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An Airman assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing fills sandbags with family members ahead of Hurricane Milton at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, Oct. 7, 2024. Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall in the Tampa Bay area later this week. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Lauren Cobin)

Military moves aircraft, ships and closes bases as Hurricane Milton nears Florida

The Air Force and Navy moved aircraft and ships out of the path of Hurricane Milton on Tuesday as the storm churned toward Florida’s west coast.

A mariner aboard the fast combat support ship USNS Supply raises the national ensign as the ship moors in Naval Station Norfolk, Va., July 27, 2024, following an eight-month deployment in support of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group. The Navy is looking for ways to address a critical shortage of qualified civilian mariners without sidelining 17 of its logistics ships.

Navy wants to avoid sidelining ships as it confronts civilian mariner shortage

Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost accepts the U.S. Forces Japan guidon from the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Samuel Paparo, at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Oct. 8, 2024.

Fighter pilot takes command from airlifter ahead of US Forces Japan overhaul

VA shutters hospitals, clinics along Florida’s Gulf Coast as Hurricane Milton nears landfall

Pentagon announces pilot program to improve health care access for civilians in Japan

Oregon National Guard soldier reclaims burpee world record

more top news

Veterans, troops targeted in Iran-backed disinformation campaign ahead of US election

Oregon National Guard readies for upcoming Kosovo stint with dry run in Bavaria

Navy base in Japan breaks ground on high-tech ship-handling training simulator

US soldier who rescued drowning woman from fast-moving Danube River up for award

Dining facility in Japan broke Air Force rules by offering airmen bottled water

‘SEAL Team’ actor immerses himself into the military community with USO tour to Marine Corps Museum

Marine Corps’ unmanned ‘narco-boat’ heads to Okinawa for Indo-Pacific trial

Veteran jobless rate in US falls to 2.7% during September

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Army

Sgt. Daniel Beltran, a bridge crew chief with the 809th Multi-Role Bridge Company, stands outside Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Oct. 4, 2024. The Houston native has been nominated for the Soldier's Medal for rescuing a German woman from the Danube River on Sept. 12, 2024.

US soldier who rescued drowning woman from fast-moving Danube River up for award

Oregon National Guard readies for upcoming Kosovo stint with dry run in Bavaria

Oregon National Guard soldier reclaims burpee world record

Air Force

Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost accepts the U.S. Forces Japan guidon from the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Samuel Paparo, at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Oct. 8, 2024.

Fighter pilot takes command from airlifter ahead of US Forces Japan overhaul

Air Force keeps pace of rotating fighters at ‘keystone’ base on Okinawa

Pioneering Air Force general hands over command of TRANSCOM, retires after 36 years of service

Navy

A mariner aboard the fast combat support ship USNS Supply raises the national ensign as the ship moors in Naval Station Norfolk, Va., July 27, 2024, following an eight-month deployment in support of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group. The Navy is looking for ways to address a critical shortage of qualified civilian mariners without sidelining 17 of its logistics ships.

Navy wants to avoid sidelining ships as it confronts civilian mariner shortage

Navy base in Japan breaks ground on high-tech ship-handling training simulator

US Navy hospital in Spain stops delivering babies following ambulance provider’s move

Space Force

A United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan VC2S rocket launches its first certification mission from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, Jan. 8, 2024. Cert-1 will deliver the Astrobotic Peregrine commercial lunar lander into a highly elliptical orbit more than 220,000 miles above Earth to intercept the moon and will carry a Celeste’s Memorial Spaceflight payload into deep space. (U.S. Space Force photo by Joshua Conti)

Boeing-Lockheed venture launches new rocket in key test

Northrop Grumman wins $200M contract for deep-space radar

Blue Origin set to test fire New Glenn stage at Canaveral launch pad

Coast Guard

U.S. Coast Guard Station Bayfield hauls a kayak aboard after rescuing stranded kayakers.

Coast Guard rescues 2 clinging to kayak in Lake Superior

Former cutter skipper takes command of Coast Guard’s growing Guam-based fleet

Coast Guard to send 3 more cutters to Guam, has no plans to escort Philippine ships

Marine Corps

Sgt. Hunter Clark, an MV-22 tiltrotor crew chief for Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 165 (Reinforced), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, signals ready for takeoff from the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer for a humanitarian assistance mission while underway in the East China Sea, Oct. 5, 2024.

Rotational Marines tapped for typhoon relief mission in northern Philippines

Marine Corps’ unmanned ‘narco-boat’ heads to Okinawa for Indo-Pacific trial

Marine receives highest non-combat award for heroism in training incident

theaters

U.S.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, during a press briefing at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

US scrambled to urge Putin not to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Woodward book says

Not everything will run perfectly on Election Day, but US elections are remarkably reliable

Job fair for Air Force Research Lab draws large crowd; continues on Wednesday

Europe

Ken McCallum, Director General of MI5, delivers the annual Director General's speech at Counter Terrorism Operations Centre in west London, Tuesday Oct. 8, 2024. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

MI5 spy chief says Russia and Iran are behind a ‘staggering’ rise in deadly plots

Chagos islanders displaced for US military base protest deal on their future made without them

Defaced mural of Oct. 7 survivor another example of rising antisemitism in Italy

Asia-Pacific

Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives the opening remarks during a meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Ministerial, at the State Department, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Blinken heads to Asia this week for a summit of regional leaders

Former Taiwan leader Tsai to visit Czech Republic, other European destinations, drawing China’s ire

Pentagon announces pilot program to improve health care access for civilians in Japan

Middle East

Missiles launched from Iran towards Israel streak across the night sky as seen from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

As Israel plots to strike Iran, its choices range from symbolic to severe

Hezbollah steps up rocket fire as Israel sends more troops into Lebanon

War rages on multiple fronts as Israel marks one year since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack

Africa

A screen grab taken from AFPTV video footage on April 20, 2023, shows an aerial view of black smoke rising above the Khartoum International Airport amid ongoing battles between the forces of two rival generals. Hundreds of people have been killed since the fighting erupted on April 15 between forces loyal to Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). (AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

Bipartisan Senate bill prods US to help end Sudan war

UAE accuses Sudanese army of bombing ambassador’s residence

Rebel group in Congo generates $300,000 monthly in seized mining area, UN official says

Americas

Supporters of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos place candles and flowers at the entrance of the municipal building one week after he took office in Chilpancingo, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)

The mayor of a state capital in Mexico is killed less than 1 week after he took office

Thousands survived a brutal gang attack in Haiti that killed 70. Now they face an uncertain future

Over 6,000 people in Haiti leave their homes after gang attack killed dozens

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Europe

October 2024 Pet of the month: Drogo

Market Mug of the Week: Ludwigsburg

6 of Italy’s best unknown national parks

Japan

VIDEO: Exploring Japan: A pleasant autumn stroll in scenic Iida City

Through Korean eyes: Overtourism: Things I won’t miss about Japan

Shifting Shibuya: Okinawan writer’s first visit to bustling district in 5 years a shock to the senses

Korea

Oct. 9-Hangul Day: A Democratic alphabet created for Korean commoner

Hadong Cable Car welcomes autumn visitors with special Hangeul Day events and scenic views

Seoul Museum of Craft Art hosts “Petnic” on Oct. 9 in celebration of Hangul Day

Okinawa

VIDEO: Japan Kitchen: Daigakuimio, a taste of college

VIDEO: Exploring Itokazu Castle Ruins on Okinawa

Slurp soba inside traditional Okinawa noodle house near Camp Schwab

Guam

Get to know Guam: Umatac the resting place of goddess

Dealing with mother nature in Guam

VIDEO: Guam Kitchen: Easy recipe for Chamorro beef tinaktak

Veterans

Brian Morrison launched the Free Blockbuster movement in February 2019 in Los Angeles. There are now about 250 franchises around the United States, Canada and the U.K.

Keeping movie rental nostalgia alive

Free Blockbuster gives new life to old DVDs, VHS tapes through community-sharing

Sports

Kaiserslautern senior Asia Andrews follows her putt on the No. 16 green at Rheinblick Golf Course during a round on Oct. 3, 2024, in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Andrews, Raiders try to keep streaks alive

Ramstein boys are likely to win again as DODEA-Europe’s first fall sport finishes up this week with season-ending championships.

History

Hill 400, South Korea, June 21, 1952: Men of the Colombian Battalion - most probably 3rd Platoon, Company A of the 1st Colombian Infantry Battalion - and their South Korean Army counterparts carry one of their wounded men down Hill 400 after the conclusion of a successful raid on the hill.

Lasting only an hour and 30 minutes the Colombians killed 28 enemy soldiers, destroyed its artillery positions and took the hill. The platoon suffered 2 KIA and 15 wounded.

By the time the Colombian Battalion returned home on October 29, 1954, the Colombians received twenty-five Bronze Stars with Valor, nine Bronze Stars, eighteen Silver Stars, and two Presidential Unit Citations (one from the United States and one from South Korea), as well as the respect and admiration of the U.S. and South Korean men they fought beside. One hundred thirty-one of its servicemembers had died in combat, ten in wartime accidents, two of natural causes and more than 400 were wounded.

Colombia was the only Latin American country to dispatch troops to Korea during the Korean War - the 1st Colombian Infantry Battalion, which became known as the Colombian Battalion, arrived in country June 15, 1951 and during their deployment were attached to several U.S. Army Infantry Regiments.

Read Stars and Stripes' 1952 story about the Colombian Battalion's assault on Hill "X" here.

https://www.stripes.com/migration/united-effort-aids-colombian-attack-1.557103

META TAGS: Pacific; South Korea; Korean War; combat; Colombia; Colombian Army; 1st Colombian Battalion; army; war; United Nations Command; UNC; UN; wounded; ROK; casualty

Colombian Battalion men carry their wounded in South Korea, 1952

Hill 400, South Korea, June 21, 1952: Men of the Colombian Battalion — most probably 3rd Platoon, Company A of the 1st Colombian Infantry Battalion — and their South Korean Army counterparts carry one of their wounded men down Hill 400 after the conclusion of a successful raid on the hill.

Living

Brian Morrison launched the Free Blockbuster movement in February 2019 in Los Angeles. There are now about 250 franchises around the United States, Canada and the U.K.

Keeping movie rental nostalgia alive

Free Blockbuster gives new life to old DVDs, VHS tapes through community-sharing

Travel

Python Huntress Amy Siewe holds an invasive 10-foot Burmese Python, originally caught by her colleague Harold Antonio Rondon-Mena, during a hunting trip down Tamiami Trail on Sept. 5, in Miami. Siewe has caught over 600 pythons herself since trading a real estate career in Indiana to become a professional python hunter five years ago. Guiding, however, has proven far more lucrative for her than just catching and trapping snakes as a state-certified python hunter so she made it her full-time business in the last two years.

New Florida tourist thrill: Hunt, and maybe catch, a python

Models hanging from the ceiling of the Zeppelin Museum in Neu-Isenburg, Germany, show several variations of the famous airships. The LZ 10 Schwaben, which debuted in 1911, was used as a commercial airship by DELAG, the world's first airline. Behind it is the L59, a military airship used in World War I.

Tread zeppelin: Museum near Frankfurt Airport pays tribute to iconic dirigibles

Using a whole cucumber as bait, a child tries his luck at catching a kappa at Kappabuchi Pool in Tono, Japan.

Win 10 million yen for catching a kappa, Japan’s most elusive mythical critter