Latest news with #paratroopers
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gathering stormclouds can't wipe smile from Trump's face as long-held dream of military parade is realised
It may have been billed as a military parade to celebrate the American military's history, but it said even more about the country's present and future under Donald Trump. Soldiers, tanks and even robot dogs paraded along Constitution Ave. on Saturday, as paratroopers swooped in from overhead and military aircraft buzzed past the Washington Monument for the first major military parade held in the US capital since the victory after the first Gulf War of 1991. Or was this all a celebration for Trump's 79th birthday? As the president took the stage under ominous stormclouds, it appeared that the celebrant could not have beamed any wider, his eight-year-old dream of holding a military parade in the capital finally coming to fruition. Related: 'No Kings' protests stir US as Trump celebrates birthday with military parade – in pictures For both his supporters and opponents who flocked to the National Mall on Saturday, this was 'Trump's parade' (he even billed it as his own in a fundraising email this week). 'This could only happen under President Trump,' bellowed one voice after the Star-Spangled Banner played on the National Mall as families queued to sit in Army helicopters and atop anti-aircraft batteries. It felt like it could have been a scene from Moscow. Such is the line-blurring taking place as America's military finds itself at the centre of the most contentious legal fight in decades. While the Trump administration has vowed to limit the military's footprint abroad, it has also greenlit the deployment of hundreds of marines to Los Angeles in a controversial move that has led to legal battles and the eruption of protests around the country against the aggressive use of law enforcement to arrest and deport immigrants. For Trump, the parade is an opportunity to signal the ambitions of his administration's second term: no longer constrained by concerns over a price tag estimated as high as $90m or the concerns of comparisons to authoritarian leaders who also love to parade their tanks and missiles. 'Every other country celebrates their victories. It's about time America did, too,' Trump said on Saturday night. 'That's what we're doing tonight.' It is also a paradox: Donald Trump campaigned on the premise of ending foreign wars, and yet what Americans got was a show of strength in the heart of Washington DC. JD Vance, the voice of Trump's anti-interventionist foreign policy, spoke to that contradiction, telling the assembled soldiers that the parade was a sign of the administration's respect for America's servicemen and women. 'To our soldiers, we're so proud of you,' he said. 'And let me tell you, the way that we honor and respect you, number one, we never ask you to go to war unless you absolutely have to.' Trump's love of military pomp is well known. His desire for a parade goes back at least to his attendance of the French Bastille Day parades in 2017, when he was so in awe of the event that he said it was a 'tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France.' 'We're going to have to try to top it,' he added. Whether he succeeded in that is a question that will be fought on cable television and in internet forums. There were sour notes, as when several second world war-era tanks creaked past the tribune. Yet many of the attending faithful appeared overjoyed at the spectacle. Administration officials have pushed back at criticism that it is a reflection of an authoritarian turn under Trump. 'No one ever calls Macron a dictator for celebrating Bastille Day,' one official told CNN. Yet Trump has also indicated that his parade is meant to keep up with the real heavyweights, including the yearly Victory Day parade in Russia meant to celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany. 'We had more to do with winning World War II than any other nation,' he said this week. 'Why don't we have a Victory Day? So we're going to have a Victory Day for World War I and for World War II.' Parades do not exist in vacuums – they expand and change to reflect the political times in which a country lives. Russia's Victory Day celebrations became muted marches under the administration of Boris Yeltsin. In 2008, Putin reintroduced the T-90 tanks and heavy ballistic missiles to recognise Russia's resurgent military might and geopolitical ambitions. Months later, Russia invaded Georgia in a war that many say presaged the later invasion of Ukraine. Yet sitting in front of the assembled crowds on Saturday evening, the president managed to hold his event – defying the skepticism over the spectacle and even the forecasts of a downpour that would rain on his parade.
The Guardian
15-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Gathering stormclouds can't wipe smile from Trump's face as long-held dream of military parade is realised
It may have been billed as a military parade to celebrate the American military's history, but it said even more about the country's present and future under Donald Trump. Soldiers, tanks and even robot dogs paraded along Constitution Ave. on Saturday, as paratroopers swooped in from overhead and military aircraft buzzed past the Washington Monument for the first major military parade held in the US capital since the victory after the first Gulf War of 1991. Or was this all a celebration for Trump's 79th birthday? As the president took the stage under ominous stormclouds, it appeared that the celebrant could not have beamed any wider, his eight-year-old dream of holding a military parade in the capital finally coming to fruition. For both his supporters and opponents who flocked to the National Mall on Saturday, this was 'Trump's parade' (he even billed it as his own in a fundraising email this week). 'This could only happen under President Trump,' bellowed one voice after the Star-Spangled Banner played on the National Mall as families queued to sit in Army helicopters and atop anti-aircraft batteries. It felt like it could have been a scene from Moscow. Such is the line-blurring taking place as America's military finds itself at the centre of the most contentious legal fight in decades. While the Trump administration has vowed to limit the military's footprint abroad, it has also greenlit the deployment of hundreds of marines to Los Angeles in a controversial move that has led to legal battles and the eruption of protests around the country against the aggressive use of law enforcement to arrest and deport immigrants. For Trump, the parade is an opportunity to signal the ambitions of his administration's second term: no longer constrained by concerns over a price tag estimated as high as $90m or the concerns of comparisons to authoritarian leaders who also love to parade their tanks and missiles. 'Every other country celebrates their victories. It's about time America did, too,' Trump said on Saturday night. 'That's what we're doing tonight.' It is also a paradox: Donald Trump campaigned on the premise of ending foreign wars, and yet what Americans got was a show of strength in the heart of Washington DC. JD Vance, the voice of Trump's anti-interventionist foreign policy, spoke to that contradiction, telling the assembled soldiers that the parade was a sign of the administration's respect for America's servicemen and women. 'To our soldiers, we're so proud of you,' he said. 'And let me tell you, the way that we honor and respect you, number one, we never ask you to go to war unless you absolutely have to.' Trump's love of military pomp is well known. His desire for a parade goes back at least to his attendance of the French Bastille Day parades in 2017, when he was so in awe of the event that he said it was a 'tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France.' 'We're going to have to try to top it,' he added. Whether he succeeded in that is a question that will be fought on cable television and in internet forums. There were sour notes, as when several second world war-era tanks creaked past the tribune. Yet many of the attending faithful appeared overjoyed at the spectacle. Administration officials have pushed back at criticism that it is a reflection of an authoritarian turn under Trump. 'No one ever calls Macron a dictator for celebrating Bastille Day,' one official told CNN. Yet Trump has also indicated that his parade is meant to keep up with the real heavyweights, including the yearly Victory Day parade in Russia meant to celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany. 'We had more to do with winning World War II than any other nation,' he said this week. 'Why don't we have a Victory Day? So we're going to have a Victory Day for World War I and for World War II.' Parades do not exist in vacuums – they expand and change to reflect the political times in which a country lives. Russia's Victory Day celebrations became muted marches under the administration of Boris Yeltsin. In 2008, Putin reintroduced the T-90 tanks and heavy ballistic missiles to recognise Russia's resurgent military might and geopolitical ambitions. Months later, Russia invaded Georgia in a war that many say presaged the later invasion of Ukraine. Yet sitting in front of the assembled crowds on Saturday evening, the president managed to hold his event – defying the skepticism over the spectacle and even the forecasts of a downpour that would rain on his parade.
Washington Post
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
76 broken norms led the big parade
In today's edition: It's a weird moment for the military, and not only because one wonders whether the Army's Golden Knights paratroopers, scheduled to drop onto the Ellipse on Saturday to present President Donald Trump with an American flag, will also be toting a cake for the commander in chief who scheduled this big, martial shebang to coincide with his own birthday. How does fondant hold up at near-terminal velocity?
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Paratroopers release footage showing capture of Russian soldiers
Paratroopers have released a video showing how they, together with neighbouring units, captured Russian soldiers on the Kursk front. Source: Air Assault Forces Command Quote: "Russian soldiers are surrendering because the abuse in their units is worse than captivity. In their units on Russian territory, they were subjected to inhumane treatment, psychological pressure and threats." Details: The paratroopers emphasised that the POWs could be used for further exchange for Ukrainian soldiers held captive in Russia. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Fox News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Defense secretary announces pay raises for Army paratroopers: 'We have you and your families in mind'
In a speech Thursday in North Carolina to soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pledged to restore what he called the U.S. military's "warrior ethos" and announced pay raises for paratroopers. Speaking during All American Week at Fort Bragg, Hegseth laid out President Donald Trump's vision focused on combat readiness, merit-based standards, and investment in the American warfighter. "We're going to bring it back to the basics," Hegseth said. "We're going to restore the warrior ethos… and we are across our formations, a standard that's set here every single day." According to the Department of Defense, Hegseth used the occasion to announce an increase in hazardous duty incentive pay, known as jump pay. It will rise from $150 to $200 per month for paratroopers, and for the first time, jumpmasters will receive an additional $150 on top of their existing pay. "For the first time in 25 years… we are increasing jump pay," Hegseth said. "Not only are we increasing jump pay, but… jumpmasters… are going to receive an additional $150 a month in incentive pay." He added: "Here's to our paratroopers, our jumpmasters, who do the difficult things in difficult places that most Americans can never imagine." Hegseth told the crowd that troops remain the focus of every major Pentagon decision. "Inside the corridors of the Pentagon, you are on our minds, with the decisions we make in budgets, in planning, in deployments, in orders, in reorganizations. We have you and your families in mind." In his remarks, Hegseth shared a core defense strategy promoted by Trump: prioritize readiness, reject identity politics, and reassert American deterrence. "We will focus on readiness, on training, on warfighting, on accountability, on standards. Black, white, male, female, doesn't matter. We're going to be colorblind and merit-based warfighters just like you are here in the 82nd." This return to fundamentals, Hegseth argued is necessary to rebuild the force and deter growing global threats. "President Trump is committed to historic investments inside our formations. Our promise to you is that when the 82nd Airborne is deployed… you will be equipped better than any other fighting force in the world." Drawing a contrast with prior administrations, Hegseth referenced global instability, including the war in Ukraine, the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. "Unfortunately, for a number of years, the world watched and wondered where American leadership and American strength was," he said. "By putting America first, we will reestablish peace through strength." Hegseth closed by honoring the legacy and future of the 82nd. "Like those who came before you, you keep showing the world the stuff you're made of. Because we know you are ready for the important work that lies ahead." The Army office of Public Affairs did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
