currents in the Atlantic ocean.

    The high-risk outcomes of overshooting 1.5°C means we need to do more, not less, right now – and to focus on bringing temperatures back below 1.5°C in the long run.


    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get our award-winning weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Carl-Friedrich Schleussner received funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
    programme under grant agreement No 101003687 (PROVIDE).

    Gaurav Ganti received funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

    Joeri Rogelj received funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

    – ref. Overshooting 1.5°C is risky – that’s why we need to hedge our bets – https://theconversation.com/overshooting-1-5-c-is-risky-thats-why-we-need-to-hedge-our-bets-241623

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Cammack Joins Florida Colleagues In Urging USDA To Expedite Aid For Hurting Florida Agricultural Producers

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R-FL-03)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Kat Cammack joined Congressman Scott Franklin (R-FL-18), and Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, in a letter from the entire Florida delegation writing Secretary Vilsack to strongly urge the USDA take immediate action to provide disaster assistance for Florida agricultural producers affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

    “Back-to-back hurricanes have dealt a devastating blow to Florida’s agricultural producers, many of whom are still recovering from the disastrous 2022 season,” said Congressman Franklin. “After four major storms in two years, our farmers and ranchers desperately need help now. One-size-fits-all federal disaster programs consistently fail our state’s agricultural sector, creating onerous application processes and delaying critical aid. After Hurricane Irma in 2017, when USDA administered appropriated funds to Florida through a block grant, the state quickly got help into the hands of our producers.  Putting Florida in the driver’s seat made all the difference. Forgoing a federal program in favor of a state solution is a critical, but simple fix.”

    “The devastation from Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton has hit Florida’s farmers hard, and the impacts are rippling through our state. These back-to-back storms wiped out crops, destroyed infrastructure, and put countless livelihoods in jeopardy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture must act swiftly to deliver the critical aid our agricultural producers need to rebuild and recover. Florida can’t do this alone, and our farmers deserve nothing less than our full support,” said Senator Rubio (R-FL).

    “I’m grateful to Congressman Franklin, Senators Rubio and Scott, and the Florida delegation for working together to provide support for our agricultural communities after the two devastating hurricanes this fall,” said Congresswoman Cammack. “When Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region, my colleagues to the south were quick to jump in and support our efforts as the recovery process began, and I’ll be here to do the same with Hurricane Milton in South and Central Florida. Agriculture is one of our state’s top industries and largest exports, and without it and all of the amazing people who work to feed, clothe, and fuel our state, we’d simply never be the same. I look forward to seeing this effort across the finish line and ensuring our producers have everything they need to recover and come back stronger.”

    Specifically, in the letter Rep. Franklin and the Florida delegation:

    1. Emphasize the necessity for the USDA to utilize block grants to distribute aid to Florida and other specialty-crop states, where high volume of disaster program applications overwhelm local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices and delay assistance for producers;
    2. Demand USDA enhance current FSA operations and improve staffing issues;
    3. Urge the USDA to provide a budgetary request to House and Senate Appropriations Committees to ensure Congress can appropriate adequate funding for disaster response;
    4. Discuss crop insurance reforms to help specialty crop producers recover in tandem with disaster aid; and
    5. Reasserts Congress’ desire to collaborate with USDA to ensure proper support for Florida agriculture.

    Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast just 13 days after Helene and brought high winds, flooding and damage across the entire state. Milton’s path impacted some of Florida’s most productive agricultural areas for fruits, vegetables, dairy, cattle, citrus and other specialty crops. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), the preliminary estimate of total crop and infrastructure losses ranges from $1.5 to $2.5 billion.

    Congress appropriates relief and disaster funds for the USDA to disburse relief. Currently, it is USDA’s practice to stand up new, unique programs after disasters. These programs are administered by FSA, the USDA subagency charged with helping agricultural producers apply for aid and other USDA assistance programs.

    This practice not only makes the disaster relief process arduous, but also delays delivery of critical assistance for the producers who feed our state and nation. FSA offices across Florida are still having trouble facilitating disaster assistance programs after 2022 Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, which were not in the form of a block grant.

    In contrast, block grants administered by the state expedite disbursement, free up personnel at FSA to efficiently carry out routine programs and provide needed flexibility for states. 

    After Hurricane Irma, Congress appropriated relief to help Florida agriculture and USDA delivered that aid through a block grant to the state. The State of Florida was successful in getting that aid without delay.

    You can read the text of the letter here.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: An additional $22.2 million to support farm businesses affected by weather hazards in 2023

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    News release

    Canada-Quebec Initiative to Help Mitigate the Impacts of Excess Rainfall in Quebec in 2023

    October 31, 2024 – Quebec City, Quebec – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

    The Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec are launching the Canada-Quebec Initiative to Help Mitigate the Impacts of Excess Rainfall in Quebec in 2023 (known as AgriRecovery). The Canada-Quebec Initiative will provide $22,2 million in addition to the sums already allocated by existing programs. The financial support will partially offset the extraordinary costs incurred by vegetable, potato, strawberry and raspberry growers affected by the exceptionally adverse weather conditions of summer 2023.

    André Lamontagne, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Minister responsible for the Centre-du-Québec Region, and the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, made the announcement today.

    Here are the key points for companies affected by the Initiative:

    • The registration form will be available in December 2024 in the producer’s online account at La Financière agricole du Québec (FADQ).
    • The registration period will run from December 2024 to February 2025.
    • The registration will be online only, and no paper forms will be made available.
    • If necessary, a FADQ staff member will contact the company to obtain information or request additional supporting documents.
    • To demonstrate that they have incurred costs beyond their capacity, companies will have to provide financial data covering the 2022 and 2023 growing seasons if they have not already done so. They will also have to meet the Initiative’s criteria, in particular having incurred a given level of expenditure for the categories eligible for the Initiative.

    In the meantime, companies are asked to create or update their FADQ online account. If they need assistance in this regard, they are asked to contact their service centre.

    To speed up the processing of applications, if they have not already done so, companies participating in AgriStability are encouraged to submit their financial data for the 2023 participation year to the FADQ as soon as possible. For companies not participating in AgriStability, it will be possible to register by filing audited tax documents, such as the T2042 form.

    Full participation details will be available shortly on the FADQ website.

    Quotes

    “Our farmers work so hard every single day, often in the face of different challenges, including unpredictable weather. Our government will always be there to support them and help them build resilience, so they can continue to produce the top-quality products they have become known for.”

    – The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

    “For our government, it was essential to come to the aid of agricultural businesses to respond to the consequences of exceptional weather, which were disastrous for many of them. I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to supporting farms in their efforts to improve their resilience to the impacts of climate change, for a strong, agile and competitive sector.”

    – André Lamontagne, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Minister responsible for the Centre-du-Québec Region

    Quick facts

    • Summer 2023 was characterized by abundant and frequent rainfall in the regions of Montérégie, Capitale-Nationale, Laurentides, Montréal-Laval-Lanaudière, Chaudière-Appalaches, Mauricie, Estrie, Centre-du-Québec, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Outaouais, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Côte-Nord.

    • Production losses, combined with the extraordinary costs due to the situation, have had an impact on the liquidity and financial capacity of Quebec horticultural companies.

    • The Initiative, which will be administered by the FADQ, stems from the AgriRecovery disaster relief framework under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership Multilateral Framework Agreement.

    • AgriRecovery is a federal-provincial/territorial disaster relief framework. It is more precisely designed to help agricultural producers meet the extraordinary costs of recovering from natural disasters. AgriRecovery initiatives are cost-shared by the federal government and the provinces and territories concerned on a 60%-40% basis, as set out by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP).

    • In addition to risk management programs, the Initiative completes a series of measures put in place by the FADQ and the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation (MAPAQ) to support horticultural producers following the excess rainfall in 2023, for example:

      • Introduction of the Mesure complémentaire pour certaines productions horticoles affectées lors de la saison de culture 2023 (Complementary assistance measure for certain horticultural crops affected during the 2023 growing season). This measure offers assistance, which is complementary to the Agri-Québec Plus assistance, which allows the company to record at most $200,000 in net profit, depending on the number of shareholders or the equivalent established by the FADQ;
      • $30 million increase in the Working Capital component of the Sustainable Growth Investment Program, for a total of $55 million;
      • Grant of $50,000 in financial assistance to the Association des producteurs maraîchers du Québec to conduct a study explaining the low rate of enrollment in crop insurance;
      • Payment of indemnities in advance at the request of producers;
      • Extension of warehouse loss coverage for some crops;
      • Extensions of sowing deadlines for market garden crops;

    • Cancellation of the account-to-account policy for companies that request it.

    • Financial assistance could reach up to $904 per hectare for vegetable crops and potatoes, and up to $3,613 per hectare for strawberries and raspberries.

    • This announcement is the result of discussions and exchanges between various stakeholders involved.

    • Agricultural associations and the MAPAQ continue their collaboration to adapt the sector to climate change.

    Associated links

    Contacts

    For media:

    Annie Cullinan
    Director of Communications
    Office of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
    annie.cullinan@agr.gc.ca

    Media Relations
    Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
    Ottawa, Ontario
    613-773-7972
    1-866-345-7972
    aafc.mediarelations-relationsmedias.aac@agr.gc.ca
    Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
    Web: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

    Makena Mahoney
    Minister’s Office
    Makena.Mahoney@ontario.ca

    Meaghan Evans
    Communications Branch
    OMAFRA.media@ontario.ca
    519-826-3145

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: October Oil and Gas Public Offering Generates $7.3 Million in Revenue

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Released on October 31, 2024

    The Government of Saskatchewan’s Crown oil and natural gas public offering, held on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, raised $7,304,936.95 for the province, with the Estevan area generating the majority of the revenue.

    Of the 112 parcels posted for this offering, 93 received acceptable bids, covering a total 15,347.639 hectares.

    The Estevan area generated the most financial interest, bringing in $5,417,916.25 for 56 leases and one exploration licence for a total of 8,330.517 hectares.

    The Kindersley area generated $1,325,636.53 for 21 leases for a total of 5,063.604 hectares.

    Surge Energy Inc. made the highest bonus bid and the highest dollars-per-hectare bid in its offering of $1,369,276.03, or $5,284.76 per hectare. This was for a 259.099 hectare lease in the Estevan area, northeast of Macoun. 

    Millennium Land (444) Ltd. won the single exploration licence posted in this offering, bidding $407,670.71 for a 2,318.023 hectare licence in the Estevan area, south of Minton.

    After four public offerings this fiscal year, the provincial government has raised $37,382,523.18 in revenue. The next offering is scheduled for December 3, 2024. 

    There are six scheduled public offerings of oil and natural gas dispositions held each fiscal year in Saskatchewan. This process uses an open and competitive bidding system to issue oil and natural gas dispositions.

    Several factors affect public offering activity, including changes in oil and gas prices, land availability, geological and technological constraints and various market conditions.

    For more information about oil and gas public offerings in Saskatchewan, please visit the Schedule of Public Offerings webpage on saskatchewan.ca. 

    -30-

    For more information, contact:

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Crapo, Smith Statement on Biden Administration’s Taiwan Double-Tax Relief Announcement

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo
    Published: October 30, 2024

    Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Missouri) issued the following statement on the Biden Administration’s Taiwan double-tax relief announcement:
    “Last year, our committees worked closely together and consulted with the Administration to carefully craft a legislative package providing both expedited double-tax relief through the tax code and paving the way for future agreements on additional double-tax relief.  This legislation—which passed unanimously through the Ways and Means Committee, and the expedited double tax relief provisions of which passed unanimously through the Senate Finance Committee—remains the best path forward to address double taxation between the U.S. and Taiwan.  Unfortunately, the timing of the Biden-Harris Administration’s announcement appears to be driven more by politics than an effort to provide expedited tax relief.  Pursuing an approach that does not harmonize with the Congressionally-endorsed framework could jeopardize delivering that relief, impeding the shared goal of facilitating broader investment between the U.S. and Taiwan to promote our collective prosperity, national security, and economic resilience.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hickenlooper, Bennet Bipartisan Colleagues Push for More Temporary Work Visas to Help Small Businesses in Colorado

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Colorado John Hickenlooper

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet joined U.S. Senators Angus King and Mike Rounds, alongside 37 of their bipartisan colleagues, to urge the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release the maximum number of additional temporary, non-agricultural (H-2B) visas for fiscal year 2025 to support local economies and fill needed roles for American small businesses.

    “Many employers turn to the H-2B program to meet their workforce needs to not only sustain their businesses, but also support their American workers,” wrote the senators. “The H-2B program places requirements on employers to recruit U.S. workers, who are intentionally prioritized by the program and also receive demonstrated, positive impacts from their seasonal colleagues.”

    In Colorado, more than 8,400 temporary H-2B visas were requested by over 250 employers in fiscal year 2021 – reflecting a strong demand for H-2B workers in the state. The H-2B program permits employers to temporarily hire noncitizens to perform nonagricultural labor or services for a limited period of time, such as a one-time occurrence, seasonal, or intermittent need.

    In the letter, the senators highlight recent data from DOL’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Surveys that shows that the rate of job openings have increased annually for top five H-2B occupations. Landscaping, hospitality, and the ski industry – all key to Colorado’s economy – are among the industries with the highest share of certified H-2B workers

    “As you know, the FY 2025 H-2B first half fiscal year cap was met on September 18, 2024—roughly three weeks earlier than the cap was met in FY 2024. The result is that seasonal employers whose peak seasons are in late fall and winter are capped out before their period of seasonal need begins. Absent cap relief, these employers will be unable to receive temporary, U.S. government-vetted guest workers,” continued the senators.

    Hickenlooper previously introduced the SEASONAL Act which would permit governors to petition the federal government for supplemental H-2B visas beyond the national cap of 66,000. Hickenlooper and Bennet have also pushed DHS and DOL to increase the availability of H-2B visas and worked to ensure that the visa program is efficient and effective.

    The text of the letter is available HERE and below.

    Dear Secretaries Mayorkas and Su:

    We write on behalf of seasonal businesses in our states—including employers of housekeepers in tourist destinations, landscapers with defined seasons, seafood processors with short harvesting windows, and fairs and carnivals—who are struggling to hire a sufficient number of temporary, seasonal laborers to support their operations.

    In light of these labor shortages, we strongly urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of Labor (DOL), to utilize the authority provided by Congress in the FY2025 Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act to release the maximum allowable number of additional H-2B visas for Fiscal Year 2025, as you did for Fiscal Year 2024. These visas will help employers handle their labor challenges, and provide additional certainty regarding their workforce planning decisions in the coming months. We urge you to promptly publish a temporary rule implementing the release of these supplemental visas.

    Many employers turn to the H-2B program to meet their workforce needs to not only sustain their businesses, but also support their American workers. The H-2B program places requirements on employers to recruit U.S. workers, who are intentionally prioritized by the program and also receive demonstrated, positive impacts from their seasonal colleagues. In fact, a 2020 Government Accountability Office report concluded that “counties with H-2B employers generally had lower unemployment rates and higher average weekly wages than counties that do not have any H-2B employers.”

    The most current employment data illustrates the workforce struggles of seasonal businesses nationwide. The Department of Labor’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Surveys (JOLTS) show the rate of job openings have increased year over year for the industries that represent the top five H-2B occupations. As you know, the FY 2025 H-2B first half fiscal year cap was met on September 18, 2024—roughly three weeks earlier than the cap was met in FY 2024. The result is that seasonal employers whose peak seasons are in late fall and winter are capped out before their period of seasonal need begins. Absent cap relief, these employers will be unable to receive temporary, U.S. government-vetted guest workers. Congress has acknowledged this seasonal labor shortage by providing DHS with the authority to lift the H-2B visa cap for each of the past eight fiscal years. Given the growing demand for H-2B workers as employers continue to struggle with staffing shortages, we encourage you to promptly promulgate a temporary final rule for FY 2025 along the same lines as the FY 2024 rule.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Man sentenced for sexual assault and immigration and citizenship fraud following joint CBSA and Ottawa Police Service investigations

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    News release

    October 31, 2024
    Ottawa, Ontario

    The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) today announced the sentencing of Kwene Tombwe following joint investigations into immigration and citizenship fraud as well as sexual assault.

    On October 15, 2024, in Ottawa, Ontario, Mr. Tombwe pleaded guilty to:

    • three counts of sexual assault
    • one count of sexual interference involving a minor
    • one count of making a false statement in relation to a passport
    • two counts of misrepresentation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
    • one count of misrepresentation under the Citizenship Act

    As a result, Mr. Tombwe was sentenced to six years incarceration for the sexual assaults, and one year for each of the four other charges, to be served concurrently. He was also ordered to pay $26,500 restitution to his victims, and to have his DNA collected for inclusion on the sex offender registry.

    The sentencing decision is the result of investigations which began in 2016 and spanned several international borders.

    In 2017, Mr. Tombwe absconded from Canada when he became aware that the CBSA was investigating the authenticity of refugee claims made by the people he had been exploiting and abusing. When he returned to Canada to seek medical attention in 2023, he was met and arrested by the CBSA and returned to Ottawa to face criminal proceedings. 

    Quotes

    “Everyone in Canada deserves to be safe and be treated with dignity. I want to thank the Canada Border Services Agency for their years of hard work in protecting vulnerable persons and bringing those who knowingly infringe Canada’s laws and immigration system to justice. The sentencing outcome reflects the thoroughness of the investigations and is a testament to the partnerships that have been fostered within the law enforcement community.” 

    – The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs

    “Officers at the CBSA worked diligently with the Ottawa Police Service to investigate and prosecute immigration and citizenship fraud and sexual assaults against vulnerable persons. Together, we ensure that those who break the law are held accountable for their actions.” 

    – Jag Johnston, Regional Director General, CBSA Northern Ontario Region

    “The Ottawa Police Service is committed to working closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure justice is served and the safety of our community is upheld. This sentencing is a direct result of the tireless efforts and collaboration between the OPS and the CBSA, demonstrating our shared commitment to protecting vulnerable individuals and ensuring that those who commit serious crimes are held accountable. We are proud of the joint efforts that have brought justice to the victims of these heinous acts.”

    – Superintendent Heather Lachine, OPS Criminal Investigations Directorate

    Quick facts

    • The Ottawa Police Service Human Trafficking Unit prioritizes the safety, security, and well-being of victims and survivors of Human Trafficking, regardless of whether they choose to participate in the criminal justice system or seek support to exit. We strive to treat everyone with compassion, dignity, and respect, and we aim to minimize re-traumatization by actively connecting victims and survivors with internal and community supports that best meet their needs and wishes.

    • If you or someone you know is trapped in the cycle of Human Trafficking and needs help, please contact the OPS Human Trafficking Unit at 1-800-292-1168. We are here to help.

    • Anyone with information on suspicious cross border activities, including individuals who have entered Canada based on misrepresentation, is encouraged to call the CBSA’s Border Watch Line at 1-888-502-9060

    Contacts

    Canada Border Services Agency

    Media Relations: media@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca / 1-877-761-5945 or 613-957-6500

    Website: www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
    X: @CBSANOR
    Facebook: CanBorder
    Instagram: canborder
    YouTube: CanBorder

    Ottawa Police Service

    Media Relations: media.relations@ottawapolice.ca / 613-236-1222 ext. 5366

    Website: www.ottawapolice.ca
    X: @OttawaPolice
    Facebook: OttawaPoliceService
    Instagram: ottawapolice
    YouTube: OttawaPoliceService

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Release of the Bank of Canada’s summary of deliberations

    Source: Bank of Canada


















  • MIL-OSI USA: COVID Select Refers Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for Criminal Prosecution

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Brad Wenstrup (OH-02)

    Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) sent a criminal referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ) recommending former New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo be charged with making false statements to Congress. In an apparent effort to shield himself from accountability, evidence suggests Mr. Cuomo knowingly and willfully made false statements to the Select Subcommittee on numerous occasions about material aspects of New York’s COVID-19 nursing home disaster and the ensuing cover-up.

    Overwhelming evidence uncovered by the Select Subcommittee proves that Mr. Cuomo reviewed, edited, and even drafted portions of a purportedly independent and peer-reviewed New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Report that was used to combat criticism of his Administration’s pandemic-era nursing home policies. This Report low-balled nursing home fatalities and blamed nursing home staff for causing excess COVID-19 deaths. During Mr. Cuomo’s transcribed interview in June, he testified (1) he was not involved in the review or drafting of this Report, (2) he did not have any discussions about a peer-review of the Report, and (3) he did not have any knowledge of individuals outside the NYSDOH reviewing the Report. Each of these statements are demonstrably false. The Select Subcommittee recommends the DOJ review the evidence laid out in the criminal referral and immediately evaluate criminal charges against Mr. Cuomo.

    “Andrew Cuomo repeatedly lied to Congress, and he must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Both witness testimony and new documents serve as evidence that the former Governor made false statements to the Select Subcommittee during our COVID-19 nursing home investigation. This deliberate and self-serving attempt to avoid accountability for the thousands of lives lost in New York nursing homes during the pandemic will not stand. If his prior criminal activity is any reflection, Andrew Cuomo is not a man of principle, and his willingness to lie to the Select Subcommittee is unfortunately a continuance of this behavior. Plain and simple, making false statements to Congress is a federal crime. We look forward to cooperating fully with the Justice Department’s investigation into Andrew Cuomo’s wrongdoings,” said Chairman Wenstrup.

    Read the full criminal referral here and an additional supporting transcript here.

    Review former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s transcribed interview transcript here.

    Relevant Nursing Home Investigation Timeline:

    • March 25, 2020: The Cuomo Administration recklessly directed New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities to admit COVID-positive and potentially COVID-positive patients. As a result, New York’s most vulnerable population was recklessly exposed to COVID-19.
    • July 6, 2020: The NYSDOH released a Report alleging nursing home staff — not the March 25 Directive — caused excess COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. According to witness testimony and new documents revealed in the Select Subcommittee’s referral, Mr. Cuomo personally drafted and edited portions of this purportedly independent and peer-reviewed report.
    • January 28, 2021: New York State Attorney General Letitia James released an investigative report claiming, in part, that Mr. Cuomo and his team undercounted the total number of nursing home deaths by as much as 50 percent.
    • May 19, 2023: The Select Subcommittee began its investigation into New York’s pandemic response and the disastrous March 25 Directive.
    • As a part of this investigation, the Select Subcommittee conducted transcribed interviews with notable former New York State officials, such as Dr. Howard Zucker, Dr. Eleanor Adams, Dr. James Malatras, Mr. Gareth Rhodes, Ms. Linda Lacewell, Ms. Elizabeth Garvey, and Ms. Melissa DeRosa.
    • December 1, 2023: The Select Subcommittee requested Mr. Cuomo appear for a transcribed interview.
    • December 22, 2023 – March 5, 2024: The Select Subcommittee engaged in the negotiation and accommodation process with Mr. Cuomo and his legal team in an effort to secure his testimony.
    • March 5, 2024: After months of unjustified and unreasonable delays, the Select Subcommittee was forced to announce a subpoena for Mr. Cuomo’s testimony.
    • June 11, 2024: Mr. Cuomo appeared for a transcribed interview. During this interview, he testified that he was not involved in drafting the NYSDOH’s July 6 Report and that he did not review the Report prior to its public release. New evidence demonstrates these statements to be false.
    • September 9, 2024: The Select Subcommittee released a nearly 50-page memo presenting evidence that Mr. Cuomo and his team were involved in the decision to issue New York’s disastrous March 25 Directive, and then, acted repeatedly to downplay the tragic aftermath of their decision.
    • September 9, 2024: Mr. Cuomo’s attorney expressed her objections regarding the above-mentioned memo. In an effort to address those objections, the Select Subcommittee sent a series of additional questions to a former witness concerning his recent communication with Mr. Cuomo. (See September 25, 2024 for further information)
    • September 10, 2024: Mr. Cuomo appeared for a hearing, at which he was held publicly accountable for his role in New York’s pandemic-era failures.
    • September 10, 2024: The Select Subcommittee announced a subpoena for current New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Her administration has continued to withhold documents related to the Cuomo Administration’s nursing home disaster.
    • September 25, 2024: The Select Subcommittee released evidence suggesting Mr. Cuomo attempted to inappropriately influence a witness.
    • October 30, 2024: Mr. Cuomo was referred to the Justice Department for making false statements to Congress.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Why NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Will Make ‘Most Colorful’ Cosmic Map Ever

    Source: NASA

    The space telescope will detect over 100 colors from hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies. Here’s what astronomers will do with all that color.
    NASA’s SPHEREx mission won’t be the first space telescope to observe hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies when it launches no later than April 2025, but it will be the first to observe them in 102 colors. Although these colors aren’t visible to the human eye because they’re in the infrared range, scientists will use them to learn about topics that range from the physics that governed the universe less than a second after its birth to the origins of water on planets like Earth.
    “We are the first mission to look at the whole sky in so many colors,” said SPHEREx Principal Investigator Jamie Bock, who is based jointly at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech, both in Southern California. “Whenever astronomers look at the sky in a new way, we can expect discoveries.”
    Short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, SPHEREx will collect infrared light, which has wavelengths slightly longer than what the human eye can detect. The telescope will use a technique called spectroscopy to take the light from hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies and separate it into individual colors, the way a prism transforms sunlight into a rainbow. This color breakdown can reveal various properties of an object, including its composition and its distance from Earth.

    [embedded content]
    NASA’s SPHEREx mission will use spectroscopy — the splitting of light into its component wavelengths — to study the universe. Watch this video to learn more about spectroscopy. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

    Here are the three key science investigations SPHEREx will conduct with its colorful all-sky map.
    Cosmic Origins
    What human eyes perceive as colors are distinct wavelengths of light. The only difference between colors is the distance between the crests of the light wave. If a star or galaxy is moving, its light waves get stretched or compressed, changing the colors they appear to emit. (It’s the same with sound waves, which is why the pitch of an ambulance siren seems to go up as its approaches and lowers after it passes.) Astronomers can measure the degree to which light is stretched or compressed and use that to infer the distance to the object.
    SPHEREx will apply this principle to map the position of hundreds of millions of galaxies in 3D. By doing so, scientists can study the physics of inflation, the event that caused the universe to expand by a trillion-trillion fold in less than a second after the big bang. This rapid expansion amplified small differences in the distribution of matter. Because these differences remain imprinted on the distribution of galaxies today, measuring how galaxies are distributed can tell scientists more about how inflation worked.
    Galactic Origins
    SPHEREx will also measure the collective glow created by all galaxies near and far — in other words, the total amount of light emitted by galaxies over cosmic history. Scientists have tried to estimate this total light output by observing individual galaxies and extrapolating to the trillions of galaxies in the universe. But these counts may leave out some faint or hidden light sources, such as galaxies too small or too distant for telescopes to easily detect.
    With spectroscopy, SPHEREx can also show astronomers how the total light output has changed over time. For example, it may reveal that the universe’s earliest generations of galaxies produced more light than previously thought, either because they were more plentiful or bigger and brighter than current estimates suggest. Because light takes time to travel through space, we see distant objects as they were in the past. And, as light travels, the universe’s expansion stretches it, changing its wavelength and its color. Scientists can therefore use SPHEREx data to determine how far light has traveled and where in the universe’s history it was released.
    Water’s Origins
    SPHEREx will measure the abundance of frozen water, carbon dioxide, and other essential ingredients for life as we know it along more than 9 million unique directions across the Milky Way galaxy. This information will help scientists better understand how available these key molecules are to forming planets. Research indicates that most of the water in our galaxy is in the form of ice rather than gas, frozen to the surface of small dust grains. In dense clouds where stars form, these icy dust grains can become part of newly forming planets, with the potential to create oceans like the ones on Earth.
    The mission’s colorful view will enable scientists to identify these materials, because chemical elements and molecules leave a unique signature in the colors they absorb and emit.
    Big Picture
    Many space telescopes, including NASA’s Hubble and James Webb, can provide high-resolution, in-depth spectroscopy of individual objects or small sections of space. Other space telescopes, like NASA’s retired Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), were designed to take images of the whole sky. SPHEREx combines these abilities to apply spectroscopy to the entire sky.
    By combining observations from telescopes that target specific parts of the sky with SPHEREx’s big-picture view, scientists will get a more complete — and more colorful — perspective of the universe.
    More About SPHEREx
    SPHEREx is managed by JPL for NASA’s Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate in Washington. BAE Systems (formerly Ball Aerospace) built the telescope and the spacecraft bus. The science analysis of the SPHEREx data will be conducted by a team of scientists located at 10 institutions across the U.S. and in South Korea. Data will be processed and archived at IPAC at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA. The mission principal investigator is based at Caltech with a joint JPL appointment. The SPHEREx dataset will be publicly available.
    For more information about the SPHEREx mission visit:
    https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/spherex/
    News Media Contact
    Calla CofieldJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.626-808-2469calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov
    2024-152

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Department of Natural Resources awards $38,000 grant to Scotland County Consolidated Public Water Supply District No. 1

    Source: US State of Missouri

    The district will evaluate drinking water system improvements

    JEFFERSON CITY, MO, OCT. 31, 2024 – The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has awarded a $38,000 Drinking Water Emerging Contaminant Grant to the Scotland County Consolidated Public Water Supply District No. 1. The district will use the funding to evaluate its drinking water system.

    The department’s Drinking Water Emerging Contaminant Grant program offers funding for qualified communities to assess their system and identify improvements to address emerging contaminants in the drinking water. Emerging contaminants are substances that are known or suspected to pose risks to human health but are not yet regulated under environmental laws. The district will evaluate potential improvements including remediation, destruction technologies, treatment options, regionalization or alternate water sources. Improvements will enable the district to continue operating a drinking water system that meets drinking water standards and provides reliable water service to customers.

    Water and wastewater systems are essential infrastructure that support a community’s health and economic vitality. Through this grant, qualified communities have an opportunity to assess their drinking water treatment system and identify improvements for greater efficiency, effectiveness and capacity, as well as satisfy public health and safe drinking water regulations. This helps them determine what actions are needed to address current drinking water needs and plan for future growth and development.

    The department is committed to assisting Missouri communities with water and wastewater infrastructure improvement projects. Through its Financial Assistance Center, the department provides funding opportunities for qualified communities with water quality, wastewater and drinking water infrastructure needs. This project will be funded wholly or in part with monies received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Change of His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Dominican Republic

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3

    Dr Carol van der Walt has been appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Dominican Republic in succession to Mr Mockbul Ali OBE.

    Dr Carol van der Walt

    Dr Carol van der Walt has been appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Dominican Republic in succession to Mr Mockbul Ali OBE. Dr van der Walt will take up her appointment during November 2024.

    Curriculum vitae

    Full name: Carol Ann van der Walt

    2020 to 2024 FCDO, Deputy Head Latin America Department
    2018 to 2020 DExEU, Head of Crown Dependencies and Overseas    Territories Team
    2017 to 2018 FCO, Head of Diversity and Inclusion Team, Human Resources Department
    2013 to 2017 Oslo, Deputy Head of Mission
    2011 to 2013 FCO, Head of EU Strategic Policy Team, European Union Department (Future of Europe)
    2011 FCO, Head of EU Strategy Team, European Union Department (Internal)
    2009 to 2011 FCO, Senior Political Analyst, Overseas Security Information for Business, Global Issues Department
    2008 to 2009 FCO, Head of Training Strategy, Business Engagement Group, Information & Technology Department
    2003 to 2008 Maternity Leave, Special Unpaid Leave
    1998 to 2003 Brussels, Second Secretary, UK Permanent Representation to the EU
    1998 to 1999 FCO, Fisheries Officer, Aviation and Maritime Department
    1998 Joined FCO

    Media enquiries

    Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

    Telephone 020 7008 3100

    Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

    Updates to this page

    Published 31 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Diwali: Minister Yaseen

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    “Today, thousands of Albertans are coming together to celebrate Diwali, a time of reflection, unity, and joy. This festival, observed in various ways across Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism, symbolizes the victory of dharma (righteousness) over adharma (injustice) and the eternal triumph of light over darkness.

    “Throughout this vibrant celebration, many Albertans will adorn their homes, temples and workplaces with diyas (oil lamps), candles and lanterns, while also decorating their spaces with traditional rangoli patterns and jhalars (coloured fabrics). Fireworks will light up the night skies, and festive gatherings will be filled with the sharing of mithai (sweets) and delicious meals.

    “For Sikhs, Diwali also marks Bandi Chhor Divas, the Day of Liberation, commemorating the release of Guru Hargobind Ji.

    “I wish everyone a Diwali filled with light, happiness, and hope! Shubh Deepavali!”

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Elevation Foods Issues Recall Due to Undeclared Soy in Hannaford Seafood Salad

    Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 3

    Summary

    Company Announcement Date:
    FDA Publish Date:
    Product Type:
    Food & Beverages
    Allergens
    Reason for Announcement:

    Recall Reason Description

    Contains an undeclared soy allergen.

    Company Name:
    R. Walters LLC dba Elevation Foods
    Brand Name:

    Brand Name(s)

    Hannaford

    Product Description:

    Product Description

    Seafood Salad

    Company Announcement

    Danvers, Massachusetts. R. Walters LLC dba Elevation Foods is recalling 1,668 units of mislabeled Hannaford Seafood Salad 12oz because it contains an undeclared Soy allergen. Consumers with an allergy or severe sensitivity to soy run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.

    The recall extends to the following labels and package sizes.

    Brand Name

    Product

    UPC

    Use by

    Units
    Hannaford Seafood Salad 12oz 0 41268 25161 2 BB 11/13/2024
    BB 11/14/2024    		 1,668

    The Use by can be found printed on the lid of the container.

    The product is only sold in Hannaford stores. The product is sold in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York. The products were distributed between 10/25/24 to 10/29/24 with Use by of 11/13/24 and 11/14/24. Hannaford has been notified and has removed the product from store shelves.

    The recall was initiated after it was discovered that the printer of the labels for Hannaford Seafood Salad had provided Elevation Foods with labels that did not match the current product formulation. These labels were created for an upcoming formulation change and were shipped to Elevation Foods in error.

    To date, Elevation Foods is not aware of any reports of consumer illness related to this product.

    Consumers who purchased the impacted product specified above should not consume the products and can return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact Elevation Foods during regular business hours, Monday-Friday 9am-4pm +1 (978) 646-8950 x 104.

    Company Contact Information

    Consumers:
    Elevation Foods
    +1 (978) 646-8950 x 104

    Product Photos

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: New research estimates the effectiveness of sagebrush restoration treatments across the sagebrush biome

    Source: US Geological Survey

    Restoring the sagebrush biome

    The sagebrush biome, once covering over 500,000 square kilometers of western North America, has shrunk to about half its original size due to a variety of disturbances, including wildfire, human infrastructure, and invasive species. To reduce sagebrush decline, resource managers are often tasked with the management of large, expensive restoration projects, like aerial re-seeding or on-the-ground drill seeding of burned sagebrush habitat. Despite the costs of these projects, research has shown they have varying success across landscapes; sometimes restoration efforts are effective, and other times they are not. 

    Estimating restoration efficacy

    Restoration of degraded sagebrush habitat requires knowledge of the factors leading to its local decline and an understanding of the efficacy of different sagebrush restoration practices, which can vary depending on local environmental conditions. In this study, researchers leveraged data on habitat disturbance, vegetation cover, soil moisture, and on-the-ground resource management projects from across the sagebrush landscape to evaluate the individual and combined influences of a) restoration treatments and b) environmental conditions on sagebrush recovery.

     

    Range-wide projections of sagebrush recovery

    Results of this study include range-wide estimates of restoration potential and sagebrush recovery across the sagebrush biome. Broadly, researchers found that restoration effectiveness and probability of sagebrush recovery varied greatly across biome, depending on local environmental conditions and restoration treatment. The researchers break down four major takeaways:

    1. Sagebrush seeding and seedling planting facilitated sagebrush recovery, particularly in dryer areas, and ground-based seeding methods were generally more effective than aerial seeding.
    2. Co-seeding native grasses was more likely to improve sagebrush recovery in dryer sites, whereas co-seeding introduced grasses may increase sagebrush cover in moister sites. However, seeding introduced grasses could be counter-productive for restoring sagebrush in dryer sites.
    3. Initial vegetation cover (such as the amount of living sagebrush or perennial grasses) influenced future sagebrush establishment and subsequent cover trends, and could therefore determine success of restoration treatments.
    4. Repeated wildfires inhibited sagebrush recovery but sagebrush seeding treatments could overcome this effect to some extent, improving trajectories over natural recovery.

    Overall, these projections can be used to guide strategic conservation efforts and prioritize restoration efforts to areas most likely to benefit from restoration action.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: USDA Hosts Fourth African Swine Fever Action Week October 28-November 1, 2024

    Source: US National Invasive Species Information Center

    Stakeholder Announcement

    Contact: 
    APHISpress@usda.gov    

    WASHINGTON, October 29, 2024 — The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is hosting its fourth African Swine Fever (ASF) Action Week this week (October 28-November 1, 2024). We are encouraging U.S. swine producers, small farms and owners of all types of pigs to join us to learn about ASF and what they can do to help protect the U.S. swine herd.   

    ASF has never been detected in the United States. However, since the 2021 detections in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the closest to the United States in decades, USDA has partnered with industry and states to enhance already strong safeguards to protect U.S. swine from this costly disease.   

    “While this disease poses no threat to human health, nor is it a food safety concern, if ASF gets into the United States, it would be catastrophic at many levels,” said Dr. Rosemary Sifford, the United States’ Chief Veterinary Officer. “It has the potential to kill millions of pigs, resulting in an estimated $75 billion in economic losses over 10 years. This would inevitably lead to higher grocery prices for consumers and could severely disrupt our trade relationships with other countries.”    

    Join us all week on  X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and the Protect Our Pigs website to learn more about what APHIS is doing and what you can do.   

    Through the Protect Our Pigs campaign, USDA is raising awareness of ASF to help producers and veterinarians quickly find and share actionable information to defend their herds and livelihoods. Free resources, such as custom videos, downloadable materials, and interactive training guides are available at the Protect Our Pigs website at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal-disease/swine/protect-pigs/spread-the-word.  

    Be sure to check the website and sign up for our GovDelivery email list so you don’t miss any Action Week events or information. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Recruiting Media Roundtable With Service Leaders

    Source: United States Department of Defense

    PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL PAT RYDER: Ok. All right. Well, good afternoon, everyone. I’m Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary. Thanks very much for joining us for today’s briefing and update on the Department of Defense recruiting efforts.

    As you know, the military — the US military is the strongest fighting force on Earth. For more than 50 years, our all volunteer force has been sustained by qualified patriots who stand up to serve and keep our republic secure. As Secretary of Defense Austin has said, our greatest strategic asset is our people. We must continue to recruit and retain the best that our country has to offer. The department remains deeply committed to ensuring that every qualified patriot has the opportunity to answer the call.

    We’re fortunate to have with us today a panel of defense leaders to discuss today’s recruiting environment and preview the service’s goals for fiscal year ’25: Dr. Katie Helland, DOD’s director of military accession policy; Major General Johnny Davis, commanding general, United States Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox — at Fort Knox; Brigadier General Christopher Amrhein, commander, Air Force Recruiting Service; Rear Admiral James Waters III, commander, Navy Recruiting Command; and Major General William Bowers, commanding general, Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

    As a reminder, today’s briefing is on the record. I’ll turn it over to each of our panelists for brief opening remarks before opening it up to Q&A. And please note I will call on reporters and try to get to as many of you as possible. And with that, I’ll turn it over to Dr. Helland to kick things off.

    DR. KATIE HELLAND: Thank you. Good afternoon. I am Katie Helland, the director of accession policy. Thank you for inviting me to this media roundtable. And I’d like to start by expressing a special thank you to everyone over the past year, from our recruiting commanders to our recruiters to our MEPCOM [Military Entrance Processing Command] personnel, who’ve contributed to the success of fiscal year 2024 recruiting missions following significant shortfalls during the previous years.

    The military service concluded fiscal year 2024 in a much improved position compared to this time last year despite a continuously challenging and disinterested recruiting market. At the end of September, the services enlisted just shy of 225,000 new recruits in fiscal year 2024. That’s over 25,000 more than fiscal year 2023.

    Furthermore, the services had a 35 percent increase in contracts written compared to this time last year. USMEPCOM saw a year over year increase of medical exam by 48 percent, and the active components started fiscal year 2025 with a 10 percent larger starting pool or a delayed entry program pool compared to this time last year.

    OSD and the services will continue to build off the momentum that we’ve gained in 2024. Nevertheless, we need to remain cautiously optimistic about the future recruiting operations as we continue to recruit in a market that has low youth propensity to serve, limited familiarity with military opportunities, a competitive labor market and a declining eligibility among young adults.

    More specifically, we’ve observed over the last decade a growing divide between military and civilians. Data indicate that many of today’s youth are not interested in military service and have many misperceptions about what life is like as a service member.

    Additionally, for the first time since this metric has been tracked, the majority of youth have never even considered military service as an option. That is it’s not even on the radar. This divide has been brought about by a confluence of many factors, including the shrinking military footprint and declining veteran presence across society.

    Young Americans now have fewer direct ties to a family member or a close friend who has served in the military. For example, in 1990, 40 percent of our young adults had a parent who served. That’s down to 15 percent today. In the past, those direct ties were key to conveying the boundless opportunities and experiences that are gained from military service. And without these personal connections, we find fewer young adults are familiar with the benefits of service.

    Further complicating our recruiting challenges is the low number of youth who are qualified for military service. Data show nearly 77 percent of youth between the ages of 17 and 24 are not qualified for military service without some type of waiver. This is where programs like our medical records pilot, or MARP, and service member prep courses have been helpful to expand the market.

    But we also seek to expand the market by reconnecting with young adults and their influencers on the value proposition of service. For instance, the next generation of Americans to serve should know that there has never been a better time for them to choose military service. Youth today seek a larger purpose in their lives and desire jobs where they have greater participation in decision making and can create a direct tangible impact. Military service offers all of this.

    Service provides new perspectives, a sense of purpose, the opportunity to take on great responsibilities and challenge the status quos. Service members find personal fulfillment in serving in every part of the world, responding with skills to truly make a difference. Military service has more than 250 occupations, where each person will be individually challenged to reach their peak potential by providing a path to success.

    The military represents one of the most educated organizations in the world across all ranks. We provide our service members with competitive pay packages and benefits such as retirement savings and health care, along with unprecedented opportunities for continued education and training. We offer these things that the young adults today look for when choosing a career, but in many respects they just don’t know it.

    Too often, the military is falsely seen as an alternative to college or an option of last resort. We are working to reframe this narrative so that Americans understand that military service is a pathway to greater education and career opportunities while defending democracy and the freedoms we hold dear.

    This is why the Joint Advertising Market Research and Studies program has launched the digital Calling Answer campaign to build familiarity and — with the value proposition of military service to nest with the services’ specific campaigns. Further, the department’s There Tomorrow adult influencer media campaign targets parents, educators, and other relevant adult influencers to build advocacy for military service.

    Moreover, we have collaborated with our education partners through our military enlistment data to — access to LIFT students or our metals working group with state education agencies to develop a strategy and a plan to share military data with states in order to provide credit to public high schools for military readiness, in addition to college and career readiness.

    We’ve also partnered with our fellow national service agencies like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps to help amplify a message of service because, like military service, there has been a decline in propensity for national service opportunities. So, we are working a whole of government solution.

    While we’re here to talk about recruiting efforts today, we also want to celebrate the 225,000 young adults who’ve enlisted in fiscal year 2024. Through a spirit of selfless service, we continue to build and maintain the world’s most capable military.

    I thank you for having me and thank you for your continued efforts to better understand and support the department’s recruiting mission. I look forward to your questions.

    MG RYDER: Major General Davis.

    MG JOHNNY DAVIS: Well, good afternoon everyone. I’m Johnnie Davis, US Army recruiting commander. And thank you, Dr. Helland and fellow recruiting commanders for taking the time to be here.

    As mentioned, the US Army Recruiting Command exceeded our fiscal year 2024 recruiting mission, with more than 55,000 future soldiers going to basic combat training. Additionally, our dedicated recruiters capitalized on this momentum and surpassed the fiscal year ’24 delayed entry program mission of 5,000, contracting more than 11,000 future enlistments for fiscal year ’25. This is a great start and a very positive momentum. Achieving these goals helps ensure our Army has the personnel needed to meet end strength numbers established by Congress.

    Just over a year ago, the fierce competition for talented Americans and the need to modernize recruiting efforts led the secretary of the Army to announce recruiting as the Army’s number one priority and the need for recruiting transformation. In the past year, we’ve witnessed historic changes that generated incredible positive momentum for us in the Army.

    This really started in February 2024, after about a year of putting many of these initiatives together, and it hasn’t slowed down. Our hardworking recruiters, whole of Army support, and transformation initiatives made our fiscal year ’24 success possible. We know we are — we are not out of the woods yet, but we remain steadfast to mission success this year and beyond.

    So, as I look back on the past year, I think there are two main contributors to the success we’re seeing: our investment in the recruiting force and our families and the whole of Army investment in recruiting. We know the importance of putting people first, and started this investment with adapting our recruiter assessment and selection processes.

    Incorporating recruiter feedback, we also revamped training at the recruiting college and added two weeks to our Army recruiting course to focus on people and quality of life. Our People Week brings recruiters and their families virtually together to prepare them for the demands of life away from military installations.

    Our senior leader supported recruiters with historic incentives in fiscal year ’24: recruiter incentive pay continues; authority to promote sergeants who graduate the Army recruiting course to staff sergeant. These are all volunteers. Over 927 have been promoted; meritoriously promote up to 150 qualified sergeants and staff sergeants to the next grade; and promote fully eligible sergeants and staff sergeants who enlist 24 future soldiers to basic combat training in a 12 month period. As of today, we have 21 promotions in this category.

    In addition to the investment and professional development of our people, we continue to leverage our soldier referral program, where soldiers from around the globe in every formation have an opportunity to contribute to recruiting efforts. This program is a little more than 20 months old, and we’ve already received more than 77,000 referrals from soldiers, resulting in 5,000 contracts, and many more in the pipeline.

    The Army addressed the medical backlog and surged over 60 medical providers to 33 select Military Entrance Processing Stations across the country, increasing enlistments for the Army, Army Reserve, and our sister services. Our wonderful providers completed 6,000 more physicals as compared to last year.

    The Army is paving the way in other avenues for young Americans to serve. A first of its kind life accelerating program started in 2022, the Future Soldier Prep course, invests in young men and women, helping them unlock their potential and achieve academic and fitness readiness for military service, with a graduation rate over 90 percent in both academic and physical tracks.

    With recruiting transformation, marketing efforts are even getting better. Throughout fiscal year ’24, our teammates at the Army Enterprise Marketing Office built upon the Be All You Can Be campaign while synchronizing marketing and advertising efforts to reach expanded audiences and connect with more prospects interested in military service.

    Our recruiting staff and innovation team have been hard at work to transform the enterprise’s prospecting efforts and adapt to market expansion. We continue to look beyond the high school market, and in fiscal year ’24 had an average enlistment age of 22 years and four months, and this is going up. Also, one out of every five enlistees has some college or is a college graduate.

    Our increased usage of digital job boards and rollout of the Go Recruit mobile app, which was a recruiter recommendation, have improved our efforts immensely. We started Recruit 360 pilot, a new AI prospecting experiment that utilizes machine learning and AI assisted lead identification to enhance recruiter efficiency and focus on quality over quantity. So, we’re trying to get beyond the old days of high school lists and use AI to help us refine the lead market of our qualified applicants.

    Our investment in people and Army’s investment in recruiting made fiscal year ’24 a success. There are no words to express how proud I am of the hardworking recruiters that crushed it in every community. Compared to fiscal year ’23, these young men and women increased productivity by 43 percent, an outstanding improvement.

    As we kick start ’25, we will continue to invest in the people, maintain momentum, transform the enterprise, and innovate our workforce. The secretary announced earlier this month the Army’s enlistment goal for fiscal year ’25 is 61,000 future soldiers, with a delayed entry program target of 10,000. Our recruiters are already kicking it in high gear in fiscal year ’25, and they’re doing very well right now.

    Again, thanks again for your time. I look forward to your questions. I’ll turn it over to my good friend, Brigadier General Amrhein. And of course, be all you can be.

    BG CHRISTOPHER AMRHEIN: Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I’m honored to speak on behalf of the Air Force Recruiting Service and provide you with an update of where the Air Force and Space Force stand as we concluded fiscal year 2024 and look to our FY ’25 goals.

    I’m proud to say that we have met our recruiting goals for FY ’24 across all components, the active duty Air Force, Air Force Reserve, the Air National Guard, and the Space Force. This is an incredible achievement, particularly in today’s challenged recruiting environment, where we face declining youth population, lack of familiarity, and intense competition from the private sector.

    I want to start by expressing my sincere appreciation for all the hard work, dedication, and commitment from every member of the Air Force Recruiting Service, to include our Reserve and Guard partners, who were instrumental in us achieving our Department of the Air Force goals.

    There was no one single element which got us across the line this year, but rather a broader shift in how we approach recruitment. Multiple levers, such as barrier removal, incentive adjustment, increasing medical review support, and a honed focus on recruiter development all played a critical role to our total force recruiting successes as we closed out this fiscal year.

    This was a blend of Department of the Air Force headquarters, senior support from SAF/MR, HAF/A1, Space Force S-1, HAF/SJ — SG, not to mention Secretary Kendall, General Alvin, and General Saltzman. Additionally, Air Education and Training Command Commander Lieutenant General Robinson has been a zealot on barrier removal and resourcing support. Our success is a testament to our collective effort and unwavering commitment to bringing in the best and brightest talent into our Air Force and Space Force.

    I need everyone to know the Department of the Air Force is still hiring. We have full and part time opportunities in more than 130 specialties, several with bonuses. We’ve put in place new incentives and modernized outdated policies beginning in the spring of 2023, bringing in a larger pool of qualified applicants. As of 30 September, more than 10,000 total force airmen and guardians joined the Air Force or Space Force due to policy changes and incentives implemented by the Air Force’s recruiting cross-functional team.

    By eliminating these barriers, we’ve optimized our recruitment requirements without sacrificing the quality and capabilities of our recruits. Some of the changes that have expanded accession opportunities attracting high quality youth include reinstating the Enlisted College Loan Repayment program, modifying the body composition program to the baseline DOD instruction, revising the tattoo policy, and continuing the Air Force THC pilot that does not disqualify high quality applicants if they test positive on their initial test and negative on a follow-on test during the application process. In 2024, I adjusted the legal permanent resident requirement in the Air Force from ten years to two years to align with DOD allowances.

    We also reviewed our medical policies and processes. The implementation of MHS Genesis and the Health Information Exchange complicated the medical accession process by increased workloads in reviewing potentially disqualifying conditions in applicants versus the pre MHS Genesis. This created a large increase in medical waiver requests and caused applicant waiting time for waiver adjudications to increase significantly.

    Late last fall, AFRS added 63 medical administrator contractors to help gather and screen supporting medical records, increasing efficiency and allowing for recruiters to focus more on face-to-face engagements with applicants. Additionally, we bolstered recruiter training and made adjustments to the goaling methodologies.

    The Department of the Air Force has not changed its high standards nor compromised the caliber of our applicants. Rather, we have expanded the opportunities for qualified individuals to join our ranks. We have partnered with military affiliated organizations to leverage their presence and manpower in communities across the country.

    The Air and Space Force Association, or AFA, has become one of our trailblazing partners in this effort, as this is an exciting opportunity to build our recruiting network beyond our traditional recruiting force. This year we have also launched a similar partnership with Civil Air Patrol, which has the potential to expand our reach and add another 30,000 members to our total force outreach network.

    As we celebrate the success, we must also turn and focus to the future. FY ’25 brings with it an increased enlisted recruiting goal of 32,500 for the regular Air Force, and a Space Force increase by 30 percent. Additionally, Air Force Reserve requirements will also increase from 7,200 to 7,600. Achieving these goals depends on our ongoing commitment to investing in both our recruiters and the resources they need to succeed.

    The Department of the Air Force allocated more than 370 additional recruiting personnel based on manpower studies, Rand reports, and the AETC/A9 analysis. Air Force Recruiting Service is in the process of rapidly onboarding these personnel with deliberate placement in and around the United States.

    As we move forward, these goals set before us in FY ’25 are ambitious, but we believe they are achievable. Make no mistake. We cannot take our hand off the throttle, and we must remain laser focused on mission. In the end, deterring or winning future conflicts in a time of consequence starts right here at home by winning in the competition space for talent.

    With continued innovation, dedication, and a relentless commitment to our excellence, we will bring in the talent of our Air Force, be that reg AF, Guard, or reserve, as well as the Space Force and what they need to meet the challenges for tomorrow.

    Thank you. I welcome your questions. Aim high, and Semper Supra. Sir, over to you.

    RADM JAMES WATERS: Awesome. Good afternoon. I’m Rear Admiral Jim Waters. I’m Commander, Navy Recruiting Command. It’s a privilege to be here this afternoon to talk about the Navy’s recruiting efforts over the last year and to outline some of our goals for fiscal year 2025.

    We know that, to remain the most capable Navy in the world, we must recruit the best of America, building pathways for all qualified Americans who choose to serve our nation. Fiscal year 2024 was a year of significant achievement for Navy recruiting due to the hard work and dedication of our recruiters, our leadership, and support teams across the country.

    Together we contracted 40,978 active component enlisted sailors into the Navy against a goal of 40,600. This was no small feat, and I want to take a moment to recognize the front line Navy recruiters who worked tirelessly to meet our goals. They did an outstanding job navigating a highly competitive recruiting market, and their efforts are a testament to the Navy’s commitment to building a talented, mission ready force.

    This success didn’t happen by chance. It was the result of strategic changes we made to adapt to the current recruiting environment.

    Key adjustments included increasing the number of recruiters by approximately 800 and removing bureaucratic barriers to rapid decision making and contracting. When we take care of our recruiters, they take care of the mission. Because we recognize that today’s recruits are engaging online more than ever, we ramped up our presence on social media, expanded our esports efforts and employed creative talent in our award-winning Sailor Verses YouTube series.

    Additionally, our marketing and advertising efforts focused on real, authentic stories from actual sailors addressing perceived barriers, concerns and key motivators related to joining. Another major initiative in fiscal year 2024 for the Navy was the establishment of our Recruiting Operations Center, or ROC, which has proven invaluable.

    The ROC consolidated our data and analytic capacity into a single source of truth to continuously assess and improve recruiting practices. This emphasis on shared learning and best practices is helping our recruiters meet their goals and it will continue to play a key role as we move forward in 2025. Finally, we streamlined our medical waiver process to make well-informed decisions in zero to three days, giving recruiters and candidates the opportunity to act quickly.

    As we turn our attention to fiscal year 2025, I want to note that while we’re coming off a successful year, we are not taking our foot off the gas. Our goal for fiscal year 2025 is to build on our momentum and recruit another 40,600 new sailors, which reflects the growing needs of the Navy as we continue to modernize and strengthen our capabilities.

    The road ahead won’t be without obstacles. As my fellow recruiting commanders have noted, the labor market remains competitive and military service is one of many options available to young Americans today. To stand out, we’ll continue to refine our message, positioning the Navy as a premier opportunity for professional development, education and service to the nation. And while mindful of evolving societal expectations, especially with regards to work life balance and career flexibility, we will continue to highlight the opportunity for each young American to forge a better version of themselves in America’s Navy.

    In the end, I’m optimistic about the year ahead. Fiscal year 2025 will bring its own set of challenges, but with the strategies we’ve implemented and the talent we have in place, I’m confident we will meet our goals. Thank you.

    MG RYDER:  General Bowers.

    MG WILLIAM BOWERS:  Good afternoon. Ladies and gentlemen, fellow military leaders, it’s a pleasure to appear before you today to provide an update of your Marine Corps recruiting efforts. Your Marine Corps exists to fight and win our nation’s battles and our performance in recruiting speaks for itself. Our combat heritage is embedded within Marine Corps Recruiting Command’s DNA, and we share the same fierce competitive spirit to win as those Marines who’ve gone before us, no matter the challenge.

    Over the past several decades, the Marine Corps has made institutional investments into recruiting to ensure that we are resourced with the very best commanders and Marine recruiters to accomplish this demanding mission. This has been and will continue to be our greatest source of strength as we face what some refer to as the most challenging recruiting environment since the inception of the all-volunteer force.

    Marine recruiters will continue to meet the expectations of our nation by holding true to our warrior’s ethos and our core values of honor, courage and commitment. We compete for the very best young people in every zip code in our nation and our marine recruiters are actively attracting and inspiring young men and women of character, eager to take up the challenge of earning the title Marine.

    While we welcome all qualified and motivated applicants to take up this challenge, we refuse to lower our standards. We understand that to meet the high, almost mystical expectations that the American people have of their Marine Corps, that we must continue to attract and inspire young men and women of character who desire to live a life of significance by becoming a US marine.

    Despite our success in fiscal year ’24, we continue to face the same challenges as the other services, historic lows in qualification rates, low propensity to serve, a challenging labor market and a fragmented media landscape continued to have a compounding effect on the recruiting environment. To combat these conditions, Marine Corps Recruiting Command will do what Marines have always done, innovate, adapt and win.

    As such, we are focused on my priorities of one, training the most proficient recruiting force in the world; two, manning all of our recruiting sectors; three, securing resources to support our people in the field; and four, adapting our geographic laydown to reflect the changing demographics of our nation.

    And we’re moving out at speed to make these organizational changes. As we attack in the fiscal year ’25, we will continue to reinforce and expand the trust of the American people in their Marine Corps, positively shape the future of the Marine Corps and enable our Marines and their families to be happy and successful.

    I look forward to answering your questions. Thank you. Semper Fidelis.

    MG RYDER:  Thank you very much to all of our panelists today. We’ll start with Associated Press, Lita Baldor.

    Q:  Thank you. Thank you all for being here. I don’t know, Dr. Helland, if you can answer this or if this is each one of you needs to answer. I’m wondering about bonuses. Can you tell me how much Overall the Defense Department has increased the amount of money it’s providing to the services for bonuses and other sort of monetary enhancements for the services to provide for recruiting last year over this year? If you can give sort of overall or if the services need to provide their own.

    And then Admiral Waters, for the Navy, can you say how closely the Navy is tracking the CAT IV that you have been bringing in over the last year or so to determine whether or not there are any increased disciplinary or other issues with that sort of larger chunk that the Navy’s been bringing in, that the other services have not done?

    DR HELLAND:  So I’ll actually open it up to the services to talk on bonus incentives.

    MG DAVIS:  Yeah. Ma’am, I don’t have the exact amount, but this is one of the areas that the, in terms of transformation, should we do the same thing that we’ve been doing every year. So we’re looking at a potential pilot to weigh bonus versus station of choice. And what we’re seeing is applicants are moving towards the station of choice. With that, has garnered savings.

    I don’t have the final amount, but it is sizable when you look at the total number of applicants. And let’s say, it could be an estimate from $3,000 to $5,000, or $6,000 each. So that’s one of the areas that when we look at transformation, how can we do something different, and I think it’s yielding — I mean what we’re seeing is applicants prefer duty station of choice over money.

    BG AMERINE:  Yeah. Ma’am, I’ll follow up with my colleague, we can get you the specific number. What we do though is the incentive options that are there, they do and can flex throughout the requirements from the Air Force, specifically AFSCs or Air Force specialty codes. And so, what we have seen is a shift in my time, a little over a year, focusing on some of the most high demand and low density jobs that are out there, specifically in our special warfare atmosphere for those Air Force specialty codes.

    And so, in many cases, several AFSCs are all eligible for a bonus, but the structure of this is always flexing based on the highest or the most demand. AFSCs right now for us, that is special warfare and a lot of our open and mechanical AFSCs, ma’am.

    RADM WATERS:  Yeah, so like the other services, we look at each rating to specifically allocate enlistment bonuses. But the short answer to your primary question is there hasn’t been a significant change in the bonus amount going from ’24 to ’25. And with respect to the CAT IV, we’re tracking that closely.

    We’ve seen no increase in attrition, no increase in disciplinary actions and I attribute that mainly to the fact that every recruit that comes into the Navy meets the standard for the rating to which they are assigned. So the CAT IV is from the AFQT, which is four parts of the ASVAB [Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery]. Each rating is a combination of scores from those four plus the other six parts of the ASVAB, and that has never changed.

    So a CAT VI sailor that comes in with an AFQT of 22, that’s going to go be a machinist mate, meets all of the line requirements for that machinist mate and always has. We have not changed that.

    MG BOWERS:  And, ma’am, the Marine Corps does not rely on bonuses to attract and inspire young men and women of character to take up the challenge of becoming Marines. That said, we do have some new incentives for some new career fields. This year, we have $15,000 bonuses for electronic maintenance, cyber and crypto operations and information and communication tech career fields. But again, we don’t rely primarily on bonuses.

    MG RYDER:  Thank you, all. Yes, ma’am?

    Q:  Audrey Decker, DefenseOne, I want to thank you so much for doing this. I have a quick follow up. I just wanted to make sure I have this correct. So the Army and the Air Force Space Force is increasing their goal for 2025, Navy staying the same. And then I didn’t hear Major General Bowers what the Marine Corps was doing for 2025?

    MG BOWERS:  Our goal is increasing by approximately 1,800 Marines.

    Q:  And then separately, Dr. Helland, you mentioned declining eligibility and I was just wondering if there were any specific efforts to get after that and specifically in terms of previous drug use? I know there was a provision in the ’25 NDAA that would stop the services from requiring someone to test for marijuana before enlisting.

    What does the DOD think about that provision? If you could provide any more guidance there.

    DR HELLAND:  Certainly. Yeah. When we look at eligibility based on estimates, about 23 percent of youth are eligible to enlist without a waiver. That’s for any of our various standards, whether they medical dependents, moral. So with regards to medical standards, it’s something the department continually looks at and looks at advances in medical science, looking at the data for those who’ve come in with waivers to see if we can refine the medical standards.

    We’ve also instituted a medical accessions records pilot where for at this point now, 51 conditions that used to have—most of them had any history of a particular condition, we’re testing the feasibility of reducing the timeframe for those conditions. ADHD has actually been one where we’ve seen a lot of individuals come in under that [inaudible] condition.

    We’ve also seen great success as we talked through the Future Sailor Future Soldier prep course, to invest in those individuals with potential to get them to whether it be the body composition or some of our academic standards as well. With regards to drugs, certainly marijuana is still a prohibited for federal employees and we’ll have to continue to follow federal law.

    MG RYDER:  Thank you very much. Let’s go to Haley.

    Q:  Thank you. Thank you all for doing this. Dr. Helland, you mentioned that for the first time since the metric has been tracked that there is a percentage of youth who are not even considering military service. Can you say for how long has that metric been tracked?

    DR HELLAND:  I’ll have to go back and double check, but I think it’s mid like 2010 or so.

    Q:  OK. So roughly at least a decade?

    DR HELLAND:  At least a decade. Yes. Yes.

    Q:  And then I apologize, I don’t remember who mentioned MHS Genesis, but that was — I’m curious kind of what you’ve seen as the trend of that. I know that that was a pretty significant issue for a lot of recruiters and a lot of recruits of just the challenges that MHS Genesis presented. So can you kind of talk through, are you still seeing those challenges? Are those being addressed? What does that sort of look like now that we’ve kind of gotten further away from its implementation?

    DR HELLAND:  Sure. So yes, when we rolled out MHS Genesis, which is the department’s electronic health record system and when we rolled it out across MEPCOM, that provided us access to the verifiable health records, which meant we now have a lot of information on our young adults to assess Them against our medical standards.

    That did increase our workloads given the sheer volume of information that was available through those health information exchange, But we’ve been able to implement technical solutions. One of the key ones was instituting natural language processing, to go through and pick out key elements that have helped us reduce the time frame.

    We also overhauled recently our whole prescreen process, So that’s the process where we’re reviewing the documentation and then giving them the approval of our applicants to go to the various MEPs. Through our overhaul of the process, now 80 percent of our applicants are cleared to go to MEPs within 48 hours of starting that prescreened process.

    And then for those 20 percent that have more complex medical histories, we’ve reduced the timeframe where it used to be about 29 days on average to get them to Florida MEPs, we’re now down to below seven. So we’re continuing to improve our processes. And with MHS Genesis, we’re able to leverage technology more, to automate more processes, but we’ve also brought in more staff as well and working to increase the staff to address the workload.

    MG RYDER:  All right. Let’s go to the phones here. Heather Mongillo, USNI News.

    Q:  Great. Thank you so much. So I guess one of my biggest questions that I’m trying to still figure out when talking about recruiting, is it that there are a lot more people who are propense to serve right now, or is it that the different services have found that they were having roadblocks preventing people from enlisting?

    I guess I’m trying to figure out, are there just more people interested and that’s who you tapped into Or was there a problem with the way the services were recruiting that created the services not meeting the goals the past two years?

    DR HELLAND:  Certainly. I can jump in and then turn it over. But when we look at on aggregate, our measure of propensity, which is a snapshot in time when someone takes a survey, we have seen stability in a low metric for propensity. Where about 10 percent of young adults are motivated to serve, that has not changed over the past few years.

    What we are seeing is propensity growing at an individual level, right? When our recruiters get out there and make contact with the individual, they can grow propensity one person at a time. That’s where I believe we are seeing success, is the operations and what we’ve been able to get back into communities where when you think about what happened during COVID, we had to pull out of communities for almost two years. It takes time to get back in and develop those relationships again. But again, I think this is what we’re seeing is a testament to our recruiting commanders and the hard work of our recruiters.

    MG DAVIS:  Yeah. Dr. Helland, if I could add, you’re absolutely right. I think not having our superstar recruiters in high schools across the nation for some two and a half years, has certainly had an impact and really bringing awareness and the face-to-face interaction really helps to fill knowledge gaps for, in our case, the United States Army.

    And so that awareness also impacts their desire to say, well, should I consider service? We have a declining veteran population. I grew up with a family of many veterans in Wisconsin, who either served in World War II or Korea or Vietnam and they were all there to answer my questions.

    Now, with the decreasing veteran population, that is also really impacting, I think, that knowledge base and propensity of those up and coming qualified military service men and women.

    BG AMERINE:  Yeah. And if I could add, I think with Dr. Helland’s comments, on 30 years ago if you asked somebody if they had a family member, 45 hands would go up. And if you ask now, it’s somewhere between 10 and 12 or so. And it is what it is, but what I would say is one of the focus areas for the Air Force and Space Force, is building back that familiarity because over time, that created this lack of familiarity.

    And then you have these exacerbating incidents like COVID that materialized. But this has been a focus point. And I know that we all spoke to this last fall as well, is all of the services are really focusing on that lack of familiarity and getting back out into the public and getting it won [ph], whether it’s one person, one touch point at a time that General Davis said, or expanding social media campaigns to meet this generation where they are.

    But I think that, for the Air Force aspect of it, it is a deliberate line of effort for us, is expanding that total force outreach or recruiting network to be able to build back that familiarity into America. Thank you.

    RADM WATERS:  Yeah, I think it’s important in this to not equate low propensity with high anti-military sentiment. It’s really an expression of lack of knowledge, lack of familiarity, to play off my shipmate here. And I think to answer a little bit more of the question that was asked, to say, this reflects an increased number of recruiters.

    I mean, the Navy added recruiters, other services added recruiters and it also reflects the recognition that we need to increase propensity one American at a time. It’s that prospecting work that’s done by recruiters to go out not only in the schools but at career fairs. And making phone calls, social media connections, all of it to build that human to human relationship that leads to a young American, recognizing the value of service and then making a commitment to it.

    MG RYDER:  Let’s go back out to the phone here. Jeff Schogol, Task and Purpose.

    Q:  Thank you. A question for Dr. Helland about the medical accession records pilot or MARP. So as you mentioned, it’s now up to about 51 conditions. Do you foresee this as the start of something that becomes permanent, a change to military accession regulations that makes it easier for people with previously disqualifying medical conditions to enlist without having to get a waiver first? Thank you.

    DR HELLAND:  Yes, so the whole intent of this is write a pilot to test the feasibility. If we can shorten these timeframes and with the data, then to make that decision to then modify our medical accession standards. So that’s where we’re in right now that that pilot phase. Largely we are seeing positive results, and we’ll continue to monitor the data.

    So ultimately again to make that decision to about these conditions and whether we can build them into our standards instruction.

    MG RYDER:  Let’s go out to Steve Beynon, Military Times.

    Q:  I appreciate you all for doing this. A quick question for the services minus the Army and Navy. Those services have seen a lot of good early data on the prep courses. Nearly a quarter of the Army recruits in FY ’24 did one of those prep courses. Has the Air Force or Marine Corps looking into establishing their version of that and Space Force as well? Thank you.

    BG AMERINE:  Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for the question. From a holistic perspective across the Department of the Air Force for Recruiting, I would offer the answer is no, there’s not. There’s not the overarching compelling requirement that we’ve seen. However, I would say that for our special warfare accession pipeline, we do have a very deliberate development program for them.

    So as folks identify or are interested in the special warfare Air Force specialty codes, there is a very deliberate development program both from a, you know, from a mental resiliency standpoint, but also a very in-depth training physical training regimen to prepare them for that pipeline.

    MG BOWERS:  Yes, in the Marine Corps, we are not looking at starting a special program for future Marines. We have the delayed entry program that’s working very well for us.

    MG RYDER:  All right. Luis?

    Q:  Thank you. I just want to follow up on Steve’s question here because it was almost related exactly to that, but I’m going to direct my question to the Army and the Navy about the future sailor or Future Soldier Prep Course.

    Can you confirm the numbers of how many of your recruits this year actually participated in that? And having heard the other two services, why did the Navy choose to follow what the Army program was and was it based on their success or what did you find that, yes, we did have a base that really needed that was of motivated individuals who wanted to join the Navy who just needed that extra incentive.

    And then I have a follow up.

    RADM WATERS:  Yeah, so thanks for that and I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me for how many went through for the two future sailor prep course physical or academic, but the reason that we followed the Army on this was because of their great success. I mean, General Davis talked about the percentages.

    It was a wonderful example and what we found especially for on the side of future sailor prep course physical which allows us to bring some folks in that are above body fat standards by up to 6 percent and have them work with our recruit division commanders. We had a lot of highly qualified, like nuclear trained operator qualified individuals, that couldn’t quite get there.

    And so when we saw that the Army was using that, we took it on and we’re 100 percent successful on getting folks through that course. We have a few that have tapped out because this isn’t for me, but anybody that was working toward that body fat standard has made it and is in recruit training. And what we found is those sailors are committed in a way that’s above and beyond the average that’s in recruit training command and many of them have gone on to leadership positions within their recruit divisions.

    Future sailor prep course academic allowed us to provide an opportunity for young Americans to expand the opportunities within the Navy. As I mentioned before, every rating, all of them are based on individual line scores. And so by giving them some more academic training and recognition that much of America had challenges with COVID in schools to increase that opportunity and give them the opportunity to have more choice and we can fill other ratings that we wouldn’t have otherwise. That’s why we followed the Army.

    MG DAVIS:  Yeah, if I could answer the data, so if Soldier Prep course for us is about 20-21 months, total number of graduates, we’re approaching over 28,188. Now that’s just more than compo-one. So now when I talk about that number, that’s active duty, Army Reserve and National Guard, so they all benefit in the total Army with the Future Soldier Prep Course for us from last year’s mission of 55,000, over 10,326 graduated to course.

    We already have another pending shipped already to Fort Jackson about 1,500 and another, you know, 3,000 over the next, you know, quarter or so into the new year. So we are filling all of the seats because of the demand.

    So let me go back to why we’re seeing the success when we saw the during COVID the drop in test ASVAB by like ten points, that’s the segment and it wasn’t you know, recruiting command, it was actually our training and doctrine command Lieutenant Gervais and team. That said, hey, the Army’s done this before, we saw this drop, why don’t we go and try to invest in that segment and, I mean, half of them were within five points of a fully meeting, you know, three Bravo or Alpha, which allows to open up many job opportunities.

    And so that’s what we invested in and that’s why we see this transformational success. Some of them are testing out within two weeks and some of them are testing to the highest category. So now every job in the Army is now open to them just from a classroom, not, you know, from an outside agency, of course the camaraderie like students, the physical fitness, academic training every day is, I think, is building this great cohort of future soldiers.

    Now what I recommend everybody take an opportunity and visit the Future Soldier Prep Course if they haven’t down at Fort Jackson, it will be an eye opener. I’ve been many times. I love it, it’s a great course.

    Q:  My follow up is do you plan to now expand the course as it continues to get 1 in 5, So new recruits in?

    RADM WATERS:  Yes.

    Q:  And also, what do you attribute the rise in age to? You said that your average age now is 22 years, four months.

    MG DAVIS:  Yeah. So I don’t know in terms of expansion because we want to go after that labor market, expanded market. The segment that is, you know, within ten points or that that whatever the 21 to 30 we think they can test up. So I don’t think we’re going to expand that based on what we’re seeing. Now, let’s go to the — this expanded market.

    What I’m hearing from recruiters is that many are you know, graduating high school and are going on to college. And maybe that’s not for them and what our recruiters are doing is really beginning to focus on that segment of the population and it’s really starting to pay off.

    Why are they focusing on that? Because when we were short in terms of what we’re bringing in to the Army, we needed to fill training seats. So basic training battalions can be filled and we weren’t filling them. So our recruiters weren’t going to the high schools because they won’t ship until the next year, so they’re going directly into the labor market. And that has really, really blossomed for us over the last two years.

    And I want to say to our recruiters, job well done. Let’s stay at it and this, the current delayed entry program, it I think the average age is about 22 years and five months. So I see it going up and the high school market as we see the student, you know, population, let’s say decline over time, we’re going to have to expand it into the labor market or the — some college or college market.

    MG RYDER:  We have time for one more. Yes, sir.

    Q:  John Seward. Notes on the prep courses for both services. What are you all seeing in terms of retention after initial contract? And then a similar sort of related follow up for all services, which is in terms of finding qualified applicants, where does physical fitness rank as far as challenge?

    RADM WATERS:  So as far as the Future Sailor Prep Course, the physical fitness part of it has been something of a challenge to make sure that we’ve got the right fitness for folks joining the Navy, but it’s not one that’s insurmountable. And the physical part, the future sailor prep course physical has given us the ability to really get after that. Especially in our ratings that require a much, much higher-end ASVAB score to get after.

    MG DAVIS:  So for the Army, Army Research Institute is tracking every graduate, so you need more time, it’s about 20 months. So we do have a large number of graduates and what we want to do longitudinally is really find out from an academic perspective if that impacts retention as they go on to the first duty station.

    For the fitness, that’s a really good question and we’re thinking through that because we know that in the Future Soldier Prep Course they lose about 1.2 percent body fat a week. And what we want to make sure is we keep tracking them as they move on to their first duty station and figure out in terms of retention. So are they continuing on this right path or are they going down or are they going up? So that’s what we’re tracking because we really need that data to figure out, hey, is this so transformational that we need to look at, you know, other expansion opportunities.

    RADM WATERS:  Yeah. So I think some of that’s because of the length of time that we’ve been running the Future Sailor Prep Course hasn’t been significant enough to really get after that. But I can say that our attrition rates in boot camp and A-school for this cadre, both physical and academic are on par. There’s no change for that group relative to the rest of them.

    Q:  And just a follow up for all services, where does physical fitness rank in terms of?

    BG AMERINE:  For the Air Force, I had mentioned in my opening statement that over the past year, we adjusted the Air Force actually had a higher than DOD standard and we aligned with the DOD standard. Since then we brought in over 5,800 airmen under that DOD standard. We’ve had one wash out of BMT for physical fitness reasons.

    And so I think it’s, you know, from that standpoint and I will tell you we get the question a lot, hey, have you changed the standard. Well, the PFT standards have not changed for our basic training and that small policy adjustment offered 5,800 very high quality folks to come into our service and we lost one person for it. Thanks.

    MG BOWERS:  Good question. Thanks for the question. So Marine Corps recruit training is 13 weeks long. It is the toughest, most physically demanding of the entry-level training of the services. So physical fitness is therefore very important to us. This is the value of our delayed entry program. We like every applicant to spend at least 30 days in the delayed entry program so we can work with them, they can work with their recruiter and we can get them in good physical shape to improve their chances of success at recruit training.

    The delayed entry program has an additional benefit for us. While these kids are getting in good shape working with their recruiters, they bring their friends along and 25 percent of our contracts, one out of four, comes from a referral from the delayed entry program. Our Marines love the opportunity to have a delayed entry program to work with their own little squad or platoon of recruits and this gets to propensity.

    You know, we like to replace propensity with inspired. So if only 9 percent of the population is propensed [Sic], 91 percent is just waiting to be inspired. What a golden opportunity. So this is the value of our delayed entry program.

    MG RYDER:  All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much. I really want to say thank you to our distinguished defense leaders, panelists today as they talk about our efforts to improve our recruiting and service goals for fiscal year ’25. Thank you very much. This concludes our press briefing.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: A Proclamation on National Entrepreneurship Month,  2024

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
         Entrepreneurs embody the essence of America — their ideas and energy have always kept our country on the cutting edge, and their determination and drive uplift communities, create millions of jobs, and keep our Nation moving forward.  This month, we celebrate their unstoppable spirit.
         Supporting entrepreneurs, especially small business owners, has always been key in growing our economy from the middle out and bottom up, giving everyone a fair shot to get ahead.  Many entrepreneurs are at the heart and soul of their communities, running the mom-and-pop shops that are the glue of our neighborhoods.  But when Vice President Harris and I took office, hundreds of thousands of small businesses had been forced to close down due to the pandemic, and millions more were hanging by a thread.  Not only were entrepreneurs’ livelihoods on the line but also their life’s savings and hopes of growing wealth for the next generation. 
         That is why Vice President Harris and I were committed to investing in America’s entrepreneurs and innovators.  My American Rescue Plan provided billions of dollars in capital and support to small businesses.  My CHIPS and Science Act is investing more into research and manufacturing than ever before, building the high-tech industries of the future and the small-business supply chains to support them right here at home while helping them expand their businesses in high-growth, high-wage industries.  And my Inflation Reduction Act is incentivizing manufacturers to help tackle the climate crisis using American suppliers while cutting down on entrepreneurs’ overhead costs like health insurance and energy bills.
         The Biden-Harris Administration is also committed to ensuring every small business and entrepreneur has a fair shot.  This year, the Small Business Administration (SBA) provided a record $56 billion through more than 100,000 small business financings — the most in more than 15 years and a 50 percent increase over 2020.  The Federal Government has invested tens of billions of dollars into small disadvantaged businesses.  The SBA is lending tens of billions of dollars to small businesses that would otherwise struggle to access capital.  Since 2020, the number of SBA-backed loans doubled for women-owned businesses, tripled for Black-owned businesses, more than doubled for Latino-owned businesses, and increased by about 70 percent for Asian American-owned businesses.  And my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also made the Minority Business Development Agency permanent to help close the gap for these and other entrepreneurs from underserved and underrepresented communities too long left behind. 
         Today, entrepreneurs across the country have filed nearly 20 million new business applications since Vice President Harris and I took office — each an act of hope and confidence in our economy.  A record number of those businesses are being opened by Black, Latino, and women entrepreneurs.  And 16 million new jobs have been created.
         I have often said that America can be defined in one word:  possibilities.  That is what entrepreneurship is all about.  During National Entrepreneurship Month, we honor every entrepreneur with a vision for something better and the grit to make it real, growing our economy and creating new possibilities for everyone.
         NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2024 as National Entrepreneurship Month.  I call upon all Americans to commemorate this month with appropriate programs and activities and to celebrate November 19, 2024, as National Entrepreneurs’ Day.
         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
                                 JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: A Proclamation on National Native American Heritage Month,  2024

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
         During National Native American Heritage Month, we honor the history, rich cultures, and vast contributions of Native peoples.  We celebrate the hundreds of Tribal Nations that are ushering in a new era in our Nation-to-Nation relationships.  And we recommit to respecting Tribal sovereignty and self-determination and working in partnership with Tribal Nations to bring new prosperity and security to Native peoples.
         Indigenous peoples’ history in the United States is defined by strength, survival, and a deep commitment to and pride in their heritage, right to self-governance, and ways of life.  Native peoples have built and sustained powerful Tribal Nations, and the knowledge they developed still benefits us today.  However, our Nation’s failed policies of the past subjected generations of Native peoples to cruelty, violence, and intimidation.  The forced removal of Native peoples from their homes and ancestral homelands; attempts to assimilate entire generations; and stripping of Indigenous peoples of their identities, cultures, and traditions are some of the darkest chapters of our Nation’s history.  The trauma and turmoil fundamentally altered their communities.  As the first President to visit Indian Country in 10 years, I delivered a national apology for the unspeakable harms caused to Native peoples at Federal Indian Boarding Schools.
         Indigenous peoples have persisted and survived — a testament to their resilience and resolve.  Today, Native communities are leading the way forward and continuing to strengthen the fabric of the United States.  They have long served in the United States military and currently serve in the highest levels of government — including the Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, America’s first Native American Cabinet secretary.  In every field and sector, Native peoples are pushing for progress and contributing to our shared prosperity.  
         Since I came into office, the Federal Government has made record investments in Tribal Nations.  Federal contracts with Native American-owned companies increased by over $8 billion from 2020 to 2023.  My American Rescue Plan made the largest direct Federal investment in Tribal Nations ever, helping vaccinate Tribal communities during the COVID-19 pandemic and keeping the economy going.  My Bipartisan Infrastructure Law made the single biggest investment in Tribal roads, bridges, water, high-speed internet, electricity, irrigation, environmental cleanup, and so much more.  My Inflation Reduction Act made the biggest investment in fighting climate change ever — including funding to help Tribal communities lead in the just transition to clean energy and ease the impact of droughts, wildfires, and rising sea levels, which threaten Native lives and precious homelands. 
         My Administration is also working to ensure that Native communities are safe and secure and have the resources they need to thrive.  I signed an Executive Order that improves the Federal response to the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples.  When we reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act in 2022, we included historic provisions to reaffirm Tribal sovereignty and expand Tribal jurisdiction in cases where outside perpetrators harm members of their Nation.  And for the first time ever, my Administration also secured advance funding for the Indian Health Service so hospitals can plan ahead, order supplies, and hire doctors.  We have provided historic funding to Tribal communities to help fight the behavioral health crisis and taken significant steps to improve maternal health for Native American women, who are twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications as white women. 
         I have always believed that we must know the good, the bad, and the truth of who we are as a Nation — we must acknowledge our history so that we can begin to remember and heal.  That is why I became the first President to issue a formal apology for the Federal Indian Boarding School era, one of the most horrific chapters in our Nation’s history.  For 150 years, the Federal Government mandated the removal of Native children from their families and Tribes — and as a result, generations of Native children had their childhoods stolen and whole Tribal cultures were erased.  I am proud to formally end the silence surrounding this shameful era and I remain proud that my Administration defended the Indian Child Welfare Act in court, ensuring that our Nation respects Tribal sovereignty and protects Native children by helping Native families stay together and grow up with their languages and cultures.  And we are working to support Native American families and communities as they heal from the Federal Indian Boarding School era through the Department of the Interior’s Road to Healing initiative and by supporting Native language preservation and public safety initiatives.  
         My Administration has also worked with Tribal Nations to preserve, protect, and steward important ancestral Tribal lands and waters.  Through more than 200 co-stewardship and co-management agreements signed under my leadership, we are working side by side with Tribes to make decisions about how to manage the lands that are most precious to them.  And to date, I have protected and conserved more than 45 million acres of our Nation’s lands and waters.  That includes the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, vast offshore waters off California’s coast and the first sanctuary to be proposed by Indigenous communities.  I have also established, expanded, and restored 11 national monuments, many containing sites considered sacred to Tribal Nations — from Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and Avi Kwa Ame National Monument to Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, and others.  
         During National Native American Heritage Month, we honor the heritage and contributions of Native peoples, and we work tirelessly to build a future grounded in dignity, respect, and partnership.  We remain committed to working with Native communities to write a new and better chapter in American history for Tribal Nations — one that honors the solemn promise the United States made to Tribal Nations, fulfills our Federal trust and treaty obligations, and works together to rebuild Tribal economies and institutions.  
         NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2024 as National Native American Heritage Month.  I urge all Americans, as well as their elected representatives at the Federal, State, and local levels, to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.  Also, I urge all Americans to celebrate November 29, 2024, as Native American Heritage Day.
         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
                                   JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: A Proclamation on National Veterans and Military Families Month,  2024

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
         Each veteran and military family represents a link in a chain of honor that stretches back to our founding days, unwavering in their devotion to their loved ones who served in uniform.  This month, we honor all of our military and veteran families.  They too serve and sacrifice to answer our Nation’s call to duty.  We owe them a debt of gratitude we can never fully repay.
         I often say that, as a Nation, we have many obligations, but only one is truly sacred:  to prepare and equip those we send into harm’s way and to care for them and their families when they come home.
         We are continually working to make sure that our Nation’s veterans and service members have access to the benefits and care they deserve.  I have signed more than 34 bipartisan bills to better support our service members, veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors.  One of those bills, the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, was the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic-exposed veterans and survivors in nearly 30 years.  To date, more than 1.1 million veterans and over 11,000 survivors are now receiving new service-connected disability benefits, and over 796,000 veterans have newly enrolled in Veterans Affairs health care since the law was enacted.  This law is helping families who lost loved ones to toxic illness gain access to critical resources and services, including monthly benefits, educational assistance, home loans, and more.  Actions outlined in our national strategy to prevent military and veteran suicide are tackling the root causes of the military and veteran suicide crisis, including by better supporting families through the Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans, and their Families.  And we are making progress in eliminating homelessness and improving financial security for veteran and military families.  Too often, veteran and military families become the targets of bad actors and scam artists.  My Administration’s Veteran Service Member Family Fraud Evasion initiative is providing easy, one stop access to resources to report fraud and get help from the Federal Government to combat scams.  Additionally, I signed an Executive Order that implemented historic, bipartisan military justice reforms to transform how the military handles sexual assault and domestic violence cases.  And I directed the Department of Defense to review pay and benefits for our service members — an important step toward ensuring their compensation reflects their service and sacrifice.
         Military-connected families sacrifice for our country, answering the call to duty over and over again.  Many military and veteran spouses, caregivers, and survivors struggle to achieve their desired career goals due to unique challenges military-connected families face.  This is why I signed an Executive Order that takes the most comprehensive set of administrative actions in history to support the economic security of military families and veterans’ spouses, caregivers, and survivors.  I encouraged Federal agencies to do more to retain military spouses through flexible policies, ensuring they have access to stable jobs throughout their careers.  Last year, I signed an Executive Order that directed more than 50 actions to improve the care economy, which included critical actions to better support military and veteran caregivers and expand access to military child care.  These orders build on the efforts taken by my Administration to improve the quality of life for military families, including initiatives to ease military moves, afford housing, and find child care.  Joining Forces, the First Lady’s initiative, is working to better support military and veteran families — doing everything from making school transitions easier for military children to expanding economic opportunities for military spouses and caregivers.
         This is personal for my family and for me.  We know the pride of seeing your child wear the uniform of the United States.  We know the pain of long deployments far from home.  We know what it is like to pray for the safe return of someone you love.  This month, may we show our immense gratitude for our military and veteran families, whose courage and dedication represent the best of who we are as a Nation.
         NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2024 as National Veterans and Military Families Month.  I call upon the people of the United States to honor veterans and military families with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
                                   JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Adams Visits Charlotte Bilingual Preschool

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Alma Adams (12th District of North Carolina)

    CHARLOTTE – Today, Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12) visited Charlotte Bilingual Preschool, which provides dual-language early education to Charlotte-area children at no cost to families.  

    “I have enjoyed myself immensely this morning,” said Rep. Adams. “I can’t think of a better environment where children have people who care and work with their families.” 

    As quality childcare has become harder to find and increasingly expensive in North Carolina, Charlotte Bilingual Preschool helps to ensure that Spanish-speaking families in the Charlotte area have an accessible resource that builds critical language skills and Kindergarten-readiness. Charlotte Bilingual Preschool’s 5-star licensed program has been serving Mecklenburg County Spanish-speaking families since 1999. In addition to preschool, they offer family programs and workforce development programs to focus on removing systemic barriers for those who are learning English.  

    Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. represents North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District (Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Cabarrus County) and serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, where she serves as ranking member of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reschenthaler Announces November Mobile Office Hours

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14)

    October 31, 2024

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) announced his staff will hold mobile office hours at various locations throughout Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District next month to offer increased assistance to constituents experiencing problems with a federal agency.

    During these mobile office sessions, constituents can receive help with Social Security and Medicare issues, federal grant funding, passports and visas, immigration and naturalization services, veterans’ benefits, and the IRS.

    The upcoming schedule is outlined below:

    What: Fayette County – Uniontown Mobile Office Hours

    Date: Friday, November 1, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

    Location: Fayette County Courthouse, 61 East Main Street, Uniontown, PA 15401

    What: Greene County Mobile Office Hours

    Date: Thursday, November 7, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

    Location: Greene County Office Building, 93 East High Street, Waynesburg, PA 15370

    What: Indiana County Mobile Office Hours

    Date: Wednesday, November 13, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

    Location: Indiana County Courthouse Annex, 827 Water Street, Indiana, PA 15701

    What: Somerset County Mobile Office Hours

    Date: Thursday, November 14, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

    Location: Somerset County Commissioner Office, 300 North Center Avenue, Suite 540, Somerset, PA 15501

    What: Fayette County – Connellsville Mobile Office Hours

    Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

    Location: Connellsville Municipal Building, 110 North Arch Street, Connellsville, PA 15425

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Senator Marshall joins Wake Up America: Farmers & Ranchers Trust Donald Trump’s Policies

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall

    Washington D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. joined Wake Up America on Newsmax to discuss how Donald Trump delivers for Farmers & Ranchers in Rural America, how Kamala Harris’ plan to ban price gouging on groceries will lead to shortages, and President Joe Biden calling Trump supporters ‘Garbage.’

    [embedded content]

    You may click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full interview.
    Highlights from the interview include:
    On Farmers & Ranchers Turning to Donald Trump to Deliver:
    “As agriculture goes, so goes Rural America. Under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, what we saw was an attack on American agriculture. We saw a record drop in net farm income… they drowned us, they buried us in regulations, they drove up the cost for farming through energy costs… contrast that to President Trump – what President Trump gave us was access to markets. He rolled back regulations. We had record income increases as well.”
    “Guess how many trade agreements Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did? None. President Trump gave us USMCA, he gave us South Korea, he gave us Japan… You think about those purple states up there in the central and the northwest. You think about Ohio, you think about Michigan, you think about Pennsylvania, all strong dairy country. Because of President Trump’s trade agreements, we have increases from $6 billion to $9 billion in exports of dairy… And again, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, no emphasis on trade. Didn’t even try to do a trade agreement.”
    “President Trump gave us E15, about 40% of our corn crop goes towards ethanol, so President Trump, a great supporter for that Rural America.”
    On Foreign Agriculture: 
    “Food security is national security, and to your point, we’re importing more than we’re exporting when it comes to agriculture… So the Biden-Harris administration allows Europe and China to have high tariffs, on average, 10% to 25% tariffs on American agriculture products…  versus we only put 2.5% tariffs on them.”
    “Tariffs can be a weapon to use to level that playing field, to bring us about free, fair, and reciprocal trade. And that’s what President Trump has done in the past; he’ll do in the future – he’ll bring it home for American farmers.”
    On Kamala Harris’ Ban on Price Gouging 
    “There will be shortages. Think about beef, think about poultry, eggs, milk, all those things will lead to shortages… What caused the prices to go up are her policies – her policies that attack American energy. Energy is an inflation multiplier.”
    “They’re borrowing money, and borrowing more money has led to high interest rates, so that’s what’s driving up the cost at the grocery stores. Look, most of these grocery stores operate at a 1% or 2% profit margin. There’s significant competition. So, what will happen is American farmers and ranchers will stop growing wheat. They’ll stop growing up beef if we can’t get a fair price board as well.”
    On President Joe Biden Calling Trump Supporters ‘Garbage’: 
    “I think when the history books are written here, in five or 10 years, there’s going to be two iconic photos – one of President Trump working at a McDonald’s and two President Trump driving a garbage truck. When the Biden-Harris administration came out and called us garbage that was akin to Hillary Clinton’s deplorables moment… When President Trump walked in there to McDonald’s, he just proved that he cares about the working men and women across America, that we are the party of hard working Americans.”
    “Americans that were sitting on the sidelines and said, my gosh, this White House is once again insulting you and me, hard working Americans across the country. They’re condescending – take them at their word, they’re attacking our values.”
    “When I think of rural America, I think of the values we are raised on- faith and family and country, and how coastal elites are dictating to us what our values should be. Look, we want none of that in Kansas. We want to determine what our values are.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SCHUMER: THIS IS IT! AFTER YEARS OF ADVOCACY, ALBANY NANOTECH SELECTED AS AMERICA’S FIRST NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY CENTER – CREATED BY HIS CHIPS & SCIENCE LAW

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer

    Schumer Lands A Whopping $825 Million Initial Federal Investment And Establishes Albany NanoTech As Fed Headquarters For Semiconductor Research; A Once In A Generation Recognition Making The Capital Region A Chip R&D Center For The Entire World

    Schumer Created NSTC Program — With Albany As His North Star — And Worked Relentlessly To Secure This Prestigious Investment, Bringing Good-Paying Jobs, New Companies, And Innovation With Most Advanced Machinery In World To Upstate NY

    Schumer: A Historic Moment. Uncle Sam Just Picked Upstate NY & The Capital Region As THE Place To Develop The Future Of America’s Chip Industry

    After years of relentless advocacy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today announced Albany NanoTech has been selected as America’s first location for the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) supported by an up to $825 million federal investment from Schumer’s bipartisan CHIPS & Science Law.

    The NSTC is a critical part of Schumer’s and the Biden-Harris Administration’s mission of re-establishing America’s leadership in the semiconductor industry and will bring together industry leaders, researchers from the nation’s top universities, innovators, and entrepreneurs to help give them access to the most advanced chip making machinery in the world and drive the next frontier of innovation.

    “This is the dawn of a new day for Upstate NY and a turning point in U.S. leadership in semiconductor research. I am proud to announce America’s first major National Semiconductor Technology Center facility will be right here in Albany. This will help ensure advancements in semiconductors that will shape the next century are stamped ‘Made in America’ and not developed and made in places like China,” said Senator Schumer. “Today, Uncle Sam is saying that Albany NanoTech is THE place for developing the next frontier of America’s technological future. I wrote the NSTC in my CHIPS & Science Law with Albany NanoTech as my inspiration, and now that dream is becoming a reality. Today we help usher in America’s next era of chip research and manufacturing, with Upstate NY leading the way.”

    The Department of Commerce and Natcast, the operator of the NSTC, will invest an initial up to $825 million to further build out equipment at Albany NanoTech, to conduct cutting-edge extreme ultraviolet (EUV) research and development (R&D), and to establish an NSTC presence with offices and support services in Albany. Today’s announcement not only makes Albany NanoTech the CHIPS for America R&D flagship facility but also the headquarters for national EUV research as the country’s NSTC EUV Accelerator. EUV technology is essential to the semiconductor industry and some of the most advanced machinery in the world, in which light is used to print patterns and make chips on wafers. EUV lithography is what has allowed the breakthroughs to make this technology nanoscopic and allows for the chips that power everything from smartphones, computers, and vehicles to artificial intelligence. Albany NanoTech will soon be one of the only two public facilities in the world with the most advanced EUV technology, a High NA Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography tool, and will be the only publicly-owned High NA EUV Center in North America.

    Schumer continued, “The NSTC is a historic and new effort by the federal government to fuel the quest to make breakthroughs in chips that engineers today cannot even fathom, just as Albany NanoTech had produced before, including most recently with the development of the world’s first 2 nanometer chip. This $825 million initial federal investment will further equip Albany NanoTech and fund EUV research projects that are central to the global chip industry, ensuring the U.S. leads the world in semiconductor innovation and manufacturing, with the Capital Region and Upstate NY central to that effort.”

    Schumer explained that the state-of-the-art new EUV facility at Albany NanoTech and today’s designation and federal investment will help the United States establish dominance in advanced semiconductor research and development. The NSTC EUV Accelerator will help address gaps in American knowledge about semiconductors and provide information to stakeholders including universities, small businesses and entrepreneurs, large manufacturers, and government agencies by providing NSTC members with access to EUV technology to facilitate research and commercialization.

    The NSTC EUV Accelerator at Albany NanoTech will be a place for leaders in the semiconductor industry to conduct research and collaborate, including bringing industry leaders like Micron, IBM, GlobalFoundries, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, ASML, and more to the table to partner on next-generation R&D. Being designated the EUV accelerator will also open up opportunities for Albany NanoTech and Upstate NY to attract further federal investment and help attract more companies from around the world to Albany to conduct research, all with the potential of creating more good-paying jobs and making Upstate NY a global leader in semiconductors. The U.S. Department of Commerce and Natcast intend for the NSTC EUV Center at Albany NanoTech to be operational by 2025. 

    Schumer added, “Having the federal headquarters for EUV research that is critical to the most advanced chip development in the world will benefit every corner of NY. It will supercharge the historic investments and thousands of new, good-paying jobs the chip industry has proposed across the state, spurred by my CHIPS & Science Law. The NSTC will help complete my vision of Upstate NY’s I-90 corridor becoming America’s Semiconductor Superhighway. From our Tech Hub in Western NY and Rochester to Micron’s massive $100+ billion planned investment near Syracuse and Wolfspeed’s investment in the Mohawk Valley, to now the National Semiconductor Technology Center here in Albany.”

    The NSTC, first authorized by Schumer in 2020 and then funded by the CHIPS & Science Law, which Schumer crafted and led to passage, will bridge the gap between research and industry to bolster semiconductor research and development for the U.S. and its allies. Today, practically none of the most advanced chips – which are critical to national security and growing industries like artificial intelligence – are manufactured in the United States. The research conducted through the NSTC will help ensure the U.S. remains on the cutting-edge globally in chip R&D and bring this manufacturing back to the United States, boosting local economies by creating good-paying jobs and strengthening the country’s national security.

    The EUV Center at Albany NanoTech is the first of three planned major NSTC facilities. The U.S. Department of Commerce has not yet made announcements about the NSTC’s Administrative and Design Facility and Prototyping and NAPMP Advanced Packaging Piloting Facility. Together, these three major hubs will lead the NSTC’s core functions and help fulfill the CHIPS & Science Law’s vision of developing more American-made technology and boosting America as a global semiconductor leader. The new NSTC EUV Center at Albany NanoTech will also open the doors to millions of dollars in additional awards and research opportunities with the federal government, as well as help bring in additional industry partners to leverage the state-of-the-art facilities to develop and manufacture advanced chips.

    Schumer said, “In the past two years, the federal government has made unprecedented investments in Upstate NY because of my CHIPS & Science Law. They listened when I said this community is the most qualified in the nation to bring this industry back from overseas, the most ready to build America’s future, and the NSTC is the crown jewel that will complete this vision as the centerpiece of research in the most cutting-edge chip development.”

    “From day one of my administration, I pledged that New York State would lead the charge to bring back advanced manufacturing and R&D to the U.S., creating good jobs and opportunity in the process,” Governor Hochul said. “Thanks to the winning combination of federal CHIPS funding and New York’s determination and ingenuity, the Albany NanoTech Complex will be home to the CHIPS for America EUV Accelerator, an NSTC Facility, and fuel America’s advanced manufacturing renaissance. I thank the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of Commerce, Natcast, and our federal delegation for their partnership as we continue to work together to advance U.S. semiconductor leadership, safeguard our national security and create a brighter future for all.”

    “Building up America’s domestic semiconductor industry is critical to create good-paying jobs, protect our supply chains, and strengthen our national security, and I’m proud to see New York leading this effort,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Upstate New York is already a hub for cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, research, and development, and the designation of NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex as the location of the CHIPS for America EUV Accelerator will help us maintain our status as a global leader in such a vital industry. I fought hard to pass the CHIPS and Science Act, and I’m proud to see this historic legislation bring scientific innovation and economic development to the Capital Region.”

    “Today is a monumental moment for our region, for job creation, for cutting-edge research, and for our 21st century precision economy,” Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-20) said. “In the years since Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act, I have been relentlessly advocating alongside the many stakeholders who call NY CREATES home to leverage the shovel-ready infrastructure and advanced R&D capabilities right here at the Albany NanoTech Complex. Our region has long been poised to take the reins to steer America’s semiconductor revitalization and, thanks to the pioneering work and sound investment of New York leadership, local chip manufacturers, researchers, educational institutions, and other stakeholders, that reality is upon us. I’m thrilled to celebrate this groundbreaking announcement and remain as determined as ever to secure strong federal action that delivers for American workers, consumers, and communities.”

    NY CREATES’ President Dave Anderson said, “With a legacy spanning more than 20 years of technological achievements, NY CREATES and our industry partners have been central to establishing and growing New York’s — and the nation’s — semiconductor R&D ecosystem. This is an historic moment for New York and the semiconductor industry, and we look forward to working closely with Natcast to leverage our resources, capabilities, and know-how to bring this innovative vision to fruition. We are thrilled that the NSTC at NY CREATES will become an even greater beacon of opportunity and collaboration for our partners as we transform today’s ideas into tomorrow’s technologies. Together, we can shape the future and in doing so, bolster America’s economic and national security while cementing our position as a global leader. We are grateful to Governor Hochul, whose unwavering commitment to the industry has positioned NY CREATES to host the NSTC EUV Center, and to Majority Leader Schumer, who not only helped author and lead to passage the CHIPS & Science Act but also made the case for Albany NanoTech’s leadership of the NSTC, all of which makes today’s investment possible.”

    “Nearly 20 years ago, ASML shipped one of the world’s first EUV lithography demo tools to Albany, NY. The important role that New York has played in the industrialization of this critical technology is reflected in today’s announcement that the NSTC EUV Accelerator will be based at the Albany NanoTech Complex. The first chips made using High NA, ASML’s most advanced EUV tool, will power the technology of the future: robotics, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, and beyond. As we work with partners across the industry to push technology to new limits, we applaud Senator Schumer and Governor Hochul’s clear commitment to semiconductor innovation in the U.S.,” said Christophe Fouquet, President and CEO of ASML.

    “GF applauds the decision to base the NSTC EUV Accelerator in Albany, NY. Building on years of R&D, semiconductor leadership and ecosystem partnerships, this center will stimulate innovation and work to develop the talent our industry needs to continue to grow and succeed. Congratulations to NYCREATES and thank you to Senator Schumer and Governor Hochul for their enduring leadership and commitment to strengthening both the U.S. and NY semiconductor industry,” said Dr. Thomas Caulfield, president and CEO of GlobalFoundries.

    “We are thrilled that New York State has been selected as the home of our nation’s first NSTC EUV Center. For over 20 years, IBM and our public-private partners at NY CREATES’s Albany NanoTech Complex have produced many of the technical breakthroughs that have propelled the semiconductor industry forward. Thanks to Sec. Raimondo, Gov. Hochul, Sen. Schumer, and many others, the new Center in Albany will support the United States’ mission to lead global chip innovation,” said Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM.

    “The compelling factors for Micron in choosing New York as home to our megafab are the rich ecosystem in support of research and development, synergistic university partnerships, an exceptional talent pipeline, and strong public support, which fosters an environment to grow semiconductor R&D in the U.S.  Micron is pleased to see that the U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded the NY CREATES Albany NanoTech Center the designation of being named the NSTC’s EUV Accelerator. Thanks to the leadership of Majority Leader Schumer and Governor Hochul, we will be able to scale our memory technology leadership and advance next-generation semiconductor R&D,” said Scott DeBoer, Micron’s Executive Vice President, Chief Technology and Products Officer.

    “The announcement of the National Semiconductor Technology Center here in New York State is a monumental step forward, not only for Wolfspeed but for the entire U.S. semiconductor industry. This Center will become a cornerstone of innovation, helping drive the research, development, and workforce training critical to meeting the world’s surging demand for advanced semiconductor technology. Thanks to Senator Schumer’s visionary leadership, New York State is now positioned at the forefront of this vital industry, advancing our nation’s technological independence and reinforcing its global leadership,” said Gregg Lowe, CEO of Wolfspeed.

    THIS HAS BEEN A YEARS-LONG EFFORT BY SCHUMER TO LAND THE NSTC IN THE CAPITAL REGION

    Schumer has worked for years to highlight Albany NanoTech and the Capital Region’s ability to lead the country’s semiconductor research and development efforts. In December 2020, after Schumer worked with key stakeholders across the semiconductor industry, including key partners at Albany NanoTech like IBM to develop the federal CHIPS programs, including the NSTC, he successfully authorized these programs in law as part of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.

    In addition to directly highlighting Albany NanoTech to President Biden, Schumer has brought top government officials to the Capital Region to promote Albany NanoTech as a major hub for the NSTC. In July 2021 prior to the passage of the CHIPS & Science Law, Schumer brought Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to Albany to show that Albany is a global leader in semiconductor research and development. Schumer brought Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves to tour Albany NanoTech’s facility in January 2022 and National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard toured the facility in February 2024 after Schumer’s invitation. In 2023, Schumer additionally brought Albany Nanotech head David Anderson as his personal guest to President Biden’s 2023 State of the Union to highlight the facility and leadership.

    Schumer has also promoted Albany NanoTech while meeting with both semiconductor industry and international leaders. Schumer highlighted Albany NanoTech when pitching Micron to locate their massive $100+ billion megafab project in Upstate NY, which Micron said was a critical factor in their selection of Central NY. Schumer also secured a commitment for South Korea to partner with Albany Nanotech on research, pushed for increased collaboration on semiconductor R&D between Japan and the United States, pitched Albany NanoTech to major Japanese chip suppliers for further investment, and met with the leadership of Belgium’s imec on multiple occasions to discuss ways Albany NanoTech and imec can collaborate as the two global leading semiconductor public-private research institutions. Schumer said these international partnerships underscore the ability of Albany NanoTech’s unique and world-renowned assets to help forge deeper ties with allies and partners in building more resilient chip supply chains and encouraging R&D collaboration, a key national security priority of the CHIPS programs, including the NSTC.

    Late last year, Schumer and Governor Hochul announced a new $10 billion public-private investment at Albany Nanotech which will help install a High NA EUV lithography machine, the most advanced semiconductor equipment ever made, designed, and manufactured by ASML, at its Albany NanoTech Complex. Schumer said this helps uniquely prepare them to quickly lead the NSTC as one of only two public research institutions in the world home to the new advanced EUV tool. In September 2023, Schumer announced NY CREATES, which leads Albany NanoTech, as one of the first to tap CHIPS funding with a $40 million award through the CHIPS DoD Microelectronics Commons Program to establish a new consortium, known as the Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub. In September 2024, the consortium received an additional $30 million. Schumer also recently helped secure $4.7 million from the National Science Foundation for NY CREATES to provide workforce training associated with Albany NanoTech. These funds, made possible by a program boosted in the CHIPS & Science Law, will support the establishment of the Education Alliance for Semiconductor Experiential Learning (EASEL) program to help address the growing national demand for a skilled workforce in the semiconductor industry.

    ACROSS NEW YORK THE CHIPS & SCIENCE LAW HAS DELIVERED HISTORIC INVESTMENT & IS CREATING THOUSANDS OF GOOD-PAYING JOBS

    Thanks to Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Law, Upstate New York has seen a major revival in tech manufacturing. Micron has announced plans for a historic $100+ billion investment to build a cutting-edge memory megafab in Central New York with the support of an over $6 billion preliminary CHIPS agreement. GlobalFoundries plans to invest over $12 billion to expand and construct a second, new state-of-the-art computer chip factory in the Capital Region, with support from a $1.5 billion preliminary CHIPS agreement. Wolfspeed has opened a 200mm silicon carbide fabrication facility in the Mohawk Valley, one of the largest in the world, with a $750 million preliminary CHIPS agreement accelerating their ongoing expansion in the Mohawk Valley and boosting good-paying jobs expected to be created at the Marcy facility. TTM Technologies, a printed circuit board manufacturer, plans to invest up to $130 million to expand its facilities in Onondaga County, supported by federal investment to strengthen domestic supply chains, creating up to 400 good-paying jobs. Menlo Micro will invest $150 million to build their microchip switch manufacturing facility in Tompkins County, creating over 100 new good-paying jobs. In addition, Upstate New York is home to semiconductor supply chain companies like Corning Incorporated, which manufactures glass critical to the microchip industry at its Canton and Fairport, NY plants, and following Schumer’s advocacy, Edwards Vacuum has announced a $300+ million investment to build a dry pump manufacturing facility, made possible by a $18 million preliminary CHIPS agreement, creating 600 good-paying jobs to support the growing chip industry in Western New York. Earlier this year, Schumer also secured a major $40 million in federal funding for the federally-designated “NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub”, one of only 12 awardees nationally, to further position Upstate NY as a semiconductor center for the world.

    MIL OSI USA News –