Latest news with #Corps'
DW
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- DW
Yseult: Champion of body positivity – DW – 06/07/2025
French singer Yseult is among the country's top artists. She demands respect - no matter the body shape, gender, or color. With 9.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Yseult is one of France's most successful artists. At the 2024 Olympic Games closing ceremony in Paris, she performed "My Way" - a fitting choice for a Black, plus-size artist who has overcome countless challenges. Her music, including the self-produced track "Corps' ("Body'), draws directly from her personal experiences.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Columbia River salmon restoration hit hard by $1.5B cut to Army Corps of Engineers
(Bureau of Land Management) The Trump administration has cut tens of millions of dollars from a key Columbia Basin salmon-restoration program run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a move experts say puts the treasured Northwest fish in further jeopardy. The Columbia River Fish Mitigation program attempts to balance out significant harm inflicted by the Columbia River hydropower dam system on endangered salmon and steelhead runs. The 46 percent cut to the program's yearly budget comes amid tens of billions of dollars in cuts to the federal government that have hit scientific and regulatory agencies in Southwest Washington hard. It also follows months of speculation about what President Donald Trump's Columbia Basin fish policy would be. 'It is outrageous that President Trump is ripping away critical funding to protect our fish populations in the Columbia River, which are so important to our economy, culture and tribes in Washington state,' U.S. Sen. Patty Murray wrote in a statement emailed to The Columbian. The Corps did not directly respond to The Columbian's request for comment on the cuts. In a brief statement, a spokesman instead highlighted the importance of the salmon recovery program moving into the future. 'Columbia River Fish Mitigation funding is an important source for many projects in the basin,' said Tom Conning, spokesman for the Corps' Northwestern Division. 'As is typical during the federal budget process, we will work with our partners in the region to prioritize projects depending on how much funding we actually receive from Congress.' Six Columbia Basin salmon recovery policy experts and biologists who work with the program said the cuts stand to unravel the program's work in coming years — harming salmon recovery across the basin at a make-or-break time. 'With these cuts to salmon recovery programs, (Corps officials) are going to have to halt many important actions in their track,' said Tom Iverson, regional coordinator for Yakama Nation Fisheries. Iverson also said the cuts are 'inconsistent with the U.S. government's commitments' to restore salmon populations under the binding Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement. Salmon advocates made compromises in that agreement to get the government to agree to spend more on Columbia River hydropower system infrastructure and fish passage — not less. Two Trump administration actions have affected Corps funding. The first is a nearly $1.5 billion reduction in funding for the Corps' civil works between fiscal year 2024 and the current federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The second is a move by the administration to shift hundreds of millions of previously committed dollars from civil works projects in Democratic-controlled states to Republican-controlled states, according to an analysis by Murray's office that was shared with The Columbian. 'Trump is stealing funding from blue states for no other reason than political retribution, and he's playing politics with critical water infrastructure — it's absolutely despicable,' Murray said. 'This is not how things should ever work in America.' In fiscal year 2024 — which ran from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024 — the salmon-restoration program was allocated $66,670,000. But newly released Corps itemized funding documents show the Corps received only $35,983,605 for this fiscal year. That's despite Congress' March continuing resolution funding the Corps at the same level for fiscal year 2025 as the previous year, according to a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. The cuts are even more drastic when the new $36 million funding level is compared with the $75.2 million the Corps was slated to get for Columbia River fish mitigation efforts for 2025 in the draft budget that the Biden administration submitted to Congress in March 2024 based on the Corps' funding request. The program's funding has significantly varied over the past 15 years, according to The Columbian's analysis of publicly available Corps funding levels. The program routinely received more than $100 million in the early 2010s. But that was cut by about two-thirds during Trump's first term, dipped lower still during the first half of former President Joe Biden's term and finally rose to the past fiscal year's recent high during the latter half of Biden's presidency. The program evaluates how different parts of the hydropower system impact salmon stocks in the Columbia Basin and then addresses those problems through construction, habitat restoration and other means. The Corps' 2025 budget says the program's work is 'required' to minimize 'lethal take' (killing) of Endangered Species Act-listed salmon and steelhead by the federal hydropower dam system. Government reports released during the Biden administration acknowledged the hydropower system's harm to salmon stocks and Native nations, as well as the ways removing four lower Snake River dams would benefit them. Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead returns were between 10 million and 18 million fish before the dams. Recently, they've numbered about 2.3 million. Wild fish in particular have suffered. A 2022 assessment by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found the number of 'raw natural spawner(s)' in Columbia River tributaries declined substantially for nearly every run in nearly every river measured between 1990 and 2019. Overfishing, climate change, habitat degradation and a rise in predators have also harmed runs. All that has pushed 13 Columbia Basin salmon runs to the brink of extinction, placing them under Endangered Species Act protections. The Columbia River Fish Mitigation program will be partly protected from the immediate impacts of the cut, according to an email obtained by The Columbian that was sent by Columbia River Fish Mitigation program manager Ida Royer to about three dozen Columbia Basin salmon-restoration policy experts and biologists. The email states that because of leftover money from the 2024 fiscal year, the program will end up with only a few million dollars less than last fiscal year. But six Columbia Basin salmon recovery policy experts and biologists who work with the program said the cuts will create uncertainty that snowballs into future years, disrupting the program's continuing operations. That stands to further delay the long and ever-growing list of deferred maintenance biologists say the Corps must do — not just to support fish passage but for navigation and flood-risk management. And even the limited cuts appear to be impacting the required program's operations already, because they came so late in the fiscal year. 'There will need to be more discussion about the work remaining for the year, refined costs and program priorities,' Royer wrote. 'More to come.' This article was first published by The Columbian through the Murrow News Fellow program, managed by Washington State University.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Marines can't replicate Ukraine's drone war, but leaders have another idea for figuring out attack drones
Marine bases to form competitive drone teams to boost much-needed skills Competition aims to replicate the pressure of combat Drone adoption and training are critical as technology evolves and procurement lags Starting next year, the Marine Corps wants to see each Marine base building its own competitive attack drone teams. Leaders say competition will be key to building skills in the absence of combat. "We can't replicate the existential threat that they feel in places like Ukraine, which forces the cycle of iteration and learning," Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, head of the Corps' Training and Education Command, told reporters Wednesday at the Modern Day Marine expo in Washington DC. "The closest thing we can do is put ourselves out there in competition." "We think that puts us under a level of pressure that will help us to iterate faster, particularly in the first-person-view drone space, which is one of the places we've got the most room to grow," Watson continued. More funding, held up in continuing resolution turmoil, could also help move things along. Small, inexpensive FPV drones have come to dominate Ukrainian battlefields, functioning as readily available reconnaissance platforms and cheap precision-strike ammunition, contributing heavily to battlefield casualties. Such warfare is unlike anything US troops have previously experienced. It's not something that can be easily replicated, but it is what leaders say they want the military training for, spurring the Marine Corps' plan for competition-driven training. Under such a plan, Marine bases would create their own teams mimicking the services' newly established Attack Drone Team, based out of the Marine headquarters base in Quantico, Va. Watson described the Corps' Attack Drone Team as the "leading edge" of what the service hopes to replicate across the force, including more focus on counter-UAS training and the authority for developing policies for the rest of the force. The general compared the new goal to the Corps' marksmanship team in which Marines from across the Corps compete for top spots on the namesake team from their bases. "The premise has been every Marine a rifleman, and we will still hold true to that ethos, with the idea being that every Marine can be lethal at out to 500 yards," Watson said of the Corps' intense devotion to ensuring each Marine, regardless of speciality, is competent shooting a target from half a kilometer. The idea behind building these new competitive drone teams is that small arms fire is still necessary but now insufficient for contemporary conflict, he added. "Now that same individual Marine, using a different weapon system, can also be lethal out to 15 or 20 kilometers with a first-person-view drone." Marine leaders consistently highlighted drone adoption and training as a critical need at the Modern Day Marine symposium, with small group discussions and panels comprised of combat arms, logistics, and aviation Marines trying to work through the headaches of getting drones to junior Marines quickly, in whatever way possible. Until the service can formalize these plans, units will likely be expected to get troops trained using any scrappy, unconventional method possible. As the DoD tries to adopt a more rapid procurement process, whatever tech various base drone team Marines use will inevitably be behind the power curve, Watson said, given the lightning pace at which this tech is evolving. But the service has got to make something coherent happen to get Marines using drones, he said. Soon, service-wide competitions will be an answer. "We've got to field a system and get it in the hands of Marines so that we can start learning and confronting some of these problems that we're going to face head-on," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Insider
Marines can't replicate Ukraine's drone war, but leaders have another idea for figuring out attack drones
Starting next year, the Marine Corps wants to see each Marine base building its own competitive attack drone teams. Leaders say competition will be key to building skills in the absence of combat. "We can't replicate the existential threat that they feel in places like Ukraine, which forces the cycle of iteration and learning," Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, head of the Corps' Training and Education Command, told reporters Wednesday at the Modern Day Marine expo in Washington DC. "The closest thing we can do is put ourselves out there in competition." "We think that puts us under a level of pressure that will help us to iterate faster, particularly in the first-person-view drone space, which is one of the places we've got the most room to grow," Watson continued. More funding, held up in continuing resolution turmoil, could also help move things along. Small, inexpensive FPV drones have come to dominate Ukrainian battlefields, functioning as readily available reconnaissance platforms and cheap precision-strike ammunition, contributing heavily to battlefield casualties. Such warfare is unlike anything US troops have previously experienced. It's not something that can be easily replicated, but it is what leaders say they want the military training for, spurring the Marine Corps' plan for competition-driven training. Under such a plan, Marine bases would create their own teams mimicking the services' newly established Attack Drone Team, based out of the Marine headquarters base in Quantico, Va. Watson described the Corps' Attack Drone Team as the "leading edge" of what the service hopes to replicate across the force, including more focus on counter-UAS training and the authority for developing policies for the rest of the force. The general compared the new goal to the Corps' marksmanship team in which Marines from across the Corps compete for top spots on the namesake team from their bases. "The premise has been every Marine a rifleman, and we will still hold true to that ethos, with the idea being that every Marine can be lethal at out to 500 yards," Watson said of the Corps' intense devotion to ensuring each Marine, regardless of speciality, is competent shooting a target from half a kilometer. The idea behind building these new competitive drone teams is that small arms fire is still necessary but now insufficient for contemporary conflict, he added. "Now that same individual Marine, using a different weapon system, can also be lethal out to 15 or 20 kilometers with a first-person-view drone." Marine leaders consistently highlighted drone adoption and training as a critical need at the Modern Day Marine symposium, with small group discussions and panels comprised of combat arms, logistics, and aviation Marines trying to work through the headaches of getting drones to junior Marines quickly, in whatever way possible. Until the service can formalize these plans, units will likely be expected to get troops trained using any scrappy, unconventional method possible. As the DoD tries to adopt a more rapid procurement process, whatever tech various base drone team Marines use will inevitably be behind the power curve, Watson said, given the lightning pace at which this tech is evolving. But the service has got to make something coherent happen to get Marines using drones, he said. Soon, service-wide competitions will be an answer. "We've got to field a system and get it in the hands of Marines so that we can start learning and confronting some of these problems that we're going to face head-on," he said.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Marines want to add counter-drone weapon to amphibious vehicle
As final tests get underway for Amphibious Combat Vehicle variants sporting 30mm cannons and crane hooks, the Marine Corps is exploring how to incorporate another add-on: a counter-unmanned aerial systems capability. Col. Tim Hough, the Corps' program manager for advanced amphibious assault, speaking Tuesday at the Modern Day Marine expo in Washington, said the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has propelled counter-unmanned aerial systems, or counter-UAS, weaponry onto a priority list of add-on capabilities for the vehicle. 'What's kind of growing as everybody's been watching the fight in Ukraine over the past four years is that counter-UAS threat,' Hough said. 'It's no secret, and armored vehicles are a juicy target on the battlefield. And I don't think the ACV would be any different.' The form that counter-UAS capability might take hasn't yet been determined. Hough said the Corps was in the 'market research' phase of evaluating the need, and still developing a sense of 'what's in the realm of the possible.' 'Unlike any other armored platform on the battlefield, we have a unique requirement, and that's, we've got to push a 72,000-pound brick through the water upwards of 12 nautical miles,' he said. 'Every time we bolt on another capability, we've got to make sure we're not getting ahead of ourselves with the amount of weight we can put on the vehicle before we start limiting that water mobility.' Among possibilities under evaluation include a counter-UAS radar that's integrated with the vehicle's turret, Hough said, but 'it's wide open at this point.' Decision due soon about novel boats for seagoing Marine recon units The ACV is the Corps' first new amphibious vehicle in half a century, fielded to replace what Hough described as the service's 'armored Winnebago,' the Assault Amphibious Vehicle. But the ACV has already notched a unique Marine Corps milestone, Hough said, conducting a waterborne gunnery mission with its onboard Mk 19 40mm grenade machine guns last year during its first Pacific deployment. More armament is on the way. The ACV-30, with an integrated 30mm cannon that will allow the vehicle to destroy enemy armored vehicles, is set to reach initial operational capability, signifying readiness for combat, in 2026. The final ACV variant, one with an attached crane for repair and recovery missions, is set to follow in 2027. Operational testing for the ACV-30 kicked off earlier this year at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland and Camp Pendleton, California; the vehicle is now undergoing cyber vulnerability testing, Hough said. As the ACV, following early mishaps including a 2020 vehicle sinking that caused the deaths of nine service members, now charts a more stable course, Hough said a number of market research requests will be published later this year into additional capabilities — like the counter-UAS weapon — that will help to modernize and add new capabilities. Other items on Hough's wish list include improvements to water maneuverability, responsiveness and speed; greater task automation for drivers; noise reduction; and improvements to situational awareness.
