Sid Caesar

Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: "Your Show of Shows" (1950-1954), which was a 90 minute weekly show watched by 60 million people and its successor, "Caesar's Hour" (1954-1957), both of which influenced later generations of comedians. "Your Show of Shows" and its cast received seven Emmy nominations between the years 1953 and 1954 and tallied two wins. He also acted in movies; he played Coach Calhoun in "Grease" (1978) and its sequel "Grease 2" (1982) and appeared in the films "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963), "Silent Movie" (1976), "History of the World, Part I" (1981), "Cannonball Run II" (1984), and "Vegas Vacation" (1997).
Caesar was considered a "sketch comic" and actor, as opposed to a stand-up comedian. He also relied more on body language, accents, and facial contortions than simply dialogue. Unlike the slapstick comedy which was standard on TV, his style was considered "avant garde" in the 1950s. He conjured up ideas and scene and used writers to flesh out the concept and create the dialogue. Among the writers who wrote for Caesar early in their careers were Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, Carl Reiner, Michael Stewart, Mel Tolkin, Selma Diamond, and Woody Allen. "Sid's was the show to which all comedy writers aspired. It was the place to be," said Steve Allen.
His TV shows' subjects included satires of real life events and people—and parodies of popular film genres, theater, television shows, and opera. But unlike other comedy shows at the time, the dialogue was considered sharper, funnier, and more adult-oriented. He was "best known as one of the most intelligent and provocative innovators of television comedy," who some critics called "television's Charlie Chaplin" and "The New York Times" refers to as the "comedian of comedians from TV's early days."
Honored in numerous ways over 60 years, he was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards, winning twice. He was also a saxophonist and author of several books, including two autobiographies in which he described his career and later struggle to overcome years of alcoholism and addiction to barbiturates.
Early life.
Caesar was the youngest of three sons. He was Jewish. He was born in Yonkers, New York. His father was Max Ziser (1874–1946) and his mother was Ida (née Raphael) (1887–1975). They likely were from Dąbrowa Tarnowska, Poland. Reports state that the surname "Caesar" was given to Max, as a child, by an immigration official at Ellis Island. According to Marian L. Smith, senior historian of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, there is no known case of a name changed at Ellis Island.
Max and Ida Caesar ran a restaurant, a 24-hour luncheonette.
By waiting on tables, their son learned to mimic the patois, rhythm and accents of the diverse clientele, a technique he termed "double-talk", which he used throughout his career. He first tried double-talk with a group of Italians, his head barely reaching above the table. They enjoyed it so much that they sent him over to a group of Poles to repeat his native-sounding patter in Polish, and so on with Russians, Hungarians, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Lithuanians, and Bulgarians. Sid Caesar's older brother, David, was his comic mentor and "one-man cheering section." They created their earliest family sketches from movies of the day like "Test Pilot" and the 1927 silent film "Wings".
At 14, Caesar went to the Catskill Mountains as a saxophonist in the Swingtime Six band with Mike Cifichello and Andrew Galos and occasionally performed in sketches in the Borscht Belt.
Career.
Stage and film.
After graduating from Yonkers High School in 1939, Caesar left home, intent on a musical career. He arrived in Manhattan and worked as an usher and then a doorman at the Capitol Theater there. He was ineligible to join the musicians' union in New York City until he established residency, but he found work as a saxophonist at the Vacationland Hotel, a resort located in the Catskill Mountains of Sullivan County, New York. Mentored by Don Appel, the resort's social director, Caesar played in the dance band and learned to perform comedy, doing three shows a week. He audited classes in clarinet and saxophone at the Juilliard School of Music. In 1939, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard, and was stationed in Brooklyn, New York, where he played in military revues and shows. Caesar was discharged from the service in 1945. Vernon Duke, the composer of "Autumn in New York", "April in Paris", and "Taking a Chance on Love", was at the same base and collaborated with Caesar on musical revues.
During the summer of 1942, Caesar met his future wife, Florence Levy, at the Avon Lodge in the Catskills village of Woodridge, New York. They were married on July 17, 1943, and had three children: Michele, Rick and Karen. After joining the musicians' union, he briefly played with Shep Fields, Claude Thornhill, Charlie Spivak, Art Mooney and Benny Goodman. Later in his career, he performed "Sing, Sing, Sing" with Goodman for a TV performance.
Still in the military, Caesar was ordered to Palm Beach, Florida, where Vernon Duke and Howard Dietz were putting together a service revue called "Tars and Spars". There he met the civilian director of the show, Max Liebman. When Caesar's comedy got bigger applause than the musical numbers, Liebman asked him to do stand-up bits between the songs. "Tars and Spars" toured nationally, and became Caesar's first major gig as a comedian. Liebman later produced Caesar's first television series.
After finishing his military service in 1945, the Caesars moved to Hollywood. In 1946, Columbia Pictures produced a film version of "Tars and Spars" in which Caesar reprised his role. The next year, he acted in "The Guilt of Janet Ames". He turned down the lead of "The Jolson Story" as he did not want to be known as an impersonator, and turned down several other offers to play sidekick roles. He soon returned to New York, where he became the opening act for Joe E. Lewis at the Copacabana nightclub. He reunited with Liebman, who guided his stage material and presentation. That job led to a contract with the William Morris Agency and a nationwide tour. Caesar also performed in a Broadway revue, "Make Mine Manhattan", which featured "The Five Dollar Date"—one of his first original pieces, in which he sang, acted, double-talked, pantomimed, and wrote the music. He won a 1948 Donaldson Award for his contributions to the musical.
Television.
Caesar's television career began with an appearance on Milton Berle's "Texaco Star Theater" in the fall of 1948. In early 1949, Caesar and Liebman met with Pat Weaver, vice president of television at NBC, which led to Caesar's first series, "Admiral Broadway Revue" with Imogene Coca. The Friday show was simultaneously broadcast on NBC and the DuMont network, and was an immediate success. However, its sponsor, Admiral, an appliance company, could not keep up with the demand for its new television sets, so the show was cancelled after 26 weeks—ironically, on account of its runaway success.
On February 25, 1950, Caesar appeared in the first episode of "Your Show of Shows", initially the second half of the two-hour umbrella show, "Saturday Night Review"; at the end of the 1950–51 season, "Your Show of Shows" became its own, 90-minute program from the International Theatre at 5 Columbus Circle and later The Center Theatre at Sixth Avenue and 49th Street. Burgess Meredith hosted the first two shows, and the premiere featured musical guests Gertrude Lawrence, Lily Pons and Robert Merrill. The show was a mix of sketch comedy, movie and television satires, Caesar's monologues, musical guests, and large production numbers. Guests included: Jackie Cooper, Robert Preston, Rex Harrison, Eddie Albert, Michael Redgrave, Basil Rathbone, Charlton Heston, Geraldine Page, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Pearl Bailey, Fred Allen, Benny Goodman, Lena Horne and many other stars of the time. It was also responsible for bringing together the comedy team of Caesar, Coca, Carl Reiner, and Howard Morris. Many writers also got their break creating the show's sketches, including Lucille Kallen, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Michael Stewart, Mel Tolkin and Sheldon Keller. Sid Caesar won his first Emmy in 1952. In 1951 and 1952, he was voted the United States' Best Comedian in "Motion Picture Daily"s TV poll. The show ended after almost 160 episodes on June 5, 1954.
A few months later, Caesar returned with "Caesar's Hour", a one-hour sketch/variety show with Morris, Reiner, Bea Arthur and other members of his former crew. Nanette Fabray replaced Coca, who had left to star in her own short-lived series. Ultimate creative and technical control was now in Caesar's hands, originating from the Center Theater and the weekly budget doubled to $125,000. The premiere on September 27, 1954, featured Gina Lollobrigida. Everything was performed live, including the commercials.
"Caesar's Hour" was followed by ABC's short-lived "Sid Caesar Invites You" from January 26 to May 25, 1958. It briefly reunited Caesar, Coca, and Reiner, with Simon and Brooks among the writers.
In 1963, Caesar appeared on television, on stage, and in the movies. Several "As Caesar Sees It" specials evolved into the 1963–64 "Sid Caesar Show" (which alternated with Edie Adams in "Here's Edie"). He starred with Virginia Martin in the Broadway musical "Little Me", with book by Simon, choreography by Bob Fosse, and music by Cy Coleman. Playing eight parts with 32 costume changes, he was nominated in 1963 for a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. On film, Caesar and Adams played a husband and wife drawn into a mad race to find buried loot in Stanley Kramer's comedy ensemble "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963) which became a box office success and earned six Academy Award nominations.
Style and technique.
Caesar was not a stand-up comedian but a "sketch comic, and actor," wrote one historian. "He conjured up ideas and enhanced scenes, but never wrote a word," and thereby depended on his writers for dialogue. Caesar was skilled at pantomime, dialects, monologues, foreign language double-talk and general comic acting.
His sketches were often long, sometimes 10 or 15 minutes, with numerous close-ups showing the expressions on the faces of Caesar and other actors. Caesar relied more on body language, accents, and facial contortions than simply spoken dialogue. Unlike the slapstick comedy, which was standard on TV, his style was considered "avant garde". Caesar "...was born with the ability to write physical poetry," notes comedian Steve Allen, a technique like that used for a silent film comedian. An example of this "silent film" style is a live sketch with Nanette Fabray, where they both pantomime an argument choreographed to the music of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
Writer Mel Tolkin stated that Caesar "didn't like one-line jokes in sketches because he felt that if the joke was a good one, anybody could do it. One-liners would take him away from what drove his personal approach to comedy." Larry Gelbart called Caesar's style theatrical, and called him "...a pure TV comedian." In describing his control during the live performances, actress Nanette Fabray recalled that unlike most comedians, such as Red Skelton, Bob Hope or Milton Berle, Caesar always stayed in character: "He was so totally into the scene he never lost it."
Caesar was able to pantomime a wide variety of things: a tire, a gumball machine, a lion, a dog, a punching bag, a telephone, an infant, an elevator, a railroad train, a herd of horses, a piano, a rattlesnake and a bottle of seltzer. On the Dick Clark show in 1978, he played a chewing gum machine and a slot machine. He was also able to create imaginary characters. Alfred Hitchcock compared him to Charlie Chaplin, and critic John Crosby felt "he could wrench laughter out of you with the violence of his great eyes and the sheer immensity of his parody." In an article in "The Saturday Evening Post" in 1953, show business biographer Maurice Zolotow noted that "Caesar relies upon grunts and grimaces to express a vast range of emotions."
Of his double-talk routines, Carl Reiner said, "His ability to doubletalk every language known to man was impeccable," and during one performance Caesar imitated four different languages but with almost no real words. Despite his apparent fluency in many languages, Caesar could actually speak only English and Yiddish. In 2008, Caesar told a "USA Today" reporter, "Every language has its own music ... If you listen to a language for 15 minutes, you know the rhythm and song." Having developed this mimicry skill, he could create entire monologues using gibberish in numerous languages, as he did in a skit in which he played a German general.
Subjects.
Among his primary subjects were parodies and spoofs of various film genres, including gangster films, westerns, newspaper dramas, spy movies and other TV shows. Unlike other comedy shows at the time, the dialogue on his shows were considered sharper, funnier and more adult oriented. In his sketches for "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour", he would also typically "skewer the minutiae of domestic life" along with lampooning popular or classic movies.
Contemporary movies, foreign movies, theater, television shows and opera were targets of satire by the writing team. Often the publicity generated by the sketches boosted the box office of the original productions. Some notable sketches included: "From Here to Obscurity" ("From Here to Eternity"), "Aggravation Boulevard" ("Sunset Boulevard"), "Hat Basterson" ("Bat Masterson"), and "No West for the Wicked" ("Stagecoach").
They also performed some recurring sketches. "The Hickenloopers", television's first bickering-couple sketch, predated "The Honeymooners". As "The Professor", Caesar was the daffy expert who bluffed his way through his interviews with earnest roving reporter Carl Reiner. In its various incarnations, "The Professor" could be Gut von Fraidykat (mountain-climbing expert), Ludwig von Spacebrain (space expert), or Ludwig von Henpecked (marriage expert). Later, "The Professor" was inspiration for Mel Brooks' "The Two Thousand Year Old Man". The most prominent recurring sketch on the show was "The Commuters", which featured Caesar, Reiner, and Morris involved with everyday working and suburban life situations. Years later, the sketch "Sneaking through the Sound Barrier", a parody of the British film "The Sound Barrier", ran continuously as part of a display on supersonic flight at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Working with writers.
Steve Allen claimed, "Sid's was the show to which all comedy writers aspired. It was the place to be." While Caesar did not write his dialogue, he made all final decisions. His writers, such as Mel Brooks, felt they "had a great instrument in Caesar that we could all play, and we played it very well." As for Caesar, Nachman describes him basically as an "inspired idea man who allowed the writers to take more risks" than other TV shows. Woody Allen remembers that "...you wrote situations," instead of jokes, as in "This Is Your Story" with Carl Reiner, a parody of the popular TV show "This is Your Life". It was said to be "Caesar's personal favorite" sketch.
In many cases, sketch dialogue was not even written down, but simply indicated by describing a scene, as in, "Sid does man coming home from business mad." Sometimes, said Larry Gelbart, it was "organized chaos," and when watching the writers create from offstage, felt, "...it was a religious experience." To Mel Brooks, "it was a zoo. Everyone pitched lines at Sid. Jokes would be changed fifty times." Naturally there were some explosive episodes: "Mr. Caesar once dangled a terrified Mr. Brooks from an 18th-story window until colleagues restrained him. With one punch, he knocked out a horse that had thrown his wife off its back, a scene that Mr. Brooks replayed in his movie "Blazing Saddles"."
Neil Simon recalled that after writing out a sketch and giving it to Caesar, "Sid would make it ten times funnier than what we wrote. Sid acted everything out, so the sketches we did were like little plays." Simon also remembered the impact that working for Caesar had on him: "The first time I saw Caesar it was like seeing a new country. All other comics were basically doing situations with farcical characters. Caesar was doing life."
Some of his writers, like Woody Allen, initially didn't like being among the large team of writers coming up with routines for Caesar, feeling it was too competitive and contributed to hostility among writers. An Allen biographer wrote that Allen "...chafed under the atmosphere of inspired spontaneity", although Allen did say that, "Writing for Caesar was the highest thing you could aspire to—at least as a TV comedy writer. Only the presidency was above that." Neil Simon noted that "we were competitive the way a family is competitive to get dad's attention. We all wanted to be Sid's favorite." As part of the competitive atmosphere in "The Writer's Room", as it was called, friendship was also critical. Larry Gelbart explained:
Impact on television.
Nachman concludes that "the Caesar shows were the crème de la crème of fifties television," as they were "studded with satire, and their sketches sharper, edgier, more sophisticated than the other variety shows." Likewise, historian Susan Murray notes that Caesar was "...best known as one of the most intelligent and provocative innovators of television comedy."
According to actress Nanette Fabray, who acted alongside Caesar, "He was the first original TV comedy creation." His early shows were the "...gold standard for TV sketch comedy." In 1951, "Newsweek" noted that according to "the opinion of lots of smart people, Caesar is the best that TV has to offer," while Zolotow, in his 1953 profile for "The Saturday Evening Post", wrote that "in temperament, physique, and technique of operation, Caesar represents a new species of comedian."
However, his positive impact on television became a negative one for Broadway. Caesar fans preferred to stay home on Saturday nights to watch his show instead of seeing live plays. "The Caesar show became such a Saturday-night must-see habit—the "Saturday Night Live" of its day," states Nachman, that "...Broadway producers begged NBC to switch the show to midweek." Comedy star Carol Burnett, who later had her own hit TV show, remembers winning tickets to see "My Fair Lady" on Broadway: "I gave the tickets to my roommate because I said, "Fair Lady's" gonna be running for a hundred years, but Sid Caesar is live and I'll never see "that" again."
Faded success and personal problems.
After nearly 10 years as a prime-time star of television comedy with "Your Show of Shows" followed by "Caesar's Hour", his stardom ended rapidly and he nearly disappeared from the spotlight. Nachman describes this period:
Caesar himself felt, "It had all come too fast, was too easy, and he didn't deserve the acclaim." Writer Mel Brooks, who also became his close friend, said, "I know of no other comedian, including Chaplin, who could have done nearly ten years of live television. Nobody's talent was ever more used up than Sid's. He was one of the greatest artists ever born. But over a period of years, television ground him into sausages."
In 1977, after blacking out during a stage performance of Neil Simon's "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers" in Regina, Saskatchewan, Caesar gave up alcohol "cold turkey". In his 1982 autobiography, "Where Have I Been?", and his second book, "Caesar's Hours", he chronicled his struggle to overcome his alcoholism and addiction to sleeping pills.
Later years.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Caesar continued to make occasional television and theatrical appearances and starred in several movies including "Silent Movie" and "History of the World, Part I" (both reuniting him with Mel Brooks), "Airport 1975", and as Coach Calhoun in "Grease" and its sequel "Grease 2" in 1982. In 1971, he starred opposite Carol Channing and a young Tommy Lee Jones in the Broadway show "Four on a Garden".
In 1973, Caesar reunited with Imogene Coca for the stage play, "The Prisoner of Second Avenue", written in 1971 by Neil Simon. Their play opened in Chicago in August 1973. That same year, Caesar and Max Liebman mined their own personal kinescopes from "Your Show of Shows" (NBC had lost the studio copies) and they produced a feature film "Ten From Your Show of Shows", a compilation of some of their best sketches. In 1974, Caesar said, "I'd like to be back every week" on TV and appeared in the NBC skit-based comedy television pilot called "Hamburgers".
In 1980, he appeared as a double-talking Japanese father for Mei and Kei's Pink Lady and opposite Jeff Altman in the "Pink Lady and Jeff" show.
In 1983, Caesar hosted an episode of "Saturday Night Live", where he received a standing ovation at the start of the show and was awarded a plaque at the conclusion of the show declaring him an honorary cast member. He released an exercise video, "Sid Caesar's Shape Up!", in 1985. In 1987–89, Caesar appeared as Frosch the Jailer in "Die Fledermaus" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1987, Caesar starred in the David Irving film "The Emperor's New Clothes" with Robert Morse as the Tailor. Caesar remained active by appearing in movies, television and award shows, including the movie "The Great Mom Swap" in 1995.
In 1996, the Writers Guild of America, West reunited Caesar with nine of his writers from "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour" for a two-hour panel discussion featuring head writer Mel Tolkin, Caesar, Carl Reiner, Aaron Ruben, Larry Gelbart, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Danny Simon, Sheldon Keller, and Gary Belkin. The event was taped, broadcast on PBS in the United States and the BBC in the UK, and later released as a DVD titled "Caesar's Writers".
In 1997, he made a guest appearance in "Vegas Vacation" and, the following year, in "The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit" in 1998 based on a Ray Bradbury novel. Also that year, Caesar joined fellow television icons Bob Hope and Milton Berle at the 50th anniversary of the Primetime Emmy Awards. Billy Crystal also paid tribute to Caesar that night when he won an Emmy for hosting that year's Oscar telecast, recalling seeing Caesar doing a parody of Yul Brynner in "The King & I" on "Your Show of Shows". Caesar performed his double-talk in a "foreign dub" skit on the November 21, 2001 episode of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
On September 7, 2001, Caesar, Carl Reiner and Nanette Fabray appeared on CNN's live interview program "Larry King Live" along with actor, comedian and improvisationist Drew Carey.
In 2003, he joined Edie Adams and Marvin Kaplan at a 40th anniversary celebration for "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". In 2004, Caesar's second autobiography, "Caesar's Hours", was published, and in 2006, Billy Crystal presented Caesar with the TV Land Awards' Pioneer Award. In what TV Land called "...a hilarious, heartfelt, multilingual, uncut acceptance speech," Caesar performed his double-talk for over five minutes.
In a November 2009 article in the Toluca Lake, California, "Tolucan Times", columnist Greg Crosby described a visit with Caesar and his wife Florence at their home. Of the couple's meeting, Florence said, "Well, I thought he was nice for the summer ... I thought he would be just a nice boyfriend for the summer. He was cute-looking and tall, over six feet... I was in my last year at Hunter College; we were still dating when Sid went into the service, the Coast Guard. Luckily he was stationed in New York so we were able to continue seeing each other, even though my parents weren't too happy about it. They never thought he would amount to anything, that he'd never have a real career or make any money. But we were married one year after we met, in July of 1943." She also pointed out, "You know, he's not funny all the time. He can be very serious." At the time of the interview, the couple had been married for 66 years. Florence Caesar died on March 3, 2010, aged 88.
Personal life.
Caesar was married to Florence Levy for 67 years until her death in 2010. Caesar asserted that he was "proud to be Jewish" and that "Jews have a good sense of humour. Jews appreciate humour because in their life it's not too funny. We've been trodden down for a long time, thousands of years. So we've had to turn that around because if you take it all too seriously you're going to eat yourself. And we're very good at being self-deprecating. Either we do it or somebody's going to do it for us. We might as well do it first."
Death.
Caesar died on February 12, 2014, at his home in Beverly Hills, California, at the age of 91, after a short illness.
On Caesar's death, Carl Reiner said, "He was the ultimate, he was the very best sketch artist and comedian that ever existed." Mel Brooks commented, "Sid Caesar was a giant, maybe the best comedian who ever practiced the trade. And I was privileged to be one of his writers and one of his friends." Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" paid tribute to Caesar at the show's close on February 12, 2014. "Vanity Fair" republished a brief tribute written by Billy Crystal in August 2005, in which he said of Caesar and his contemporaries:
His interment was at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery. He was predeceased by his wife, Florence (2010) and survived by his children Karen, Michelle, and Rick, and two grandsons. His son, Dr Richard (Rick) Caesar died several months after his father on July 16, 2014.
Awards and nominations.
Honors.
In 2005, The Humane Society of the United States honored Caesar by establishing the "Sid Caesar Award for Television Comedy" among the Genesis Awards given annually to individuals in major news and entertainment media who produce outstanding works that raise public awareness of animal issues. In announcing the 2014 Genesis Award winners on February 14, 2014, the Society paid special homage to Caesar, whom the Society credited as one of its most dedicated supporters.


RCMP Heritage Centre

The RCMP Heritage Centre () is a law enforcement museum located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The museum houses a number of exhibits on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and artifacts relating to the police force. The heritage centre's was designed by Nick Milkovich Architects, and is situated in the northeast end of RCMP Academy, Depot Division.
Construction for the RCMP Heritage Centre began in 2005 to replace the RCMP Centennial Museum, also located at Depot Division. The RCMP Heritage Centre was officially opened to the public in May 2007.
History.
The first museum on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the RCMP Centennial Museum, was opened to the public in 1933. Situated at RCMP Academy, Depot Division in Regina, Saskatchewan, the Centennial Museum was later closed to the public in October 2006. The RCMP Heritage Centre was established in order to replace the Centennial Museum, with its collections relocated to the Heritage Centre following its completion.
Construction for the RCMP Heritage Centre began in 2005. The facility was officially opened to the public on 23 May 2007.
Architecture.
The centre is situated in a south of Dewdney Avenue, adjacent to "F" Division headquarters at RCMP Academy, Depot Division in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Completed in 2007, the building was estimated to have cost C$40 million. Nick Milkovich Architects was the design architect for the project, with Arthur Erickson serving as a design consultant for the building; P3 Architects served as the architect of record for the project. Construction of the building was contracted to PCL Construction.
Building materials used for the construct the heritage centre includes concrete, glass, Tyndall stone, and limestone quarried from Manitoba. The massing of the building was designed to appear like it is sinking and rising into the landscape. The building's roof resembles windblown snow, or encampments used by the First Nations and North-West Mounted Police during the 19th century. The building features a "swooping" rooftop, making the height of the building roof range between . The northeast exterior of the building features 21 oval-shaped columns varying from in length.
The interior of the building features coloured concrete floors, with metal ceilings. The building also includes a 124-seat lecture hall/theatre.
Exhibitions.
The heritage centre's main gallery holds a permanent exhibition that explore the history of the force, or exhibits practices in forensics. Exhibits in the main gallery includes "Creating a Mounted Police", "Maintaining Law and Order in the West", "Protecting the North", "Serving all of Canada", "Preserving the Tradition", and "Cracking the Case". The heritage centre "Feature Exhibition" is situated in a different hall, and exhibits specialty items from its collection for a limited time. A number of the items in the institution's collection originates from the collections of the defunct RCMP Centennial Museum.
Beginning in 2016, the museum also began to operate interactive virtual reality exhibits.


Strategic Airlift Capability

The Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) is a multinational initiative that provides its participating nations assured access to military airlift capability to address the growing needs for both strategic airlifts and tactical airlifts.
SAC, established in 2008, is an independent, multinational program that provides the capability of transporting equipment and personnel over long distances to its 12 member nations by owning and operating three Boeing C-17 Globemaster III long range cargo aircraft. The SAC is based at the Hungarian Defence Forces Pápa Air Base in Western Hungary. Each participating nation owns a share of the available flight hours of the SAC C-17's that can be used for missions to serve the needs of their national defense, NATO, EU or UN commitments as well as humanitarian relief efforts.
Hungary plays a special role in the SAC as the host nation. The SAC C-17's are registered and flagged in Hungary bearing the national military aircraft insignia of the nation.
Although the Strategic Airlift Capability relies on certain NATO support structures, it transcends the military and political alliances like NATO and the European Union. The governing bodies of the program are the SAC Steering Board and the NATO Airlift Management (NAM) Programme Board. The operational organization of SAC, the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW), is a multinational force, commanded by a colonel of a member nation.
History.
The Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) concept originated at NATO HQ in mid-2006. NATO officials and national representatives envisaged a partnered solution that would satisfy a need for strategic airlift for member states without the economic resources to field a permanent capability. Originally this idea was called the NATO Strategic Airlift Capability (NSAC). In October 2006 the first non-NATO nation joined the initiative and the concept changed its name to the SAC and moved outside the Alliance.
On 23 September 2008 the 12 nations established the Strategic Airlift Capability by signing the SAC Memorandum of Understanding.
On 14 July 2009, Strategic Airlift Capability received its first C-17 aircraft, bearing the registration SAC 01. The remaining two aircraft, SAC 02 and 03, were delivered in the following months and operations with the Heavy Airlift Wing started immediately thereafter at Pápa Air Base.
In November 2012 the Heavy Airlift Wing achieved Full Operational Capability (FOC). The unit was then considered fully capable of missions containing air refueling, single ship airdrop, assault landings, all-weather operations day or night into low-to-medium-threat environments, limited aeromedical evacuation operations and utilizing C-17 air-land and air-drop mission capabilities.
Membership.
Member states are NATO members Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the United States of America, and Partnership for Peace countries Finland and Sweden.
The governing bodies of the program are the Strategic Airlift Capability Steering Board and the NATO Airlift Management Programme Board that consists of representatives of the member nations.
The SAC Steering Board exercises overall responsibility for the guidance, execution and oversight of the Strategic Airlift Capability in accordance with the SAC Memorandum of Understanding. It formulates SAC requirements and communicates them to the NAM Programme Board for execution.
The Strategic Airlift Capability has a lifespan of a minimum of 30 years and its member nations have committed to constant development of the program and its capabilities.
The aircraft and supporting equipment operated by the Heavy Airlift Wing are owned by the SAC Nations. The NATO Airlift Management Programme Office (NAM PO), an integral part of NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), is the acquisition and sustainment authority and manager for the life cycle of the SAC C-17 weapon system. It also provides site and administrational support to the HAW. Boeing, the manufacturer of the C-17, is responsible for contract flight line maintenance; engineering and technical support; and management and supply of spare parts. The C-17 aircraft and their support were acquired from Boeing under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Operations.
The first aircraft was delivered on 14 July 2009. The C-17 Globemasters are based at Pápa Air Base in Hungary.
A unique feature of the SAC program is its aviation safety certification system. This system called the Concept of Total Aviation Safety (CONTAS) is based upon a heavily adapted version of the United States Air Force C-17 safety system, the principles of design and operation of heavy airlift aircraft as described by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and the mandatory requirements of the Hungarian National Transport Authority who are the national authority that registers the aircraft and certifies the operations of the HAW, and the support provided by NAM PO. This system has been accepted by all the SAC nations and as such is one of the World's first true multi-national military aviation safety systems.
Deployments.
The HAW aircraft can respond to a wide selection of airlift needs. The operations can include national support to EU / NATO / UN operations or national military, peacekeeping and humanitarian relief operations wherever and whenever needed by the partner nations.
Since 2009 the Strategic Airlift Capability has supported a variety of operations at its 12 member nations' requests including the International Security Assistance Force 2009-2014, and the Resolute Support Mission, RSM, 2015 – in Afghanistan. Operation Unified Protector in Libya, 2011. United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, 2013-. The EUFOR RCA, 2014-2015. The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, 2015-.
Strategic Airlift Capability has also participated in the logistics support provided to the investigation of the 2014 Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash in Ukraine.
In addition to the above operations, significant humanitarian operations supported include earthquake relief in Haiti, 2010, flood relief in Pakistan, 2010, and hurricane relief to the island of St. Maarten, 2017.
As of December 2016, the Strategic Airlift Capability C-17 fleet has achieved over 21,000 flying hours, flown over 1,700 missions, delivered over 138 million pounds (over 62,000 tons) of cargo and carried almost 100,000 passengers.


Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital

Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital () is a hospital located in Sai Mai District, Bangkok, Thailand. It is a military hospital operated by the Directorate of Medical Services, The Royal Thai Air Force particularly for personnel of the Royal Thai Air Force, but also for the general public. It is a teaching hospital for Royal Thai Air Force Nursing College, Phramongkutklao College of Medicine as well as some clinical year (year 4-6) students of the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, under the agreement between the Faculty of Medicine and the Directorate of Medical Services.
Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital was served by the BTS Sukhumvit Line at Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital BTS Station since 16 December 2020.
History.
Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital was opened on 27 March 1949, named in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. It initially had a capacity of 88 beds, and gradually expanded to have a building for each medical specialty, such as radiology, otorhinolaryngology and including separate internal medicine and surgery buildings for male and female patients.


4th Recruit Training Battalion

4th Recruit Training Battalion is a training battalion in the United States Marine Corps at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. The battalion has been responsible for initial training for all female enlisted marines in the entire Marine Corps since 1986. Since January 2021, the battalion has also been responsible for training enlisted male marines.
Subordinate units.
Within 4th Recruit Training Battalion, there are three companies: November, Oscar, and Papa. Oscar Company, composed of three series, contains an average of two 60-80 recruit platoons. November Company, composed of two series, contains an average of two 60-70 recruit platoons. Papa Company is a gender integrated training company since January 2021, and trains both male and female recruits.
History.
Female Marines have trained on Parris Island since February 23, 1949, when the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion was activated. On May 1, 1954, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion was redesigned as Woman Recruit Training Battalion and remained under this designation until 1976 when it was redesigned as Woman Recruit Training Command. At that time, Woman Recruit Training Command moved to a new battalion complex, which it still occupies.
On November 1, 1986, Woman Recruit Training Command was redesigned as 4th Recruit Training Battalion and became part of the Recruit Training Regiment. During January 1989, the 4th Recruit Training Battalion's companies were redesigned as November and Oscar companies due to reorganization of the regiment. In October 1996, Papa Company was activated in order to more effectively train the larger number of female recruits arriving on Parris Island. The 4th Recruit Training Battalion complex was expanded in November 2001 with the addition of a new barracks.
Recruit training is now identical for both male and female recruits, but this is a result of many significant changes. Some of the key changes were:
1978 - First females graduate from Drill Instructor School
1985 - Females began firing the M16 for qualification, adding an additional three weeks to the female schedule.
1988 - Basic Warrior Training/Marine Combat Training was incorporated into recruit training for females, adding another two weeks to their schedule.
1996 - Female Drill Instructors were allowed to wear the campaign cover, replacing the scarlet shoulder cord.
1997 - Marine Combat Training was removed from the female recruit training schedule with the introducing of "The Crucible", resulting in the current 12-week schedule for both male and female recruits. Female marines subsequently began attending Marine Combat Training at the Marine Corps School of Infantry prior to follow-on specialty training.
2018 - 4th Recruit Training Battalion increased to eight series, executing training for female recruits under the same schedule as male recruits.


Sea Chanters

The Sea Chanters (officially the United States Navy Band Sea Chanters) are a component unit of the United States Navy Band. Activated in 1956 by order of Admiral Arleigh Burke, the unit is a mixed chorus principally charged with "perpetuating songs of the sea".
History.
In 1956, Lt. Harold Fultz, then the U.S. Navy Band's assistant leader, organized a group from the United States Navy School of Music to sing chanteys and patriotic songs for the State of the Nation dinner. Admiral Arleigh Burke, then chief of naval operations, transferred the ensemble to the Navy Band, named them the Sea Chanters and tasked what was at the time the all-male chorus with "perpetuating the songs of the sea". In 1980, the group added women to their ranks for the first time.
In subsequent years, the group would perform on "Larry King Live", "CBS This Morning", and at the premier of "Pearl Harbor". They have also appeared with Perry Como, Marian Anderson, Kenny Rogers, and Lionel Richie. The Sea Chanters' 2016 performance of the Egyptian song “Feha Haga Helwa”, sung on the occasion of the official visit of Gen. Mahmoud Hegazy to the United States, was popularly received by Egyptian social media users who viewed it "thousands" of times and commented on its "almost perfect Arabic".
September 11 memorial service.
On 14 September 2011, the Sea Chanters performed the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" at the national memorial service for the September 11 attacks at the Washington National Cathedral, immediately following the eulogy by President of the United States George W. Bush. Prior to the memorial service, White House officials debated the wisdom of following Bush's speech with the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" due to both the song's length, at five stanzas, and its lyrics which were "unabashedly militant", describing the "fateful lightning" of a "terrible, swift sword". Later, some officials of the Administration cited the performance by the Sea Chanters as an "awakening" of a need for war.
Organization.
During most of the year, the Sea Chanters are posted to the Washington, D.C. area to support state and Navy events, however, embark on a three-week United States tour annually. As of 2018, a majority of its 23 members held university degrees in music and are selected to the ensemble through a process of competitive audition.
In addition to its repertoire of sea chanteys and traditional naval songs and ballads, the Sea Chanters also perform patriotic, operatic, and contemporary music.


USCGC Itasca

USCGC "Itasca" may refer to one of the following United States Coast Guard Cutters:


Russell Mirasty

Russell Mirasty (born 1956 or 1957) is the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan. He was appointed by the Governor General of Canada, Julie Payette, on the constitutional advice of the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, on July 17, 2019. Mirasty was sworn in on July 18, filling the vacancy in the position left when W. Thomas Molloy died in office on July 2.
As lieutenant governor, Mirasty is the viceregal representative of Queen Elizabeth II of Canada in Saskatchewan. He was the first Indigenous person appointed to this office.
Personal life.
Mirasty is a member of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. His first language is Cree. His appointment was strongly welcomed by the First Nations of Saskatchewan.
He and his wife Donna have two children. At the time of his appointment, he and his wife lived in La Ronge.
RCMP career.
Mirasty served as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for thirty-six years, from 1976 to 2013. He was one of only two Indigenous cadets in his troop at RCMP Academy, Depot Division. Following graduation, he served in seven of Canada's ten provinces. He also did a work exchange with the Northern Territory Police in Australia. Mirasty served as a volunteer "aide-de-camp" to previous lieutenant governors of Saskatchewan. He was appointed assistant commissioner and officer commanding, "F" Division in 2010, the first Indigenous RCMP officer to command a division.
Following retirement from the RCMP, he has volunteered with a number of community service organizations.


Taras Kostanchuk

Taras Dmytrovych Kostanchuk (; born 9 March 1964) is a Ukrainian public activist. He is the leader of the civil organization "Military-Patriotic Association of the ATO participants "Justice" and the former commander of the assault group of the volunteer battalion “Donbas” (2014). He is a former candidate for president of Ukraine and a candidate for the People's Deputies of Ukraine. He was demobilized in the spring of 2015.
Biography.
Taras was born on March 9, 1964, in the city of Komunarsk, Voroshilovgrad oblast, the Ukrainian SSR (now known as Alchevsk, Luhansk Oblast) in the family of thermophysics. His mother is from Vinnytsia Oblast,his father is from Kherson Oblast. Taras lived in Kyiv since he was 3 years old.
In 1981,Taras graduated from Kyiv secondary school with advanced study of mathematics No.200. After school he entered the Kyiv Medical College No.3.
From 1982 to 1984, Taras served in the Soviet Army in Grozny,Chechnya.
From 1985 to 1988, he studied at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Department of Biology).
In 1989, Taras went abroad to Italy, where he lived and worked until 1998.
In 1998, he returned to Ukraine, accepting his friend's proposal to take over the post of general director of CJSC “Agro-Transport Coordination Service” (ZAT “Ahro-transportna koordynatsiina sluzhba”).
From 2003 to 2008, Taras studied "Law" at the Kyiv National University of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
Since 2007, he runs his own legal practice as an entrepreneur.
Activity.
Public activity before the Revolution of Dignity.
In 2005, Taras Kostanchuk, together with his comrades, founded a public organization "Archaeological Patriotic Search Association "Dnipro-Ukraine", which was engaged in the search and reburial of the remains of World War II soldiers. The organization operates in the present time on the territory of the Kyiv Oblast. The organization, for 7 years of its existence, recorded more than 800 soldiers, restored 106 names, and organized 17 mass and 11 single reburials.
Under the direction of Taras Kostanchuk, the searchers created a large stationary museum of military archeology in Kyiv and 10 museums in secondary schools throughout Ukraine. There are more than 5000 exhibits in museums; 1774 units of explosive exhibits were transferred to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Ukraine for elimination.
Participation in the Revolution of Dignity (2013-2014).
During the Revolution of Dignity (2013–2014) Taras was on the Maidan from the first days. As one of the oldest participants, Taras frequently had to take command and coordinate the actions of the activists. On the night of February 19, 2014, he held a rank along with other patriots, which became a shield against fire engines with water jets. The same day, Taras Kostanchuk got blast injury and wounded leg due to a grenade explosion.
Participation in Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO).
In May 2014, Taras Kostanchuk with personal weapons went to Donbas, where he joined the so-called “men in black” who opposed the militiamen in several districts of the Donetsk Oblast. From June 1, 2014, he arrived to the training base in the village of Novi Petrivtsi (Kyiv Oblast), in order to train volunteers – who prepared to go to the ATO area.
In early July 2014, after three weeks of training, Taras Kostanchuk joined a volunteer battalion "Donbas", and went with his comrades to the combat zone near Artemivsk.
On the first night in the ATO area, the recruits of the battalion “Donbas”, being at the temporary base of the battalion in the Artemivsk school, fell under the tight fire of the enemy. Under the command of Taras Kostanchuk they managed to repel the fire and defend their positions without loss.
Reflecting on the night attack of militants, the fighters of the battalion “Donbas” took active steps to liberate Artemivsk from terrorists, build checkpoints in and outside the city, as well as prepared for cleansing operation.
In July 2014, Taras Kostanchuk as the commander of the assault group of the battalion “Donbas” with his comrades conducted the operations to liberate the Ukrainian cities of Popasna, Lysychansk, and Pervomaisk.
Battle of Ilovaisk.
On August 10, 2014, the Armed Forces of Ukraine along with the fighters of the battalions “Donbas”, “Azov”, “Shakhtarsk” and “Right Sector” began an operation to liberate the city of Ilovaisk.
The general Ruslan Khomchak was planning the operation together with the commanders of the battalions. Taras Kostanchuk also participated in the planning of liberation.
The main task was to liberate Ilovaisk completely from terrorists and take the city. The minimum goal was to conduct the "developing attack" in order to understand the forces of the enemy. That task was fulfilled during the first entry in Ilovaisk on August 10, 2014. It was found that the enemy is well positioned. The volunteer battalions needed the reinforcements.
On August 18, 2014, the fighters of the battalion “Donbas” entered with heavy fighting in Ilovaisk and were able to knock out terrorists from the eastern part of the city. During the battles 3 checkpoints and 4 enemy firing points were destroyed.
Till morning of August 19, the ATO forces took control over the most of the city.
On August 19, 2014, during a combat task Taras Kostanchuk, having been seriously injured in his head and with a blast injury, got into encirclement in the center of Ilovaisk. Together with a comrade who was seriously injured in leg, Taras was hiding in local resident's house for 3 weeks.
And only after 3 weeks, he was able to get out of the encirclement thanks to the help of local patriots.
Public activity after participation in ATO.
Immediately after treatment and short-term rehabilitation, Taras Kostanchuk began to take charge of the liberation of his comrades from captivity. He took part in negotiations with separatists, agreed on the exchange of prisoners, helped to bring them out of the ATO.
At the end of 2014, Taras Kostanchuk along with his military comrades created a civil organization "Military-Patriotic Association of the ATO participants "Justice". The purpose of the organization is to protect the interests of ordinary citizens, fight against arbitrariness and corruption of officials, as well as assistance to the former ATO participants.
The organization has its representative offices in several cities of Ukraine. In August 2015, the "Justice" office was opened in the city of Vyshneve, Kyiv oblast. The organization includes activists, volunteers, public representatives and entrepreneurs, in addition to soldiers. The organization "Justice" currently has thousands of participants.
The results of the activity of CO "Justice" were large-scale actions against the arbitrariness of some public authorities, demonstrations and petitions to the President of Ukraine on the protection of the rights of volunteers, large-scale actions of direct action to protect the interests of Ukrainian citizens. In particular, Taras Kostanchuk worked personally on the amendment to the Law of Ukraine on social protection of reservists suffering as a result of participation in the ATO, and of their family members. The main purpose of these changes is the equivalence of volunteers, who were sent to the ATO zone illegally from May to December 2014 in the status of reservists, to military personnel, and thus to overcome injustice in providing social benefits and other assistance to soldiers.
The law was voted by deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and signed by the president of Ukraine as a result of repeated pressure on officials during the public actions, disclosure of this problem in the media and personal involvement of Taras Kostanchuk in drafting the law.
In the beginning of 2015, Taras Kostanchuk, along with the fighters, who went through the Battle of Ilovaisk, and the families of the dead soldiers, founded the Ilovaisk Brotherhood, which at present has more than two thousand members, comrades from different units of the Ukrainian armed forces and volunteer battalions.
The members of the Ilovaisk Brotherhood helped each other to coordinate actions, shared information about the wounded, captured and dead soldiers.
By the first anniversary of the Ilovaisk tragedy (August 2015), the members of the Ilovaisk Brotherhood introduced the award "Ilovaisk 2014" as a cross. Only Ilovaisk fighters, or the families of dead or missing soldiers, have the right to receive it.
After several joint actions of the Ilovaisk Brotherhood from December 2015 to February 2016 with the demands to punish the culpable in the most massive tragedies of modern Ukraine (Savur-Mohyla, IL-76, Donetsk airport, Ilovaisk, Debaltseve), under pressure from ATO veterans, Taras Kostanchuk was invited to get acquainted with a criminal proceedings concerning the Ilovaisk tragedy, and received admission to the proceedings files.
In March 2016, the CO "Justice", headed by Taras Kostanchuk, took part in the unifying congress of civic organizations and publicly announced its intention to change officials who came to power on the blood of patriots. Taras Kostanchuk offered soldiers and ATO veterans to go to power in one team.
At the end of April 2016, Taras Kostanchuk visited Zagreb, where he had several working meetings with veterans of the liberation war in Croatia. They shared experience of the success of the Serb de-occupation operation, and also talked about the influence and direct participation of veterans in the political and public activities of Croatia. According to Taras Kostanchuk, this experience should to be taken from the Croats in order to win the war and restore the occupied territories of Ukraine.
From March to November 2016, Taras Kostanchuk together with his colleagues from the CO "Justice" visited Ukrainian cities, where he spoke with local citizens and ATO participants. At these meetings, he presented the program "Army of Dignity", which was aimed at uniting fighters, ATO veterans, non-indifferent and active citizens around a common idea – the creation of a democratic, European state of Ukraine.
Taras Kostanchuk considers introducing the "presumption of guilt" of civil servants as one of the first steps to overcoming corruption in Ukraine. When an official can not explain the legality and source of the capital he/she has acquired, he/she must become automatically a suspect in corruption and prove his/her innocence in a court:
On June 8, 2017, Taras Kostanchuk along with his comrades initiated the creation of the ATO Veterans' Council on Ethics and Morality to fight against pseudo-ATO organizations that use combatants in illegal schemes.
In August 2017, before the third anniversary of the Ilovaisk tragedy, Taras Kostanchuk together with the association “Ilovaisk Brotherhood”, as well as other ATO members, members of the dead soldiers’ families, organized a large-scale action under the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine with demands to provide at least interim results of the investigation:
On December 12, 2017, the CO "Justice", headed by Taras Kostanchuk, signed an agreement with international investors on the transfer of innovative technologies to Ukraine in the agro-industrial sector. The main idea of this initiative is to reduce the existing technological and cultural gap and to use this unique opportunity for cooperation between the two countries in the interests of each of them. To this end, ATO participants with their lands for agriculture can be involved.
Charitable activity. Establishment of the charity fund to support the ATO participants "Justice".
In the beginning of 2016, Taras Kostanchuk created a charity organization "Justice", which was aimed at helping the wounded soldiers and ATO veterans, the families of the dead and missing soldiers, as well as the children of ATO participants.
During two years the organization carries out events for children for various holidays, provides material assistance to the needy soldiers and their families, organizes children's rest.
In June 2017, Taras Kostanchuk along with fighters and volunteers of the charity fund "Justice” organized an action in support of an oncologic patient – a niece of Oleksii Dreval, who died in Ilovaisk in 2014. Together with the family of the girl and non-indifferent citizens, they conducted several actions under the walls of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine with demands to provide money (or letter of guarantee) from the state to carry out bone marrow transplantation operations for oncologic patients.
Thanks to the joint efforts, the girl was able to obtain an informational (guarantee) letter from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and conduct an operation.


United Arab Emirates Air Force

The United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF) () is the air force of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), part of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. Its predecessor was established in 1968, when the Emirates were still under British rule. Since then, it has undergone a continual reorganisation and expansion in terms of both capability and numbers of aircraft. Currently, the UAEAF has around 4,000 personnel and operates approximately 538 fixed wing and rotorcraft.
History.
The UAEAF's history starts in May 1968, with the formation of an Air Wing of the Abu Dhabi Defence Force (ADDF) under British rule. Its key roles being to provide both a transport service and a ground attack support capability for ADDF land forces. Major investment in the early 1970s assured an expansion in terms of capabilities, quality and quantity of aircraft. It also led to the renaming of the Air Wing to the ADDF Air Force in 1972. Training and instruction was provided by the Pakistan Air Force. During the 1973 Arab-Israel War (6-25 October 1973), the ADDF Air Force's Caribous served as air ambulances in Jordan.
The Emirate of Dubai maintained its own air component, the Dubai Defence Force Air Wing, until 1999, when the two were effectively merged to become what is now the United Arab Emirates Air Force. Although the integration of the two independent forces has been complete, a small degree of autonomy exists at the operational command level, with the Western Air Command being headquartered in Abu Dhabi and the Central Air Command in Dubai.
Since the 1980s, a combination of regional instability and high oil prices has resulted in an ambitious modernisation of the UAEAF, with the goal of attaining a level of capability matching the highest NATO standards.
In the 1991 Gulf War, the UAE helped other countries by carrying out airstrikes against Iraqi forces.
In 2014, the UAE Air Force along with the Egyptian Air Force carried out airstrikes in Libya against Islamist factions in Tripoli.
In September 2014, UAE Air Force aircraft joined in US-led air strikes against terrorist targets in Syria and Iraq that later became known as Operation Inherent Resolve. These operations were suspended after a Jordanian pilot was captured by Islamic State militants in late December 2014; pending improvements in US search and rescue capabilities in the region.
In 2015, UAE Air Force dropped bombs on ISIS targets in Syria. One of them was Major Mariyam Al Mansouri, the first female UAE Air Force pilot.
The UAE military is also part of the
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.
Personnel and training.
The UAEAF consists of about 4,000 personnel.
In the 1970s and 80s, the UAEAF was instructed by Pakistan Air Force pilots on Dassault Mirage 5s, the backbone of the UAEAF at the time. Even today, many of the personnel are ex-Pakistan Air Force officers and technicians. Most of the flying instructors at Al Ain are from Pakistan, training pilots using Grob G 115, Pilatus PC-7, Aermacchi MB-339, and BAE Hawk 63 aircraft. A few officers of No. 12 Squadron (Hawk 102) at Al Minhad Air Base, are also from the Pakistan Air Force. Some of these officers are on deputation (active service), but most are on civilian contracts with the Air Force Headquarters in Abu Dhabi. Numerous officers of other nationalities have also trained UAE pilots, among them Pakistanis, Moroccans, Canadians, Jordanians, and South Africans.
Women have started training as pilots. The first batch consisted of engineers given approval for flight training. So far, only three women have become actual fighter pilots and one a transport pilot. One woman pilot was grounded due to an ejection from a training flight in a Hawk 63. Instructors at Al Dhafra Air Base are now mainly from the US, as the UAEAF has retired its Mirage 5s in favour of F-16s.
Currently there are five main air bases operational, split between the Western and Central Air Command. The Special Operations Command has its own airbase and operates a wide range of helicopters.
Candidates apply to the Khalifa bin Zayed Air College, which is located at the Al Ain International Airport in Al Ain. They first go through a rigorous schedule of academics (Basic Level: Military Sciences), fitness and officer training. Those who are selected as cadets then start the second phase of academics: Flight Sciences (Aeronautical Science). Cadets who pass the assessment period of the second phase are designated aviation cadets and start flight training. The first aircraft cadets get to fly is the Grob G115 TA. Those who qualify then go on to fly the Pilatus PC-7. On this aircraft, they learn the basics of flying, take-off and landing techniques and procedures followed by a bit of aerobatics. Following the Primary Flying Course is the Basic Flight Course, piloting the Hawk 63. Graduates are graded and assigned accordingly to one of three options: the Advanced Strike course at Minhad on the Hawk 102 aircraft, transport aircraft, and helicopters. At Minhad, the new pilots learn Basic Fighters Manoeuvres, drop bombs and learn to fly cross-country to a neighbouring country, commonly Bahrain or Kuwait. Upon completion of the Advanced Strike course, officers are selected either for the F-16 (Block 60) or the Dassault Mirage 2000-9, both at Al Dhafra AB. A few pilots are selected to learn to fly the F-16 with the United States Air Force's 162d Fighter Wing in Tucson, Arizona.
Overview.
2007 marked the culmination of the largest procurement programmes ever undertaken by the UAE Air Force, with the final deliveries of the 80 F-16E/F Block 60 "Desert Falcons" and approximately 60 upgraded Mirage 2000-9, giving the air force a considerable multirole capability. These two investments represented a total expenditure of around $10 billion, with additional money spent on infrastructure and logistics. A $6.4 billion contract with Lockheed Martin for the supply and support of the 80 F-16s was signed in March 2000, while a $3.4 billion deal for the purchase of 30 new Mirage 2000-9 and retrofitting of the 33 older UAE Mirage 2000s was signed earlier in 1998. Missiles were also purchased: 160 AGM-88 HARMs, 1,000 or more AGM-65 Mavericks, about 500 AIM-120 AMRAAMs, 270 AIM-9 Sidewinders and 52 AGM-84 Harpoons. In November 2017, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces announced their intention to sign a contract with Dassault Aviation for the upgrade of its Mirage 2000-9 aircraft. French newspaper La Tribune reported the modernization would cost roughly €300 million.
After a competition between the BAE Hawk, KAI T-50 Golden Eagle and Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master, the UAEAF announced the acquisition of 48 trainer and light attack aircraft, with the first deliveries to take place in 2012. The other training types that are thought to be near replacement are the 30 Pilatus PC-7s and five Aermacchi MB-339s serving with the Air Academy at Al Ain. The MB-339 is also in use with the UAEAF flight display team, Al Fursan.
The UAEAF has operated 20 IAR 330 Puma helicopters since the late 1970s. These have been recently upgraded to the IAR-330SM standard by IAR Ghimbav in Romania in cooperation with Eurocopter. These aircraft, supplemented by a further ten ex-South African Air Force reworked SA-330s, are expected to remain in service for at least 15 years. Although no replacement for the Puma fleet is required in the immediate future, the force will be supplemented by 26 Sikorsky UH-60M "Battlehawks", with 390 AGM-114N Hellfire II missiles. 30 AH-64A Apache helicopters were modernised as well, to the AH-64D Longbow standard, and a dozen Eurocopter Fennecs were recently acquired for special forces use.
The most important facility of the UAEAF is the Al Dhafra Air Base, with almost the entire fighter aircraft fleet located there. However, in order to prevent all of the air defence and strike assets being located at a single base, a $1 billion, completely new facility has been constructed deep in the Abu Dhabi desert, near the border corner with Saudi Arabia and Oman, near Al Gharbia, housing at least one Mirage 2000 unit. Al-Safran is believed to have opened between around 2008. It is 3,000 m long and has aircraft parking nearly the same size as in Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. A 4,000 m runway at Al-Safran Air Base was built around 2008.
Structure.
As of 2008, the structure of the United Arab Emirates Air Force is as follows:
Aircraft.
Retired.
Previous aircraft operated by the Air Force were the Dassault Mirage 5, Boeing 707, Aeritalia G.222, CASA C-212, SF.260T, Alouette III, SA 342 Gazelle, Bölkow Bo 105, Bell 206 & Bell 214 helicopter
Future equipment.
Future programs include the Next-Generation Fighter, request for proposals has been sent to Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II and Sukhoi Su-57. On 10 November 2020 the U.S. State Department approved the sale of up to 50 F-35As and 18 MQ-9B Reaper drones to the UAE.


USLHT Amaranth

USLHT "Amaranth" was a schooner-rigged, twin-screw, wooden-hulled lighthouse tender of United States Lighthouse Service, which served as a vessel of the United States Navy during World War I, and as part of the United States Coast Guard during World War II.
Authorized on 30 August 1890, the contract for the construction of "Amaranth" was signed on 10 May 1891. Built by the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company of Cleveland, Ohio, at a cost of $74,993.70, the ship was launched on 18 December 1891, the lighthouse tender was accepted by the United States Lighthouse Service on 14 April 1892 and operated on the Great Lakes from her base at Detroit until the United States entered World War I.
Service history.
She was originally assigned to duty on Lake Superior and served there until transferred to the operational control of the United States Navy. Transferred to the Navy by the Executive order of 16 April 1917 which placed the Lighthouse Service under the control of the Navy Department, "Amaranth" was assigned to the 9th Naval District, but continued to serve much as she had done before the war. Following the armistice, she was returned to the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce with the rest of the Lighthouse Service under an Executive order of 1 July 1919.
On the morning of 23 July 1920, while supplying Passage Island Light Station, Lake Superior, Michigan, the "Amaranth" struck the rocks under water at the extreme southwesterly point of the island, breaking the shoe and rudder, with the total loss of the latter. Repairs were made by the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company, Port Arthur, Ontario. She also received new boilers and then returned to service.
In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt merged the Lighthouse Service into the United States Coast Guard which, on 1 November 1941, was ordered to "...operate as a part of the Navy." Now redesignated USCGC "Amaranth" (WAGL-201), the ship was stationed at Duluth, Minnesota, throughout World War II, and maintained navigational aids on Lake Superior. Following the return of peace, she was decommissioned on 29 September 1945 and sold on 19 October 1946. She served as the privately owned freighter "South Wind" until being laid up in 1954.


4th Law Enforcement Battalion

The 4th Law Enforcement Battalion is a military police battalion in Marine Forces Reserve. The unit was activated in September 2012 with the headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota as part of the Force Headquarters Group.


Wagram order of battle

On the 5 and 6 July 1809, north of Vienna, took place one of the most important confrontations in human history until then, the battle of Wagram. It opposed an Austrian army led by "generalissimus" Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen to a Franco-Italo-German army under the command of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine.
Below are presented the military units which participated at this battle. On this page are listed only the troops who were close enough to the hostilities to be able to intervene. The Austrian V Corps, left behind as a strategic reserve, and the "Army of Inner Austria", whose elements from the vanguard arrived close to the battlefield only in the afternoon of the 6th, too late to intervene, have been omitted from the article. Similarly, the French VIII Corps left outside the theater of hostilities; the Franco-Allied garrison and the batteries on the island of Lobau; the squadrons and the French regiments left on the right bank of the Danube to protect the lines of communication, and most part of the Center Corps belonging to the Franco-Italian army, located in Pressburg, have also been omitted from this article because they played no part in the battle.
The Austrian army was not reinforced during the second day. Archduke Charles commanded about 140,000-150,000 men, including 15,000 cavalrymen and over 400 artillery pieces.
During the first day of the fighting, Napoleon's army numbered about 155,000-160,000 men and around the noon of the second day it was reinforced up to 165,000-180,000 men, out of whom 27,000 were cavalrymen, and more than 400 cannons. This figure remains approximate, as it does not take into consideration the losses suffered during the first day of the battle, which are difficult to estimate. The losses of the army are only a global estimation, including the hostilities on both the 5th and the 6th of July. In addition, on the 6th, Napoleon basically could not rely on the Saxon infantry from the Saxon IX Corps, which was completely disorganised and unfit for combat following the hard fighting during the first day. The French and Allied forces included two armies: the "Grand Army of Germany", which had taken part in the previous campaign in Southern Germany and Austria (the main theater of the War of the Fifth Coalition), and the "Army of Italy", of smaller dimensions, which arrived on the battlefield in stages and only with a part of its effectives, during the two days. The order of battle of the French Army was profoundly reorganised during June, and it was modified even during the battle, with some units being attached to different commanders, according to circumstances.
Abbreviations of military ranks and dignities.
Comments
"*" "Maréchal d'Empire", or Marshal, was not a "rank" within the French army, but a personal title granted to distinguished generals of division, along with higher pay and privileges. The highest "rank" in Napoleon's army was actually "Général de Division".
Opposing armies.
Kaiserlich-königliche Armee.
The Austrian army, called "Kaiserlich-königliche Armee" (Imperial and Royal Army), was composed of multinational troops from across the Empire, including proper Austrians, Bohemians, Moravians, Hungarians, Romanians, Croatians, Poles and other ethnic groups, with regiments speaking various languages. Another facet that showed the diverse nature of this army was that "Landwehr" (Militias) units, some of which were quite poorly trained, were brigaded together with regular troops.
Following the Battle of Aspern-Essling, Charles massed whatever forces he could spare, recalling two-thirds of III Korps from Linz, but, with war raging on secondary theatres, he was unable or unwilling to recall any additional forces. Archduke Charles did plan for the small "Army of Inner Austria" under Archduke John of Austria to march out from Pressburg, some 40 kilometers away, and participate in the battle, reckoning that the timely arrival of this force would reinforce his weak left. Excluding the "Army of Inner Austria", the forces that Charles had available for the two days of battle were about 138,000 men, with 414 artillery pieces.
Archduke Charles, aged 37 at the time of the battle, had under his direct command the "Kaiserlich-königliche Hauptarmee", the main Austrian army. He was seconded by 39-year-old Maximilian von Wimpffen, the army's Quartermaster General (Chief of Staff), a pugnacious and assertive character, who was well respected in the Austrian army for his knowledge of military strategy. The Austrian army was divided into several Korps, as follows:
Although in the vicinity of the battlefield, the V Korps (12,000 men, 50 guns) under "Feldmarschalleutnant" Prince Heinrich XV Reuss of Plauen had been left behind on the Bisamberg heights as a strategic reserve, a position which meant that it was too far away to take part to any fighting on or around the Marchfeld, and were thus not a part of Charles' effective fighting force. This was due to Charles's desire to protect his communication lines towards Bohemia and Moravia.
Grande Armée.
As opposed to his Austrian counterpart, Napoleon managed to muster two secondary armies for the upcoming battle. The first, called the Army of Italy, had marched from northern Italy to the main theatre of operations north of Vienna and was led by Napoleon's stepson, the Viceroy of Italy, Prince Eugène de Beauharnais. The second was the XI Corps, which formed the Army of Dalmatia, under General of Division Auguste de Marmont. However, the Army of Dalmatia, as well as a part of the Army of Italy only arrived on the battlefield towards midday on 6 July, at about the same time as an additional force, a Bavarian division under general Karl Philipp von Wrede.
All these forces considered, Napoleon could muster an army of around 166,000 men, with 433 guns. He was seconded by "Major Général" (Chief of Staff), 56-year-old "Maréchal d'Empire" Louis-Alexandre Berthier, a seasoned officer, who had been serving as Napoleon's Chief of Staff since 1796. The army was organised in the usual French Corps system and the main army, "La Grande Armée d'Allemagne" ("the Grand Army of Germany") was divided as follows:
The "Army of Italy", under the command of 27-year-old Prince Eugène, the Viceroy of Italy and Napoleon's stepson. Eugène's army had a total of 44 guns and was made up of:
Napoleon also massed additional artillery on the island of Lobau – 28 18-pounders, 24 12-pounders, 17 28-centimetre heavy mortars, 10 howitzers and a number of small calibre guns (4 and 6-pounders). Also stationed on the island of Lobau during the battle were one regiment and 5 battalions defending the crucial communications with Vienna. These troops would not see action at Wagram, although the batteries would open an artillery barrage when Austrians from Klenau's VI Corps came within range, on the second day of the battle. All the forces that remained on this island were placed under the command of general Aubry, later under the command of general Jean-Louis Reynier.
Finally, the VIII Corps, under General of Division Dominique Vandamme was left out of the battle and was left behind to cover Vienna and the southern bank of the Danube upstream from the Austrian capital.
Franco-Allied Forces.
Commander: Emperor Napoleon I
Grand Army of Germany.
Commander: Emperor Napoleon I
French Imperial Guard.
Comments
"*" Some authors (Naulet, Hourtoulle) cite GD Walther as being the commander of the entire Guard. General Walther had indeed commanded the Guard during the marches of this campaign. Rothenberg considers that Emperor Napoleon was the direct commander of the Guard, because he kept this unit under very strict control and it acted only at his command. Furthermore, Walther, although one of the most experienced generals on the battlefield, had previously commanded only cavalry. Thanks to his prestige among the ranks of this unit and the fact that he often commanded the Guard cavalry, MdE Bessières was naturally considered to have the authority to command this unit, although in this battle he was granted only the command of the Cavalry Reserve.
"**" GB Curial had been promoted to the rank of GD after the battle of Aspern-Essling and had been granted the command of the 1st Young Guard Division, but he nominally kept the command of the 1st Foot Chasseurs Regiment from the Old Guard as their deputy major general. The major general of the Foot Chasseurs (honorary appointment), MdE Soult, was in Spain.
"***" Pigeard ("La Garde Imperiale") cites GD Walther as being the direct commander of the Horse Grenadiers. It is certain that this general spent much of the 6th of July by directly commanding this unit, as it was his favourite one.
II Corps (Oudinot).
Comments
"*" GD Oudinot replaced MdE Lannes, mortally wounded at the battle of Aspern-Essling, at the head of the II Corps.
"**" The 1st and 2nd divisions of this Corps were formed only from the 4th battalion of several regiments, some present at Wagram in the composition of other Corps, others being in Spain with their other 3 battalions and their colonel. The 4th battalion of these regiments was usually made up from young recruits without experience, divided, according to the new French system, in 4 "center" companies. To fill up the ranks, according to the regulations, 2 more "élite" companies were added (one of grenadiers and one of voltigeurs for the line regiments, and one of foot carabiniers and one of voltigeurs for the light regiments), generally consisting of veterans.
"***" After the battle of Aspern-Essling GD Frère replaced GD Claparède at the head of the 2nd Division.
"****" After the battle of Aspern-Essling GD Grandjean replaced GD Saint-Hilaire, mortally wounded on the 22nd of May, at the head of the 3rd Division.
"Army of Italy" (Eugène).
Under the overall command of Emperor Napoleon I, king of Italy
Commander: Prince Eugène
Austrian army.
Commander: Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
II Corps (von Hohenzollern).
Comments
"*" Some sources state FML Ulm's division was commanded by FML von Siegenthal.
III Corps (Kollowrat).
Comments
"*" Some sources state GM Schneller's brigade was commanded by Ob Schmuttermayer.
VI Corps (Klenau).
Strength: 13 742
1 st Division FML Vincent - Strength 3 750
1. Brigade GM Wallmoden
Grenzer Regiment B (1/2 Bat.)
Husaren-Regiment 7 Liechtenstein (8 Esc.)
2. Brigade GM Mariassy
Bat. 1 Volunt. Vienna
Bat. 2 Volunt. Vienna
Bat. Landwehr Colloredo
3. Brigade GM Vecsey †
Bat. Grenzer Saint-Georg
Husaren - Regiment 8 Kienmayer
2 nd Division FML Hohenfeld - Strength 6 331
1. Brigade GM Adler
Regiment 14 Ob Klebek (2 Bat.)
Regiment 59 Ob Jordis (2 Bat.)
Bat. 3 Landwehr din Mähren
Bat. 1 Landwehr
Bat. 3 Leg. Erzherzog Karl Carl
2. Brigade GM Hofmeister
Regiment 60 Ob Giulay (3 Bat.)
Regiment 36 Ob Kollowrat (3 Bat.)
3 rd Division FML Kottulinsky - Strength 3 661
1. Brigade GM Spleny
Regiment 51 Ob Spleny (3 Bat.)
Regiment 31 Ob Benjowsky (2 Bat.)
Bat. 3 Volunteer Vienna
Bat. 4 Volunteer Vienna
Bat. 1 Volunteer Mähren

Reservekorps (Liechtenstein).
Strength: 17 954
1st Grenadier-Division FML d'Aspré † - Strength 3 960
1. Brigade GM Merville
Bat. Grenad. Ob Scharlach
Bat. de Grenad. Scovaud
Bat. de Grenad. Ob Buteany
Bat. de Grenad Ob Brzezinsky
2. Brigade GM Hammer
Bat. Grenad Ob Kirchenbetter
Bat. Grenad. Ob Bissingen
Bat. Grenad. Ob Oklopsia
Bat. Grenad. Ob Locher
2nd Grenadier-Division FML Prochaska - Strength 5 940
1. Brigade GM Murray
Bat. Grenad Ob Frisch
Bat. Grenad Ob Georgy
Bat. Grenad Ob Portner
Bat. Grenad Ob Leiningen
2.Brigade GM Steyrer
Bat. Grenad Ob Hahn
Bat. Grenad Ob Hromada
Bat. Grenad Ob Legrand
Bat. Grenad Ob Dumontant
Bat. Grenad Ob Berger
1 st Cavalry- Division FML Hessen-Homburg - Strength 3 134
1st Brigade GM Roussel
Kürass.-Regiment 3 Albert (6 Esc.)
Kürass.Regiment 2 Erzherzog Franz(6 Esc.)
2 nd Brigade GM Lederer
Kürass. Regiment 4 Erzherzog Ferdinand (6 Esc.)
Kürass.Regiment 8 Hohenzollern (6 esc.)
3. Brigade GM Kroyher
Kürassier Regiment 1 (4 Esc.)
Kürass.Regimentul 6 Liechtenstein (6 Esc.)
2 nd Cavalry –Division FML Schwarzenberg - Strength 1 800
1 st Brigade GM Teimern
Regiment 6 Chevaulegers Rosenberg (8 Esc.)
Dragoner-Regiment 3 Ob.Knesevitch (6 Esc.)
2. Brigade GM Kerekes
Husaren-Regimen ob Neutrauer (6 Esc.)
3 rd Cavalry Division FML Nostitz - Strength 3 120
1 st Brigade 1 GM Wartensleben
Regiment 3 Chevaulegers Ob. O'Reilly (6 Esc.)
Husaren Regiment 6 Ob. Blankenstein (10 Esc.)
2.nd Brigade GM Rothkirch
Dragoner-Regiment 1 Erzherzog Johann (6 Esc.)
Regiment 6 Dragon. Ob Riesch (6 Esc.)


Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal

The Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States Marine Corps. It was established on 8 May 1919 as the "Marine Corps Expeditionary Ribbon". A full-sized medal was authorized on 1 March 1921. The Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal is therefore one of the oldest medals of the United States military which is still issued to active duty personnel.
Award criteria.
To be awarded the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, a Marine must have engaged in a landing on foreign territory, participated in combat operations against an opposing force, or participated in a designated operation for which no other service medal is authorized. After 1961, some commands permitted eligible personnel to choose between the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, or the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, depending on the nature of the operation in question.
Design.
In 1919, the Corps established the Expeditionary Ribbon to recognize "limited service against an opposing force." Two years later, in 1921, the ribbon became the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal (MCEM). The medal was designed by Walker Hancock and features a 1920s-era Marine in full combat gear, advancing with one foot in the water and one foot on land, bayonet at the ready, with the word "Expeditions". On the reverse of both the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal and Navy Expeditionary Medal, in the center of the bronze medallion an eagle is shown alight upon an anchor; the eagle is facing to the left and the flukes of the anchor are to the right. The eagle is grasping sprigs of laurel, which extend beyond the anchor in both directions. Above the eagle are the words UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS or UNITED STATES NAVY presented as an arch. Above the laurel are the words FOR SERVICE presented horizontally. The eagle is the American bald eagle and represents the United States, the anchor alludes to Marine Corps or Navy service, and the laurel is symbolic of victory and achievement.
Subsequent awards of the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal were originally denoted by award numerals. After 1921, multiple awards were denoted by bronze service stars. The Fleet Marine Force Combat Operation Insignia is also authorized for navy personnel who were on duty with and attached to a Marine Corps unit that participated in combat. The Wake Island Device is authorized for any personnel who were awarded the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal as part of the defense of Wake Island during the opening days of World War II.
Special Operations.
Under the "deemed to merit special recognition and for which service no campaign medal has been awarded" clause, both the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal (MCEM) and Navy Expeditionary Medal (NEM) have been awarded for classified operations with proper adjudication by the Secretary of the Navy Special Awards Board. The MCEM and NEM "can be authorized and awarded to individuals or units who have participated in classified operations not necessarily in connection with larger operations in which the public is aware". The SECNAV INSTRUCTION 1650.1H - NAVY AND MARINE CORPS AWARDS MANUAL details the process via the Special Awards Board for issuing classified awards. Anecdotal reports from former service members cite a wide variety of classified operations for which the MCEM and NEM have reportedly been awarded, ranging from Marine Corps units clandestinely deployed in Africa, to helicopter gun-crews or force protection units assisting SEAL-DEVGRU or DeltaForce teams worldwide, and even classified submarine movements during the Cold War. In cases where the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal or Navy Expeditionary Medal has been awarded for classified operations, the name of the operation is omitted from public documentation including from the individual service member's DD214 personnel record with only the name of the award and issue date provided.
Stolen Valor.
Both the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal (MCEM) and Navy Expeditionary Medal (NEM) have been fraudulently worn by military service members convicted under the UCMJ and civilians fraudulently claiming to have been awarded the MCEM or NEM along with other medals such as the Purple Heart (see Stolen Valor Act for applicable criminal legislation). It has been widely reported that L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, fraudulently claimed being awarded the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal.
See also.
Awards and decorations of the United States military"


USCGC Kukui (WLB-203)

USCGC "Kukui" (WLB-203) is the third cutter in the "Juniper"-class of seagoing buoy tenders and is the third ship to bear the name. She is under the operational control of the Commander of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District and is home-ported in Sitka, Alaska. Her primary area of responsibility is the inland and coastal waters of southeastern Alaska. "Kukui" conducts heavy lift aids-to-navigation operations, and law enforcement, homeland security, environmental pollution response, and search and rescue as directed.
Construction and characteristics.
USCGC "Kukui" was built by the Marinette Marine Corporation in Wisconsin and launched on 3 May 1997. She has a length of , a beam of , and a draft of . "Kukui" is propelled by two Caterpillar 3608 diesel engines rated at 3,100 horsepower, and has a top speed of 16 knots. She has a single controllable-pitch propeller, which along with bow and stern thrusters allow the ship to be maneuvered to set buoys close offshore and in restricted waters. A dynamic global positioning system coupled with machinery plant controls and a chart display and information system allow station-keeping of the ship within a five-meter accuracy of the planned position without human intervention. "Kukui" is also equipped with an oil-skimming system known as the Spilled Oil Recovery System (SORS) which is used in her mission of maritime environmental protection. The cutter has a 2,875 square foot buoy deck area with a crane used for servicing large ocean buoys.
Mission.
USCGC "Kukui" is a seagoing buoy tender with her primary mission being the servicing of aids-to navigation buoys in her area of responsibility (AOR) within the Seventeenth Coast Guard District. "Kukui"s other missions include maritime law enforcement, homeland security, ensuring the security of ports and waterways, maritime environmental response, as well as search and rescue duties. She is home-ported in Sitka, Alaska. Her primary area of responsibility is the inland and coastal waters of southeastern Alaska.
History.
USCGC "Kukui" is named after the official state tree of Hawaii and is the third ship to bear the name. was the second ship to bear the name.


Clay Quartermain

Clay Quartermain is a fictional character, a secret agent appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history.
Created by writer-artist Jim Steranko, he first appeared in "Strange Tales" #163 (Dec. 1967).
Clay Quartermain appears as an agent of the fictional espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., beginning in the feature "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." in Marvel Comics' "Strange Tales" in 1967, and continuing into the subsequent series "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." in 1968. He became the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to General Thunderbolt Ross's "Hulkbusters" military program, and a supporting character in "The Incredible Hulk" vol. 2, beginning with issue #187 (May 1975). A Life Model Decoy (LMD) replica of Quartermain was a featured character in the 1988 miniseries "Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.". Quartermain has since had guest appearances in issues of "Alias", "Cable", "The Defenders", "Marvel Team-Up", "The Pulse", "Silver Sable and the Wild Pack", and the miniseries "Secret War"; in the "Nick Fury" feature in the omnibus "Marvel Holiday Special" (Jan. 1994); and in the "Elite Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." feature in the one-shot "Captain America 2000" (Nov. 2000). He also led the S.H.I.E.L.D. Paranormal Containment Unit in the 2005–2006 series "Nick Fury's Howling Commandos".
Fictional character biography.
Clay Quartermain is a high-ranking agent of the fictional espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., a "blond-haired, fast-talking, grinning Burt Lancaster" sort who first worked with that organization's storied executive director Nick Fury during S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first conflict with would-be world tyrant the Yellow Claw, later revealed to have been a robot simulacrum of that Chinese-national Mandarin. Quartermain later became part of the U.S. military's "Hulkbusters" operation, which attempted to capture and contain the Hulk.
He became a fugitive and traveled with Rick Jones and the Hulk. He met his brother, a farmer. He testified in Congress about a mass murder committed by the supervillain known as the Leader who had detonated a gamma bomb in a town to obliterate.
Once more at S.H.I.E.L.D., Quartermain, along with many other agents, was seemingly killed by a self-aware, renegade "Deltan" variety of the agency's artificial-human "Life Model Decoys", and replaced by one such LMD. The most advanced of the Deltite LMDs, it rebelled upon learning it was not human, and after several confrontations, perished.
Retconned as a former romantic interest of Jessica Jones, Quartermain later became leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Paranormal Containment Unit. He was the agent sent to inform Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk) that she had been pressed into service as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He next led a new incarnation of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Hulkbusters" unit, here She-Hulk, Agent Crimson, and Agent Cheesecake. Clay and his team then defeated the electrical entity Zzzax.
Quartermain remained an ally of Jones, using her to bring down a conspiracy against the President of the United States. He assisted Jessica in the investigation of Mattie Franklin, a young female superhero trapped in mysterious circumstances. Quartermain later led a S.H.I.E.L.D. unit that rescued Jones from a HYDRA recruitment attempt. A flashback reveals Clay befriended Jessica while she was recovering from a months-long ordeal with the Purple Man.
At a meatpacking plant, Quartermain was found, apparently dead in a suspected Red Hulk attack. The commanding officer of the crime scene was his old friend Gabe Jones. It was later revealed, however, that his actual murderer was the now-insane Doc Samson. Quartermain had inadvertently stumbled upon a plot hatched by Red Hulk and Samson, and threatened to launch a full-scale investigation. This involved the Life Model Decoy of General Thunderbolt Ross, seemingly killed during a fight with the Red Hulk; Ross was actually the Red Hulk himself.
Other versions.
The Ultimate Marvel version of Clay Quartermain appears as a S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent. He was seen escorting Peter Parker out of school to respond to a major threat.


Zawadka Morochowska

Zawadka Morochowska (, "Zavadka Morokhivs'ka") is a former village in the administrative district of Gmina Komańcza, within Sanok County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It was approximately north-east of Komańcza, south of Bukowsko, and south of the regional capital Rzeszów.
Zawadka Morochowska (or Bukowska, 1876) appears on records as early as the year 1567. It was a small Rusyn-Wallachian village on either side of the Boroniec stream. The population as of 1936 was 328. In 1939, there were 49 farms. As of January 1945, there were said to be 425 Ukrainians there. The Greek Catholic Church of the Circumcision of Our Lord was built there in 1856. It was a filial church of the church in nearby Morochów, which is much older. The village generally endured through World War II until 1944.
This village was the subject of repression by the Soviet-sponsored Polish Army in early 1946 as part of the campaign to eliminate suspected support for the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). In January, 1946, a unit of Polish communist soldiers came into the area, and launched offenses against Bukowica, Ratnawica, and Zboiska, among other places. They were searching for an alleged 800 UPA members led by "Ren". They attempted to engage the UPA forces near Zawadka Morochowska, and in the process of the search, massacred dozens of the village's residents including men, women and children. This massacre was followed by at least two additional massacres in March 1946. Residents who remained alive by 1947 were deported to the Western territories that Poland had acquired through the Yalta conference. A memorial to the victims of the Zawadka massacre stands in the cemetery, near the mass graves that hold the victims' bodies.
The parish birth record of Zawadka Morochowska (1784–1890) and the death record of Zawadka Morochowska (1784–1943) are at the Meeting of the Lord Orthodox Church in Morochów. This Orthodox church is in the building once used by the Greek Catholic Church of Morochow.


USCGC Camellia (WAGL-206)