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Hope everyone is doing well!
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We’ll start this episode with Ukraine’s attack on the only bridge that connects Crimea to Russia, then, we’ll move on to the following:
Russia’s large-scale retaliation for the bridge strike.
Ukraine’s reaction to the ramped-up Russian terror.
The latest way Ukraine is helping Russian soldiers to surrender.
Some news about arctic operations for America.
News about what a Republican win in November during midterm congressional elections would mean for the military.
And end with our motivation and wisdom, as always.
The biggest news of late is the following:
Blast on sole bridge linking Crimea with Russia deals blow to Moscow’s war effort.
From the story:
A fireball consumed two sections of the only bridge linking the occupied Crimean Peninsula to Russia on Saturday, disrupting the most important supply line for Russian troops fighting in southern Ukraine and dealing an embarrassing blow to the Kremlin, which is facing continued losses on the battlefield and mounting criticism at home.
The blast and fire sent part of the 12-mile Kerch Strait bridge tumbling into the sea and killed at least three people, according to Russian authorities, who said a Ukrainian truck bomb had caused the blast.
Here’s an older map that shows how the bridge connects Russia to Crimea, but remember it’s not showing the
Most analysts believe the attack was from a truck bomb, and Ukraine is saying Ukrainian intelligence services were behind the attack.
In the video below you can actually see the explosion, which was just massive.
If you remember, the Ukrainians had taunted the Russians with destroying the bridge previously. In the 8-23-22 edition, I shared the below tweet from Ukraine’s armed forces.
As a reminder, this bridge is a new construction, built to connect Crimea with Russia. It’s the longest bridge in Europe, and it’s also the longest bridge ever constructed by Russia. The importance of the bridge is hard to overstate, as it includes a four-lane road and a double-track railway.
Of course, it didn’t take long for Putin to avenge the act.
Putin claimed the massive missile strike was revenge for the strike on the bridge. Russia only targeted civilian targets, including electrical stations, according to Ukraine.
But the large missile strike was blunted by the success of Ukraine’s improving anti-air defense. Ukraine knocked 43 of the 83 missiles out of the sky, Reuters reported.
Ukraine remained defiant despite the attack, which knocked the power out in many places. They quickly posted the following reactions:
While Russia may be able to still hit civilian targets, its strength on the war front continues to deteroiotate. And visiting reporter described how much better things are now compared to when he visited months ago.
Moving along, I shared a video in the last episode of Russian soldiers surrendering their tank.
I wanted to share the video below, as well, which shows a hotline Ukraine set up for soldiers to call into and surrender to. (Hat tip to Aida.)
As stated, more than two thousand Russians have called to discuss surrender. And they are promised safety under the Geneva Conventions, the meals a day, and even phone calls home to their families.
Let’s move now to something happening in our side of the hemisphere.
DOD Establishes Arctic Strategy and Global Resilience Office
From the story:
The United States is an Arctic power, and the Defense Department has established an office to ensure U.S. strategy and policy protects U.S. interests in that crucial region.
Iris A. Ferguson is the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Arctic and global resilience, a new position that signifies the importance U.S. leaders place on the region.
Russia is only 55 miles away from the United States at the Bering Strait. Russian officials maintain their bases and assets in the Arctic are defensive, yet they arm their icebreakers with Kalibr-K missiles, defense officials have said. "We're increasingly watching the amount of activity that's happening in the Arctic region from them," she said.
China, the United States' other strategic competitor, is thousands of miles from the Arctic. Yet, Chinese leaders have "been trying to insert themselves into the Arctic," she said. "They have called themselves a near-Arctic nation, even though they aren’t even remotely near the Arctic."
….
The Arctic is often overlooked, "but it's a place where we have immense territorial equity, actually, for our homeland defense needs, our ability to monitor and respond to threats, and our capacity to project power," Ferguson said.
The Air Force has based its top-of-the-line aircraft in Alaska because they can be easily deployed to respond to crises throughout the Indo-Pacific. It's also a key refueling stop for aircraft. The Army has established the 11th Airborne Division in the region to develop expertise in Arctic mobility and extreme cold weather operations.
Let’s move to our own matters for a moment. I try not to cover too much as far as politics, but since this affects our military, I wanted to share this for sure.
Republicans Vow to Put 'Woke' Military in Crosshairs if They Win November
Republicans will have more opportunities to take aim at Biden administration defense policies they've decried as "woke," including the military's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, if they take control of Cess in November's midterm elections.
"I think it's one of our very top priorities to clean up the mess the administration has made with the excessive and dangerous COVID mandates on our troops at a time where we have historically low recruitment," said Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House.
Any legislation would have to be signed by President Joe Biden. Additionally, Democrats “are favored to maintain control of the Senate, according to election prediction models,” The story said, “which would likely block such bills from making it to Biden's desk in the first place.”
Moving on to some tech news, I thought this seemed cool and worth sharing.
So, with that, let’s move to the motivation and wisdom portion now.
I always like to end with this one:
And with that, thanks for joining us this week on The View from the Front.
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As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans.
So many men and women have sacrificed, fought, and died to keep this country together the past 240-plus years. Please work daily to unite our country again. The vast majority of Americans are decent, loving, great people.
Please don’t name-call the other side. They are mothers and fathers and folks not much different than you.🇺🇸🇺🇸
Also, please try to be a better person each and every day. Try to be kinder on social media and how you interact with others with whom you disagree.
Also, if you have a dream kicking around in the back of your mind? Go after it. If you have that friend or family member that you know you should reach out to? Reach out to them.
Finally, and this especially goes to all my awesome military folks listening out there, if you need help, reach out to someone. Please. Call that friend or family member. Do it for us all. We’ve already lost too many of the greatest folks that this country has produced to suicide. So I’m asking you to be brave once more, and show some vulnerability. Take a deep breath, breathe, and call a friend or family member or someone who can help.
I appreciate each and every one of you. Every tweet, every share, every email, etc. I can’t even tell you how much those mean to me, and I love each and every one of you all.
Please join me again in our next episode, and please stay safe until then.
Thanks again, everyone! You guys are the best. As always, don’t forget to check out my books. You can find all 11 of them on Amazon.
And with that, I’m out.
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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 motivational/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.
P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter.
Episode 10-11-22