The view from the front: military matters and motivation for 6/24/22.

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Hi friend,

Happy Friday! Hope you have some great weekend plans in place!

We begin our news with Ukraine. Russian forces continue to advance in the east, in the Donbas region.

You can see the advances in the maps below (while at the same time, Ukraine is gaining some ground in the south).

#Russian forces have likely reached the outskirts of #Lysychansk and are reinforcing #Severodonetsk to complete the capture of both cities. #Belarusian forces are conducting exercises along the #Ukrainian border but are unlikely to enter the war.\n\nLatest: isw.pub/RusCampaignJun… ","username":"TheStudyofWar","name":"ISW","date":"Thu Jun 23 23:23:29 +0000 2022","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FV-U6v...ISW @TheStudyofWar#Russian forces have likely reached the outskirts of #Lysychansk and are reinforcing #Severodonetsk to complete the capture of both cities. #Belarusian forces are conducting exercises along the #Ukrainian border but are unlikely to enter the war.Latest: isw.pub/RusCampaignJun…

June 23rd 2022

232 Retweets548 Likes

But, our highly-advanced rockets have finally arrived on the battlefield. So, hopefully, that will slow the Russian advance in the east. (It took several weeks of training before the complex weapons could be deployed.)

@SecDef Lloyd J. Austin III for these powerful tools!\nSummer will be hot for russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them. ","username":"oleksiireznikov","name":"Oleksii Reznikov","date":"Thu Jun 23 11:21:56 +0000 2022","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FV7vxT...Oleksii Reznikov @oleksiireznikovHIMARS have arrived to Ukraine.Thank you to my 🇺🇲 colleague and friend @SecDef Lloyd J. Austin III for these powerful tools!Summer will be hot for russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them.

June 23rd 2022

7,133 Retweets44,450 Likes

Moving from Ukraine to other news, Russia threatened Finland as the Nordic country attempts to get into NATO.

But Finland fired back that it was prepared to more than defend itself if Russia wanted to do something incredibly reckless and stupid. (You can read their reply below, as well as the decades of work they’ve done to prepare for another Russian invasion. It’s really quite interesting.)

Doctrine Man @Doctrine_ManIs Putin in over his head? Heavily-armed Finland fires warning to Putin as nation vows to fight if attackedThe head of Finland’s armed forces said today that his countrymen would be compelled to fight tooth-and-claw against Vladimir Putin’s forces should the Kremlin order an attackmirror.co.uk

June 23rd 2022

6 Retweets29 Likes

Moving to China, they’ve harrassed Taiwan again with a large contingent of aircraft. They’ve done this so many times, and I’ve documented it here probably six or more times the past year or so.

But there’s a scary point to these threats, as described below.

Derek J. Grossman @DerekJGrossmanDepressingly, China makes so many incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ that it’s hard to determine whether Beijing is actually planning something more. And that’s precisely the point.29 Chinese military aircraft enter Taiwan’s ADIZ - Focus TaiwanTaipei, June 21 (CNA) A total of 29 Chinese military aircraft flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday, the third-highest single-day total this year, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND).focustaiwan.tw

June 22nd 2022

21 Retweets58 Likes

Moving to our hemisphere, Colombia held elections and there’s been some major changes made there with the election of its new president.

Politico states there could be “major changes” to the relationship with our country, writing in part:

Among other planks of Gustavo Petro’s platform, Petro wants to renegotiate elements of Colombia’s free trade agreement with the U.S.; limit oil and gas exploration in Colombia; change the way Colombia fights rebel groups; and re-establish relations with Venezuelan President NICOLAS MADURO, a dictator whom the U.S. does not formally recognize — and whose policies have produced a refugee crisis that has affected Colombia.

Petro is an ex-guerilla taking charge in a country that has been led for decades by figures from the right-wing and center-right.

In other news, moving to our own military, I’m not even sure how to bring up this next topic. But it appears a member of our own Air Force tried to kill fellow service members. (See below.)

@barbarastarrcnn reports\n","username":"NatSecCNN","name":"CNN NationalSecurity","date":"Tue Jun 21 20:17:40 +0000 2022","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":37,"like_count":42,"expanded_url":{"url":"https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/21/politi... Air Force service member arrested in connection to insider attack on base in Syria that injured 4 Americans | CNN Politics","description":"An airman has been arrested by military law enforcement in connection to an April attack at a US military base in northern Syria that injured four US service members.","domain":"cnn.com"},"video_url":null}">CNN NationalSecurity @NatSecCNNBREAKING: A US Air Force service member arrested in connection to insider attack on base in Syria that injured 4 Americans, @barbarastarrcnn reportsUS Air Force service member arrested in connection to insider attack on base in Syria that injured 4 Americans | CNN PoliticsAn airman has been arrested by military law enforcement in connection to an April attack at a US military base in northern Syria that injured four US service members.cnn.com

June 21st 2022

37 Retweets42 Likes

From the story:

CNN first reported earlier this month that the US military was investigating whether an American service member set off explosives in an insider attack on the small US base in northern Syria that injured four service members in April.

The Pentagon is refusing to disclose any additional details at this time. "We won't release the individual's name unless charges are preferred. It is too early in the process for a charge sheet. It will be available if charges are preferred," the statement said. The expectation is charges could be filed within the next few weeks," Stefanek said.

…

Initially, US officials said they believed the April 7 attack was caused by indirect fire on the base in a similar manner to rocket and mortar attacks that have been carried out in the region by militia groups. However, a week later, a military statement said that after "further investigation" the attack was believed to a result of "deliberate placement of explosive charges by an unidentified individual(s) at an ammunition holding area and shower facility."

I’m not even sure what else to add at this point. We’ll just wait for more details to be released.

I’ve said before that I’m a sucker for great military pics. Here’s today’s entrant:

go.usa.gov/xJ5C7 ","username":"USNavy","name":"U.S. Navy","date":"Sat Jun 11 00:22:03 +0000 2022","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FU7lqD...U.S. Navy @USNavyUSS Gravely and USS Gunston Hall pay port visit to Helsinki, Finland. 🇺🇸 🇫🇮 Read more: go.usa.gov/xJ5C7

June 11th 2022

91 Retweets670 Likes

Let’s end the news portion by settling a huge debate in many households… lol

History Defined @historydefinedThe original patent from 1891 for a toilet paper roll actually shows the correct rolling direction.

June 24th 2022

453 Retweets3,307 Likes

That’s it for this edition! Have a great weekend! And here’s some motivation and wisdom to send you off with.

Life Quotes @RTLifeQuotesNothing will work unless you do. – Maya Angelou

June 24th 2022

11 Retweets39 LikesSuccess Minded @_SuccessMinded_"All big things started small."

June 24th 2022

135 Retweets580 Likes#MotivationalQuotes","username":"IMQuotes_Videos","name":"Inspired Motivation Quotes","date":"Thu Jun 23 16:00:09 +0000 2022","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":49,"like_count":134,"expanded_url":{},"video_url":null}">Inspired Motivation Quotes @IMQuotes_Videos“Failure doesn't mean the game is over, it means try again with experience.” -- Len Schlesinger#MotivationalQuotes

June 23rd 2022

49 Retweets134 Likes

As a reminder, please be kind and endeavor to love your fellow Americans. We need to pull this country together, and that starts with all of us.

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Semper Fidelis,

Stan R. Mitchell

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a leadership/biography book, and two realistic war novels: one about World War IIand one about Afghanistan.

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