NewzIntel.com

Category: Military Intelligence

  • MIL-OSI Security: Indo-Pacific Motorized Forum 25

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    The purpose of Indo-Pacific Motorized Forum 25, is for senior leaders and multinational partners to discuss, plan, and prepare to enhance modernized war fighting functions among the Indo-Pacific region.

    The Forum began with a conference held at the Le Méridien, with 91 participants, including 42 U.S. personnel and 49 allied and partnered nation representatives from Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and the Kingdom Thailand.

    I Corps subordinate units, 7th Infantry Division, 5th Security Forces Assistance Brigade, and many others, joined the discussion in regards to the Indo-Pacific Motorized Forum becoming a key platform for force modernization, operational integration, and strategic discussions.

    Participants shared their thoughts on modernization and future motorized operations, and discussed strategic methods to enhance security cooperation through training. The Indo-Pacific Motorized Forum 25 has become a cornerstone for multinational collaboration, allowing partners to refine doctrines, tactics, and operational strategies for motorized formations.

    U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Matthew W. McFarlane, commanding general of America’s First Corps, expressed the importance and his appreciation for U.S. Army service members, and multinational partners working together to maintain effectiveness and cohesion within the military.

    “The Indo-Pacific Motorized Forum 25 represents the continued commitment of the U.S. and its allies to enhancing regional security and interoperability,” said McFarlane. “Through collaboration, modernization, and shared operational experiences, we strengthen our collective ability to meet evolving security challenges in the Indo-Pacific.”

    On Feb. 27, The Royal Thai Army held a visit at the 112th Stryker RegimentCombat Team Headquarters in Chon Buri, Thailand. Discussions were made on behalf of maintaining sufficient military tactical vehicles for operations, and displayed a scenario based training utilizing a terrain model in a tactical environment.

    Leaders from all participating nations spoke on behalf of their military history. They emphasized their common goal of defense and security being an essential aspect between nations when working together and enhancing interoperability. Future Indo-Pacific Motorized Forums will continue to push these goals forward.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ernst Unveils INNOVATE Act to Usher in Golden Age of American Innovation

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)

    WASHINGTON – Today, at the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing on ushering in the Golden Age of American innovation, Chair Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) unveiled her Investing in National Next-Generation Opportunities for Venture Acceleration and Technological Excellence (INNOVATE) Act to reauthorize and reform the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs that enable small businesses to bring innovation to the defense industrial base.
    Ernst detailed how her bill will cut red tape to make way for new applicants, eliminate corporate welfare for mills, and strengthen protections against China’s attempts to steal taxpayer-funded intellectual property.

    Watch Chair Ernst’s full opening remarks here.
    The SBIR-STTR programs allocate a portion of participating federal agencies’ research and development budgets to small businesses to accelerate their development of critical technologies. In 2022, Ernst led the SBIR and STTR Extension Act to reform and reauthorize the programs by establishing a new foreign ties vetting requirement and a new measurement of small businesses’ success in commercializing research, among other improvements.
    The INNOVATE Act:
    Eliminates small business welfare and reorients SBIR-STTR to its original purpose as merit-based seed funding for innovators by:

    Eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) preferences in the award process and requiring businesses with dozens of awards to be commercially viable and not exclusively rely on SBIR awards as a source of perpetual revenue.

    Accelerates innovation among new SBIR awardees across America by:

    Reserving 2.5% of the SBIR allocation for smaller, one-time $40,000 awards to new applicants with a shorter, streamlined application focused on the commercialization potential of their innovation.

    Promotes transition for battle-ready SBIR-STTR technologies by:

    Empowering the Department of Defense (DoD) to scale the most-promising technologies to long-term contracts by using existing funds to establish targeted, larger-dollar awards to bridge the “valley of death.”

    Closes loopholes and strengthens due diligence assessment of foreign risks by:

    Defining foreign risk to provide a consistent baseline for agencies’ evaluation of potential awardees, implementing a clear list of ties to foreign countries of concern that deem a small business ineligible for awards, and strengthening federal agencies’ ability to claw back award dollars if a small business exposes SBIR-STTR-funded intellectual property to adversarial influence.

    Streamlines the bloated SBIR-STTR program operations by:

    Eliminating underperforming pilot programs and restricting the number of award proposals that a single company can offer annually.

    Ernst’s full opening remarks:
    “With its authorization expiring at the end of this fiscal year, today we turn our attention to the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs, or SBIR-STTR. This program has effectively partnered federal agencies with private sector entrepreneurs to scale research and development projects aimed at addressing the pressing challenges of the day.
    “While we’ve seen a measure of success over the years, through the committee’s oversight efforts, agency studies, and GAO reports, it is clear SBIR is in need of additional reforms to safeguard taxpayer funds and enable this program to meet its full potential. 
    “Despite the funding spanning 11 agencies and countless critical technology areas, SBIR has demonstrated an incredible potential to revitalize our small business industrial base and preserve America’s technological leadership. The cutting-edge technologies being generated are already serving to enhance competition, improve supply chains, and increase overall readiness.
    “For these reasons, I am excited to announce that today I am introducing the ‘Investing in National Next-Generation Opportunities for Venture Acceleration and Technological Excellence’ or ‘INNOVATE’ Act, a bill to reauthorize and comprehensively reform the SBIR-STTR program.
    “My legislation streamlines and simplifies existing processes, directs the funding toward projects based on merit, channels funding to help accelerate the most promising projects towards final stage commercialization, protects against waste and abuse, and introduces enhanced protections and accountability tools to prevent these new technologies from getting into the hands of our foreign adversaries. 
    “First, the INNOVATE Act reforms Phase I to provide new applicants with a simplified, two-page proposal process with smaller, one-time awards so that more innovators throughout the country can have access to this program, even if they can’t hire professional grant-writers. My bill also eliminates DEI preferences. These measures enable agencies to scout the best proposals based on substance from across the country. I am committed to ensuring open competition for innovators with traditionally lower engagement in the program.
    “Second, my bill addresses the practice of ‘SBIR mills,’ where firms benefiting from their beltway connections and grant writing expertise have been able to collect an outsized portion of the funding, with fewer results to show for it. 
    “This problem was verified by both the GAO, the government accounting office, and the DoD’s Defense Industrial Board, which reported that the firms that got the most awards, were less productive in terms of commercialization, investments, and patents, than those who got fewer awards. 
    “To prevent the use of Phase I or II funding as a permanent source of revenue, my bill imposes a $75 million lifetime cap. It forces small businesses with dozens of awards to demonstrate commercial traction or follow-on contracts with non-SBIR dollars. 
    “Third, my bill empowers DoD to repurpose underutilized and overly regulated STTR Phase II funding to more efficiently scale the most promising technologies for long-term contracts for deployment through ‘strategic breakthrough awards.’ For these awards of up to $30 million, the bill limits eligibility to small businesses making clear progress towards commercialization and with an identified DoD end user. It also requires 100% matching funds to ensure that firms have skin in the game and aren’t just in it for corporate welfare. These reforms will enable more flexible use of SBIR funding to help bridge the ‘valley of death’ for the companies on the verge of success.
    “Finally, my bill builds upon my longstanding work to safeguard these new SBIR technologies from being stolen by our adversaries. For years, China and other state actors have stolen intellectual property and proprietary secrets from American businesses and universities. That is why I championed the foreign ties due diligence program reforms in the 2022 reauthorization. But we have found that more needs to be done.
    “That’s why my INNOVATE Act introduces a new definition of ‘foreign risk’ to create a stronger risk assessment baseline standard that must be applied consistently across all agencies. It implements a clear list of ties to foreign countries of concern that disqualify an applicant.  And it empowers agencies with clear claw back authority if a small business exposes SBIR-funded products to adversarial influence post-award.
    “By targeting SBIR funds to the very best inventors in the country.
    “By cutting off the unserious applicants who are just after corporate welfare.
    “By providing a boost to the best companies who need it to get over the final hurdles.
    “And by better protecting our taxpayer-funded innovations from going directly to China, the SBIR-STTR program can expedite new technologies, increase economic opportunity, and attract investment back into our towns and cities – and help to usher in a new Golden Age of Innovation for America.
    “I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this across the finish line. It’s up to us, the members of this committee, to work together to optimize this important program.
    “I’d like to thank the witnesses for being here today and being willing to share their experience and expertise with us.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: White House confirms direct talks with Hamas

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on March 5, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

    The White House confirmed Wednesday that the Trump administration is having direct talks with Hamas aimed at releasing hostages.

    The talks, first reported by Axios, were held in Doha, Qatar, in recent weeks and were led on the U.S. side by presidential envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler.

    Asked about the talks, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during Wednesday’s daily press briefing that “the special envoy who’s engaged in those negotiations does have the authority to talk to anyone,” adding that “Israel was consulted on this matter.”

    Leavitt refused to disclose any details on what she said are “ongoing talks and discussions” when asked if the discussions also involved President Donald Trump’s plan to take over the Gaza Strip, which is now still governed by Hamas.

    “I’m not going to detail them here. There are American lives at stake,” the press secretary said.

    According to a U.S. official cited in the Axios report, the discussions also included a broader deal to release all remaining hostages and reach a long-term truce.

    Altogether 59 hostages are still in Hamas captivity, Axios reported, citing the Israel Defense Forces, which confirmed 35 of them are dead.

    Among those hostages, five are Americans, including just one who is believed to be alive.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murray Statement on Trump & Elon Plans to Decimate the VA, Firing 80,000 Employees and Putting Veterans’ Care in Grave Danger

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, issued the following statement on the Trump administration’s plans to fire 80,000 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), seriously risking the medical care and benefits that veterans have earned and deserve.More than 25 percent of VA’s workforce are veterans themselves.

    “Donald Trump and Elon Musk are escalating their full-scale, no-holds-barred assault on veterans–and putting the health care and benefits they have earned in grave danger. It’s infuriating that two billionaires think they can fire tens of thousands of people responsible for administering the services and care that over nine million veterans across the country count on. It’s flat-out immoral and a breach of the sacred commitment we make to our veterans to take care of them when they return home.

    “Just yesterday, I spoke with a disabled veteran who worked at the Seattle VA helping homeless veterans. He told me how devastating it was when, without warning, without cause, and without explanation, he was suddenly terminated from a role that meant everything to him and was cast aside by the very system he had fought in combat to defend. Now, there will be thousands more stories like his and millions more veterans who will pay the price. Trump’s own attorney has said that this administration thinks veterans they laid off for NO REASON may not be ‘fit to have a job at this moment’ —it’s an astounding level of contempt for our veterans that’s reflected throughout this administration’s thoughtless mass firings.

    “These arbitrary mass layoffs, at the very least, are going to mean longer processing times for disability or education claims veterans are desperately waiting on, and longer wait times for veterans to see a doctor–to say nothing of the serious threat to patient safety or the threat of VA medical centers closing. Make no mistake: this will only empower Elon to privatize VA by breaking it first. The consequences of Trump and Elon’s sheer recklessness will reverberate for generations—in more veterans sick and unable to get their benefits, more veterans out of a job, and fewer men and women willing to sign up to serve a nation that shows it will not keep their promises to them.”

    ENDANGERING VETERANS’ ACCESS TO BENEFITS AND CARE—AND PATIENT SAFETY

    Firing VA employees will–among much else–likely force veterans to wait longer:

    • To see health care providers;
    • To have their disability claims adjudicated;
    • To have someone to pick up their calls at the Veterans Crisis Line;
    • To have burial and funeral expense reimbursement requests processed;
    • And much more.

    A number of staff supporting the Veterans Crisis Line–which provides 24/7, confidential crisis support for veterans and their loved ones–were among those fired by Trump and Musk.

    In 2022, Congress also passed the PACT Act, the largest expansion of veterans’ benefits in two decades, which requires a significant influx of resources and staff to deliver the benefits and care under the law. Trump and Musk’s firings–and hiring freeze–badly undercut VA’s ability to process claims under the law. The mass firings and the ongoing hiring freeze, which prohibits new disability claims raters from coming on board, will force the backlog of unprocessed claims to grow above 254,000.

    Firing long-time VA researchers also puts clinical trials that veterans are enrolled in at risk and jeopardizes research that could yield critical breakthroughs for veterans.

    • Ongoing VA research is examining treatment options for PTSD and opioid addiction, as well as for cancer that was caused by veterans’ exposure to toxic chemicals, among much else.
    • According to VA, in fiscal year 2024, there were 102 active research sites nationwide, with 3,685 active principal investigators who led 7,278 active funded research projects involving teams of researchers. In addition, VA investigators authored or coauthored 11,732 published research articles.

    Recent dangerous directives from VA last week, which they have already begun to walk back, cause more harmful chaos and confusion and also have detrimental impacts on the ability of veterans to receive their care and benefits.

    • VA issued a blanket cancellation last Tuesday of nearly 900 contracts–supporting patient safety efforts like chemical waste disposal and monitoring of hospital air quality, systems providing secure storage of veterans’ private records, clinical recruitment efforts, and more.
    • VA also implemented a decision to reduce purchase card limits to $1–curbing VA medical centers’ ability to purchase supplies and equipment they need to serve veterans or to provide lodging for transplant patients. 

    While the Trump administration tries to rehire clinical staff they have already fired and may ultimately walk back the purchase card limits and contract cancellations, it is clear that they are acting before thinking–and the people paying the price are veterans.

    BETRAYING VETERANS WITH ZERO JUSTIFICATION

    Beyond indiscriminately firing workers who help get veterans the benefits and care they have earned, Trump and Musk have also already indiscriminately fired thousands of veterans who have served our country in uniform. In firing probationary and other federal workers across government, Trump and Musk have fired scores of veterans.

    • Veterans make up 30% of the federal workforce, and the federal government is the largest single employer of veterans in the country.
    • Trump and Musk have already fired nearly 6,000 veterans, by one recent estimate.
    • Federal agencies uniquely work to hire and accommodate veterans with service-related disabilities. Longstanding law requires, for example, that veterans who are disabled or who serve on active duty in the Armed Forces in military campaigns are entitled to preference over others in hiring from a list of eligible, competitive applicants. In 2021, there were 337,000 disabled Veterans serving in the federal government, making up 16% of the federal workforce.

    As veterans working at VA in Washington state who were recently laid off through no fault of their own have told Senator Murray:

    “I swore an oath to serve our country—first in the U.S. Army and then at the VA—only to be abruptly terminated by the very institution that promised to care for those who have served. My termination isn’t just a personal tragedy; it’s a stark reminder that our federal government is dismantling essential support systems for veterans and vulnerable communities. When cost-cutting means sacrificing dedicated, disabled service members and committed federal employees, it isn’t about efficiency—it’s about eroding the trust and dignity that our nation owes to those who answer the call to serve.” — Raphael Garcia, former Management Analyst for VA, Seattle

    “Working at the VA gave me purpose. I understood the struggles veterans faced, whether physical, mental, or emotional. I took pride in being part of something bigger than myself, in continuing to serve even after taking off the uniform… The next chapter in my service led me to working with unhoused Veterans. Limiting roles like mine, means other VA employees will have to take on more and cutting into valuable clinical time directly serving veterans. That’s why it was so devastating when, without warning, without cause, I was terminated. No explanation, no justification just a cold dismissal from a role that meant everything to me. It felt like a betrayal, not just of my dedication but of the values I thought the VA stood for. I had fought through war, through cancer, and through every challenge life had thrown at me only to be cast aside by the very system I had believed in.” — Scott Olson, former Program Support for VA’s Community Housing Program, Seattle

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: 3rd MLG Conducts Instream Offload with USN, ROKMC During Freedom Banner 25

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    The instream offload is part of the overarching Maritime Prepositioning Force strategy, which sees these supplies transported by ship and offloaded and distributed to III Marine Expeditionary Forces in-country prior to the Korean Marine Exchange Program. The instream variation of an MPF offload is designed to be conducted without routine logistical support systems.

    “This operation simulates an offload of equipment from a United States Naval Ship vessel directly to the shore and providing that equipment quickly to the (Marine Air-Ground Task Force) commander on the ground in locations where docking pierside for offload is untenable,” said 1st Lt. Rafael Almodovar Sanabria, assistant current operations officer with 3rd MLG. “This sealift capability allows equipment to flow in a non-permissive environment, where the ship anchors in a safe haven to provide that gear to shore in a rapid manner without use of a pier to dock at.”

    Off the coast of Dogu Beach outside ROKMC Base Pohang sat the USNS Dahl (T-AKR 312), one of four MPF ships as part of the USN’s Military Sealift Command, designed to sustain a MAGTF for up to 30 days. The USNS Dahl transferred the vehicles and equipment by crane onto an Improved Navy Lighterage System, a mobile platform used as the transportation asset between ship and shore. The INLS sails as close to the beach as possible before the equipment is taken off and staged for follow-on actions.

    However, the beach must be prepared beforehand, or as much as the conditions of operations can allow. ROK Marines with the ROKMC MLG laid expeditious roadway mats from the nearest road down to the edge of the surf, providing a cleared path for the equipment to exfiltrate the beach as quickly as possible.

    In addition to the instream offload refining the MLG’s ability to transport equipment in a contested environment, nearly 900 additional Marines and Sailors and additional vehicles and equipment was concurrently offloaded at Pohang Port via a High-Speed Transport vessel. The dual operations, both in support of upcoming III MEF bilateral training evolutions alongside the ROKMC forces, flexed the MLG’s ability to logistically support such a large force.

    “It’s been a significant exercise for us so far, conducting offload both pierside and instream of one of our MPF vessels, then transporting the equipment to multiple sites throughout the country,” said Brig. Gen. Kevin Collins, commanding general of 3rd MLG. “It’s important to demonstrate we can get our equipment to the peninsula, create a composite combat-credible force, and employ those forces and assets in a field training exercise.”

    The ability to conduct an instream offload is critical to logistical operations during a contingency or disaster relief event. Rather than being forced to rely on preexisting infrastructure to support the movement of warfighting or lifesaving equipment and supplies, the capability to execute sealift operations provides the ability to offload at virtually any feasible coastal location, rallying ashore, and moving inland where required. Coupled with the HST offload, MLG logisticians facilitated the doubling of III MEF forces and equipment in South Korea in a single day.

    “Most MEF level deployments require you to marshal hundreds of troops and cargo at some point, but never have I ever expected to marshal and stage almost 1,000 personnel plus cargo in a single rotation,” said Cpl. Matthew Mulherin, Jr., embarkation chief with G3, 3rd MLG. “We have reached a milestone with these offloads, raising the bar for future iterations of the exercise.”

    Freedom Banner is the validation and improvement of the MLG’s expeditious sealift capability and integrated logistics operations. This training strengthens the MLG’s ability to embark, offload and distribute gear and equipment across a contested environment in support of combat or humanitarian events alongside the command and support structure of the ROKMC MLG.

    “This is not just a relationship of warriors, but one of friends,” said Collins. “The ROK Marine Corps and U.S. Marine Corps are very close, but our MLGs are even closer.”

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group Arrives in Busan, Republic of Korea

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    The visit to Busan exemplifies the U.S. commitment to the region, further enhancing relationships with ROK leaders and the local population.

    “An aircraft carrier port visit demonstrates our commitment to the alliance between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea,” said Rear Adm. Michael Wosje, commander, CSG-1. “Our alliance remains the linchpin of peace and security in Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula, and we are dedicated to working with our ROK Navy counterparts to ensure stability in the region.”

    For 250 years, the U.S. Navy has forged enduring alliances that are essential to its maritime warfighting capabilities. These partnerships have allowed us to project power, protect sea lanes, and safeguard global security.

    Additionally, the visit provides the opportunity for strike group Sailors and civilians to rest and recharge while being able to experience the city of Busan. During the port visit, Vinson is scheduled to host ship tours for several U.S. and ROK leaders, conduct multiple key leader engagements ashore, and participate in community relations and sporting events.

    “We are excited to pay another visit to the Republic of Korea, and we are grateful to the people of Busan for such a warm welcome,” said Capt. Matthew Thomas, commanding officer of Vinson. “Our Sailors look forward to participating in professional engagements and community service projects while meeting and engaging with the local community of South Korea.”

    Prior to their Busan port call, CSG-1 participated in Pacific Steller 2025, a multi-large deck event in the Philippine Sea. The exercise provided the strike group the opportunity to work and train alongside allies and partners to include the French Carrier Strike Group and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, fostering the alliance and maritime security in support of a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

    CSG-1 consists of Vinson, embarked staffs of CSG-1 and Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) One, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett (DDG 104) and USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110).

    CVW-2 is composed of nine squadrons flying the F-35C Lightning II, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growler, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, CMV-22 Osprey and MH-60R/S Seahawks.

    The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

    For more news from CSG-1 and Carl Vinson visit: https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/CSG1, https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/CVN70

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Capitol Hill Highlights Key Pillars of President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress in Op-Ed Blitz

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    America Is Back. President’s Joint Address Will Celebrate ItU.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)
    The last four years were a dumpster fire—a total disaster. “Sleepy Joe” was worn slap out as soon as he got up in the morning. Thinking back on it now, I really don’t know how our country survived. It’s a miracle that we made it through those dark days. One thing is for sure: President Trump’s address will be nothing like the clown show we endured the last four years.
    But today, America is ready to usher in its golden age under President Donald J. Trump. We’re only a month and a half in, and President Trump is well on his way to renewing the American dream by reversing some of the Democrats’ most destructive policies. Most importantly, President Trump is keeping his promises to the 77 million Americans who voted for him and his “America First” agenda. A recent poll showed 70 percent of Americans believe President Trump is doing what he said he would do.
    Read full op-ed here.
    It’s Time To Take Trump’s Win On Women’s Sports To The Next LevelU.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS)
    Democrat politicians and extreme woke ideologues have shrugged their shoulders at the humiliation and disenfranchisement of millions of young women and girls, even though 80% of Americans agree with President Trump’s view that biological boys should not compete in girls’ sports.
    I believe America’s women and girls deserve to know that someone is fighting to protect the integrity and fairness of their competitive sports and standing up for their right to safe and protected spaces like bathrooms and locker rooms.
    Thankfully, President Trump has taken up the mantle. Last month, he signed an executive order protecting women’s and girls’ sports.
    Read full op-ed here.
    Renewing the American Dream for the American WorkerU.S. Senator Jim Banks (R-IN)
    President Trump is renewing the hope of the American Dream from the ashes of an historic low point. Our nation has emerged stronger with a leader and an administration whose defining feature is their commitment to working families.
    Despite the downturn in prosperity and security America faced over the last four years, the American Dream is not an outdated ambition.
    Under President Trump, the possibility of achieving the American Dream is back and within the grasp of every hard-working American.
    Already, President Trump has made good on a range of his promises, reinvigorating American society across the board—an achievement that’s unheard of for a president only 44 days into his term.
    Read full op-ed here.
    President Donald Trump is keeping his promise to Jewish studentsHouse Committee on Education and Workforce Chairman, U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg (MI-05)
    Columbia [University] leaders have made public and private promises to Jewish students, faculty, and Members of Congress that the university would take the steps necessary to combat the rampant antisemitism on its campus. Columbia has failed to uphold its commitments. But that is coming to an end. Now, the Committee and Jewish students and faculty have a strong ally in the White House. During the campaign Trump promised his administration would combat antisemitism on American campuses.
    On day one, the Trump administration signed an executive order to combat antisemitism. As part of the executive order, the Department of Education has launched investigations into five universities for tolerating “widespread antisemitic harassment” in violation of Title VI.
    The disease of antisemitism must be rooted out before it spreads to the next generation. President Trump’s firm hand on this issue is the remedy we need. We owe it to our youth to ensure they never face harassment, threats, or violence because of their faith. This is a promise we should always honor because it goes hand in hand with the promise of the American Dream. Thankfully, President Trump is delivering on this promise.
    Read full op-ed here.
    America is backU.S. Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-09)Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Donald J. Trump has worked tirelessly to restore border security, enforce our nation’s laws and make clear that your constitutional rights shall not be infringed. Following four years of chaos, Trump has sent a clear message: America is back, and he’s just getting started.
    After just one month back in office, Trump reestablished the successful “Remain in Mexico” policy, restarted construction of the border wall, ramped up deportation flights of criminal illegals, and ended the dangerous Biden-era “catch-and-release” policy. These are just a few of the actions Trump has taken to regain control of our border and crack down on illegal immigration.
    Trump’s efforts to secure the border have been nothing less than historic, including sharply reducing illegal border crossings in just his first 11 days back in office. This is the “Trump Effect” in action, and it’s only just the beginning.
    Read full op-ed here.
    Under President Trump, America’s Borders Are Secure AgainU.S. Congressman Andy Biggs (AZ-05)
    In a few weeks, Donald Trump has done what his prevaricating predecessor declared to be impossible: he has brought the border under control.
    The policies of Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas will forever be a stain on America. The border is now almost completely controlled by America, not Mexican drug and human trafficking cartels. That only has happened because President Trump has the will and leadership skills to allow our law enforcement to actually enforce the law. Trump said he would do it. He is doing it.
    America is safer now. Our borders are better now. Trump is delivering on one of his signature campaign promises. While the Left in America is face-melting, the majority of us recognize the success on the border of President Trump.
    Read full op-ed here.
    Trump Gives America A Much-Needed Shot Of OptimismU.S. Congressman Ralph Norman (SC-05)
    We’re now 44 days into President Donald Trump’s second term, and a renewed sense of optimism is sweeping across America, reminiscent of the enduring promise of the American Dream. Central to this resurgence is the administration’s policies aimed at reigniting prosperity for small businesses, particularly evident in South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District.
    President Trump has been keen on drawing back the red tape in the federal bureaucracy and reminding everyone in the swamp that our government is supposed to serve the American worker, not the other way around.
    Last night the president made it clear: ‘We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in 4 years…and we are just getting started!’
    Read full op-ed here.
    Trump is Reviving the American Dream and Common SenseU.S. Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger (TN-01)
    Tuesday night, President Donald Trump did what he does best — he told it like it is. He reviewed his administration’s impressive accomplishments, laid out his action plan to put our economy back on track, urged Congress to deliver additional funding for the United States Border Patrol, and shared his bold vision to bring peace and stability around the world.
    Only weeks ago, the president signed an executive order keeping men out of women’s sports. I attended the signing, and it was a sight to see — the president with dozens of female athletes and young women who would now have a level playing field because of Republicans’ commitment to this cause — Trump’s commitment to this cause.
    The president reiterated this commitment Tuesday night when he spoke on this issue, highlighting the story of Payton McNabb, saying, “When her girls’ volleyball match was invaded by a male, he smashed the ball so hard in Payton’s face, causing traumatic brain injury … ending her athletic career.
    This story has become all too common. When Trump told Payton’s story, not a single Democrat stood in solidarity.
    Read full op-ed here.
    Ending Biden’s disgraceful erosion of American deterrence U.S. Congressman August Pfluger (TX-01) andU.S. Congressman Zach Nunn (IA-03)
    With Trump back in the White House, alongside Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and national security adviser Mike Waltz, we’re setting a clear path forward for the U.S.: rebuild the military, restore our warrior ethos, and reestablish American deterrence.
    Unlike his predecessors, who viewed the military through the lens of social experimentation, Hegseth recognizes that the Department of Defense has one primary mission: to produce the most lethal fighting force on Earth. Under his leadership, we’re already seeing a renewed focus on combat training, eliminating wasteful programs, and stripping away ideological distractions.
    Read full op-ed here.
    Congress Must Act to Solidify Trump’s Border WinsU.S. Congressman Mark Harris (NC-08)
    For the past four years, the most powerful nation in the history of the world has been under attack. Deadly cartels, gangs, human smugglers, and other criminal aliens flooded American communities and harmed our citizens. This chaos was an orchestrated attack led by the last administration not only on our nation, but on the American dream.
    But on January 20th, a new era of leadership began. After being sworn into office, President Trump wasted no time taking action to take back our country and set our nation back on course.
    Last night, President Trump said, “The media and our friends in the Democrat Party kept saying we needed new legislation to secure the border. But it turned out that all we really needed was a new president.” And he is exactly right.
    President Trump’s decisive action and bold leadership has drastically changed the state of our border for the better.
    Read full op-ed here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Baldwin Responds to Trump’s Commitment to “Resurrect the American Shipbuilding Industry”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) released the following statement in response to President Trump’s commitment to “resurrect the American shipbuilding industry” during his joint address to Congress.

    “I take great pride in representing Wisconsin’s shipbuilding industry, and in his speech last night, the President acknowledged something I’ve been long fighting for – the need to revitalize the American shipbuilding industry and support American workers and companies,” said Senator Baldwin. “America used to lead the world in shipbuilding, but for too long, China has cheated the rules, threatening our national security and jobs across the country. I’ve always said I’d work with anyone to deliver for Wisconsinites – so, Mr. President, let’s get to work. The first step is cracking down on China for cheating and holding them accountable – like I have long fought for – so we level the playing field for workers and support Made in America shipbuilding.”

    Senator Baldwin has been leading the charge to level the playing field for Wisconsin workers. Last March, Senator Baldwin joined USW and other labor leaders in support of the American shipbuilding industry and to call on Trade Representative Tai to conduct a full investigation. In April, the USTR announced they were heeding that call and launching an investigation into China, resulting in a report that lays the groundwork for the Trump Administration to impose appropriate penalties on China to support American workers. In January, Senator Baldwin applauded the United States Trade Representative report outlining China’s unfair trade practices to undercut American shipbuilding and called on the President to act. In February, Baldwin led a group of her colleagues in calling on the Trump Administration to act on the results of the investigation and take immediate action to level the playing field for American workers, businesses, and national security.

    Senator Baldwin has long championed Buy America policies to support American businesses and workers. She fought to advance her American Made Navy Act in last year’s annual defense legislation, which would ensure by 2033 any new Navy ship purchased uses 100% domestically produced materials, like propulsion systems, shipboard components, couplings, shafts, support bearings, and more. She also worked to include strong Buy America standards in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

                   

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Stein Announces Superior and District Court Appointments

    Source: US State of North Carolina

    Headline: Governor Stein Announces Superior and District Court Appointments

    Governor Stein Announces Superior and District Court Appointments
    lsaito

    Raleigh, NC

    Today, Governor Josh Stein announced the following judicial appointments:

    Judge Stephen C. Stokes to the Superior Court for Judicial District 14A, serving part of Cumberland County. Stokes is filling the vacancy created after Judge Claire Hill retired.

    • Stokes most recently served as a District Court Judge in Cumberland County. He also served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a Prosecutor, a Special Assistant United States Attorney, a Defense Attorney in the 82nd Airborne Division, and as an International Law Attorney for the U.S. Army Special Operations, Civil Affairs, and Psychological Operations Commands. Stokes graduated from the U.S. Army Ranger School and Advanced Airborne School, earning his Ranger Tab and Senior Jump Wings. Stokes received his B.S. from Florida State University, dual master’s degrees from Webster University, and his J.D. from Florida State University College of Law, where he was a Virgil Hawkins Fellow.

    Scott Skidmore to the District Court for Judicial District 22, serving Rockingham and Caswell Counties. Skidmore is filling the vacancy created after Judge Chris Freeman was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

    • Skidmore spent the last three decades as a partner at Farver, Skidmore & Hux, LLP, focusing on criminal defense and real estate. Skidmore received his B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and his J.D. from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University.

    Chris Brooks to the District Court for Judicial District 10F, serving part of Wake County. Brooks is filling the vacancy created after Judge Jennifer Bedford was elected to the Superior Court. 

    • Brooks has served in the Transportation Division of the North Carolina Department of Justice since 2006 and previously served in the Department’s Criminal Division. He received his B.S. from the University of North Carolina and his J.D. from the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University.

    “These public servants have a wealth of legal experience to draw on, and I am pleased to appoint them to serve as judges,” said Governor Josh Stein. “I am confident in their judgment and expertise, and I look forward to their service on the Superior and District Courts.” 

    Mar 5, 2025

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cornyn, Markey Reintroduce Legislation to Fund Sea Turtle Research and Rescue Assistance

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Texas John Cornyn

    Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) reintroduced their bipartisan and bicameral Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act, legislation to establish funding at the Department of Commerce for the rescue, recovery and research of sea turtles in Texas and across the United States. Text of the bill can be found, here.

    “Sea turtle strandings are rising at an alarming rate along the Texas Gulf Coast,” said Sen. Cornyn. “This bill would help identify the causes of these strandings and invest in rescue and recovery efforts to better protect Texas’ endangered and storied sea turtle population.”

    “Sea turtles are the canaries in the coal mine. Right now, every known species of sea turtles found in US waters is either threatened or endangered and faces extinction and environmental wipeout due to the human-caused climate crisis. We have the responsibility to act,” said Sen. Markey. “I am reintroducing the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance Act to financially support ongoing rescue and rehabilitation efforts of our shelled friends.” 

    The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Cory Booker (D-NJ, and Tom Tillis (R-NC). In January, Representative Bill Keating (MA-09) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
     

    Background:

    In 2000, fewer than 50 sea turtles were found stranded on the beaches of Cape Cod; by 2022, that number had skyrocketed to 866. During the 2021 cold snap in Texas, more than 12,100 turtles were cold-stunned, and rescue organizations were able to save and return only 4,000 of the stranded turtles to the wild. Rescue efforts are predominantly volunteer led and underfunded despite sea turtles facing increasing environmental and human-caused threats that make strandings more likely, including rapid temperature changes, red tide events, and entanglement in marine debris. This bill would provide stability and support to efforts that rehabilitate and aid in the recovery of sea turtles along the coastal US. Specifically, the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance Act would create a new grant program to fund rescue, recovery, and research of sea turtles in the U.S., and authorize $5 million annually for awarding of grants to further that purpose from 2025 through 2030. 

    The Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act is endorsed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the New England Aquarium, the National Aquarium, ABQ BioPark, Acadia Institute of Oceanography, Adventure Aquarium, Allied Whale – College of the Atlantic, Assateague Coastal Trust, Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, Aquarium of the Pacific, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Audubon Nature Institute, Bird River Beach Community Association, Blank Park Zoo, Brevard Zoo / East Coast Zoological Park, Brookfield Zoo Chicago, Buttonwood Park Zoo, Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens, Chattanooga Zoo at Warner Park, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, Conservation Council For Hawaii, El Paso Zoo and Botanical Garden, Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, Georgia Aquarium, Georgia Sea Turtle Center / Jekyll Island Authority, Georgia Wildlife Federation, Gladys Porter Zoo, Gulf World Marine Institute, Healthy Ocean Coalition, Houston Zoo, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Jenkinson’s Aquarium, John Ball Zoo, John G. Shedd Aquarium, Kansas City Zoo, Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation Center, Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Louisiana Wildlife Federation, Marine Education – Research & Rehabilitation Institute, Inc. (MERR), Marine Conservation Institute, Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket, Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Mass Audubon, Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Mystic Aquarium, National Marine Life Center, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Newport Aquarium, New York Marine Rescue Center, North Carolina Aquariums, North Carolina Wildlife Federation, OdySea Aquarium, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, Racine Zoo, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Saint Louis Zoo, SEA LIFE Aquariums, Sea Turtle Recovery, Inc., Seattle Aquarium, Seatuck Environmental Association, SeaWorld Parks, Sociedad Ornitologica Puertorriquena Inc., South Carolina Aquarium, South Carolina Wildlife Federation, Sunset Zoo, Surfrider Foundation, Texas Conservation Alliance, Texas Sealife Center, Texas State Aquarium, The Florida Aquarium, The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, The Ocean Project, The Turtle Hospital, Upwell Turtles, Vancouver Aquarium, Virgin Islands Conservation Society, Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience at University of Florida, WIDECAST: Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network, Wildlife Restoration Foundation, and Woodland Park Zoo. 

    “We are grateful for Sen. Markey’s continued partnership as he reintroduces the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act of 2025 in the U.S. Senate. Each year, the New England Aquarium rescues and rehabilitates hundreds of cold-stunned sea turtles that wash onto the beaches of Cape Cod Bay. This bill would help fill a critical gap in sea turtle conservation efforts by providing much-needed financial support to organizations across the country like ours that help return these endangered animals to the ocean,” said Vikki N. Spruill, President and CEO of the New England Aquarium. 

    “The National Aquarium applauds the reintroduction of the bicameral, bipartisan Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act. We are proud to be part of the nationwide network of organizations engaged in sea turtle conservation and in educating the public on the challenges facing these threatened and endangered species. Sea turtle strandings are on the rise, as are the expenses related to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing them back to their ocean home. The level of voluntary contribution from stranding network partners is not sustainable. We thank the champions in the House and Senate for their leadership in creating a much-needed federal grant program to support this important work,” said John Racanelli, President & CEO of the National Aquarium. 

    “Each year, aquariums, zoos and other organizations selflessly rescue and rehabilitate thousands of stranded and injured sea turtles with little to no federal support. They do it because it is the right thing to do,” said Dan Ashe, President and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. “This bipartisan Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act would help to fill a critical gap in support for these federally protected sea turtles.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Asia New Zealand – Top Asia experts gather in Auckland to discuss New Zealand’s progress in and with Asia

    Source: Asia New Zealand Foundation

    Top Asia experts from across New Zealand and the Asia region will meet in Auckland from 9 to 11 March to share their perspectives on New Zealand’s Asia relations.
    The experts are part of the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Honorary Advisers Network and include current and former ministers, academics, businesspeople and other sector leaders.
    As a network, they help to guide the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s work and support its mission of being one of New Zealand’s leading non-profit, non-partisan providers of Asia insights and experiences that help New Zealanders to excel in Asia.
    During the two-day meeting, members of the network will meet with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Foreign Minister Winston Peters (who is also chair of the network) and a range of New Zealand’s top public and private sector leaders.
    Attendees from Asia will include key figures such as Dr Ng Eng Hen, Singapore’s Minister for Defence; Ms Heekyung Jo Min, Executive Vice President of major Asian media and entertainment company CJ Cheiljedang; trade expert and former ASEAN Secretariat head Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria; and Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Thailand’s leading international relations authority.
    “The advisers are vital advocates for New Zealand in Asia, bringing deep expertise and longstanding ties. As New Zealand’s relationships with Asia evolve and as the Foundation’s work develops across the region, their contributions become even more critical,” says Foundation Chief Executive, Suz Jessep.
    “At a time of profound change in our region, this in-person meeting provides an opportunity to really unpick how other small and medium sized countries are responding to challenges and opportunities in Asia and to hear free and frank assessments from trusted advisers who know us well and who want to see New Zealand succeed.” Jessep noted.
    The advisers have supported New Zealand’s connections with Asia in several ways. In addition to their honorary role, they have also supported educational scholarships, paid internships for New Zealand students in Asian companies and facilitated and participated in Track II (informal diplomacy) dialogues between New Zealand and Asian experts.
    List of Honorary Advisers attending:
    Asia Honorary Advisers
    • Ms Adaljiza Magno – Timor Leste
    • Mr Amane Nakashima – Japan
    • Mr Guillermo M. Luz – Philippines
    • Ms Heekyung Jo Min – South Korea
    • Ms. Helianti Hilman – Indonesia
    • Prof Jolan Hsieh – Taiwan
    • Dr Ng Eng Hen – Singapore
    • Prof Pavida Pananond – Thailand
    • Ms Pham Thi My Le – Viet Nam
    • Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria – Malaysia
    • Dr Reuben Abraham – India
    • Mr Stanley Tan ONZM – Singapore
    • Prof Thitinan Pongsudhirak – Thailand
    New Zealand Honorary Advisers 
    • Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand
    • Mr Danny Chan
    • Rt Hon Sir Don McKinnon (Foundation Founder) 
    • Mr Josh Wharehinga
    • Mr Kyle Murdoch 
    • Hon Lianne Dalziel 
    • Prof Manying Ip
    • Ms Nicola Ngarewa 
    • Ms Paula Tesoriero
    • Hon Philip Burdon (Foundation Founder) 
    • Ms Sachie Nomura
    • Mr Sameer Handa 
    • Mr Simon Murdoch 
    • Ms Tania Te Whenua 
    • Ms Traci Houpapa
    • Mr Warrick Cleine (Viet Nam)
    About the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono
    Established in 1994, the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono is New Zealand’s leading provider of Asia insights and experiences. Its mission is to equip New Zealanders to excel in Asia, by providing research, insights and targeted opportunities to grow their knowledge, connections and experiences across the Asia region. The Foundation’s activities cover more than 20 countries in Asia and are delivered through eight core programmes: arts, business, entrepreneurship, leadership, media, research, Track II diplomacy and sports.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Colombian National Sentenced to Prison and Another Pleads Guilty for Roles in Conspiracy to Kidnap and Assault U.S. Army Soldiers in Colombia

    Source: US Justice – Antitrust Division

    Headline: Colombian National Sentenced to Prison and Another Pleads Guilty for Roles in Conspiracy to Kidnap and Assault U.S. Army Soldiers in Colombia

    A Colombian national was sentenced and another pleaded guilty in separate hearings today in the Southern District of Florida for their respective roles in kidnapping and assaulting two members of the U.S. military who were on temporary duty in Bogotá, Colombia.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Missing plane and pilot located near Whiskey Dick Mountain

    Source: Washington State News 2

    Pilot found deceased; search mission ends

    OLYMPIA – The search for a missing plane and pilot ended on Wednesday, March 5, when air search and rescue crews located the crash site near Whiskey Dick Mountain, east of Ellensburg. Tragically the pilot and sole occupant was found deceased.

    The plane was located around 9 a.m. with the assistance of a Life Flight helicopter. Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office is working to safely recover the pilot’s body. Immediate family members have been notified.

    The Washington State Department of Transportation was notified Tuesday night of a missing a red, white and blue Cessna 150 enroute to the Lake Chelan Airport. The plane departed from the Yakima Air Terminal/McAllister Field at 3:43 p.m. Tuesday. A family member reported it missing when the plane did not arrive.

    Tracking data revealed the plane’s last recorded location was in the hills between Ellensburg and the Columbia River. Ground and air search teams deployed throughout the night, focusing on that area.

    While the crash site was located quickly, this was a heartbreaking discovery for everyone involved. WSDOT is deeply grateful to all who dedicated their time, expertise and resources to the search mission. This effort was made possible through the collaboration of multiple agencies, including the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, the Washington State Emergency Operations Center, the Chelan, Grant and Douglas County Sheriff’s offices and the Life Flight Air Ambulance.

    WSDOT , by statute (RCW 47.68.380) is charged with the coordination and management of aerial search and rescue within the state.

    This concludes WSDOT’s involvement in the mission. Further information will be released by the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office. Media questions about any investigation of cause can be directed to the National Transportation Safety Board.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Three Wanted Defendants from Mexico Secured in Arizona

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    PHOENIX, Ariz. – Jose Bibiano Cabrera-Cabrera, 37; Jesus Humberto Limon-Lopez, 43; and Jose Guadalupe Tapia-Quintero, 53; all of Mexico, appeared last week for their initial appearances after they were secured from Mexico on February 27, 2025.

    The defendants taken into U.S. custody include leaders and managers of drug cartels recently designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists, such as the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas), La Nueva Familia Michoacana, and Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel). These defendants are collectively alleged to have been responsible for the importation into the United States of massive quantities of poison, including cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin, as well as associated acts of violence.

    Tapia-Quintero is charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine with Intent to Import into the United States; Conspiracy to Import Methamphetamine; Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine; Conspiracy to Commit Promotional Money Laundering; Conspiracy to Commit Concealment Money Laundering; and Aiding and Abetting. He is facing up to life imprisonment.

    Limon-Lopez is charged with Continuing Criminal Enterprise; Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Fentanyl, Heroin, and Cocaine; Conspiracy to Import Methamphetamine, Fentanyl, Heroin, and Cocaine; Distribution of Methamphetamine; Distribution of Fentanyl; Distribution of Heroin; Distribution of Cocaine; and Conspiracy to Unlawfully Export Firearms and Ammunition. He faces up to life imprisonment.

    Cabrera-Cabrera is charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Fentanyl, Heroin, and Cocaine; Conspiracy to Import Methamphetamine, Fentanyl, Heroin, and Cocaine; and Conspiracy to Unlawfully Export Firearms and Ammunition. He faces up to life imprisonment.

    An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

    This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

    The OCDETF Arizona Strike Force is comprised of agents and officers from Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, the United States Marshals Service, the United States Postal Service, United States Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Arizona Army National Guard, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, and the Scottsdale Police Department. The prosecution is being handled by the United States Attorney Office for the District of Arizona.
     

    CASE NUMBER:           CR-13-00179-PHX-SRB
                                          CR-21-01864-TUC-SHR
    RELEASE NUMBER:    2025-030_Cabrera-Cabrera

    # # #

    For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
    Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on X @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Securing the Alberta-U.S. border

    [. Alberta’s government recognizes the need for swift and decisive action that will curb drug trafficking and illegal border crossings to strengthen the province’s border security.

    The team’s first cohort has been deployed and hiring will continue until all 51 positions are filled. The IPT is now operational, working closely with the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency to identify and apprehend individuals suspected of drug smuggling, human trafficking and other illegal activities involving movement across the Canada-U.S. border. To date, 20 members of the Alberta Sheriffs have been assigned to the IPT to patrol between entry points, and to vehicle inspection stations along Alberta’s side of the border.

    Sheriffs Interdiction Patrol Team map

    “We are committed to strengthening security along Alberta’s southern border to put an end to the dangerous criminal activities that are destroying lives on both sides of the border. In addition to launching our new Interdiction Patrol Team, we are building three new vehicle inspection stations and increasing highway monitoring for suspicious activity. Our plan will ensure that Alberta’s southern border is secure.”

    Danielle Smith, Premier

    “Alberta’s government is increasing border security and has zero tolerance for illegal activities that threaten the well-being of Albertans or Alberta’s economy. The Alberta Sheriffs Interdiction Patrol Team puts more boots on the ground to identify where and when these activities are taking place, boosting security along our southern border and disrupting dangerous cross-border human, drugs and weapons trafficking in both directions. Let this be a message to all potential traffickers, especially those who traffic deadly fentanyl, you will get caught and you will go to jail.”

    Mike Ellis, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services

    Alberta’s government continues to acquire equipment that will enable the IPT to detect and apprehend individuals committing illegal activity, including drones, night-vision optics and patrol canines. This team will patrol to detect and intercept illicit drugs, illegal firearms and unlawful attempts at illegal international border crossing. The IPT will be fully operational in coming months.

    Through this process, Alberta has identified further significant concerns with the shared Canada-U.S. border. In response, Alberta’s government is advancing further measures to increase the security of the southern border.

    In addition to the IPT, Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors is dedicating $15 million over two years for three new vehicle inspection stations near the border, if Budget 2025 passes. This will give Sheriffs dedicated facilities to inspect commercial vehicles, whether they’re crossing into the United States or coming into Canada. The stations will be located on Highway 1 at Dunmore, Highway 3 at Burmis and Highway 4 at Coutts. The stations will include enhanced parking lanes for inspections, and winter ready buildings for year-round inspections.

    Another measure undertaken by Alberta’s government is to train highway maintenance workers to identify and report suspicious activity during highway maintenance operations. Volker Stevin has a contract to maintain about 600 kilometres of highways in southern Alberta and by empowering their workers to identify and report suspicious activity, Alberta’s government is layering further security measures without adding additional costs.

    “Border security is a priority, and Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors is doing its part to enhance security and surveillance through three new vehicle inspection stations and with the help of our highway maintenance contractors, who will be trained to detect and report suspicious activity, providing an extra pair of eyes along the border.”

    Devin Dreeshen, Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors

    “The Interdiction Patrol Team will play a key role in eradicating crimes that seek to exploit the Alberta-Montana border in both directions. The Alberta Sheriffs are pleased to collaborate with the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency and our counterparts in the United States as we work to keep our shared border safe and secure.”

    Bob Andrews, chief, Alberta Sheriffs

    Alberta’s government also amended the Critical Infrastructure Defence Regulation in January 2025 to add a two-kilometre-deep border zone north of the Alberta-United States border to the definition of essential infrastructure under the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act. The act gives peace officers the authority to arrest individuals caught trespassing on, interfering with or damaging essential infrastructure and who do not have a lawful right, to be on the essential infrastructure.

    “Amending the Critical Infrastructure Defence Regulation is a key piece of our efforts to strengthen security in the area near the international border. We have quickly taken action that will support law enforcement in improving public safety, and tackle cross-border crime, drugs, illegal migrants and human-trafficking.”

    Mickey Amery, Minister of Justice and Attorney General

    Quick facts:

    IPT will be supported by:

    • 51 uniformed officers equipped with carbine rifles (weapons for tactical operations)
    • 10 support staff, including dispatchers and analysts
    • four drug patrol dogs, critical to ensure reasonable suspicion to search vehicles
    • 10 cold weather surveillance drones that can operate in high winds with dedicated pilots
    • four narcotics analyzers to test for illicit drugs

    The IPT has already conducted more than 3,300 stops/contacts and has been successful in:

    • assisting with four Northbound unauthorized border crossings
    • executing 18 warrants and conducting two Judicial Interim Release hearings
    • conducting three arrests related to possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking

    Related news

    • A plan to secure Alberta’s southern border (Dec. 12, 2024)

    Multimedia

    • Watch the news conference

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Truxtun Completes Intense At Sea Training Period

    Source: United States Navy (Fleet Command)

    13 February 2025

    NORFOLK, Va. —

     

    The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun (DDG 103) completed an intense at-sea training period, Feb. 7. Truxtun’s completion of a sustainment exercise (SUSTEX) provided opportunities for training, mentorship, and assessment of their tactical acumen operating within an integrated warfighting environment. 

    “It was a tremendous opportunity for CSG-4 to work with USS Truxtun,” said Rear Adm. Max McCoy, commander, Carrier Strike Group 4. “These training exercises allow my team to challenge a ship in the most complex training environment. Our ships complete training to be worldwide deployable, and prepared to face a wide range of capable threats in an ever-evolving operational environment.”

    Integrated phase training events led by Carrier Strike Group’s 4 and 15 respectively support the Navy’s delivery of combat ready forces that deliver options and flexibility to civilian leadership and combatant commanders to deter adversaries, underpin American security, support economic prosperity, and reassure Allies and partners.

    “This exercise was an outstanding opportunity for our crew to come together and to increase our tactical proficiency and confidence as a warfighting team,” said the ship’s Commanding Officer Cmdr. James Koffi. 

    “I am proud of our team’s performance, though I am more proud of their willingness to check egos at the door, maintain a learning mindset, and push themselves to be better Sailors each day.” 

    Truxtun’s mission is to be ready in all respects to conduct prompt and sustained combat operations at sea, and on order, to pursue excellence, attack every challenge, and vanquish every obstacle in their path.

    USS Truxtun (DDG 103) is a multi-mission guided-missile destroyer with air warfare (AW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), naval surface fire support (NSFS), and surface warfare (SUW) capability. Its ship’s company includes approximately 300 Sailors, with an additional 40 embarked air wing personnel assigned to the “Vipers” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 48.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: ROK, USFK, CNFK Embark USS Carl Vinson, Exploring Operations and Capabilities

    Source: United States Navy (Fleet Command)

    by Ensign Rachael Jones

    03 March 2025

    AT SEA —

    Gen. Xavier T. Brunson, Commander of United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and U.S. Forces Korea, ROK Navy Rear Adm. Kim Jihoon, Deputy Commander of Republic of Korea Fleet, and other guests, met with Rear Adm. Michael Wosje, commander, CSG-1, spoke to subject matter experts about carrier operations on the bridge and observed flight operations from the flight deck.

    General Brunson emphasized the carrier strike group’s capabilities and shared his thoughts on the critical role these forces play in maintaining regional security and a free and open Indo-Pacific. He also emphasized how they directly support USFK’s mission in the region.

    “The Carl Vinson’s carrier strike group operations demonstrate our commitment to bolster the defense of allies and partners and strengthen our ability to ‘fight tonight and win.’ This visit, especially when coupled with realistic all domain, joint and combined training, increases interoperability and ensures we build the readiness posture to deter aggression and maintain stability in the Republic of Korea and the region,” Brunson said. “The Carl Vinson’s presence here not only underscores the importance of both the maritime and air domains but also reaffirms our commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific by integrating these unique capabilities into our comprehensive all-domain approach.”

    The group observed flight operations and discussed how to enhance capabilities of future combined operations between ROK and U.S. Navy. Rear Adm. Kim’s visit aboard Carl Vinson highlighted the partnership and collaboration between the U.S. and ROK and demonstrated the U.S. commitment to security and stability in the region.

    “Deployment of the carrier strike group to the Korean peninsula is evidence that shows the determined willingness and executive ability for a robust combined defense posture of the Republic of Korea,” said Rear Adm. Kim.

    USFK’s mission is to deter aggression, and if necessary, defend the ROK to maintain stability in Northeast Asia.

    “Bringing senior U.S. and ROK leadership out to Vinson is an opportunity to showcase the strength, capability and lethality of a carrier strike group,” said Rear Adm. Neil Koprowski, commander, CNFK. “This visit reinforces our ironclad commitment to the ROK-U.S. alliance, supporting stability and security in the region.”

    CNFK is the U.S. Navy’s representative in the ROK. It provides leadership and expertise in naval matters that support the mission of USFK. CNFK works closely with the ROK Navy to improve institutional and operational effectiveness and to strengthen collective security efforts in the Korean Theater.

    The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group consists of USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), embarked staffs of Carrier Strike Group ONE and Destroyer Squadron ONE, Carrier Air Wing Two, Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett (DDG 104) and USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110). Carrier Air Wing Two is composed of nine squadrons flying the F-35C Lightning II, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growler, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, CMV-22 Osprey and MH-60R/S Seahawks.

    The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

    For more news from CSG-1 and Carl Vinson visit: https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/CSG1, https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/CVN70

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Coast Guard deploys to the Souther Border

    Source: United States Department of Defense (video statements)

    Mission ready. The U.S.CoastGuard Sector Houston-Galveston Maritime Safety and Security Team deployed down to the southwest border.

    As a quick response force, MSSTs specialize in advanced tactical boat operations and counterterrorism force protection.

    Watch as they uphold maritime safety and secure our nation’s borders!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaTAokEqX9o

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Chairman Aguilar: Democrats are on the side of working people

    Source: US House of Representatives – Democratic Caucus

    The following text contains opinion that is not, or not necessarily, that of MIL-OSI – March 04, 2025

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu were joined by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar and New Democrat Coalition Chair Brad Schneider for a press conference highlighting House Democrats’ unity against the Republican Budget that cuts Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. 

    CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. Pleased to be joined with my colleague Ted Lieu, Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, as well as Greg Casar, the Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Chair of the New Democratic Coalition, Brad Schneider.

    Last week, House Democrats from every corner of our Caucus voted against the House Republican Budget, which cut Medicaid $880 billion to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. We want to make health care more affordable and more available to the American people. This is in stark contrast to Republicans who voted to kick children off their health care and to put seniors at risk.

    As President Trump prepares for tonight’s speech, it’s clear that Democrats are on the side of working people, while Republicans are only looking out for their billionaire friends. Trump and Republicans have broken their promise to lower costs on day one, which was his commitment, to focus on tax giveaways for corporations and billionaires who don’t need any more help. In fact, Trump’s reckless tariffs, just announced last night, will raise prices on gas, produce at grocery stores, beer, lumber to build homes, crude oil and parts that make cars.

    As families struggle to make ends meet, Democrats are united against Trump and Elon Musk dismantling the services that families rely on, while steering more taxpayer dollars to themselves and their billionaire friends. They’re dismantling the VA health care and laying off thousands of veterans, as Trump stands with Putin and risks our national security. Tonight, we expect the President to put on a master class in dishonesty. We expect the President will focus not on everyday Americans, but on his friends and his ego. No matter what he says, he cannot change the damage he’s done already and the fact that his agenda is going to raise prices for everyday Americans. 

    Vice Chair Ted Lieu.

    VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. Honored to be here with Representatives Greg Casar and Brad Schneider. I want to tell you about a meeting I had today with Vote Vets. They brought in a number of veterans who were fired, and I want to tell you a story about one of them. Her name is Eileen. She is an Air Force veteran. She then went to work for FEMA. She’s in a rural part of Alabama. She was one of the first to volunteer with FEMA to deploy to Hurricane Helene. On President’s Day, she got an email firing her with no notice, and she couldn’t even go back to her office. They sent her UPS boxes saying, ‘You put your government cell phone and laptop in this box and you ship it back to us.’ A few days later, she had to go out to a field where her supervisor from FEMA had to walk out and give her her box from her items at her office. She has two kids, four and 10. She now has no job. 

    This is not how we should treat veterans, not how we should treat federal employees, not how we should treat any American. And this is what Donald Trump did to her. And he’s done that to a large number of federal employees. And if you look at the federal workforce, about one in four are veterans. This is not how they should be treated, and most of these actions are simply brazenly illegal. We have a number of court cases being filed. We’re winning a number of those cases. Others are going to go into litigation, and I call on the Administration to stop illegally firing our veterans and other federal employees. 

    I also now want to touch on the subject of tariffs. You’ve seen with the indiscriminate tariffs that the President has both imposed and threatened to impose, that not only is the stock market tanking, but also inflation is up, consumer sentiment is down, and the Atlanta Fed has now predicted that we’re going to contract this quarter in terms of GDP. That is shocking, and that is all because of actions of one person, the President, who is massively harming our economy. 

    And then, I’d like to conclude now on Ukraine. I don’t know why Donald Trump is scared of Putin. He clearly is. He acts like he’s scared of Putin. And right now, with his pause in funding to Ukraine, I just want to let Ukrainians know to please hang in there. The President of the United States cannot extend that pause because it would be illegal. Congress, on a bipartisan basis, appropriated that funding to Ukraine. Ukraine is going to get that funding. And with that, I’d like to introduce our amazing Representative from Austin, Texas, Greg Casar. He has done a fantastic job as leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

    REP. CASAR: Thank you so much Vice Chair Lieu and Chairman Aguilar. I also want to thank New Dems Chairman Brad Schneider, who I’m proud to call a partner in the fight to protect Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the American people.

    Tonight, millions of Americans will tune in to watch the President address a Joint Session of Congress. I do not know what Trump will say, but I can guarantee you that he is going to lie to the American people and not tell the truth about what MAGA Republicans in Congress want to do to you right now. So let me say it clearly, whatever political games that Donald Trump plays tonight, whatever lies he tells and whatever show he puts on, people watching at home should know that Trump and House Republicans want to steal your health care, steal your taxpayer money and hand it over to their billionaire buddies and to their donors.

    In Congress, Republicans are advancing a budget that would end Medicaid as we know it. And Elon Musk is trying to cut your Medicare and your Social Security. Social Security that seniors earned throughout their lifetime is what Elon Musk just recently called a ‘Ponzi scheme.’ I’ll say it again. Elon Musk just called Social Security, ‘the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.’ That’s right, a guy that makes $8 million per day from federal government contracts thinks that seniors getting $65 a day from Social Security is a ‘Ponzi scheme.’ Their plan is plain and simple: guys like Elon Musk get richer and you get screwed. 

    But here’s the good news, Democrats are united and fighting back to protect your Social Security, your Medicare and your Medicaid. New Democrats, Congressional Progressive Caucus Democrats, the two biggest ideological caucuses here in the Congress, have put out a joint letter that includes 100% of our members from our two Coalitions saying we will not vote to cut your Medicare, your Medicaid and your Social Security. Over 200 House Democrats showed just in a matter of days that we are united with the American people in this fight. So while we may not all agree on every single issue, we are saying with one voice, hands off Medicare, hands off Medicaid and hands off of Americans’ Social Security.

    So now the question becomes: will any three House Republicans grow a backbone? Will any three House Republicans do the right thing and act like U.S. Representatives instead of like Trump employees, and join us? Because if three Congressional House Republicans join together with Democrats to do the right thing, there will be no Social Security cuts. We can prevent cuts to Medicaid and Medicare and to Social Security. But if House Republicans choose instead unanimously to come after Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare, then they will own the terrible consequences for working people.

    Thank you so much. And now I’d like to hand this over to my partner, the Chairman of the New Democratic Coalition, Brad Schneider.

    REP. SCHNEIDER: Thank you Chair Casar, Chairman Aguilar, Vice Chair Lieu. It’s good to be standing here with you in one common voice. 

    Before I read my prepared remarks and talk about our joint letter, I want to touch on what Vice Chair Lieu talked about, veterans. I have the privilege of representing Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, Illinois. Every single sailor, recruit, who enlists in the Navy shows up in North Chicago for 10 weeks of basic training. I’ve had the privilege of attending those graduations. I see those 17-, 18-, and 19-year-old young people, men and women, who say, ‘I want to serve my country. I want to put on the uniform of the United States, go to places I do not know, do things I have no idea if I’ll be able to do, to protect the American people and the American way of life.’ Many of those people serve two years, four years. Many serve 20 years or more. All of them, committed and dedicated to bettering our country. And many of them, when they finish their service, are not done serving our country. They go to work with the federal government. 

    They’re dedicated federal workers who are serving their nation in their local communities, many here in Washington. They’re the people who work in Social Security, the Forest Rangers in our national parks, the folks who provide care at VA hospitals, and they are the ones who are getting the letters from Elon Musk and DOGE in the middle of the night saying, ‘Your service is no longer desired and we no longer value your performance.’ 

    This is wrong, and this is weakening our country, and this is why we are standing before you united to say it has to stop. I’m very proud that the CPC, Congressional Progressive Caucus, New Democrat Coalition, others have come together. We’ve made a very strong statement. I’m proud to lead 110 members of the New Democrat Coalition in joining in that statement, saying, ‘We cannot allow dangerous cuts to programs that Americans have actually paid for out of their hard earned dollars.’ Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. 

    The headline is and should be, House Democrats are united, in deep contrast to what we’re seeing from our Republican colleagues. While the Democrats are focused on lowering costs, Republicans are pushing a budget that will result in cuts to health care and benefits that have been earned by hard working Americans. While Democrats are focused on making our community safe, Musk and DOGE are firing thousands of employees who help keep planes in the sky, prevent diseases like bird flu and measles from spreading and serve our veterans after they complete their service to our nation. 

    Democrats are working tirelessly to bring down prices of everyday products, while President Trump, just today, levied 25% taxes on the American consumer that will raise costs for groceries, for cars and trucks, gasoline, new construction for houses and many other everyday products. Meanwhile, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are doing everything they can to give a free ride to oligarchs like Elon Musk and his wealthy billionaire friends, and they’re putting the burden for all of this on our seniors, our children, our first responders, on people who educate our children, build our houses, work on the factory floor, who take care of our communities and tend to us when we are sick. It is these hard working people who are in the crosshairs of the Republicans’ actions. 

    One of these people is my guest tonight. Adam Mulvey is a 20-year Army veteran who served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He’s one of 6,000 of these veterans we’ve talked about who was fired between February 13th and 24th. He works, or worked, at Lovell Federal Health Care Center. James A. Lovell Center is the only hospital in our country that serves both veterans and active military and every one of those recruits I just mentioned. His job was to help provide emergency management services, planning and preparing in the case of a tornado or another emergency or even an active shooter. He served 35,000 veterans in our area, tens of thousands of active duty sailors and other military members and the 40- to 50,000 people each year who go through Naval Station Great Lakes. 

    We all believe government should be efficient, but Trump and Musk are taking a sledgehammer to Americans’ lives and our livelihoods. And I am proud to stand with all of my colleagues here today saying it has to stop. Thank you, and I am proud to yield back to Chairman Aguilar. 

    Video of the full press conference can be viewed here.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Team Whiteman to be tested in surety inspection in Spring

    Source: United States Strategic Command

    WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo.  –  

    The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber’s ability to project U.S. airpower anywhere in the world is integral to deterring attacks from near peer adversaries and prevailing in conflict if called upon.

    The success of the mission at Whiteman AFB is dependent on each Airman’s dedication to exemplary work performance. This spring, the 509th and 131st Bomb Wings will conduct a surety inspection to assess the wing’s safety measures and reliability.

    Surety inspections occur every two years and thoroughly examine personnel, materials and procedures across the installation, with the goal of minimizing adverse incidents, bolstering global stability, and reinforcing the credibility of U.S. deterrence.

    “These inspections serve as the opportunity for us to demonstrate to our nation’s military leaders that we are fully trained, fully compliant and fully ready to execute our strategic mission if called upon.” said Air Force Col. Keith Butler, 509th Bomb Wing commander. “For us to successfully carry out our mission and deliver combat power anytime, anywhere, we need consistent, disciplined reliability in how we manage materials and maintain standards.”

    Team Whiteman’s capabilities are a critical component to the success of U.S. Strategic Command and Air Force Global Strike Command, and these types of inspections are essential in maintaining high trust in mission capabilities. The high-stakes nature of Whiteman’s no-fail mission demands that performance across the installation stays consistent and meets all standards, ensuring the 509th and 131st Bomb Wings are always ready to deliver lethality.

    People are the greatest asset within the Air Force and are the driving force behind AFGSC’s competitive strategic advantage. A successful inspection is dependent on an understanding of each Airman’s contributions and value to their unit.

    Team members at every level take ownership of their responsibilities through meticulous attention to detail, disciplined checklist usage, and proper documentation of each area of review. A favorable rating on the inspection will require an all-hands approach.

    “Our junior enlisted Airmen are the tactical force behind our operations and will be at the forefront of the inspection,” Butler said. “Our NCOs are the front-line supervisors and will manage the Airmen, aiding in preparation and execution. Our civilian employees bring a wealth of valuable experience and continuity, having been here for multiple inspections. Our quality assurance, standardization and evaluation, and inspector general teams will confirm we are meeting the standard. A successful outcome involves commitment from all team members.”

    This inspection ensures that the 509th and 131st Bomb Wings continue to uphold the highest standards, with special attention to ensuring Team Whiteman maintains a safe, secure, and reliable strategic force, ready to deliver global strike capabilities when called upon.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Bomber Task Force mission ‘ONYX CROSS’ strengthens readiness and lethality

    Source: United States Strategic Command

    RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany   –  

    U.S. Air Forces in Europe integrated with air forces from Romania, Croatia, and Bulgaria for ONYX CROSS, a Bomber Task Force 25-2 mission over Eastern and Southern Europe on March 3. 

    A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortresses operating out of RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom partnered with Romanian F-16 Vipers, Croatian Rafales, and Bulgarian MiG-29s to execute aerial maneuvers and refine combat tactics.  

    “BTF missions serve as an assurance and deterrence initiative – they aim to provide a strategic element to NATO’s collective defense,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Aaron Gurley, U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa BTF planner. 

    The complexity of missions like ONYX CROSS demands agility from all participants, requiring seamless coordination and adaptability across air forces.

    The mission began with B-52s integrating with F-16s for a standoff weapons simulation, practicing an advanced missile release while staying outside an adversary’s threat range. The bombers then executed a simulated bomb drop on pre-planned targets, integrating with Bulgaria for a dynamic targeting objective as MiG-29s provided close-air support. 

    “The B-52 integrates seamlessly with Allied and partner forces through combined operations like ONYX CROSS,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Jacob “Crash” Carlson, 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron pilot. “We refine tactics, communication, and operational coordination. Using secure networks, we share real-time data, ensuring close integration for strategic deterrence, close-air support, and precision strike missions.” 

    Since arriving at RAF Fairford, the 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron has flown seven missions, working with Allied and partner forces across multiple theaters. 

    “Operating alongside partners has very much shaped my approach by emphasizing clear communication, adaptability to different frameworks, and leveraging coalition strengths to achieve mission success,” Carlson said. “These experiences have refined how we plan for contingencies, execute complex operations, and assess mission outcomes, ensuring we can operate as one unified force when called upon.” 

    By integrating airpower across nations, missions like ONYX CROSS enhance NATO’s ability to operate as a cohesive force, reinforcing collective defense and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region. 

    For more information, please contact the USAFE-AFAFRICA Public Affairs office at usafepao.pao@us.af.mil.  

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Mullin Previews President Trump’s Joint Address with Laura Ingraham

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator MarkWayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma)
    “Promises made, promises kept, is what the President has been doing.”
    Washington, D.C. – Tuesday night, U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) joined Fox News’s Laura Ingraham on-set of The Ingraham Angle to preview President Trump’s Joint Address before Congress. The senator stressed the importance of using the president’s peace through strength message to end the war in Ukraine, echoed the need for Elbridge Colby to serve as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and pointed out the lack of leadership in the Democratic Party.

    Sen. Mullin’s full interview can be found here.
    On why Zelensky should have thanked President Trump:
    “Well, he messed up, and fortunately, it’s going to work out in our favor, especially with the mineral deal. Zelensky bit the hand that was trying to feed him, and when the President was ready to make a deal. Zelensky, unfortunately slapped the hand down, and now he’s going to he’s going to be negotiating from a point of weakness…
    “The President is right. Let’s make a mineral deal. Let’s negotiate peace and stop the killing. Promises made, promises kept, is what the President has been doing.”
    On the only reason for Elbridge Colby’s opposition is because of President Trump:
    “Bridge did a phenomenal job as he was sitting there, he showed that he was very capable of articulating the message that need to be said, but he also had a strong grasp on the issues. Anyone that’s going to oppose him is doing it just because of their hatred for President Trump. That’s it. You can’t get anybody more qualified than Bridge Colby, it doesn’t happen…”
    On the absence of leadership on the Left:
    “That’s why you’re having all these messages they try to resonate. Hillary Clinton, that didn’t work. Joe Biden was not cognitively there. Harris couldn’t lead herself out of a paper bag. And now you have a bunch of people, a bunch of Democrats, audition for 2028 and for some reason…”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The US energy market has its troubles, though it may not be a ‘national emergency’

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Seth Blumsack, Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics and International Affairs, Penn State

    This Montana refinery processes crude oil imported from Canada. AP Photo/Matthew Brown

    President Donald Trump’s declaration of a “national energy emergency” on his first day in office – and which he reiterated during his address to Congress on March 4, 2025 – might have seemed to echo other national emergencies, like those presidents declared in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

    But there has never before been a national energy emergency. During the energy crises of the 1970s, President Jimmy Carter declared local or regional energy emergencies in a handful of states. These actions suspended some environmental regulations, such as air-pollution limits for coal-fired power plants, for very short periods to make sure those states’ residents had enough electricity.

    When a president declares a national emergency, he claims significant powers under the National Emergencies Act, which allow him to take steps to solve the emergency. In this situation, Trump might seek to override environmental regulations, order utility companies to buy power from particular power plants, or invoke the Defense Production Act to secure materials needed for power plant construction.

    A natural gas well pad in Washington County, Pa., is one of many sites around the nation where fracking has boosted U.S. energy production.
    Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images

    Six weeks into his presidency, Trump had not taken any action to address this emergency, though during his speech to Congress he said he wants to increase drilling and build a new natural gas pipeline in Alaska. And Trump’s discussion of energy policy has not directly referred to the consumer price hikes expected as a result of the 10% tariffs he imposed on Canadian oil, gas and electricity starting on March 4, 2025.

    Critics of the president’s declaration have described it as a “giveaway” to the fossil fuel industry in the form of looser regulations and measures to make it easier to drill for oil on government-owned land. In fact, the executive order’s definition of “energy” excludes energy generated from wind and solar, as well as efforts to conserve energy – all of which were major parts of the Biden administration’s energy strategy.

    As someone who has studied energy markets for decades, I have seen several events that might qualify as energy-related emergencies, such as meltdowns at nuclear power plants around the world, shortages of electricity and natural gas, and massive power blackouts.

    But over the past 15 years, the United States has become a global energy superpower even without any emergency declarations. The advent of hydraulic fracturing unleashed a wave of oil and gas production, even as U.S. energy demand barely budged. In a time of such energy abundance, there is no clear emergency on the scale of the energy crises of the 1970s. But there are some causes for concern.

    Big increases in domestic production

    One goal Trump’s declaration sets out is to increase what the executive order calls the nation’s “energy security.” Usually that phrase refers to an ability to operate using energy produced within the U.S. rather than overseas – particularly from countries that have long-standing conflicts or disagreements with the United States.

    Based on raw numbers, however, the U.S. is already quite energy secure. In 2023, the nation produced nearly 13 million barrels of oil per day, which is more than any country has ever produced in the history of the oil business. Since 2015, when a federal ban on oil exports was lifted, the U.S. has been increasing the amount of oil it exports every year. And for the past several years, the U.S. has been the world’s leading exporter of gasoline, sending 10% of its total annual production to other countries.

    Since the start of the shale-fracking boom in the mid-2000s, U.S. production of natural gas has also been increasing. The country’s natural gas exports have also risen over the past 10 years, though they have been limited by the number of ports that can handle liquefied natural gas cargo.

    Still a net importer of oil

    The U.S. produces plenty of oil to meet its demands, but not the kinds of oil that American refineries are designed to process into useful fuels.

    Therefore, despite the increases in domestic production, the U.S. is still a net importer of crude oil. In 2023, the U.S. imported almost twice as much oil as it exported.

    And U.S. refineries’ output of gasoline and heating oil depends on imported oil. Most oil refineries in the U.S. are quite old and were engineered to process so-called “heavy” crude oil produced in countries such as Canada, which is historically the United States’ biggest source of imported oil.

    Most of the recent increase in U.S. oil production comes from hydraulic fracturing of shale and is so-called “light” crude oil. Refining light crude would require new refineries or a major reengineering of existing refineries, with new equipment, expanded capacity or both.

    Making those changes would be very expensive. So refinery owners are hesitant to make these kinds of investments because there is a risk that the investments won’t pay off. Because U.S. refineries produce so much gasoline and have limited capacity, the U.S. also continues to import some refined petroleum fuels such as jet fuel.

    A liquefied natural gas tanker ship moves toward Cameron Pass near Cameron, La.
    Washington Post via Getty Images

    A fragile power grid

    Concern over the nation’s aging electric power grid is another focus of Trump’s energy emergency declaration. Experts have been issuing warnings for years. A 2024 study on the national transmission grid commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy has concluded the U.S. needs to double the size of the grid in the next couple of decades.

    For the first time in nearly half a century, the U.S. is facing the prospect of rapidly increasing electricity demand. The demand for power has always gone up and down a bit with population and the health of the economy, but this time is different. Growth in electricity demand is now driven by the construction of massive data centers and by electrification of cars and heating and cooling systems. The Department of Energy reports that data center electricity use in particular has tripled in the past 10 years and could easily double in the next few years. At that rate, data centers could account for over 10% of all electricity demand in the country before 2030.

    The U.S. supply of power generation in many regions is not ready for this surge in demand. Many power plants – particularly the older ones and those that burn coal – have shut down in the past several years, driven by a combination of economic pressures and environmental regulations. Building new power plants in many parts of the U.S. has become bogged down in regulatory red tape, public opposition and economic uncertainty. The North American Electric Reliability Corp., which develops standards for grid reliability, has placed over half of U.S. states at some level of risk for not having enough power generation to meet anticipated future demand.

    A study has found that the nation’s electricity grid is expected to need significant investment to handle rising demand.
    Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images

    Will declaring an emergency help?

    Under Trump’s energy emergency declaration, the administration seems likely to take actions that will make it easier to drill for more oil and gas. And the federal government may also make it easier to build power plants that run on coal, natural gas and possibly nuclear fuel.

    But expanded fracking, in and of itself, will probably not address any energy security issues in the U.S., unless there are major investments in refineries to handle the increased oil production. Reducing the barriers to building power plants addresses a much more pressing problem, but the country would still need to expand the transmission grid itself, which does not get as much attention in the president’s declaration.

    Time will tell whether the energy emergency declaration will be used to solve real problems in the nation’s energy supplies, or whether it will be used to further bolster oil and gas producers that have already made the U.S. a global energy powerhouse.

    Seth Blumsack receives funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, NASA, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Heising Simons Foundation.

    – ref. The US energy market has its troubles, though it may not be a ‘national emergency’ – https://theconversation.com/the-us-energy-market-has-its-troubles-though-it-may-not-be-a-national-emergency-249336

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Markey, Cornyn Reintroduce Legislation to Fund Sea Turtle Research and Rescue Assistance

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey

    Bill Text (PDF)

    Washington (March 5, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and co-author of the Green New Deal resolution, and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) reintroduced their bipartisan and bicameral Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act, legislation to establish funding at the Department of Commerce for the rescue, recovery and research of sea turtles in Massachusetts and across the United States.

    “Sea turtles are the canaries in the coal mine. Right now, every known species of sea turtles found in US waters is either threatened or endangered and faces extinction and environmental wipeout due to the human-caused climate crisis. We have the responsibility to act,” said Senator Markey. “I am reintroducing the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance Act to financially support ongoing rescue and rehabilitation efforts of our shelled friends.”  

    “Sea turtle strandings are rising at an alarming rate along the Texas Gulf Coast,” said Senator Cornyn. “This bill would help identify the causes of these strandings and invest in rescue and recovery efforts to better protect Texas’ endangered and storied sea turtle population.”

    The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Tom Tillis (R-N.C.). In January, Representative Bill Keating (MA-09) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

    In 2000, fewer than 50 sea turtles were found stranded on the beaches of Cape Cod; by 2022, that number had skyrocketed to 866. During the 2021 cold snap in Texas, more than 12,100 turtles were cold-stunned, and rescue organizations were able to save and return only 4,000 of the stranded turtles to the wild. Rescue efforts are predominantly volunteer led and underfunded despite sea turtles facing increasing environmental and human-caused threats that make strandings more likely, including rapid temperature changes, red tide events, and entanglement in marine debris. This bill would provide stability and support to efforts that rehabilitate and aid in the recovery of sea turtles along the coastal US. Specifically, the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance Act would create a new grant program to fund rescue, recovery, and research of sea turtles in the U.S., and authorize $5 million annually for awarding of grants to further that purpose from 2025 through 2030.

    The Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act is endorsed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the New England Aquarium, the National Aquarium, ABQ BioPark, Acadia Institute of Oceanography, Adventure Aquarium, Allied Whale – College of the Atlantic, Assateague Coastal Trust, Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, Aquarium of the Pacific, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Audubon Nature Institute, Bird River Beach Community Association, Blank Park Zoo, Brevard Zoo / East Coast Zoological Park, Brookfield Zoo Chicago, Buttonwood Park Zoo, Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens, Chattanooga Zoo at Warner Park, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, Conservation Council For Hawaii, El Paso Zoo and Botanical Garden, Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, Georgia Aquarium, Georgia Sea Turtle Center / Jekyll Island Authority, Georgia Wildlife Federation, Gladys Porter Zoo, Gulf World Marine Institute, Healthy Ocean Coalition, Houston Zoo, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Jenkinson’s Aquarium, John Ball Zoo, John G. Shedd Aquarium, Kansas City Zoo, Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation Center, Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Louisiana Wildlife Federation, Marine Education – Research & Rehabilitation Institute, Inc. (MERR), Marine Conservation Institute, Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket, Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Mass Audubon, Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Mystic Aquarium, National Marine Life Center, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Newport Aquarium, New York Marine Rescue Center, North Carolina Aquariums, North Carolina Wildlife Federation, OdySea Aquarium, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, Racine Zoo, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Saint Louis Zoo, SEA LIFE Aquariums, Sea Turtle Recovery, Inc., Seattle Aquarium, Seatuck Environmental Association, SeaWorld Parks, Sociedad Ornitologica Puertorriquena Inc., South Carolina Aquarium, South Carolina Wildlife Federation, Sunset Zoo, Surfrider Foundation, Texas Conservation Alliance, Texas Sealife Center, Texas State Aquarium, The Florida Aquarium, The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, The Ocean Project, The Turtle Hospital, Upwell Turtles, Vancouver Aquarium, Virgin Islands Conservation Society, Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience at University of Florida, WIDECAST: Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network, Wildlife Restoration Foundation, and Woodland Park Zoo.

    “We are grateful for Sen. Markey’s continued partnership as he reintroduces the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act of 2025 in the U.S. Senate. Each year, the New England Aquarium rescues and rehabilitates hundreds of cold-stunned sea turtles that wash onto the beaches of Cape Cod Bay. This bill would help fill a critical gap in sea turtle conservation efforts by providing much-needed financial support to organizations across the country like ours that help return these endangered animals to the ocean,” said Vikki N. Spruill, President and CEO of the New England Aquarium.

    “The National Aquarium applauds the reintroduction of the bicameral, bipartisan Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act. We are proud to be part of the nationwide network of organizations engaged in sea turtle conservation and in educating the public on the challenges facing these threatened and endangered species. Sea turtle strandings are on the rise, as are the expenses related to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing them back to their ocean home. The level of voluntary contribution from stranding network partners is not sustainable. We thank the champions in the House and Senate for their leadership in creating a much-needed federal grant program to support this important work,” said John Racanelli, President & CEO of the National Aquarium.

    “Each year, aquariums, zoos and other organizations selflessly rescue and rehabilitate thousands of stranded and injured sea turtles with little to no federal support. They do it because it is the right thing to do,” said Dan Ashe, President and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. “This bipartisan Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act would help to fill a critical gap in support for these federally protected sea turtles.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: President Nadia Calviño opens third edition of EIB Group Forum, highlighting security and economic prosperity as mutually reinforcing

    Source: European Investment Bank

    • The EIB Group Forum brings together senior policymakers, business leaders, academics, and civil society representatives to discuss Europe’s prosperity, security and global cooperation.
    • President Calviño puts security of our societies at the heart of the EIB Group’s activity, thanks to investments in industries, security and defence, energy grids, green transition, social infrastructure and global partnerships.    
    • The launch of the flagship EIB Group Investment Report calls for EU market integration, simplification and investments in innovation, echoing the most recent European Commission initiatives.

    Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank Group, inaugurated today the third edition of the EIB Group Forum, emphasising the critical role of investment in shaping Europe’s economic future, and the focus on security in everything the EIB Group does.

    “In such turbulent times, it’s back to basics – we must safeguard “security” – said President Calviño. This is a big word, with many facets, which includes an environment of freedom and peace for our countries, stability, certainty and opportunities to grow for our businesses and it means an inclusive society where people are confident about the future for themselves and their children… Security and shared economic prosperity are mutually reinforcing and work in tandem. In this sense, every euro invested by the EIB Group is an investment into our collective security”.

    Security and Defence

    During her speech, President Calviño said that following a comprehensive market testing, the EIB will propose to its Board of Directors later this month that the EIB Group further expands its security and defence financing eligibilities, to ensure that excluded activities are more precisely defined and as limited as possible in scope. This will enable the EIB Group to respond to financing needs in a way which safeguards the EIB’s operations and financial position.

    “There is a need to join forces, and have a coordinated approach, where each institution focuses on where it can provide more value. These changes reflect the EIB Group’s readiness to remain responsive and relevant in a shifting global landscape”, added President Calviño.

    The EIB Group also intends “to embed the existing eight billion euros programme into a new cross-cutting and permanent public policy goal”.

    Please find here the President’s speech and here the full Forum agenda, taking place in Luxembourg from 5-7 March. You can also watch and download the full recording here on EBS / Europe by Satellite.

    EIB Group Investment Report

    During her address, President Calviño highlighted the EIB Group Investment Report 2024/2025, the flagship economic report of the EIB Group that provides a comprehensive analysis of investment trends based on a survey of about 13,000 European firms.

    “The report confirms that there are three main levers to boost Europe’s competitiveness and security: market integration, simplification and large-scale investment in innovation. The EIB Group is playing its part across all three of these levers”- said President Nadia Calviño.

    “To secure Europe’s future, we must prioritise structural transformation, innovation, digitalisation, and decarbonisation. Increasing our investments in these vital areas, along with dedicated financing for scaling key technologies, is essential. The findings of our Investment Report serve as a crucial roadmap for policymakers and investors, guiding us through the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The new geopolitical context only reinforces the urgency to act.” added EIB Chief Economist Debora Revoltella.

    Key findings from the EIB Investment Report:

    A significant portion of European firms faces challenges due to market fragmentation, emphasizing the need for a unified market.

    Additionally, the report highlights Europe’s robust industrial and research base as an opportunity to leverage artificial intelligence and digital technologies in industrial processes, pointing to the substantial productivity gains that can be achieved through the integration of AI into manufacturing and services.

    The findings also underscore that Europe’s ambitious climate policies are beginning to bear fruit, with notable advancements in renewable energy and securing Europe as a central node in Greentech patenting global collaborations.

    A consistent regulatory framework is presented as a driver for investment in sustainable technologies, with the recent wave of simplification bringing pragmatism, while preserving clarity on long term direction of travel. Moreover, the EIB’s analysis indicates that social investment brings economic returns, particularly in addressing the skills gap.

    Enhancing labour force participation, especially among women, could lead to significant economic benefits for Europe. Finally, the report stresses the importance of targeted policy instruments and EU-level coordination in maximizing the impact of public investment. Tailored support mechanisms are shown to significantly enhance the likelihood of firms investing in energy efficiency and innovation.

    Additional information on the EIB Investment Report is available here.

    Background information

    The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, the capital markets union, and a stronger Europe in a more peaceful and prosperous world. 

    The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security.  

    High-quality, up-to-date photos of our headquarters for media use are available here.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – The need to update Europe’s policy on the Ukrainian conflict given recent diplomatic trends and the changing international landscape – E-000683/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000683/2025/rev.1
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Roberto Vannacci (PfE)

    On 12 February 2025, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated that he was aiming to put an end to the war in Ukraine in separate phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

    In a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group held on the same day, the US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hesgeth, said that obtaining NATO membership for Ukraine and re-establishing its pre-2014 borders were ‘illusory’ goals[1]. He also ruled out sending US troops to the country.

    The Commission’s policy of unconditionally supporting Ukraine until it wins the war[2] and restores its territorial integrity[3] has always been heavy on ideology and short on pragmatism.

    In the light of the above:

    • 1.Given current diplomatic trends and the changing international environment, how will the Commission review its strategy, which has so far been predicated on restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity and supporting a prolonged conflict?
    • 2.Does the Commission not think that sticking to its current position in spite of the United States’ change of policy and recent trends on the international scene could jeopardise the coherence, effectiveness and sustainability of EU foreign policy?

    Submitted: 13.2.2025

    • [1] https://it.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/02/12/ucraina-segretario-difesa-usa-hegseth-confini-pre-2014-e-adesione-alla-nato-obiettivi-irre.
    • [2] https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2024/11/13/devant-les-eurodeputes-kaja-kallas-defend-le-soutien-europeen-de-l-ukraine-jusqu-a-la-victoire_6391566_3210.html.
    • [3] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ac_24_3363https://x.com/kajakallas/status/1889800055303049695.
    Last updated: 5 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Logistics, sustainment keeps JTF Southern Guard moving, stocked, fueled

    Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

    NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba  –  

    Nobody wants an outsider coming in and stirring the pot, adding their two cents, or giving advice. While most sections prefer to keep their turf untouched, there’s one team of subject matter experts that everyone wants all in their operational Kool-Aid: the logisticians of Joint Task Force Southern Guard (JTF-SG) J4.

    Without them, nothing moves, nothing gets stocked, and nobody gets what they need. The JTF-SG logistics and sustainment professionals are the driving force behind ensuring troops stay equipped, operations remain fluid, and the mission never slows down.

    “It’s simple: if the J4 stops, the mission stops because nothing happens without sustainment,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Johanny Ortega, the J4 sergeant major.

    J4 provides everything from strategic mobility and supply distribution to future operations planning and contract management, all in support of Department of Homeland Security-led migrant operations.

    What makes this logistics operation unique is that JTF-SG J4 functions as a fully integrated joint logistics cell with representatives from U.S. Army South, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. Fourth Fleet, U.S. Air Force Southern Command, and a civilian logistics representative working in sync to sustain operations.

    “We are the social butterflies of the operation, ensuring we know the capabilities in the area by getting to know people and allowing people to get to know us,” Ortega explained. “To gain and sustain support, we build rapport and relationships with agencies and people that are part of the sustainment enterprise where we operate.”

    This synchronization allows JTF-SG to quickly adapt to evolving mission requirements, ensuring that personnel, supplies, and equipment are delivered efficiently. Nowhere is this collaboration more evident than within the Operational Contract Support Integration Cell.

    “Through the OCSIC, we shape the sustainment strategy for the entire task force,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Cdr. Cecily Ripley, JOB. “Our ability to work across service lines means we can quickly adapt to mission demands and keep operations moving without interruption.”

    As one of the most critical components of J4, the OCSIC and their combined expertise is responsible for overseeing all contracted logistics support, which includes food, fuel, and maintenance, base life support services such as sanitation and power generation, and coordination with private vendors for specialized mission needs.

    “Contracting is critical to this mission. The OCSIC team is fully integrated into operations, coordinate with the JTF staff, and provides oversight to ensure that contracting activities align with mission requirements,” U.S Air Force Master Sgt. Gregory Hovland, the OCSIC plans and operations noncommissioned officer, described.

    By eliminating bureaucratic bottlenecks and integrating contracting efforts across all service branches, OCSIC provides seamless support to JTF-SG operations.

    “Our team is truly a joint formation with the chief from USARSOUTH, the current operations from USNAVSOUTH/FOURTHFLT, and plans from AFSOUTH. We ensure that contracts are fiscally responsible and resilient enough to sustain the taskforce,” Hovland elaborated.

    This level of planning and coordination is critical to keeping supplies mobile, and the J4’s mobility section is responsible for ensuring that personnel, cargo, or equipment moves efficiently to and from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB).

    U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jose Espinosa, JTF-SG mobility officer, oversees every aspect of strategic transportation, tracking force flow, ensuring flights and vessels arrive on time, and coordinating ground transportation for incoming supplies.

    “I oversee everything from the moment cargo is picked up, transported, offloaded, and moved to its final destination,” Espinosa said.

    Managing force movement requires precision, as every delay or misstep impacts the overall sustainment effort. Espinosa coordinates air and sea transportation, executes ground transportation planning across the installation, and facilitates joint reception, staging, onward movement, and integration. Without his efforts, moving personnel and mission-essential equipment would be significantly delayed, impacting JTF-SG’s ability to maintain operational effectiveness.

    “People think I’m some sort of travel agent,” Espinosa laughed. “But in reality, I coordinate strategic transportation for all deployed assets at JTF-SG. If it moves, I make sure it moves the right way.”

    While mobility ensures that personnel and equipment arrive where they are needed, J4’s supply section guarantees that those assets remain fully operational. The supply team is responsible for managing the distribution of fuel, rations, water, and equipment across the task force. Their efforts ensure that every unit within JTF-SG has the materials needed to sustain operations is a continuous process, requiring accurate forecasting and careful inventory management.

    “We have leaned on our partners across NSGB to quickly stand up this support operation with the challenge being how to maintain a flexible sustainment posture in a dynamic situation with a fluid end state, all while operating in a fiscally constrained environment,” said U.S. Army Maj. David Perez, the deputy J4 and logistics planner.

    The ability to quickly adjust to changing operational demands is essential in a dynamic mission environment. Supply operations are critical to sustaining JTF-SG, but long-term mission success depends on the ability to plan ahead. This is where J4’s CUOPS and future operations teams come into play.

    J4 is divided into CUOPS and FUOPS to ensure both immediate sustainment needs and long-term logistics planning are accounted for.

    “It may sound tedious or pedantic, but we keep two or three plans in our back pocket because if we don’t plan ahead, we risk supply shortages or transportation headaches,” said U.S. Army Master Sgt. George Barker, the J4 logistics and accountability noncommissioned officer.

    The CUOPS team manages daily sustainment operations, including transportation, supply distribution, and equipment accountability. Meanwhile, the FUOPS team looks weeks and months ahead, identifying potential challenges and developing strategies to mitigate them before they impact operations.

    “But there’s more, in a joint task force, logistics coordination with sister services is what enables the JTF commander to execute the mission,” Barker continued. “We direct the joint logistics element to ensure that operational units are fully equipped, sustained, and mission ready.”

    To maintain readiness, J4 must not only ensure resources are available but also keep strict accountability of all military equipment and assets. The equipment accountability team is responsible for managing inventory tracking, ensuring compliance with property accountability regulations, and overseeing the return process for issued supplies.

    “The Southern Guard mission was rapid. So, we knew we had to put our arms around accountability right away,” said U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Samuel Adeyemi. “Thankfully, because of the relationships we built, it was easy to work alongside sister units and other service components, reconcile and account for equipment.”

    Bringing together mobility, supply, sustainment, planning, and contracting, J4 remains the foundation of logistical operations at JTF-SG. With representatives from three of the four service components under U.S. Southern Command, J4 provides a full-picture view of combatant command logistics operations.

    “We exemplify precision, coordination, and unwavering commitment,” Adeyemi said. “These hallmarks drive our collective success and ensure mission achievement.”

    This level of integration ensures that sustainment efforts are coordinated at every level, allowing JTF-SG to operate as a unified force.

    “There is never a dull moment at the J4,” said U.S Army Lt. Col. Jeremy Coates, JTF-SG J4 director. “We are like transformers, the Army, Air Force, and Navy (very soon the Marines as well) minds come together and we make sustainment happen.”

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Senior leaders discuss intelligence driving unified action

    Source: United States Air Force

    Air Force Lt. Gen. Leah Lauderback, deputy chief of Staff, ISR and Cyber Effects Operations, and Space Force Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, deputy chief of Space Operations for Intelligence, joined a panel discussion with Mr. Greg Ryckman, Defense Intelligence Agency deputy director for Global Integration, during the Air and Space Force Association Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado, March 4.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Chairman Wicker Leads SASC Hearing on Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Nominee Elbridge Colby

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Mississippi Roger Wicker

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today chaired a hearing reviewing the nomination of Mr. Elbridge A. Colby to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the Department of Defense.

    In his opening statement, Chairman Wicker raised the need for a program of rapid reform at the Pentagon to improve deterrence against the complex threat environment posted by China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. Chairman Wicker noted that Mr. Colby shares a common understanding of the dangerous security situation in the Western Pacific. Wicker also commended Colby’s exhortations to improve the defense industrial base.

    In examining Colby’s previous writings, however, Chairman Wicker noted the importance of remaining active in multiple theaters where threats against American national security have manifested, and asked Colby to offer his grand strategic vision for the U.S. in years ahead. Chairman Wicker also asked Colby to comment on his major reports to rebuild the military and reform the Pentagon as well, which Colby offered strong concurrence with.

    “Senator…I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing [your Peace Through Strength plan], and I think we’re keying off exactly. And I am a big supporter of that kind of perspective: restoring American strength, industrial might, and getting our allies to do more, which seems to me is also the perspective of the president and the Secretary of Defense…part of that plan [for deterrence] is greater resources, like, Mr. Chairman, you have advocated for,” Colby said. “I commit to advocating for the higher defense levels that I think are consistent with what our security dictates.”

    Read Senator Wicker’s hearing opening statement as delivered below.

    The hearing will come to order.

    Thank you all for being here this morning. The committee meets to consider the nomination of Mr. Elbridge Colby to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

    I want to thank Mr. Colby for his willingness to serve again. I want to thank his wife, Susanna, and their children for being here today. It also says a lot that Mr. Colby will be introduced today by two distinguished friends: Vice President JD Vance and Senator Banks.

    We are informed that the vice president is in traffic, and so after consulting to my right and left, we will proceed again because there are time constraints. And when the vice president arrives – I think he’ll be arriving just in time, so proceeding on.

    If confirmed, Mr. Colby would oversee the developments of policy and strategy for the Department of Defense. He would assume these responsibilities during the most dangerous security environment since World War II. The deepening military cooperation between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea represents a complex and far-reaching set of threats. These threats demand a generational investment to revitalize America’s military strength. They demand rapid Pentagon reform. And they demand a fresh look at strategies needed to achieve our national security objectives.

    The American people need to understand what is at stake. We should help the country appreciate the risks imposed to our way of life. Beijing is leading an emerging alliance of countries with one clear objective: to use their economic and military power to tear down the United States and impose their will on global affairs. The new Axis of Aggressors is a greater menace than we have faced in decades.

    Under Xi Jinping’s leadership the Chinese Communist Party has undertaken one of the largest and most aggressive military buildups in history. Their speed has been astounding. In just a few short years, China has built more nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles than the U.S. has in decades. They have tested orbital bombardment weapons and unveiled what may be the world’s first sixth-generation fighter aircraft. China possesses a ship building capacity over 230 times that of the United States – over 230 times. That’s almost inconceivable.

    Over three years ago, Vladimir Putin launched the first invasion of a European country since World War II. He has barraged the Ukrainian people with constant missile and drone attacks. The Kremlin has developed a variety of new weapons capabilities, including nuclear-armed satellites. Meanwhile Russia actively provides enriched uranium to China to support Beijing’s nuclear buildup. Putin has also been suspected of aiding North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

    Moving on to North Korea, nuclear arsenal there continues to advance unchecked. Kim Jong-Un has been aiding Russia’s war machine as it terrorizes Europe. Pyongyang’s missiles could soon be capable of overwhelming our defenses – North Korea’s – especially if reports of Russian assistance are accurate.

    In the Middle East, Israel has successfully crippled Iran’s proxies in the region, but these setbacks may spur Tehran to take the final step: to build a nuclear weapon, permanently altering the balance of power in that region.

    Few really understand how this axis of aggressors is working to make Americans less safe. If confirmed, I hope Mr. Colby can help Secretary Hegseth as he makes sure the public sees these threats for what they are.

    During Secretary Hegseth’s hearing, I spoke about the importance of building a motivated and highly competent team of professionals at the Pentagon. In this regard Mr. Colby is certainly qualified for the role to which President Trump has nominated him.

    For more than two decades, he has worked on defense policy. Mr. Colby previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary Defense for Strategy and Force Development. In that role, Mr. Colby played a pivotal role in the formulation of the 2018 National Defense Strategy – the first real strategy in years. His leadership was crucial in helping the United States articulate the need for a new defense posture, one focused on strategic competition with China and Russia, and the overdue modernization of our military.

    Mr. Colby and I have been ringing the same bell on military unpreparedness for years, particularly as it relates to China. This committee would echo exhortations on defense policy in the Western Pacific. We should make Taiwan a porcupine and Taipei is sprinting in that direction. We should build a larger US military footprint in East Asia, and we should accelerate the most important weapons programs to deter China.

    President Trump has made it clear that he intends to rebuild the military and reform the Pentagon. He campaigned on peace through strength. We all want to keep America safe and prosperous. To secure that peace, we will enable a Golden Age for America, but we do not now have the strength that can guarantee us the peace.

    Given the threat environment facing us, I strongly believe that we cannot simply pivot our attention and resources from one threat to another. That is an approach the Obama administration tried, and it did fail. We must be focused and strategic, but we need to be clear Beijing sees its fight against America as a global fight.

    Beijing is not pivoting between theaters or among theaters. Significant American withdrawal in Europe, Africa, South America, or the Middle East will allow the Chinese Communist Party to overcome us strategically, even if we are able to prevent military conflict in East Asia in the near term.

    In the past few weeks, President Trump has killed five top Al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists. Good for him. He’s green lit more aggressive campaigning against the Houthis, and promised to support Israel to the hilt. All these policies are in line with the president’s desire for lasting peace and prosperity in the United States, and Mr. Colby, I’m sure that is your desire too.

    Now, Mr. Colby, your views on each theater have seemingly evolved since 2018, and I’m sure there’ll be discussions about that which are worth exploring. It goes without saying that the elephant in this hearing room today is the recent developments with regard to Ukraine and Russia and this administration.

    I was disappointed and dismayed as I watched the televised meeting involving the President of the United States and President Zelenskyy. And I was distressed that the White House meeting ended without the signing of the minerals agreement, which was there to be signed, as I understand it.

    This was followed by a television appearance by President Zelenskyy, and then a visit to some of our friends in Europe, where there’s much concern about the failure of that agreement to be signed.

    It was also followed that weekend by Mr. Putin’s continued barrage of attacking apartments, civilian targets, and other areas in Ukraine. Not a good weekend for peace in Ukraine or world peace.

    The president is trying to get a peace deal in Ukraine, and I certainly hope we’ll be able to get this back on the rails. I would like to hear your views on the potential there. Your views on President Trump’s crystal-clear Iran policy seem to have hardened considerably, yet your views on Taiwan’s importance to the United States seems to have softened considerably. I hope we can clarify those views today. And your views on the relevance of nuclear weapons in the next decade remain unclear to me. I would appreciate your comments on each of those issues.

    Mr. Colby, you’ve spoken frequently to audiences who are skeptical of the idea that U.S, peace and prosperity require us to wield U.S. power abroad. I’m grateful that you have led those discussions that U.S. foreign policy professionals do not like having. I expect your points on the limits of U.S. power remain nuanced, and complimentary to the president’s peace through strength agenda. And it will be crystal clear that you will speak for the president in this regard.

    If you’re focused on finding innovative ways to blend America’s comparative advantages in this global fight against Chinese Communists, then I strongly believe you will be a boon to the president and to the United States of America. I’d like to hear your strategic vision for the next four years. I’d like to hear your comments on the plans I have released for rebuilding and reforming the military. In confirming Secretary Hegseth, we charged him with focusing on four guiding principles as he assumed office: lethality, efficiency, speed, and accountability. I also appreciate the ease of access that he and I have had in conversations with each other since his confirmation.

    As Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, I’d like to know how you plan to execute in these four areas to support President Trump’s peace through strength agenda. So, thank you very much for being here, we look forward to your testimony, and I now recognize Ranking Member Reed for his opening remarks.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: VIDEO: Peters Takes to Senate Floor to Denounce Trump Administration’s Illegal Firing of Thousands of Veterans Throughout Federal Workforce

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Michigan Gary Peters

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) delivered a speech on the Senate floor denouncing the Trump Administration’s illegal firing of thousands of veterans throughout the federal government. Veterans make up nearly 30 percent of the federal workforce, or approximately 640,000 employees. Since taking office, the Trump Administration has already laid off about 6,000 former servicemembers without cause, including veterans who worked in federal agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Defense (DOD), and the Treasury Department for several years. In his remarks, Peters underscored the talent and value that veterans bring to the federal civil service and called on the Trump Administration to immediately reinstate these employees. 

    “Employing our nation’s veterans when they transition to civilian life is not just a responsibility, it is a smart business decision,” said Senator Peters. “That’s why the federal government has long taken advantage of this absolutely remarkable talent pool.”  

    Peters continued, “These are Americans who put their lives on the line to defend this country. They took up a job to continue to serve the people of this country. They represent the best of our nation, and we need them in our federal workforce. I’m calling on the Administration to reinstate these veteran employees immediately.” 

    To watch a video clip of Senator Peters’ remarks, click here.

    In his remarks, Peters also highlighted the stories of Michigan veterans who were impacted by these firings:

    “My staff met with a veteran who has worked for the VA in Michigan for nearly 30 years. Last year, they were moved to a new role within VA and were promoted to supervisor shortly thereafter. No surprise, because they had never received less than an excellent performance review over 30 years. But because they were relatively new to that specific role, they were swept up in the widespread firings, both within VA and across government, of all probationary employees. They were one of many veterans fired abruptly without cause, without reason.”

    “In another case, a veteran with 8 years of active-duty service in the Air Force was fired from a VA in Michigan after receiving an ‘outstanding’ performance review. Their probationary period was set to expire last week, just 12 days after they were let go.”

    Peters has been a continued advocate for America’s veterans. In January 2024, two bipartisan bills authored by Peters were signed into law to protect burial benefits for both veterans and military families. Peters also helped pass the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act into law – which delivered VA health care and benefits to all generations of toxic-exposed veterans – and their survivors – for the first time in our nation’s history. In 2016, Peters’ Fairness for Veterans Act was signed into law to help veterans who may have been erroneously given less than honorable discharge from the military due to negative behavior resulting from mental health traumas, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). In 2017, Peters was recognized as Legislator of the Year by the Vietnam Veterans of America for his work authoring and enacting the Fairness for Veterans Act.   

    Peters served more than a decade in the U.S. Navy Reserve, where he earned a Seabee Combat Warfare Specialist designation and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country, he volunteered again for drilling status and served overseas as part of his Reserve duty. 

    MIL OSI USA News –