Army will end most of its ceremonial horse programs and adopt out the animals
The Army, however, will keep operating the Old Guard ceremonial caisson units at Joint Base San Antonio and Arlington National Cemetery for burial honors.
Ceremonial cavalry units will be closed down at bases, including Fort Cavazos in Texas, whose horses were showcased during the military parade in Washington on June 14, which was the Army's 250th anniversary and also President Donald Trump's birthday.
Army spokesperson Steve Warren said other ceremonial units will close at Fort Carson in Colorado, Fort Sill in Oklahoma, Fort Irwin in California, Fort Riley in Kansas and Fort Huachuca in Arizona.
The Army estimates that closing down the units will save about $2 million a year, and the changes are being made as part of its overall warfighting realignment, Warren said. The Army is giving the affected bases 12 months to shutter the units.
A total of 141 horses will be adopted outside the military, Warren said. Some horses may be donated to organizations, but none will be sold, he said.
The horses "are part of the Army family, we're going to treat them with compassion," Warren said.
The Army has just recently resumed caisson operations at Arlington National Cemetery after an investigation found the horses in those units were mistreated, left to graze in lots with little grass, leading them to consume sand and gravel. Two horses died in 2022, and caisson operations were suspended until earlier this year.
The Arlington National Cemetery horses are part of the caisson platoon of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as the Old Guard, which is best known for guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the cemetery, located just across the river from Washington.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
7 days ago
- BBC News
Mother and daughter gain Army graduations within weeks of each other
Mum and daughter gain Army graduations in quick succession , After watching her mum graduate from her Army Reserve basic training, Chloe De Stadler graduated from Harrogate's Army Foundation College Author, Kit Taylor & Seb Cheer Role, BBC News, Yorkshire 1 hour ago It has been a special day of celebration for more than 700 junior soldiers who have graduated from Harrogate's Army Foundation College. Among the misty-eyed parents was Sherene De Stadler, who watched daughter Chloe in the parade weeks after completing her own basic training with the Army Reserve. "Any mother is going to be proud of their daughter or son when they graduate," the 39-year-old said. "But knowing personally what she has been through in the last six months, that pride tops anything I've ever known before." She decided to start training after Chloe joined the Army to create a "strong military presence in the household" and better understand her daughter's experiences. "It's a completely different language to normal civvy world," she said. The understanding went both ways, according to 17-year-old Chloe, originally from Surrey. Just weeks ago, it was her in the stands watching her mother's passing out parade. "Knowing that my mum was stood on that parade and had done it all, there's no words to explain it," she said. Image caption, Chloe and Sherene were emotional as they reunited following the parade Chloe said she now hoped to join the Army Air Corps and eventually gain a pilot's licence. "Her great-grandmother was a pilot," Sherene added. The pair enjoyed a celebration lunch alongside high-ranking guests at the college following the graduation. "To hear what they've all been through, it just shows everybody's in the same boat at one point in their journey and there is only room to grow," Sherene said. She hoped to pursue a career training new recruits, building on her previous work in physical training. , Wesley Jefferson-Hallett (centre) led the parade after being named the best junior soldier of the intake Another graduate invited to the VIP lunch was Wesley Jefferson-Hallett, 16, who led the parade after being named junior Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM). "It was nerve-racking but I got it done and I didn't ruin it, so I'm pretty happy," he said. Wesley decided not to tell his family about his key role until the ceremony. "I could hear my dad shouting at me from the side," he said. "The amount of people I marched off the square - it's amazing." Wesley, from York, had been working on a building site when he decided to follow his older brother into the Army. He said he was thrilled to meet former England football manager Sir Gareth Southgate, who lives locally and was an invited guest. , Wesley Jefferson-Hallett said he had "never been in front of that amount of people in my life" Wesley said he now hoped to complete his phase two training ahead of his aim to join the parachute regiment. Ben Townley, the college's RSM, said: "It's a day to celebrate what's been a tough journey for some of them, very challenging. "I know some of them had a few wobbles along the way, but seeing the smiles on their faces is brilliant." Get in touch Tell us which stories we should cover in Yorkshire Contact form Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
-Jamie-McDermaid-Scottish-Seabird-Centre.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D1200%26auto%3Dwebp%26quality%3D75%26trim%3D221%2C249%2C73%2C189%26crop%3D&w=3840&q=100)
Scotsman
7 days ago
- Scotsman
Why massive Berwick Bank windfarm can and must be stopped
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Scottish Government has given approval for an offshore windfarm that is predicted to kill up to 260 gannets, 2,808 guillemots, 814 kittiwakes, 65 puffins, and 154 razorbills every year. Berwick Bank is set to be one of the world's largest offshore windfarms. Located around 40km off the East Lothian coast in the outer Firth of Forth, and close to iconic natural wonders like Bass Rock and the Isle of May, it will be built on prime foraging ground for seabirds. These predicted casualty numbers are in addition to the many thousands of birds that are expected to be displaced by the development, forced to find alternative places to fish. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There are many, many better places for offshore windfarms around Scotland and we have a responsibility to protect the internationally important seabirds breeding around our coastlines. Yet these facts failed to sway the decision. A guillemot flying past St Abb's Head, with a windfarm in the distance (Picture: Jamie McDermaid) | Scottish Seabird Centre Nature loses out again In the face of promises of investment and growth, ministers' commitments to tackling the nature emergency and reversing the calamitous declines in biodiversity once again crumbled. If this story feels familiar, that's because it's one that keeps on repeating itself. In 2008, the SNP government agreed to Donald Trump's proposal to build two new golf courses on the Aberdeenshire coast, overruling advice from conservation charities like the RSPB and the government's own nature adviser, NatureScot (then Scottish Natural Heritage). A decade later, NatureScot confirmed that the damage to the dune network caused by the development was so great that it had 'destroyed the dynamic nature of the site' and the area no longer merited being a protected area as a result. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Yet decision-makers everywhere appear unable to learn from sad stories like this one. For example, the UK Government has this year been promising to dispense with environmental protections to unlock economic growth, with the Chancellor lashing out at bats, newts and even snails for blocking development. The argument that nature is a barrier to growth, and that government's role is to overcome that barrier, is as tired as it is false. Our prosperity and wellbeing is built upon a healthy natural environment. In 2021, the UK Government published a major independent review of the economics of biodiversity by the economist Sir Partha Dasgupta. It concluded that nature 'is our greatest asset', upon which our economies, livelihoods and wellbeing depend. But governments north and south of the Border consistently fail to account for this asset in their decision-making. A kittiwake with its chick (Picture: Emily Burton) | Scottish Seabird Centre 'Compensation' plan not credible In the case of Berwick Bank, the Scottish Government will argue that they have accounted for nature by requiring the developer to have a 'seabird compensation plan' that must be agreed before work can start. This plan will have to set out how the developer will, for example, fund projects that create an additional 260 new gannets a year to compensate for the 260 that may be killed by the windfarm. In smaller numbers, this approach might be feasible. Compensation provides a realistic route for lower-impact windfarms to be built while ensuring there is no net negative impact on our natural environment. But the sheer scale of the challenge for Berwick Bank, which would require compensation for tens of thousands of dead seabirds over its lifetime, is simply not credible. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It is simply the wrong place to build a windfarm. Many other offshore windfarms are being proposed in places where the impact on nature will be a fraction of that of Berwick Bank. Many of these are employing floating wind technology, which has rapidly advanced in recent years, rather than turbines that are fixed to the seabed. This allows development further offshore, in deeper sea that is less important to seabirds and other wildlife. A good example of this is Ossian, a similar sized windfarm to Berwick Bank that also counts SSE Renewables among its backers. In contrast, however, Ossian will use floating turbines and is set to be developed in deeper waters around 80km off the east coast of Scotland, resulting in far fewer risks to wildlife. Better places Offshore wind, and indeed other renewable energy technologies, are not incompatible with nature. It's poor planning and decision-making that fails to value nature which is at the root of conflicts such as this one. A strategic approach to developing Scotland's offshore wind industry would seek to guide development to these lower impact sites, screening out the most sensitive areas of our seas from the outset. This approach would minimise environmental impacts, and it gives developers greater certainty, reducing the risk of conflict and delays. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ultimately, the offshore wind sector enjoys public support because it promises a greener future. Betray that promise, and its license to operate will inevitably come under ever greater public scrutiny. But Berwick Bank proceeding also threatens lower impact windfarms in other ways. No project is without impact, and many of these windfarms will be required to invest in compensation too. However, there are only so many credible means of delivering compensation for killing seabirds, and the scale of Berwick Bank's requirements threatens to hoover them up and leave little left over for other projects. Similarly, there is only so much government support available for windfarms, and Berwick Bank will require a considerable slice of the pie. All of this is why we and so many others from the nature conservation community are not giving up. Berwick Bank, as it is currently proposed, can and must be stopped. Both to protect nature, and to build a thriving, clean, green offshore renewables industry in Scotland.
Spectator
06-08-2025
- Spectator
My shopping list for the apocalypse
So far this summer we've had the blackouts in Portugal and Spain, that rather astonishing Heathrow fire, yet more sabre-rattling between Russia and America and the former head of the Army warning that Britain must be ready for the 'realistic possibility' of war within five years. Then there was an old general on the radio telling civilians to prepare themselves for the struggle both mentally and practically – by stocking up on foodstuffs, loo roll, an FM radio and cash. Normally I don't do what the radio tells me, but he got me thinking. And it turned out my wife – who is an actuary and is to risk what the Wicked Witch of the West is to tap water – had been pondering something similar. So we've begun 'prepping'. But it is harder than you think, because it's not just a question of throwing a few slabs of baked beans and Stella into the boot of the car. First, there's the question of how long you are going to buy for: how long do you think the putative blackout – or attack – will last, will affect fundamental services? Will the power be down for a day, three days, or a week or longer? What if the water goes down, too? Welcome to the prepping spiral. Let's start with water. If you reckon you need to drink 1.5 litres a day minimum, that's six litres a day for a family of four, rising to 42 litres a week plus 10-20 litres a day to cook with. But if the water and electricity are off, the gas probably isn't firing on all cylinders either so you'll need something to cook with. That'll be a few bags of barbecue coal in the mix too, then. I just hope that if and when the societal collapse takes place it's in summer so we can make a party of it. Next, the food. You'll want rations for a week, at least, to be on the safe side. More than that and it probably doesn't bear thinking about – plus you begin to bump into storage problems. Arriving at my local B&M I'm distracted by multipacks of Pot Noodles. I've not eaten one of these since I was a student but I know that they're instant, require very little water and, come the apocalypse, a steaming pot of their chicken and mushroom offering will be the equivalent of the 15-course tasting menu at Gordon Ramsay. So that's my first impulse buy. But I'm really here for the beans. They're one of the five a day, and they come in a tin you can plausibly heat them in and eat them from so no washing up required. And they're sort of healthy. Chickpeas are good too; a shake of curry powder and you've got a vegetable curry if you squint hard enough. So we might need some mango chutney as well. Before you know it you are strolling along the aisles of your local budget supermarket meal-planning for the apocalypse. You are weighing the merits of Tilda golden vegetable instant rice at £1 a packet versus a brand you've never heard of called Tiori which is selling something fairly identical-looking at 55p a go. Should you really splurge on the Heinz beans (£8 for two packs of six, so 66.67p each), or go for the slightly cheaper Branston version (with 1 per cent more beans per tin) which come in at 62.5p a can? How much of a difference will it make that you didn't buy the market-leading brand when you are trapped in your house and afraid to go out because of marauding gangs of flesh-eating maniacs come the end of the world? After you've buried the kids in the back garden, will the wife turn around and say 'Darling, I really wish you'd got the Heinz'? I compromise: 12 of each. Plus I toss in a few tins of frankfurters for the boys and a six-pack of tuna in brine. Then the Fray Bentos ham looks good, too. And I'm sorely tempted by corned beef, but any more of this and we'll need to increase the storage capacity to make way for the heartburn tablets. I bet lots of people are quietly doing the same. Look at the other shoppers' trolleys next time you're in Tesco. Why have they got so many tins of baked beans? Next you realise that you're going to need lots of sauces in order to endure any sustained period on a diet of beans, rice and pasta. So I get large bottle of a Lea and Perrins lookalike and some peri-peri sauce. Then I realise I've forgotten about the dog. You'll need to feed the dog, too, unless you plan to make it part of your ultimate survival plan. She must be carrying a lot of calories. In which case you might want to fatten the dog up a bit before the moment of delectation comes, so splashing out on some top notch dog food might not be a bad idea. It's a very personal choice. I move on to the vexed issue of toilet tissue. Loo roll. How many, for how long – and of what quality? Do you really want to scrimp on this most intimate of domestic items when you've just radically altered your diet for the worse and when you're experiencing the end of the world as we know it? Might this actually be the moment when a bit of luxury multi-ply loo roll is precisely what you need? It's a big question. At my shop the options are limited: there's Andrex Family Soft at £4.99 for eight rolls and something called Elegance Feather Soft which costs £6.99 for a whopping 32 rolls. I know how my boys burn through this stuff so Elegance it is. I buy two to be on the safe side, knowing that if I end up bleeding to death before the dysentery kills me I will regret it, sorely. You're going to need some extra bleach, soap and rags and under-the-sink whatnot in this unwanted future, too. And toothpaste, otherwise being trapped in a small place with the family will be a nightmare. Batteries, they'll be essential. And candles. You need a portable FM radio for when there's no internet and no Netflix. And without the internet or television you will also need a complete Encyclopaedia Britannica like we had when we were children, because how else will you be able to answer the questions that inevitably arise? An old set can be bought off the internet for £200. A Scrabble dictionary would be wise too, otherwise things could turn nasty before the blackout ends. As I said, oreparing for the apocalypse is harder than you imagine. My advice is to start prepping for the prepping now. And maybe begin to think longer term. Black-belt prepping is doing things like decommissioning the garden office and stripping back the decking to reinstate beds so you can grow your own if you need to. I'm probably being crazy. But I bet lots of people are quietly doing the same. Look at the other shoppers' trolleys next time you're in Tesco. Why have they got so many tins of baked beans? What's the bottled water for when the stuff in the tap is perfectly good? Whatever else, get yourself to B&M before they sell out of the Elegance Feather Soft at £6.99. You'll never regret it.
