Tag: Alaska

Trump is pushing hard for Korean investment in this Alaskan energy project:

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to “charge” South Korea “more” if it does not agree to invest in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Alaska, which he has claimed the Asian country will participate in.

Trump made the remarks during a press availability at the White House, two days after he unveiled the first package of Korea’s U.S. investment projects under last year’s bilateral trade deal, which he said consists of the LNG project, the construction of a gas-fired power plant in Texas and eight large-scale nuclear power plants. 

On the LNG project, Seoul has said that it has not yet finalized a decision on whether to participate.

“I didn’t jump ⁠the gun. I mean, they were there ‌and they were ‌represented,” he told reporters. “And let’s ‌see, if they don’t want ⁠to do it, that’s okay with ⁠me. I’ll ⁠just charge them more.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Meanwhile in Alaska:

An airman in Alaska was demoted and received a letter of reprimand for peeing in his squadron’s office coffee maker, among other violations of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, according to documents from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Formally charged as a violation of article 92, dereliction of duty, the unnamed airman “knew or should have known” to “refrain from urinating in the squadron coffee maker,” according to the redacted charge sheet provided by the base public affairs office. The incident occurred sometime between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, 2019, but the document does not stipulate how the crime was discovered.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I never thought of this before, but yes Army units from Alaska would have a very limited amount of time to train in darkness since the best months weather wise to train have a lot of daylight:

Six hundred U.S. troops wrapped up a monthlong training rotation to South Korea Monday with something in short supply this time of year at their home station in Alaska — darkness.

Soldiers from the Fort Wainwright-based 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment “Bobcats” spent May living and training at the 3,390-acre Rodriguez Live Fire Range north of Seoul.

“We’re here to build our lethality,” battalion commander Lt. Col. R. Blake Lackey said Wednesday.

That includes being able to operate day and night, the latter being difficult in the Alaskan summer, he said.

“This time of year we’ll be training at 1:30 in the morning and it’s still daylight,” said Staff Sgt. Benjamin Moore, 34, a recon team leader with the battalion.

“When it’s dark in Alaska it’s winter and it’s pretty harsh,” the West Palm Beach, Fla., native added. “So it’s really difficult to get after some of the more basic and fundamental [requirements].”

The Korea rotation has taken the unit “to a higher level of readiness we didn’t think was possible,” Lackey said.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.

South Korea’s KF-16 fighters fly over Alaska on Oct. 3, 2014, as part of the Red Flag-Alaska exercises. (Photo courtesy of South Korean Air Force) (Yonhap)