Stripes

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby leaves a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. The Pentagon says that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has put about 8,500 troops on heightened alert, so they will be prepared to deploy if needed to reassure NATO allies in the face of ongoing Russian aggression on the border of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Number of US troops tapped for possible deployment to Europe could increase to more than the 8,500 already on alert

The United States could send more troops to Eastern Europe in addition to the 8,500 already placed on high alert in response to Russia’s military buildup along its border with Ukraine, chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday.

RELATED US troops on alert for Eastern Europe deployment could be in for long wait if NATO can’t reach consensus
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Paratroopers assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division get ready to board an Air Force C-17 aircraft during an exercise at Fort Bragg, N.C., in 2019. The Pentagon said Jan. 24, 2022, that roughly 8,500 troops based in the U.S. are ready to mobilize on short notice, should NATO activate its quick reaction force.

US troops on alert for Eastern Europe deployment could be in for long wait if NATO can’t reach consensus

A basic military training graduation at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, July 15, 2021.

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From Afghanistan to China, a look back at Military Matters’ 4th season

branches

Army

From left: Chief Warrant Officer 3 George “Geoff” Laubhan; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew Peltzer; Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jesse Anderson.

Scholarship change eyed for survivors of Idaho soldiers

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Air Force

FILE - A National Guard member holds up a sign as vehicles enter a Test Iowa coronavirus testing site at the Kirkwood Community College Continuing Education Training Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on May 28, 2020. State National Guard units are seeing dramatic re-enlistment rates, even as their troops juggle near constant duties with COVID-19, natural disasters and other military deployments. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette via AP, File)

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Navy

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) departs Naval Station Norfolk to transit to Newport News Shipyard in support of her Planned Incremental Availability (PIA), a six-month period of modernization, maintenance, and repairs, Aug. 20, 2021.

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Navy and Marine Corps to study facial hair’s effect on gas masks, lawsuit reveals

Sailors move in to the Navy’s newest base on Poland’s Baltic coast

Space Force

State representative proposes Space Force license plate for Illinois

NDAA addresses Vandenberg Space Force Base infrastructure, Calif. wildfire needs

Space Force is a part of industry’s rapid launch in New Mexico

Coast Guard

Stranded duck hunters were ‘in distress’ when Coast Guard arrived, dramatic video shows

More than 30 migrants stopped off the Florida Keys get Coast Guard ride back to Cuba

Coast Guard cutter Steadfast postpones patrol after virus cases

Marine Corps

An F/A-18E Super Hornet recovers aboard the USS Carl Vinson during a dual-carrier exercise in the South China Sea, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022.

Dual-carrier drills bring thousands of US sailors and Marines together in South China Sea

Marines to halt separations and reprimands for razor bumps

Marines killed in tactical vehicle rollover on North Carolina highway were teenagers

theaters

U.S.

FILE - Migrants are brought to shore after being intercepted by the Libyan coast guard on the Mediterranean Sea, in Garaboli Libya, on Oct. 18, 2021. A confidential European Union military report calls for the continued support and training of Libya’s coastguard and navy despite concerns about their treatment of migrants, a mounting death toll at sea, and the continued lack of any central authority in the North African nation. The report circulated to EU officials on Jan. 4 and obtained by The Associated Press offers a rare insight into Europe’s determination to cooperate with Libya and its role in the interception and return of thousands of men, women and children to a country where they face insufferable abuse. (AP Photo/Yousef Murad, File)

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Number of US troops tapped for possible deployment to Europe could increase to more than the 8,500 already on alert

Europe

People walk in a snow-covered park with the iconic Haghia Sophia in the background at Istanbul, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. Rescue crews in Istanbul and Athens on Tuesday cleared roads that had come to a standstill after a massive cold front and snowstorms hit much of Turkey and Greece, leaving countless people and vehicles in both cities stranded overnight in freezing conditions. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

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Asia-Pacific

In this photo provided by the Australian Defense Force, soldiers load onto HMAS Adelaide at the Port of Brisbane before departing for Tonga Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, after a volcano eruption. Nearly two dozen sailors aboard the Adelaide have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, Jan 25, 2022, raising fears they could bring the disease to Tonga which has so far managed to avoid any outbreaks. (CPL Robert Whitmore/Australia Defense Force via AP)

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Middle East

Iraqi virtuoso oud player Naseer Shamma performs with an orchestra -- half of them young women musicians -- at the Iraqi National Theater in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. War kept him away from his beloved homeland for decades. Now Shamma has returned to Iraq with a series of concerts and projects he hopes will support education, culture and the arts in the conflict-scarred nation. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iconic musician seeks to rebuild Iraq through music

Why Yemen’s war has spilled into the Emirates

Stone-throwing Israeli settlers attack Palestinian village

Africa

FILE - Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed poses for the media after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize during the award ceremony in Oslo City Hall, Norway, Dec. 10, 2019. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, on Thursday Jan. 13, 2022, issued a very rare admonition to the 2019 winner, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, over the war and humanitarian crisis in his country’s Tigray region. (Hakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP, File)

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Hundreds march in Burkina Faso to show support for new junta

Soldiers say military junta now controls Burkina Faso

Americas

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on Oct. 29, 2019.

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Japan

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Korea

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Okinawa

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Guam

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veterans

Leroy Joseph Scott III is seen here in an undated photo. Scott was found dead in Kittitas County, Wash., on April 25, 2020. Former soldier Raylin James on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, was found guilty of murder in the first degree in connection with the death of Scott. Another former soldier, Joshua Gerald, also has been charged with murder in connection to Scott’s death and his trial is scheduled to begin next month.

Former soldier convicted of murder, but family of veteran who he killed left with questions

Raylin James, 22, was found guilty of murder in the first degree in the death of Leroy Joseph Scott III, whose body was found April 25, 2020, off a rural road in Kittitas County, Wash.

Santa Fe, NM, working to expand display area for veterans’ banners

sports

Hungarian Szilveszter Csollany performs to win gold in the men's rings final at the Gymnastics World Championships in the Foenix Hall in Debrecen, Hungary, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2002. He got 9.725 points.(AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle)

Former Olympic gymnastic champion dies after COVID infection

Former Olympic gymnastics champion Szilveszter Csollany died Monday at the age of 51 after spending weeks hospitalized with COVID-19, Hungarian sports officials said.

DODEA-Pacific plans to reopen the winter high school sports season on Feb. 1, but is still trying to get a handle on what the schedule would look like, with the season scheduled to end Feb. 12.

DODEA-Pacific adds another week to pause on sports

Army beat Navy 74-73 in an overtime that saw five lead changes, during a matchup in Annapolis, Md., on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022.

Army overcomes huge deficit, defeats Navy in overtime

history

Kim Ki Sam/Stars and Stripes
Saigon, June, 1968: Gen. William C. Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam since 1964, points to a map of Vietnam as he conducts his final Saigon press conference before leaving for Washington to become Army chief of staff.

Westmoreland in Saigon, 1968

Saigon, June 1968: Gen. William C. Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam since 1964, points to a map of Vietnam as he conducts his final Saigon press conference before leaving for Washington to become Army chief of staff.