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Welcome to the Early Bird Brief, compiled by Rachel Nostrant. Please email news tips and suggestions to rachel.nostrant@militarytimes.com or tweet @rachelnostrant. Top 5 (Stars & Stripes) The Kremlin on Monday strongly rejected the U.S. claims of a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine, saying it could be a ruse intended to cover up what it described as Ukrainian leadership's aggressive intentions. Read More
(Air Force Times) Crews across multiple airframes, from the C-17 and KC-135 to other unnamed combat and mobility assets, lodged concerns about the air base in Qatar -- about one-third of the Airman Safety Action Program reports filed in fiscal 2021. Read More
(The Associated Press) About 14,000 gallons of fuel and water spilled from a drain line near the troubled Red Hill facility that serves Pearl Harbor over the weekend, the Navy said in a statement. Read More
(Military Times) Troops can expect to see improvements in every part of the moving process, from scheduling to filing a claim for lost or damaged goods, says the chief executive officer of HomeSafe Alliance. Read More
(Stars & Stripes) The Army won’t promote or reenlist troops who refuse the coronavirus vaccine and who haven’t requested an exemption, according to a memo from the service’s top civilian leader. Read More
Helpful Resources (Military Times) We’ve compiled the latest information service members want to know about basic pay, VA loans, education, retirement, and more. Read More
(Military Times) Explore our updated database of all the military installations, including location, phone numbers, schools, housing, and more. Read More
Overseas Operations (Reuters) The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Department on Monday advised against travel to Germany and Denmark because of a rising number of COVID-19 cases in those countries. Read More
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(Reuters) A U.S. warship again sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, part of what the U.S. military calls routine activity but which always riles China whose government believes Washington is trying to stir regional tensions. Read More
(Business Insider) The US airlifted 73,000 Afghans to the US since the Taliban took over in August, Reuters reported. Read More
(The Associated Press) Russian media reports have claimed that two U.S. submarines and a British sub were spotted in the area near the Russian naval exercise in the Barents Sea when the Kursk disaster happened. Read More
(Military.com) The French military has denied injuring civilians in Burkina Faso when firing warning shots to disperse protesters who had blocked one of its military convoys. Read More
(Stars & Stripes) Discussions over an end-of-war declaration with North Korea will soon come to a close, a South Korean government official said. Read More
(USNI News) Australia signed the agreement to share nuclear propulsion information with the United States and the United Kingdom on Monday, marking the initial steps towards the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine fleet with the assistance of the U.K. and U.S. Read More
Pentagon (Defense News Weekly) It's the Oklahoma National Guard and the state's governor versus the Pentagon on the vaccine — can the Guard even do that? Military Times top editors look at the issue. Plus, a pair of troubling inspector general reports on suicide prevention and sexual assault efforts in this week's Reporters Roundtable. Read More
(Air Force Magazine) The position of Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is officially vacant. Read More
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Information is the battlespace advantage. F-35 sensor fusion provides vast amounts of information to accelerate critical decisions and win the fight.
Congress and Politics (Military Times) The measure has been approved for 60 consecutive years, but getting to 61 will be difficult. Read More
(Defense One) The proposed amendments to the NDAA include ideas on Afghanistan, China and extremism in the ranks. Read More
Army (Defense News Weekly) The rattle and clank of historical cavalry and armor pieces from around the world can be all but heard in a new museum in Ft. Benning, Georgia. MilTech's Todd South takes a tour of of the setup and highlights some of the most interesting pieces from both the U.S. and its adversaries. Read More
(Defense News Weekly) A new ABC documentary on Hulu called "3212 Un-Redacted" shows new images and information about the 2017 death of four Special Operations Command soldiers. Read More
(Stars & Stripes) U.S. Army bases in Europe will defer most COVID-19 booster shots until early 2022 as the service instead prioritizes unvaccinated personnel and high-risk people. Read More
(Washington Post) The Army funds will allow work on the additional doses to take place in New York with an estimated completion date of June 30. Read More
(The Fayetteville Observer) With aprons adorned with the presidential seal, the Bidens dished out servings of mashed potatoes and stuffing to accompany the turkey, ham and other Thanksgiving fare. Read More
Navy (Stars & Stripes) A sailor assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was found dead Friday morning at the naval base, the carrier’s homeport, according to Navy officials. Read More
(The San Diego Tribune) For the past several years, Leonard Glenn Francis — the figure at the center of the Navy’s worst corruption scandal in modern history — has been under house arrest in San Diego, eschewing interview requests and biding his time until his role as government cooperator is over. Read More
(Task & Purpose) A Navy lieutenant commander assigned to U.S. Fleet Forces Command was arrested last week on sex trafficking charges in Virginia. Read More
(Stars & Stripes) All gates for Norfolk Naval Shipyard were closed temporarily Monday morning as authorities addressed a security situation. Read More
Marine Corps (The Associated Press) Tools for Veterans is housed in a workshop set up in a home garage. Read More
(The Associated Press) The exact number of student victims was not disclosed, only that it was fewer than a dozen. Read More
(Military.com) The Marine Corps said Monday it plans to offer homesteading more often as part of its new talent management system. Read More
Air Force (Task & Purpose) The Air Force promoted a major in the Air Force Reserves who posted the personal information of an alleged sexual assault survivor to social media and to her official newsletter, then denied posting that information before an ethics committee, and was recently censured by the Idaho House of Representatives. Read More
(Baptist Standard) Chaplain Brigadier General Randall (Randy) E. Kitchens received a promotion after the unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. Read More
Space Force (Air Force Magazine) One day after the Space Force’s second in command warned that the U.S. is “not as advanced as the Chinese or the Russians in terms of hypersonic programs,” a media report indicated that China’s widely reported nuclear hypersonic test this summer included an added capability. Read More
(The New Yorker) Gen. John W. Raymond discusses being memeified, Steve Carell, and how his military branch plans to keep your smartphone from being turned into a stupid phone. Read More
National Guard (The Associated Press) The 400 Guard members will start training as certified nursing assistants and as temporary nursing aides over the next week, the governor’s office said. Read More
(CNBC) The National Guard has filled in the gaps to help with Covid testing, health care and distribution of personal protective equipment. Read More
(WTWO) Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has deployed 10,000 state troopers and National Guard units to the Texas border as part of “Operation Lone Star,” his office told Border Report on Monday. Read More
(WCCO) The Minnesota National Guard’s C Battery, 1st Battalion and 194th Field Artillery Regiment will celebrate their return to Minnesota on Sunday. Read More
Coast Guard (WPLG) After a dangerous operation, members of the U.S. Coast Guard showed off their latest drug haul Monday — which included the seizure of over 26,000 lbs of cocaine and nearly 3,700 lbs of marijuana, all picked up over a 24-day period. Read More
(KRON) Three fishermen were rescued by the Coast Guard on Monday morning near Tomales Bay. Read More
(WWAY) The woman and her family member were taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center. Read More
Your Military (Stars & Stripes) Some commissary and exchange stores at U.S. bases overseas may be unable to keep certain items in stock during the holiday season because of supply chain delays affecting retailers worldwide, store officials said. Read More
(Defense One) Once again, the Pentagon is flying 175 tons of holiday food to troops deployed around the world. But that doesn't help the military families who are seeing the cost of Thanksgiving dinner rise at their local commissaries and grocery stores. Read More
Military History and Culture (Military Times) The long-awaited Top Gun sequel premiere may have been postponed until 2022, but on Nov. 10, Mattel introduced the world to one of its leading ladies, Natasha “Phoenix” Trace, in the form of a collectible Barbie doll. Read More
(Task & Purpose) There’s motivated, and then there’s “I just got my forehead signed by Bill f***ing Murray” motivated. Read More
Veterans (Military Times) Elizabeth Prophitt pleaded guilty Nov. 9 to five counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud, misrepresentation or deceit, after stealing more than 2,200 vials of controlled substances from the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center in Michigan. Read More
(Military Times) “I do not even know anyone named Mike,” decidedly non-Mike-monikered Army veteran Nedra-Iman Brantley wrote in a Facebook post after discovering her vehicle. Read More
(Military.com) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, lost GI Bill eligibility for one of its programs and never sought approval for doctoral courses due to a series of paperwork snafus and poor communication with state approving authorities, leaving some veterans at the school in limbo and out thousands of dollars, an investigation by Military.com found. Read More
International (Reuters) A shadow government in Myanmar said it has raised $6.3 million on the opening day of its inaugural bonds sale, in its biggest move yet to generate funds for its "revolution" to topple the ruling military junta. Read More
(Reuters) At least 45 people, including 12 children, died as a bus carrying mostly North Macedonian tourists crashed in flames on a highway in western Bulgaria hours before daybreak on Tuesday, officials said. Read More
(BBC) Ethiopia's prime minister has said he will go himself to the front line to face rebels who are reported to be inching closer to the capital as civil war rages on. Read More
(New York Times) Tony Chung, a 20-year-old student activist, is the youngest to be sent to prison under the harsh and expansive new security law passed in 2020. Read More
(Reuters) Russian-controlled forces in eastern Ukraine are increasing their combat readiness and have carried out large-scale exercises, the intelligence directorate of Ukraine's defence ministry said on Tuesday. Read More
(BBC) A spacecraft is set to launch and test technology that may one day be needed to tip a dangerous asteroid off course. Read More
(Washington Post) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, deprived again of the majority he sought in an unpopular snap pandemic election in September, will outline his legislative agenda Tuesday for a new session of Parliament. Read More
(New York Times) Nir Hefetz, a former spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu, is a state witness at the former prime minister’s corruption trial, which was once at the heart of a constitutional crisis. Read More
Commentary & Analysis (Defense News) NATO ought to consider whether it will employ its most effective military tool for responding to just this kind of security crisis — the NATO Response Force. Read More
(Military Times) Commentary: If China covertly integrates military capability into infrastructure projects in Central America, China will have materially increased the cost to the United States of countering Chinese aggression. Read More
(New York Times) Social media worsened a migrant crisis on the border of Belarus and Poland and helped smugglers profit off desperate people trying to reach Europe. Read More
(The Hill) If the United States can’t deter Beijing, it is likely that sometime within the next six years Taiwan will be “liberated” by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Read More
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