Afghanistan

Essex Amphibious Ready Group Leaves 5th Fleet; No U.S. Capital Ship in Middle East

USS Essex (LHD-2), front, transits the Indian Ocean with the guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane (DDG-77) on Jan. 9, 2022. US Navy Photo

The three-ship Essex Amphibious Ready Group and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit left the Middle East last week after operating in the region since late September, according to USNI News’s Fleet and Marine Tracker.

USS Essex (LHD-2), USS Portland (LPD-27), and amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52) are now operating in the Indian Ocean after...

https://news.usni.org/2022/01/10/essex-amphibious-ready-group-leaves-5th-fleet-no-u-s-capital-ship-in-middle-east

Afghaniscam

Afghaniscam

by John Faraclas

John Faraclas

My first “encounter” with Afghanistan took place during my first year in Anargyrios and Corgialenios College of Spetses in 1964 – 1965 during a speech delivered at the English Club by one of our English teachers, Mr. R. Thompson. It left me with many questions and prompted me to study this country given also the success there by Alexander The Great who occupied that region / country in 17 and a half days and nights following relentless attacks…

A very much...

https://allaboutshipping.co.uk/2021/10/20/afghaniscam/

Afghan Ambassador to U.S. Says Taliban Struggling to Govern a ‘Drastically’ Different Country

Evacuees load on to buses to be processed during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 22, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo

The Taliban is struggling to govern a drastically changed country in Afghanistan, the nation’s ambassador to the United States said Wednesday.
The difficulties range from a massive humanitarian crisis affecting 18 million Afghans who lack food and medical care to an economic collapse that has closed markets across the country and a...

https://news.usni.org/2021/10/14/afghan-ambassador-to-u-s-says-taliban-struggling-to-govern-a-drastically-different-country

24th MEU, Iwo Jima ARG Arrive Home From Deployment

The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) arrives at its homeport of Naval Station Mayport, Florida, Oct. 11, 2021. US Navy Photo

The three ships that make up the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group pulled into their respective homeports the last few days, ending a deployment that supported the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) reached Naval Station Mayport, Fla., on Monday, while USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) arrived at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Va.,...

SECNAV Del Toro’s Strategic Guidance to Navy, Marines Corps

The following is Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro’s strategic guidance to the Department of the Navy.

Purpose

This guidance articulates my vision to build, train, and equip the world’s most powerful naval force to meet both today’s operational demands and the warfighting needs of the future. It is designed to reinforce and better align service-specific guidance already issued by the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps with the Secretary of Defense’s overall...

https://news.usni.org/2021/10/11/secnav-del-toros-strategic-guidance-to-navy-marines-corps

SECNAV: New Navy Strategic Guidance Emphasizes Deterrence in the Pacific

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro discusses his strategic guidelines with Naval Academy midshipmen during a Forrestal Lecture on Oct. 5. USNI News Photo

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Navy’s approach to China is to deter, not to fight a war, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro told Naval Academy midshipmen on Tuesday night.

Instead, the Navy needs to work with allies to help countries China threatens and ultimately show China that it has no maritime allies, which will, in turn, discourage Beijing...

https://news.usni.org/2021/10/06/secnav-new-navy-strategic-guidance-emphasizes-deterrence-in-the-pacific

CENTCOM: Keeping Bagram Airbase Was ‘Untenable’ Under White House Rules for Afghanistan Withdrawal

Gen. Kenneth McKenzie commander, U.S. Central Command, provides testimony at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on ending the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. on Sept. 29, 2021. DoD Photo

The sprawling size of the U.S. airbase at Bagram and its isolation from Kabul meant that keeping it under American control was “untenable under the situation” once President Joe Biden ordered all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan, U.S. Central Command’s...

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/29/centcom-keeping-bagram-airbase-was-untenable-under-white-house-rules-for-afghanistan-withdrawal

Milley: Staying in Afghanistan Past Deadline Would Have Put U.S. Troops, Afghans in Danger

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander, United States Central Command appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan and plans for future counterterrorism operations on Sept. 28, 2021. DoD Photo

If Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden had chosen to ignore the dates set for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, it would have meant moving elements of...

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/28/milley-staying-in-afghanistan-past-deadline-would-have-put-u-s-troops-afghans-in-danger

7 U.S. Wounded Marines Remain at Walter Reed After Kabul Attack

A 9/11 ceremony at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Sept. 9, 2021. US Army Photo

Seven injured U.S. Marines remain at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., following the attack last month in Afghanistan that killed 13 service members, according to the Marine Corps.

“As of Tuesday evening, the Marine Corps has 7 wounded at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center resulting from the attack on 26 August. Of those, two are in critical but stable...

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/15/7-u-s-wounded-marines-remain-at-walter-reed-after-kabul-attack

What’s going on in Washington?

The days in Washington, DC, seem to fly by as we barrel towards the Sept. 30 expiration deadline of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. Transaction has slowed to a near standstill surrounding the uncertainty of the votes of moderate Senators from purple states who are stuck between a rock and hard place politically.

House Democrats are approaching the upcoming infrastructure bill and the reconciliation legislation in a “two-tracked” approach. Both sides of the aisle have...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/whats-going-on-in-washington

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