Defense News: More than a requirement: How two Soldiers keep life-saving skills sharp

Source: United States Army

POZNAN, Poland— Training a few can save many. U.S. Army Reserve Spc. Arina Warren and Sgt. Kayla Iyore did exactly that April 29 by coordinating Red Cross First Aid, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training for service members on the eastern flank.

The training aims to save lives through faster response times, improved workplace safety and increased readiness while reducing risk and costs. It also builds confidence and cohesion within the ranks and demonstrates organizational responsibility.

“It was exciting to be a part of something that can impact not only service members, but civilians and their families in the community,” Warren said. “This is only the start; we have also facilitated a class in Powidz.”

Chandler Morgan, a Red Cross liaison at Camp Kosciuszko, said that until March 2025, Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, was the only forward location providing Red Cross-certified training. He noted the local program is structured differently than those in the continental United States.

“These CPR trainings provide participants the ability to recognize signs of cardiac arrest and provide immediate care,” Morgan said. “More than 166 lives have been saved as a direct result of this training over the past year, including eight at overseas military bases.”

Soldiers learned first aid treatment including lifesaving trauma care, casualty movement and field-medical decision-making, similar to U.S. Army Tactical Combat Casualty Care or Combat Lifesaver courses.

Before the hands-on portion, Soldiers must complete an online first aid class to establish foundational knowledge, improve performance and meet certification requirements.

The class was held on the top floor of the Morale, Welfare and Recreation center at Camp Kosciuszko. The open area supported 10 to 15 Soldiers with the equipment needed to create new first responders.

“This class isn’t about checking a box; it’s about equipping Soldiers with a lifesaving skill,” Iyore said. “This makes a difference in unpredictable situations, whether on duty, at home or in the community.”

As representatives of the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) program, Iyore and Warren will continue to create programs and opportunities for service members.

The 510th Regional Support Group, 7th Mission Support Command, is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and co-located in Poznan. The unit provides base operation support to seven installation sites across the Baltics. As the rotational unit in Poland, the 510th Regional Support Group enables the readiness of V Corps and NATO forces across the eastern flank.

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Defense News: Acetate, AI, and doctrine: Eagle Adler strengthens joint planning at professional military education

Source: United States Army

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kansas – Gathered in small groups around acetate-covered maps littered with marker lines and circles, U.S. Army and German Bundeswehr students discussed large-scale combat operations during one of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College’s longest running exchange exercises, Eagle Adler.

The exercise is part of CGSC’s Command and General Staff Officer Course’s elective season and is a joint exercise focused on division and corps level planning.

Eagle Adler includes more than a dozen students from CGSC’s German equivalent.

Like many exercises across the Army, Eagle Adler creates opportunities for Soldiers to develop critical warfighter skills.

For students at CGSOC, those include ability to think and fight in a joint environment with any ally or planning process, Rob Smith, assistant professor in CGSC’s Department of Army Tactics and exercise lead explained.

“Exercises like this strengthen critical thinking by exposing students to how different partners approach problems and apply their experience to tactical problem sets,” he said.

Eagle-Adler adds approximately 100 additional hours of planning exercise to the students’ experience.

The two-part exercise includes planning using NATO APP-28 and the Military Decision-Making Process.

The most recent iteration incorporated the use of artificial intelligence and command operating collaboration systems for planning product production.

Eagle Adler impacts U.S. and German students beyond building warfighter skills for large-scale combat operations in a complex, contemporary environment model.

Lt. Col. Marc-Andre Walther, assistant professor in CGSC’s DTAC, said planning is only a piece of the outcomes for the officers, citing the professional network building and understanding of current challenges of war.

“Professional military education aims to expand the knowledge and understanding of the operational environment of the students to enable them to plan and execute operations in complex and chaotic circumstances,” he said. “To quote [Carl Von] Clausewitz: ‘Knowledge must become capability’. The exchange directly contributes to that.”

Similar sentiment was shared by Lt. Col. Michael Utsch, German Army student.

Learning MDMP and sharing expertise of NATO planning processes, is only part of the lessons, he explained, building interoperability through trust and mutual understanding are secondary take aways.

“In a security environment that is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable, it is clear that we have to face future challenges together. Our strength lies in standing together as allies, united by shared values, mutual trust and a common commitment to peace and security,” Utsch said. “Experiences like this exchange remind us that cooperation is not just a principle, but a necessity. The relationship we build here today will be essential for the missions we may face together tomorrow.”

Eagle Adler is a close replica of a joint planning environment. Students like Utsch and Maj. Mark Marten, U.S. Army logistician, will likely find themselves in upon graduation, making the “reps and sets” from the exercise critical to warfighter capability.

“We’ve got the time and space to really sit down and plan through some complex problems and issues that we would face when we work together downrange,” Marten said. “This is probably the best time and only opportunity we have to calmly plan through very complex problems.”

Lasting just over a week, Utsch described how professional trust was evident quickly, allowing students to focus less on getting to know each other, and learn about each other’s military abilities.

This trust and a whiteboard allowed Utsch and Marten to identify similarities in planning and logistics, generating lasting interoperability, Utsch explained.

“Even though the German students have very similar life experience, as well as training and planning considerations, they approach certain things like risk and how they mitigate and plan through uncertainty in a different way than American students do,” Marten explained. “Having an opportunity to understand what they could be thinking, or how they would approach a certain problem provides us insight as well as clear, concise language to get through some of the interplay of confusion when it comes to translation.”

According to Walther and Smith, the longevity of the exercise is a continued collective commitment to education of military leaders and allied national security objectives.

Next academic year, Eagle Adler will celebrate it’s 60th year of the joint planning exercise.

Recent Indictments, Convictions through Guilty Pleas, and Sentencings in Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) Prosecutions

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney, in conjunction with our partner agencies in the Homeland Security Task Force (“HSTF”) announce the following investigative and prosecutorial results for the week of April 27 through May 3, 2026.  The HSTF is a permanent, interagency law enforcement task force created by executive order to combat transnational criminal organizations—including cartels, trafficking networks, and foreign terrorist organizations. 

Justice Department Notifies Fairfax County, Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney of Investigation into His Plea Bargaining, Charging Decisions, and Sentencing Policy

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, the Justice Department notified the Fairfax County, Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano of the initiation of a federal investigation into the Commonwealth’s Attorney Plea Bargaining, Charging Decisions, and Sentencing Policy. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will investigate whether the Office of the Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney discriminated against United States citizens by offering preferential treatment only to illegal alien criminal defendants.  

“Under my leadership, the Civil Rights Division will not allow local prosecutors to pick and choose winners based on their immigration status,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This investigation will uncover whether this prosecutor is putting the community at risk in offering sweetheart deals to illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes.”

The Department has not reached any conclusions regarding allegations in these matters. The Department will investigate under various statutes, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Safe Streets Act, and law enforcement misconduct statute 34 U.S.C. § 12601. The Department has conducted similar investigations where violations have been found, and the resulting settlement agreements have led to important reforms.  

Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the Department via civilrights.justice.gov/report/. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt.

Pensacola Felon Indicted for Drug and Gun Offenses

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Pensacola, Florida – Marcellous Likely-McWilliams III, 27, of Pensacola, Florida, has been indicted in federal court on one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance involving marijuana; one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. 

Guilty Verdict for California Biolab Operator

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Following a two-week trial, a jury found Jia Bei Zhu, 64, a Chinese national, guilty of fraudulently selling more than a million COVID tests for nearly $4 million through his Fresno-based company Universal Meditech Inc. (UMI), to customers across the United States and lying to the FDA about his identity and role with UMI.

Justice Department Sues State of Colorado for Unconstitutional Weapons Ban

Source: United States Department of Justice

Today, the Justice Department filed suit against the State of Colorado alleging that the State unconstitutionally bans certain constitutionally protected standard capacity firearm magazines. This law unconstitutionally infringes on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms in common use for lawful purposes.

“Colorado’s ban on certain magazines is political virtue signaling at the expense of Americans’ constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Under my direction, the Division’s Second Amendment Section will continue to defend law-abiding Americans’ rights against unconstitutional restrictions on their right to possess arms which are owned by tens of millions of their fellow citizens.”

As the complaint explains, a State of Colorado statute makes it a crime to possess so-called “large-capacity magazines.” But the State has previously admitted that it bans magazines that come standard with many of the most popular firearms in the Nation, including AR-15-style rifles, which are the most popular rifles in America. Law-abiding Americans own hundreds of millions of magazines such as those banned by the State.  

In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its landmark decision District of Columbia v. Heller, held that the Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding citizens to possess weapons that are in common use for lawful purposes.

The Civil Rights Division’s Second Amendment Section enforces the Second Amendment. If you believe your right to keep and bear arms is being infringed, please submit a complaint through justice.gov/crt/second-amendment-section.