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Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
U.S. Army capable of countering China's plans to keep it at bay, top general says
The U.S. Army aims to play a pivotal role in deterring China and keeping its forces at bay in the event of a conflict by bringing in increased firepower, cutting-edge tech and boosting interoperability with Indo-Pacific allies and partners, according to the service's regional deputy commander. 'The army can now hold planes and ships at risk in places that potential adversaries didn't account for,' Lt. Gen. Joel Vowell, the U.S. Army Pacific's (USARPAC) deputy commanding general, told The Japan Times in a recent interview when asked about the service's role in a regional conflict — including a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan. For nearly two decades, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been systematically planning, training and building the forces it believes are required to invade self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing views as a breakaway province. China has been increasing the PLA's budget to modernize and expand its cyber, missile, aerial, naval and amphibious assault capabilities in recent years. All of these would play key roles in not only attacking Taiwan but also in trying to keep the U.S. and allied forces at bay, a concept known in military parlance as 'anti-access/area denial,' or A2/AD. But Vowell said the U.S. is looking to exploit a weak point in Beijing's strategy. 'An A2/AD network is built to deter and defeat ships, planes and platforms, but it does not account for distributed land forces in the region,' he said. This, he added, is the type of threat the U.S. Army, as well as the land forces of partners and allies, will pose to any adversary force. 'We will have a deterrent effect that's hard to detect, hard to track, hard to find and that's getting increasingly harder to kill.' Crucial to success, Vowell noted, will be the ability to deploy cutting-edge weapons across all domains in a way that's dispersed, easily camouflaged and that allows U.S. forces to be on the move, so that they cannot be targeted at any one time and place. 'Gaining positional advantage matters,' he said. Lt. Gen. Joel Vowell, deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific, is seen during the Salaknib 2025 exercises at Fort Magsaysay in the Philippines in April. | U.S. ARMY 'If Army soldiers have these capabilities forward or in closer proximity to any potential adversary, then we can hold them at risk in their command and control, in their fires, their air defense, sustainment, movements and platforms in ways that they had not accounted for,' Vowell added. To achieve this, and to maintain a robust logistics network, Washington's regional alliances will remain crucial, the deputy commander said, adding that many of the U.S. equipment deployments have come at the request of allies and partners. 'When we develop capabilities to help solve problems for and with our partners, we usually get an invitation to try to train, test and innovate some of this stuff, be it South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Australia and other places,' he noted. This includes mid-and long-range missile systems, including for air defense. 'If we are asked by a (partner or allied) country ... to practice our long-range fires architecture, then sure we'll work to bring those in,' Vowell said. 'That's what we did with the Philippines,' he added. 'It was so good they asked us to stay around a bit and do more training with their missile and artillery battery personnel and some others.' If Japan and South Korea were to make similar requests, 'we would definitely consider that,' he said. Some of these deployments have already made international headlines, particularly as the Pentagon appears to be using exercises to de facto deploy key weapons to the Indo-Pacific amid growing tensions with China. This includes last year's dispatch of the Typhon Mid-Range Capability missile system to the Philippines for training exercises. The weapon, which can fire both Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles and SM-6 air defense missiles, has remained in the country since, prompting repeated demands by Beijing that it be removed. Lt. Gen. Joel Vowell, deputy commanding general for U.S. Army Pacific, speaks to guests and multinational partners during an event near Fort Greely, Alaska, in January. | U.S. ARMY The Pentagon has also kept the U.S. Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), an advanced mobile anti-ship missile platform, in the country following joint drills this year. At the same time, the army has been resorting to disruptive and emerging technologies to gain an asymmetric advantage in the region. For instance, it is experimenting with artificial intelligence as a force multiplier by using tools that can enhance decision-making, optimize joint force operations and enable autonomous operations, provided there is always a human in the loop when it comes to offensive power. The army has also tested microwave-based directed energy weapon systems designed to counter drone swarms while fielding units that can 3D-print equipment parts as well as entire weapons such as drones directly on site. These and other systems have all been deployed and tested in the region by elements of the U.S. Army's new Multi-Domain Task Forces (MDTFs). The service has been setting up MDTFs that can operate across all warfighting domains — land, air, sea, space and cyberspace. Three such formations have already been established in strategically significant locations worldwide, with the army planning two more over the next two to three years. For several years now some MDTF elements have been invited to Japan to work with the Ground Self-Defense Force on testing, and in some cases experimenting, with capabilities the latter may not yet field. Plans about whether to station an MDTF in Japan have also long been rumored. Vowell, who headed U.S. Army Japan from 2021 to 2023, said that while such ideas are currently under consideration, Tokyo has yet to grant approval. 'It's definitely up to the government of Japan if they want to host the stationing of a Multi-Domain Task Force,' he said. 'If we have long-range missiles that are inside the potential A2/AD bubble of Russia, North Korea or China, they would be there to help defend Japan,' he said. The aim, however, is not to move a lot of the U.S. Army forward, Vowell said. 'This isn't 1968 when we had ... about four times as many soldiers in Korea and Japan as we do today. We are not looking to do that.' 'What we need is to have presence, and we need to have access and influence with our partners and allies to help them defend their sovereignty,' he said, adding that the goal is to have 'stronger and more resilient partnerships.'
Korea Herald
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Fans criticize Beyonce for shirt calling Native Americans 'the enemies of peace'
A T-shirt worn by Beyonce during a Juneteenth performance on her Cowboy Carter tour has sparked a discussion over how Americans frame their history and caused a wave of criticism for the Houston-born superstar. The T-shirt worn during a concert in Paris featured images of the Buffalo Soldiers, who belonged to Black US Army units active during the late 1800s and early 1900s. On the back was a lengthy description of the soldiers that included 'Their antagonists were the enemies of peace, order and settlement: warring Indians, bandits, cattle thieves, murderous gunmen, bootleggers, trespassers, and Mexican revolutionaries.' Images of the shirt and videos of the performance are also featured on Beyonce's website. As she prepares to return to the US for performances in her hometown this weekend, fans and Indigenous influencers took to social media to criticize Beyonce for framing Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries as anything but the victims of American imperialism and promoting anti-Indigenous language. A publicist for Beyonce did not respond to requests for comment. The Buffalo Soldiers served in six military units created after the Civil War in 1866. They were comprised formerly enslaved men, freemen, and Black Civil War soldiers and fought in hundreds of conflicts — including in the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II — until they were disbanded in 1951. As the quote on Beyoncé's shirt notes, they also fought numerous battles against Indigenous peoples as part of the US Army's campaign of violence and land theft during the country's westward expansion. Some historians say the moniker 'Buffalo Soldiers' was bestowed by the tribes who admired the bravery and tenacity of the fighters, but that might be more legend than fact. 'At the end of the day, we really don't have that kind of information,' said Cale Carter, director of exhibitions at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston. Carter and other museum staff said that, only in the past few years, the museum made broader efforts to include more of the complexities of the battles the Buffalo Soldiers fought against Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries and the role they played in the subjugation of Indigenous peoples. They, much like many other museums across the country, are hoping to add more nuance to the framing of American history and be more respectful of the ways they have caused harm to Indigenous communities . 'We romanticize the Western frontier,' he said. 'The early stories that talked about the Buffalo Soldiers were impacted by a lot of those factors. So you really didn't see a changing in that narrative until recently.' There has often been a lack of diverse voices discussing the way Buffalo Soldiers history is framed, said Michelle Tovar, the museum's director of education. The current political climate has put enormous pressure on schools, including those in Texas, to avoid honest discussions about American history, she said. 'Right now, in this area, we are getting push back from a lot of school districts in which we can't go and teach this history," Tovar said. "We are a museum where we can at least be a hub, where we can invite the community regardless of what districts say, invite them to learn it and do what we can do the outreach to continue to teach honest history.' Beyonce's recent album 'Act II: Cowboy Carter' has played on a kind of American iconography, which many see as her way of subverting the country music genre's adjacency to whiteness and reclaiming the cowboy aesthetic for Black Americans . Last year, she became the first Black woman ever to top Billboard's country music chart, and 'Cowboy Carter' won her the top prize at the 2025 Grammy Awards, album of the year . 'The Buffalo Soldiers play this major role in the Black ownership of the American West,' said Tad Stoermer, a historian and professor at Johns Hopkins University. 'In my view, (Beyonce is) well aware of the role that these images play. This is the 'Cowboy Carter' tour for crying out loud. The entire tour, the entire album, the entire piece is situated in this layered narrative.' But Stoermer also points out that the Buffalo Soldier have been framed in the American story in a way that also plays into the myths of American nationalism. As Beyonce's use of Buffalo Soldiers imagery implies, Black Americans also use their story to claim agency over their role in the creation of the country, said Alaina E. Roberts, a historian, author and professor at Pittsburgh University who studies the intersection of Black and Native American life from the Civil War to present day. 'That's the category in which she thought maybe she was coming into this conversation, but the Buffalo Soldiers are even a step above that because they were literally involved in not just the settlement of the West but of genocide in a sense,' she said. Several Native influencers, performers, and academics took to social media this week to criticize Beyonce or call the language on her shirt anti-Indigenous. 'Do you think Beyonce will apologize (or acknowledge) the shirt,' an Indigenous news and culture Instagram account with more than 130,000, asked in a post Thursday. Many of her critics, as well as fans, agree. A flood of social media posts called out the pop star for the historic framing on the shirt. 'The Buffalo Soldiers are an interesting historical moment to look at. But we have to be honest about what they did, especially in their operations against Indigenous Americans and Mexicans,' said Chisom Okorafor, who posts on TikTok under the handle @confirmedsomaya. Okorafor said there is no 'progressive' way to reclaim America's history of empire building in the West, and that Beyoncé's use of Western symbolism sends a problematic message. 'Which is that Black people too can engage in American nationalism," she said. "Black people too can profit from the atrocities of American empire. It is a message that tells you to abandon immigrants, Indigenous people, and people who live outside of the United States. It is a message that tells you not only is it a virtue to have been born in this country but the longer your line extends in this country the more virtuous you are.' (AP)
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Who is Jermaine Thomas? Texas man born on US army base to American soldier deported to Jamaica
A man born on a US Army base in Germany to a military family has been deported to Jamaica, a country he has never visited in, as reported by Austin Chronicle. Jermaine Thomas was born in 1986 while his father, a Jamaican immigrant who later became a US citizen, was serving in the military.(No Jumper/ Facebook) Jermaine Thomas was born in 1986 while his father, a Jamaican immigrant who later became a US citizen, was serving in the military. His mother, a Kenyan citizen at the time, and his father raised him while moving between bases. After his parents divorced, Thomas moved to Florida at age 11 to live with his father, who had retired. His father died in 2010 from kidney failure, not long after Thomas arrived. Following his father's death, Thomas struggled. He spent years in Texas, sometimes homeless and often in jail, according to The Chronicle. Also Read: Zohran Mamdani 'needs to be deported': Republicans over NYC mayoral candidate's anti-ICE stance The exact date of his deportation order is unclear. However, court records from 2015 show that his case reached the US Supreme Court. The Justice Department argued that being born on a US Army base in Germany did not automatically make him a citizen. The Court sided with the DOJ, agreeing with a lower court's decision and denying Thomas's request to review the deportation order. It ruled that 'his father did not meet the physical presence requirement of the statute in force at the time of Thomas's birth.' The court also cited Thomas's criminal history, including a domestic violence conviction and two 'crimes involving moral turpitude.' Thomas, who held no official citizenship from the US, Germany, or Jamaica, was considered stateless. He continued living in the US, most recently in Killeen, Texas. Jermaine Thomas deportation process began… According to The Chronicle, the deportation process began after he was evicted from his apartment. While moving out, he was arrested for trespassing, a misdemeanor in Texas. A court-appointed lawyer told him he could spend nearly a year in jail waiting for trial. Having lost his job, Thomas agreed to a release deal. Instead of being freed, he was transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility near Houston, where he was held for two and a half months. Now in Kingston, Thomas is living in a hotel. He told The Chronicle he doesn't know who is paying for the room — the US government or Jamaican authorities — or how long he will be allowed to stay. He also said he is uncertain whether he's legally permitted to work or remain in Jamaica. 'If you're in the U.S. Army, and the Army deploys you somewhere, and you've got to have your child over there, and your child makes a mistake after you pass away, and you put your life on the line for this country, are you going to be okay with them just kicking your child out of the country?' Thomas told The Chronicle.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
US soldier's son, born on Army base in Germany, is deported to Jamaica
(KTLA) — A man born to an active-duty member of the United States military on an Army base in Germany in 1986 before coming to the states as a child was deported last week to Jamaica, a country he's never been to, according to a report by The Austin Chronicle. Jermaine Thomas, whose Jamaican-born dad became a U.S. citizen during his 18-year military career, spent much of his early life moving from base to base with his father and mother, the latter a citizen of Kenya at the time of his birth. At 11 years old, after his parents' divorce and his mother's second marriage to another soldier, he went to live with his father, who had since retired, in Florida. Unfortunately, his father passed away in 2010 from kidney failure shortly after Thomas had arrived. Much of his life after that, The Chronicle reported, was spent in Texas, homeless and in and out of jail. It's unclear when exactly Thomas was first ordered to leave the country, but court records from 2015 show a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court, in which the U.S. Department of Justice argued that he was not a citizen simply because he was born on a U.S. Army base in Germany. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the DOJ, upholding the U.S. Court of Appeals decision and denied Thomas' petition for a review of the deportation order, saying in part that 'his father did not meet the physical presence requirement of the statute in force at the time of Thomas's birth.' The court also noted Thomas' prior criminal convictions, one for domestic violence and two 'crimes involving moral turpitude.' Without U.S., German or Jamaican citizenship, Thomas was stateless, though he remained in the states, most recently living in Killeen, a city about an hour north of Austin. Army vet, Purple Heart recipient, self-deports after 48 years in U.S. He told The Chronicle that deportation to Jamaica started with an eviction from his apartment. While moving his belongings out of the apartment, he was arrested by local police on suspicion of trespassing, a misdemeanor in Texas. Told by a court-appointed lawyer that he'd likely stay in jail for the better part of a year while waiting for a trial, Thomas, who had lost his job while in lockup, signed a release agreement with certain conditions, but instead of being released from Bell County Jail, he was transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention camp just north of Houston, where he was detained for two and a half months. Now in Kingston, he told The Chronicle he's living in a hotel, though he's unsure who is paying for it, the U.S. or Jamaican government, and does not know how long he'll be able to stay there. Unsure how to get a job or if he's even allowed, Thomas added that he's unsure if it's even legal for him to be in the country at all. 'If you're in the U.S. Army, and the Army deploys you somewhere, and you've got to have your child over there, and your child makes a mistake after you pass away, and you put your life on the line for this country, are you going to be okay with them just kicking your child out of the country?' Thomas said in a phone call with the outlet's reporter. Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security responded to The Chronicle's request for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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First Post
a day ago
- Politics
- First Post
Why US war hero was forced to self-deport after 50 years in the US
Sae Joon Park, a US army veteran, had lived in the United States for 48 years. But he has now self-deported to South Korea after immigration officials warned he could be detained due to a past drug-related conviction. During a recent meeting with local Ice (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers, Park was told he would face detention and deportation unless he chose to leave voluntarily. He was fitted with an ankle monitor and given three weeks to get ready for his departure read more Sae Joon Park is a US Army veteran who had been living in the United States for 48 years. Image: X US Army veteran Sae Joon Park had been living in the United States for nearly fifty years. But he has now self-deported to South Korea after US immigration officials warned him he could be detained over a past drug-related conviction. The green card holder had received the Purple Heart for being wounded in combat. ALSO READ | What is 'CBP Home', America's 'self-deportation' app for illegal immigrants? Recently, he was told he could not continue living in the US due to President Donald Trump's strict immigration policies. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD So, who is Sae Joon Park? Why did he self-deport from the US? And what do we know about the drug conviction? Find out below: Who is the US Army veteran? What happened? Sae Joon Park is a US Army veteran who had been living in the United States for 48 years. He recently had to leave the country after immigration authorities gave him three weeks to depart. 'This really kills me that I just have to drop everything and leave like this,' Park told Hawaii News Now before his departure. Originally from Seoul in South Korea, Park moved to the US at the age of seven. He received legal permanent residency through a green card. Growing up, Park said he lacked strong role models but looked up to his uncle, a colonel in the South Korean military. After high school, he decided to join the US Army. At 19, Park enlisted and served in the 1989 conflict in Panama during the Noriega war. Soon after completing basic training, he was sent to Panama, not knowing he would be involved in Operation Just Cause, the US invasion to remove Manuel Noriega from power. One afternoon, while having lunch with his platoon, Park said Panamanian soldiers opened fire. He began shooting back, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back. For U.S. Army veteran Sae Joon Park, the hardest moment wasn't combat — it was being asked to leave the only country he's called home for nearly 50 years. I called on my colleagues to do the right thing and vote YES on my amendment to give non-citizen veterans a fair shot at due… — Rep. Norma Torres (@NormaJTorres) June 26, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'I realised I was shot,' he told NPR. 'So I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, I'm paralysed.' And then thinking, 'Oh my God, I'm not just paralysed. I'm dying right now.'' Park was later honourably discharged and returned to Los Angeles. There, he struggled with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. To cope with nightmares and sensitivity to noise, he used marijuana. In 1995, Park moved to Hawaii, hoping for a fresh start. But over time, he developed an addiction to crack cocaine. 'Drugs had a big control throughout my life, and that's what eventually got me into trouble with the law and everything,' he said to Hawaii News Now. Conviction to deportation In 2009, Sae Joon Park was convicted of drug-related and bail offences. He spent two and a half years in prison. After completing his sentence, immigration authorities detained him and took away his green card. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Park challenged his deportation in court. As a Purple Heart recipient, he was granted deferred action. This allowed him to stay in the US, provided he regularly reported to immigration officers and stayed sober. Park has two children in their twenties and helps look after his elderly parents and aunts. But things changed under Donald Trump's administration. At a recent meeting with local Ice officers in Hawaii, Park was told he would be detained and deported unless he chose to leave the country on his own. He was fitted with an ankle monitor and given three weeks to prepare for his departure. 'People were saying, 'You took two bullets for this country. Like you're more American than most of the Americans living in America,'' he told Hawaii News Now. Park spent his last days with friends and family, including his 85-year-old mother, whom he fears he may never see again. He then booked a flight to South Korea. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Under the supervision of Ice officers at Honolulu airport, he said goodbye to his loved ones in tears. Despite everything, Park remains strong in his belief that his military service was worthwhile. 'Even after everything I went through, I don't regret joining the military or getting shot,' he told NPR. 'It's part of my life, my journey. It's made me who I am today.'
