The Watch

THE WATCH STAFF The U.S. Space Force, which marked its second birthday December 20, 2021, has unveiled a website with the dual purpose of recruiting the next generation of Guardians and explaining its military mission. The Space Force is an independent service under the Department of the Air Force that was signed into law in 2019. Since then, its ranks have grown to more than 6,500 uniformed Guardians and about an equal number of civilian employees, according to a December 18 SpaceNews story. (Pictured: Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, Space Operations Command commander; U.S. Space Force Spc. 3 Justin Blount, Missile Warning Center…

THE WATCH STAFF The U.S. Space Force launched an Atlas V rocket into orbit on December 7, 2021, to test capabilities ranging from space domain awareness to the quick detection of nuclear explosions. United Launch Alliance sent the Space Test Program-3 (STP-3) mission into space from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United Press International (UPI) reported. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Test Program was created to fly experimental payloads to test technologies for potential future military missions, according to UPI. The STP-3 mission is made up of a primary spacecraft and a ride-share spacecraft, which are mostly classified.…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Dozens of tanks and Soldiers fired explosives and machine guns while participating in drills on December 6, 2021, on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, a main stronghold for a nation that is perhaps the world’s least-known military powerhouse. Just across the sea from rival Russia, Japan opened its humbly named Self-Defense Force’s firing exercises to the media in a display of firepower that coincides with a recent escalation of Chinese and Russian military moves around Japanese territory. The drills, which foreign journalists rarely have a chance to witness, continued for nine days and included 1,300 Ground Self-Defense…

THE WATCH STAFF The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) offshore patrol vessel HMCS Harry DeWolf returned December 16, 2021, to its home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, after completing a circumnavigation of North America. The DeWolf is Canada’s first new warship in 25 years and the first in a fleet of Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) built under the country’s National Shipbuilding Strategy. In addition to the circumnavigation, the ice-capable DeWolf’s four-month deployment was groundbreaking for other accomplishments: The ship sailed the Arctic’s Northwest Passage, becoming only the second RCN vessel to do so since 1954. The DeWolf demonstrated its interoperability with U.S.…

THE WATCH STAFF U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the United States must urgently focus on developing new warplanes to keep pace with the military modernization undertaken by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The first step toward countering the PRC’s rapid advancements is to retire the Air Force’s outdated aircraft such as the MQ-9 Reaper drone, some C-130s, older tankers and the A-10 Warthog, Kendall said December 4, 2021, at the Reagan National Defense Forum, according to Defense News. “If it doesn’t threaten China, why are we doing it?” Kendall asked during a panel discussion at the annual event…

THE WATCH STAFF The U.S. Navy is building a facility dedicated to testing unmanned surface and submarine vehicles at its California warfare center in Port Hueneme. “These facilities will be the focal point of Navy learning and experimentation on the capabilities, operations and sustainment of unmanned maritime vehicle prototypes to inform future programs,” Capt. Pete Small, who leads the program office for unmanned maritime systems, said in a statement December 14, 2021, from the Navy Sea Systems Command. Some of the systems destined for Port Hueneme include the Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV), as well as the Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MUSV)…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Pentagon intends to work better with private industry to develop high-tech systems and to strengthen relations with allies in the Indo-Pacific region to maintain a competitive edge over the People’s Republic of China (PRC), U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said December 4, 2021. Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, Austin said recent military activity and aggressive moves by the PRC in the region, including near the self-ruled island of Taiwan, are disturbing. Although the United States is still committed to the long-standing “One China” policy, it is working to bolster Taiwan’s ability to…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The U.S. Navy on December 8, 2021, commissioned the USS Daniel Inouye, named after the long-serving U.S. senator from Hawaii and decorated World War II veteran. Inouye and other Japanese Americans were initially prevented from enlisting for service after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. After the policy was changed, his unit of Japanese American Soldiers became one of the most decorated, with Inouye earning the Medal of Honor and, now, a guided-missile destroyer bearing his name. The military restricted attendance at the event because of COVID-19 mitigation efforts and streamed the ceremony online. Among those in attendance was…

THE WATCH STAFF U.S. Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck made his first trip to Canada as commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and gave a threat assessment to the country’s military leaders that included risks from hypersonic missiles. VanHerck, who heads NORAD and is also commander of U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), visited National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa on November 30, 2021 — the day after Russia announced it tested a hypersonic cruise missile. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) reported that VanHerck was candid in speaking about the challenge such missiles pose to NORAD, the binational command tasked with early…

THE WATCH STAFF The Mexican military’s raid on a synthetic drug lab has highlighted the ability of organized crime groups to mass-produce the deadly opioid fentanyl, which increasingly is bound for the United States. At the end of October 2021, Mexican Army and National Guard troops busted the illegal lab — set up in a home in the state of Sinaloa — and seized 118 kilograms (about 260 pounds) of fentanyl, the Armed Forces announced November 4, 2021, according to a November 9 story by the investigative website InSight Crime. This seizure of  “pure fentanyl is considered the largest in…