FRIDAY FOTO (January 11, 2019)

Among the Finest.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Robin W. Peak)

At U.S. Pacific Command they used to say their area of responsibility stretched “from Hollywood to Bollywood” — in other words, from the waters off the U.S. Pacific Coast to the eastern shores of the Arabian Sea. Reflecting changing geopolitical considerations, however, the command’s name was changed to Indo-Pacific Command in May 2018.

In his first visit to Nepal January 10 as commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Phil Davidson, participated in an honors ceremony at the Nepali army headquarters in Kathmandu.

If the Nepali uniforms look familiar, they are similar to Britain’s famed Gurkha regiments. Since 1815, when the British Empire extended over much of the Indian subcontinent, Gurkhas — “with a reputation of being amongst the finest and most feared soldiers in the world” — have been recruited in Nepal to serve the British crown.