California
To Prepare for a Pacific Island Fight, Marines Hide and Attack in California
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. — Sitting round a plastic folding desk in a dusty tent, a half-dozen officers of the Hawaii-based third Marine Littoral Regiment took a really brief break from days of combating on little to no sleep.
The battle, they stated, was going effectively.
The unit, newly created and progressive in nature, was going through its hardest take a look at but — a 10-day mock battle throughout Southern California, the place a collection of navy bases performed the position of an island chain. Although outnumbered by the regiment it was combating, the group from Hawaii had an edge.
The group was constructed to battle on islands and alongside coastal shorelines, the “littoral area” in navy parlance. It had additionally been given particular tools and the liberty to innovate, creating new techniques to determine one of many service’s highest priorities: battle a battle towards Chinese language forces in their very own yard, and win.
Though removed from the ocean, the bottom at Twentynine Palms presents about 1,200 sq. miles to coach, greater than all the Marine Corps’ different coaching bases mixed. Days in the past the 2 sides had been dropped off right here about 12 miles from one another. Then it was time to battle.
No dwell ammunition was used, however that was basically the one rule. Evaluators alongside them graded all the things they did, assessing hits and misses and pulling troops out of the motion after they had been “killed.”
Over the subsequent two years, the brand new unit may have a relentless schedule, with about 4 or 5 occasions as many workouts as most infantry regiments. Its subsequent massive take a look at will likely be within the Philippines in April.
The Marines anticipate a really totally different type of battlefield sooner or later than these of the post-9/11 wars. At this time, enemy and civilian spy satellites alike fly overhead and anybody turning on a small radio or cellphone might be focused with long-range rockets and missiles.
“We’ve to unlearn the way in which that we had been educated,” stated Gen. David H. Berger, the service’s high basic, noting that 20 years in the past, infantry Marines within the subject sometimes referred to as their commanders through radio on the hour each hour. “It’s important to have an unbelievable quantity of belief once you haven’t heard out of your Marines for a number of days.”
The train is actually a life and demise model of disguise and search, with far-flung navy bases in California — at Barstow, Camp Pendleton, Twentynine Palms and an outpost on San Clemente Island about 70 miles offshore from San Diego — all standing in for an unnamed Pacific Island chain.
China’s navy, Normal Berger stated, was now taking a web page from the U.S. Navy, working in strike teams, with destroyers and different warships escorting an plane service.
The littoral Marines might function spotters who cross alongside the place of enemy forces to American warplanes, ships or submarines to assault. Or, the Marines may take these pictures themselves.
They’re studying place networked sensors that monitor tiny fluctuations within the electromagnetic spectrum — from walkie-talkies, radars and different transmitters — to seek out enemy troops, utilizing labeled surveillance applied sciences beforehand out there solely to three-star generals.
To battle in that a part of the world, Normal Berger created the third Marine Littoral Regiment as a combating unit in contrast to some other. As a substitute of getting three infantry battalions of roughly 800 Marines every, it has one — the opposite two are concepts borrowed from a lot bigger process forces: an antiaircraft battalion that’s testing new weapons and techniques, and a logistics battalion.
The unit features a communications part greater than 50 % bigger than that of a typical regiment, together with a number of chief warrant officers with fight expertise from Marine Forces Particular Operations Command.
These specialists launched the opposite Marines to new methods of pondering in addition to applied sciences developed for covert operations — bouncing alerts off layers of the environment or utilizing directional beams of infrared mild which might be tough to detect, in brief bursts carrying massive quantities of digital textual content.
Navy planners assume that any potential future battle with China might happen in what the Pentagon typically refers to because the “first island chain,” which incorporates Okinawa and Taiwan right down to Malaysia in addition to the South China Sea and disputed islands within the Spratlys and the Paracels.
The “second island chain” consists of the Philippines, going from Tokyo to Guam to south of Palau.
The Marines’ new actuality boils right down to this: If you’re emitting radio power, you might be detected by the enemy. If detected, you might be positioned and seen. If seen, you might be focused and killed.
Resupply throughout islands tons of and even 1000’s of miles aside, Normal Berger stated, might not be one thing the Marines can depend on. They could must buy meals and gas from the individuals who dwell there, desalinize ocean water to drink, and use solely sufficient munitions to do the job.
To that finish, Marine officers going via primary coaching in Quantico, Va., at the moment are studying seize and kill animals like rabbits to eat — a talent normally taught solely to service members at excessive threat of seize, like aircrews and particular operations troops.
“The thought is you’re deploying along with your Marines as self-sufficient as doable,” Normal Berger stated.
By the point Normal Berger arrived at Twentynine Palms, the colonel commanding the third Marine Littoral Regiment had pulled his troops again from the opposite bases throughout Southern California for a closing battle, utilizing CH-53 helicopters and Osprey tilt-rotor plane, identical to he would in the event that they had been on precise islands. In an actual battle, he would transfer Marines across the Pacific through small ships as effectively.
The visiting delegation of Marine leaders needed to keep in Camp Wilson, simply outdoors the coaching space, and the one contributors they may communicate with had been the majors and lieutenant colonels operating backup command posts in off-limits areas guarded by concertina wire and armed Marines.
Because the battle went on, drained and sunburned senior officers from the seventh Marine Regiment — who’ve been taking part in the position of the enemy — supplied up an evaluation of their foe from their reserve command submit. Each time the opposite aspect despatched up a small quadcopter — and it did so typically — not less than a few of their Marines needed to cease what they had been doing to visually preserve tabs on them or to shoot them down. Even unarmed drones made the leaders’ jobs tougher.
The seventh Marines normally shortly overwhelm opponents right here. Twentynine Palms is their dwelling turf, however the unit from Hawaii had been conserving them at bay.
They particularly didn’t like their opponents’ “loitering munitions” — small assault drones that may fly over an enemy’s place, beaming again video surveillance, then head straight at a goal so {that a} small warhead explodes on affect. They had been proving efficient in destroying high-value targets like armored automobiles and something that appeared like a command submit.
The Marines from the seventh wished they’d them too.
These Marines have been carefully watching how combatants in Ukraine use such tiny drones and loitering munitions. When Normal Berger visited an air station in close by Yuma, Ariz., the subsequent day, a Marine fighter pilot stated his unit was evaluating counter-drone applied sciences in order that his fellow Marines wouldn’t someday “find yourself as TikTok movies” — a nod to the stream of movies on social media websites exhibiting Russian troops being attacked by Ukrainian quadcopters dropping small grenades.
If referred to as upon to battle within the Western Pacific, the Marines will possible additionally make use of their most succesful drones: the MQ-9 Reaper, which may drop bombs and fireplace missiles however is most valued for its skill to beam again data.
In Yuma, Marines are flying the Corps’ first two Reapers, which may take off from runways simply 3,000 toes lengthy — which suggests smaller islands can host them, tremendously increasing their attain and making it tougher for a possible adversary to seek out their airfields.
The Marines’ model of the F-35 fighter, which buzzed overhead in Yuma, will likely be a part of any future Pacific marketing campaign as effectively. It will probably take off and land vertically, making it able to launching airstrikes from even smaller islands.
At Twentynine Palms, the
colonels commanding each regiments scanned for any sign — something — that might tip them off to their adversary’s location. So the Marines within the subject hid themselves bodily and electronically one of the best they may.
The littoral regiment often broke cowl to make use of one in every of its signature weapons for an island battle, a missile that may hit ships greater than 100 miles away and is launched from the again of a small truck — straightforward to maneuver, onerous to detect.
Normal Berger stated that a lot of these strategic factors within the ocean, and most of the islands that may cowl them, have already been recognized and written into contingency plans by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii.
In the long run, the third Marine Littoral Regiment remained in command of its terrain and had fended off their opponents — which they thought of a victory.
The entire work executed to date in Hawaii and California will quickly profit a brand new unit, the twelfth Marine Littoral Regiment, which navy leaders have stated will likely be established in Okinawa in 2025.
That unit, primarily based in Japan, would be the closest to the island chains stretching many 1000’s of miles throughout the Pacific, which may turn out to be battlefields as soon as once more.
California
California woman dies from Fresno County's first human case of rabies in more than 30 years
A California woman died of rabies after allegedly being bitten by a bat in her classroom, according to Fresno County health officials.
The woman, later identified as Leah Seneng, 60, marks the first human case of rabies in Fresno County since 1992.
“In general, rabies is a disease that affects the brain, and it is very rare. But when it develops, it can cause very serious consequences,” said Dr. Trnidad Solis, Fresno County Health Department’s deputy health officer. “It’s transmitted through saliva; it is not airborne.”
RABIES PATIENT BECOMES FIRST FATAL CASE IN US AFTER POST-EXPOSURE TREATMENT, REPORT SAYS
Leah Seneng, 60, was the first human case of rabies in Fresno County since 1992, according to county health officials. (GoFundMe)
Seneng, who was an art teacher at Bryant Middle School in Dos Palos, was bitten by the bat when she was attempting to rescue it in her classroom, local outlet ABC30 reported.
She first came into contact with the bat in October, but did not display symptoms until approximately a month later, according to Fresno County health officials. She was admitted to the hospital and died four days later.
Leah Seneng was an art teacher at Bryant Middle School in Dos Palos, California. (Map Quest)
PEANUT THE SQUIRREL EARMARKED FOR EUTHANASIA BEFORE BEING CONFISCATED AND WAS RABIES-FREE: REPORT
“The most frequent route of transmission is through the bite of an animal that has rabies. With rabies, unfortunately, there is no cure. So, when symptoms develop, there is no treatment, and often when it develops, it is often fatal. So we want the public to know that prevention is key to preventing rabies infection,” Solis said.
Fresno County officials do not believe there is a threat to public health at this time, but are working with the Merced County Health Department to identify any other possible exposures and administer vaccines.
Health experts recommend people and pets get vaccinated for rabies. (iStock)
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Seneng’s coworkers have set up a GoFundMe account to assist her family during this time.
California
Another batch of raw milk from a trendy California brand just tested positive for bird flu
- Two batches of raw milk from a trendy California brand have tested positive for bird flu this week.
- Bird flu has been spreading rapidly among cattle in the US.
- Experts say drinking raw milk is dangerous, and can cause food poisoning.
Another batch of raw milk just tested positive for bird flu in California.
Last Sunday, Fresno-based Raw Farm voluntarily recalled a first batch of cream top whole raw milk with a “best by” date of November 27. By Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health announced that a second batch of Raw Farm cream top, with a “best by” date of December 7 had also tested positive for bird flu, based on retail sampling.
“We’re not making a big deal about it, because it’s not a big deal,” Kaleigh Stanziani, Raw Farm’s vice president of marketing, said in a short video posted on YouTube after the farm’s first voluntary recall was announced earlier this week.
She said there had only been an indication that there might be a “trace element of something possible,” emphasizing that there had been no reported illnesses of Raw Farms cows or positive tests from the cattle.
Raw Farm owner Mark McAfee later told the LA Times that the California Department of Food and Agriculture had requested that his company “hold delivery of further products” until Friday, after conducting thorough testing of two Raw Farms and one creamery on Wednesday. (McAfee could not immediately be reached for comment by Business Insider during the Thanksgiving holiday.)
Raw milk may be helping bird flu spread — but not in the way you might think
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Scientists suspect that cross-contamination of raw milk between animals may be one reason the H5N1 virus is spreading rapidly among cows in the US — and could even contribute to the human spread of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that dairy workers might be able to contract bird flu by infected raw milk splashed into their eyes.
There is no definitive evidence yet that humans can get bird flu from drinking contaminated raw milk. Instead, health authorities generally recommend avoiding raw milk because of other serious health risks, including food poisoning with bacteria like Salmonella, E.coli, or Listeria.
There are no known health benefits of drinking raw milk. Instead, all evidence suggests that pasteurized milk is just as nutritious, and is safer to consume.
Still, raw milk has become a trendy product among some influencers. Gwenyth Paltrow says she has it in her coffee in the morning.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary, says he wants the US Food and Drug Administration to stop its “war” against raw milk.
Over the summer, “Carnivore MD” Paul Saladino released a raw milk smoothie in partnership with the elite Los Angeles health foods store Erewhon featuring unpasteurized (raw) kefir from Raw Farms, and powdered beef organs.
California has some of the loosest rules around raw milk in the country; it’s generally fine for California retailers like health foods stores and grocers to sell it, raw milk products just can’t be transported across state lines, per FDA rules.
Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Michael Payne, a researcher at the Western Institute of Food Safety and Security, told The Guardian that people consuming Dr. Paul’s $19 smoothie were “playing Russian roulette with their health,” and ignoring pasteurization, “the single most important food safety firewall in history.”
California dairy farms have been seeing an uptick in bird flu cases since August. The state has reported 29 confirmed human cases of bird flu, and all but one of those was sourced back to cows.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first confirmed case of bird flu in a California child from Alameda County. The child had no known contact with infected farm animals, but may have been exposed to wild birds, the California health department said in a statement.
The child had mild symptoms and is recovering well after receiving antiviral drugs.
Southern California’s bosses added 80,700 workers in the past year to a record 8.06 million jobs – but that hiring pace is roughly half of the pre-pandemic job market’s gains.
My trusty spreadsheet – filled with state job figures for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties – compared employment changes for the region and 15 industries in the year ended in October with the average yearly hiring pace before coronavirus upended the economy.
Yes, there have never been more Southern Californians employed. However, the recent hirings that created the all-time high staffing are far below the average job creation of 159,600 a year in 2015-19.
This is one of many signals of cooler business trends. It’s a chill significantly tied to the Federal Reserve’s attempts to slow what was once an overheated economy.
But Southern California bosses have another challenge – a shortage of workers. The region’s workforce, a measure of labor supply, is basically flat comparing 2024 to 2015-19. Fewer choices of workers have added difficulty for local businesses trying to meet their staffing needs.
Think of that when you learn that among the 15 Southern California business sectors tracked – hiring in 10 industries is below pre-pandemic years compared with five industries with improvements.
The downs
First, contemplate the 10 industries where the hiring pace has weakened, ranked by the size of the decline …
Professional-business services: 1.14 million workers in October – down 4,600 in a year vs. 24,100 annual gains in 2015-19. This net downturn of 28,700 jobs is unnerving because this white-collar work typically pays above-average salaries.
Construction: 378,700 workers – down 3,100 in a year vs. 16,200 annual gains in 2015-19. A building slowdown due to lofty mortgage rates created this 19,300 reversal.
Logistics-utilities: 820,800 workers – up 6,800 in a year vs. 25,800 annual gains in 2015-19. What’s at least a temporary oversupply of warehouses in the region may be behind this 19,000 slowdown.
Manufacturing: 558,400 workers – down 15,300 in a year vs. 4,100 annual cuts in 2015-19. This 11,200 drop is continued losses of local factory work tied to high cost of doing business in the region.
Fast-food restaurants: 359,400 workers – up 3,400 in a year vs. 12,400 annual gains in 2015-19. Weaker consumer spending and a hike in the industry’s minimum wage contribute to this 9,000 drop.
Hotels/entertainment/recreation: 268,300 workers – up 3,400 in a year vs. 9,600 annual gains in 2015-19. This 6,200 cooling reflects worker shortages.
Full-service eateries/food service: 339,100 workers – up 1,600 in a year vs. 6,600 annual gains in 2015-19. Inflation making shoppers pickier is part of this 5,000 cooling.
Information: 214,200 workers – down 100 in a year vs. 3,700 annual gains in 2015-19. Weakness in tech businesses and Hollywood productions created the 3,800 net downturn.
Personal services: 266,600 workers – up 500 in a year vs. 3,200 annual gains in 2015-19. Again, it is hard to find people to do this work. Thus, a 2,700 cooling.
Government: 1.03 million workers – up 11,600 in a year vs. 12,500 annual gains in 2015-19. This 900 dip is status quo.
The ups
Ponder the five industries where the hiring pace rose in the past year, ranked by the size of the gains …
Social assistance: 512,300 workers – up 28,200 in a year vs. 18,300 annual gains in 2015-19. The 9,900 addition comes as more folks need help at home for healthcare and child care.
Healthcare: 836,700 workers – up 30,100 in a year vs. 20,900 annual gains in 2015-19. The 9,200 growth parallels the region’s aging population and its need for medical services.
Retailing: 748,300 workers – up 8,300 in a year vs. 300 annual cuts in 2015-19. This somewhat surprising 8,600 improvement may be consumers tiring of online commerce and wanting to get out to shop.
Financial: 364,100 workers – up 4,400 in a year vs. 3,900 annual gains in 2015-19. The minor 500 improvement is a return to normalcy. Super-heated hiring came in the pandemic days thanks to a brief drop in mortgage rates to historic lows.
Private education: 215,700 workers – up 5,500 in a year vs. 5,100 annual gains in 2015-19. This 400 uptick reflects the growing interest in alternatives to public schooling.
Bottom line
While it’s rare for all industries to be growing at the same time – minus, say, just after an economic downturn – this 2024 edition of the winners vs. losers list raises an important issue.
It appears much of the past year’s job creation is coming from industries that historically pay meager wages. That’s an especially worrisome trend in high-cost Southern California.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com
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