Monthly Archives: April 2017

Officials said the explosion happened in a mixing building on site and the wounded employees have been taken to hospital

AN EMPLOYEE has died and four left injured after an explosion at a US Army ammunition plant today, officials said.

The blast happened at about 1pm in a mixing building on site at the Lake City plant, which operates the NATO test centre, in Independence, Missouri.

The wounded employees were treated on site and investigation is underway to established what caused the blast, authorities said.

Lieutenant Colonel Eric Dennis, Lake City Commander, told a press conference: "I want to express my condolences to the family of the Lake City plant employee who died today.

"Making ammunition is dangerous work and our employees risk their lives to protect our men and women in uniform.

"This is a sacrifice they make to support our country and I am humbled by the ultimate sacrifice this employee made today."

He said the name of the male employee was not being released pending next of kin notification.

Obital ATK Vice President and General Manager Jim Nichols saidthat the explosion was in a "primer manufacture facility", where various chemical agents are mixed to create the compounds used in ammunition

He added: "We mix those energetics at this facility to put in the primers that are installed in the round."

Mr Nichols alsosaid he had been saddened by the incident, adding: "We're a family out here at Lake City and today we lost a family member and our hearts truly go out to the family of the member we lost.

"We truly are saddened."

A spokeswoman for theArmy Joint Munitions Command said no other details, including what caused the blast, were immediately available.

The 77-year-old sprawling factory near Kansas City provides "quality small-calibre munitions and operates the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) test centre".

A statement on the plant's Facebook today said: "At approximately 1 p.m. today, there was an explosion at Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Mo.

"One employee was killed and four employees were injured.

"The four injured employees were evaluated on scene and refused further treatment.

"The explosion was in a primer mixing cell. The investigation is currently ongoing.

"The scene has been secured and the ATF has rendered the area safe so that we can begin determining what happened."

http://www.aaees.org

A further statement said that the factory would remain closed for the rest of the day and staff should call their "building hotline number" before returning to work tomorrow.

The plant - established in December 1940, with production beginning in 1941 - sits on nearly 4,000 acres and is the first of a dozen Army-run small-arms factories.

The property has more than 400 buildings and nine warehouses, and has a storage capacity of more than 700,000 square feet.

Its workforce includes 29 Department of Army civilians and a soldier to provide contract oversight.

It has a governmental staff payroll of $2.9 million.

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Explosion at NATO army ammunition plant in Missouri leaves one dead and four injured - The Sun

Current security challenges and how effective public diplomacy can contribute to addressing them were the main focus of the Public Diplomacy Forum in Tbilisi on 10-11 April. Discussions covered a range of topics including hybrid warfare, strategies to counter propaganda, strategic communications and the role of social media.

The Forum was opened by Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili and NATOs Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, Ambassador Tacan Ildem. Both stressed the importance of ensuring that publics in NATO member states and partner countries are provided with accurate information from free media, pointing to the challenges all countries face from the spread of fake news and disinformation.

"Security and information are interconnected," said Ambassador Ildem. Allies and partners are targets of an information war waged by Russia. We have to respond, but certainly not with the same tools. NATO does not counter propaganda with propaganda. We do so with facts and confidence in our values. We actively counter fake news on social media, engage with media to correct false news stories, and work to ensure that all of our activities, exercises, and operations are conducted in an open and transparent manner."

This was the second Public Diplomacy Forum to be organised in Georgia with the support of NATO. International experts, journalists and policy makers participated in the flagship event of this years NATO Days a week of activities organised across the country to raise awareness of Georgias relations with NATO and highlight important areas of cooperation.

Excerpt from:
NATO - News: High-level Public Diplomacy Forum kicks off NATO ... - NATO HQ (press release)

Stars and Stripes

Hecker assumes command of US, NATO air forces in Afghanistan Stars and Stripes James B. Hecker became the top Air Force general in Afghanistan on Tuesday by assuming command of the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force and the NATO Air Command. Hecker took over from Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeffrey B. Taliaferro, who, over ...

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Hecker assumes command of US, NATO air forces in Afghanistan - Stars and Stripes

Maj. Gen. James Hecker assumed command of 9th Air and Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan and NATO Air Command-Afghanistan Tuesday.

He is succeedingMaj. Gen. Jeffrey Taliaferro, who oversaw the introduction ofA-29 Super Tucano aircraft to the Afghan air force. The pilots, trained at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, have flown roughly 900 close-air support missions since the first turboprops arrived in April 2016.

Theres no better leader at this point to take us forward in this mission, Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said at Tuesdays ceremony, according to Stars and Stripes, which first reported the change of command.

Hecker, a 1989 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, is a command pilot with more than 3,300 flight hours. He has commanded at the squadron, group and wing levels. Most recently, he led the 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, which trains more than 30,000 U.S. and allied students each year.

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Hecker takes command of US, NATO air operations in Afghanistan - AirForceTimes.com

NATO officials are hoping Wednesdays meeting with the president will be a chance to improve relations between him and the alliance.

When Donald Trump was still a presidential candidate, he said that the alliance is obsolete because it was not taking care of terror and very unfair to the United States because only five of the 28 member states have reached the two per cent of GDP defence spending goal.

Mr Trump has demanded NATO members increase the amount of GDP they pay to the alliance.

GETTY

GETTY

When were paying and nobody else is really paying, you feel like the jerk

Donald Trump

During his campaign trail, he said that he would consider withdrawing the US from the alliance.

He said: Its possible that were going to have to let NATO go,

When were paying and nobody else is really paying, you feel like the jerk.

Deputy director of the German Council on Foreign Relations, Christian Molling, said: My impression is that in Brussels everybody is hypersensitive because of this one word obsolete.

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Every member country, no matter how large or small, has an equal say in discussions and decisions. Photo shows: Signing the North Atlantic Treaty which marked the beginning of NATO, 1949.

GETTY

Everybody is still nervous.

However Mr Trumps aides have since made statements supporting NATO with the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson discussing unity and strength when he visited the alliance.

The meeting comes one month before Mr Trump will travel to Brussels in May for a gathering of NATO leaders at the alliance headquarters.

NATO officials are planning a meeting to discuss the issues of money and buildings when he visits on May 25.

They will also ask Mr Trump to unveil a memorial for the 9/11 New York terror attacks which will be installed in the headquarters.

NATO is hoping that countries that do not meet the target of two per cent of their GDP being spent on defence spending will be able to discuss a plan about how they are hoping to meet it.

Currently only a handful of nations, including the UK, Greece, Poland and Estonia meet this target.

However the German Foreign Minister has been reluctant to say that Germany will meet the target, claiming money is just one way a country can contribute to the alliance.

The deputy director of the German Council on Foreign Relations, Christian Molling, will emphasise to Mr Trump how much America has profited from the stability that NATO has offered.

He said: NATO has done a great deal in bringing security and stability to Europe and to other parts of the world, and also the US has profited from the stability.

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'Nervous' Nato to meet Donald Trump months after he described it 'obsolete' - Express.co.uk