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Larkin, Stars and Stripes
The U.S.

Russia’s war in Ukraine and the possibility of Donald Trump winning a second term in office have made it increasingly urgent to refine the substance of the hitherto still mostly declaratory strategic partnership between the European Union and NATO. The outcomes of the recent NATO summit in Washington, DC, concerning the alliance’s cooperation with the European Union, were a missed chance and did not move the relationship forward.

Life after the birth of our daughter was quite a whirlwind. We set out on our move from the Chicago area to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with a 4-week-old, which I would not recommend if you have the option. In true military fashion, our door-to-door move turned into nearly a month without our household goods. We bought a sleeper sofa because life with a newborn was crazy enough that we needed something resembling a real bed for all the overnight feedings. Plus with the little sleep we were getting, we wanted it to be the best sleep we could get and the floor just wasn’t cutting it.

Just ahead, intriguingly, of the November elections, the U.S. military has granted itself permission to unleash “lethal force” on the civilian population in cases of “national security” emergency.
Via GreenMedInfo (emphasis added):

“As the U.S. prepares for one of the most controversial and closely watched elections in its history, a concerning update to DoD Directive 5240.01 has quietly been put into effect.

The Army has authorized a new badge for soldiers who have earned both the Combat Infantryman Badge, or CIB, and an Expert Infantryman Badge, or EIB, the Army’s top enlisted leader announced on Tuesday. An equivalent top badge will be rolled out for combat veterans who also hold Expert Field Medical and Expert Soldier awards.
Dubbed the Master Combat Badge, the new decoration will signify that soldiers have received both a combat award and an expert badge for their military occupational specialty, Sergeant Major of the Army Michael R. Weimer said during the Association of the U.S.

The Army’s in-development “comprehensive brain health strategy” will include elements that address anomalous health incidents and symptoms — such as those associated with the mysterious Havana Syndrome — that are harming military personnel.
Senior defense officials provided new information about those plans and the overarching vision behind that new strategy during a media roundtable with a small group of reporters at the annual AUSA conference on Tuesday.

The Army is planning to begin outfitting divisions and more brigades with new equipment, a move that would significantly expand its so-called transforming-in-contact concept.
Transforming-in-contact, a key initiative championed by Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, envisions using deployments and troop rotations to test new equipment — mainly commercial off-the-shelf gear — that could allow units to be more responsive on a dynamic battlefield.

Them: “Oh you are a military spouse? You must volunteer a lot.”
Me: “Yes, yes I do.”
Military spouse life means that there is this made-up rule that states that we should all volunteer in our community to make it great. The expectation that military spouses spend their time volunteering in some way is 100% true. As a new military spouse the advice received from seasoned spouses was to use my time to volunteer to widen my circles to connection and networking.

Army Cyber Command’s newly established Theater Information Advantage Detachment will be primarily focused on global threats that U.S. forces are facing in the information space.
The unit is one of three such organizations in the service. Officials recently approved growth for the TIADs, which are 65-person teams focused on synchronizing information capabilities at the theater level. While the U.S. Army Pacific and the U.S. Army Europe and Africa TIADs will be focused on their respective regions, Army Cyber’s will be trans-regional.

The top enlisted leader for the Army announced that the service is coming out with a new PT uniform.
“We’re redesigning the Army PTs,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael R. Weimer said during the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, adding that the new design will look different from what soldiers have worn in the past.
No information was immediately available about what the new PT gear design will look like.

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