Latest news with #UnitedStatesArmy
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
City of Panama City hosting 'This We'll Defend' honoring 250th Anniversary of U.S Army
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – The City of Panama City is proud to announce the celebration of patriotism, history, and community at 'This We'll Defend,' on Saturday, June 14. The milestone event will take place in Downtown Panama City, at Marina 5, Harrison Avenue, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States Army. It will pay tribute to the bravery, sacrifice, and service of our nation's service members from all branches, past and present. In collaboration with local military bases and community partners, this day will feature meaningful ceremonies, live entertainment, and family-friendly fun for all ages. Gulf Coast Jam officials optimistic amid weather delays Locals can expect portions of W. Government St., 4th St., E. Beach Dr., and other surrounding streets to be closed from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. for the 5K. Tarpon Dock Drawbridge will be closed from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Marina T-Dock will be closed from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. For the full schedule of events and to register for activities, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
US General warns America's military capabilities will be 'challenged' if a war breaks out, in stark warning to Anthony Albanese after he dismissed ASPI report
The United States' military and its ability to defend not only itself but its allies has been called into question, while Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been forced to address his government's attitude towards defence. General Jack Keane, who served as the Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1999 to 2003, warned the US' military capabilities are not what they used to be and that it could be significantly challenged as the threat of war lingers. He also warned of the threat of war in the Indo-Pacific region and that the likes of China, North Korea, Russia and Iran have come together to form the "most significant and serious threat to the United States' interest" and its allies since the Second World War. General Keane recalled the 2022 Congressional Commission on the National Defence Strategy, which he contributed to, and how it concluded the US army and allies in the region would be "challenged" to win a war against China as its military capabilities currently stand. "After two years of examination, (we found) that based on current military capability... U.S. Military capability and allies in the region, that we would be challenged to win a war against China in the near term because of the erosion of US military capability," he told Sky News' The Bolt Report on Thursday. "Even though we're earnestly trying to repair that, we would be challenged to win and indeed, we could lose. "We have to move with a sense of urgency to create the kind of deterrence that we need. We're trying to prevent a war from happening. (Chinese) President Xi has told his military leaders, be prepared by 2027, and he has been threatening war every single year as well." In a statement of hope for the future though, General Keane said President Donald Trump's $150 billion pledge for defence would be "very significant" in solving glaring holes in America's military. "(It could) solve the fact that we don't have all the missiles we should have. We don't know all the long range weapon systems, all the air defence systems and others," he said. Earlier on Thursday, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) warned that the government risks falling behind in its military preparedness amid rising global threats. In the report, its author and former home affairs deputy secretary Mark Ablong concluded "the failure of this year's budget to meet that responsibility will make all Australians less secure". "Without urgent, coordinated and well resourced responses to those challenges, Australia risks a brittle and hollowed defence force, diminished industrial sovereignty, and compromised national security in a volatile Indo Pacific region." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded to the report but brushed off the concerns, maintaining his government had invested in the department more than adequately. "Well, that's what they do, isn't it, ASPI? I mean, seriously, they need to… have a look at themselves and the way they conduct themselves in debates," Mr Albanese told ABC Radio Brisbane. "We've had a defence strategic review. We've got considerable additional investment going into defence — $10 billion. "ASPI regularly produce these sort of reports, you know, run by people who have been in a position to make a difference in the past as part of former governments."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Stefanik asks Army to fast-track repairs to Fort Drum's Wheeler-Sack Airfield
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (WWTI) – North country congresswoman Elise Stefanik is urging United States Army officials to fast-track approval for repairs to Fort Drum's Wheeler-Sack Airfield. In an announcement from Stefanik's office, the representative for New York's 21st congressional district said that she sent a formal request to fast-track $70 million in funding to make critical repairs. Fort Drum museum makes military history accessible, relevant to soldiers, community Stefanik asked Army leadership to reallocate the 2027 Army Facilities Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization funds into the 2026 fiscal year. This move would speed up work on projects slated for the 2027 fiscal year. Reallocation of the funds would allow the base to address issues with Wheeler-Sack's power system according to the announcement. The functionality of this airfield is essential to maintaining the rapid deployment capabilities and operational readiness of the division. However, the current condition of the airfield's electric power system is rapidly deteriorating. This poses an unacceptable risk to flight operations, training, and Army support for U.S. power projection in the near-term. United States Congressperson Elise Stefanik Stefanik added 'The functionality of this airfield is essential to maintaining the rapid deployment capabilities and operational readiness of the division,' Stefanik said. 'However, the current condition of the airfield's electric power system is rapidly deteriorating. This poses an unacceptable risk to flight operations, training, and Army support for U.S. power projection in the near-term.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Corrupter-in-Chief
WHEN DONALD TRUMP TRIED to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election, he lacked one crucial asset: the military. The armed forces stayed out of the fight, putting loyalty to the Constitution above loyalty to the president. In his second term, Trump is working to rectify that mistake. He's not just purging generals and installing his own loyalists. He's also encouraging rank-and-file service members to side with him against anyone who stands in his way, including the courts. Two weeks ago, Trump spoke to American troops at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Not once did he thank them for serving the United States. Instead, he thanked them for supporting him politically. 'Nobody [has] been stronger than the military in terms of backing us' in 'three unbelievable campaigns,' he boasted. 'I just want to thank you all very much.' Trump did acknowledge one service member for an act of bravery. The hero, he explained, was an Air Force Reserve master sergeant who 'attended the rally where an assassin tried to take my life' and 'raced to direct law enforcement toward the sniper's perch.' This noble deed—attending a Trump rally and protecting Trump—was the only physical act for which Trump thanked anyone in uniform. The president joked that one of the military's new planes was a tribute to him. 'Our air force will soon have the world's first and only sixth-generation fighter jet, the F-47,' he noted. 'Why did they name it 47?' he asked, smirking. 'That was a nice thing.' Share Trump also joked about running for a third term. 'We'll have to think about that,' he told the troops. He explained to them, in the manner of a bro soliciting laughter from his buddies, why he loved to talk about running again: 'We're driving the left crazy.' This dig at the American left was an implicit move to enlist service members in domestic politics, even—in the case of a proposed third term—to the point of defying the Constitution. And in case the troops weren't clear about whom they should regard as the enemy, Trump added that Joe Biden and his administration were 'evil, bad people.' Trump even claimed that 'we won three elections,' including his defeat in 2020. This was a blunt, false allegation that Democrats had stolen that election—the only recent presidential contest they had officially won—and a signal that if Republicans were to lose the next election, the military should view the outcome as fraudulent. All this he said openly on a U.S. military base in front of uniformed service members who had sworn to 'support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.' Keep up with all our articles, newsletters, podcasts, and livestreams—and decide which ones show up in your inbox: LAST FRIDAY, A WEEK AFTER his speech in Qatar, Trump announced plans for a military parade in Washington, D.C. On Truth Social, he declared, 'We will be hosting a magnificent Parade to honor the United States Army's 250th Birthday, on Saturday, June 14th.' But that wasn't the only reason he gave for picking June 14. 'It's Flag Day,' he explained in a May 2 interview on Meet the Press. And also: 'My birthday happens to be on Flag Day.' Then, on Saturday, Trump gave a commencement address at West Point. He told the graduating cadets that 'the military's job' was not 'to spread democracy to everybody around the world.' What was the military's job? On Meet the Press, he discussed two possible targets: Canada and Greenland. Kristen Welker: Would you rule out military force to take Canada? Trump: Well, I think we're not going to ever get to that point. It could happen. Something could happen with Greenland. . . . Welker: You are not ruling out military force to take Greenland one day? Trump: I don't rule it out. I don't say I'm going to do it, but I don't rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly. But Trump's principal focus was at home. He invited the West Point graduates, like the troops in Qatar, to view his domestic opponents as an adversary. 'They don't like using the word 'liberal' anymore,' he told the cadets. 'That's why I call them liberal.' Henceforth, said the president, a 'central purpose of our military' would be to 'protect our own borders' by fighting illegal immigration. 'On Day One, I deployed our military to the southern border,' he observed. That deployment has run into trouble in the courts. The Posse Comitatus Act, for example, forbids any use of the armed forces to conduct arrests on American soil unless it's 'expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress.' But Trump had an answer to any judge who stood in his way. 'Hopefully, the courts will allow us to continue,' he told the cadets. The courts should yield to him, he explained, because 'we won the popular vote by millions of votes. . . . We had a great mandate, and it gives us the right to do what we want to do to make our country great again.' The right to do what we want to do. That sounded like an invitation to stand with Trump in any confrontation with the judiciary. And if the military were to stand with Trump, the courts would be powerless. JD Vance made that point to Trump in a podcast four years ago: 'When the courts stop you, stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did, and say, 'The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.'' Share ON MONDAY, AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Trump addressed a military audience one more time. In the annual presidential speech honoring Memorial Day, he thanked God not for protecting America but for engineering Trump's political comeback. 'Look what I have. I have everything,' Trump told the crowd. It's 'amazing the way things work out. God did that.' As Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and others in the audience applauded, the president repeated: 'God did it.' Maybe, in the end, Trump won't run for a third term. Or if he runs and loses, maybe he'll acknowledge defeat. Or if he wins, but the Supreme Court says a third term is unconstitutional, maybe he'll accept that ruling. But if he doesn't acknowledge defeat—or if he doesn't accept the Court's decision—who's going to stop him? Join now
Tom's Guide
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Prime Video is about to lose one of the best war movies ever made — and it's just as good as ‘Saving Private Ryan'
'Saving Private Ryan' casts a pretty long shadow over the war movie genre. The 1998 Steven Spielberg classic is beloved and acclaimed for very good reason. It's fantastic. But did you know that in the very same year, another WWII movie hit theaters, and it's every bit as powerful and well-crafted. I'm, of course, talking about Terrence Malick's 'The Thin Red Line.' Released on Christmas Day 1998, it grossed less than a quarter of 'Saving Private Ryan's' total, and while it picked up seven Oscar nominations ('Ryan' scooped 11, winning five), it never managed to get out of such a heavy shadow. Over the years, it has remained a cult classic of the genre, and several acclaimed filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese, have lauded it among their favorite flicks of the decade. And right now, you can stream 'The Thin Red Line' on Prime Video in the U.S. Unfortunately, it won't be around much longer, as it's set to be removed from the streaming service on Saturday, May 31. Here's why you need to make time to stream it before then. Based on the novel of the same name by American author James Jones, who served in the United States Army during World War II, 'The Thin Red Line' is a fictional story, but inspired by Jones' own experience during the global conflict. Set in the Pacific Theatre, it centers on Charlie Company, a group of young soldiers deployed to the island of Guadalcanal to help secure key military locations in an effort to prevent the Japanese forces from advancing further. As the true horrors and the scale of the conflict dawn on the members of Charlie Company, their reasons for enlisting fade into the background, and their battle becomes one of survival. Tight friendships are formed on the frontline as they rely on each other, and they become a band of brothers. 'The Thin Red Line' stars Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, Jim Caviezel, Ben Chaplin, George Clooney, John Cusack, John C. Reilly, Woody Harrelson, Jared Leto and John Travolta. How's that for a star-filled cast? One of my favorite war movies of all time is 'All Quiet on the Western Front,' and in many ways, 'The Thin Red Line' feels cut from the same cloth. This is a war movie where conflict is not presented as some valiant battleground where action heroes are born, but instead as a truly traumatizing nightmare that sees good men pay the ultimate price to protect others. There's no denying that it's a heavy watch. Clocking in at almost three hours, it borders on relentlessly grim on occasion, and thanks to Malick's incredible direction, you always feel right there alongside the soldiers of Charlie Company facing these unbearable horrors on the frontlines. The score by the legendary Hans Zimmer plays a huge part in making each emotional moment truly connect. Each dramatic scene is appropriately matched with a musical cue that only heightens the impact. Even better, the cast performances measure up. There's no frontrunner in the bunch, like Tom Hanks in 'Private Ryan." Instead, the focus is on the ensemble with each character bringing something to the table and leaving a mark. As noted, Martin Scorsese ranked it as his second-favorite movie of the 1990s (the very under-seen 'Horse Thief' took the top spot), while legendary film critic Gene Siskel was seriously impressed as well. 'This is the finest contemporary war film I've seen, supplanting Steven Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan' from earlier this year, or even Oliver Stone's 'Platoon' from 1986,' Siskel said on an episode of 'Siskel & Ebert' and awarded it the show's highest rating, two thumbs up. I implore you to give 'The Thin Red Line' a watch this week before it leaves Prime Video at the end of the month. It may not offer hours of thrilling entertainment, but it's a masterful war movie made by a director at the peak of their powers. Just remember, you've only got until May 28 to watch. Watch "The Thin Red Line" on Prime Video until May 28
