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Category: U.S. Army
Coronavirus forces military to cut training, quarantine and shutter recruiting stations, creating strains
WASHINGTON – The coronavirus pandemic is stressing the military’s ability to keep its troops ready to fight as 124 service members, their families and civilian workers had contracted the disease as of Friday and the Pentagon seeks to halt its spread.
The Pentagon has canceled or curtailed major war-training exercises, quarantined thousands of troops, closed recruiting centers and slapped limits on foreign and domestic travel. One former Pentagon official said the virus could degrade everything from maintenance of warplanes to troops’ effectiveness in combat.
Senior officials insist that the military remains ready to fight and win against any threat around the world.
“I want to assure the American people that the United States military remains ready and capable of meeting all of our national security requirements,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said this month.
Army Captain Arrested, Charged with Murder in the Death of Fellow Fort Bliss Officer
AUSTIN, Texas — An Army captain has been arrested and charged with murder in the death of another captain at Fort Bliss with whom she had a romantic relationship, local police said.
Capt. Clevy Muchette Nelson-Royster, 27, is the second person charged with murder in the death of Capt. Malcom X. Perry, 27, according to the El Paso Police Department.
Perry died about 5:50 a.m. Oct. 11 after the Audi A4 sedan that he was driving was rammed intentionally by a Jeep Wrangler until it flipped and burst into flames on a road in east El Paso. Minutes before the crash, Perry called 911 and told the dispatcher, “I am going to die,” according to a report from the El Paso Times.
The driver of the Jeep, Richard Mustapha Sennessie, 23, was arrested Wednesday morning and also was charged with murder. Nelson-Royster was a passenger in the Jeep, police said.
Nelson-Royster’s bond is set at $500,000 and Sennessie’s is set at $1 million. Both were listed Monday as inmates at the El Paso County Detention Facility, according to online records.
Esper hints that the 2nd Cavalry Regiment could be heading closer to Russia
The Defense Department has been in talks with a handful of Eastern European countries about deploying thousands of soldiers closer to the Russian border, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday in his prepared remarks in an appearance at the Atlantic Council.
In July, Esper announced that the 2nd Cavalry Regiment would be transferred from its home at U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria, Germany, to a stateside post to be determined, as part of withdrawal of nearly 12,000 troops from that country. He had also proposed deploying its infantry and armor troops back to Europe on a rotational basis, and his remarks Tuesday revealed some groundwork already being laid.
“Indeed, since … the signing of the defense cooperation agreement with Poland, my recent meetings with defense ministers from Romania and Bulgaria, and correspondence received from Baltic states, there is now the real opportunity of keeping the 2nd Cavalry Regiment forward in some of these countries on an enduring basis,” Esper said.
A Pentagon spokesman clarified that Esper was referring to an purely rotational presence.
“… the nearly 4,500 members of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment will return to the United States as other Stryker units begin continuous rotations farther east in the Black Sea region, giving us a more enduring presence to enhance deterrence and reassure allies along NATO’s southeastern flank,” Esper said during the July 29 roll-out of his Europe posture plan.
Army Wants to Spend Nearly $10 Billion to Revamp its Barracks
The U.S. Army plans to spend nearly $10 billion repairing its barracks over the next decade to improve soldiers’ standard of living, according to its top enlisted leader.
Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston announced the initiative during the Association of the United States Army’s 2020 meeting. The move comes as the service continues reforms to privatized base housing, which were spurred by reports last year about neglected facilities and hazardous living conditions affecting military families.
If barracks are in disarray, falling apart or pose a health hazard, Grinston said, he wants troops to speak up.
“If I was at home and the washer and dryer didn’t work in my house, there would be no way to do my laundry; I would demand that someone [fix it],” he said Tuesday during a virtual town hall.