Latest news with #Paparo
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Vets, community honor fallen service members
RELATED PHOTO GALLERY Veterans and community members gathered across the islands Monday to remember fallen service members in Memorial Day commemoration events. At the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, where about 61, 000 people are buried, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blan giardi told an audience of veterans, current service members, military families and diplomats that the cemetery is 'a place where history lives in silence and each grave marker tells a story.' Blangiardi said people come to Hawaii from across the world to see sites like Punchbowl, the USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri, telling the crowd, 'Here on Oahu we are privileged to be surrounded by historic sites like this one, some of the most important in our nation's history, ' but that 'many of us pass by them every single day without truly seeing them. Our promise today is to ensure the significance of these historic places and the souls they commemorate are never forgotten, to ensure that future generations understand the cost of freedom and the weight of sacrifice.' This year the U.S. military is marking the 250th anniversaries of the founding of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps—their roots go back to the American Revolution and predate the nation itself. Adm. Samuel Paparo, who leads all U.S. troops across the Pacific from Camp Smith, told the crowd, 'If we reflect on those 250 years, that represents 1.3 million Americans who gave the ultimate sacrifice in battle, and another 1.5 million deaths of people training in dangerous environments to do the same while still wearing the uniform.' Paparo read off the names of several service members with ties to Hawaii who died overseas in combat and those who lost their lives in training accidents, and noted family members who were in attendance at the ceremony at Punchbowl. Among the names were Cpl. Toby Olson, a Mililani High School graduate who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2007 ; Sgt. Eugene Williams, who lost his life to a suicide bomber near the Iraqi city of Najaf in 2003 at the age of 24 serving with the Schofield Barracks-based 25th Infantry Division ; and Marine Cpl. Jonathan Faircloth, who died in a 2011 helicopter crash in Kaneohe Bay at age 22. 'The greatest memorial we can build is not made of granite ; it's a nation that remains worthy of their value, ' Paparo said. 'Let us build it.' Blangiardi said, 'America's gold star families remind us the fallen heroes we are gathered to remember were sons and daughters, parents, siblings, husbands and wives. In life the brave men and women who died protecting our country and our freedom were someone's entire world.' The U.S. military has been sending troops to conflict zones continuously since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In 2024 eight Hawaii National Guard soldiers deployed to West Africa in support of Operation Juniper Shield, a long-running counterterrorism mission in the region, to support base defense operations. As recently as August, seven American troops were injured in Iraq during a raid in which they and Iraqi forces killed 15 members of the Islamic State militant group. Last week Adm. James Kilby, the Navy's acting chief of naval operations, said the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group launched the 'largest airstrike in the history of the world ' from an aircraft carrier on militants in Somalia in February. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has been ramping up defense spending in Hawaii and the Pacific as tensions have escalated between China and its neighbors, leading to clashes in the South China Sea, a critical waterway that more than a third of global trade travels through. Beijing has claimed the entire waterway as its exclusive sovereign territory over the objections of neighboring countries. Chinese forces have built bases on disputed islands and reefs and attacked fishermen and other maritime workers, especially in waters claimed by the Philippines. Marines and soldiers from Hawaii-based units are in the Philippines training with Filipino troops as tensions have continue to mount. During the recently completed Exercise Balikatan, members of the Kaneohe-based 3rd Littoral Regiment brought new anti-ship missiles for the first time to the Philippines' Batanes islands just south of Taiwan.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Army task forces ‘centerpiece' for deterring China: INDOPACOM boss
The head of the largest U.S. combatant command praised the fires capabilities that the Army's multidomain task forces bring to a potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific region. The service's task forces are the 'centerpiece' of how the joint force denies Chinese military access to key areas, said Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Tuesday at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual Land Forces Pacific conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. Paparo said such units, combined with the Army's firepower, enable land forces to contribute fires that counter China's military aggression in the region. Multidomain task forces are growing and shaping exercises overseas 'We're facing a profoundly consequential moment here in the Indo-Pacific and, accordingly, the world,' Paparo said. In a call with media before the event, Army Gen. Ronald Clark, head of U.S. Army Pacific, further framed the use of the task forces. 'What we have developed over time through the joint force is the capability to flip the script if you will that land forces can provide access to air and maritime capabilities on the land,' Clark said. Units such as the multidomain task force, or MDTF, of which the Army has two operational in the region and is building a third, are 'not easily targetable,' dispersed, easy to camouflage and dominate in time and space for targeting, Clark said. Paparo pointed specifically to the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, and its recent use in the Valiant Shield military exercise in Palau. PrSM's long-range strike capability, coupled with midrange strike capabilities from maritime assets such as the Tomahawk cruise missile and long-range hypersonic weapons at the strategic layer, creates a deterrence posture across the region. PrSM is being used to give even tactical units a beyond 500-kilometer strike, putting them in the strategic fires ranges, Army Times previously reported. Lockheed Martin is currently fielding the Increment 1 version of the PrSM, which has a range of at least 500 kilometers, according to the company. Increment 2 is a land-based, anti-ship seeker. Increment 3 adds lethal payload options, while Increment 4 seeks to push existing ranges beyond 1,000 kilometers. Meanwhile, the Hawaii-based 3rd MDTF is slated to receive a Typhon midrange missile launcher battery, Defense News reported in March. The Lockheed Martin-built system, consisting of a vertical launcher that uses the Navy's Raytheon-built Standard Missile-6 and Tomahawk missiles, can strike targets between 500 to 2,000 kilometers. The system has a battery operations center, four launchers, prime movers and modified trailers. The 3rd MDTF plans to add hundreds of soldiers to the formation over the next 18 months as it seeks to fill the 2,000-soldier formation. The ultimate configuration will include a headquarters and four battalions, including a long-range precision fires battalion and a sustainment battalion, Defense News previously reported.
Perth Now
14-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Huge change to popular boot scootin' bar in Fremantle
Fremantle's legendary line-dancing locale has plans to expand into a second storey that could enable an extra 300 boot scooters to boogie inside and take the bar's lengthy Saturday night entry line off the street. Honky Tonk Blues has brought a surge of cowboy hats to Fremantle's west end precinct since it opened in July 2023 and is on the brink of welcoming more. 'Our line goes all the way down the street on a Saturday and is there from 6pm until midnight,' co-owner Joshua Paparo said. Your local paper, whenever you want it. 'If we used the upstairs space, which we are already renting, we could get those people off the street and into the building, it would very much be servicing a demand that we have.' Mr Paparo said the first-floor expansion could also create space for private functions and additional line-dancing classes. Lit up like the neon lights of Texas, the bar inside the former Wyola RSL hall on High Street breathes a little bit of life from the southern States of the US. Lit up like the neon lights of Texas, the bar inside the former Wyola RSL hall on High Street breathes a little bit of life from the southern States of the US. Credit: Supplied The 1903-built heritage building was dormant for seven years before the brains behind Fremantle's Jamaican rum bar Jungle Bird, Mr Paparo and Ben Bell, opened the country hotspot with Elvin Hang. City of Fremantle officers backed Honky Tonk's first-floor expansion and recommended councillors approve it at Wednesday's council meeting, even though a number of the venue's residential neighbours have raised concerns about noise. One of the conditions Fremantle officers recommended was insulation for the first-floor ceiling and double-glazed windows to reduce additional noise. 'I completely expect there to be people who complain about noise,' Mr Paparo said. 'There are more and more residents in Fremantle these days but it's a two-way street. If you decide to live in an entertainment precinct, you have to expect some sort of noise. 'We are in the entertainment precinct of Fremantle but we don't want to abuse that fact ... we do our best at all times to be good neighbours. Honky Tonk co-owners Ben Bell and Joshua Paparo with venue manager Guia Manili. Credit: Kelsey Reid / The West Australian 'Some people have taken the view that if there is any noise in the area the blame gets thrown our way, but I have a great relationship with a number of neighbours and they call my mobile and we show them video footage of what's happening in our venue and they often learn the ruckus isn't us.' Noise investigations at Honky Tonk came just weeks after another Fremantle live music venue, Freo Social, was threatened with action by developers of a neighbouring block for being too loud. Industry lobby group West Australian Music executive officer Owen Whittle said he is concerned people are failing to see the positive impact of live music in Fremantle. 'Honky Tonk has had new residential development go up within centimetres and this is a concern,' Mr Whittle said. 'What they have been doing is platforming a significant amount of live music, giving artists more opportunity and if this was taken away you would see a sharp drop in country musicians. 'With respect to residents and the balance that needs to occur, you wouldn't see residents move next door to a school and complain about kids. 'These venues give Freo vibrancy, they are what attracts tourism and people, closing them would leave it a hollow place with no life.'
American Military News
10-05-2025
- Politics
- American Military News
US eyes Aleutian Military Revival as Russia, China expand operations near Alaska
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission. In October 2024, the US Coast Guard spotted two Chinese maritime enforcement vessels operating alongside a pair of Russian border patrol boats as they transited the Bering Sea, just kilometers from Alaskan waters. It was the third consecutive year that a joint Russian-Chinese military convoy sailed through the strategic waterway. A year earlier, the two nations staged joint naval exercises in the region with 11 ships — a clear signal of their growing military cooperation near US territory. The October transit, which China said continued through the Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean, came less than three months after the first joint flight of Chinese and Russian strategic bombers over the Bering Sea. The uptick in Russian and Chinese activity near Alaska — home to America's largest fleet of advanced fighter jets and a cornerstone of its missile defense architecture –is fueling calls to reestablish Cold War-era military infrastructure on the Aleutian Islands. Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 10 that he supports reopening the shuttered naval facility on Adak Island and upgrading Eareckson Air Station on Shemya, the westernmost outpost of the chain. Facilities on Adak and Shemya would give the United States 'time and distance on any force capability that is looking to penetrate' American waters or airspace, Paparo said. Reactivating Adak would allow the United States to increase maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft (MPRA) coverage in the region by a factor of 10, he told lawmakers. A Gateway To The Arctic The Aleutian chain, made up of 14 large volcanic islands and 55 smaller ones, stretches more than 1,600 kilometers from the Alaskan mainland toward Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. The islands sit astride the great circle routes, the shortest paths between Asia and North America, and serve as a gateway to both the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea. Kamchatka — 800 kilometers west of Shemya — is home to Russia's Pacific submarine fleet and squadrons of long-range fighters. Paparo described Russia's Pacific Fleet as a 'growth enterprise' that now operates 'frequently' along the great circle routes. General Gregory Guillot, commander of the US Northern Command, testified in February before a Senate committee that reviving Adak could provide important 'maritime and air access.' The Pentagon is currently evaluating future uses for Adak, which features a deep-water port with three piers, two 7,000-foot (2,100-meter) runways, multiple hangars, de-icing platforms, and one of the largest bulk fuel storage facilities in the United States. During the Cold War, Adak served as the primary anti-submarine warfare base in the Pacific, with P-3 Orions regularly patrolling the surrounding waters. The island also stored B57 nuclear depth bombs designed to detonate underwater and destroy enemy submarines. At its peak, the island was home to 6,000 military personnel and their families. The base was officially closed in 1997. Today, fewer than 200 people live on the island. Alaska Airlines operates a single commercial route to Adak using Boeing 737s. Eareckson Air Station on Shemya hosts a 10,000-foot (3,000-meter) runway and hangars. Shemya is also home to the Cobra Dane radar system — an advanced sensor used to track ballistic missile launches and satellites. The air station also serves as an emergency diversion airport for civilian flights crossing the North Pacific. 'A Real Challenge' US forces in September carried out an exercise on Shemya in response to the joint Russia-China bomber flight. 'Every time a state vessel or aircraft enters the area, it's collecting information,' said Troy Bouffard, an Arctic security expert at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 'The only way to respond is to intercept and push them out.' 'This is a real challenge,' he added. 'And places like Adak provide outstanding positions to base the assets needed to meet it.' Adak, which will be part of Indo-Pacific Command's Northern Edge exercise in August, could host P-8A Poseidon aircraft — America's most advanced maritime patrol aircraft and the successor to the P-3. Based on the Boeing 737 airframe, the P-8 is designed to detect and destroy both surface ships and submarines. The P-8 plays a central role in US and allied anti-submarine warfare. The US resumed P-8 flights from its airbase at Keflavik, Iceland, in 2018 amid renewed Russian activity near the GIUK Gap, a key maritime chokepoint into the Atlantic. Allies including Canada, Germany, and Norway have announced plans to purchase the aircraft to replace their P-3s. Norway reversed plans to close an Arctic air station after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and will now use it for maritime drone flights that complement the P-8s. Shortest Missile Flight Path To The US Russia's Pacific Fleet is expected to grow to 45 modernized warships by the early 2030s, including 19 submarines. Some of its newest vessels are armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles, which can reach speeds over Mach 5 and strike targets hundreds of kilometers away. Meanwhile, China is expanding the world's largest navy by hull count. The Congressional Research Service estimates its fleet could grow from 370 to 435 ships by 2030. Intelligence reports suggest Russia is helping China reduce the acoustic signatures of its submarines — critical to making them harder for US forces to track. Experts warn that, if Chinese nuclear-armed submarines reach the Arctic, it would significantly enhance Beijing's second-strike capability against the United States. The shortest missile flight path to the continental US is over the Arctic. Russia's air presence in the Bering and Arctic regions is also growing. A senior Alaskan commander told reporters in 2021 that US intercepts of Russian aircraft near or inside the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone had reached a post-Soviet high. The spike coincides with Moscow's rapid expansion and renovation of dozens of Arctic military installations, including airfields and radar sites. In the event of a reopening, the United States is not expected to station many military personnel on the islands, which are renowned for their high winds, dense fog, persistent overcast skies, and freezing temperatures. A 1937 Naval War College assessment described them as having 'some of the worst weather in the world.' Imperial Japan captured two of the islands in June 1942, marking only the second time in US history that its territory had been seized by a foreign adversary. Though US forces recaptured the islands, the 14-month Aleutian Campaign cost 225 American aircraft, most lost to the region's extreme weather.
The Irish Sun
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
US military stages biggest EVER ‘elephant walk' with supersonic jets, helicopters & drones in show of force to China
THE US has staged its biggest military attack formation ever in the South China Sea region - showcasing supersonic stealth jets, attack helicopters and military drones. The show of power, dubbed "Elephant Walk", was formed using 53 US military aircraft and was put up in a display at th e US military base in Kadena Air Base in Okinawa , Japan. Advertisement 8 U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps, along with U.S. Army Patriot missile batteries line up on the runway for an elephant walk Credit: Public Affairs Journeyman / Snr Airman Tyley Meyer 8 The show of power, dubbed "Elephant Walk", was formed using 53 US military aircraft Credit: Public Affairs Journeyman / Snr Airman Tyley Meyer 8 Pictures of the formation, which was put up just 400miles off the coast of China, captured multiple They were put behind Attack drones and naval aircraft were a part of the formation, while larger aircraft were staged behind the fighter jets' formation. The military spectacle featured a wide array of advanced military aircraft, including 24 US Air Force F-35As, eight U.S. Air Force F-15Es, six HH-60 Jolly Green IIs choppers. Advertisement Two MQ-9 Reapers, two MC-130J Commando IIS and six KC-135 Stratotankers were also present. The formation was guarded by two US Army MIM-104 Patriot air defence systems. US military's 18th Wing Command Chief Master Sergeant Brandon Wolfgang said: An elephant walk like this sends a message you can't ignore—it shows our Airmen, allies, and adversaries that we're united, capable, and ready. Meanwhile, 18th Wing Commander Brigadier General Nicholas Evans said the Air Force's ability to 'project airpower' alongside its allies 'demonstrates our commitment to the alliance with Japan and to maintaining stability across the Indo-Pacific.' Advertisement Most read in The US Sun The military formation is understood to be one of the largest in recent history. In 2020, a 52-aircraft formation was put up for display at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. China's Taiwan invasion plan could trigger WW3 if US gets involved, expert warns It comes after a top US admiral has warned that The chilling warning comes amid fears that Advertisement Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Paparo, raised the alarm at the McCain Institute's annual Sedona Forum in The admiral said that while the US would defeat Paparo said: 'The But he added: 'Our trajectory on . . . really every force element that is salient is a bad trajectory.' Advertisement China has ramped up its production of weapons including warships and submarines - and the US doesn't seem to be able to keep up. According to Paparo, for every 1.8 warships made in the US each year China builds an impressive six. 8 China's aircraft carrier Liaoning takes part in a military drill Credit: Reuters 8 China's Nanchang Q-5 'Fantans' fighter jets Credit: Alamy Advertisement 8 And for every 1.4 submarines made in the US, it builds two. The warning comes as China continues to expand its military exercises around Taiwan, as fears of an invasion mount. Paparo fuelled fears of an attack, saying that Advertisement This comes as Taiwan reported at least 19 Chinese warships as well as the large Shandong aircraft carrier patrolling nearby last month. When asked whether the US would support military intervention in Taiwan, he responded: 'A lesson in But if China continues to ramp up its weapons production the US may not be able to protect the island. Why does China want to invade Taiwan? TAIWAN insists it is an independent nation after splitting from mainland China amid civil war in 1949. But China claims Taiwan remains a part of its territory with which it must eventually be reunified - and has not ruled out the use of force to take the island and place it under Beijing's control. The island, which is roughly 100 miles from the coast of south-east China, sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders. Taiwan sits in the so-called "first island chain", which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to Washington's foreign policy in the region. This also puts it in an ideal situation to slow a Chinese attack on the West. And with tensions between the two nations high, Taiwan is likely to aid China's enemy if it means keeping its independence. Taiwan's economy is another factor in China's desperation to reclaim the land. If China takes the island, it could be freer to project power in the western Pacific and rival the US, thanks to much of the world's electronics being made in Taiwan. This would allow Beijing to have control over an industry that drives the global economy. China insists that its intentions are peaceful, but President Xi Jinping has also used threats towards the small island nation. And China may have more weapons than previously thought. Advertisement The shocking pictures showed six nuke boats massed at a Chinese base. These included two of the deadly Type 091 submarines, two Type 093A and one chillingly unidentified submarine. The base - dubbed the First Submarine Base - is located 18km east of Qingdao in the Yellow Sea, meaning there's easy access to the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan. Advertisement Read more on the Irish Sun Australian independent naval analyst Alex Luck posted the shocking images to X. In the post, he said that five nuclear-powered subs seen on the base were conventionally armed. 8 Tensions between China and neighbouring Taiwan have soared in recent years as the threat of war looms Credit: Getty 8 Taiwanese tanks parade the streets in Taipei Credit: AFP Advertisement
