To All
Good Saturday Morning August 12 2023.
I hope that you all enjoy a great weekend
Regards,
Skip
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Thanks to Dr. Rich
Ah those were the days ----something to get your blood pumping on a Saturday morning…skip
People Are Awesome - Fighter Pilots 2023
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This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
August 12
1898 USS Mohican and USS Philadelphia (C 4) crew members take part in official ceremonies marking the assumption of sovereignty of the Hawaiian Islands by the United States.
1918 The Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels approves the acceptance of women in the Marine Corps. The following day, Aug. 13, Opha M. Johnson becomes the first woman Marine.
1942 USS Cleveland (CL 55) demonstrates the effectiveness of radio-proximity fuze (VT-fuze) against aircraft by successfully destroying three drones with proximity bursts fired by her five inch guns.
1944 USS Pompon (SS 267) and USS Puffer (SS 268) attack Japanese convoys and damage and sink Japanese destroyers.
1957 The first test of the Automatic Carrier Landing System is completed by Lt. Cmdr. Don Walker when he lands a F3D Skyknight on board USS Antietam (CV 36).
1988 USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) is commissioned at New York City. The cruiser is the third ship named after naval battle in a New York lake where Commodore Thomas McDonough defeated a larger and more heavily armed British squadron Sept. 11, 1814.
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Today in World History August 12
0030 Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt, commits suicide.
1099 At the Battle of Ascalon 1,000 Crusaders, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, route an Egyptian relief column heading for Jerusalem, which had already fallen to the Crusaders.
1687 At the Battle of Mohacs, Hungary, Charles of Lorraine defeats the Turks.
1762 The British capture Cuba from Spain after a two month siege.
1791 Black slaves on the island of Santo Domingo rise up against their white masters.
1812 British commander the Duke of Wellington occupies Madrid, Spain, forcing out Joseph Bonaparte.
1863 Confederate raider William Quantrill leads a massacre of 150 men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas.
1864 After a week of heavy raiding, the Confederate cruiser Tallahassee claims six Union ships captured.
1896 Gold is discovered near Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada. After word reaches the United States in June of 1897, thousands of Americans head to the Klondike to seek their fortunes.
1898 The Spanish American War officially ends after three months and 22 days of hostilities.
1908 Henry Ford's first Model T rolls off the assembly line.
1922 The home of Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C. is dedicated as a memorial.
1935 President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Social Security Bill.
1941 French Marshal Henri Philippe Petain announces full French collaboration with Nazi Germany.
1961 The erection of the Berlin Wall begins, preventing access between East and West Germany.
1969 American installations at Quan-Loi, Vietnam, come under Viet Cong attack.
1972 As U.S. troops leave Vietnam, B-52's make their largest strike of the war.
1977 Steven Biko, leader of the black consciousness movement in South Africa, is arrested.
1977 Space shuttle Enterprise makes its first free flight and landing.
1978 Tel al-Zaatar massacre at Palestinian refugee camp during Lebanese Civil War.
1979 Massive book burnings by press censors begin in Iran.
1981 Computer giant IBM introduces its first personal computer.
1985 Highest in-flight death toll as 520 die when Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashes into Mount Takamagahara.
1992 The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is concluded between the United States, Canada and Mexico, creating the world's wealthiest trade bloc.
2000 Russian Navy submarine K-141 Kursk explodes and sinks with all hands during military exercises in the Barents Sea.
2005 An LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) sniper mortally wounds Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, at the minister's home.
2012 Summer Olympics come to a close in London.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
Thanks to THE BEAR
Subject: ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED… 12 AUGUST
Skip… For The List for Saturday, 12 August 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 12 August 1968…
Thirty pages of "better ideas"… (?)…
https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/rolling-thunder-remembered-12-august-1968-corsons-the-betrayal-constructive-criticism/
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
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81 years ago In August of 1942 The battle for Guadalcanal was in full swing. With Admiral Cox and his H-Grams and some inputs from Ed Beakley's Remembered Sky after the H-gram this is a start to look back to how the US Navy's Aircraft Carrier became what it is today.
Guadalcanal H-grams
H-Gram 009 provides an overview of the Battle of Guadalcanal and the first major night surface action, the Battle of Savo Island. The U.S. Marine Corps landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942 caught the Japanese completely by surprise, with minimal resistance on Guadalcanal itself and only spirited but short resistance on islands near Tulagi (across what would become known as "Ironbottom Sound") from Guadalcanal. The Marines captured the unfinished airfield on Guadalcanal, which would be subsequently finished and named Henderson Field and then would become the objective of the fierce and bloody battles ashore, at sea, and in the air.
During the course of the Guadalcanal campaign, the U.S. would lose two aircraft carriers (Wasp and Hornet—CV-8), five U.S. (and one Australian) heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, 15 destroyers, and numerous other smaller vessels—plus extensive damage to many more ships. The U.S. Navy and Marines would lose about 400 aircraft during the course of the campaign. At sea, the Japanese navy actually lost somewhat fewer personnel than the United States—about 3,800 men—but more than 7,000 Japanese army troops would go down with sunken troop transports, and more than 20,000 would be lost on the island itself. The Imperial Japanese Navy would lose two battleships and a light carrier, plus two heavy cruisers and multiple destroyers. It was the loss of the two battleships that actually caused the Japanese navy to stop feeding ships into the meat grinder off Guadalcanal, in the end limiting their efforts to inadequate attempts by destroyers (the "Tokyo Express") to resupply Japanese troops on the island. Ultimately, the Japanese executed one of the most successful deception operations of the war when they evacuated their last surviving troops from Guadalcanal in February 1943.
Although the U.S. landing caught the Japanese navy by surprise, it reacted swiftly with characteristic aggressiveness, first with land-based air attacks on 7 and 8 August, and then a night surface action on 8–9 August. This first naval action would be known as the Battle of Savo Island, and would be the worst defeat at sea suffered by the U.S. Navy in history. In what should have been an evenly matched battle between a Japanese force of five heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and a destroyer against an Allied force of four U.S. heavy cruisers, one Australian heavy cruiser, and six U.S. destroyers, the Japanese achieved tactical surprise and the result was a debacle. The heavy cruisers Astoria (CA-34), Quincy (CA-39), Vincennes (CA-44), and HMAS Canberra were sunk, with only minimal damage to the Japanese (993 U.S. and 84 Australian sailors, and 58 Japanese sailors were killed). Fortunately, the Japanese commander chose not to attack into the vulnerable U.S. troop transports and supply ships that were sitting ducks still in the act of off-loading. H-Gram 009 contains an overview of the Battle of Savo Island, and attachment H-009-1 "Defeat at Savo Island" has full detail of this disaster, termed by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Ernest J. King as "the blackest day of the war," most of which was kept secret from the American public during the war due to wartime censorship.
Following the defeat at Savo Island, U.S. surface forces quickly vacated the waters near Guadalcanal, followed a day later by the transports. The three supporting U.S. aircraft carriers had also moved further away due to concern for air and submarine attack. It was during this period that the myth that the U.S. Navy "abandoned" the Marines of Guadalcanal took root, when in fact the Navy was running supplies into Guadalcanal at night on four fast destroyer-transports, three of which would be lost in the process, losing more men than the Marines lost in the famous Battle of Bloody Ridge (12–14 September 1942). H-Gram 010 provides an overview of the challenges of supplying the Marines on Guadalcanal (so much so that it became known to those on the island as Operation Shoestring rather than the formal name, Operation Watchtower). This includes the sacrifice of TRANSDIV 12, plus the major Japanese navy offensive push that resulted in the carrier versus carrier action known as the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, as well as actions by Japanese submarines south of Guadalcanal.
H-Gram 010's attachment H-010-1 "Operation Shoestring" provides additional detail on the logistics issues at Guadalcanal, as well as on the valiant fight of the destroyer-transports Gregory (APD-3) and Little (APD-4) against a much superior force of Japanese destroyers; both APD skippers were lost in the battle with their ships, as was the TRANSDIV 12 commander, Hugh Hadley. (The destroyer named in honor of Hadley—DD-774—would be heavily damaged by kamikazes at Okinawa on 10 May 1945, but in the process shoot down more than 23 Japanese aircraft, the all-time record for a single ship in a single day's engagement.)
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Thanks to Motz
The Deadline is this Monday
VA extends deadline Through Monday for Veterans and survivors to apply for PACT Act benefits backdated to August 10, 2022
Extension will ensure that no Veteran or survivor will miss out on a single day of backdated PACT Act benefits
Today, VA announced that Veterans and survivors who apply (or submit their intent to file) for PACT Act benefits by 11:59PM ET on Monday, August 14, 2023 will be eligible to have their benefits backdated to August 10, 2022 – the day that President Biden signed the PACT Act into law. This is an extension from the original deadline of August 9, 2023. We encourage all Veterans and their survivors to apply – or submit their intent to file – for PACT Act benefits now by visiting VA.gov/PACT.
VA has made this decision out of an abundance of caution after experiencing technical difficulties with VA.gov/PACT in recent days. Specifically, due to extremely high demand, some Veterans who have sought to submit their intent to file for PACT Act benefits have received error messages while doing so. Despite these messages, VA has successfully logged every one of these intents to file – meaning that every Veteran or survivor who has received an error message while applying for PACT Act benefits can consider their intent to file complete. We are working to contact these individuals to confirm directly to them that their intent to file will be honored and their effective date protected. Most importantly, no Veteran or survivor will miss out on a single day of benefits due to this issue.
VA has also resolved nearly all of the technical issues with VA.gov/PACT. As of 5:00pm, less than one tenth of one percent of attempts to submit an "intent to file" today (August 9) had resulted in an error message. This percentage is down from about 18% on August 8. Additionally, we have had a high volume of calls to VA call centers throughout this week, and we are working to decrease abnormally long call center wait times. We continue to work on these issues and will not rest until they are fully resolved.
Throughout the past day, VA has sent out communications from all channels to reassure Veterans and survivors that they would not miss out on their earned benefits due to this issue. We put an emergency banner on the VA website to tell Veterans and survivors that their intents to file will be honored. We changed the intent to file error message to confirm that, despite the error message, the intent to file has been saved. Finally, we communicated with Veterans directly on social media, via email, and through coordination with Congressional leaders and Veterans Service Organizations. All of this messaging will be updated tonight (details below) to reflect the extended deadline for Veterans and survivors to apply for benefits backdated to August 10, 2022.
We at VA will continue to encourage Veterans and their survivors to immediately file their PACT Act claims — or submit their intents to file — at VA.gov/PACT. With the extended deadline, Veterans and survivors who do so by 11:59PM ET on Monday, August 14, 2023 may receive benefits backdated to August 10, 2022.
Joe Motsinger
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Thanks to Eagle
Subject: EV lunacy‼️
As the UAW prepares for a massive worker strike due to non-union battery production, California declares their "solution" for stabilizing their already-failing electric grid. This is some fine mental gymnastics mess!
🪫🚗🤦🏻♀️
Tam
PG&E wants to suck the batteries of electric-vehicle owners plugged into charging stations to stabilize the grid during unstable periods
PG&E wants to use it to commandeer all EV batteries and use their power to prevent grid collapse.
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Thanks to Geoff
Black Bunny Moves to Castle Museum
VF-33, 102 and VX-4 alumni will probably enjoy this.
Geoff
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
5 Surprising Facts From the Produce Aisle
The typical American grocery store carries 40,000–50,000 items, including
hundreds of fruits and vegetables. Those photogenic displays of dew-kissed
leafy greens, pyramids of shiny apples, and baskets of sun-kissed lemons are
carefully organized, of course, to entice shoppers into purchasing them.
Let's investigate some secrets of the produce aisle below.
1 of 5
Bananas Should Be Yellow, but Not Just Any Yellow
The bananas you see at the grocery store are Cavendish bananas — a cultivar
that the banana industry adopted in the 1950s after a tropical fungus wiped
out an earlier variety. Growers produce more than 60.6 million tons of
Cavendish bananas every year for export all over the world. The bananas are
prized for their sweetness, creamy texture, and appealing bright-yellow
skin.
Stores buy unripe green bananas from growers so that by the time the fruit
hits grocery store shelves, it has ripened to its more well-known yellow
shade. Marketing expert Martin Lindstrom has written that bananas matching
Pantone 12-0752 TPX Buttercup — a warm, inviting yellow — tend to sell
better than bananas in Pantone 13-0858 TCX Vibrant Yellow, just one shade
cooler.
2 of 5
Misting Produce Is a Clever Way To Make You Buy More
Many grocery stores display produce in open cases fitted with tiny jets to
periodically bathe the veggies in a cool mist. (Some supermarkets even pipe
in the sound of thundering rain to add to the rainy vibe.) The purpose
behind misting is not to keep produce clean or extend its shelf life — it's
a clever way for grocers to make the fruits and vegetables look fresher and
healthier so consumers purchase more. Water clinging to leafy greens also
adds weight, which increases revenue for the store when vegetables are sold
by the pound.
Ironically, misting actually shortens produce's shelf life because water
allows bacteria and mold to take hold. Misted veggies will likely not last
as long in your fridge as those that weren't misted in the produce aisle —
which is another, perhaps sneakier, way to get you to buy produce more
often.
3 of 5
Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, and Kale Are All Subspecies of the Same Plant
A surprising number of veggies in the produce aisle are the same species,
Brassica oleracea — but you wouldn't know it by looking at them. Brussels
sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, purple and green
cabbage, and kohlrabi are all domesticated cultivars of wild cabbage, a
plant native to western and southern Europe. For the last few thousand
years, farmers have selectively bred the wild plant to augment some part of
its form, such as the leaves, buds, or stems. Today, each cultivar is
classified as a subspecies of B. oleracea.
4 of 5
Some Popular Nuts Are Not Actually Nuts
Botanically speaking, a nut is a fruit with a hard shell containing a single
seed. The true nuts you might encounter in the produce aisle include
hazelnuts and chestnuts. Many of the products sold as "culinary nuts" belong
to other botanical classifications. Cashews, almonds, and pistachios are
known as "drupes," a type of fruit with thin skin and a pit containing the
seed. (Peaches, mangos, cherries, and olives are also drupes.) And the jury
is still out on whether walnuts and pecans fall into the nut or drupe
category since they have characteristics of both. Some botanists call them
drupaceous nuts.
5 of 5
The Produce Industry Has a Special Lingo
Like any business, the produce industry has its own slang, describing
everything from a cosmetic flaw in a tomato ("catfacing") to the practice of
hiding some less-than-ideal specimens in a box of otherwise fresh fruit
("stovepiping"). In produce slang, veggies "with legs" are those that have a
longer shelf life than those that require special handling and rotation on
the display. A flawless fruit, whether it's a peach, pear, or pineapple, is
a "diamond." A quality cantaloupe will exhibit a "full slip" on the blossom
end, meaning it separated easily from the vine when it was picked,
indicating the best flavor.
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This Day in U S Military History
12 August
1898 – The brief and one-sided Spanish-American War comes to an end when Spain formally agrees to a peace protocol on U.S. terms: the cession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Manila in the Philippines to the United States pending a final peace treaty. The Spanish-American War had its origins in the rebellion against Spanish rule that began in Cuba in 1895. The repressive measures that Spain took to suppress the guerrilla war, such as herding Cuba's rural population into disease-ridden garrison towns, were graphically portrayed in U.S. newspapers and enflamed public opinion. In January 1898, violence in Havana led U.S. authorities to order the battleship USS Maine to the city's port to protect American citizens. On February 15, a massive explosion of unknown origin sank the Maine in the Havana harbor, killing 260 of the 400 American crewmembers aboard. An official U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry ruled in March, without much evidence, that the ship was blown up by a mine but did not directly place the blame on Spain. Much of Congress and a majority of the American public expressed little doubt that Spain was responsible, and called for a declaration of war. In April, the U.S. Congress prepared for war, adopting joint congressional resolutions demanding a Spanish withdrawal from Cuba and authorizing President William McKinley to use force. On April 23, President McKinley asked for 125,000 volunteers to fight against Spain. The next day, Spain issued a declaration of war. The United States declared war on April 25. On May 1, the U.S. Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey destroyed the Spanish Pacific fleet at Manila Bay in the first battle of the Spanish-American War. Dewey's decisive victory cleared the way for the U.S. occupation of Manila in August and the eventual transfer of the Philippines from Spanish to American control. On the other side of the world, a Spanish fleet docked in Cuba's Santiago harbor in May after racing across the Atlantic from Spain. A superior U.S. naval force arrived soon after and blockaded the harbor entrance. In June, the U.S. Army Fifth Corps landed in Cuba with the aim of marching to Santiago and launching a coordinated land and sea assault on the Spanish stronghold. Included among the U.S. ground troops were the Theodore Roosevelt-led "Rough Riders," a collection of Western cowboys and Eastern blue bloods officially known as the First U.S. Voluntary Cavalry. On July 1, the Americans won the Battle of San Juan Hill, and the next day they began a siege of Santiago. On July 3, the Spanish fleet was destroyed off Santiago by U.S. warships under Admiral William Sampson, and on July 17 the Spanish surrendered the city–and thus Cuba–to the Americans. In Puerto Rico, Spanish forces likewise crumbled in the face of superior U.S. forces, and on August 12 an armistice was signed between Spain and the United States. On December 10, the Treaty of Paris officially ended the Spanish-American War. The once-proud Spanish empire was virtually dissolved, and the United States gained its first overseas empire. Puerto Rico and Guam were ceded to the United States, the Philippines were bought for $20 million, and Cuba became a U.S. protectorate. Philippine insurgents who fought against Spanish rule during the war immediately turned their guns against the new occupiers, and 10 times more U.S. troops died suppressing the Philippines than in defeating Spain.
1918 – SECNAV approves acceptance of women as yeoman (F) in U.S. Navy.
1918 – The Secretary of the Navy authorized the enlistment of women into the Marine Corps Reserve.
1941 – The House passes an extension of the draft period from one year to thirty months (and a similar increase for service in the National Guard) after considerable debate. The bill is passed by one vote (203-202) in the House, so it would be incorrect to suggest that American political opinion is strongly in favor of a more aggressive international policy at this point.
1941 – Churchill and Roosevelt conclude their meeting at Placentia Bay. It is agreed to send strong warnings to the Japanese and it is understood the America will almost certainly enter the war if Japan attacks British or Dutch possessions in the East Indies or Malaysia. A message is also sent to Stalin, proposing a meeting in Moscow. The conference is most remembered for the agreement later called the Atlantic Charter. This is a statement of principles governing the policies of Britain and the USA and states that all countries have the right to hold free elections and to be free from foreign pressure. The conference also gives British and American staffs an opportunity to get to know each other and to work together.
1942 – Strong American forces are landed on Espiritu Santu to build a supply base for the Guadalcanal campaign.
1942 – USS Cleveland (CL-55) demonstrates effectiveness of radio-proximity fuze (VT-fuze) against aircraft by successfully destroying 3 drones with proximity bursts fired by her five inch guns.
1944 – The first PLUTO (Pipe Line Under The Ocean) becomes operational carrying fuel from the Isle of Wight to Cherbourg.
1944 – The US 15th Corps (part of US 3rd Army) captures Alencon and advances to the outskirts of Argentan where the German 116th Panzer Division is located.
1944 – Italian based American bombers attack the Bordeaux-Merignac airfield and then fly on to Britain.
1944 – Elements of US 5th Army complete the capture of Florence.
1944 – LT Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., USNR, the older brother of John F. Kennedy, was killed with his co-pilot in a mid-air explosion after taking off from England in a PB4Y from Special Attack Unit One (SAU-1). Following manual takeoff, they were supposed to parachute out over the English Channel while the radio-controlled explosive filled drone proceeded to attack a German V-2 missile-launching site. Possible causes include faulty wiring or FM signals from a nearby transmitter.
1945 – Over Japan, B-29 Superfortress bombers continue attacks on targets.
1945 – The battleship USS Pennsylvania is damaged by an attack from a Japanese torpedo bomber off the island of Okinawa. Meanwhile, A Japanese submarine sinks the American destroyer Thomas F. Nickel and the landing craft Oak Hill.
1957 – In first test of Automatic Carrier Landing System, LCDR Don Walker is landed on USS Antietam.
1958 – USS Nautilus (SSN-571) arrives Portland, England completing first submerged under ice cruise from Pacific to Atlantic Oceans.
1959 – The 1st ship firing of a Polaris missile was from Observation Island.
1960 – USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 41,600 m.
1969 – Viet Cong forces launch a new offensive with attacks on 150 cities, towns, and bases, including Da Nang and Hue. The heaviest attacks were aimed at the area adjacent to the Cambodian border northwest of Saigon; an estimated 2,000 Communists attacked Tay Ninh, Quan Loi, Loc Ninh, and An Loc. Further north, North Vietnamese commandos fought their way into the U.S. First Marine Division headquarters in Da Nang. They were eventually driven out by the Marines, who killed 40 Communist soldiers, sustaining five killed and 23 wounded in the process.
1972 – As the last U.S. ground troops left Vietnam, B-52's made their largest strike of the war.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*WORLEY, KENNETH L.
Rank and organization: Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF. Place and date: Bo Ban, Quang Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam, 12 August 1968. Entered service at: Fresno, Calif. Born: 27 April 1948, Farmington, N. Mex. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with Company L, 3d Battalion, in action against enemy forces. After establishing a night ambush position in a house in the Bo Ban, Hamlet of Quang Nam Province, security was set up and the remainder of the patrol members retired until their respective watch. During the early morning hours the marines were abruptly awakened by the platoon leader's warning that "grenades" had landed in the house. Fully realizing the inevitable result of his actions, L/Cpl. Worley, in a valiant act of heroism, instantly threw himself upon the grenade nearest him and his comrades, absorbing with his body, the full and tremendous force of the explosion. Through his extraordinary initiative and inspiring valor in the face of almost certain death, he saved his comrades from serious injury and possible loss of life although 5 of his fellow marines incurred minor wounds as the other grenades exploded. L/Cpl. Worley's gallant actions upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
ALVARADO, LEONARD L.
Rank and Organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army. Place and Date: Phuoc Long Province, Vietnam, August 12, 1969. Born: February 13, 1947, Bakersfield, CA. Entered Service At: Bakersfield, CA. G.O. Number: .Date of Issue: 03/18/2014. Accredited To: . Citation: Alvarado distinguished himself on Aug. 12, 1969, while serving as a rifleman during a mission to relieve a sister platoon, in Phuoc Long Province, Vietnam. Alvarado was killed in action after disrupting an enemy raid and saving the lives of several comrades, leaving behind his wife and young daughter.
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This Day in Aviation History" brought to you by the Daedalians Airpower Blog Update. To subscribe to this weekly email, go to https://daedalians.org/airpower-blog/.
Aug. 11, 1921
The practical development of carrier arresting gear began when pilot Lt. Alfred M. Pride, Daedalian Founder Member #13030, taxied an Aeromarine plane onto a dummy deck and engaged arresting wires at NAS Hampton Roads, Virginia. These tests resulted in the development of arresting gear for Langley (CV 1) that consisted essentially of athwartship wires attached to weights along with fore and aft wires.
Aug. 12, 1944
Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., USNR, of VPB-110, temporarily assigned to Special Air Unit 1, and Lt. Wilford J. Willy participated in a mission in a PB4Y-1 Liberator, BuNo 32271, against a German V-1 flying bomb launching site in German-occupied France. The weight of the Liberator, which carried 21,170-pounds of high explosives, precluded take off by remote control, so Kennedy and Willy voluntarily made the takeoff from Winfarthing (Fersfield), England. The men remained with the drone to ensure the assumption of control by two "mother" planes — one used as insurance against potential equipment failure in the primary — and were then to bail out over England. At 1820, the Liberator suddenly exploded killing Kennedy and Willy. No cause was ever determined. The two each received the Navy Cross posthumously and the destroyer Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD 850) was named in his honor.
Aug. 13, 1918
During a patrol from NAS Dunkirk, France, pilot Ens. Julian F. Carson sighted a surfaced U-boat. The Germans challenged the plane and opened fire with their deck gun, hitting the aircraft in several places with fragments. Carson returned fire and bombed the submarine as it attempted to submerge, which drove the boat back to the surface at a sharp angle. The U-boat stayed there briefly and then slid stern first underwater. The French credited Carson with sinking the craft and awarded him the Croix de Guerre. Carson was Daedalian Founder Member #5848.
Aug. 14, 1912
Sgt. Vernon Burge received rating as the U.S. Army's first enlisted pilot on Aug. 14, 1912. He spent 10 years in the enlisted corps before receiving his commission in World War I, and then served the next 25 years as an officer. Burge, Daedalian Founder Member #345, retired as a colonel. He died at the age of 82 in 1971. He is buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. A bronze sculpture of Burge, honoring all enlisted pilots, is on display at Gunter Annex, Alabama, adjacent to the U.S. Air Force Enlisted Heritage Hall.
Aug. 15, 1949
Lt. Gen. Harold L. George, wartime Chief of Air Transport Command and then vice president and general manager of Hughes Aircraft Company, received the Air Force Association Award for his contribution to American airpower. General George was one of the original 35 Daedalian Charter Members, Founder Member #8, and the first national commander, serving from 1934-36.
Aug. 16, 1909
Acting Secretary of the Navy George von L. Meyer disapproved a request by the Bureau of Equipment for authority to advertise for the construction of "two heavier than air flying machines," with the comment: "The Department does not consider that the development of an aeroplane has progressed sufficiently at this time for use in the Navy."
Aug. 17, 1946
First Sgt. Lawrence Lambert became the first person in the U.S. to be ejected from an aircraft by ejection seat, in a P-61 flying at 302 MPH and 7,800 feet, over Patterson Field in Dayton, Ohio. Lambert, assigned to the Air Material Command Parachute Branch, was an 11-year veteran of the Air Corps. He had made 58 parachute jumps before the test. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for August 12, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
12 August
1908: Lts Frank P. Lahm, Bejamin D. Foulois,, and Thomas E. Selfridge began the first, official American airship tests at Fort Myer. (24) (See 28 August)
1918: Civilian pilots began flying airmail for the Post Office Department. (5)
1930: Capt Frank Hawks broke his previous round-trip transcontinental record of 27 June 1929 by 9 hours 33 minutes for a flight from New York to Los Angeles and back. He reached Los Angeles in 12 hours 25 minutes 3 seconds and returned to New York in 14 hours 50 minutes. (9)
1941: Capt Homer Boushey, Jr., flew an Ercoupe civilian airplane on the first successful rocket- assisted takeoff at Wright Field. (21) (24)
1945: From bases in China, Fourteenth Air Force attacked troops and convoys in Changsha corridor, China. (5)
1950: KOREAN WAR. USN Task Force 77 moved up Korea's west coast to attack interdiction targets in N. Korea, leaving all close air support and interdiction strikes in S. Korea to FEAF. More than forty B-29s attacked the Rashin port in northeast Korea, near the Soviet border. (28)
1957: With Lt Cmdr James M. Pruitt (USN) as the pilot, a Douglas A3D twin-jet Skywarrior flew from Hawaii to California. It covered the 2,438 miles in 4 hours 12 minutes to set a record for the eastward flight.
1960: Echo I, a passive communications satellite, placed in orbit. Maj Robert M. White flew the X-15 to a new FAI record of 136,500 feet to break Capt Iven Kincheloe's 1956 record of 126,200 feet in the X-2. (9) (24)
1961: The USS Abraham Lincoln set a record for underwater launchings by firing six Polaris missiles in one day. (16) (24)
1962: After two years in orbit, the Echo I satellite established that inflatable structures could function in space for long periods. In its 9,000 orbits, the aluminized mylar plastic balloon covered 277,257,677.67 miles while supporting some 150 communications experiments. (24)
1971: 2Lt Robert Stratton weighed 1,520 pounds for 45 seconds to establish a record for sustained high-G endurance. He set the record in a USAF School of Aerospace Medicine study.
1972: Lt Col Wendell Shawler became the first USAF pilot to fly the F-15. (3) At Indianola, Ind., Wilma Piccard flew 17.6 miles in a Piccard S-10 balloon to set a FAI distance record for subclass A-1 balloons (under 250 cubic meters). (9)
1977: The Space Shuttle Enterprise, a test vehicle designed to operate in the atmosphere, completed its first launch, descent, and landing from the back of a 747 at 22,800 feet above Edwards AFB. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center conducted the test program. (21)
1985: Through 15 October, a 436 MAW C-5A Galaxy delivered 35 tons of equipment, including three helicopters, to assist over 2 million flood- and famine-stricken victims in Western Sudan. The helicopters distributed grain to famine victims that were cut off from road and rail transportation. (16)
1987: Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space and the Associate Administrator for the Office of Exploration in NASA, released a study on long range goals for the US space effort. It recommended four endeavors: using space to study Earth, exploring the solar system, setting up an outpost on the moon, and making a manned expedition to Mars.
1991: The F-15 STOL demonstrator made its last flight at Edwards AFB, validating the F-15's Autonomous Landing Guidance System during a night landing at Edwards. (30)
1992: Operation PROVIDE TRANSITION. Through 7 October, C-130s helped Angola prepare for its first democratic elections by flying 8,805 demobilized soldiers home after 16 years of civil war and 265 tons of cargo on 326 sorties. (16) (18)
2005: From the Virginia ANG's 192 FW, Lt Col Phillip Guy became the first pilot to complete F-22 initial qualification training, while TSgt Scott Browning and TSgt David Dehart became the ANG's first F-22 maintainers. After completing training, Guy moved from Richmond IAP to Langley AFB, Va., to begin the wing's integration with the 1 FW. (32)
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Thanks to Brett
Stratfor snippets - U.S./China, Turkey/U.K., EU, Lithuania/Belarus, Italy, Uganda, Niger,
U.S., China: Biden Administration to Unveil Outbound Investment Restrictions on China
What Happened: U.S. President Joe Biden will issue an executive order on Aug. 9 placing restrictions on U.S. investment in Chinese companies that source at least half of their revenue from China's semiconductor, artificial intelligence and quantum computing sectors, The New York Times reported on Aug. 8. The rules are expected to go into effect after a lengthy comment period and would not apply to portfolio investments.
Why It Matters: The restrictions will most directly affect Chinese start-ups that are intensely focused on the three designated technologies by cutting them off from U.S. private equity and venture capital investments. However, the restrictions' overall impact on China's development of these technologies is less clear given how narrow the restrictions are expected to be. Should the final rules only apply to companies that gain more than half of their revenue in the designated sectors, they will leave a number of Chinese technology firms that have more diverse revenue bases untouched. Moreover, the restrictions may not broadly target the sectors, with some leaks suggesting that the prohibition of investment in China's artificial intelligence sector may only apply to Chinese companies that make products for military end users.
Background: The narrow scope comes after more than a year of intense debate in the Biden administration and on Capitol Hill on the scope of the mechanism. The United States will likely implement more restrictions on investment in China's technology sectors through future executive action after the 2024 elections or through Congressional action.
Turkey, U.K.: Governments to Combat Illegal Immigration to the U.K.
What Happened: Turkey and the United Kingdom signed a deal to share information and increase coordination between their police forces in order to disrupt illegal migration from Turkey to the United Kingdom across the English Channel, BBC reported on Aug. 9. These efforts will primarily aim to prevent people smuggling gangs from acquiring small boat parts and materials from Turkey needed to transport people across the channel, and the United Kingdom will fund some aspects of the partnership.
Why It Matters: Increased coordination between the two police forces could hamper migrant flows that rely on Turkish boats and supplies to make the crossings, though gangs and smugglers may begin sourcing supplies from other countries. This Turkish-British coordination on limiting illegal immigration could increase in the future due to the advantages that both governments have to gain. For the United Kingdom, the ruling Conservative Party hopes that cracking down on illegal migration will boost its popularity ahead of elections in early 2025. And for Turkey, the deal offers access to better law enforcement and intelligence capabilities, as well as extra funding amid high inflation and an expansionary national budget.
Background: The United Kingdom's Conservative Party is trailing polls against the rival Labour Party by double digits. A record high of 45,000 people illegally crossed the English Channel in 2022, and similar numbers are being recorded in 2023. British police believe that most of the boats used in the crossings come from Turkey.
EU: Polls Bode Well for Nationalist Right in 2024 European Parliament Elections
What Happened: If the European Parliament's June 2024 elections were held today, the center-right European People's Party (EPP) would obtain 158 seats (down from 177 currently), followed by the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) with 145 seats (up from 143 currently), according to research published by Politico on Aug. 9. Notably, the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) would rise from 66 to 81 seats, the liberal Renew Europe would drop from 101 seats to 86 seats, and the Greens would drop from 72 seats to 44 seats.
Why It Matters: The European Union's two mainstream parties, the EPP and the S&D, will probably win enough seats to repeat their grand coalition and stay in control of the Parliament. However, the fact that the nationalist right is gaining momentum and the center (and, notably, the environmentalists) are losing ground suggests that there is a growing "green fatigue" across the Continent. This fatigue could push the European Parliament to become more skeptical of a fast energy transition and more willing to push for a slower implementation of green policies in the bloc, especially if the EPP feels that it needs to adopt a more hawkish strategy and rhetoric to remain competitive.
Background: The rise in the ECR's popularity is partially explained by the fact that some of its members (including Italy's Brothers of Italy party, Poland's Law and Justice party, Finland's Finns Party and Sweden's Sweden Democrats party) are currently very popular in their home countries. This poll reflects a broader trend across Europe of right-wing political parties' rise in popularity at the expense of moderate and green parties. Additionally, the rising popularity of the ECR suggests that issues connected to national identity, conservative social values and a tough position on immigration are becoming increasingly popular in Europe.
Lithuania, Belarus: Vilnius to Close One-third of its Border with Belarus Amid Wagner Threat
What Happened: Lithuania's Transport Ministry is moving forward with plans to temporarily close two of the country's six border checkpoints with Belarus by Aug.15, LRT reported Aug. 9. Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said that Lithuania, Latvia and Poland had developed a joint mechanism for a possible complete closure of the border with Belarus in the event of a critical situation.
Why It Matters: Lithuania, Poland and Latvia's preparations demonstrate the seriousness with which they take the threat of possible provocations from the Wagner Group's approximately 4,000 fighters in Belarus. The threat of such a provocation is likely to remain high as long as Wagner forces remain in the country, as Wagner forces will likely support illegal migration to Lithuania or Poland or even disguise themselves as migrants as an act of provocation. The threat to completely close the European Union's borders with Belarus is intended to deter Minsk from authorizing such provocations, as a complete closure of the border would deal significant economic damage to Belarus and Russia; it would also have the effect of damaging Chinese trade with the bloc, as many goods and commodities transit Russian and Belarusian territory.
Background: Lithuania and Poland have both deployed additional border guards and military personnel to their borders with Belarus in recent days. According to Lithuania's interior minister, the Baltic states and Poland's interior ministers plan to meet shortly to discuss what should be done if the border with Belarus is to be closed completely. The number of migrants illegally crossing the Polish-Belarusian border is up this year compared to last year, and crossing attempts increasingly involve violence.
Italy: Rome Announces New Economic Powers, Partially Backtracks Bank Windfall Tax
What Happened: The Italian government introduced several measures that will strengthen its control over and support for strategic sectors of the economy and improve the country's attractiveness for foreign investment, la Repubblica reported on Aug. 8. Rome also backtracked some details of a 40% windfall tax on banks' net interest income it announced on Aug. 8, specifying that the levy would be capped at 0.1% of assets.
Why It Matters: The package boosts the Italian government's powers to control and support strategic sectors of the country's economy and equips it with the tools to prevent technology transfers to adversarial countries, bringing Rome further in line with calls from the European Union and the United States to de-risk its relationship with China. Specifically, Italy's "Golden Power" regulations (which allow Rome to condition or veto transactions, investments or corporate decisions concerning sectors of strategic importance), will now also apply to exports of critical technology. Moreover, Rome will allocate up to 700 million euros ($768 million) to state support and semiconductor research and development. Additionally, Rome will extend a ban on offshoring for large companies that have benefited from state incentives to 10 years, which will reduce the risk of deindustrialization amid rising global competition.
Background: Following Rome's initial announcement of the bank windfall tax, adverse market reactions sent banking shares plunging in Italy and across Europe. The European Union released in June its new European security strategy, which sets outs new tools to reduce EU critical dependencies on China and curb the transfer of sensitive technologies that could enhance Beijing's military and intelligence capabilities.
Uganda: World Bank Stops New Funding to Uganda Over Anti-LGBTQ+ Law
What Happened: The World Bank will not give new loans to Uganda due to the government's enactment of harsh anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 9.
Why It Matters: Uganda's harsh anti-LGBTQ+ laws will likely trigger more funding shortfalls from the West, which will likely impact HIV/AIDS programming in the country. The laws are also likely to decrease international business interest due to environmental, social and corporate governance concerns, indicating a possible impending loss of business interest in Uganda. Despite the backlash to the bill, it appears unlikely that Uganda will repeal the legislation given its strong domestic support base.
Background: The legislation stipulates life imprisonment for homosexual acts and the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality," including sex with someone who is HIV positive and sex with or between minors. In early March, the Open For Business coalition of multinational giants said the law would ''undermine Uganda's attractiveness as a place to do business and invest." The World Bank's International Development Association funding in Uganda was $5.4 billion at the end of 2022.
Niger: New Resistance Movement Forms in Opposition to Military Junta
What Happened: Nigerien Minister of State Rhissa Ag Boula formed the Council of Resistance for the Republic (CRR) on Aug. 8 with the aim of reinstating deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, Jeune Afrique reported the next day.
Why It Matters: The CRR is the first sign of organized dissent against the new military junta in Niger since the July 26 coup. While it is still unclear whether the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will pursue a military intervention to reinstate Bazoum, it is possible that ECOWAS and/or Western states like France and the United States could support the resistance movement without becoming directly involved in domestic power dynamics.
Background: Ag Boula is a former Tuareg rebel leader with political connections across the Sahel.
Vietnam, U.S.: Biden Anticipates Upgrade in Relations
What Happened: U.S. President Joe Biden said he will visit Vietnam "soon" to lay the groundwork for elevating relations to a "strategic partnership," Reuters reported on Aug. 9. The agreement could be signed in September on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in India.
Why It Matters: It is possible that Vietnam will not follow through on this partnership, which has happened in the past, due to fears of tanking ties with Russia and China. This outcome would risk decreasing U.S. support for Vietnam, particularly from lawmakers skeptical of Hanoi's human rights record. However, China's rising assertiveness in the South China Sea could motivate Vietnam to finally commit, as upgrading formal ties with the United States would bring about working groups and potential intel sharing on Chinese maritime maneuvers.
Background: China and Vietnam maintained a naval standoff in the South China Sea from May 7 to June 6. Biden and Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong held a phone call in March to discuss the potential upgrade.
U.S., Saudi Arabia, Israel: Saudi-Israeli Normalization Remains Distant
What Happened: Key Saudi officials agreed on a road map for normalization with Israel in return for new security agreements, civilian nuclear support and fresh arms deals from the United States, as well as progress on the Palestinian question from Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 9. Meanwhile, Axios reported that Israel wanted a new defense pact with the United States as part of the agreement.
Why It Matters: The reports show how distant overt normalization is between Saudi Arabia and Israel. New U.S. defense pacts with Saudi Arabia and Israel would likely require approval from Congress, where sentiment has soured on further defense commitments in the Middle East after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and amid the current great power challenges of Russia and China. Meanwhile, Israel's current right-wing government is dominated by annexationist parties like Religious Zionism that have little interest in making concessions to the Palestinians. Finally, both the United States and Israel oppose a Saudi civilian
nuclear program that lacks sufficient safeguards, which Riyadh desires on grounds of sovereignty.
Background: After the Abraham Accords were signed in 2020, the United States and Israel focused on developing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia as part of a wider effort to build a U.S.-friendly bloc of nations united with Israel. The United States aims to use Israeli normalization to reduce its defense commitments in the region, rather than increase them.
Sri Lanka: President Seeks to Strengthen Provincial Governments
What Happened: Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would implement the 13th amendment to strengthen provincial governments, the Press Trust of India reported on Aug. 9. Wickremesinghe clarified he believes it prudent for political parties to "focus on reaching consensus" on devolving less controversial authorities to provinces before considering the more divisive issue of devolving police powers.
Why It Matters: Successful implementation of the proposal could improve the government's relations with ethnic Tamils by appealing to long-standing Tamil demands for self-rule. However, the proposal will almost certainly face stiff opposition, particularly from Sinhalese nationalists, amid concerns it would threaten the country's long-standing unitary system and potentially fuel Tamil separatist ambitions. This will likely challenge the proposed implementation of the amendment and sustain dissatisfaction among Tamils, many of whom seek stronger devolutions of power. The effort to implement the proposal may also prove politically damaging for Wickremesinghe, who is expected to contest in presidential elections due by September 2024.
Background: Sri Lanka's 13th amendment was passed in 1987 as part of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in an attempt to resolve the Sri Lankan civil war, which began in 1983. The amendment sought to respond to Tamil demands for self-rule by creating the provincial council system and devolving land, police, financial and other powers from the central government to the provinces; it also merged the Tamil-dominated northern and eastern provinces until the Supreme Court formally demerged them in 2007. Despite the 13th amendment's official passage, successive governments have failed to fully implement it amid opposition, particularly from Sinhala nationalists and Muslims.
Russia, Ukraine: Evacuations in Kupyansk After Russia Forms Breakthrough Force
What Happened: Ukraine is conducting mandatory evacuations from 37 settlements around the city of Kupiansk in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, Ukrainska Pravda reported on Aug. 10. On Aug. 8, Ukrainian military commander Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said Russian units had already formed a breakthrough force and that their goal was to puncture Ukrainian lines and enter Kupiansk.
Why It Matters: Although it is unlikely that Russia has enough troops in the area to break into Kupiansk, Russia is applying pressure on the Kharkiv region in the near term in order to draw Ukrainian forces away from the critical southern Zaporizhzhia region. In the long term, Russia will likely maintain pressure on Kharkiv in order to threaten its annexation, which would increase Moscow's leverage in peace negotiations with Ukraine, underscoring the dangers of a long war for Kyiv.
Background: Russian attacks in the northern Luhansk region and around Kypiansk picked up in late July. Russian occupation authorities have already created symbols for the region should it be annexed by Russia.
EU: Natural Gas Prices Swing Amid LNG Strike Fears, High Storage
What Happened: Europe's natural gas prices fell by 8% after having surged nearly 40% the day before, the most since March 2022, due to the prospect of possible industrial action affecting key liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities in Australia, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 10. Dutch TTF benchmark gas futures eventually fell to 38.45 euros ($42.37) per megawatt hour (Mw/h) on Aug. 10.
Why It Matters: The sharp price jump highlights the extreme volatility that still affects Europe's natural gas markets despite record-high inventories (currently at nearly 88% of capacity) and still tepid industrial consumption, suggesting price spikes will continue in response to any future sign of supply disruptions. Potential strikes at three major LNG facilities in Australia, the world's leading LNG exporter, would be very significant, as they could disrupt up to 10% of global supplies. This would force Asian buyers to source LNG from outside the region, thus intensifying competition with Europe on the global spot market. While Europe is on track to fill up its storage capacity ahead of the start of the heating season in October, a very tight supply and demand balance means major demand or supply shocks could raise shortage fears and result in severe price swings toward and during the 2023-4 winter.
Background: Europe relies on massive LNG imports to replace missing volumes of Russian pipeline gas amid the war in Ukraine. However, the market is set to remain extremely tight until 2025, when new significant supplies from the United States and Qatar will come on stream. Recent reports indicate European gas traders have also started storing natural gas in Ukraine to take advantage of lower prices and unused storage facilities there, despite the risks associated with the conflict. It is estimated Ukraine could increase Europe's storage capacity by about 10%.
Egypt: Rising Inflation Worsens Cost-of-Living Crisis
What Happened: Egypt's annual inflation rose to 36.5% in July, up from 35.7% the previous month, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 10. Monthly inflation was 1.9%, compared with 2.1% the month prior.
Why It Matters: Amid this high inflation, Egypt's government is maintaining its tight monetary policy to align with the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) demand for economic reforms. While this strategy could unlock IMF aid, it will also raise anti-government sentiment as the cost of living continues to rise. Egyptians are unlikely to express their economic discontent via protests due to legislation against unauthorized gatherings and the threat of forceful government suppression. However, Egyptians could boycott the upcoming presidential election in February.
Background: The uptick in inflation is driven primarily by a 68.4% increase in food and beverage costs, as well as by three currency devaluations in the last year and a half. The Central Bank hiked the main interest rate by 100 basis points on the week of July 31 to 19.25% to help curb inflation. Egypt reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a 46-month $3 billion loan program in December 2022, but the fund froze the second disbursement until Egypt makes more economic reforms.
Pakistan: Early Dissolution of National Assembly Will Delay Elections
What Happened: Pakistani President Arif Alvi dissolved the lower house of Parliament three days before its five-year tenure was set to expire on the advice of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Dawn reported on Aug. 9. The dissolution paves the way for the installment of a caretaker government.
Why It Matters: The dissolution means the country is constitutionally mandated to hold general and provincial elections within 90 days, an extension of the 60-day window that would have been triggered had the body's mandate expired naturally. However, government officials have said elections will be based on a new census, which would likely delay elections by several more months, potentially to 2024. These delays, in addition to recent legislation bolstering the powers of a caretaker government and uncertainty surrounding who will be appointed caretaker prime minister, will make supporters of recently-arrested former Prime Minister Imran Khan even less confident in the credibility of upcoming elections.
Background: A day after the lower house's dissolution, Sharif met with opposition leader Raja Riaz Ahmad to discuss potential candidates for the interim government. The government claims that according to Pakistani law, elections must take place according to constituency delimitations drawn based on recent census figures. On Aug. 5, the results of the country's digital census reportedly showed that the country's population increased to 241 million, prompting the election commission to begin redrawing constituencies; officials estimate it may take around four months to complete the work.
U.S., Iran: Prisoner Swap May Ease Tensions, but Obstacles to Nuclear Deal Remain
What Happened: The United States and Iran agreed to a prisoner swap, and Washington will also allow Tehran to access $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue that is currently in South Korea, The New York Times reported on Aug. 10.
Why It Matters: The prisoner swap deal is a good faith measure that could help prepare the ground for agreements on Iran's nuclear program. However, there remain many substantial barriers to easing the discord between the U.S. and Iranian governments, which will make negotiations fraught.
Background: South Korea will put the Iranian oil revenue into an account in the Central Bank of Qatar that will be closely regulated and only tapped to pay for humanitarian goods and services, including food and medical supplies. The United States has placed significant sanctions on Iran in the last several decades related to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, as well as its ample support for proxy militia groups across the Middle East.
Singapore, Myanmar: Singaporean Bank to Cut off Connections to Junta
What Happened: Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB) will restrict all incoming and outgoing payments to Myanmar accounts, as well as take other measures to restrict transactions with Myanmar entities, Nikkei
Asia reported on Aug. 10. The new framework will be implemented on Sept. 1.
Why It Matters: The announcement reflects growing pressure on UOB to cut off the Myanmar junta to avoid growing reputational and sanctions risks. The unprecedented nature of this crackdown highlights a potential change in the way Singaporean financial institutions do business, and other Singaporean financial institutions could follow suit.
Background: Before and since the 2021 military coup in Myanmar, Singapore has been a financial haven for Myanmar's military. In May, the United Nations found that Singapore was complicit in $254 million worth of military equipment that has flowed into Myanmar since the start of the conflict.
Niger: ECOWAS Announces Immediate Mobilization of Standby Forces
What Happened: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced the mobilization of its standby force to "restore the constitutional order in the Republic of Niger," although the bloc also emphasized that it would continue to pursue peaceful diplomatic measures, Al Jazeera reported on Aug. 10.
Why It Matters: ECOWAS is likely attempting to use the mobilization of troops to improve its negotiating position with the junta, even as some ECOWAS members like Nigeria continue to advocate for the use of force to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum. But even if ECOWAS does intend to follow through on its renewed threat of a military intervention, an immediate mobilization of standby forces is unlikely to translate to an immediate intervention, as the African Union must first approve the deployment and the U.N. Security Council may also need to signal its support. Furthermore, the logistics of a military intervention would likely take weeks to organize (the 2017 intervention in Gambia took about seven weeks to plan), which ECOWAS may be hoping is enough time to reach a negotiated settlement with Niger's junta.
Background: While Nigeria, Senegal and Togo have all previously committed troops to the mission, the deployment size, mandate and timeline are unknown.
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