United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer and Petty Officer Scott Ruskin, directly saved an astonishing 165 victims in the devastating flooding in central Texas.
This was the first rescue mission of his career and he was the only triage coordinator at the scene.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by German Polysalov
[REGNUM] On June 26, the new administration's defense budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which begins on October 1, was published on the US Department of Defense website.
The list of published documents is missing one of the key Pentagon programs, which for ten years has demonstrated the consistency and continuity of American foreign policy in “ensuring security” on the European continent.
We are talking about the "European Deterrence Initiative", also known as the European Deterrence Initiative.
The goal of this defense program, launched three months after Crimea was returned to Russia, was to expand Washington's military presence in Europe to reduce NATO members' concerns about "Russian aggression."
Under this defense initiative, Washington has been expanding the presence of rotational forces, strengthening active units, modernizing infrastructure, conducting joint exercises, and strengthening the armed forces of allies.
In total, over $40 billion was allocated for the listed purposes in the period from 2015 to 2025 fiscal year. And the record level of investment in strengthening American military potential in Europe, to the surprise of many, occurred during Donald Trump’s first term.
This was despite the fact that political and military leaders on both sides of the Atlantic continued to hear anti-NATO rhetoric, the main example of which was the American leader’s comments about sharing the financial burden among NATO members.
Trump's return to the White House is also accompanied by the usual statements. The only difference is that the draft defense budget, prepared before the NATO summit in The Hague, immediately cast doubt on the continuation of American spending on European security, since no funds were allocated for the European Deterrence Initiative program.
But are the Americans really cutting funding for their military presence in Europe?
An analysis of budget documents from the US Army, Air Force and Navy shows that funding for the Pentagon's European projects will continue. Even without the "deterrence initiative" in the budget proposal, funds for the development of US military infrastructure in Europe are included.
Moreover, the funding will cover new states, which can be interpreted as strengthening American positions and increasing the possibilities of using US military power in the European theater of military operations.
The total amount of "infrastructure improvements" in Europe proposed for FY2026, for the Air Force alone, will be more than $430 million.
The funding is proposed for defense projects in Greenland, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The emphasis is on expanding U.S. air operations in the Arctic, patrolling the North and Norwegian Seas, quickly restoring airfields after combat, expanding casualty evacuation capabilities, and the possible return of nuclear weapons.
Greenland. $32 million The U.S. Department of Defense is investing in the Pituffik space base, which will install an instrument landing system for aircraft approaching from the east (from Norway, Sweden, and Finland) or flying along Russia's Arctic coast.
That is, the future commissioning of the system is intended to expand US air operations in the Arctic zone, support NATO military maneuvers in the Arctic and strengthen control over the air corridor used by Russian military aircraft, including long-range strategic aviation.
Norway. The Rygge air base is planned to have four aircraft shelters, an additional fighter parking area, a pair of taxiways and associated infrastructure to accommodate personnel.
According to the construction project justifications, these improvements will be carried out in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, a well-known initiative to “strengthen the security and defence capabilities” of NATO member countries.
Therefore, we can talk about the imminent increase in the military presence of the American Air Force in Norway and the intensification of joint exercises with allies. Including exercises on patrolling the North and Norwegian Seas not only by fighter aircraft, but also by patrol anti-submarine aircraft, AWACS aircraft and radio reconnaissance aircraft.
The proposed investment will expand the US ability to project forces and assets to the Norwegian air base. The Pentagon estimates the project will cost $72 million.
UK. The Pentagon plans to build RADR depots at Feltwell Air Base to help restore another military facility, Lakenheath Air Base, 5 miles away, to full operational status as quickly as possible.
The Americans are insuring against damage to the second base as a result of combat operations and are investing $20 million to ensure the survivability of the aviation infrastructure and maintaining the tempo of operations in the event of direct attacks on the air base.
It is at Lakenheath that the US Air Force is systematically investing hundreds of millions of dollars each year for a potential return to the “nuclear mission” of deploying US weapons of mass destruction in the UK. The draft budget for fiscal year 2026 allocates more than $253 million for this purpose.
Germany. Ramstein Air Base is set to build a $44 million indoor shooting range and an Aeromedical Evacuation Compound (AEC). It will be used to manage aeromedical evacuation, including transporting wounded from the battlefield to hospitals.
Apparently, the US European Command is considering a scenario in which the arrival of large numbers of aeromedical teams during a major operation in Europe would paralyze the entire medical system. To prevent such an outcome, the Pentagon plans to spend $29 million.
***
Thus, the absence of the European Deterrence Initiative program budget documents in the draft does not change anything in fact. Investments in European defense infrastructure will only grow compared to last year. This will affect both absolute figures and the geography of work.
If so, there is a very good chance you are being Poisoned by Chinese Pesticides and Fungicide’s that are carcinogenic (cancer) and endocrine disrupters (hormones)
#3
Any and all users of privately obtained illegal drugs or psychoactive agents put their lives at stake every single time they use. This cannot be repeated often enough, yet somehow never gets mentioned by MSM or any other news source.
Fentanyl and carfentanil can and do kill quite effectively on the first and only dose many abusers ingest.
[TWZ] The first full image of China's "Bohai Sea Monster" wing-in-ground effect craft has emerged, but major questions remain.
We are getting our first full look at China’s wing-in-ground effect (WIG) craft. It was first identified last week by our friend and submarine warfare analyst HI Sutton. You can read his initial post at Naval News here. It was originally spotted in an image with its nose section obscured. In that image, the flying-boat-hulled aircraft was pictured sitting on a pier situated on the Bohai Sea, which sits at the northwestern reach of the Yellow Sea.
As we have discussed many times before, the Soviet Union was famed for its experimentation and semi-operational use of large WIG craft known as Ekranoplans. The capability and tactical concepts surrounding it never really caught on en-masse, but we are currently experiencing a renaissance of sorts for large WIG aircraft that aim to race above the thick air above the water with relative efficiency and speed (most can fly less efficiently at higher altitudes too). The U.S. is developing just such an aircraft, the Liberty Lifer, in hopes that it could be used to deliver heavy cargo, personnel and materiel to far-flung locales across the great expanses of the Pacific. In doing so it would help reduce some of the Pentagon’s looming logistic woes were it to fight across such a large theater.
In the case of this mysterious aircraft being tested by China, it is loosely similar in scale to what we have seen of their new amphibious flying boat, the AG600, which is intended to perform resupply, search and rescue, and other missions, especially over the South China Sea. This WIG aircraft appears ideally suited for similar applications in the littorals.
Continued on Page 47
#3
In the early days of the War in the Pacific, the Japanese made good effect using seaplanes, some even armed with bombs, although their main task was to birddog their enemy.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
