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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An F-35C Lightning II stealth fighter lands on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson in the South China Sea, Jan. 13, 2022.

Navy plans to recover F-35 from South China Sea after carrier’s fifth aircraft mishap in recent months

A U.S. Air Force special tactics operator assigned to the 24th Special Operations Wing conducts casualty care training with Ukrainian air force members near Vinnytsia, Ukraine, Aug. 6, 2021. The U.S. airman's face was obscured by military officials for security reasons.

Video | Stripes in 7 for Jan. 26, 2022

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

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Jumping, sliding US soldiers seek Olympic glory in Nordic combined event

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military matters podcast

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

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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

Microsoft’s $22 billion Army goggles still aren’t combat-ready

Afghan resettlement work wrapping up at Indiana’s Camp Atterbury

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)

National Guard sees troops reupping despite COVID, hard year

March ARB is Air Force’s top choice for new tanker planes — and could get protection against closure

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

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.

Navy’s $13 billion carrier sows doubt that it can defend itself

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

Coast Guard searching for 39 people off Florida coast after suspected smuggling boat capsizes

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

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.

A backhoe breaks and remove parts of the Al-Jawhara building, as a worker recycles metal iron rods from the rubble of the building, which was damaged by Israeli airstrikes during Israel's war with Gaza's Hamas rulers last May, in the central of al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. The Gaza Strip has few jobs, little electricity and almost no natural resources. But after four bruising wars with Israel in just over a decade, it has lots of rubble. Local businesses are now finding ways to cash in on the chunks of smashed concrete, bricks and debris left behind by years of conflict.

UN: More than 50 million people affected by urban conflicts

US approves major arms sale to Egypt despite rights concerns

Migrant abuses continue in Libya. So does EU border training

Europe

Ukrainian servicemen patrol a street toward the frontline with Russia-backed separatists in Verkhnotoretske village in Yasynuvata district, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022.

Ukraine’s front line: Where lives turn on distant decisions

Winter welcome: Stranded drivers freed in Istanbul, Athens

Ukrainian leaders: Stay calm, Russian invasion not imminent

Asia-Pacific

Tokyo reported a new one-day high of 14,086 coronavirus infections on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022.

No crest in sight for Tokyo’s COVID-19 wave as US military cases continue to fall

Navy plans to recover F-35 from South China Sea after carrier’s fifth aircraft mishap in recent months

Hundreds of American-made munitions from WWII are detonated off Okinawa

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)

Ethiopia’s prime minister open to talks with Tigray forces

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.

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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Traditional Japanese instruments that you can listen to

Korea

Learn the Concept of Korean Age

The return of the Korean corn dog

Don’t miss the juicy gyoza at Menyamatsuri near Humphreys

Okinawa

Dirty Secrets: Everything to know about sorting garbage in Japan

VIDEO | Experience Japanese traditions from the comfort of your own home

Time to vote for the Best of the Pacific 2022

Guam

Time to vote for the Best of the Pacific 2022

Hop in your car to visit these beautiful places on Guam

Exploring Guam: Refresh at these beautiful waterfalls

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

Jumping, sliding US soldiers seek Olympic glory in Nordic combined event

Two Army truck drivers are headed to the Winter Olympics in Beijing to compete in a sport that mixes cross-country skiing and ski jumping.

Jimmy Reed, who grew up in the U.S. military community in Garmisch, Germany, will compete in bobsled for Team USA at next month’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.

From Garmisch to Beijing: Former military kid is latest addition to Team USA’s bobsled team

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

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.