Is the Defense Department Poisoning Our Troops?

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READ TODAY'S PDB BELOW:

POISONING US TROOPS

Navy investigation concludes ‘cascading,' preventable failures caused water crisis that sickened thousands. Two fuel spills at the Red Hill underground storage facility that triggered a water crisis and sickened thousands of Hawaii families were the result of a series of preventable and “cascading failures,” according to an exhaustive Navy report on the incidents that was released by the state Health Department on Thursday.

FIX THIS – ‘It's scary as hell' — PFAS exposure a ‘widespread' problem for troops, families nationwide. Some of the highest concentrations of PFAS chemicals in the country have been found at and around military bases.

NATIONAL SECURITY

NATO forging cyber response force amid growing Russian, Chinese threats. NATO will establish a program to quickly respond to cyberattacks and other malign activity in the digital domain, while pledging to boost Ukraine's cyber defenses amid relentless Russian attacks.

HOMELAND SECURITY

GOOD – 16 deported vets, family members temporarily allowed back into US in the last year, DHS says. Sixteen immigrant veterans and service members' relatives who were deported have been allowed back into the United States over the last year under a temporary status known as humanitarian parole, the Department of Homeland Security said this week.

CHINA THREAT

The US military is the only thing stopping China from swallowing Taiwan whole. As China steps up its rhetoric against Taiwan, lessons must be learned from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

RUSSIA THREAT

Russian forces leave Snake Island, keep up eastern assault. Russia on Thursday pulled back its forces from a strategically placed Black Sea island where they have faced relentless Ukrainian attacks, but kept up its push to encircle the last bulwark of Ukraine's resistance in the eastern province of Luhansk.

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 128. A Russian missile struck a multi-story apartment building near the Black Sea port of Odesa early on Friday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 30, Ukrainian officials have said. Ukraine said another missile hit two buildings in a recreational center in the region, killing at least three people and wounding another.

Many dead in Odessa apartment strike; Brittney Griner trial to begin. At least 18 people were killed and 31 injured when a Russian strike hit a residential building and a recreation center in the Odessa region, Ukrainian officials said early Friday. Two children were among the dead, the officials said. Russia more than doubled the rate of its missile strikes in the last two weeks, according to a Ukrainian general, who said many of the Russian munitions date back to the Soviet era and are inaccurate, resulting in high civilian casualties.

IRAN THREAT

Potential new stealth missile boat under construction in Iran. A new vessel has been observed under construction in Iran, according to satellite imagery.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

ANOTHER BIDEN FAIL – US delegation fails to secure release of Americans in Venezuela visit. A U.S. delegation led by President Joe Biden's chief hostage negotiator ended a visit to Venezuela on Thursday after failing to secure the release of any of the Americans detained there, U.S. officials said.

PRO-CHINA OR PRO-US? Marcos Jr. sworn in as Philippine leader in resurgence of ex-dictator's family. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. takes office with the Philippine economy ascendant, but he must balance relations between Washington and Beijing.

Africa's desperate hunger: Ukraine war pushes Somalia toward famine. More than 7 million Somalis face acute food insecurity, with almost 250,000 at risk of imminent starvation.

US MILITARY AND SPACE

Army drops high school education waivers after a week. Less than a week after it began, Army Recruiting Command has paused a controversial accessions program that allowed prospective soldiers with high qualification test scores to enlist without a high school diploma or equivalency, according to documents obtained by Army Times and an Army official.

FIGHTING IN A TYPHOON – Navy-Marine war game puts their climate action strategy to the test. The scenario involved a Navy amphibious ready group and an embarked Marine expeditionary group poised to conduct an exercise with a partner nation amid storms and a typhoon.

Space Flag becomes USSF's first joint accredited exercise. The Space Force's Space Flag exercise has been accredited by the Joint National Training Capability initiative, joining a small group of exercises across the Department of Defense that have received such a designation, the service announced June 28.

END of PDB

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