The Watch

THE WATCH STAFF The barren and unforgiving Arctic terrain of the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) is where the United States military and its allies train in extreme conditions. High above the vast landscape that is the size of the U.S. state of Indiana, the world’s most advanced warplane — the F-35A II Lightning stealth fighter — conducts operations, too. The multirole F-35A II rules its domain no matter the environment. “We have a motto that ‘we’re ready to go at 50 below [zero degrees Fahrenheit],’ ” and it does get that cold sometimes, Col. David Berkland, commander of…

THE WATCH STAFF Navy SEALs aboard black-rubber raiding boats skim across a choppy sea off Alaska under the watchful eye of an F-22 Raptor. Later, they parachute from high above their target zone near an isolated coastal town. The commandos conduct reconnaissance in the fog using drones equipped with the latest in artificial-intelligence technology. They operate from an expeditionary camp of Quonset huts supported by heavy-lift CH-47 Chinook helicopters from the Alaska National Guard. This latest chapter in an ongoing series of exercises known as Operation Noble Defender fulfilled its purpose once again — demonstrating the ability of U.S. Northern…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Mexico’s Army and National Guard announced July 7, 2022, a “historic” seizure of more than a half-ton of fentanyl at a warehouse in the northern city of Culiacan. Mexican prosecutors followed up that news a day later by reporting that a half-million fentanyl pills were confiscated at another warehouse in the city. Culiacan is the capital of Sinaloa state, home to the drug cartel of the same name. “This is the largest seizure in history of this lethal drug,” Assistant Public Safety Secretary Ricardo Mejia said of the first haul, which took place July 2 and netted…

THE WATCH STAFF An experimental satellite now in orbit will help the United States refine the development of technology to identify and track hypersonic missiles and better protect the homeland. The Wide Field of View Testbed (WFOV) satellite, pictured, launched July 1, 2022, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida bound for geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. Its mission is to “explore the ability of a single sensor to perform strategic and tactical missions simultaneously by continuously monitoring up to one-third of the Earth’s surface,” according to a June 28 news release from the WFOV manufacturer, Boeing’s…

THE WATCH STAFF The United States Embassy in Nassau celebrated America’s Independence Day aboard the USS Lassen on July 1, 2022, while the warship was visiting the Bahamas. The festivities also honored the special relationship between the U.S. and the Caribbean nation. U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Usha E. Pitts and Adm. Daryl L. Caudle, commander U.S. Fleet Forces Command, hosted the event aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer that docked at Prince George Wharf in Nassau Harbor. Along with Lassen commander Christopher P. Turmel, they welcomed about 150 guests to the celebration of America’s 246th birthday, which was July 4. The Bahamian guests…

THE WATCH STAFF The groundwork for large-scale United States military exercises is often laid one community at a time. In Alaska and the Arctic region, cooperation with civilian and tribal leaders is crucial to maintaining a vigilant and mission-ready homeland defense for North America. An example of such exchanges: U.S. military personnel from Special Operations Command North (SOCNORTH) and the Alaska Air National Guard (AKANG) worked June 5-8, 2022, with tribal and city leaders on Alaska’s St. Lawrence Island to coordinate for future exercises such as Arctic Edge. (U.S. Northern Command’s Arctic Edge is a multiservice U.S. and Canadian exercise…

REUTERS NATO agreed in June 2022 to put over 300,000 troops at high readiness beginning in 2023, up from 40,000 previously, in a new military lineup designed to better counter Russia. The move replaces the NATO Response Force, which was for years the first to respond to any Russian attack or other crisis. The new model resembles the way NATO forces were organized during the Cold War. At that time, specific allied countries were assigned the defense of specific sectors of the border between Western and Eastern Germany. “Today, NATO leaders decided a fundamental shift in our defense and deterrence…

REUTERS The United States added five companies in China to a trade blacklist in June 2022 for allegedly supporting Russia’s military and defense industrial base, flexing its muscle to enforce sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. The Commerce Department, which oversees the blacklist, said the targeted companies had supplied items to Russian “entities of concern” before the February 24 invasion, adding that they “continue to contract to supply Russian entity listed and sanctioned parties.” The agency also added another 31 entities to the blacklist from countries that include Russia, UAE, Lithuania, Pakistan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan and…

U.S. STRATEGIC COMMAND United States military forces demonstrated the might of their integrated deterrence during Valiant Shield 2022 (VS22), the joint Indo-Pacific region exercise held at sea, in the air, on land and in cyberspace. The biennial U.S. event conducted June 6-17 included 15 surface ships, more than 200 aircraft and an estimated 13,000 personnel from the Navy, Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Space Force. Valiant Shield was conducted on the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Palau and at sea around the Mariana Island Range Complex. The participating forces from U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) included B-1B Lancer…

THE WATCH STAFF In the wake of historic Hurricane Dorian in 2019, U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) provided critical support for relief efforts in the Bahamas. Dorian, a Category 5 storm that packed 185-mph winds when it made landfall, was the strongest hurricane to hit the northwestern Bahamas on modern record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Dorian was responsible for an estimated U.S. $3.4 billion worth of damages to Bahamian infrastructure according to NOAA, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper reported September 1, 2021. The recently concluded Restoration Island Cays, a disaster-response exercise conducted by USNORTHCOM and the Bahamas’…