Page 2 - Aerotech News and Review, Aug 17 2018

Briefs
For now, U.S. Army suspends dis- charges of immigrant recruits
The U.S. Army has stopped discharging im- migrant recruits who enlisted seeking a path to citizenship — at least temporarily.
A memo shared with The Associated Press Aug. 8 and dated July 20 spells out orders to high-ranking Army officials to stop processing discharges of men and women who enlisted in the special immigrant program, effective im- mediately.
It was not clear how many recruits were im- pacted by the action, and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Early last month, the Pentagon said there had been no specific policy change and that back- ground checks were ongoing.
Margaret Stock, an Alaska-based immigra- tion attorney, says the memo proves there was a policy.
Recruits and reservists reached Aug. 8 said their discharges were still in place as far as they knew. AP
Pakistan military officers to get train- ing in Russia
Pakistani military officers will receive train- ing in Russian Federation military institutes under a recent agreement signed by Pakistan and Russia.
The deal underscores Pakistan’s increasing reliance on Russia for its military needs amid strained relations with the U.S. It was signed earlier this week during a visit by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Col. Gen. Alexander Fomin.
The deal comes as local media reported the U.S. has stopped financing military training in the U.S. for Pakistani soldiers — a step that Pakistani Sen. Mushahid Hussain called “wrong and counterproductive.”
Hussain, chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee, said the U.S. is repeating past mis- takes through failed policy of trying to bully and browbeat Pakistan with such shortsighted sanctions.
Media have reported that 66 training slots for Pakistani military officers in U.S. facilities are being abolished. AP
NATO’s top general visits candidate member Macedonia
NATO’s top military officer visited Mace- donia, which hopes to join the alliance once a landmark deal with neighboring Greece to rename itself North Macedonia has been fully implemented.
U.S. Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, NATO’s supreme commander in Europe, congratulated Macedonia’s leaders Aug. 9 in the capital of Skopje for the country’s “significant progress” in military reforms. He also offered “practical support” to the Macedonian army in the NATO accession process.
NATO leaders formally invited Macedonia last month to begin accession talks, following the preliminary agreement with Greece over the former Yugoslav republic’s name.
Macedonians will vote on the name deal in a Sept. 30 referendum. The country’s parliament then has to amend the constitution to change the name, after which the deal must be ratified by Greece. AP
Pence outlines plan for new Space Force by 2020
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has an- nounced plans for a new, separate U.S. Space Force as sixth military service by 2020.
Pence says it’s needed to ensure America’s dominance in space amid heightened compe- tition and threats from China and Russia. He says that while space was once peaceful and
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uncontested, it is now crowded and adversarial. President Donald Trump has called for a “separate but equal” space force. Defense Sec- retary Jim Mattis has endorsed plans to reor- ganize the military’s space warfighting forces and create a new command, but has previously
opposed launching an expensive new service. Any proposal to create a new service would
require congressional action. AP
Army agrees to restore access to Hawaiian cultural sites
The U.S. Army has agreed to restore access to a valley considered sacred on Oahu in a set- tlement with a Native Hawaiian cultural group.
The Army has settled the 2016 federal lawsuit by Malama Makua, agreeing to pay $80,000 in attorney fees and to address an un- exploded ordnance stockpile at the Makua Mil- itary Reservation, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Aug. 7.
Environmental law organization Earthjustice represented the group in its latest action in a long-running legal dispute over Makua Valley, the site of decades of military training.
The lawsuit was filed after the Army sud- denly blocked access to the cultural sites in June 2014, claiming it needed to obtain clear- ance from historic preservations to cut grass on trails leading to the sites after an agreement that governed vegetation maintenance expired.
“Prior to the Army’s abrupt decision to bar access, the Army had cut grass to allow access to cultural sites for nearly 13 years, without incident,” Earthjustice said in a statement.
The Army determined the grass was too tall to allow safe access because unexploded ord- nance might be difficult to avoid, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claimed the Army violated a 2001 court settlement that allowed the group to access the sacred sites twice a month.
“We look forward to working with all parties involved. Makua Valley has been used to train our service members for nearly 100 years,” U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii said in a statement. “The valley continues to be an active training range, and the safety of our soldiers, civilian workers and community members entering the area is a responsibility the Army welcomes and takes very seriously.”
The settlement restores access to all but two sites, which remain closed because they are within the blast radius of the ordnance stock- pile, Earthjustice said. The Army has agreed to mitigate the hazard. AP
Pentagon restricts use of fitness track- ers, other devices
A new Pentagon order says military troops and other defense personnel on certain sensi- tive bases and warzone areas won’t be allowed to use fitness tracker or cellphone applications that can reveal their location.
The memo stops short of banning the fitness trackers or other electronic devices, which are often linked to cellphone applications and can provide the users’ GPS details to social media. It says technologies on personal or government-issued devices that can pinpoint a person’s location present a significant risk to military personnel, so those capabilities must be turned off in certain operational areas.
Military leaders will determine if their troops can use the GPS function, based on the security threat in their region.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo, which was signed Aug. 3. AP
U.S. Navy: Welding problem found on missile tubes for new subs
The U.S. Navy says there’s a problem with welds on missile tubes that are going into new
submarines.
The Naval Sea Systems Command said Aug.
7 the welding issue was identified on missile tubes that have been delivered to General Dy- namics Electric Boat for new ballistic-missile submarines for the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy, and on tubes for weapons being manu- factured for new U.S. attack submarines.
The command said BWX Technologies, Inc., a subcontractor to Electric Boat, found the quality control issue. Defense News first reported the story.
Electric Boat is based in Groton, Conn., and has a manufacturing facility in Rhode Island. BWX Technologies is headquartered in Vir- ginia.
The tubes have not been installed on any submarines.
The Navy is working with Electric Boat to address the issue. AP
Contract employee agrees to pay $124,000 for fraud allegations
An executive with a Hanford Nuclear Reser- vation private contractor has been accused of taking more than $40,000 in illegal kickbacks.
The U.S. Department of Justice says Richard Olsen, vice president of finance for Mission Support Alliance, has agreed to pay about triple that amount, $124,440, to the federal govern- ment to settle civil allegations of accepting kickbacks from Lockheed Martin.
The Tri-City Herald in Richland, Wash., re- ported Aug. 6 that Mission Support Alliance, once owned by Lockheed, provides a variety of information technology services at the Han- ford, Wash., site.
As part of the settlement, Olsen agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
But his attorney says he did not admit any wrongdoing in connection with the investiga- tion.
Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and now is engaged in clean- ing up the waste. AP
Army using drug waivers, bonuses to fill ranks
The U.S. Army is issuing more waivers for past drug use or bad conduct by recruits, and pouring an extra $200 million into bonuses this year to attract and retain soldiers.
Data obtained by The Associated Press shows that nearly one-third of all the waivers granted by the Army in the first six months of this fiscal year were for conduct and drug problems, mainly involving marijuana use. That number is significantly higher than the other three military services, and represents a steady increase over the past three years.
The Army also has increased bonuses by more than 30 percent this year, with enlistment money going to recruits for high-tech jobs.
Army leaders say there has been no move to reduce enlistment standards in order to meet recruitment goals. AP
Judge tosses suit over U.S. base relo- cation in Okinawa, Japan
A U.S. judge has thrown out a lawsuit that challenged plans to relocate a U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan, over concerns about an endangered marine mammal.
Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco ruled Aug. 1 that the U.S. Department of Defense adequately considered the base’s effects on the Okinawa dugong — a manatee-like animal associated with traditional creation myths in Japan.
The years-long legal fight concerns plans to relocate Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to
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