Stripes

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby speaks during 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)

Pentagon readies 8,500 US-based troops for possible Eastern Europe deployment as tensions with Russia simmer

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday no final decisions had been made on deployments, which he said would happen only if the NATO alliance decides to activate a rapid-response force "or if other situations develop" in connection with tensions over Russia's military buildup along Ukraine's borders.

A U.S. Army paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade surveys the land during training near Yavoriv, Ukraine on Sept. 25, 2021. The U.S. could deploy up to 5,000 troops, along with aircraft and warships to central and Eastern Europe in anticipation of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a New York Times report.

US could send Europe-based reinforcements to allies near Russia amid invasion fears in Ukraine

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jasmine Blade, a hospital corpsman, administers a COVID-19 vaccine during a mass-immunization exercise on Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, Dec. 7, 2021. Sigonella has given nearly 1,700 COVID-19 booster shots to adults since Nov. 1.

Video | Stripes in 7 for Jan. 24, 2022

Pentagon: Judge’s halt of vaccine mandate for federal workers does not impact troops

VAT forms and other US military base services in Germany to cost more

Rule change means US personnel who received J&J shot no longer considered fully vaccinated by Germany

more top news

USS Harry S. Truman strike group to participate in NATO exercise amid tensions with Russia over Ukraine

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US draws down Ukraine embassy presence as war fears mount

Two US bases in Italy now in higher-risk coronavirus zones

Court blocks COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees

Japan allocates $56 million toward developing electric railgun for missile defense

Former child actor in South Korea who joined US Army takes new role at UN Command

multimedia

military matters podcast

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

branches

Army

Afghan evacuees play soccer together Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.The division soldiers along with Indiana National Guard soldiers will provide transportation, temporary housing, medical screening and logistics support as part of Operation Allies Welcome. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Raekwon Jenkins, released)

Afghan resettlement work wrapping up at Indiana’s Camp Atterbury

Army: Man who breached Fort Knox gate, tried to ram police shot dead

Maine National Guard soldiers return from deployment to Africa

Air Force

Level Up Week at Wright-Patterson AFB to emphasize personal, professional development

Process changes for visitor passes to Wright-Patterson

Sneak peek of new Air Force coveralls elicits mostly poor reviews on popular website

Navy

Sailors help direct an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter onto the guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson in the South Pacific, Jan. 19, 2022.

Destroyer USS Sampson helps Tonga islands damaged by volcanic eruption, tsunami

Navy water quality results to be made public faster

USS Harry S. Truman strike group to participate in NATO exercise amid tensions with Russia over Ukraine

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

Effective Jan. 31, 2022, the Marines will stop counseling and discharging service members that have been diagnosed with pseuodfolliculitis barbae, better known as razor bumps, the Marine Corps announced Jan. 21.

Marines to halt separations and reprimands for razor bumps

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

Family of slain Marine sues Alec Baldwin for defamation

theaters

U.S.

Facebook parent Meta creates powerful AI supercomputer

Massachusetts expected to resettle 2,000 Afghan evacuees

Feds launch website for claiming part 2 of child tax credit

Europe

An official file portrait provided by Britain's Parliament of Conservative lawmaker Nusrat Ghani. Ghani, a former minister in Britain’s Conservative government says she was told that her Muslim faith was a reason she was fired. The claim has deepened the rifts roiling Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s governing party. (Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament via AP)

Lawmaker’s claim of anti-Muslim bias is new blow to UK government

Wikileaks founder Assange wins first stage in effort to appeal US extradition

Taliban hold first talks in Europe since Afghanistan takeover

Asia-Pacific

The aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson, front, and USS Abraham Lincoln transit the Philippine Sea on Jan. 22, 2022.

Carrier-landing mishap injures F-35C pilot, six sailors in South China Sea

China tests 2M in Beijing, lifts COVID lockdown in Xi’an

Japan rejects gift of booze from South Korea that contained image of disputed islands

Middle East

A Palestinian man stands by a car he said Jewish settlers had vandalized slashing its tires and spray painting it with the Jewish Star of David and Hebrew that reads, "Stop administrative detentions," in the village of Qira near the West Bank town of Salfit, Sunday, Jan 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Stone-throwing Israeli settlers attack Palestinian village

Iran regains UN assembly voting rights after assets unfrozen

Iran signals willingness to engage directly with US on deal

Africa

A mutinous soldier fires into the air at the Bobo interchange, near the Lamizana camp in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou Sunday Jan. 23, 2022.

Soldiers say military junta now controls Burkina Faso

Official says 31 killed in new South Sudan communal violence

Authorities: 17 dead in nightclub fire in Cameroon’s capital

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.

Putin discusses ‘strategic partnership’ with Cuban leader amid fears of military threat

More migrants seek asylum through reopened Canadian border

Two Canadians killed in shooting at Mexican beach resort

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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

Lt. Colby Torres (right), a Chaplin at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, visits with Marine Corps Maj. John Hughes (retired) at the Ewa Battlefield Commemoration on Dec. 6, 2016. Hughes is a survivor of the attacks that took place at Ewa Field on Dec. 7, 1941.

Maj. John Hughes, a ‘Man of Legends,’ was Orange County Calif.’s last known Pearl Harbor veteran

A photo shows John Hughes and four other Marines hunkered down on a airfield shooting rifles at attacking Japanese planes overhead. Black smoke and explosions surround them. But it was years before the humble yet highly decorated Marine aviator told his family about his World War II experiences … and yes, bravery.

Adrian Rowan arranges the stock in the lingerie boutique, House of Rowan, in the room adjacent to her photography studio, Jan. 18, 2022.

NJ veteran who snapped photos for the Air Force now takes erotic, empowering portraits

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

Army overcame a 22-point halftime deficit to beat Navy in overtime, 74-73

Wiesbaden's Caleb Rothmeyer attemps to pin Hohnefels' Nathan Angulo during a quad meet in Wiesbaden, Germany on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022.

Tigers get best of Warriors, Lions and Sentinels on the mat

Europe Scoreboard: Jan. 22, 2022

history

Tony Evanoski/Stars and Stripes
Frankfurt, West Germany, October, 1961: Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, considered by many to be the greatest of all jazz musicians, poses during a stopover at Frankfurt on his way to perform for troops in the recently-walled city of Berlin.
https://www.stripes.com/news/satchmo-to-toot-for-troops-in-berlin-1.10211

Bringing jazz to the troops, 1961

Frankfurt, West Germany, October 1961: Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, considered by many to be the greatest of all jazz musicians, poses during a stopover at Frankfurt on his way to perform for troops in the recently-walled city of Berlin.