Latest news with #DanielDriscoll
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine calls sending National Guard to D.C. 'the right thing to do'
Gov. Mike DeWine says it's the "right thing to do" to send 150 Ohio National Guard members to Washington, D.C., as President Donald Trump deploys troops and seizes control of the city's Metropolitan Police Department. Trump announced on Aug. 11 that he would deploy National Guard troops to Washington to crack down on crime in the nation's capital. Late Aug. 15, Secretary of the Army Daniel P. Driscoll asked DeWine to send military police to D.C. "The initial decision to deploy D.C. National Guard was not my decision. That was the president of the United States' decision," DeWine told the statehouse bureau. "But when the secretary of the Army asks for backup support to our troops that are already deployed, yes, we will back up our troops." DeWine is one of three Republican governors who said they'll send additional troops, Reuters reported. Ohio House Democrats are calling on DeWine to bring the Ohio National Guard home. 'Ohio's National Guard exists to protect and serve Ohioans and other Americans in moments of true crisis. When disasters like floods, storms, or community emergencies happen here at home, they're there to rebuild," said House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati. "Their mission is helping Ohioans, not serving as props in a president's political theatre." But DeWine says his decision, which was optional, is consistent with how he's deployed the Ohio National Guard in the past. More: DeWine ordered National Guard troops to assist in DC. What to know about Trump's plan What will the Ohio National Guard do in D.C.? The Ohio National Guard will patrol Washington, D.C., and protect federal buildings, DeWine said. "If in doing a patrol or if in standing guard of a federal building, an arrest has to be made, our guard will be in direct contact with the D.C. police department who will make arrests," DeWine said. "Our people won't make the arrests." How long will the Ohio National Guard be in the nation's capital? The Ohio National Guard will leave Aug. 20 for a 30-day deployment, DeWine said. The secretary of the Army could ask for an extension, which DeWine could grant or deny. How often does DeWine deploy the Ohio National Guard? DeWine deployed Ohio National Guard members and Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers to the southern border in 2021. He also sent members to assist with hurricane recovery in Florida, North Carolina and Louisiana. In 2020, DeWine sent the National Guard to Columbus and Cleveland to respond to protests following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In both instances, mayors requested help. The Ohio National Guard played a key role in Ohio's COVID-19 response and assisted with the aftermath of a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023. Is the D.C. deployment different? Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser didn't ask for help with the city's violent crime rate, which declined 35% between 2023 and 2024. Attorneys for the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration over its police takeover. DeWine says that doesn't matter, legally. "The people who don't like it in D.C. don't have the authority. The president of the United States has that authority," DeWine said. "Anybody can argue whether or not he should or shouldn't have the authority, but it's very clear. There is no debate he has the authority to do what he did." But Democrats say the deployment is political. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus, said in a statement: "The men and women of Ohio's National Guard signed up to serve their country, not a lawless president who has repeatedly ignored our nation's constitution and principles." What will this cost and who pays? The federal government will pay for the Ohio National Guard's service, a spokesperson said. No cost estimate was available as of Aug. 18. Is sending the National Guard optional? It depends. Typically, governors control the National Guard within their states. The federal government can request assistance from state National Guard members, which governors can approve or reject. That is the case with Secretary Driscoll's request for Ohio National Guard assistance in D.C. "The law is not a blank check allowing the president to use military forces anywhere in the country and for any purpose so long as they can find one willing governor," according to a Brennan Center for Justice analysis. In certain circumstances, presidents can federalize the National Guard by invoking the Insurrection Act. But this is rare. Earlier this year, Trump deployed the California National Guard to respond to protests over immigration enforcement − against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. An appeals court ruled that Trump could retain control of the troops while a judge reviews the legality of Trump's decision. Will the Ohio National Guard be deployed to Cincinnati? DeWine said he's received no requests to deploy the Ohio National Guard to Cincinnati, where a viral brawl led to debates about the city's security, and has no plans to deploy them. DeWine instead offered other help to Cincinnati officials that included traffic enforcement and aviation surveillance. "They've taken me up on part of it, but not all of it," DeWine said. "But that's their choice. They have the choice." USA TODAY contributed to this article. State government reporter Jessie Balmert can be reached at jbalmert@ or @jbalmert on X. What do you think of Gov. DeWine sending Ohio Guard troops to DC? This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: DeWine explains why he sent Ohio National Guard to Washington, DC Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
07-08-2025
- Yahoo
Fort Stewart soldiers 'absolutely saved lives' by jumping in to stop gunman
When a gunman opened fire at Fort Stewart in Georgia, six soldiers immediately jumped into action to stop the shooter and tend to their fellow service members who were wounded, the secretary of the Army said. Automated logistics Sgt. Quornelius Radford allegedly opened fire with his personal handgun at the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team area on Wednesday morning, shooting and wounding five other soldiers, according to Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the 3rd Infantry Division and Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield commander. When the shots rang out, one soldier -- who was unarmed -- ran at and tackled the gunman who "was actively shooting," Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said at a news conference on Thursday. "Another solider jumped on top of the person to subdue them," Driscoll said, adding "the other soldiers immediately ... started to take care of mass casualties." Surgeons said the soldiers' quick work to stop the bleeding "certainly saved their lives," according to Lubas. Driscoll praised their "heroism," saying, "The fast action of these soldiers under stress and under trauma and under fire absolutely saved lives from being lost." MORE: 5 soldiers injured in shooting at Fort Stewart in Georgia, Army sergeant in custody "We are just so incredibly proud of them. We are so grateful for them," Driscoll said. Three of the five wounded soldiers were released from the hospital on Wednesday, Lubas said. The fourth soldier, a woman, may be released from the hospital this weekend, and the fifth soldier, also a woman, has a "longer road," but doctors are hopeful for a full recovery, Lubas said on Thursday. A motive is not clear, Lubas said, but the shooting involved Radford's co-workers and was at his "place of work." Radford used a personal handgun, but it's not clear how he brought it to his workplace, Lubas added. Having a personal gun on base is a violation, officials said Thursday. Radford has been interviewed by Army investigators and is in custody, Lubas said. MORE: Active-duty Army soldier charged with attempting to share sensitive information about military tanks with Russia Radford has not previously deployed to combat, Lubas said. He had been arrested locally for a DUI, Lubas said, noting the arrest was "unknown to his chain of command until the [shooting] occurred and we started looking into the law enforcement databases." President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, "The entire nation is praying for the victims and their families, and hopefully they'll fully recover." "The perpetrator of this atrocity -- which is exactly what it is -- will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Trump added.
New York Times
30-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Army Secretary Orders West Point to Pull Appointment of Former Biden Official
Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll on Wednesday ordered the Military Academy at West Point to rescind the employment offer it made to a cybersecurity expert and Army veteran who worked in the Biden administration, as Pentagon leadership continued to insert itself into staffing and curriculum decisions at U.S. military academies. Mr. Driscoll, in a social media post, said he had ordered West Point to nullify its appointment of Jen Easterly, who was director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. The army's military academy had appointed Ms. Easterly, who once worked for President George W. Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, to a prestigious position in the department of social sciences. The social media posts announcing her appointment have since been deleted. On Tuesday, West Point's announcement of Ms. Easterly's appointment drew fire from Laura Loomer, the far-right agitator who has had an influential role in national security staffing decisions in President Trump's second term. Ms. Loomer, who this spring spurred the firings of a slew of national security officials she accused of disloyalty, tagged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday in a post accusing Ms. Easterly of working 'to silence Trump supporters under Biden.' Mr. Driscoll posted a memo to West Point on hiring guidance, saying that the academy 'terminates the gratuitous service agreement with Ms. Jen Easterly.' He continued: 'She will no longer serve as the Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair in the department of social sciences at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.' Mr. Driscoll also ordered that West Point conduct a 'top-down review' of its hiring practices. The rescinding of Ms. Easterly's appointment is the latest example of the Pentagon battling perceived political enemies. Earlier this month, Mr. Hegseth refused to promote a senior Army officer who had led troops over five tours in Afghanistan and Iraq because Mr. Hegseth maintained that the officer, Lt. Gen. Douglas A Sims II, was too close to Gen. Mark A. Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff whom Mr. Trump despises. In May, Graham Parsons, a tenured professor at West Point, accused the military academy of allowing the Trump administration to dictate what it taught cadets. 'Once a school that strove to give cadets the broad-based, critical-minded, nonpartisan education they need for careers as Army officers, it was suddenly eliminating courses, modifying syllabuses and censoring arguments to comport with the ideological tastes of the Trump administration,' Mr. Parsons said in a guest essay in The New York Times. The military academies have also removed books related to the themes of diversity, equity and inclusion from libraries, as part of the Trump administration's effort to dismantle programs that promote diversity.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The US Army's done with Humvees and the Robotic Combat Vehicles. Here's what leaders want instead.
The US Army is taking a hard look at what systems and platforms it doesn't need for future conflicts. The Army secretary and a top general gave BI some insight into this process. The service is undergoing a major transformation initiative after a directive earlier this year. US Army leaders say Humvees and Robotic Combat Vehicles aren't useful for future fights, but the Infantry Squad Vehicle is. Ongoing decisions about what stays and what goes are part of a larger transformation initiative that has the Army reviewing its force structure and cutting certain programs it deems no longer necessary for the kinds of wars the US military wants to be ready to fight should worse come to worst. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and Gen. James Rainey, the commanding general overseeing Army Futures Command, talked to Business Insider about some of what is getting axed and why. Driscoll pointed to the Robotic Combat Vehicle, or RCV, program, which launched in 2019 with the goal of integrating autonomous and remotely operated capabilities into the Army's ground systems. Three versions were initially planned — an expendable light variant, a durable medium variant, and a lethal heavy variant designed for combat against an enemy armored vehicle. But the development of the RCV hit snags. "We know we need autonomy, we know that we need the ability to move things in a way that is not controlled by human beings," Driscoll said. But the requirements the Army put together for it ended up making it just this "incredibly large, incredibly heavy, incredibly expensive, relatively exquisite tool," he said. By the time the Army went to purchase them, the threats to the RCV, like small, hostile drones, had grown substantially. In Ukraine, slow, heavy, expensive vehicles have been prime targets for cheap exploding drones. "It might have been there in the beginning and we got it wrong from the very beginning," he said, "but at a minimum, by the time it came due for us actually purchase a lot of these and get them into formations, it just no longer made sense anymore." He called the move to end the program "a hard decision." The Humvee, or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, is also being phased out. "It's 40 years old. It was useful in its time," Rainey said. "If you look at the ubiquitous sensing drones just in Ukraine and Russia, the survivability of a wheeled vehicle is very low." The Army also recently ended the M10 Booker Mobile Protected Firepower program just before it was set to go into full-rate production and after spending well over a billion dollars on the project. The decision was made in response to ongoing global conflicts "and in support of the strategic objectives outlined in the Army Transformation Initiative," according to a memo issued by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier this year. The memo outlined the focal points, timelines, and priorities of the Army going forward, including reducing and restructuring attack helicopter formations and augmenting them with unmanned aircraft, putting thousands of drones into the hands of soldiers, and focusing on the Indo-Pacific theater and China. The efforts in the directive are estimated to cost around $36 billion over the next five years and represent one of the largest Army overhauls since the end of the Cold War. Army officials have said it's designed to increase lethality and readiness in the service and is focused on the needs of individual warfighters. In the interview with BI, Driscoll and Rainey identified one platform that represents what it wants more of. "We have a requirements and acquisitions success story with the Infantry Squad Vehicles," Rainey said. The relatively new M1301 Infantry Squad Vehicle entered service in 2020. Rainey said that the platform was designed well and requirements were useful and thoughtful. "We went fast, but we iterated with soldiers continually through the process. We ended up with a very useful vehicle," he said. Driscoll said that in conversations with soldiers, the Army learned that they wanted a vehicle to prioritize speed and all-terrain driving over protection. It speaks to, the service secretary said, the Army "trying to build a menu of offensive and defensive solutions." For some missions, something like the Infantry Squad Vehicle will be more effective. And for others, a heavier, more armored platform could still be valuable and available. Much of what Driscoll and others say they're focused on comes out of efforts to be smarter and more cost-effective in Army purchases. "We feel a large enough existential threat, and it is important enough that we can no longer make decisions simply based off where jobs might exist or what private companies may benefit from our decisions," he said. "Instead, we have to optimize for soldier lethality in the fight ahead." Lethality is a guiding principle for the US Department of Defense under Hegseth and the Trump administration. It was a core objective for the Biden administration and first Trump one, as well as past administrations, though the interpretations were different. Generally, it serves as a subjective measuring stick for DoD programs and projects, the aim being to be able to effectively defeat an enemy. Right now, that long-standing Pentagon buzzword is the deciding factor for what the Army and other services prioritize. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
04-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
The US Army's done with Humvees and the Robotic Combat Vehicles. Here's what leaders want instead.
US Army leaders say Humvees and Robotic Combat Vehicles aren't useful for future fights, but the Infantry Squad Vehicle is. Ongoing decisions about what stays and what goes are part of a larger transformation initiative that has the Army reviewing its force structure and cutting certain programs it deems no longer necessary for the kinds of wars the US military wants to be ready to fight should worse come to worst. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and Gen. James Rainey, the commanding general overseeing Army Futures Command, talked to Business Insider about some of what is getting axed and why. Driscoll pointed to the Robotic Combat Vehicle, or RCV, program, which launched in 2019 with the goal of integrating autonomous and remotely operated capabilities into the Army's ground systems. Three versions were initially planned — an expendable light variant, a durable medium variant, and a lethal heavy variant designed for combat against an enemy armored vehicle. But the development of the RCV hit snags. "We know we need autonomy, we know that we need the ability to move things in a way that is not controlled by human beings," Driscoll said. But the requirements the Army put together for it ended up making it just this "incredibly large, incredibly heavy, incredibly expensive, relatively exquisite tool," he said. By the time the Army went to purchase them, the threats to the RCV, like small, hostile drones, had grown substantially. In Ukraine, slow, heavy, expensive vehicles have been prime targets for cheap exploding drones. "It might have been there in the beginning and we got it wrong from the very beginning," he said, "but at a minimum, by the time it came due for us actually purchase a lot of these and get them into formations, it just no longer made sense anymore." He called the move to end the program "a hard decision." The Humvee, or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, is also being phased out. "It's 40 years old. It was useful in its time," Rainey said. "If you look at the ubiquitous sensing drones just in Ukraine and Russia, the survivability of a wheeled vehicle is very low." The Army also recently ended the M10 Booker Mobile Protected Firepower program just before it was set to go into full-rate production and after spending well over a billion dollars on the project. The decision was made in response to ongoing global conflicts "and in support of the strategic objectives outlined in the Army Transformation Initiative," according to a memo issued by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier this year. The memo outlined the focal points, timelines, and priorities of the Army going forward, including reducing and restructuring attack helicopter formations and augmenting them with unmanned aircraft, putting thousands of drones into the hands of soldiers, and focusing on the Indo-Pacific theater and China. The efforts in the directive are estimated to cost around $36 billion over the next five years and represent one of the largest Army overhauls since the end of the Cold War. Army officials have said it's designed to increase lethality and readiness in the service and is focused on the needs of individual warfighters. In the interview with BI, Driscoll and Rainey identified one platform that represents what it wants more of. "We have a requirements and acquisitions success story with the Infantry Squad Vehicles," Rainey said. The relatively new M1301 Infantry Squad Vehicle entered service in 2020. Rainey said that the platform was designed well and requirements were useful and thoughtful. "We went fast, but we iterated with soldiers continually through the process. We ended up with a very useful vehicle," he said. Driscoll said that in conversations with soldiers, the Army learned that they wanted a vehicle to prioritize speed and all-terrain driving over protection. It speaks to, the service secretary said, the Army "trying to build a menu of offensive and defensive solutions." For some missions, something like the Infantry Squad Vehicle will be more effective. And for others, a heavier, more armored platform could still be valuable and available. Much of what Driscoll and others say they're focused on comes out of efforts to be smarter and more cost-effective in Army purchases. "We feel a large enough existential threat, and it is important enough that we can no longer make decisions simply based off where jobs might exist or what private companies may benefit from our decisions," he said. "Instead, we have to optimize for soldier lethality in the fight ahead." Lethality is a guiding principle for the US Department of Defense under Hegseth and the Trump administration. It was a core objective for the Biden administration and first Trump one, as well as past administrations, though the interpretations were different. Generally, it serves as a subjective measuring stick for DoD programs and projects, the aim being to be able to effectively defeat an enemy. Right now, that long-standing Pentagon buzzword is the deciding factor for what the Army and other services prioritize.
