Female Army Base Commander Suspended After Trump, Hegseth Portraits Flipped

PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – The Army suspended a Fort McCoy, Wisconsin training base’s first female commander after discovering portraits of President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth had been flipped around to face a wall.

This seems like a symptom of a far bigger problem. DOD responded:

WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE

An investigation is now ongoing. While not officially accused of any wrongdoing, the rotund Hispanic Army intelligence colonel was derided online as an obese DEI activist who used the base to promote leftist ideology.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense stories ending the week from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEFING – the PDB:    

NATIONAL SECURITY

VP Vance says he has ‘100 percent confidence’ in Hegseth following new Signal chat accusation.

PENTAGON WOKE WATCH

Trump Justice Department urged a federal appellate court in Washington to allow DOD to implement a ban on ‘transgender’ people. The government plans to take the issue to the Supreme Court.

Parents of soldier who died by suicide sue over Army’s actions after he refused COVID-19 shot, saying he faced months of threats, retaliation and bullying after objecting to the vaccine.

POLITICS

The VA launched a department-wide investigation into allegations of anti-Christian bias, asking employees to report fellow staffers for any “informal policies, procedures, or unofficial understandings hostile to Christian views.”

DOD has launched a review of “all 72 active major defense acquisitions programs” to determine changes or cancellations that could be made based on Trump’s recent order to transform how the government buys equipment and services.

A dozen Democrat-led states sued the Trump administration in the US Court of International Trade in New York to stop its tariff policy, saying it is unlawful and has brought chaos to the US economy.

Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar was set to address a meeting at Yale University, a day after being honored at a dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

US POWER OVERSEAS

Marines in Japan and the US have been testing logistics supply drones inspired by drug-smuggling narco subs in recent exercises.

A dozen F-16s from Misawa Air Base, Japan are joining back-to-back exercises across the Philippines’ vast archipelago, including the northernmost major island less than 200 miles from Taiwan.

To protect undersea fiber-optic cables in the Middle East, the US needs a new hub. The cables serve as the economic and communications backbone of much of the civilian world and are vital for military operations.

CHINA THREAT

China is beginning to restrict exports of rare-earth minerals crucial to the US military—a long-warned-of vulnerability that is becoming reality.

Chinese aircraft carrier CNS Shandong (17) deployed again to the Philippine Sea, marking the second time this month.

Imagery from ongoing flight testing of China’s two new next-generation fighter designs is offering new insights into the aircraft.

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

During a very turbulent day in which the Trump team saw its plans to end the war in Ukraine sputter, VP JD Vance said Kyiv would have to give up territory now held by Russia in any such deal. He added that it would have to accept the annexation of Crimea by Russia and a prohibition on joining NATO.

French fighters are among the aircraft taking part in a power-projection exercise including operations over Sweden, which joined NATO a little over a year ago.

Several moves by the three-month-old Trump team have—at last—catalyzed European action toward gaining strategic autonomy and defense capabilities. But can leaders keep citizens on board?

IRAN THREAT/MIDEAST

An Iranian gas mogul this week became the latest target of US sanctions against Tehran’s petroleum networks, which generate vast revenue for funding attacks by Middle East terror groups.

Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen have proven to have an air defense arsenal that presents real threats, as evidenced by growing number of shootdowns of US MQ-9 Reaper drones.

NORTH KOREA THREAT

South Korea resumes live-fire training at artillery range near northern border at a firing range in Paju, the first such drill there since the two Koreas suspended a deconfliction agreement last year.

SPACE THREAT

The Space Guardian’s rifle: Why mission-essential space support cannot be outsourced. In matters of national defense and credible deterrence, some capabilities are simply too vital to outsource.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

The UAE has signed a deal with Raytheon to co-produce the Coyote counter-unmanned aerial interceptor systems in the Emirates.

In a major milestone of the trilateral AUKUS agreement, 8 enlisted sailors and 5 officers of the Royal Australian Navy graduated last week from the US Navy’s Nuclear Power Training Unit, now fully trained to use US nuclear attack subs.

Spain launches $12B defense plan to meet NATO’s 2% GDP spending target, ending decades of underfunding its armed forces and amid criticism by Trump.

The UK’s Challenger 3 tank program has reached a key production milestone, with four prototype tanks already delivered and another four being built.

What is The Resistance Front, the group claiming the deadliest attack on Indian-administered Kashmir’s tourists in decades?

US MILITARY

The Army has reconfigured its fitness test, dropping the ball throw, making the test sex-neutral for combat arms and raising the minimum required score for 21 combat-focused jobs.

Army looks at vibrating seats and ‘3-D sound’ to keep drone operators on target. Researchers plan to do a demo this fall with audio and ‘touch’ cues for “overloaded” drone operators.

For the 7^th year in a row, the Army has met or exceeded its retention goal. This time, nearly six months ahead of schedule.

Navy Secretary John Phelan said he’s rescinding a Biden Navy plan focused on combating climate change.

Air Force C-17 refuels off a commercial tanker for first time in Air Mobility Command (AMC) history.

The Air Force is still planning a nuclear microreactor in Alaska. And by the end of this decade, it could have up to nine bases be self-sufficient with nuke power as part of an effort to unplug from local power grids and satisfy a growing demand for secure, reliable power protected from cyberattacks and natural disasters.

A new way to make large ultrathin infrared sensors that don’t need cryogenic cooling using a nano-material breakthrough could radically change night vision for the military or even autonomous vehicles.

END of PDB

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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