To All,
Good Saturday morning January 7, 2023.
The rain stopped for yesterday and brought sunshine for the service for Faith Campbell. The follow on celebration of her life described by friends, former students and relatives described what an exceptional person she was. Thanks to all the around 200 or more that attended from near and far away.
Warm regards and have a great weekend
skip
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This day in Naval and Marine Corps History
1822
The schooner Porpoise captures six pirate vessels off Cuba and destroys their base, while USS Spark recaptures a Dutch sloop that had been taken as a prize by pirates. A landing party destroys the pirate's base in the West Indies.
1881
Nathan Goff Jr., took office as the 28th Secretary of the Navy, serving until March. A World War II destroyer was named for him.
1945
Destroyers Charles Ausburne (DD 570), Braine (DD 630), Russell (DD 414) and Shaw (DD 373) sink the Japanese destroyer Hinoki, 50 miles west-southwest of Manila Bay.
1945
Submarine Spot (SS 413) sinks the Japanese gunboat No.2 Nichiei Maru in the Inland Sea.
1995
Dock Landing Ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) is commissioned.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Today in History January 7
| 1327 | King Edward II of England is deposed. | |
| 1558 | The French, under the Duke of Guise, finally take the port of Calais from the English. | |
| 1785 | Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American Dr. John Jeffries make the first crossing of the English Channel in a hydrogen balloon. | |
| 1807 | Responding to Napoleon Bonaparte's attempted blockade of the British Isles, the British blockade Continental Europe. | |
| 1865 | Cheyenne and Sioux warriors attack Julesburg, Colo., in retaliation for the Sand Creek Massacre. | |
| 1901 | New York stock exchange trading exceeds two million shares for the first time in history. | |
| 1902 | Imperial Court of China returns to Peking. The Empress Dowager resumes her reign. | |
| 1918 | The Germans move 75,000 troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front. | |
| 1934 | Six thousand pastors in Berlin defy the Nazis insisting that they will not be silenced. | |
| 1944 | The U.S. Air Force announces the production of the first jet-fighter, Bell P-59 Airacomet. | |
| 1945 | U.S. air ace Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. is killed in the Pacific. | |
| 1952 | French forces in Indochina launch Operation Violette in an effort to push Viet Minh forces away from the town of Ba Vi. | |
| 1955 | Marian Anderson becomes the first African American to sing at the Metropolitan Opera House. | |
| 1975 | Vietnamese troops take Phuoc Binh in new full-scale offensive. | |
| 1979 | Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge are overthrown when Vietnamese troops seize the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. | |
| 1980 | US President Jimmy Carter signs legislation providing $1.5 billion in loans to salvage Chrysler Corporation. | |
| 1985 | Vietnam seizes the Khmer National Liberation Front headquarters near the Thai border. | |
| 1985 | Japan launches its first interplanetary spacecraft, Sakigake, the first deep space probe launched by any nation other than the US or the USSR. | |
| 1989 | Prince Akihito is sworn in as Emperor of Japan, following the death of his father, Hirohito. | |
| 1990 | Safety concerns over structural problems force the Leaning Tower of Pisa to be closed to the public. | |
| 1993 | The Bosnian Army carries out a surprise attack on the village of Kravica in Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. | |
| 1999 | The impeachment trial of US President Bill Clinton opens in the US Senate. |
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
… For The List for Saturday, 7 January 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 7 January 1968… "The Politics of Escalation," a book for our times…
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to Chaser
Navy Cross Award Ceremony for Royce Williams
Skip,
SECNAV will be awarding the Navy Cross to Royce Williams on Friday, Jan 20th at the San Diego Air and Space Museum. No hard time yet, but expect noon or 1:00. I'll send the exact time when we hear from SECNAV staff. For now, please help get the word out so folks can get the date on their calendar. This will be a high visibility media event and in addition to SECNAV, we expect PACFLT and Air Boss to be there.
Chaser
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to Billy ... and Dr. Rich
F-4 Phantom II: The McDonnell Corporation's Most Numerous Aircraft Design ...
Before we talk about the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and how it came to be, let's first look at the origins of the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. In 1928 James McDonnell started a factory to build small aircraft for recreational use. The Wall Street Crash of 1929, however, shattered his dreams forcing him to abandon the factory and get a job working for Glenn L.Martin. Ten years later, he went off on his own again, creating the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri.
With the outbreak of World War Two, the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation snowballed from 15 employees to 5,000 by the end of the war. After the war and no government orders, McDonnell saw business decline until the Korean War erupted in 1950. Now working primarily on fighter jets for the United States military, McDonnell introduced the FH-1 Phantom, a twin-engine fighter, that became the first jet-powered plane to land on an aircraft carrier.
The Navy was looking for a defensive interceptor
With the US Navy now wanting more jets for carrier operations, McDonnel began work on a new design based on the company's F3H Demon. While the Navy was interested in McDonnel's plans, they thought that the soon-to-be massed produced Grumman XF9F-9 and Vought XF8U-1 would be sufficient for their needs.
On May 26, 1955, four Navy officers arrived at McDonnell's offices and presented the McDonnell engineers with an entirely new set of requirements. For ground attack, the Navy already had the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk and the Vought F-8 Crusader for dogfights. What they now required was an all-weather defensive interceptor. With the advances in technology to operate the plane's powerful radar McDonnell designed a two-crew plane, believing that a single pilot would need the added help of a radar operator.
Blue Skies & Tailwinds….
Https://CaptainBillyWalker.com
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNJN
Thanks to Mike
TO UNDERSTAND A MILITARY VETERAN YOU MUST KNOW - - -
We left home as teenagers or in our early twenties for an unknown adventure.
We loved our country enough to defend it and protect it with our own lives.
We said goodbye to friends and family and everything we knew.
We learned the basics and then we scattered in the wind to the far corners of the Earth.
We found new friends and new family.
We became brothers and sisters regardless of color, race or creed.
We had plenty of good times, and plenty of bad times.
We didn't get enough sleep.
We smoked and drank too much.
We picked up both good and bad habits.
We worked hard and played harder.
We didn't earn a great wage.
We experienced the happiness of mail call, and the sadness of missing important events.
We didn't know when, or even if, we were ever going to see home again.
We grew up fast, and yet somehow, we never grew up at all.
We fought for our freedom, as well as the freedom of others.
Some of us saw actual combat, and some of us didn't.
Some of us saw the world, and some of us didn't.
Some of us dealt with physical warfare, most of us dealt with psychological warfare.
We have seen and experienced and dealt with things that we can't fully describe or explain, as not all of our sacrifices were physical.
We participated in time honored ceremonies and rituals with each other, strengthening our bonds and camaraderie.
We counted on each other to get our job done and sometimes to survive it at all.
We have dealt with victory and tragedy.
We have celebrated and mourned.
We lost a few along the way.
When our adventure was over, some of us went back home, some of us started somewhere new, and some of us never came home at all.
We have told amazing and hilarious stories of our exploits and adventures.
We share an unspoken bond with each other, that most people don't experience, and few will understand.
We speak highly of our own branch of service, and poke fun at the other branches.
We know however, that, if needed, we will be there for our brothers and sisters and stand together as one, in a heartbeat.
Being a Veteran is something that had to be earned, and it can never be taken away.
It has no monetary value, but at the same time it is a priceless gift.
People see a Veteran and they thank them for their service.
When we see each other, we give that little upwards head nod, or a slight smile, knowing that we have shared and experienced things that most people have not.
So, from myself to the rest of the veterans out there, I commend and thank you for all that you have done and sacrificed for our country.
Try to remember the good times and make peace with the bad times.
Share your stories.
But most importantly, stand tall and proud, for you have earned the right to be called a VETERAN.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This Day in U.S. Military History 7 January
1608 – Disaster strikes Jamestown. The fort burns and leaves the colonists vulnerable to attack by Indians and the Spanish.
1718 – Israel Putnam, American Revolutionary War hero, was born. He planned the fortifications at the Battle of Bunker Hill and told his men, "don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes."
1785 – Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon.
1865 – Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux warriors attack Julesburg, CO, in retaliation for the Sand Creek Massacre. After the massacre, the survivors had fled north to the Republican River where the main body of Cheyenne were camped. The Cheyennes sent a messenger to the Sioux and Arapaho inviting them to join them in a war on the whites. In early January 1865, as many as 2000 Cheyenne, Sioux and Arapaho warriors shifted their camps closer to the South Platte Trail where it cut through the northeast corner of Colorado. On January 6, a small party hit a wagon train and killed twelve men. Just before sunrise the following day, the majority of the Dog Soldiers and their allies concealed themselves in some sand hills a short distance from Fort Rankin and Julesburg, one mile up the Platte River, while the Cheyenne chief Big Crow slipped up to the fort. At first light he rushed the sentries stationed outside the walls. A sixty man cavalry troop quickly emerged from the gates to give chase and as soon as they were clear of the fort they were cut off from their base as more than a thousand warriors dashed from the sand hills and began to empty the cavalry saddles. All but a few were killed. As the remaining garrison prepared to defend the fort, the Indians raced up the Platte to the undefended Julesburg where they plundered at will while the soldiers at Fort Rankin could only watch and harmlessly fire their howitzers.
1904 – The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by "SOS".
1918 – In Arver v. United States, the Supreme Court finds that conscription during war is authorized by the Constitution which gives Congress the power "to declare war…to raise and support armies." There are several challenges to the government's power to draft armies which collectively become knows as the Selective Service Law Cases.
1927 – The first transatlantic telephone service is established – from New York, New York to London, United Kingdom.
1942 – The World War II siege of Bataan began in the Philippines.
1943 – On Guadalcanal, fresh American troops mount an assault on Mount Austen.
1943 – A Japanese convoy lands supplies and reinforcements at Lea, New Guinea despite air attacks.
1944 – The U.S. Air Force announces the production of the first jet-fighter, Bell P-59 Airacomet. Development of the P-59, America's first jet-propelled airplane, was ordered personally by General H. H. Arnold on September 4, 1941. The project was conducted under the utmost secrecy, with Bell building the airplane and General Electric the engine. The first P-59 was completed in mid-1942 and on October 1, 1942, it made its initial flight at Muroc Dry Lake (now Edwards Air Force Base), California. One year later, the airplane was ordered into production, to be powered by I-14 and I-16 engines, improved versions of the original I-A. Bell will produce 66 P-59s. Although the airplane's performance was not spectacular and it never got into combat, the P-59 provided training for AAF personnel and invaluable data for subsequent development of higher performance jet airplanes.
1945 – U.S. air ace Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. is killed in the Pacific.
1945 – British Gen. Bernard Montgomery gives a press conference in which he all but claims complete credit for saving the Allied cause in the Battle of the Bulge. He was almost removed from his command because of the resulting American outcry. On December 16, 1944, the Germans attempted to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium. The Battle of the Bulge (so-called because the Germans, in pushing through the American defensive line, created a "bulge" around the area of the Ardennes forest) was the largest battle fought on the Western front. The German assault came in early morning at the weakest part of the Allied line, an 80-mile stretch of poorly protected, hilly forest that the Allies believed was too difficult to traverse, and therefore an unlikely location for a German offensive. Between the vulnerability of the thin, isolated American units and the thick fog that prevented Allied air cover from discovering German movement, the Germans were able to push the Americans into retreat. Fresh from commanding the 21st Army group during the Normandy invasion, and having suffered an awful defeat in September as his troops attempted to cross the Rhine, Montgomery took temporary command of the northern shoulder of American and British troops in the Ardennes. He immediately fell into a familiar pattern, failing to act spontaneously for fear of not being sufficiently prepared. Montgomery was afraid to move before the German army had fully exhausted itself, finally making what American commanders saw as only a belated counterattack against the enemy. As the weather improved, American air cover raided German targets on the ground, which proved the turning point in the Allied victory. Monty eventually cut across northern Germany all the way to the Baltic and accepted the German surrender in May. Montgomery had already earned the ire of many American officers because of his cautiousness in the field, arrogance off the field, and willingness to disparage his American counterparts. The last straw was Montgomery's whitewashing of the Battle of the Bulge facts to assembled reporters in his battlefield headquarters-he made his performance in the Ardennes sound not only more heroic but decisive, which necessarily underplayed the Americans' performance. Since the loss of American life in the battle was tremendous and the surrender of 7,500 members of the 106th Infantry humiliating, Gen. Omar Bradley complained loudly to Dwight D. Eisenhower, who passed the complaints on to Churchill. On January 18, Churchill addressed Parliament and announced in no uncertain terms that the "Bulge" was an American battle-and an American victory.
1945 – The attacks of the US 8th Corps of US 1st Army, along the line of the Ourthe west of Houffalize, record progress around Laroche. German attacks in Alsace also continue with some success south of Strasbourg in the area around Erstein.
1948 – Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of a supposed UFO. Previously, the news media often treated UFO reports with a whimsical or glib attitude reserved for silly season news. Following Mantell's death, however, Jacobs notes "the fact that a person had died in an encounter with an alleged flying saucer dramatically increased public concern about the phenomenon. Now a dramatic new prospect entered thought about UFOs: they might be not only extraterrestrial but potentially hostile as well." However, later investigation by the US Air Force's Project Blue Book indicated that Mantell died chasing a Skyhook balloon, which in 1948 was a top-secret project that Mantell would not have known about.
1953 – In his final State of the Union address before Congress, President Harry S. Truman tells the world that that the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. It was just three years earlier on January 31, 1950, that Truman publicly announced that had directed the Atomic Energy Commission to proceed with the development of the hydrogen bomb. Truman's directive came in responds to evidence of an atomic explosion occurring within USSR in 1949.
1960 – Launch of the first fully-guided flight of a Polaris missile at Cape Canaveral (flew 900 miles).
1960 – A small submarine, the Trieste, sets a new record for depth when it descends 24,000 feet into the Pacific off Guam.
1967 – The first elements of the Mobile Riverine Force reached Vietnam on when the USS Whitfield County (LST 1169) docked at Vung Tau. Training began immediately with the 2nd Brigade of the 9th Infantry Division. This unit, in preparation for the assignment to the Mobile Riverine Force, had gotten rid of their tanks, trucks, APCs and jeeps since there would obviously be little need for them in the Mekong Delta. In addition, some of their heavier artillery was also left behind since most of the necessary fi re support would be supplied by the assault boats.
1971 – Accompanied by Admiral Thomas Moorer, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Melvin Laird arrives in South Vietnam to assess the military situation. The purpose of Laird's visit was to check on the progress of the "Vietnamization" effort. In the summer of 1969, President Richard Nixon ordered that measures be taken to "Vietnamize" the war – he hoped to increase the capabilities of South Vietnamese forces so U.S. troops could eventually be withdrawn and the South Vietnamese could assume more responsibility for the war. This effort included a rapid modernization of South Vietnamese forces with new equipment and weapons, and a renewed emphasis on the American advisory effort. American troop withdrawals began in the fall of 1969 and continued on a regular basis. At the completion of his visit, Laird announced that the preponderance of U.S. "combat responsibility" would end by mid-summer. Upon his return to the United States, however, he warned President Nixon and his cabinet of "some tough days ahead." Admiral Moorer, who also had made a side trip to Phnom Penh, reported that the Cambodian situation was "deteriorating" as Premier Lon Nol's forces were being threatened by the communist Khmer Rouge forces and their North Vietnamese allies.
1968 – Surveyor 7, the last spacecraft in the Surveyor series, lifts off from launch complex 36A, Cape Canaveral. Surveyor 7 was the fifth and final spacecraft of the Surveyor series to achieve a lunar soft landing. The objectives for this mission were to perform a lunar soft landing (in an area well removed from the maria to provide a type of terrain photography and lunar sample significantly different from those of other Surveyor missions); obtain postlanding TV pictures; determine the relative abundances of chemical elements; manipulate the lunar material; obtain touchdown dynamics data; and obtain thermal and radar reflectivity data. This spacecraft was similar in design to the previous Surveyors, but it carried more scientific equipment including a television camera with polarizing filters, a surface sampler, bar magnets on two footpads, two horseshoe magnets on the surface scoop, and auxiliary mirrors. Of the auxiliary mirrors, three were used to observe areas below the spacecraft, one to provide stereoscopic views of the surface sampler area, and seven to show lunar material deposited on the spacecraft. The spacecraft landed on the lunar surface on January 10, 1968, on the outer rim of the crater Tycho.
1975 – Vietnamese troops take Phuoc Binh in new full-scale offensive.
1993 – Largest military confrontation of Restore Hope. 500 Marines engage in a shoot-out with Warlord Aidid's forces in Mogadishu. 15 Somalis are taken POW, no US casualties.
2002 – Tony Blair arrived in Kabul. He said the West would not abandon Afghanistan. 9 US senators also visited the area.
2003 – Police in London announced they had found traces of the deadly poison ricin in a north London apartment and arrested six men in connection with the virulent toxin that has been linked to al-Qaida terrorists and Iraq.
2003 – Creation of the Select Committee on Homeland Security to help Congress coordinate oversight of the new Department of Homeland Security and to ensure implementation of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
2004 – L. Paul Bremer, the top American civilian official in Iraq, said U.S. authorities will release 506 low-level Iraqi prisoners while increasing the bounties for fugitives suspected of major roles in attacks against coalition forces.
2005 – A military jury at Fort Hood, Texas, acquitted Army SGT Tracy Perkins of involuntary manslaughter in the alleged drowning of an Iraqi civilian, but convicted him of assault in the January 2004 incident.
2005 – The nuclear submarine USS San Francisco ran aground 350 miles off the Pacific Ocean territory of Guam, injuring about 20 crew members. One died the next day.
2007 – President George W. Bush announces that he will send an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq as part of a shift in American military strategy. Under this new strategy, labeled "the surge," American troops will pacify and protect individual neighborhoods rather than combat sectarian violence through mobile patrols.
2007 – The US intervenes in the Battle of Ras Kamboni, a battle in the 2006-2007 Somali War fought by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and affiliated militias against Ethiopian and the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces for control of Ras Kamboni, a town near the Kenyan border which once served as a training camp for the militant Islamist group Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya. The battle began on January 5, 2007, when TFG and Ethiopian forces launched their assault. The United States entered the conflict by launching airstrikes using an AC-130 gunship against suspected Al Qaeda members operating within the ranks of the ICU. The town finally fell to the TFG and Ethiopian forces on January 12, 2007.
2008 – Two United States Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets, a F/A-18E and two-seat F/A-18F, flying off the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, crash in the Persian Gulf. The aviators were safely recovered. There was no indication of hostile fire.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*SHOUP, CURTIS F
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 346th Infantry, 87th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Tillet, Belgium, 7 January 1945. Entered service at: Buffalo, N.Y. Birth: Napenoch, N.Y. G.0. No.: 60, 25 July 1945. Citation: On 7 January 1945, near Tillet, Belgium, his company attacked German troops on rising ground. Intense hostile machinegun fire pinned down and threatened to annihilate the American unit in an exposed position where frozen ground made it impossible to dig in for protection. Heavy mortar and artillery fire from enemy batteries was added to the storm of destruction falling on the Americans. Realizing that the machinegun must be silenced at all costs, S/Sgt. Shoup, armed with an automatic rifle, crawled to within 75 yards of the enemy emplacement. He found that his fire was ineffective from this position, and completely disregarding his own safety, stood up and grimly strode ahead into the murderous stream of bullets, firing his low-held weapon as he went. He was hit several times and finally was knocked to the ground. But he struggled to his feet and staggered forward until close enough to hurl a grenade, wiping out the enemy machinegun nest with his dying action. By his heroism, fearless determination, and supreme sacrifice, S/Sgt. Shoup eliminated a hostile weapon which threatened to destroy his company and turned a desperate situation into victory.
*SPECKER, JOE C.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, 48th Engineer Combat Battalion. Place and date: At Mount Porchia, Italy, 7 January 1944. Entered service at: Odessa, Mo. Birth: Odessa, Mo. G.O. No.. 56, 12 July 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict. On the night of 7 January 1944, Sgt. Specker, with his company, was advancing up the slope of Mount Porchia, Italy. He was sent forward on reconnaissance and on his return he reported to his company commander the fact that there was an enemy machinegun nest and several well-placed snipers directly in the path and awaiting the company. Sgt. Specker requested and was granted permission to place 1 of his machineguns in a position near the enemy machinegun. Voluntarily and alone he made his way up the mountain with a machinegun and a box of ammunition. He was observed by the enemy as he walked along and was severely wounded by the deadly fire directed at him. Though so seriously wounded that he was unable to walk, he continued to drag himself over the jagged edges of rock and rough terrain until he reached the position at which he desired to set up his machinegun. He set up the gun so well and fired so accurately that the enemy machine-gun nest was silenced and the remainder of the snipers forced to retire, enabling his platoon to obtain their objective. Sgt. Specker was found dead at his gun. His personal bravery, self-sacrifice, and determination were an inspiration to his officers and fellow soldiers.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for January 7, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
7 January
1945: Far East Air Forces joined the 3d Fleet in air attacks on enemy airfields in northern Luzon, Philippines. This attack was the largest coordinated mission of light and medium bombers (132) to date in the Southwest Pacific. (24)
1960: An American Airlines Electra flew 540 miles per hour to set a record of 1 hour 11 minutes 30 seconds from Chicago, Ill., to Washington DC. (5)
1963: Bell Telephone Laboratory scientists repaired Telstar I in flight in an unprecedented ground operation. (5)
1966: The 4200th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, Calif., received the first operational SR-71 (Tail No. 61-7957). (1) The US Junior Chamber of Commerce named Lt Col Edward H. White, a Gemini IV Astronaut, one of the 10 outstanding young men of 1965. (16)
1968: The National Air and Space Administration's Surveyor VII, the last spacecraft in the program to analyze the lunar surface, launched from the Eastern Test Range, Fla., on an Atlas-Centaur rocket (AC-15) on a 67-hour lunar intercept trajectory. It touched down on 9 January in Tycho crater after a 66-hour 35-minute flight and began sending the first of 21,274 detailed pictures back to earth. (5)
1989: Operation MEDFLY 89. Through 20 January, the 167th Tactical Airlift Group flew medical personnel and supplies aboard two C-130 Hercules to Liberia to support Medfly 89. This joint service humanitarian effort trained medical personnel in inoculating people against diseases and treating ailments. (16)
1995: Operation UNISOM II. Through 24 March, Air Mobility Command supported the withdrawal of United Nations forces from Somalia by deploying some U. S. forces to Kenya to cover the withdrawal and then returning the forces to the U. S. The returning flights stopped at Moron AB, Spain, which served as a stage base and refueling site for the operation. Besides Moron, Air Mobility Command units deployed to Mombasa and Nairobi, Kenya. The KC-135s at Nairobi refueled AC-130 gunships. Altogether, Air Mobility Command's airlifters and contracted commercial flights flew 59 missions to carry over 1,400 passengers and over 1,400 short tons of cargo. (18)
2005: Colonel Joseph Lanni, the 412th Test Wing Commander at Edwards AFB, Calif., delivered an F/A-22 Raptor to Langley AFB, Va. That Raptor, the fifth built, formed the nucleus of the first operational F-22 squadron. (3)
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks toBrett
Geopolitical Futures:
Keeping the future in focus
https://geopoliticalfutures.com
Daily Memo: Putin Orders Temporary Cease-fire
Zelenskiy, meanwhile, rebuffed Moscow's request to reciprocate.
By: GPF Staff
January 6, 2023
Ukraine update. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 36-hour cease-fire, to begin Friday, along the front lines in Ukraine during Orthodox Christmas celebrations. Putin asked Kyiv to also abide by the cease-fire, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denied the request, saying it was a ploy to halt Ukraine's progress on the battlefield. Meanwhile, the United States agreed to send Bradley fighting vehicles to Ukraine, and Germany will send Marder infantry fighting vehicles and an additional battery of Patriot air defense systems.
Easing of tensions. Chinese planning agency the National Development and Reform Commission reportedly held talks with four state-owned importers over a partial lifting of a ban on Australian thermal and coking coal, in place since 2020, amid an easing of tensions between the two countries. Australia's foreign affairs and trade department has acknowledged the possibility of resuming trade with China. Beijing's domestic coal industry is struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While there's no official deal yet, Chinese companies have already placed orders.
Xi reaches out. Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with his Turkmen counterpart, Serdar Berdimuhamedov. The two leaders signed deals on cooperation on natural gas, the Belt and Road Initiative, green development, the digital economy, health, culture and media. They also agreed to elevate their relationship to a "comprehensive strategic partnership."
Israeli wall. Israel will soon begin construction on a concrete wall near the Gaza border to shield targets from attacks by militant groups. The 4.6-kilometer-long wall, which will be erected along two highways close to the border, is meant to protect Israeli settlements and roads adjacent to the Gaza Strip from anti-tank missiles during bouts of violence.
U.S. border measures. The U.S. government announced on Thursday additional measures to increase security and curb migration along the Mexican border. The measures will allocate more resources to combat smuggling and increase cooperation with border cities. In addition, up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela will be accepted into the U.S.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
| GEOPOLITICAL DIGEST |
|
|
| JANUARY 06, 2023 |
| THE WEEK AHEAD China Ends COVID-19 Quarantine Restrictions for Travel. On 8 January, China will end quarantine restrictions for inbound travelers -- marking the beginning of the return of Chinese tourists to the world, which could help tourism-dependent economies like Thailand slowly recover over the next year. Surrounding this date, more countries may impose testing restrictions on Chinese travelers, presenting a low risk of Chinese retaliation (e.g. with reciprocal restrictions). The reopening of borders surrounding the Lunar New Year travel date (China's most important holiday, which lands on 22 January this year) could also threaten another global wave of COVID-19 infections as Chinese citizens abroad return to China to celebrate the holiday for the first time in years amid the country's largest ever COVID-19 wave.
Japan's Prime Minister Visits the White House. On 13 January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit Washington D.C., where he'll meet with US President Joe Biden to discuss the North Korean threat, tensions over Taiwan and Japanese defense spending. Biden is expected to voice support for Japan's new assertive defense policy and national security strategy, which is crucial for Kishida in justifying his plans to double Japan's defense budget by 2027. Kishida will likely also press Biden to extend the tax breaks earmarked for American green technologies in the US Inflation Reduction Act to Japanese products, though it is unclear whether Biden would agree to such a request.
North American Leaders Meet in Mexico. US President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will meet in Mexico City for the North American Leaders Summit (popularly known as the ''Three Amigos'' summit) on 9-10 January. The leaders are expected to discuss economic stability, security and immigration, with Biden set to travel to the US-Mexico border amid a surge in illegal border crossings. Lopez Obrador is expected to additionally ask Biden for support in financing clean energy projects and attracting semiconductor investment, while Biden and Trudeau may press Lopez Obrador on stalled trade dispute negotiations over Mexico's policy of favoring its state-owned power company.
|
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SkipsList" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to skipslist+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/skipslist/CACTjsm1%3DCiPHqsH7VUm4Fyi9Aa6jieSi2BE%2BcTS%2B0svybMrNhA%40mail.gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.