Army officials at Fort Bliss, Texas, are asking the El Paso community for assistance in an expanded search for a soldier who has been missing since late July.

The Army initially listed Pvt. Richard Halliday of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command as Absent Without Leave, or AWOL, when he reportedly fled from his unit on July 24.

But new evidence uncovered by U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command special agents “suggests that Pvt. Halliday may have left Fort Bliss earlier than previously reported,” according to a statement from Lt. Col. Allie Payne, spokeswoman for the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss.

“It remains uncertain of how or when Pvt. Halliday departed Fort Bliss,” she added.

Halliday was last seen on July 23 before 6 p.m.

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The U.S. Army has replaced the chaotic reception recruits entering basic training have long received from shouting drill sergeants with a training event designed to create a bond with their teammates and leaders.

Day one of Army Basic Combat Training has always been a rite of passage that involved menacing groups of drill sergeants descending on terrified recruits, yelling commands and ordering trainees to perform push-ups and other exercises with packed duffel bags strapped to their backs.

“Commonly referred to as the shark attack, this non-documented period of instruction was developed during our draft Army years,” Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Fortenberry, the CSM of the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, said in a video presentation at the recent 2020 Maneuver Warfighter Conference.

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The troops are meant to discourage Russians from crossing into the eastern area where U.S., coalition, and Syrian Democratic Forces operate, say officials.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is deploying a small number of U.S. troops to Syria after a series of escalating encounters between the U.S. and Russian militaries, according to three U.S. defense officials.

The troops and vehicles will serve as a show of presence to discourage the Russian military from crossing into the eastern security area where U.S., coalition, and Syrian Democratic Forces operate, the officials said.

The additional troops will include six Bradley Fighting Vehicles and fewer than 100 soldiers operating in northeast Syria on a 90-day deployment.

A U.S. official said, “These actions and reinforcements are a clear signal to Russia to adhere to mutual de-confliction processes and for Russia and other parties to avoid unprofessional, unsafe and provocative actions in northeast Syria.”

While U.S. military and Russian forces have come in contact at checkpoints and along highway M4 in Syria throughout 2020, on Aug. 17 U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces came under small arms fire after passing through a checkpoint near Tal al-Zahab, Syria. The U.S. and SDF had permission from the pro-Syrian regime forces manning the checkpoint, but then began to take fire from unidentified forces nearby. The U.S. and SDF returned fire and did not suffer any casualties. U.S. officials said the small arms fire likely came from Syrian and Russian forces.

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New technologies are fundamentally changing the character of war and the two Air Force services are leading that charge, Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper said at the Air Force Association’s Virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference today.

In this time of COVID-19, Esper addressed the group virtually.

The secretary stated that America’s air, space and cyber warriors “will be at the forefront of tomorrow’s high-end fight.”

That means confronting near-peer competitors China and Russia. That means shifting the focus from defeating violent extremist groups to deterring great power competitors. It means fighting a high-intensity battle that combines all domains of warfare, he said.

“In this era of great power competition, we cannot take for granted the United States’ long-held advantages,” Esper said.

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