THE FRIDAY FOTO (March 17, 2023)

SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Peña) Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

The strange angle from which this photo was taken caught our attention this week. It took a moment to even figure out what we were looking at: Paratroopers photographed either by one of their own jumping with them or from a plane looking up from below them — although that sounds prohibitively risky.

What we’re seeing is paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division jumping out of a U.S. Air Force C-130J Super Hercules cargo plane.

But wait, there’s something else unusual about this photo. All these sky soldiers are women.

It was an all-women’s jump over Malemute Drop Zone, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska on March 7, 2023. The airborne operation was held in recognition of women’s history month, and marked the first all-female jump in division history.

Every battalion in the 2/11 was represented in the jump, as well as members of Division staff. All of the jumpers are assigned to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) of the 11th Airborne Division.

The C-130 was supplied by the 19th Airlift Wing, from Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas.

To read more about this fascinating airborne op, and see some arresting photos, click here for a the whole story.

Oh, and before it’s too late, HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

SHAKO: Women’s History Month — Harriet Tubman. Union Army Scout, Spy, Nurse and Cook

THE WOMAN THEY CALLED “MOSES”

Harriet Tubman, photographed by Harvey Lindsley. (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

CHURCH CREEK, Maryland — If you’ve heard about the Underground Railroad, then you’ve probably heard of Harriet Tubman.

Despite its name, the Underground Railroad wasn’t a real railroad of iron tracks and engines, but a network of people, white and black, providing shelter and other assistance to people escaping enslavement in the South before the American Civil War.

According to Pulitzer Prize winning historian Eric Foner, “the individual most closely associated with the underground railroad is Harriet Tubman.” Born a slave on the eastern shore of Maryland in 1822, “this remarkable woman,” Foner notes, escaped enslavement in 1849 and during the following decade made at least 13 forays back to Maryland leading some 70 men, women and children — including members of her own family — out of bondage.

Her fame spread widely and by the late 1850s she became known as “Moses,” to fugitive slaves and those still held in bondage. After the Civil War, the great abolitionist,  orator and statesman, Frederick Douglass — himself an escaped slave from Maryland — wrote of Tubman: “Excepting John Brown–of sacred memory–I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people,” according to Foner in Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad..

But here at 4GWAR blog we’re celebrating Harriet Tubman during Women’s History month – and International Women’s Day — for her service as a scout and spy, as well as a nurse and cook, for the Union Army during the Civil War — and her battle with government bureaucracy to get paid for her service.

The Next Thing to Hell

According to Maryland’s Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park & Visitor Center,  Tubman rose above the “horrific childhood adversity” of a Maryland plantation. Three of her sisters were sold to distant plantations in the Deep South. Harriet was taken from her mother at the age of 6 and hired out to other enslavers. She was nearly killed when hit in the head by a heavy iron weight thrown by an angry storekeeper at another slave. She suffered debilitating seizures for the rest of her life. Married to a free black man, John Tubman, she fled bondage after learning she could be sold away from her family to settle her deceased master’s debts. “Slavery,” she said, “is the next thing to hell.” The state park museum is located in Church Creek, Maryland amid wetlands and woods where Tubman and other escaping slaves may have fled.

Portrayal of Harriet Tubman’s rescue of fugitive slaves at the Tubman Underground Railroad State Park & Visitor Center. (4GWAR photo by Deborah Zabarenko, Copyright Sonoma Road Strategies)

Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, empowering slave owners to track down runaway slaves even in free states and carry them back to enslavement. The law required U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement officers to assist in the recovery of runaways and made it a crime to hinder those efforts. No escaped slave, like Tubman, still somebody’s property in the eyes of the law, could rely on the safety of living in a northern state. That same year Tubman made her first journey back to Maryland to aid the escape of an enslaved niece and her two children north to Canada.

Over the next 10 years, Tubman used numerous methods to help the escape of other slaves. She relied on trustworthy people to hide her and fugitives. She used disguises. She bribed people. She walked, rode horses and wagons and traveled on boats and trains to make her way North with her “passengers.”. Often guided by the stars, she worked her way along rivers and through forests and swamps where she had labored as a slave. Tubman made her last rescue trek in 1860.

Warnings to escaped slaves in the North after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. (4GWAR photo by Deborah Zabarenko, copyright Sonoma Road Strategies)

New Use for Underground Skills

When the Civil War broke out, she spent the early years assisting with the care and feeding of the massive numbers of slaves who fled areas controlled by the Union Army. By the spring of 1863, however, Union officials found a more active role for Tubman. Union troops in South Carolina needed information on the strength of Confederate forces, the locations of their encampments and the designs of fortifications. They thought the needed intelligence could be acquired by short-term spying operations behind enemy lines, and that Tubman — with the skills she acquired in her underground railroad days — was the person organize and lead the effort.

Tubman started her spy organization with a selected few former slaves knowledgeable about the area to be scouted. Often disguised as a field hand or poor farm wife, she led several spy missions herself, while directing others from Union lines. She reported her intelligence findings to Colonel James Montgomery, a Union officer commanding the Second South Carolina Volunteers, a black unit involved in irregular warfare, according to intelligence professional P.K. Rose, wrote about Black Americans intelligence efforts for the Union Army in Studies in Intelligence, a journal published by the CIA’s Center for the Study of Intelligence.

“The tactical intelligence Tubman provided to Union forces during the war was frequent, abundant, and used effectively in military operations,” Rose noted.

Raid of the Second South Carolina Volunteers, Harpers Weekly July 4 1863 edition. Click on the photo to enlarge image.

In one operation, at the behest of Union General David Hunter, Tubman guided two Union gunboats carrying Montgomery and 150 of his Black soldiers up the Combahee River in South Carolina to raid Confederate supply lines. The Rebels were taken by surprise and Union forces destroyed houses, barns and rice at nearby plantations, and liberated between 700 and 800 enslaved people.

Despite earning commendations as a valuable scout and soldier, Tubman still faced the racism and sexism of America after the Civil War, according to Kate Clifford Larson. a Tubman biographer. When Tubman sought payment for her service as a spy, the U.S. Congress denied her claim. It paid the eight Black male scouts, but not her.

She eventually was awarded a pension but only as the widow of a Civil War soldier, her second husband Nelson Davis, whom she married after John Tubman died in 1867.

Long overdue recognition is finally catching up with Harriet Tubman’s accomplishments, according to Larson. The Harriet Tubman $20 bill will replace the current one featuring a portrait of U.S. President Andrew Jackson. And in June 2021, Tubman was accepted into the United States Army Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. She is one of 278 members, 17 of whom are women, honored for their special operations leadership and intelligence work.

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SHAKO is an occasional 4GWAR posting on military history, traditions and culture. For the uninitiated, a shako is the tall, billed headgear worn by many armies from the Napoleonic era to about the time of the American Civil War. It remains a part of the dress or parade uniform of several military organizations like the corps of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York.

VETERANS DAY/ARMISTICE DAY (November 11, 2022)

BIG FLAG, BIG CROWD, BIG DAY.

A previous Veteran’s Day Parade in New York City (Defense Department photo) Click on all of the photos to enlarge the images.

In late May, on Memorial Day, America remembers the honored dead, those who gave their lives in this country’s wars since 1775.

On Veteran’s Day every November, Americans honor the living who served or continue to serve in uniform. November 11 is the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I – the “War to End All Wars” in 1918. Unfortunately, history has proven that was an overly optimistic term for what turned out to be just the First World War.

Crowd in Philadelphia celebrates first word of peace on November 11, 1918. (Photo: Library of Philadelphia via Wikipedia)

In November 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”

The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.

On May 13, 1938, Congress made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day,” primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I. But veterans of World War II and the Korean War urged Congress to change the holiday’s name to recognize their service. And on June, 1954 Congress amended the 1938 law, replacing “Armistice” with “Veterans” and making November 11th a day to honor American veterans of all wars, according to the U.S. Veterans Administration.

After years of bloodshed in the 20th and early 21st centuries, we’d like to pause and remember the sacrifice of all those who serve their country in both war and peace. Even far from a combat zone, many of them have risky jobs on aircraft carrier decks, in fast moving Humvees and high flying aircraft. There is hard work, as well as danger, in airplane hangars and ships at sea. Depots and warehouses are stuffed with equipment and supplies that, improperly stored or transported, can blow up, burn, sicken or maim the humans working nearby.

It’s also a time to reflect on the sacrifices of veterans’ families who, like the people in the photos below, suffer the absence of a loved one for months — or longer.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Yvette Knoepke is greeted by family members at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, after returning from a six-month deployment, October 2, 2022. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jacquelin Frost)

 

An Air Force captain reunites with his family at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina on October 15, 2022, after an overseas deployment (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kevin Holloway)

 

A sailor assigned to the USS Harry S. Truman greets family upon returning to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia September 12, 2022 from deployment overseas with the U.S. 5th and  6th Fleets. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nathan T. Beard)

FRIDAY FOTO (May 6, 2022)

STINGER STUDY.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)

Marine Corps Lance Corporal Dylan Pennington, right, explains the functions of the FIM-92 Stinger missile system to Norwegian Army Sergeant Silje Skarsbakk during a bilateral training event in Setermoen, Norway on April 25, 2022.

The FIM-92 Stinger missile is a shoulder-fired MANPAD (man-portable air-defense system) that specializes in taking out helicopters. Stingers have been around since the 1980s. They were originally developed by General Dynamics and are now made by Raytheon Missile Systems. The Stinger can also target low-flying airplanes and drones.

Pennington is assigned to the the Aviation Combat Element of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). MEUs are expeditionary quick reaction forces, deployed and ready for  immediate response to a crisis.

The 22nd MEU, embarked aboard the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group,  participated in a bilateral training event with the Norway’s Armed Forces in April.

The United States has sent more than 1,400 Stingers to Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24. . The Ukrainian military says it has shot down nearly 160 Russian aircraft, including 90 helicopters in that time. Unfortunately, the Defense Department, which is developing an updated anti-aircraft missile, hasn’t purchased a Stinger in about 18 years, say Raytheon officials. Some of components are no longer commercially available, and the company will have to redesign some of the missile’s electronics, Breaking Defense reported April 26.

SHAKO: Coast Guard Admiral Nominated to be First Woman Commandant

Another First for the Coast Guard.

Another glass ceiling in the military may be broken soon.

On April 5, word leaked out that President Joe Biden intends to nominate Admiral Linda Fagan to serve as the 27th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. If confirmed by the Senate, not only will Admiral Fagan be the first woman commandant of the Coast Guard, she would be the first woman in uniform to head one the military services.

Admiral Linda Fagan, vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard since 2021, has been nominated to be the Coast Guard’s first woman commandant by President Biden. (Official U.S. Coast Guard portrait)

While the Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security, it operates under the Navy during times of war and by law is considered one of the six military services along with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force.

Fagan became the 32nd vice commandant of the Coast Guard on June 18, 2021, and the first female four-star admiral in the service’s history.

The vice commandant is the No. 2 commander in the Coast Guard and its chief operating officer, responsible for executing the Commandant’s Strategic Intent, managing internal organizational governance, and serving as the Component Acquisition Executive.

Pending confirmation, Fagan is expected to relieve the current commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Karl L. Schultz, during a change of command ceremony planned for June 1, 2022, in Washington, D.C.

“Admiral Fagan is an exceptional senior Coast Guard officer and nominee, possessing the keen intellect, the depth of operational experience, and the well-honed leadership and managerial acumen to serve with distinction as our Service’s 27th commandant,” said Schultz, SEAPOWER reported.

The potential gap in leadership between Schultz’s departure and his replacement’s confirmation raised concerns among lawmakers in recent weeks, On Monday (April 4) Senate Democrats Tammy Baldwin of  Wisconsin and Maria Cantwell of Washington, sent a letter to the White House urging the president to nominate a new Coast Guard leader as soon as possible, Military Times reported.

“Ensuring continuity of leadership is of the utmost importance to our national and economic security,” the pair wrote. “The Coast Guard is at the forefront of a number of strategic priorities for the United States, from the growing importance of security in the Arctic, to drug interdiction, environmental protection, and leading emergency response on the frontlines of the climate crisis.”

Congress is scheduled to break for two weeks starting April 8, but could schedule confirmation hearings for Fagan in late April or early May, Military Times noted.

Previously, Fagan served as commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area and and Commander, Coast Guard Defense Force West. She has served on all seven continents, from Ross Island, Antarctica to the heart of Africa, and in many ports along the way. Her operational tours include: Commander of the New York sector;ore than 15 years as a Marine Inspector; and sea duty on the heavy ice breaker POLAR STAR — her first at-sea assignment.

The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, seen here on Jan. 2, 2020, was Adm. Linda Fagan’s first sea duty assignment as an officer. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer NyxoLyno Cangemi)

Fagan is also the Coast Guard officer with the longest service record in the Marine Safety field, earning the service’s first-ever Gold Ancient Trident award.

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SHAKO is an occasional 4GWAR posting on military history, traditions and culture. For the uninitiated, a shako is the tall, billed headgear worn by many armies from the Napoleonic era to about the time of the American Civil War. It remains a part of the dress or parade uniform of several military organizations like the corps of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York.

SHAKO: Celebrating Two Ground Breakers — USAF Gen. Charles McGee and USN Cmdr. Billie Farrell

A Red Tail Remembered.

Retired Air Force General Charles McGee, who flew combat missions in three wars, has died at the age of 102. McGee was one of the last surviving members of the fabled Tuskegee Airmen, black fighter pilots who battled Nazis in the air over Europe and racism on the ground back in America during World War Two.

Former Tuskegee Airman, retired then-Colonel Charles McGee, high-fives Airmen during his visit December 6, 2019, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. He served a total of 30 years in the U.S. Air Force, beginning with the U.S. Army Air Corps, and flew a total of 409 combat missions in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Quail)

McGee, who died at home on January 16, was a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black training unit of fighter pilots in the segregated Army Air Forces. In February 1944, McGee was stationed in Italy with the 332nd Fighter Group. He flew the Bell P-39Q Airacobra, then the Republic P-47D Thunderbolt and finally the North American P-51 Mustang, escorting B-24 Liberator and B-17 Flying Fortress bombers over Germany, Austria and the Balkans. He also engaged in low level attacks over enemy airfields and railyards.

After the war, McGee stayed in what became the U.S. Air Force in 1947, flying a total of 405 combat missions in World War II, Korea and Vietnam — an Air Force record. He retired as a colonel in 1973 and was honorarily promoted to brigadier general in a 2020 White House ceremony.

The son of a preacher, McGee was born in Cleveland on December 7, 1919. A lifelong leader, he distinguished himself as an Eagle Scout in his youth and remained an inspirational leader throughout his three-decade military career and beyond, the Air Force magazine website reported.

Then Captain Charles McGee and his crew chief Nathaniel Wilson in 1944, stand beside McGee’s P-51C Mustang, named “Kitten” for McGee’s wife, Frances, but also because Wilson kept the plane purring like one.

McGee enlisted in the Army on Oct. 26, 1942—one day after his wedding—and earned his pilot’s wings June 30, 1943. McGee flew his first combat mission on Valentine’s Day, 1944, with the 301st Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, in Italy. When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-47s red, they were nicknamed “Red Tails.” Unlike other fighter pilots who abandoned their bomber escort duties to engage in one-on-one dogfights with Luftwaffe fighters, the Red Tails earned the respect of the bomber crews by staying with their charges and losing very few bombers on their watch.

McGee was promoted to major in the Air Force during the Korean War, flying 100 more combat missions in P-51 Mustangs from the 67th Fighter Bomber Squadron. In Vietnam, as a lieutenant colonel, McGee flew another 172 combat missions in the McDonnell RF-4 reconnaissance aircraft. He retired January 31, 1973 as a full colonel and accumulated more than 6,300 flight hours.

In 2007, as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, McGee received the Congressional Gold Medal. In 2011, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

For more information and photos of General McGee, see this Defense Department posting.

Artist’s illustration of McGhee’s P-51 Mustang, “Kitten,” (U.S. Air Force art via Wikipedia)

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New Commander for ‘Old Ironsides’

For the first time in its 224-year history, the USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides”, will have a woman skipper.

Commander Billie J. Farrell will take charge the oldest ship in the U.S. Navy during a change-of-command ceremony in Boston, scheduled for Friday, January 21, at noon.

USS Constitution is underway during Chief Petty Officer Heritage Weeks in Boston Harbor on October 29, 2021. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alec Kramer) Click on photo to enlarge the image.

As the 77th commanding officer of USS Constitution, Farrell will become the first woman to serve as captain since 1797.

“I am honored to have the privilege to soon command this iconic warship that dates back to the roots of both our nation and our Navy,” Farrell said, according to a Navy press release. “I hope to strengthen the legacy of USS Constitution through preservation, promotion and protection by telling her story and connecting it to the rich heritage of the United States Navy and the warships serving in the fleet today,” she added.

Constitution, is the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat, and played a crucial role in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812, actively defending sea lanes from 1797 to 1855.

During normal operations, the active-duty Sailors stationed aboard Constitution provide free tours and offer public visitation to more than 600,000 people a year as they support the ship’s mission of promoting the Navy’s history and maritime heritage and raising awareness of the importance of a sustained naval presence. Constitution was undefeated in battle and destroyed or captured 33 opponents.

The ship earned the nickname of Old Ironsides during the war of 1812 when British cannonballs were seen bouncing off the ship’s wooden hull.

Commander Billie J. Farrell, new skipper and first woman to command USS Constitution. (U.S. Navy photo)

Commander Farrell previously served as the executive officer aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Vicksburg (CG 69).

She is a native of Paducah, Kentucky, and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of Arkansas.

As USS Constitution’s crew welcomes Farrell, they will say farewell to the ship’s current commanding officer, Commander John Benda

“I know the crew is in great hands with Commander Farrell,” said Benda. “This historic barrier is long overdue to be broken. I cannot think of a better candidate to serve as USS Constitution’s first female commanding officer. I look forward to watching what she and the crew accomplish in the next few years.”

While Farrell is Constitution’s first female skipper, she won’t be the first woman to serve aboard the old frigate.

The first female commissioned officer aboard Constitution was Lieutenant Commander Claire V. Bloom, who served as executive officer and led the historic 1997 sail, the first time Old Ironsides sailed under her own power since 1881.

The first female crew member was Rosemarie Lanam, an enlisted Sailor, who joined Constitution’s crew in 1986.

Today women comprise more than one third of the frigate’s 80-person crew.

Seaman Jaida Williams, assigned to the USS Constitution, climbs the mizzenmast shroud during weekly sail training in 2019. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Casey Scoular) Click on photo to enlarge image.

FRIDAY FOTO (November 12, 2021)

Making Some History.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sergeant Vernon Young Jr.)

When we first saw a smaller version of this photo, we thought there’s something different about these pilots. When we clicked on the image to enlarge it (which we hope you will do), we saw why it was so unique.

These female fighter pilots assigned to the 36th and 25th Fighter Squadrons were about to fly a historic all-female flight at Osan Air Base, South Korea on October 25, 2021. The benchmark flight was the first time at Osan AB that 10 female Airmen planned, led and flew in a formation together.

Eight of the pilots were A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots and two were F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots.

It’s rare for a squadron to launch a formation of pilots who all happen to be female. Not only were there women flying the A-10s and F-16s, but an all-female weather team briefed the pilots prior to stepping to the aircraft. Female Airmen planned and executed the entire process from radio communication inside the air traffic control tower to the crew chief marshaling the aircraft on the ground. The team effort showcased the ability that women have to lead in every facet from planning to mission execution, according to the Air Force.

On April 28, 1993, when former Secretary of Defense Les Aspin ordered military services to allow women to fly in combat, there was no timetable of how soon the world would see the percentages of female fighter pilots increase.

Today, almost 30 years later, there are only 103 female fighter pilots across the U.S. Air Force 11F (fighter pilot) career field. That means the pilots who flew jointly in that all-female formation sortie at the 51st Fighter Wing, constituted 10 percent of the service’s female fighter jocks. Click here to see the full story.

For more photos of this event, click here.

FRIDAY FOTO (July 2, 2021) UPDATE

The Marines are looking for a few good …

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Andrew Jones) Please click on the photo to enlarge the image.

.

U.S. Marines with Platoon 3241, Lima Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, stand in formation at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego, on May 6, 2021.

This company of Marines was the first gender integrated company made at MCRD San Diego, previously female recruits were trained in female-only companies at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. The Marine Corps was the last U.S. armed service to cease training male and female recruits separately.

The Marine holding the red pennant is the guidon bearer, or guide. The Marine on the left in dress blues is the platoon honor graduate who will take possession the guidon near the end of the graduation and turn it over to one of the Lima Company drill instructors in a short ceremony before receiving her honor award from the battalion commander. One of the female drill instructors, sword in hand, is visible on the right.

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Updating this post to clarify that: While the Marine Corps has begun forming training companies with both all female and all male platoons, there are no gender-integrated platoons of recruits. This update also corrects that there are no male Marines in the photo of this graduating female platoon.

SHAKO: Service Academies’ Graduations

Long Hard Road Over, But the Journey’s Just Beginning.

For the first time since 2019, America’s four military and naval service academies were able to hold traditional commencement events outdoors, with friends and families on campus, instead of viewing a video at home.

Annapolis, Maryland

At the U.S. Naval Academy graduation in Annapolis, Maryland on May 28, history was made when Vice President Kamala Harris became the first woman commencement speaker to address graduating midshipmen.

“Midshipmen, you are tireless; you are ambitious; you are a fierce fighting force,” the vice president said. “You are idealists in the truest sense; you are the embodiment of American aspiration, so hold onto that because in your career you may witness some of the worst of humanity.”

In her keynote address, Harris told the graduates they would take the same oath to the U.S. Constitution as she did during her vice-presidential swearing in — to support the nation’s Constitution and defend it against all enemies — an oath that has its roots in the founding of our nation. And no matter what changes in our world, the charge in this oath is constant, she said.

“Remember that, as you walk out into the world, because the world you all are walking into is rapidly changing,” Harris said.

(U.S. Navy photo illustration by Midshipmen 2nd Class Krystyna Bartocci)

The 1,084 graduates consisted of 778 men and 306 women. Of that number, 784 (547 men, 237 women) are now Navy ensigns. And 274 (212 men and 62 women) are now 2nd lieutenants in the Marine Corps.

After three cheers for those they leave behind, the newly commissioned U.S. Navy ensigns and Marine Corps second lieutenants of the U.S. Naval Academy’s Class of 2021 tossed their covers at the conclusion of the graduation and commissioning ceremony at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

 

Colorado Springs, Colorado

The 1,019 cadets graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado on May 26 heard that the balance and stability in the world which has existed for more than 75 years is now at risk. And, Army General Mark Milley — the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff —  told the recently-commissioned young officers that it will be their job to maintain a now fragile world peace.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley)

Right now, Milley said, the United States is in great power competition with nations like Russia and China. That competition must not escalate, he told the new second lieutenants.

The threat landscape that exists now, Milley said, includes artificial intelligence, robotics, human engineering, hypersonics and long-range precision fires that all provide capability beyond what has ever existed in human history.

“The country that masters these technologies, combines them with doctrine and develops the leadership to take advantage of it — the side that does that best — is going to have a decisive advantage at the start of the next war,” Milley said. “It’s your challenge to be on that side. You will lead us as a nation, not just as an Air Force or a Space Force.”

(U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sergeant Laurel M. Richards)

When the speeches were over, the awards given and the commissioning complete, students-turned-officers threw their caps in the air as the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the “Thunderbirds,” performed a fly-over.

 

West Point, New York

The 996 graduating cadets of the U.S. Military Academy’s Class of 2021 had Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a retired Army general and West Point grad as their commencement speaker on May 22.

(DoD Photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders)

Among those lessons were the value of being well prepared; learning to focus; following with loyalty; questioning with rigor, character, discipline, teamwork; mastering one’s trade; telling the truth; treating people with dignity and respect; and leading with honor, he said.

“Those values are the lasting legacy of West Point. Those are the guideposts that will steer you right when you face the hardest decisions of your lives,” he said.

Austin said the cadets will face new challenges and adversity in a rapidly changing world.

“You’re about to graduate into a changing country and a changing world where many of the old ways of doing business don’t hold up anymore,” he said. “You’re seeing raw divisions at home and the painful aftermath of the pandemic.

(DoD Photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders)

 

New London, Connecticut

(U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Thieme)

President Joseph R. Biden. delivered the keynote address at the Coast Guard Academy during the 140th Commencement Exercises on May 19. The Coast Guard Academy graduated 240 new officers along with seven international students.

In his remarks, the president noted the Class of 2021 “is just over one third women.” He noted he had recently nominated Vice Admiral Linda Fagan, an academy graduate form the Class of 1985, to be the Coast Guard’s first female four-star admiral. “We need to see more women at the highest levels of command,” Biden said.  “We have to make sure that women have the chance to succeed and thrive throughout their careers,” he added.

“The class of 2021, you have it all. You really do. And we need you badly,” Biden said, adding: “that’s not hyperbole; the country needs you.

“The press always asks me,” he continued “why I’m so optimistic about America’s chances in the world. And I’ve said from the time I decided to run, ‘Because of this generation.’ You’re the most progressive, best-educated, least prejudiced, most open generation in American history. We need you badly. You’re ready; it’s time to get underway.”

SHAKO: International Women’s Day 2021

Women’s Day.

March is Women’s History Month but today, Monday, March 8, 2021 is International Women’s Day.

We thought we’d mark this special occasion with some news, and four pictures that are worth a thousand words.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, Air Mobility Command chief (right) learns the features of an all-terrain vehicle in 2020 at Travis Air Force Base, California. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sergeant David W. Carbajal)

On March 6, the White House announced a slate of nominees to lead a trio of U.S. combatant commands — including two women whose nominations were previously held up over concerns they would not be approved by then-President Donald Trump.

According to Defense News, Air Force General Jacqueline Van Ovost, who took over Air Mobility Command in August, has been nominated to lead U.S. Transportation Command, which oversees .

Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson, commanding general of U.S. Army North speaks with fire fighters and soldiers during the 2020 wildland fire in California’s Mendocino National Forest.  (U.S. Army photo by Specialist Michael Ybarra)

And Army Lieutenant General Laura Richardson, currently the head of U.S. Army North, has been nominated for a fourth star and to take over U.S. Southern Command.

And below are some photos from the Defense Department website, showing the numerous roles women play in today’s U.S. armed forces. Click on all photos to enlarge the image.

(U.S. National Guard photo by Army Chief Master Sergeant David H. Lipp)

 

Master Sergeant Jennifer Freeman, a member of the first female biathlon team from the North Dakota National Guard, takes aim at range targets during the Chief National Guard Bureau Biathlon Championships at the Camp Ripley Training Center, near Little Falls, Minnesota on February 24, 2021.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Kevin G. Rivas)

U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lieutenant Kylee Daitz, a field artillery officer, with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division, trains as a joint fire observer during exercise Winter Fury 21 at Camp Roy W. Burt, California on January 29, 2021. Joint fire observers are responsible for requesting, controlling, and adjusting close air support fire such as artillery, mortars, and naval surface gunfire.

(U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Matt Hecht)

Army Sergeant Kendra Hallett, left, receives the Covid-19 vaccine from Air Force Technical Sergeant Deborah Macalalad of the 108th Medical Group, New Jersey Air National Guard, on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, February 21, 2021.

 

(U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Gabrielle Huezo)

Quartermaster 3rd Class Makayla Roney and Quartermaster 2nd Class Stephanie Torres stand quartermaster of the watch aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams ( on February 25 2021. The Williams is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.