Free Republic

President Trump approved Tuesday disaster relief for California, putting an end to speculation that the bad blood between the White House and Gov. Jerry Brown would jeopardize the state’s plea for emergency aid. The Federal Emergency Management Administration announced that the assistance would be provided “due to the emergency conditions resulting from the potential failure of the emergency spillway at Lake Oroville Dam beginning on February 7, 2017, and continuing.” Mr. Brown, a Democrat who called Mr. Trump a “fraud” during last year’s presidential campaign, made the request for federal help Friday after heavy rainstorms inundated Northern California, flooding creeks,...

In a letter to the president, Sens. Kit Bond, R-Mo., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., complained that fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has left the Guard with "a perilously low level of equipment." Only 34 percent of the Guard's equipment is available for use in the United States, they said, adding that the president should spend the money to re-equip the Guard.Better yet, this may be the time for the country to rethink how it uses the Guard, the only military component with dual missions - one serving the governor and the state, the other complimenting the active forces...

CAMP MABRY (26 Sep, 2005) – The Adjutant General visited Ellington Field yesterday with the purpose of seeking out a reluctant hero and awarding him for his tireless efforts. The Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Charles Rodriguez, was specifically interested in speaking to one of the eighty essential personnel who had initially hunkered down at Ellington Field in Houston to wait out the storm, but who subsequently had been sent out before the storm. Master Sgt. Lynn Bailey was awarded the Army Achievement Medal because Maj. Gen. Rodriguez said: “This man is my hero too. When I was awakened at 1:30...

What's in [British] emergency ration packs? By Jonathan Duffy BBC News Magazine They're standard-issue to British squaddies in Iraq, but now half a million Army ration packs are being sent to victims in the hurricane disaster zone. What will they make of them? We sample the contents. The food is a long way from the gumbo, crawfish and Cajun-inspired cuisine Louisiana is renowned for, but to those caught up in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina it could be a lifesaver. The UK is flying half a million military ration packs to the disaster zone in the southern states of the...