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UKRAINE FOREIGN MINISTRY: “There have been no radical changes in the security situation recently. The accumulation of Russian troops near the state border began in April last year” https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1485600760628981765

The United States on Sunday said it was ordering the departure of eligible family members of staff from its embassy in Ukraine and that all citizens should consider leaving due to the threat of military action from Russia. U.S. and Russian diplomats made no major breakthrough at talks on Friday and Moscow has been massing troops on the border with its neighbor. read more On Sunday, Britain accused the Kremlin of seeking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv. read more The State Department said it was authorizing the "voluntary departure of U.S. direct hire employees and ordered the departure...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Until We See Each Other Again! The South Carolina National Guard conducts a deployment ceremony Jan. 16, 2022 in Florence, South Carolina to recognize the 133rd Military Police Company's mobilization in support of Operation Spartan Shield. Approximately 150 U.S. Army National Guard Soldiers with the 133rd Military Police Company, 51st Military Police Battalion, 59th Troop Command, South Carolina National Guard, will deploy to the Middle East for approximately nine months. While deployed, the 133rd Military Police Company's mission will be to provide support to customs operations. (U.S. Army...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Ooh Rah! Semper Fi! U.S. Marine Corps Private First Class Selena Serrano, a Marine with Golf Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, poses for a photo with her eagle, globe and anchor on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Jan. 5, 2022. Serrano just completed the crucible – a 54-hour event that challenges all the skills a recruit has learned throughout recruit training. Serrano was recruited out of Los Angeles, C with Recruiting Station Montebello. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Christopher A. Madero) Canteen Mission StatementShowing support and...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ FReeper Canteen Salutes The Seabees ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Navy Construction Battalion The Navy Construction Battalion – better known as the Seabees – is responsible for building much of the temporary and permanent infrastructure at U.S. military locations around the world. With roots dating back to World War II, the Seabees were formally established on March 5, 1942, to meet the Navy’s growing need to build bases, camps and other structures as part of the war effort. In the over seven decades since its founding, Seabees have gone on to serve...

U.S. troops are being encouraged but not required to get COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, according to a newly published memorandum.Troops were told earlier this month in the memo, published by the military on Dec. 28, that “receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose is not mandatory.”The memo, from Gilbert Cisneros, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, also states that a vaccine booster shot isn’t required for a person to be considered fully vaccinated.Cisneros noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended in November that all adults aged 18 and older get a vaccine booster because of the...

The change will lead to approximately 48,000 troops missing out on the stipend The Department of Defense (DoD) announced last week that troops in 15 metropolitan areas and 21 non-metropolitan counties in the continental United States will be cut off from a cost-of-living allowance starting Jan. 1. The change will lead to approximately 48,000 troops missing out on the Continental United States Cost-of-Living Allowance (CONUS COLA), according to Stars and Stripes. Approximately 6,000 service members will remain recipients of the $8.5 million that the Pentagon allocated for the stipend, which is given to troops who are stationed at excessively expensive...

For weeks Kiev officials and many corners of Western media and the Washington national security establishment have hyped the Russian troop build-up in regions of Russia that are within 400km of Ukraine's border, accusing the Kremlin of planning an invasion of Donbass sometime in January. This month started, for example, with The Washington Post citing US intelligence to claim this would involve a whopping 175,000 Russian troops mustered near the border. But like with prior similar instances (such as failed predictions last spring that never materialized), it's looking like the opposite is set to happen, with on Saturday Reuters reporting...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Popeye Getting The Flu Vaccine! MOLUCCA SEA (Dec. 9, 2021) Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Chaimee Vang, left, a native of Anchorage, Alaska, left, administers a dose of the flu vaccine to Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Electrical) 2nd Class Tanner Hurt, a native of Troy, IL, aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Dec. 9, 2021. Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability through alliances and partnerships while serving as a ready-response force in...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Defend America and Do Laundry As Well! Task Force Ohana Soldiers are currently providing ongoing support to the local residents of Aliamanu Military Reservation and Red Hill housing areas due to affected water supplies. Services provided to residents include the distribution of fresh water, alternate lodging, medical screening services, and identification of any other resident needs. AMR and Red Hill residents can come to the AMR Community Center, Bldg. 1788, 182 Kauhini Road, where a Family Assistance Center has been stood up to coordinate being moved to a...

President Biden on Wednesday said the United States is not considering sending troops to Ukraine amid rising fears about the possibility of a Russian military invasion. “That is not on the table,” Biden told reporters at the White House before departing for a trip to Kansas City, Mo. “We have a moral obligation and a legal obligation to our NATO allies if they were to attack under Article 5, it’s a sacred obligation. That obligation does not extend to … Ukraine,” he added.

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Happy Thanksgiving! Kunsan Air Base members go through a buffet line during Wolf Pack Appreciation Night at Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea, Nov. 15, 2021. The 8 FW Good Neighbors Group and the Korean and American Gunsan Alliance, who have been partners with the Wolf Pack for over 40 years, hosted a Thanksgiving meal for members of the pack. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Steven M. Adkins) Canteen Mission StatementShowing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring...

The Ukrainian president called on Vladimir Putin to publicly deny that he was preparing an invasion yesterday, saying Russia was sending “very dangerous signals”. President Zelensky, 43, also made the extraordinary claim that he believed a coup attempt was being planned for December 1 in Ukraine, with the involvement of Russian citizens and the country’s richest man. The remarks came amid continuing concerns in the West over the alleged build-up of almost 100,000 Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders. Moscow warned that suggestions of an invasion plan were “a provocation”. President Zelensky told journalists in Kiev: “We believe that very dangerous...

The FReeper Canteen Presents.... ~ Share A Favorite Military Story Or Two ~ Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.

At the end of September 1945, the world breathed a sigh of relief as the death and destruction of the war finally and formally came to an end. When the dust settled, as many as 85 million souls had been laid to rest, mostly civilians, and a New World Order had been formed by the allied powers, destined to control the trajectory of geopolitics to the present day. Of the millions lost, America escaped the least bloodied, with estimated total casualties recorded to be 419,400. These were dads, moms, sons, and daughters, their lives all cut short by the violence...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Replenishment Time! Coffee and Ice Cream Supplies Are Full Again! 211014-M-LE234-1097 RED SEA (Oct. 14, 2021) Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS John Lenthall (T-AO-189), left, transits alongside the amphibious transport dock USS Portland (LPD 27) during a replenishment-at-sea, Oct. 14. Portland and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and Pacific through the Western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Wildcats With Guns! U.S. Army cadets assigned to Kansas State University Reserves Office Training Corps (ROTC) Wildcat Battalion represent their university by expressing the school’s wildcat mascot hand symbol at an M4 qualifying range, Oct. 23, 2021, at Fort Riley, Kansas. Cadets completed a three-day field training exercise at Fort Riley that included range qualifications, obstacle courses, land navigation, and tactical combat casualty care, to focus on individual basic Soldier skills, as well as to build confidence, teamwork, and leadership skills. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Alvin Conley,...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Boxing Is A Perfect Readiness Drill! 211008-N-FB730-1144 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Oct. 8, 2021) Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Crystal Carmenatty, left, from Springfield, Massachusetts, and Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Ronald Briggs, from Portland, Oregon, box in the hangar bay of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). Truman is operating in the Atlantic Ocean in support of naval operations to maintain maritime stability and security in order to ensure access, deter aggression and defend U.S., allied and partner interests. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ I Get To Leash Someone! Gruff…Gruff! U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Nelson Struck, a military working dog handler (MWD) with the 928th Military Working Dog Detachment, Connecticut National Guard, sits with MWD Rexo after completing a successful detection training in Newtown, Connecticut, Oct. 8, 2021. The training was part of a demonstration of skill during a visit from Senior Enlisted Advisor Tony Whitehead, senior enlisted advisor to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, who visited the unit to speak with Soldiers and learn more about the 928th’s mission...

Hundreds of thousands of United States servicemembers remain unvaccinated or are only partially vaccinated against the coronavirus, as the deadline to have the shot draws closer. The vaccination rates vary between military branches, according to data obtained by the Washington Post, with 98 percent of the active duty Navy fully vaccinated.There are almost 340,000 such personnel, with the two per cent who haven't been jabbed representing close to 7,000 people. Meanwhile, just 72 percent of the 181,000 active Marine Corps personnel have been vaccinated - meaning close to 51,000 have yet to have the jab. Both branches have to be...