Category: US Military

Pretty soon the MRE’s may need to change their name from Meals Ready to Eat to Meals In a Bar (MIB):

Soldiers of the future may be eating bacon and egg breakfasts via tiny food bars, due to a new process that shrinks meals to a fraction of their normal size.

Think sous vide, but for tactical quiches that may end up in your next Meal, Ready to Eat.

One dish begins with bacon, egg, cheese and heavy cream. The ingredients are inserted into a vacuum microwave dryer for 80 minutes of shrinkage and then squeezed by a machine. The result: a bar that’s smaller than a Snicker’s candy bar but with twice as many calories — and much more nutrition.

“A complete meal in a bar, that’s my goal,” said Tom Yang, senior food technologist at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Thanks to a ROK Head tip for this article about how the accuser of President Trump’s nominee as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has made prior unsubstantiated claims to advance her career:

Hyten, who leads the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), was nominated in April by President Donald Trump to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The nomination was delayed by an investigation of the claims but was approved last week in the Senate Armed Services Committee by a vote of 20-7. The entire Senate will vote on the nomination in the weeks to come.

The Air Force investigation found no merit to the dozens of unsubstantiated claims made by Col. Kathryn Spletstoser in the last couple of years, as well as a history of unsubstantiated claims levied against supervisors. Colleagues of Spletstoser say she had anger issues, bullied subordinates, and had an incredibly foul mouth. They say she’s lying. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who has vocally opposed Hyten “given the disturbing allegations” against him, did not show up to the Senate Executive Session in which the Air Force investigation findings were confidentially revealed and discussed.

Spletstoser levied dozens of allegations against several supervisors following the loss of her job in 2018, but she had made unsubstantiated allegations previously as well. For instance, two years after a good, but not great, performance review in 2007 that she believed had kept her from being selected for battalion command, Spletstoser appealed and claimed the man who gave her the review had sexually harassed her throughout her tour of duty in Iraq.

The Federalist

You can read more about the unsubstantiated allegations she has made in the past to advance in her career. Of course the usual liberal suspects were out promoting her story and trashing General Hyten’s reputation. However, this is what is really disturbing is that COL Spletstoser claims that during one of the assault that General Hyten ejaculated on her yoga pants. However, DNA testing found no evidence it was General Hyten’s DNA:

While the reputation-damaging details were salacious, the Air Force had already investigated the claim and found it completely lacking. The U.S. Army Criminal Identification Laboratory tested the pants Spletstoser had provided. She said she was wearing the pants during the incident and the stain on the outside was Hyten’s semen.

However, testing excluded Hyten as a source of the DNA material detected on the pants. However, Spletstoser was one of the contributors to the DNA material on the pants. These facts didn’t make it into the New York Times report.

The journalism malpractice by the New York Times is not surprising, but I have to wonder if Spletstoser can be charged with planting evidence?

This is like the Brett Kavanaugh situation all over again. However, since the Vice Chairman position does not have the political consequences compared to a Supreme Court judge, I don’t expect the usual suspects to go all out and destroy General Hyten like they did Kavanaugh. That means he will likely get confirmed by the full Senate, but people that make false claims should be held accountable because of the reputations they destroy and most importantly how it creates suspicion of legitimate claims.

The nominee for the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been accused of sexual misconduct, but an investigation could find nothing to corroborate the allegation:

The Air Force has found no evidence to corroborate allegations of sexual misconduct by the four-star nominated to be the military’s No. 2 officer, but that investigation may not be enough to satisfy Senate lawmakers considering his nomination.

On April 12, a service member came forward with allegations that U.S. Strategic Command head Gen. John Hyten, currently the head of U.S. Strategic Command, initiated “abusive sexual contact” and “an inappropriate relationship” with her, a senior military official familiar with the investigation told reporters Wednesday.

Hyten, announced in April as the nominee to become vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is awaiting confirmation by the Senate Armed Services Committee, whose members were briefed Wednesday on the investigation carried out by the Air Force Office of Special Investigation.

“After a comprehensive investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, there was insufficient evidence to support any finding of misconduct on the part of Gen. Hyten,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Col. DeDe Halfhill. “Gen. Hyten cooperated with the investigation. With more than 38 years of service to our nation, Gen. Hyten has proven himself to be a principled and dedicated patriot.”

Defense News

You can read more at the link, but essentially one of General Hyten’s aides who was probably the rank of Colonel accused him of unwanted kissing and hugging after he was nominated for the Vice Chairman job. What complicates this though is that she was given a letter of reprimand from investigators for toxic leadership behavior. She was also given a negative officer evaluation report from General Hyten which she was appealing when he was nominated for the Vice Chairman job.

This turns this into a he said, she said situation and it will be interesting to see what happens because in this #metoo environment those accused of sexual misconduct are guilty until proven innocent. The investigation could not prove anything either way.

If this bill is approved does anyone think the VA will be flooded with new sexual assault claims?:

The Department of Veterans Affairs is opposing a new bill that would expand access to disability benefits for survivors of military sexual trauma.

Department officials characterized the legislation at a congressional hearing Thursday as too broad, saying it would require the VA to approve claims based on a veteran’s word alone without any corroborating evidence.

But after a recent inspector general report found the VA may have wrongly refused benefits to thousands of military sexual assault victims in recent years, supporters of the Servicemembers and Veterans Empowerment and Support Act of 2019 say changes are necessary to keep the department from retraumatizing victims who deserve to be compensated for what they went through — even if there’s no paper trail.

“It is just unthinkable that in this day, we ask people to serve in the military, they have these horrendous experiences … but then people present themselves for claims — and many of them going back an incredibly long period of time — and then hit these brick walls,” said Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, who introduced the legislation.

Among other things, the bill would lessen the burden of proof for military sexual assault survivors applying for disability benefits, requiring the VA to resolve every reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran, as is already standard VA practice for claims of combat-related PTSD.

Army Times

You can read more at the link, but how come the burden of proof is not lowered for other claims to the VA such as for muscular-skeletal injuries or even agent orange exposure?

The U.S. military has a new Secretary of Defense:

Pat Shanahan confirmed Tuesday that he has resigned as acting defense secretary and ended his campaign to seek the job outright amid reports of domestic violence in his family involving himself, his ex-wife and their son.

Army Secretary Mark Esper was selected by President Donald Trump to be the new acting defense secretary, made public in a series of tweets that also announced Shanahan will step down.

“I know Mark, and have no doubt he will do a fantastic job!,” Trump tweeted.

Shanahan said in a prepared statement following Trump’s tweets that “after significant reflection” he was withdrawing from consideration for defense secretary and resigning from his post.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but the domestic violence incident is pretty bad with Shanahan’s 17-year old son beating his mother with a baseball bat. Shanahan who was divorced at the time, rushed to hire a lawyer and defend his son for beating her because his ex-wife had a documented history of abuse. Not a good look for Shanahan.

Anyway with the Secretary of the Army taking over this would likely mean increased influence for the Army within the Department of Defense.

From Yonhap:

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo met with the visiting commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) on Friday and discussed ways to boost a combined readiness posture and the bilateral alliance, the Seoul ministry said.
During his meeting with Gen. Richard Clarke in Seoul, Jeong said that the close cooperation between the special operations commands of the two countries has contributed to their staunch readiness posture, and he asked for continued support from the U.S. for ongoing diplomacy to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and permanent peace. 
Noting that his visit to South Korea helped him reaffirm the strong bilateral alliance and the joint defense posture, the U.S. general vowed to make the utmost efforts to further enhance the close partnership between the special operations commands of the two nations, according to the ministry.

Yonhap

Here is some strategic messaging to the Kim regime that the US does have the ability to shoot down North Korean ICBMs with its GMD system:

Salvos by multiple ground interceptors shot down an intercontinental ballistic missile during a test Monday, a “milestone” first-time achievement, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said.
Two ground-based interceptors were used in the test, MDA said in a statement Monday. The first was used to destroy the ICBM reentry vehicle.
The second interceptor “then looked at the resulting debris and remaining objects, and, not finding any other reentry vehicles, selected the next ‘most lethal object’ it could identify, and struck that, precisely as it was designed to do,” the statement said.

The target ICBM was launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, more than 4,000 miles from the two interceptors launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Space-, ground- and sea-based sensors provided real-time target acquisition and tracking data to a command-and-control center during the test, the statement said. The interceptors were then launched beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, where they destroyed the target.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

If the US Defense Secretary is to be believed, the recent media reports of the Trump administration pushing a Cost Plus 50 strategy are fake news:

Anchor: The acting U.S. defense chief has flatly denied media reports that the Trump administration is set to demand U.S. allies to pay 150 percent of the base costs for hosting American forces. 
Choi You Sun has more.

Report: Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that Washington will not impose a U.S. troop payment of “cost-plus-50” on its allies in Asia and Europe.

[Sound bite: Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan]
(Sen. Dan Sullivan: So those reports in the press, all over the press, are incorrect?)
“They’re erroneous. We’re not going to run a business, we’re not going to run a charity. The important part is that we.. people pay their fair share and payment comes in lots of different forms, could be contributions, like in Afghanistan.”

KBS World Radio

You can read more at the link.

If I am reading this right, after April 12th any transgender person that wants to serve in the US military will need to serve in their biological gender and stop taking hormones:

The Defense Department has approved a new policy that will largely bar transgender troops and military recruits from transitioning to another sex, and require most individuals to serve in their birth gender.
The memo outlining the new policy was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, and it comes after a lengthy and complicated legal battle. It falls short of the all-out transgender ban that was initially ordered by President Donald Trump. But it will likely force the military to eventually discharge transgender individuals who need hormone treatments or surgery and can’t or won’t serve in their birth gender.
The order says the military services must implement the new policy in 30 days, giving some individuals a short window of time to qualify for gender transition if needed. And it allows service secretaries to waive the policy on a case-by-case basis.

Under the new rules, currently serving transgender troops and anyone who has signed an enlistment contract by April 12 may continue with plans for hormone treatments and gender transition if they have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

But after April 12, no one with gender dysphoria who is taking hormones or has transitioned to another gender will be allowed to enlist. And any currently serving troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria after April 12 will have to serve in their birth gender and will be barred from taking hormones or getting transition surgery.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link, but of course the usual people are complaining this is discriminatory. Of course this is discriminatory because the Army discriminates all the time such as not allowing handicapped or obese people to join. This is less a discrimination issue, but more of one where DOD leadership has decided that the medical issues involved with transgender personnel is not worth the trouble of accommodating.

It is looking like things are moving closer to women having to register for the draft:

A federal judge has ruled that a men-only draft is unconstitutional, but he stopped short of ordering the Selective Service System to register women for military service.
The Houston judge sided with a San Diego men’s advocacy group that challenged the government’s practice of having only men sign up for the draft, citing sex discrimination in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection clause.
“This case balances on the tension between the constitutionally enshrined power of Congress to raise armies and the constitutional mandate that no person be denied the equal protection of the law,” wrote U.S. District Judge Gray Miller of the Southern District of Texas.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.