County officials are asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to install a gate on the Rocky Dam to reduce the chances of another major flood in the area as happened most recently around Memorial Day weekend 2021.
The Chaves County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve a resolution requesting the gate, indicating in the document that the 2021 flooding resulted in “undue human suffering and hardship.”
From May 28 to June 1, Chaves County and its municipalities — Roswell, Dexter, Hagerman and Lake Arthur — experienced what has been called a “100-year rain event,” which for this area of New Mexico is considered 5 inches of precipitation within 24 hours. According to the National Weather Service, rain began in the Roswell area on May 28, with the area receiving 5.05 inches of rain from then until May 30. The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network had reports of an additional 1.02 inches of rain in the county on June 1.
Although no deaths in the county were recorded as a result of the storm, residents and businesses reported destroyed and damaged homes, buildings, schools and agricultural equipment and businesses, as well as the loss of pets, farm animals and livestock.
The city of Roswell and Chaves County received emergency funding of $750,000 each from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in early June to help cover damages to public buildings and infrastructure and for other flood recovery efforts.
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Chaves County Flood Commission officials have said that the flooding in south Roswell and Midway happened after the breach of a Hondo River flood diversion levee west of Roswell. And both city and county officials have said that the diversion breach was caused in large part because Rocky Dam is ungated, allowing the water from the dam to pour into the Rio Hondo as well as the Rocky Arroyo stream.
The Rocky Dam is part of the Twin Rivers Dam maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that is about 14 miles southwest of Roswell. The other dam, the Diamond A Dam, has a gate that was used during the 2021 storm to retain water.
Because Rocky Dam was ungated, heavy rainwaters “flowed unchecked until the dam was drained. This ultimately overpowered the drainage channel and caused the failure of the Hondo River Diversion Levee #3,” the county resolution states.
The resolution also indicates that Chaves County Flood Commission officials have been asking the Corps of Engineers for a gate since at least 2006, including in a letter written in April 2007.
City and county officials also met with the Corps of the Engineers when the 2021 flooding began, with city officials asking if the Army group could install some type of temporary barriers on Rocky Dam.
Tim Jennings, the current Chaves County flood commissioner, gave commissioners an update on some of the commission’s efforts, including with the levee diversion. The breach in the berm was repaired in the days following the flood, and work continues to widen it by 12 feet and deepen it by 4 feet.
“From the topography that is out there, it is still possible to have a rain and still flood parts of Roswell. This does not alleviate all the problem,” Jennings said.
He said that he appreciated the county resolution in support of the Rocky Dam gate and that he has spoken with a person in Roswell who works with the Corps of Engineers who assured him that he was wiling to ask about a gate and the possibility of securing federal funds for it.
Another possibility, Jennings said, would be to build another dam to divert water toward the Felix River. He estimated the cost at $12 million or more.
A Corps of Engineers spokesperson did not respond by press time to a request for information. According to one of the group’s websites, the Twin River Dam was finished in August 1963 and authorized in 1954 following a “disastrous” flood in the area in 1941. Other major floods prior to the dam completion occurred in 1937 and 1954.
Lisa Dunlap can be reached at 575-622-7710, ext. 351, or at [email protected].
SAN DIEGO — As the Navy aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman and its strike group steams in the Mediterranean Sea — close to a bevy of Russian ships that have arrived there ahead of a potential invasion of Ukraine — the service’s top officer says the stakes of any encounter between the two navies have grown significantly.
President Biden said Friday that he believes a Russian invasion of Ukraine is now imminent, and that Moscow plans to attack the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
This sobering reality means that any misunderstanding between NATO and Russian ships in the region carry that much more consequence, Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations, told reporters Friday.
“Given this current situation, the chance for miscalculation is greater,” Gilday said.
But Gilday also noted that “we operate in and around the Russians and the Chinese all the time, so this is nothing new.”
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He told reporters Wednesday that the Navy now has more than 20 ships deployed to the theater.
Training to a high standard will help ensure that ship commanding officers make the right moves and “communicate very clearly that we’re not cowboys out there.”
Asked about Biden’s comments, Gilday said Truman and the other ships in the region fall under U.S. European Command, and that Truman will remain on station “for the foreseeable future,” as far as he knew.
“We need to be forward to be relevant,” he said. “Truman’s in the right place.”
Gilday was here for a panel at WEST 2022, a Navy and defense industry conference.
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In addition to nearly 200,000 Russian troops now massed around Ukraine, Moscow has poured warships, submarines and other naval assets into the Mediterranean and Black seas in recent weeks.
“We haven’t seen a movement like this in recent history” in the Black Sea, retired Adm. James Foggo, who commanded U.S. and NATO naval forces in Europe before retiring in 2020, told POLITICO earlier this month.
Truman has in recent weeks exercised with the French carrier Charles De Gaulle, the Italian carrier Cavour and their assorted strike groups.
The Navy also last week confirmed the deployment of four guided-missile destroyers to the region, although officials say the move is not in response to the Russian buildup.
Geoff is a senior staff reporter for Military Times, focusing on the Navy. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was most recently a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at [email protected].
NEW YORK — A Marine Corps reservist who was charged in last year’s riot at the U.S. Capitol also schemed with a nurse to steal, forge and sell hundreds of fake coronavirus vaccination cards and destroy vaccine doses to fake inoculations, federal authorities said Thursday.
Cpl. Jia Liu, 26, and nurse Steven Rodriguez, 27, were awaiting a court appearance Thursday on charges of conspiring to commit forgery and to defraud the federal government.
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“By deliberately distributing fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards to the unvaccinated, the defendants put military and other communities at risk of contracting a virus that has already claimed nearly 1 million lives in this country,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
Liu’s lawyer, Benjamin Yaster, declined to comment. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Rodriguez had an attorney who could speak to the allegations. The charges in the vaccination card case carry the potential for up to 10 years in prison for Liu, of Queens, and Rodriguez, of suburban Long Beach.
According to an indictment, Rodriguez, who worked at a clinic on Long Island, pilfered blank COVID-19 vaccination cards.
The two men allegedly offered customers the choice of buying cards blank or fraudulently filled out, with a premium-priced option: a fake vaccination record in the New York state and city databases that are used to issue vaccine passes.
A buyer who sprung for the add-on would go to the clinic, where Rodriguez would dispose of a dose of vaccine, forge a card and make a phony entry into the databases, the indictment said.
Covering their tracks by referring to “gift cards,” “Cardi Bs,” “Christmas cards” and “Pokemon cards,” Liu and Rodriguez conducted the scam through encrypted messaging apps and social media and instructed buyers to mask online payments as “consultancy” or “Korean BBQ,” the indictment said.
“I need to make an appointment for you with my buddy who will destroy a vial, scan your ID and give you a Band-Aid,” Liu told one contact in a message last May, the indictment said.
The scheme ultimately involved over 300 ill-gotten vaccination cards and over 70 fake database entries, according to prosecutors.
It said some of the fake cards went to Liu’s fellow Marine reservists, following a Pentagon order in August that all members of the military be vaccinated.
The Marine Corps “is aware of the situation, and we are fully cooperating with federal authorities,” Lieutenant Colonel Craig W. Thomas said in a statement.
He said the Marines had already taken steps toward administratively separating Liu before Thursday’s arrest. Administrative separation is a military term that’s akin to firing in the civilian world.
Liu was charged this past fall with climbing through a broken window into the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that delayed Congress’ certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Security cameras recorded Liu entering the building, according to a criminal complaint.
In that case, he has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges including entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct.
The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft captured this stunning, massive solar prominence which erupted from the left side of the sun in this image. Image: ESA/NASA
A spacecraft jointly operated by European (ESA) and American (NASA) space agencies have captured the largest solar prominence eruption ever observed; the February 15 eruption was significant, but unrelated to an ongoing Geomagnetic Storm Watch that remains in effect for tomorrow.
The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft captured the massive explosion in a single image together with the full disc. A solar prominence is a large structure of tangled magnetic field lines that keep dense concentrations of solar plasma suspended above the Sun’s surface; the magnetic field lines will help shape these eruptions into the form of arching loops sometimes. Often associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME), these massive eruptions from the sun could have significant impacts to Earth and the technology that orbits around it.
This composition of imagery is from the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter & SOHO spacecraft, which captured a GIANT solar eruption on this week on February 15. pic.twitter.com/RKXaf76k0u
Fortunately, this massive eruption from the sun did not send a blast of deadly particles towards Earth. Instead, this February 15 CME was directed away from Earth. Based on an analysis of the imagery, ESA said, “it must have originated from the side of the Sun facing away from us.”
While the Earth escaped impacts from this eruption, it may not be as lucky in the future. And in the near future, another coronal hole is expected to bring about geomagnetic storm conditions tomorrow. Due to that space weather event, government forecasters have raised a Geomagnetic Storm Watch for Sunday.
NASA equipment can help scientists determine the impacts from coronal holes. Image: NASA
In their latest space weather forecast discussion, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) says, “Mostly quiet conditions are expected through approximately midday on February 20 under nominal solar wind conditions.” But they add, “Approximately midday on February 20, an extension of the southern crown polar coronal hole is expected to become geoeffective causing unsettled to G1 (Minor) storm levels.”
Chart showing NOAA Space Weather Scales for Geomagnetic Storms. Image: NOAA
The SWPC says that during a G1-class storm event, power grid fluctuations can occur on Earth while in space, satellite orientation irregularities could occur. Communications can also be hampered: high frequency (HF) radio propagation can fade at higher latitudes. Elsewhere, Mother Nature may light up the skies more south than usual; aurora could be visible as low as Michigan to Maine.
This map shows how far south the Northern Lights could appear at different KP index levels. While a KP of 3 or less would keep them in northern latitudes of Alaska and Canada, a KP of 9 would make them visible in places like Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Washington, DC, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Portland. Image: NOAA
The K-index, and by extension the Planetary K-index, are used to characterize the magnitude of geomagnetic storms. The SWPC says that Kp is an excellent indicator of disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field and is used by SWPC to decide whether geomagnetic alerts and warnings need to be issued for users who are affected by these disturbances. Beyond signifying how bad a geomagnetic storm’s impact can be felt, the Kp index can also help indicate how low the aurora will be. For now, a Kp index of 5 is expected late on February 20.
This forecast storm is one of a growing number of such storms to impact Earth in recent weeks. Earlier this month, a geomagnetic storm was responsible for the destruction of dozens of satellites launched by SpaceX. On February 3, SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket into space from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In a statement addressing the issue, SpaceX wrote, “Falcon 9’s second stage deployed the satellites into their intended orbit, with a perigee of approximately 210 kilometers above Earth, and each satellite achieved controlled flight. SpaceX deploys its satellites into these lower orbits so that in the very rare case any satellite does not pass initial system checkouts it will quickly be deorbited by atmospheric drag. While the low deployment altitude requires more capable satellites at a considerable cost to us, it’s the right thing to do to maintain a sustainable space environment.” However, they added how this approach in a geomagnetic storm led to many of the satellites demise: “Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase. In fact, onboard GPS suggests the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches. The Starlink team commanded the satellites into a safe-mode where they would fly edge-on (like a sheet of paper) to minimize drag—to effectively “take cover from the storm”—and continued to work closely with the Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron and LeoLabs to provide updates on the satellites based on ground radars.”
According to a preliminary analysis made by SpaceX, it appears the increased drag at the low altitude doomed up to 40 satellites, with those satellites re-entering or already re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere. SpaceX advised, “The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry—meaning no orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground.”
A solar eruption seen by the SOHO spacecraft on July 24, 1999, with Earth inserted to give a sense of scale to the blast. Image: ESA / SOHO / EIT
While the number appears to be a significant loss, it isn’t that significant in the overall quantity of Starlink satellites SpaceX has in orbit. The current Starlink constellation is authorized for 4,408 satellites; there are over 2,040 of them in orbit today.
While these solar events can help illuminate the sky with stunning aurora and threaten spacecraft like the SpaceX satellites above the Earth, they can also do considerable harm to electronics, electrical grids, and satellite and radio communications on Earth.
The 1859 incident, which occurred on September 1-2 in 1859, is also known as the “Carrington Event.” This event unfolded as powerful geomagnetic storm struck Earth during Solar Cycle 10. A CME hit the Earth and induced the largest geomagnetic storm on record. The storm was so intense it created extremely bright, vivid aurora throughout the planet: people in California thought the sun rose early, people in the northeastern U.S. could read a newspaper at night from the aurora’s bright light, and people as far south as Hawaii and south-central Mexico could see the aurora in the sky.
The event severely damaged the limited electrical and communication lines that existed at that time; telegraph systems around the world failed, with some telegraph operators reporting they received electric shocks.
A June 2013 study by Lloyd’s of London and Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER) in the U.S. showed that if the Carrington event happened in modern times, damages in the U.S. could exceed $2.6 trillion, roughly 15% of the nation’s annual GDP.
Scientists believe that another Carrington-like event will occur, but not sure when it’ll happen. Scientists believe we are now in a period of increasing solar storm activity which is forecast to peak in 2025. While an increase in solar cycle sunspots was expected in this new cycle, the amount of activity has exceeded forecasts, especially in 2021 and so far in 2022. Experts believe the cycle will peak-out around 2025, with even more space weather events unfolding between now and then. It is possible a Carrington-like event could happen at anytime, although odds could be highest during the peak cycle around 2025.
Recent solar activity has been greater than forecast; even so, the overall cycle is expected to peak-out around 2025. Based on forecasts, Earth is only 50% to the next peak. Image: SWPC/NOAA
Solar storm activity continues to increase, with activity somewhat more frequent than was forecast to be in this latest solar cycle. While the Geomagnetic Storm Watch up this weekend is for a G1-class storm, scientists continue to warn that the frequency and intensity of these geomagnetic storms are likely to increase; it is also possible that future storms could significantly impact life on Earth.
Some scientists believe a larger space weather event could be extremely disruptive on earth, shutting down the electrical grid and bringing an end to the internet for a month or longer. A paper written last September by University of California assistant professor Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi, entitled “Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse”, describes the threats the sun pose to the global web of computers and the communications between them. “In this paper, we investigate the impact of solar superstorms that can potentially cause large-scale Internet outages covering the entire globe and lasting several months,” the author wrote.
NOAA forecasters analyze a variety of solar data from spacecraft to determine what impacts a geomagnetic storm could produce. If Earth is experiencing the effects of a coronal hole and a coronal mass ejection is forecasted to impact Earth, the combined effects could result in a more significant impact and more intense geomagnetic storming. Analyzing data from the DSCOVER and ACE satellite is one way forecasters can tell when the enhanced solar wind from a coronal hole is about to arrive at Earth. A few things they look for in the data to determine when the enhanced solar wind is arriving at Earth:
• Solar wind speed increases • Temperature increases • Particle density decreases • Interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strength increases
Screen capture from a video showing a solar flare with a coronal mass ejection, or CME, component. A CME like this one is responsible for the upcoming Geomagnetic Storm threat. Credit: NASA/SDO
Until that happens, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center continues to keep an eye out for possible dangers from the Sun.
While typically known for their weather forecasts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its National Weather Service (NWS) is also responsible for “space weather.” While there are private companies and other agencies that monitor and forecast space weather, the official source for alerts and warnings of the space environment is the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). The SWPC is located in Boulder, Colorado and is a service center of the NWS, which is part of NOAA. The Space Weather Prediction Center is also one of nine National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) as they monitor current space weather activity 24/7, 365 days a year.
The Sun is constantly churning material and magnetic fields which create an ever-changing landscape of features that last from milliseconds to days. NASA developed this infographic to illustrate a few of the most common features that can be seen on the Sun. Image: NASA/Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith
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“Space is … hard” and “Nowhere to go but up” read some of the Netflix promotional language and posters tied to Space Force season 2, the satirical, half-hour workplace comedy that skewers the creation of the real-life US Space Force.
Those are meant to be tongue-in-cheek soundbites connected to Netflix’s fictionalized version of this new military agency, but they also work just as well in contextualizing the show itself, in addition to the critical response to it. That’s because reviewers by and large skewered season one of this Steve Carell-led series, and pretty savagely, too — a bummer, since Space Force reunited Carell with The Office creator Greg Daniels. Nevertheless, Netflix gave the show at least one more shot, and season two is now streaming on the platform.
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Space Force season two
We’d be remiss if we didn’t point out — plenty of fans actually liked the show just fine. The Rotten Tomatoes audience score certainly speaks to that. And honestly, if you’re a fan of The Office-style humor, there’s no reason you can’t get some pleasant, sitcom-style amusement out of this show. Carell’s Gen. Mark Naird almost feels a little like Michael Scott’s older, more successful brother. The same kind of dry, Dunder Mifflin-esque humor, too.
You get lines like this one, when Carrell’s Gen. Naird is given command of Space Force in a formal ceremony: “I only wish that my parents could have been here to see this. But they were unable to get flights from New Jersey in time.”
Another favorite line of mine from season one came during a budget hearing, when a congresswoman dubiously asked Gen. Naird about Space Force: “Why do you exist?” Carell’s character didn’t miss a beat:
Because “the Yankees won the 1961 World Series, and my parents got a little carried away with their celebration.”
As I said, the show’s not trying for The Sopranos-level critical excellence here. But it’s a pleasant watch, nonetheless.
Rotten Tomatoes rating
Steve Carell as General Mark Naird (left) and Ben Schwartz as F. Tony Scarapiducci in season two of the Netflix series “Space Force.” Image source: Diyah Pera/Netflix
“Season 2 of Space Force picks up with General Naird and his underdog team having to prove their worth to a new administration while dealing with interpersonal challenges,” Netflix’s summary explains. “Will the group come together or fall apart under the pressure? Space Force is only human after all.”
The good news is that the early critical reviews that have trickled out so far seem much more positive than the last time around. In fact, the show currently has 100% critics and audience scores right now on Rotten Tomatoes.
Granted, there are only six reviews for the new season from critics showing up there right now. And seven user ratings as of the time of this writing. But, hey, at least it’s starting strong. From Rotten Tomatoes users, about the new set of episodes:
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! Loved absolutely every second of it, so hilarious and well done, I mean what a huge huge treat to be able to watch a show this good. Netflix, for the love of God, pick this up for a season three.
Great! Was an awesome season it left me wanting more. After I finished the last episode I couldn’t believe it was so short! I need more Space Force!
Killer cliffhanger. Good season.
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Vietnam-era Air Force veteran Tom Strossner of Des Plaines had been steadily increasing his post-retirement service to fellow veterans last fall when tragedy struck the American Legion post where he was serving as commander.
A younger member of the post who was in crisis took his own life in November.
Ever since, Strossner has made it his mission to make himself and others as well-prepared as possible to help those in such pain.
“I’ll be honest with you, I never, never thought I would face a suicide in my lifetime,” Strossner said. “Now I’m all on board with making people aware.”
Only weeks after suffering that loss, Strossner saw a presentation in River Grove on veteran suicide prevention training.
This month, he brought the same program to American Legion Post 36 in Des Plaines.
The program highlights the complexity of suicide and the factors that play a role in whether a person in distress will attempt it. It’s delivered by Kristy Bassett, community engagement and partnership coordinator at Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital, and Carmona Caravelli, the hospital’s lead suicide prevention coordinator.
Several factors make veterans a distinct population, they said, including their likelihood of owning and being trained in the use of firearms.
While stressing that neither they nor the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are anti-gun, they said firearms more commonly are used by veterans than the general population in suicide attempts and can narrow the time frame a person in distress has to reevaluate his or her decision.
Persuading at-risk veterans to voluntarily separate themselves from their firearms is just one targeted prevention measure, they said.
Members of Des Plaines American Legion Post 36 and others attend a recent remote presentation on veterans suicide prevention training featuring Kristy Bassett, community engagement and partnership coordinator at Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital.
– Eric Peterson | Staff Photographer
Staying calm, avoiding mirroring the at-risk person’s mental distress and not shying away from the direct question, “Are you thinking about killing yourself?” are other important strategies for others to know and exercise.
“You don’t need an advanced degree to be able to help someone,” Bassett said.
Strossner likens the training to CPR instruction — something most people might hope to never need but would find invaluable in the unexpected moment they do.
This month’s one-night training event is not the end of the prevention measures the post intends to take, he said.
In some ways, Strossner considers himself an unlikely person to be leading the post through such a challenging time — or at all.
“I lived in this town 30-some years and didn’t even know this post was here,” he said. “I joined this post six years ago. I made the mistake of telling them I wanted to get involved.
“I don’t know how I could get more involved than I am now,” he said with a smile.
After retiring, Strossner believed it would be good to enjoy the camaraderie of fellow veterans again, something he didn’t have much time to think about while working. Now, part of what he sees as his role as post commander is to persuade others in the community to not wait as long as he did to join.
Strossner graduated from Lake View High School in Chicago in 1966 and immediately went to work for the construction firm that would build the house in Hoffman Estates his family would move into.
“Then I decided I was going to join the Air Force because I really wanted to work on airplanes,” he said.
He became a crew chief on an airplane at 19. That’s where he learned many of the organizational skills that would quickly prove valuable to his American Legion Post.
Though Strossner spent the majority of his service in the U.S., he was in Iceland for some months at two different times and at an Air Force base in Vietnam from June of 1968 to June of 1969, shortly after the Tet Offensive.
The fact that he got out of the Air Force in 1971 made a big difference to the rest of his life. Airlines were laying off workers rather than hiring, and he ended up supporting his young family with a truck driving job that became a career.
But his main focus now is helping fellow veterans and making sure American Legion Post 36 is accessible to them.
“We have all served,” he said of the bond he feels with other members. “It’s the same military, just a different era. You are a family, no matter what era you served in. It’s a great post. I felt that after I joined here.”
TechLink, the U.S. Department of Defense’s technology transfer intermediary, announced on Friday the availability of license agreements for the U.S. Army’s suite of IP covering Colorimetric Sensor Arrays and the VK3, a portable chemical and biological agent testing device.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220218005507/en/
The handheld VK3 device uses a camera and small computer to identify chemical and biological samples by analyzing colorimetric sensors on an assay. (US Army photo courtesy of TechLink)
Invented by scientists at the U.S. Army’s DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center, the handheld tester uses a digital camera and microprocessor to identify chemicals or biological agents by analyzing colorimetric assays.
Associated with this invention, the U.S. Government has been granted three 20-year U.S. utility patents:
U.S. Patent 11,231,404 “Sampling and Detection Kit for Chemical and Biological Materials,” issued on Jan. 25, 2022.
U.S. Patent 11,221,319 “Sampling and Detection Kit for Chemical and Biological Materials,” issued on Jan. 11, 2022.
U.S. Patent 10,408,809 “Sampling and Detection Kit for Chemical and Biological Materials,” issued on Sept. 10, 2019.
This intellectual property covers both a device and a method for collecting, analyzing, and identifying chemical and biological samples in solid or liquid form. The analysis compares the color change of Colorimetric Sensor Arrays over time with signatures for known materials and compounds from a library.
This patented configuration enables the compound library to identify the unique indicator-response signatures that provide accurate classification of a wide-variety of chemical and biological agents.
Through technology transfer, the U.S. Army’s world-class research and IP portfolio represent a business opportunity ( view all available technologies here ).
Interested companies are invited to learn more and submit a patent license application. Terms of a license agreement are negotiable.
TechLink’s staff of certified licensing professionals provide free consultation and licensing assistance to interested parties.
“The Army’s Chemical Biological Center has a unique role in tech development that cannot be duplicated by private industry or research universities,” said Christie Bell, senior technology manager at TechLink. “Technologies designed to help our Armed Forces often have commercial potential and this is one of them.”
About TechLink
TechLink is a Department of Defense Partnership Intermediary for Technology Transfer per Authority 15 USC 3715. For 20 years, TechLink has facilitated public-private partnerships with DOD research centers and laboratories.
View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220218005507/en/
There wasn’t just one thing that allowed the Air Force women to overcome a pesky challenge from Utah State on Saturday.
Maybe that’s the key to why this program keeps chugging along in ways it never has before – because they’ve suddenly filled their arsenal with so many ways to win.
In beating Utah State 67-56 at Clune Arena in a unique spot as a favored team needing a win, the Falcons answered immediately all five times the Aggies scored to tie or take the lead (each time with a different player), they piled up seven steals to gain separation in the third quarter and had signature style performances from all three seniors on a day they celebrated the outgoing class.
The win extends Air Force’s school record for victories in a season (15) and conference season (9) and guarantees the program will not finish below .500 for the first time since it moved to Division 1 in 1996.
“They really believe,” coach Chris Gobrecht said. “They believe they’re going to find a way, so that’s how they play.”
The win pushes Air Force (15-11, 9-6 Mountain West) into sole possession of fourth place in the Mountain West, half a game up on No. 5 Wyoming. The top five earn first-round byes in the conference tournament. Colorado State is a game back in sixth place but with two more games remaining than the Falcons. Air Force would hold the tiebreaker over the Rams.
Those stakes made the game against the Aggies (8-19, 3-13) all the more important, and Utah State made things difficult behind 27 points and 10 rebounds from Adryana Quezada.
Air Force senior Cierra Winters scored the game’s first six points en route to 13, but Utah State recovered to take the lead early in the second quarter.
Winters immediately responded with the next five points.
The Aggies tied it a few minutes later and freshman Lauren McDonald hit a 3 to push Air Force back in front.
That’s how it went through the two middle quarters, with Kamri Heath, Nikki McDonald and Riley Snyder coming up with immediate answers just as the Aggies would tie or move in front.
“We know that every player on our team can score,” Winters said. “We just trust each other to get it done.”
Winters had three of the Falcons’ seven third-quarter steals, with the defense leading the way to close the quarter on a 10-2 run and pull ahead by eight.
The Falcons finally opened their first double-digit lead in the fourth quarter and Gobrecht removed her three seniors together with a minute remaining. There is still one home game left on the schedule, but they opted to celebrate the seniors on Saturday to ensure families could travel in for the weekend game.
Seniors Audrey Gadison (knee injury) and Briana Autry-Thompson (academics) were unavailable to play, but were honored along with their classmates in a pregame ceremony.
And the seniors led. Winters had five steals to go with her 13 points. Snyder, celebrating her birthday, scored a team-high 17 points with six rebounds. Haley Jones added nine points, eight rebounds and two steals.
“We knew that’s a game we should have won,” Snyder said. “We know we’re going to get everybody’s best. We have to make sure we’re winning the games that we need to win, which, honestly, from here on out we want to win every single one of them.”
Gobrecht inherited a program in 2015 that had lost 43 consecutive games against Mountain West competition. Her first two seasons produced a record of 5-54. Now, the Falcons have won as many games in this month (4) with two games remaining as they had ever won in a full conference season before her arrival.
“(Assistant coach) Stacey (McIntyre) and I gave each other a little extra pat on the back and said, ‘Did we ever think we’d get to 15?’” Gobrecht said of the record number of wins the program has posted. “So, yes, it does, it feels pretty good. I couldn’t’ think of a better bunch to be able to celebrate it with.
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG-111), left, USS America (LHA-6), and Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), transit the Philippine Sea on Jan. 22, 2022. US Navy Photo
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The U.S. Navy needs a fleet of more than 500 ships to meet its commitments to the soon-to-be released National Defense Strategy, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said on Friday.
“I’ve concluded – consistent with the analysis – that we need a naval force of over 500 ships,” Gilday said during the WEST 2022 conference, co-hosted by AFCEA and the U.S. Naval Institute.
“We need 12 carriers. We need a strong amphibious force to include nine big-deck amphibs and another 19 or 20 [LPDs] to support them. Perhaps 30 or more smaller amphibious ships to support Maritime Littoral Regiments… to 60 destroyers and probably 50 frigates, 70 attack submarines and a dozen ballistic missile submarines to about a 100 support ships and probably looking into the future about 150 unmanned.”
According to Gilday’s list, that force would be about 513 ships with 263 manned combatants, plus 100 logistics and supply ships and 150 unmanned vessels. Gilday told reporters later that the total would include Littoral Combat Ships.
“LCS is in that mix,” he said.
The numbers Gilday said on Friday are largely in line with a notional high-end total included in the abbreviated Fiscal Year 2022 long-range shipbuilding plan. The ongoing congressionally-mandated force structure assessment will inform the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, Gilday said. But details of the FSA have largely been under wraps as the Pentagon continues to craft its next national defense strategy.
“We’re going through another force structure assessment right now, but based on the hard work we’ve done over the last five or six years we’re thinking about how we would fight,” Gilday said. “How would we fight differently in terms of a wide, vast ocean like the Pacific?”
For the last three years, the Navy’s future force structure has been in flux, undergoing several different fleet reviews while the Department of the Navy and Pentagon leadership underwent unprecedented churn in 2019 and 2020.
The attempt at a force structure assessment led to the Trump administration releasing an ambitious fleet plan toward the end of its tenure. The Biden administration shelved the plan shortly after President Joe Biden took office, prompting the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of the Defense to again reevaluate the force under new Pentagon leadership and the prospect of a flat budget outlay.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday speaking at WEST 2022 on Feb. 18, 2022.
Over the last year, the Navy has set out on an aggressive testing program to refine the emerging Distributed Maritime Operations concept that will connect crewed and unmanned ships and aircraft to operate in concert across the vast distances of the Pacific.
In particular, Large Scale Exercise 2021 tested DMO – in addition to the Marines Corps’ Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations and Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment – across three combatant commands in a networked exercise with live and simulated exercises. The Navy and Marines are also testing deployed carrier strike and amphibious ready groups with complicated battle problems that further test the underlying concepts. Meanwhile, in U.S. 5th Fleet, the ongoing testing of small unmanned vessels is refining how the service thinks about employing them in the future.
“The real message I wanted to get out of those numbers, it’s actually grounded on how we’re going to fight,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Marine Corps has an ongoing amphibious ship requirements study that it will ultimately deliver to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger said the study is about 30 to 45 days away from completion and he expects the analysis to call for approximately 31 amphibious ships. So far, Del Toro has received two progress updates about the study, Berger said.
“If it’s anything like the previous studies – we’ve had I think 12 studies in the last 13 years – every one of them came out about 31 amphib ships,” Berger told reporters at WEST. “So I don’t know what this one will come to, but I can’t see it radically different from that. That’s requirements. That’s our Marine Corps requirement. That’s maybe different from what the nation can afford.”
The study is assessing the requirements for both large amphibious ships and the Light Amphibious Warship, which the Marine Corps wants to shuttle Marines around islands and shorelines in the Indo-Pacific. LAW is supposed to have a beaching capability so it can easily deliver Marines to the shore. While the Marine Corps is behind the push for LAW, money to purchase the platform would come out of the Navy’s shipbuilding account.
Gilday’s affirmation of the fleet follows reports the that the Biden administration is planning late influx funds into the Pentagon budget for FY 2023. USNI News reported earlier this week that the new topline could be as high $773 billion.
CALGARY, Alberta — The resurgence began a month ago, when the Blue Jackets responded to an “embarrassing” 9-2 loss to the Florida Panthers by winning their next game.
A 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in their first game against Cam Atkinson wasn’t a thing of beauty, but it was a sign the Jackets still cared enough about this season to fight. It’s a trait that emanates from a group of leaders who’ve refused to let this season completely slide off the rails despite a few more humbling losses.
Since that initial drubbing in Florida, the Jackets have lost 8-4 to the Panthers in a rematch at Nationwide Arena and been blown out at home and on the road by the Calgary Flames.
They’ve also won six of their past eight games, including a 4-1-0 record on a road trip that covered 11 days, more than 4,000 roundtrip miles and concluded Thursday with a 7-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.
“There’s not going to be any quit on this team,” forward Gustav Nyquist said after a practice early in the trip, a workout that followed a win over the Washington Capitals in which he and captain Boone Jenner had combined for a winning goal with less than a minute left. “We’ve got basically half a season left, and we know what we’re capable of doing … and no matter what happens, there’s not going to be any quit on this team. We’ll make sure of that, for sure.”
That attitude was born about halfway through the first blowout loss to the Panthers. Fans in Sunrise, Florida chanted for a 10th goal. Their faces burning with embarrassment, the Jackets refused to allow it and then flew home to start picking up the pieces.
Coach Brad Larsen worked them hard in their next practice, reminding them how difficult it is to win in the NHL.
They beat the Flyers a couple days later to show their pulse still existed.
The next big challenge was a 6-0 loss at home Jan. 26 against the Flames, who so thoroughly dominated the Blue Jackets that they set a franchise record with 62 shots on goal.
That again didn’t sit well with the Jackets’ leadership group, starting with Jenner and Nyquist. They have taken over at key times during the past eight games to produce the Jackets’ most extended winning stretch since the season’s first month.
They still trailed the Boston Bruins by nine points for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference going into practice Saturday, but things sure felt a lot better flying home from Chicago than they did from South Florida a month earlier.
Patrik Laine’s scorching hot streak is another huge reason for their recent success, with 10 goals and 16 points during an eight-game point streak, but he’s not the only one who’s made clutch plays. All four wins on the road trip featured key moments from Nyquist, Jenner, Sean Kuraly, Jakub Voracek, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Zach Werenski and others.
“It starts with us as leaders,” said Jenner, whose goal Thursday in Chicago was his team-leading 20th of the season. “We have to be the ones leading the way and bringing everyone along with us. You want to get the results, but it’s more about how we play.”
The tricky part is keeping that going. A trio of rookies — Cole Sillinger, Yegor Chinakhov and Trey Fix-Wolansky — have all come up with some big at times in the past couple weeks, but the Jackets’ resilience is powered by veterans.
That’s no coincidence.
“That’s why they’re your leaders,” Larsen said. “That’s why they’re in those positions, making the money they do, and playing the minutes they play. We rely on those guys, and whenever you get on a win streak, generally it’s because of those guys. They’re upping the ante and they’ve gotten more competitive.”
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