From Rockets to Ball Bearings, Pentagon Struggles to Feed War Machine
The flow of arms to Ukraine has exposed a worrisome lack of production capacity in the United States that has its roots in the end of the Cold War.


By Eric Lipton
March 24, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON — The Navy admiral had a blunt message for the military contractors building precision-guided missiles for his warships, submarines and planes at a moment when the United States is dispatching arms to Ukraine and preparing for the possibility of conflict with China.

“Look at me. I am not forgiving the fact you’re not delivering the ordnance we need. OK?” Adm. Daryl Caudle, who is in charge of delivering weapons to most of the Navy’s East Coast-based fleet, warned contractors during an industry gathering in January. “We’re talking about war-fighting, national security, and going against a competitor here and a potential adversary that is like nothing we’ve ever seen. And we can’t dillydally around with these deliveries.”

His open frustration reflects a problem that has become worryingly apparent as the Pentagon dispatches its own stocks of weapons to help Ukraine hold off Russia and Washington warily watches for signs that China might provoke a new conflict by invading Taiwan: The United States lacks the capacity to produce the arms that the nation and its allies need at a time of heightened superpower tensions.

Industry consolidation, depleted manufacturing lines and supply chain issues have combined to constrain the production of basic ammunition like artillery shells while also prompting concern about building adequate reserves of more sophisticated weapons including missiles, air defense systems and counter-artillery radar.

From Rockets to Ball Bearings, Pentagon Struggles to Feed War Machine
No Paywall: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/us/politics/military-weapons-ukraine-war.html?unlocked_article_code=eFkBKr-AiJpsG5AAmA3t1CVuf7CcxBPY2GbFaqaS_QHu9mtEGm0xsLy6Pc1KiNewtgxDEzNwyRevWTiqZLzlS50733WQjq_YeKcFC0PRlHfiDmL-RcuzqY1BcQBz02PxIzWziM3llVt9UhyNVT0WQ7CD_ixzFNWtUcZQaf_k14Zw2nsw0zWc6Qc7Z4URvlBLcVuaU1HzU3qpK3RCFlKBrfc4P-_h0VJT9szkHNxA4KZrw8VJHFbgjKfQ1GQXw2htnwC5qJCDFyW_GrtVZIHTogH_OXdkKG-ZVFpVxVO3purh_wJ85t7f05YJCmoxCRv-_ninYlqZCWKzyG4MixO5ppXUCKj-Mw82sNc

It's worth a look.
It's a camera following him around during the Biden era. Not the Trump years that might have been even more interesting.

This is how we hope it will work. Very cogent analysis by a former Italian army artillery officer. (long Twitter thread):

https://twitter.com/noclador/status/1634644361643261953

https://twitter.com/PatronDsns/status/1627973330199273472

Home News Current events
Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief
6 March 2023 - 13:36

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a regular meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on Monday.

The commanders of the operational and strategic groups of troops reported on the situation on the main frontline directions.

The members of the Staff reviewed the situation in Bakhmut in particular detail. Assessing the course of the defense operation, the President asked Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhny and Commander of the Khortytsia operational and strategic group of troops Oleksandr Syrskyi about further actions in the Bakhmut direction. They spoke in favor of continuing the defense operation and further strengthening our positions in Bakhmut.

In addition, the parties discussed the supply of weapons and equipment and their distribution to operational directions.


Bahkmut Holds!
Reports seem to indicate Russian advances have slackened in the last two days. Ukraine has allowed reporters and military analysts near Bahkmut recently. Perhaps an indication of confidence in the defense. There is a long article in the NY Times this morning reporting from the front.

I guess he figured he has nothing to lose.

https://twitter.com/michaelh992/status/1627609394312581122


The White House statement:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/02/20/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-travel-to-kyiv-ukraine/

https://twitter.com/martijnjonker/status/1627607426475204608

Its from a video that is harder to make out:

https://twitter.com/iamdenya_de/status/1627607425288110081

Three years into the pandemic, nursing home residents are still in Covid’s crosshairs
Scaling back on vaccine clinics and not updating staff vaccine requirements has slowed down booster rates at nursing homes, advocates say.



02/15/2023 04:30 AM EST

Federal health agencies worked to get more nursing home residents and staff to take the latest Covid booster all winter, creating social media hashtags, putting money into vaccine hotlines and flagging the worst performing facilities to states.

But their decision to scale back on two vaccine interventions that were critical in getting residents and staff protected from Covid during the first vaccine rollout in late 2020 and 2021 has left the job mostly to facilities, resident advocates say, with disappointing results.


Today, just over half of nursing home residents and nearly 23 percent of nursing home staff have received the bivalent booster, a precipitous drop from the more than 85 percent of residents and staff who received the primary vaccine.

That’s still higher than most Americans: A scant 16 percent of the eligible U.S. population has gotten the updated shot. But when it comes to Covid, nursing home residents have never been like most Americans. Nursing home residents make up about one out of every six cumulative Covid deaths in the U.S., according to AARP, and hundreds of residents are still dying each week.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/15/pandemic-nursing-home-covid-00082913
Per the NY Times 90% of Covid deaths in January 2023 were amount those 65 and over.

Biden plans to visit Poland for the anniversary of the start of the war.
The president will be in the region for three days, but the White House did not say if he would make a trip into Ukraine.

Image
President Biden at the White House on Friday.
President Biden at the White House on Friday.Credit...Sarah Silbiger for The New York Times
Michael D. Shear
By Michael D. Shear
Feb. 10, 2023, 3:44 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON — President Biden will visit Poland later this month for the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demonstrate the durability of the U.S. commitment to stand up to Vladimir V. Putin’s aggression.

Mr. Biden will make a three-day visit starting on Feb. 20, White House officials said on Friday, and is set to meet with President Andrzej Duda of Poland and leaders of other NATO allies.

“President Biden will deliver remarks ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, addressing how the United States has rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and democracy, and how we will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary.

White House officials declined to say whether Mr. Biden planned to make a visit to Ukraine while he was in the area as a way of underscoring American support for President Volodymyr Zelensky.