Addressing the regional turbulence, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told CNN on Sept. 30 that he still believes no invasion is imminent. Just a day after his discussion, the Marine Corps kicked off two massive training exercises with regional allies.

“What we do see is China moving to establish what we would call a new normal,” he said. “Increased activity. We saw a number of center line crossings of the Taiwan Strait by their aircraft. That number has increased over time. We’ve seen more activity with their surface vessels and waters in and around Taiwan.”

In a regional show of force, more than 5,500 personnel will be participating in Resolute Dragon 22, which will run between Oct. 1 and Oct. 14 in Hokkaido, Japan, and KAMANDAG 6, which will conclude on the same day and feature members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines alongside U.S. Marines in Luzon, Batanes, and Palawan, Philippines.

The Okinawa-based headquarters command for the 3rd Marine Division will be overseeing U.S. forces involved in both exercises, with troops focusing “on increasing combined capabilities for amphibious operations, special operations, maritime security, coastal defense, combined arms, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” according to a press release.

“Resolute Dragon and KAMANDAG are important opportunities to bolster the defensive capabilities of our alliances with Japan and the Philippines through realistic combined training,” said Maj. Gen. Jay Bargeron, commanding general for the 3rd Marine Division.

“These exercises will allow our forces to strengthen interoperability and readiness to ensure we are prepared to rapidly respond to crisis throughout the Indo-Pacific.”

In total, the two exercises will see U.S. troops training alongside 1,400 members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, approximately 530 Philippine Marines and about 100 troops from the Philippine Navy and Air Force.

”Today, as the security environment surrounding Japan becomes more turbulent, there is a need to further strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. Alliance,” Gen. Yuichi Togashi, the JGSDF 2nd Division commanding general, said in a release.

“For this reason, we recognize that Resolute Dragon, the largest field training exercise with the U.S. Marine Corps in Japan, is extremely important in terms of further strengthening the cooperation between the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Marine Corps.”

Resolute Dragon and KAMANDAG 6 both come on the heels of Orient Shield 22, a joint exercise between soldiers with U.S. Army Pacific and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

With current tensions in mind, U.S. Army Pacific Commander Gen. Charles Flynn made the decision to leave an equipment cache behind at Camp Amami, Japan, following the conclusion of Orient Shield 22. Ordnance currently in place at Camp Amami includes two High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS.

“What you are seeing in Europe is a protracted fight, so therefore sustainment is an incredibly important wartime function,” Flynn told Reuters of his decision. “It would be in everyone’s interest to look at their stocks and locations.”

Austin also discussed President Joe Biden’s recent remarks regarding U.S. commitment to Taiwanese independence. In an interview with 60 Minutes in Sept., Biden promised that U.S. troops would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.

“So, unlike Ukraine, to be clear, sir, U.S. forces, U.S. men and women would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion?” 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley said to Biden.

“Yes,” the president responded.

While the president’s stance has been clear and consistent, U.S. policy toward China remains unchanged, Austin told CNN.

Furthermore, the U.S. is working hard to re-open channels of communication with the Chinese military, a line China cut off in August following a visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Aust also confirmed he has communicated both by phone and in person with his Chinese counterpart, Defense Minister Wei Fenghe.

“We’ll do everything we can to continue to signal that we want those channels open and I would hope that China will begin to lean forward a bit more and work with us,” Austin said.

The plan for a formal structure in Wiesbaden, Germany, for the U.S. efforts to aid Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February was presented by EUCOM commander Gen. Christopher Cavoli to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in late September, according to the Times.

Citing an unnamed source within the U.S. military and Biden administration, the Times reported that the new command would include approximately 300 personnel, and would likely report to Cavoli. While the command’s headquarters would be situated in Wiesbaden, training would likely take place at other U.S. bases in Germany, such as Grafenwoehr or Hohenfels, where the Army has large ranges.

A final decision on the command is expected within the next few weeks.

“In close coordination with our Allies and partners, we continue to take steps to align our support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in a more unified manner in order to aid the Ukrainians with their most urgent needs on the battlefield against the Russian invading force,” EUCOM spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Day told Military Times in a statement. “At this time, any additional changes or moves to improve our ability to support the Ukrainians are pre-decisional, but as previously stated, we continue to take steps to better align our support.”

Signs of a potential re-structuring have been seen in recent weeks, as a multi-national logistics cell — the International Donor Coordination Center — moved from Stuttgart to Wiesbaden earlier this summer.

“The co-location with the U.S. Army Europe and Africa headquarters, as well as XVIII Airborne Corps increases the ability of the organization to rapidly support Ukraine operations,” EUCOM said in a statement regarding the Aug. 6 move.

The U.S. military began its mission to train Ukrainian troops well before Russia launched its full-scale war earlier this year. The initial efforts began in 2015, following the separation of Crimea from Ukraine.

U.S. troops, in addition to forces from Canada, Lithuania, Denmark, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, have been training Ukrainian forces through the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine. Initially stationed at the Combat Training Center-Yavoriv near Lviv, in western Ukraine, the troops were removed just before the invasion began.

“United States military units support the training to strengthen relationships and affirm the United States’ commitment to European partners,” a press release from the Army stated. “Army National Guard brigade combat teams provide the main support to the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission in nine-month rotations as part of the Army’s rotational model.”

The U.S. military also still has thousands of troops positioned across Europe in response to the invasion, including in Poland, Romania, Germany, Latvia and Lithuania. To date, the U.S. has committed more than $16 billion to Ukraine.

The Aug. 15 transfer of authority means that the U.S. military’s newest branch now has control of the Wideband Global SATCOM and Defense Satellite Communications System’s fleet of satellites, which share data across the armed services, the State Department and even serve the White House.

“This transfer will mark the first time all Department of Defense military satellite communication functions have been consolidated under a single military service,” the Space Force said in a news release.

Included in the transfer was also about $78 million moved to the Space Force’s 2022 budget to cover the cost of operating five satellite operation centers and four regional support centers that were previously under Army control.

About 500 military and civilian personnel from the Army’s Space Delta 8 unit will also transfer over to Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado.

Delta 8 is responsible for not only operating the main military communications network but also the GPS constellation and other systems, including those used to provide Secret-level global communications capabilities to the U.S. military and with allies such as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

The Army will, however, maintain its 1st Space Brigade, based at Fort Carson, Colorado. The brigade uses space operations to support missions across the globe.

Approved by the Pentagon last year, this move represents the DoD’s ongoing effort to consolidate space programs under the Space Force. However, the head of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler said the Army will not be completely removing itself from the U.S.’s efforts in Space.

“Space is a joint team sport,” Karbler said at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium this August. “Each service with their unique mission sets must leverage the space domain and apply it to service-specific execution, command and control.”

If confirmed by the Senate, Saltzman will be the second person to serve as the Space Force’s top officer since the service was created in December 2019. He would succeed Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, who is set to retire after 35 years of service in the Air Force and nearly three in the Space Force.

Raymond strongly supported Saltzman’s selection as his successor, according to SpaceNews, which first reported the pick on Thursday.

Other candidates for the position included Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, who runs the Space Force’s ops branch, and Lt. Gen. John Shaw, the second-highest officer at the Pentagon’s U.S. Space Command.

Saltzman has recently become the go-to person for high-level military planning initiatives, from the Air Force’s enterprise study of multidomain command and control in 2017 to serving as the Space Force’s first deputy chief for space, cyber and nuclear operations.

A proud Boston University graduate, he commissioned into the Air Force in 1991 as a nuclear missile operator before switching to military space jobs. Later, he took on higher-level programs and planning positions as well as a yearlong tour as deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command — the first non-flyer to hold the post.

Along the way, Saltzman has cultivated a reputation as an articulate, big-picture thinker who is leading the way in breaking down the Pentagon’s most entrenched hurdles to joint operations.

“He has reinforced all of the space and cyber functions across the different divisions in the Combined Air Operations Center by elevating their stature within the divisions to make sure those pieces are also integrated into everything we do,” Air Force Col. Byron Pompa, AFCENT’s air, space and information operations director, said in a 2020 press release.

Since becoming the Space Force ops boss in August 2020, Saltzman has tackled the broad questions behind space warfare: How should the service define its readiness, and how can it work seamlessly with other parts of the military behemoth?

The Space Force now has nearly 16,000 guardians and civilians. They either wear the service’s uniform or are assigned from other branches and handle U.S. military satellites and radars for missions like GPS, communication, missile warning and surveillance as part of the Department of the Air Force.

It was largely formed out of the former Air Force Space Command, and includes rocket launch bases in California and Florida, plus a host of other installations in Colorado and around the globe.

The service has taken on a leading role in naming and shaming foreign actors for what it sees as bad behavior on orbit, such as foreign spying on others’ systems or launching anti-satellite missiles that can spread damaging debris across the cosmos.

“Protecting and defending our space-based capabilities and defending our joint force from irresponsible or hostile use of space-based capabilities is the reason that your Space Force was established,” Saltzman said at the 2022 GEOINT Symposium.

He’s kept an eye on possible lessons learned from Russia’s war on Ukraine, in which commercial satellite constellations are playing a key role for intelligence-gathering and public transparency despite Russian cyber attacks.

“If you think the only way to dismantle space capabilities is by shooting down satellites, you’re missing the bigger picture … as these cyber attacks are on ground networks,” Saltzman told reporters in May.

Two key challenges will be to advocate for a growing military space budget to lawmakers who are wary of bureaucratic bloat, and to convince the American public of the merits of their newest military branch.

He’ll also represent the service as it tries to make its own mark on issues from troop recruitment and retention to a nontraditional approach to Guard and Reserve components.

The Space Force is working through the details of bringing the Space Development Agency under its roof to fast-track a vast constellation of commercial satellites for military use, and taking on parts of the Navy and Army’s space enterprises, among other initiatives.

Saltzman must go before the Senate Armed Services Committee ahead of a confirmation vote by the full chamber. A Space Force spokesman told Air Force Times on Wednesday that a change of command could come toward the end of 2022.

The Army’s two Alaska-based brigade combat teams will now be renamed the 1st and 2nd Brigade Combat Teams, 11th Airborne Division.

Army Alaska spokesman John Pennell said that the new unit at Wainwright will not be on jump status.

“The airborne brigade at JBER will retain its airborne status but the Stryker brigade up here [at Wainwright] will be turning in their Stryker vehicles and transforming into a light infantry brigade,” he told Army Times.

Soldiers with the 11th Airborne at Wainwright “will be focused on dismounted operations in the extremes that Alaska has to offer,” Pennell said.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told senators in May that the changes in Alaska, which will also involve establishing an operational headquarters, are expected to be cost-neutral in the immediate future. Even the manpower added to the upgraded headquarters would come out of the reformed Stryker brigade.

“We will be looking at basically having that division headquarters have sort of the same types of capabilities that you see in the 173rd in Italy, for example,” Wormuth said, referencing the 173rd Airborne Brigade, a strategic response force for U.S. European Command.

Wormuth also said in May that Army Alaska’s Stryker vehicles could be reused elsewhere in the force or cannibalized for spare parts.

Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367, Marine Aircraft Group 24, known as “Scarface,” was deactivated as part of the Marine Corps’ latest plan to restructure its Hawaii-based forces.

Twenty-seven AH-1Z Viper attack and UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters will be moved from the island it has called home since 2012 to a new base, where the unit will also be reactivated, with Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, California, later in 2022.

“Marines and Sailors of Scarface are warriors, and it should be no surprise that this unit, with such a rich history dating back to World War II, will be back ready to fight before the year’s end,” Maj. Gen. Brian Cavanaugh, who leads 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, said in a service-published article. “I couldn’t be more proud of what they have done for 1st MAW this past decade.”

The squadron was first activated in December 1943 as Marine Observation Squadron 351 in Quantico, Virginia, serving in the Pacific on the islands of Peleliu and Okinawa, Japan. The unit later became the first Marine aviation squadron to employ the AH-1G Cobra attack helicopter in the Vietnam War.

In more recent years, Marines with HMLA-367 supported operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom across Iraq and in Marjah, Afghanistan.

“Considering the history and lineage on Scarface’s resume, it’s entirely appropriate that we send them home,” Col. Brian Koch, who leads Marine Aircraft Group 24, said in a news release. “But that doesn’t detract from what the last 10 years have been here in Hawaii.”

“What you’ve been able to demonstrate to the Marine Corps and your accomplishments as a unit of MAG-24 is a testament to the value you will provide to Marine Aircraft Group 39 and 3d Marine Aircraft Wing.”

Soldiers with 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, first received the M2A4 variant in early February, the Army said in an April 23 release.

The soldiers completed training on the new equipment during a series of events this March, the Army release stated.

Included in the Bradley Fighting Vehicle upgrade were enhancements to improve speed performance and increase power in the turret.

“This Bradley variant will ensure that the platform maintains combat relevance now and for decades to come as we wait for the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle platform to eventually replace it,” said Brig. Gen. Glenn Dean, who leads Program Executive Office-Ground Combat Systems.

“We fielded the most capable Bradley Fighting Vehicle to date, with the Bradley in service for three decades. Because the A4 variant has enhanced mobility and power generation, we’ll be able to integrate new technologies.”

The Army plans to acquire more than 700 of the new M2A4 Bradleys through 2029. Each vehicle costs roughly $4.35 million.

The Army plans to continue providing field units with the M2A4 variant until the new Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle is produced, which will eventually replace the Bradley.

The last upgrade made to U.S. armored troop carriers came in 2002.

The prototyping phase for the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle will begin in fiscal 2025, and the Army is expected to select in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027 one company to build low-rate production vehicles.

Full-rate production isn’t expected to begin until fiscal 2030, meaning most soldiers will be using the M2A4 Bradley for years to come.

The missiles were shot as part of Exercise Shell 22 in Croatia.

Soldiers from 1st and 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, based in Vicenza, Italy, fired a dozen of the surface-to-air missiles in two-man squads.

Each missile costs about $38,000. The 173rd Airborne Brigade has only previously fired replica Stinger rounds, Stars and Stripes reported.

Each squad was comprised of a team chief and a gunner. The soldiers fired the missiles toward a small target with a flare, brigade spokesperson Capt. Rob Haake told Stripes. The missiles landed in the Adriatic Sea, he said.

According to Haake, “every single [soldier] walked away with a big smile” after firing their missiles. “Everyone felt very fulfilled. They said it was an amazing experience.”

Exercise Shell 22, which was held alongside Croatian forces, also marked the first time the Croatian Air Defense Regiment had conducted a live-fire exercise with U.S. troops.

Also included in the exercise were training events involving airspace control, deconfliction and surveillance.

“We get to cross-train with them, and they get the same with us. My favorite part wasn’t even the live fire; it was seeing our soldiers interact with the Croatians,” Chief Warrant Officer Mark Giauque, the lead coordinator of the exercise told Stripes. “You see them working together and exchanging patches, and you just see the overall camaraderie build over the training.”

Stingers have been in the spotlight lately.

The U.S. and its allies have been sending Stingers and other shoulder-fired anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to Ukrainians fighting off the Russian invasion.

Haake told Stripes that around 300 troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade are currently deployed in Latvia in response to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade is the U.S. Army’s contingency response force in Europe, meaning it provides rapidly deployable paratroopers to combatant commanders in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

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