Author: Michael

Top U.S. military commanders have warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that sustaining the current level of operations against Iran is straining America’s ability to respond to threats elsewhere, according to a classified Pentagon assessment revealed by The Washington Post.

The news of this warning comes after U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged fire over the weekend for the first time in a month, raising the risk that a conflict already six months old could again intensify.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard welcomed USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) for a Planned Incremental Availability Jan. 11.

Warsaw, Poland – Between now and the last time Russian President Vladimir Putin and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping met, developments have not moved in a direction that favors Moscow’s position and national interests.

The question is what the former KGB Lt. Col. will ask for in the way of assistance when the two sit down to speak to one another today in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. The occasion is the annual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Treaty Organization (SCTO).

China’s Xi Jinping. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Warsaw, Poland – On 30 August, the Russian government extended a ban on the export of diesel fuel oil, marine fuel, and gas oil by producers. This will keep these bans in place past the originally planned end point at the end of August until 30 September. According to reports by Germany’s Deutsche Welle, this extension is designed to stabilize the Russian domestic petrol and other fuels market.

While this extension will add a month to the previous 31 August expiration date for fuel producers, a broader ban on several types of fuel exports will remain in effect until 31 January 2027.

On 28 August, a Ukrainian drone strike reportedly seriously damaged another one of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ (VKS) long-range Tupolev Tu-95MS bomber aircraft. After-action assessments indicate that the damage from the Ukrainian attack, which took off part of one wing of the bomber, is not repairable.

An image of the aircraft published on the Exilenova+ open-source intelligence X page shows the right wing is severed between the inboard and outboard Kuznetsov NK-12 counter-rotating turboprop engines.

Tu-95. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Tu-95 Bear Bomber.

This video describes the military situation in

For a long time, U.S. Army veteran Jose Vasquez endured his dental issues with a soldier’s mentality.
Vasquez experienced tinnitus while serving from 1991 to 1995, but his oral health didn’t begin to decline until after he left the military, he told We Are The Mighty recently. Vasquez managed his pain around his busy schedule. Sometimes, that meant taking an ibuprofen or two. Other times, Vasquez simply tolerated the discomfort.
“I thought I was a tough guy, and this was going to go away,” Vasquez said to WATM.

Iran’s Supreme Leader has called for unity at home and across the Middle East last weekend, as Tehran begins to strengthen its internal security apparatus amid growing concern that, after six months of war and rising inflation, the civilian population could begin new anti-government protests.

In a written message on Sunday, August 30, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei called on Muslim countries, particularly Iran’s Gulf neighbors, to unite against what he described as their “real enemy.

Navy Times
Maintenance delays for U.S.

James Holmes, 1945
The logic of the capital ship is impeccable.

USNI News