Thursday, January 21, 2021

Octave Quartz

 

An Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon receives fuel from a KC-10 Extender during Operation Octave Quartz over Africa Jan. 9, 2021. The operation relocates U.S. forces in Somalia to other East Africa operating locations while supporting partner forces and maintaining pressure on violent extremist groups.

Foggy Flightline

 

Two airmen push a hydraulic servicing cart across a flightline at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Jan. 5, 2021.

Statement by John Kirby, Chief Pentagon Spokesman, on New START

 Jan. 21, 2021


President Biden’s decision to seek a five-year extension of New START advances the nation's defense. Russia's compliance with the treaty has served our national security interests well, and Americans are much safer with New START intact and extended.  We cannot afford to lose New START’s intrusive inspection and notification tools. Failing to swiftly extend New START would weaken America’s understanding of Russia’s long-range nuclear forces.

Extending the treaty’s limitations on stockpiles of strategic nuclear weapons until 2026 allows time and space for our two nations to explore new verifiable arms control arrangements that could further reduce risks to Americans.  And the Department stands ready to support our colleagues in the State Department as they effect this extension and explore those new arrangements.

Just as we engage Russia in ways that advance American interests, we in the Department will remain clear-eyed about the challenges Russia poses and committed to defending the nation against their reckless and adversarial actions.

Water Survival

 

Soldiers conduct water survival training during an exercise before the Army Best Medic Competition at Fort Gordon, Ga., Jan. 20, 2021.

Gentle Grooming

 

Army Capt. Meghan Horn, left, a clinical psychologist assigned to the 98th Combat and Operational Stress Control, 62nd Medical Brigade; and Army Maj. Alysia Franco, center, a liaison officer assigned to the Urban Augmentation Medical Task Force-531, comb through Katie Sue’s mane during an equine therapy outing in Burnett, Wis., Jan. 8, 2021. The Defense Department's religious support and behavioral health teams, assigned to support the military medical providers in Wisconsin, routinely schedule activities intended to support the service members’ mental, social and spiritual well-being throughout their deployment. Northern Command, through Army North, remains committed to providing flexible DOD support to the whole-of-America COVID-19 response.

IV Prep

 

Air Force 1st Lt. Elizabeth Vinci, a clinical nurse assigned to the 60th Inpatient Squadron, 60th Medical Group, Travis Air Force Base, Calif., prepares IV fluid for a patient at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, Calif., Jan. 15, 2021. Northern Command, through Army North, remains committed to providing flexible Defense Department support to the whole-of-America COVID-19 response.

Vaccine Dose

 

Army Sgt. Adrian Yelder fills a syringe with a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at Navy Branch Health Clinic Chinhae in Chinhae, South Korea, Jan. 19, 2021. Navy sailors assigned to the Branch Health Clinic Chinhae and Army soldiers assigned to the 549th Hospital Center, 65th Medical Brigade, administered COVID-19 vaccines, on a completely voluntary basis, to personnel identified by Defense Department distribution guidance.

Recruit Rappel

 

A Marine Corps recruit rappels down a tower at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., Jan. 19, 2021.

Snowy Training

 

Army Sgt. Michael Metcalf and Spc. Walter Galdamez evacuate a simulated injured soldier in Germany, Jan. 21, 2021, as part of training for a competition.

Marine Corps Civilian Employee Pleads Guilty to Assaulting His Spouse

 A civilian employee working for the U.S. Marine Corps Community Association pleaded guilty today to assaulting his spouse while working in Iwakuni, Japan.

Nicholas L. McQuaid, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Matthew Schneider, U.S Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan;  and Timothy Mahew, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Far East Field Office made the announcement. 

Jason Beltran, 35, a former U.S. Marine most recently residing in Flushing, Michigan, pleaded guilty to a single count of assault of a spouse resulting in substantial bodily injury. Beltran entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds in the U.S. District Court in Detroit, Michigan.

According to the admissions made in connection with his plea, Beltran was an active duty U.S. Marine stationed in Iwakuni, until he was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 2011. 

Thereafter, Beltran was hired by the U.S. Marine Corps Community Services to work as a library technician at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. In 2011, Beltran married a dual Japanese-U.S. citizen and had three children with his spouse. Beltran admitted that on or about June 20, 2017, he had an argument with his spouse during which he punched her with a closed fist to the side of her face causing a gash that required several stitches to close the wound, and which resulted in a small, permanent scar.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 3.  

NCIS conducted the investigation. Trial Attorneys Frank G. Rangoussis and John-Alex Romano of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section are prosecuting the case.

Smoky Scene

 

Army Sgt. Tyler Bisio reacts to simulated indirect gunfire during a competition at Fort Hood, Texas, Jan. 12, 2021.

The Big 5-0

 

The crew of the USS Mount Whitney stands in formation during the ship’s 50th anniversary celebration in Gaeta, Italy, Jan. 14, 2021.

Presidential Parade

 

The U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps marches past the White House during the 59th presidential inauguration in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021.

DOD Responds to COVID-19 in Navajo Nation

 Jan. 21, 2021 | BY ARMY SPC. ASHUNTEIA SMITH

At the request of the Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 12 Navy personnel deployed to the Navajo Nation reservation in New Mexico and Arizona to provide support to the Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, New Mexico. The medical personnel have been working side-by-side with civilian and U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps health care providers to help treat COVID-19 patients.

A nurse provides care to a patient who is laying face down on a bed.

"The relationship with the embedded nursing staff here has been great from the get go," Navy Lt. Cmdr. Sarah Jagger, critical care nurse and Rural Rapid Response team leader said. 

"They are family now," Navy Lt. Cmdr. Scott Smith, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the hospital's intensive care unit supervisor, said.

The medical providers are currently treating up to eight patients at one time in the COVID-19 positive ward at the medical center. The ward is set up in an open room with beds alongside each other. As the pandemic progresses, the medical center is considering expanding the ward, allowing the providers to treat up to 15 patients at once. 

A nurse checks on multiple patients.

"Bringing in that staff gave us the capability of doubling our bed capacity for the intensive care unit," Smith said.

For some of the medical providers, it is not their first time being part of the Defense Department's whole-of-America COVID-19 response. Jagger and other members of the Rural Rapid Response teams provided support at different hospitals in New York when the pandemic first started, as well as in Texas as the pandemic continued. 

"Thankfully, we are seeing better outcomes than we did when COVID-19 first hit," Jagger said. 

Due to some of their previous experiences, the medical providers were able to quickly adapt to their surroundings. 

A nurse reviews patient charts.

"They were boots on the ground ready to go, and they've been wonderful to work with," Smith said.

The Indian Health Service, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 2.6 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to 574 federally recognized tribes in 37 states.

As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses throughout the country, U.S. Northern Command, through U.S. Army North, remains committed to providing a flexible Defense Department in support of the whole-of-America COVID-19 response.

COVID-19 Testing

 

Nina Gruhn, a senior microbiologist in the Biological Analysis Division at Public Health Command Europe demonstrates the COVID-19 surveillance testing process.