Found below are a few military news items that caught my attention this past week. I am hopeful that the titles and short commentary will encourage SFTT readers to click on the embedded links to read more on subjects that may be of interest to them.

If you have subjects of topical interest, please do not hesitate to reach out. Contact SFTT.

Grim Military Options Available in Confrontation with North Korea
Three weeks before becoming president, Donald Trump weighed in on the threat of North Korea developing a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the U.S.: “It won’t happen,” he vowed on Twitter. Now planners are contemplating what a U.S. strike to prevent that development might look like, and the options are grim.Analysts estimate North Korea may now possess between 10 and 25 nuclear weapons, with launch vehicles, air force jets, troops and artillery scattered across the country, hidden in caves and massed along the border with South Korea. That’s on top of what the U.S. estimates to be one of the world’s largest chemical weapons stockpiles, a biological weapons research program and an active cyberwarfare capability.  Read more . . .

New Russian Military Base in the Arctic
Visitors to the Russian defense ministry website can now take a “virtual tour” of a new military base in a remote region of the Arctic. The Arctic Trefoil permanent base is in Franz Josef Land, a huge ice-covered, desolate archipelago. The Russian military sees the resource-rich Arctic as a key strategic region. President Vladimir Putin visited the new base, on Alexandra Land, last month. It is built on stilts – to help withstand the extreme cold – and will house 150 personnel on 18-month tours of duty. Winter temperatures typically plunge to minus 40C.  Read more . . .

Head Injuries Can Alter Hundreds of Genes
Head injuries can adversely affect hundreds of genes in the brain that put people at high risk for diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, post-traumatic stress disorder, stroke, ADHD, autism, depression and schizophrenia, life scientists report. The researchers have identified for the first time potential master genes which they believe control hundreds of other genes that are linked to many neurological and psychiatric disorders.  Read more . . .

New Study Suggests “Post-Traumatic Growth” after PTSD
A new study of military veterans who went through trauma finds that those veterans who have related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are also more likely to experience ‘post-traumatic growth’ — such as an increased appreciation of life, awareness of new possibilities and enhanced inner strength.   Read more . . .

New Bill May Provide Veterans with Greater Private Care Health Options
President Donald Trump signed a bill Wednesday to temporarily extend a program that lets some veterans seek medical care in the private sector, part of an effort by the president to deliver on a campaign promise. The extension will give Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin time to develop a more comprehensive plan to allow veterans to more easily go outside the VA health system for care. Under the bill Trump signed into law, the VA will be allowed to continue operating its Choice Program until the funding runs out, which is expected early next year. The program was scheduled to expire on Aug. 7 with nearly $1 billion left over.  Read more . . .

New VA Facility in Waco, Texas Targets Brain Injuries
Waco’s Doris Miller Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center now can provide the gold standard in research and treatment for brain injuries suffered on the battlefield with Thursday’s opening of a 53,000-square-foot facility for the VISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans that sprawls across three floors of Building 93. More than 150 people attended a grand-opening ceremony to mark the occasion, and U.S. Rep. Bill Flores said the Waco VA will become a hub for dealing with the invisible wounds of post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury that have become part of this country’s global war on terror.  Read more . . .

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