WEDNESDAY PDB – The Marines fought this in court – but lost. Jaskirat Singh graduated from the Marine Corps recruit depot Friday, following a legal win in December 2022 in which a federal appeals court ruled the Corps' refusal to grant accommodations to him and two other Sikh men violated their rights to ‘religious liberty.'
OF COURSE, IT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT! – YOU HAVE A BEARD AND A TURBAN AND NO ONE ELSE DOES! – In 1st, Sikh man graduates from Marine boot camp with turban, beard. “I'm proud to demonstrate that wearing a turban or a beard does not make me any different or less of a Marine,” Pfc. Jaskirat Singh said. (RELATED: Did Marine Corps Use Flawed Wargames To Radically Restructure?)
Earlier, following a related legal battle involving Marine Capt. Sukhbir Singh Toor, the Marine Corps, for the first time, allowed Sikh men to wear articles of faith as full-fledged Marines, though not in combat zones.
But until the latest legal loss, the Corps had resisted providing those religious accommodations to Sikh recruits while in boot camp.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's a roundup of today's other top defense stories from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
HAWAII WILDFIRES
PODCAST – Hawaii wildfires response includes Guard, active-duty troops. The troops continue to respond to the deadly wildfires in Hawaii that have already killed at least 100 people.
Army National Guard general to ‘synchronize' Maui troop response. Troops are providing air and sea lift of cargo, fire suppression as needed and setting up supply staging areas on Maui and Oahu. (RELATED: Biden Silent When Asked About Deadliest US Wildfires In 100 Years)
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
The Military recruiting crisis and Gen Z. Students discuss enlisting and serving in the armed forces.
NATIONAL SECURITY
SECURITY ALERT! – Thousands using personal cell phones, tablets for official Army work. If “you want to reach me on the weekend,” Lt. Gen. John Morrison said at TechNet Augusta, “call me on my personal device.” (RELATED: Does Anyone In Congress Actually Care About ‘The Most Significant Threat To Our National Security')
What happens when a crisis develops between combatant commands? That's just one of the questions that the Navy's global ‘Large Scale Exercise' aims to answer.
CHINA THREAT
U.S. Army looks to de-tangle its networks to combat China's ‘digitally native' military. By year's end, troops should be able to jump on a network from just about any location.
Rethinking who's winning the US-China tech competition. Shifting the focus to metrics will offer a more accurate picture of U.S.-China technological competition and capture critical U.S. strengths.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Russia unleashes a country-wide missile barrage on Ukraine. The barrage came hours before Russian military officials and their counterparts from Asia, the Middle East and Africa gathered for a security conference. (RELATED: China Sinks US Aircraft Carrier With Hypersonic Missile Barrage, In Simulation)
Latvia sends soldiers to boost security on border with Belarus. Latvia says the country is facing increased ‘hybrid threats' and blames Belarusian authorities for involvement in encouraging people to cross the border.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 539. Russian air attacks killed three people and left many injured in Lutsk, in the Volyn region of northwestern Ukraine, Kyiv said. A wave of Russian overnight attacks also damaged civilian facilities and injured people in Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, near the border with Poland.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
LET HIM STAY – US soldier bolted after ‘mistreatment' in the Army, North Korea says. It's North Korea's first official confirmation of the detention of Private 2nd Class Travis King, who entered the North on July 18.
SPACE THREAT
Italian team wins Space Force's first on-orbit Hack-A-Sat contest. The five finalists in the Hack-A-Sat 4 contest competed in nine different challenges, seven of them involving hacking into the Moonlighter CubeSat built by The Aerospace Corporation and Space Systems Command as an on-orbit cybersecurity testbed.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
B-2 Spirit bomber task force deploys to Iceland. B-2s will train with American and allied troops and take on real-world surveillance and long-range strike missions as needed.
Japanese F-35s to make inaugural deployment to Australia. Japan will send its fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighters overseas for the first time later this month to take part in exercises in northern Australia.
Coalition ops: Northern Edge 2 in Japan highlights culture, language challenges. “When you deal with a partner nation (Japan) you have to learn how they're set up. And, also, in this case there's obviously a language barrier,” said Lt. Col. Jon “Ghost” White, who commands the 366th Air Base Squadron. (RELATED: ‘Land War In Asia' With China Should Be Deterred Or Won – Not ‘Avoided')
16th ‘Angel' exercise brings humanitarian assist to Mongolia. Health care professionals from the U.S. military in the Indo-Pacific and the U.S. are heading to Mongolia on Monday for the start of an exercise in humanitarian relief, according to Pacific Air Forces.
More than a dozen Niger troops killed in attack near Mali border. At least 17 Niger soldiers have been killed in an attack by suspected armed groups near the border with Mali.
It's like a bad monster movie: US officials who helped train Nigerien troops reel from coup. U.S. officials who trained and advised Niger's military say they are frustrated by the takeover, but argue the U.S. shouldn't give up on the country.
Sudan war will end with negotiations says army's second in command. A top Sudanese official has said that a plan should be put in place to end the conflict between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) amid the continuing violence in the country.
BIDEN'S AFGHAN DISASTER
Six strategic mistakes the US made in Afghanistan. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has wrought institutional amnesia at the White House, State and Pentagon about the war in Afghanistan. Two years ago this month, Joe Biden ignored his military advisers and abruptly abandoned the country. It was the worst strategic blunder in modern American military history.
US MILITARY
Ukraine war adds urgency to the US Army's work on electronic warfare. The battle being waged over Ukraine's airwaves is adding “urgency” to the US Army's own electronic-warfare programs.
US Army to test combined cyber, jamming, signal intelligence tool. One of the U.S. Army's electronic-warfare weapons will get a demonstration later this year.
Surge in COVID cases sparks worries among VA leaders. Active cases among VA patients have nearly tripled in the last month.
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.
Can this apply to other armed forces too??
LOL! The Corps was the LAST holdout. The rest are even more ‘DIC’ (Diversified, Indoctrinated, Corrupted)!
The Nurenburg trial escapees able to buy corrupted politicians and dont give me that d’s are only bad r’s are sinfree BS. The whole Government needs an enema
How long will it be before all Marines will be suing to be able to wear long hair and beards.If you do it for one– you are going to bear the consequences of not allowing it for them all. What’s good for the goose—
No longer the Marine Corps I spent 20 years in, but WORSE, this has long been NOT the America I grew up in! As was said in ‘my Corps,’ “STAND BY, It Can And Will Get Worse.” America is already a “Banana Repulic,” soon to join those other 3d World Nations. As Ripley would say, “BELIEVE IT OR NOT!”
Well, he cannot wear a protective mask with a beard. Hope he can hold his breath for at least 8 hours at a stretch. The turban will interfere with other head worn equipment like a helmet. But, oh well.
Reminds me of a black female soldier back in 1990. She demanded to be excused from NBC training that had been on the training schedule for 5 weeks. In order to wear a helmet and protective mask, she would have to remove her corn rows containing dozens of wooden beads. She claimed it was not fair because she had supposedly paid $200 for the styling the day before the training event. Told her get rid of it so she could wear the proper gear. 1SG, USA,Ret