It is the second pair of B-2 aircraft and aircrew to arrive in Australia for July’s rotational BTF in support of the Enhanced Air Cooperation Initiative under the force posture agreement between the two countries. The first two arrived July 10. The deployed airmen also include members of the 131st Bomb Wing, Missouri Air National Guard.

The deployment aligns with the National Defense Strategy’s objectives of strategic predictability and operational unpredictability. The BTF enables different types of strategic bombers to operate forward in the Indo-Pacific region from a broad array of overseas and continental U.S. locations.

“Training and operating with our Australian partners has been an absolute blast,” said Lt. Col. Andrew Kousgaard, commander of the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, in a news release. “Since our advance team hit the ground over a week ago, U.S. Airmen have integrated with their Australian counterparts in every specialty: fuels, logistics, maintenance, aviators, you name it.

“We have plans to conduct engines-running refueling with Australian equipment, air refuel with Australian KC-30s … the list goes on, and the entire deployed squadron is really excited about it,” said Kousgaard. “It’s important for us to demonstrate that we can accomplish that mission from diverse locations in the largest combatant command in the world, and that’s exactly what we’re doing here.”

The last time B-2s deployed to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command as part of a task force was nearly two years ago, in August 2020.

Tensions in the Indo-Pacific region have been rising amid a host of concerns, ranging from international rights of passage through the South China Sea to worries that a conflict with China could erupt over Taiwan. In April, China conducted military exercises to protest six U.S. lawmakers’ meeting with the president of Taiwan to express support for the democratic island. Then, in May, President Joe Biden said the U.S. would intervene militarily if China invaded Taiwan, as its leaders have threatened to do.

His statement represented a significant departure from the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act that governs U.S. relations with the island, which does not require the U.S. to step in militarily to defend Taiwan if China invades, but makes it American policy to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself. Biden later walked back the statement a bit, saying the U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” had not changed, without specifically saying he had misspoken.

“This is the most consequential theater with the most challenging security issues … and advancing our interoperability with critical allies like Australia is critical to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Navy Adm. John C. Aquilino, the head of USINDOPACOM, in a news release. “There are many aspects that are going on daily to continue to move the security relationship forward in a positive way to provide deterrence, prevent war, and maintain peace and stability within the region.”

Kousgaard called the BTF deployment essential.

“The only way to learn and improve is to actually deploy and practice,” he said. “We simply cannot operate effectively by ourselves in this environment, and learning to effectively integrate with our partners is absolutely critical to success. We’re training against that ‘tyranny of distance,’ alongside our Australian partners on this deployment, and that experience is truly invaluable.”

The U.S. and Australia have long been strengthening relationships and interoperability through exercises like this and via technology cooperation. In March, a single B-2 flew to Amberly and conducted interoperability training missions along the way with both RAAF and USAF fighter aircraft.

“This is our most important relationship that we have in the Indo-Pacific region,” RAAF Air Vice-Marshal Joe Iervasi, air commander Australia, said in March. “We have enduring bonds extending back for decades and we share common values and interests, and we will continue to collaborate and keep this partnership strong.”

WASHINGTON — Lithuania imposed a ground transit ban of EU sanctioned Russian goods through its territory on Saturday, cutting off the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast.

The governor of the oblast, Anton Alikhanov, said the ban will block half of all goods coming into the territory, the majority of which travel via railroad. The ban will also cut off Kaliningrad’s only oil pipeline from Russia.

The move comes on top of the EU flight ban of 21 Russian-certified airlines in April, preventing goods from being flown into Kaliningrad as well. The only uninterrupted method of transit left to the territory now is by way of the sea through international waters.

In response, Russia said Lithuania will face “serious,” unspecified consequences for the actions.

With Lithuania being a NATO member, any direct military action by Russia would trigger Article 5 of the treaty and the entirety of the alliance would at war with Russia. During the State of the Union Address, U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to defend “every inch” of NATO territory. In March, the U.S. bolstered its presence in Lithuania, bringing the number of soldiers stationed in the country to around 1,000.

Where is Kaliningrad?

Like a hollow in the mountains, the isolated port city of Kaliningrad and the territory to which it lends its name is nestled along the coast of the Baltic Sea between the countries of Poland to the South and Lithuania to the East and North.

Why is Kaliningrad part of Russia?

The Kaliningrad Oblast is a territory of Russia. As an exclave, it is separated from its mother country’s capital of Moscow by about 680 miles.

After the conclusion of World War II, the Soviet Union was given control of the Kaliningrad territory at the Potsdam Conference. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the territory remained part of the Russian Federation, surrounded by newly independent countries which over time developed close ties to the West. Eventually, Poland and Lithuania joined the NATO alliance.

Why is Kaliningrad important?

Kaliningrad is the only Russian port on the Baltic Sea that is ice-free year round and is an important launch point for the nation’s naval fleet.

Kaliningrad’s location also means that Russia has naval vessels stationed behind NATO lines.

Along with its fleet, Russia also has nuclear weapons stationed in the territory, according to the Lithuania. In March, Russia ordered its nuclear forces on high alert in response to what it called mounting pressure from NATO countries making “aggressive statements about our country.”

Nuclear warheads attached to short or intermediate range ballistic misses stationed essentially inside NATO territory provide Russia with a more assured first strike due to the limited time it would take the missiles to reach their targets in Europe.

What has Russia’s response been?

Russia has expressed outrage at the move by Lithuania and has vowed to respond in a manner in which the citizens of Lithuania will feel pain, but has failed to specify how it will accomplish this.

Russia has called the transit ban a “blockade” and said the move is a violation of international law. Kaliningrad relies heavily on imports from Russia for goods and materials.

Lithuania defended the ban saying it is simply a step taken to comply with the EU sanctions which have been implemented on Russia since their invasion of Ukraine in late February.

“The transit of passengers and non-sanctioned goods to and from the Kaliningrad region through Lithuania continues uninterrupted,” the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Lithuania has not imposed any unilateral, individual, or additional restrictions on the transit. Lithuania consistently implements EU sanctions, which have different transition periods and dates of entry into force.”

The newest Federal holiday was signed into law on June 17, 2021, by President Joe Biden to commemorate the end of slavery in the U.S. following the conclusion of the Civil War.

The day has been celebrated annually around the country since 1865 when a Union General arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed the enslaved African Americans that the Confederacy had lost the war and that they were free as per the Emancipation Proclamation, which was inked in 1863. In many parts of the country, the proclamation was not implemented until the army enforced it.

Texas was the first state to codify the date into law in 1980 and was the only state to have the day as a paid holiday for state employees in 2020. Since then, at least eight states — New York, Maine, Louisiana, Virginia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington and Illinois — have followed, according to AP.

The next federal holiday is Independence Day on Monday, July 4th. The holiday commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the same day in 1776 marking the colonies unified intention to secede from the British Empire. Fighting in the Revolutionary War would continue until 1783 when the Treaty of Paris was signed in September and the United States was officially separate from the empire.

The figure, which represents the majority of the $13.9 million recovered through investigations of allegations initially reported to the DoD Hotline for fraud, waste and abuse, comes from the OIG’s semiannual report to Congress that highlight the audits and investigations conducted from October through March.

During that time, more than 8,000 allegations of wrongdoing were submitted to the hotline. That number includes complaints from civilian employees, private contractors and military personnel.

Of the allegations, the plurality fell under the category of personal misconduct or ethical violations. Personnel matters, procurement and contract administration, and retaliation all followed with relatively little margin between the three, according to the report released May 26.

For all the complaints, less than half had cases opened in response. The 3,485 cases which were opened in the latest collection period were referred to the appropriate investigative component. The report went on to say that more than 3,000 cases were closed during the same time frame, including those opened during previous reporting periods and rolled over.

Of the investigations that were closed, 10 resulted in substantiated claims of whistleblower reprisal. Two of the cases involved the same Air Force major who threatened to write weak performance evaluations for two different Air Force captains. Both captains engaged in protected communications with higher authorities relating to a threat the major made to whip one of the captain’s child with a belt, according to the report.

Corrective action against the major is pending in both cases, it said.

The holiday always falls on the last Monday of May and is a day of remembrance for those who died in the service of the United States. By tradition, citizens are encouraged to pause for a moment of silent reflection at 3 p.m. on the day.

Memorial Day became a recognized federal holiday in 1971 but can trace its history back to the 1860s and the American Civil War. A few years after the conclusion of the war, a flower laying ceremony, then known as Decoration Day, was held at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868, at the behest of Union veterans.

Arlington National Cemetery still hosts ceremonies to honor the fallen every Memorial Day. During the preceding weekend, soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment lay American flags at more than 228,000 headstones. On the day, the president places a wreath on The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier.

The next federal holiday is also the newest addition to the list, only being added last year. Juneteenth National Independence Day is on Sunday, June 19. Most federal employees will have the following Monday off work.