Photos from NATO’s Trident Juncture 2018, in Norway.
NATO video, taxi-takeoff, heading to Trident Juncture 2018 in Norway:
Photo by Chris Okula.
They flew all the way to Edwards Air Force Base, in California, to refuel one of their own F-35s! According to the press info, at the end of March 2016, the Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht) was used to prove the viability of refueling F-35s with KC-10s.
Washington National Guard photo by Captain Francine Saint Laurent, 07JAN2021, Spokane Valley, Washington.
The Evergreen State’s National Guard personnel volunteer at the Northwest Harvest food bank in Spokane Valley, 07JAN2021. Washington’s National Guard have been assisting local food banks/pantries since April 2020.
Moldova is not a member of NATO, but has joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council making it an official NATO ‘partner’. NATO ‘partner’ countries are located all across the Earth, not just in the North Atlantic (the original justification for the creation of NATO was to form a joint defense system for countries in the North Atlantic).
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
BTRs during wargames, December 2020. The flag on the first vehicle is the national flag, the flag on the second vehicle is the flag of the Ministry of Defense.
Official Moldovan Ministry of Defense video showing training with BTRs, towed D-20 artillery, various types of MTLBs, culminating in live fire, December 2020:
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
Engineer vehicle based on T-72 hull, November 2020.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
Video of engineer vehicles in action, November 2020:
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
BMP artillery radar vehicle followed by 2S9s and BMD-1s, November 2020.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
An Antonov-2 flies over MTLBs, October 2020.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
T-72 engineer vehicle, July 2020.
Video of vehicle review, and some live fire, July 2020. Sadly, that’s about it for the Moldovan National Army. At the end of the video the Minister of Defense, Alexandru Pinzari, admits they are working with “obsolete” equipment:
North Carolina Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Robert Jordan, 12SEP2019.
Loading anti-tank missile (9M113 Konkurs, NATO codename AT-5 Spandrel) onto a BRDM-2-Anti-Tank armored car, Bulboaca Training Area, September 2019.
North Carolina Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Robert Jordan, 12SEP2019.
Moldova used to be a part of Romania, called Bessarabia. Under Soviet rule Bessarabia became the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moldova declared independence in August 1991.
North Carolina Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Robert Jordan, 14SEP2016.
BMD based 2S9 Nona self propelled airborne artillery gun, Bulboaca Training Area, September 2016.
Since 1996, the North Carolina Army National Guard has been training with the Moldovan army, through the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Guard State Partnership Program.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Ryan Young, 12DEC2014.
BRDM-2 over-watch as U.S. Marine launches a Javelin anti-tank missile in Balti, December 2014.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Ryan Young, 12DEC2014.
An old BTR gets taken out by a Javelin.
Video, BTR dies:
Video explainer report, USMC anti-armor training in Moldova, 2014:
Video of various anti-tank weapons being used, December 2014:
From what I’ve researched, Moldova has between zero and possibly a whopping three Main Battle Tanks (MBT), all T-64BV.
Photo by Neil Brennan.
The reason for little or no MBTs in Moldova is apparently because of a cease fire agreement between Moldova and a former territory called Transnistria (Transnistria actually declared independence one year before greater Moldova, yet the ‘NATO’ world refuses to recognize it because it is one of the last few Soviet Republics that still believes the Soviet Union is alive and well). The Sweden based OSCE has been overseeing arms control agreements including the destruction of heavy military vehicles like MBTs. Moldova has complied, but not Transnistria (meaning tiny Transnistria has more armored vehicles than much larger Moldova).
The majority of Moldova’s existing armor are Soviet era armored cars of various types, then tracked utility vehicles like MTLB, and tracked self propelled artillery guns/rocket launchers.
Moldovan news pic of a supposed T-54? (note the spokes on the road wheels) that had been hidden by a family in a disputed district.
Al Hussein (aka Challenger 1 FV4030/4) and AH-1S/F Cobra. Photo via Jordanian Armed Forces.
German made Marder 1A3 Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Photo via Jordanian Armed Forces.
Marder 1A3, photo via Jordanian Armed Forces.
South African made Ratel, on UN ‘peacekeeping’ duty. Photo via Jordanian Armed Forces.
Jordanian Armed Forces promotional video, November 2021:
Photo via Royal Hashemite Court.
Jordan’s King Abdullah the Second, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein, inspect one of at least 80 ‘donated’ (from United Arab Emirates) French-made Leclerc tanks, October 2020.
Photo via Royal Hashemite Court.
Old U.S. made M60A3 tanks during wargames, October 2020.
Official Royal Hashemite Court video:
USA photo by Sergeant First Class Kenneth Upsall.
A U.S. Army Staff Sergeant finds out what it is like driving a Jordanian Challenger-1, called Al Hussein (الحسين), January 2017.
U.S. Army photo by Sergeant First Class Kenneth Upsall, 08JAN2017.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sergeant Vitaliy Rusavskiy, 17MAY2017.
Jordanian M113A2MK-1J mingling with U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicle-P7/A1, May 2017.
USMC photo by Corporal Jessica Y. Lucio, 17MAY2017.
USA photo by Sergeant Youtoy Martin, 17JAN2016.
M113A2MK-1J, January 2016. Video report, U.S. Army trains with Jordanian M113A2 unit, January 2016:
Al Hussein, aka Challenger Mark 1, aka FV4030/4. USA photo by Specialist Ian Valley, 24MAY2016.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Sean Searfus, 18MAY2015.
M60A3 tank fires during a combined live fire demonstration as part of Exercise Eager Lion in Wadi Shadiya, Jordan, 18MAY2015.
USMC photo by Corporal Sean Searfus, 18MAY2015.
USMC photo by Corporal Sean Searfus, 18MAY2015.
Photo by Captain Viet Nguyen.
Jordanian YPG-765 during Eager Lion 2015.
USMC photo by Corporal Sean Searfus, 18MAY2015.
USMC photo by Corporal Sean Searfus, 18MAY2015.
USMC photo by Sergeant Austin Hazard, 29MAY2014.
YPG-765 during Eager Lion, May 2014.
USMC photo by Sergeant Austin Hazard, 29MAY2014.
USMC photo by Sergeant Austin Hazard, 29MAY2014.
Videos, Jordanian Al Hussein (الحسين), conducting live fire during Eager Lion, Summer of 2013:
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Richard Blumenstein, 07MAY2012.
Al Hussein (الحسين) fire during Eager Lion, May 2012.
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Scott Stewart, 01SEP1987.
A Jordanian M113 is off-loaded from a U.S. Air Force C-141 Starlifter, during wargame Bright Star, in the North African country of Egypt, September 1987.
U.S. Air Force photo by First Lieutenant Christopher Mesnard, 20SEP2013.
In September 2013, U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles and E Strike Eagles joined USAF KC-135 tankers, and Norwegian F-16 Fighting Falcons, Swedish JAS-39 Gripens, Finish F-18 Hornets, U.K. Eurofighter Typhoons, and NATO E-3A AWACS, for the first ever Arctic Challenge over Norway.
USAF photo by Master Sergeant Lee Osberry, 23SEP2013.
Video, by Airman 1st Class Amanda Sampson, F-15C and E Eagles taking off and landing at Bodø Main Air Station, during NATO’s Arctic Challenge, September 2013. Good vibrations turbine sounds:
USAF photo by Master Sergeant Lee Osberry, 24SEP2013.
Video by First Lieutenant Christopher Mesnard of airborne fueling operations, Arctic Challenge September 2013:
USAF photo by First Lieutenant Christopher Mesnard, 12SEP2013.
During the decades of sporadic wall construction it should be noted that both Republican and Democrat politicians supported it. The first wall section was built by the United States between 1909 and 1911. Mexico built a wall section in 1918. The walls were extended in the 1920s and in the 1940s. President George H.W. Bush (senior) began new wall construction in the 1990s. President Bill Clinton expanded funding for wall construction, in fact one book says it was under Clinton that wall construction became more focused in an attempt to stop drug and human smuggling. President George W. Bush (junior) began new wall construction supposedly at the behest of California politicians. President Barack Obama supposedly declared wall construction complete in 2011, yet quietly (secretly?) built an additional 128-miles (206-km) of wall. In 2017, President Donald Trump officially restarted wall construction. I predict President elect Joe Biden will not halt border wall construction.
Video, trench being dug for construction of wall near Columbus, New Mexico, April 2020:
Video, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) explaining why the U.S. needs a wall, June 2020:
Near El Paso, Texas, August 2020.
Video showing that wall construction continued at night in the South Pacific Border District, Arizona, September 2020:
Video, wall construction South Pacific Border District, California, September 2020:
Border wall slowly stretches across the desert near Columbus, New Mexico, October 2020.
Wall construction over mountains on the Barry M. Goldwater Range aboard Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, October 2020.
New wall completed near Tucson, Arizona, 02NOV2020.
17DEC2020, Tucson 10/28 Border Barrier near Nogales, Arizona.
21DEC2020, the final section of Yuma 10/27 Border Barrier is installed, in Arizona.
Maryland;At the beginning of the Northern Hemisphere’s flu season, the United States Naval Academy conducted what was called a influenza vaccination exercise, where actual flu shots were given.
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Near El Paso, Texas, August 2020.
Border wall slowly stretches across the desert near Columbus, New Mexico, October 2020.
Wall construction over mountains on the Barry M. Goldwater Range aboard Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, October 2020.
New wall completed near Tucson, Arizona, 02NOV2020.
17DEC2020, Tucson 10/28 Border Barrier near Nogales, Arizona.
21DEC2020, the final section of Yuma 10/27 Border Barrier is installed, in Arizona.
At the beginning of the Northern Hemisphere’s flu season, the United States Naval Academy conducted what was called a influenza vaccination exercise, where actual flu shots were given.
South Carolina’s National Guard already getting their shots.