May 2022 — M2CC Newsletter

News from M2CC 

MAY 2022 EDITION 

Russian Soldier Pleads Guilty 

at Ukraine War Crimes Trial 

See page 17 

Monthly Newsletter 

Military Throwing Cash at 

Recruiting Crisis as Troops 

Head for the Exits 

Hints that the armed services might 

soon face a problem keeping their 

ranks full began quietly, with 

officials spending the last decade 

warning that a dwindling slice of 

the American public could serve. 

Only about one-quarter of young 

Americans are even eligible for 

service these days, a shrinking 

pool limited by an increasing 

number of potential recruits who 

are overweight or are screened out 

due to minor criminal infractions, 

including the use of recreational 

drugs such as marijuana. 

But what had been a slowmoving 

trend is reaching crisis 

levels, as a highly competitive job 

market converges with a mass of 

troops leaving as the coronavirus 

pandemic subsides, alarming 

military planners. 

"Not two years into a pandemic, 

and we have warning lights 

flashing," Maj. Gen. Ed Thomas, 

the Air Force Recruiting Service 

commander, wrote in a memo 

-- leaked in January -- about the 

headwinds his team faces. 

For now, the services are leaning 

on record-level enlistment and 

retention bonuses meant to attract 

and keep America's military staffed 

and ready -- bonuses that continue 

to climb. 

In an interview with Military.com 

last month, Thomas didn't mince 

words. He knows he is competing 

against the private sector to hire 

people, from technology giants to 

regional gas stations. 

"If you want to work at Buc-ee's 

along I-35 in Texas, you can do 

it for [a] $25-an-hour starting 

salary," Thomas said. "You can 

start at Target for $29 an hour 

with educational benefits. So you 

start looking at the competition: 

Starbucks, Google, Amazon. The 

battle for talent amidst this current 

labor shortage is intense." 

Paired with those competitive offers 

for workers are a large number of 

service members retiring, some 

having delayed leaving the ranks 

during a pandemic that saw huge 

instability in the job market. 

Since fiscal 2020, the U.S. 

Department of Labor's Veterans' 

Employment and Training Service 

-- known as VETS -- has anticipated 

that around 150,000 service 

members would transition out of 

the military annually as part of its 

budget justification documents. 

But in 2020, the Transition 

Assistance Program, or TAP, 

the congressionally mandated 

classes that prepare troops for 

life outside the military, helped 

counsel 193,968 service members 

on their way out of the military, 

said Lisa Lawrence, a Pentagon 

spokesperson. That's nearly onethird 

more newly minted veterans 

than the Labor Department had 

planned for. 

In 2021, that number grew to 

196,413. Prior to 2020, the 

Department of Defense did 

not report the total number of 

TAP-eligible service members 

transitioning, although Lawrence 

said the number has been 

somewhere between 190,000 and 

200,000 annually in recent years. 

Payouts aimed at attracting new 

service members to replace those 

outgoing veterans are at all-time 

highs. The Army started offering 

recruiting bonuses of up to $50,000 

in January, and last month the 

Air Force began promoting up to 

$50,000 -- the most it can legally 

offer -- for certain career fields. 

The Navy followed with its offer 

of $25,000 to those willing to ship 

out in a matter of weeks. It says 

Continued on page 12 

WWW.M2CC.US 

the bonuses are the result of an 

"unprecedentedly competitive job 

market." 

Cmdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman 

for the sea service's recruiting 

command, told Military.com in a 

recent phone interview that "the 

private sector is doing things we 

haven't seen them do before to try 

and attract talent, so we have to 

stay competitive." 

Benham said the scope of the 

Navy's offer -- a minimum of 

$25,000 to ship out before June 

-- has "never happened before to 

anybody's collective knowledge 

around here." 

Courting and Paying for Talent 

The pandemic economy has placed 

private-sector workers in the 

driver's seat, pushing employers 

to offer more lucrative incentives 

such as better benefits, flexible 

work-from-home schedules or 

massive signing bonuses to make 

hires. That is putting major pressure 

on the military as it tries to attract 

recruits who may be considering 

the civilian job market. 

It's all been complicated by 

the military's myriad of other 

difficulties getting new troops 

in the door, such as recruiting 

efforts quashed by the pandemic, a 

shrinking pool of eligible recruits, 

and social media silos complicating 

advertising. And amid public 

scandals, such as the 2020 murder 

of Vanessa Guillén and suicides 

on the aircraft carrier USS George 

Washington, military service may 

seem like a less attractive choice 

for young Americans.

2 | M2CC - News www.m2cc.us MAY 2022 EDITION 

Navy Christens Destroyer Named for First Black 

Marine General Officer 

CHARLESTON, South Carolina — With 

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro calling 

it “the very best ship that our nation has to 

offer,” the U.S. Navy christened Aegis-class 

destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 

121) during ceremonies in Charleston, S.C., 

Saturday. 

The Petersen, built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in 

Pascagoula, is named in honor of U.S. Marine 

Corps Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen Jr., the first 

black Marine Corps aviator and the first black 

Marine to rise to the rank of three-star general. 

Serving two combat tours — Korea in 1953 

and Vietnam in 1968 — Petersen flew more 

than 350 combat missions and had over 4,000 

hours in multiple fighter and attack aircraft. 

In 1979, Petersen was promoted to brigadier 

general, becoming the first Black general 

officer in the Marine Corps. He retired in 1988, 

with awards and honors including the Defense 

Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with 

Combat “V”, Distinguished Flying Cross; 

Purple Heart; Meritorious Service Medal, 

Air Medal, Navy Commendation Medal with 

Combat “V”, and the Air Force Commendation 

Medal. 

Petersen died in August 2015 at the age of 83. 

He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

WWW.M2CC.US Monthly Newsletter | 3 

Saturday’s keynote speaker was Carlos 

Campbell, former Navy aviator and assistant 

Secretary of Commercie for Economic 

Development, who served alongside Petersen 

and spoke of Petersen’s courage and dedication. 

“He received a (fragment) wound, he was 

treated in the field, and returned to combat,” 

Campbell recalled of Petersen. 

“It is fitting that a name synonymous with 

service and sacrifice be emblazoned on the steel 

of this American warship,” said Chief of Naval 

Operations Adm. Mike Gilday. “Sailors aboard 

this mighty warship will deploy wherever, 

whenever needed, with General Petersen’s 

fighting spirit and tenacity, for generations to 

come.” 

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David 

Berger, was also among the dignitaries on 

hand. 

“General Petersen was a man of many firsts,” 

Berger said. “There’s a saying that ships take 

on the characteristics of their namesakes, and 

if that’s true, then God help any adversary to 

ever confronts the Frank E. Petersen Jr.” 

Members of Petersen’s family were on hand 

for the christening, with his daughter, Gayle 

Petersen, speaking for the family and paying 

tribute to one special person in her father’s life. 

“We would not be having this ceremony today 

if not for a gentleman named Robert Adams,” 

Gayle Petersen said. “When my dad was shot 

down in Vietnam, he was rescued by Robert 

Adams.” 

She also paid tribute to the Ingalls shipbuilders 

who brought DDG 121 to life. 

“I would like to thank all who had a hand in 

building this ship, from stem to stern.” 

The Petersen’s commanding officer, Cmdr. 

Daniel Hancock, reported the ship ready, and 

— assisted by Gen. Petersen’s daughters Gayle 

Petersen, Dana Petersen Moore, Lindsay 

Pulliam and Monique Petersen — ship sponsor 

D’Arcy Ann Neller gave the traditional order 

to “man our ship and bring her to life.” 

Neller is the wife of former Marine Corps 

Commandant Gen. Robert Neller. Co-sponsor 

Alicia J. Petersen, Gen. Petersen’s widow, died 

last September. 

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4 | M2CC - News www.m2cc.us MAY 2022 EDITION


Focus on Oversight a Key for Success at 

CoreCivic 

In the corrections industry, maintaining high standards of 

operation is imperative to meeting the needs of the individuals 

in our care. That's why CoreCivic adheres to a stringent set of 

guidelines set forth by our own standards, as well as those of our 

government partners and the American Correctional Association 

(ACA). 

Founded in 1870, the ACA is considered the national benchmark 

for the effective operation of correctional systems throughout 

the United States. To become accredited, a facility must achieve 

compliance with ACA mandatory standards and a minimum of 

90 percent non-mandatory standards. CoreCivic facilities adhere 

to ACA standards, and in 2020, CoreCivic earned an average 

ACA audit score of 99.6 percent across all facilities. 

Key ACA audit areas include facility personnel, resident reentry 

programs, resident safety, health care, and more. 

holds our facilities and staff to a high standard. To be able to 

represent our facility and receive reaccreditation in person is an 

honor." 

Adhering to ACA standards is only one part of CoreCivic's 

commitment to robust oversight. When government partners 

utilize CoreCivic's services, we are held not only to our own 

high standards and those of the ACA, but we are often held to 

the same or higher accountability of our public counterparts 

through stringent government contracts, unfettered access to 

our facilities for our partners, and hundreds of on-site quality 

assurance monitors. 

We provide access to our government partners, with most of 

our facilities having government agency employees known as 

contract monitors who are physically on-site to ensure we are 

operating in line with partner guidelines. 

Recently, the ACA held in Nashville, Tennessee, its 151st 

Congress of Corrections, an annual convention that brings 

together corrections professionals from across the country. In 

addition to various workshops and events at the convention, the 

ACA Commission on Accreditation also held panel hearings to 

award accreditation to correctional facilities that meet the ACA's 

rigorous requirements. Listed below are the seven CoreCivic 

facilities that earned reaccreditation this year, with mandatory/ 

non-mandatory scores: 

• Bent County Correctional Facility - 100/99.0 

• Citrus County Detention Facility - 100/100 

• Eloy Detention Center - 100/100 

• Lake Erie Correctional Institution - 100/99.3 

• Saguaro Correctional Center - 100/99.8 

• Stewart Detention Center - 100/100 

• Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility - 100/100 

"The accreditation process is very important," said Warden 

Fred Figueroa from Eloy Detention Center, one of the seven 

CoreCivic facilities that was awarded reaccreditation. "ACA 

To maintain our own high standards, annual on-site audits covering 

all operational areas are administered to ensure compliance with 

contractual and regulatory obligations and corporate-mandated 

requirements. Each CoreCivic Safety facility is audited by our 

internal quality assurance division, which is independent from 

our operations division. Facilities are expected to be audit-ready 

year-round, maintaining continuous compliance with numerous 

applicable standards. 

CoreCivic employs 75 staff members dedicated to quality 

assurance, including several subject matter experts with extensive 

experience from all major disciplines within our institutional 

operations. 

"A lot of hard work goes into preparing for these audits," 

Figueroa said. "Once they're complete, the staff can see their 

accomplishments and feel proud." 

Having multiple levels of oversight helps CoreCivic maintain 

a safe environment for those in our care. By holding ourselves 

accountable to our own high standards, along with our 

government partners' and ACA's standards, CoreCivic continues 

to be a trusted partner working to better the public good.


WWW.M2CC.US Monthly Newsletter | 7


Space Force Offering 

Bonuses Up to $20,000 

for New Guardians with 

Tech Backgrounds 

The Space Force has unveiled a wave of bonuses to lure 

recruits with highly specialized tech backgrounds to become 

Guardians. 

Bonuses range from $12,000 to $20,000 for certain 

technology certifications that could be used for the Space 

Force's cyber career fields, according to a press release from 

the Department of the Air Force's Recruiting Service. 

Earlier this month, the Department of the Air Force unveiled 

more than a dozen bonuses as a way to entice new recruits 

amid a national labor shortage and a pandemic economy. 

But while the Air Force said it's facing headwinds to fill its 

ranks, the Space Force is having no problem getting recruits 

into the small number of spots it has, as interest continues to 

grow in the newest military service branch. 

Maj. Gen. Ed Thomas, the Air Force Recruiting Service 

commander, told Military.com that last year they had more 

than 42,000 leads on people interested in joining to fill just 

500 spots. 

"Space Force recruiting is on very solid ground right now," 

Thomas said. 

The Space Force is the smallest of the military service 

branches. It has grown to 8,400 Guardians since being 

created at the behest of former President Donald Trump in 

2019 and is expected to grow by 200 new recruits in 2023. 

For Space Force Guardians who have already joined the 

ranks, the Department of the Air Force is also offering 

reenlistment bonuses for a dozen careers, such as cyber 

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intelligence analysts and communications specialists, to 

retain their specialized knowledge and skills. 

Unlike other services, the Space Force does not have a 

reserve or National Guard component; Air Force Secretary 

Frank Kendall is floating a proposal to have Guardians 

either be part-time or full-time instead. 

Gen. John Raymond, the chief of space operations, has 

spoken publicly about the full-time and part-time concept 

as a possible way to recruit talent from the private sector to 

fill the highly specialized roles in the Space Force's ranks. 

"We would be giving opportunities for people to go to the 

commercial industry, to go to NASA, and then come back," 

Raymond told Space News earlier this month. "Maybe at 

certain times in their life, if they want to have children, they 

can go part-time for a while and then come back without 

having to get out of active duty and then go into the reserves." 

The Space Force will make history next month when 72 

men and women start the first Guardians-only boot camp at 

Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.



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"This is arguably the most 

challenging recruiting year since 

the inception of the all-volunteer 

force," Lt. Gen. David Ottignon, 

the Marine Corps officer in charge 

of manpower, told the Senate 

during a public hearing April 27. 

All of the military's service 

branches are scrambling to find 

ways to compete for a younger 

generation of talent that has plenty 

of employment opportunities. 

"The military provides a 

wonderful option for young 

people, but it's not the only option 

and so recruiters, I think just 

like other employers, are trying 

to understand what the different 

options are for young people and 

to address those effectively," said 

Joey Von Nessen, an economics 

professor at the University of 

South Carolina. 

The bonuses that serve as one of 

the most immediately tangible 

lures for new recruits, while 

escalating, aren't uniform across 

or even within the services. 

Most of the bonuses offered for 

new Air Force recruits range 

around $8,000 for certain career 

fields. But for two of the most 

dangerous jobs, Special Warfare 

operations and explosive ordnance 

disposal, the service is making 

its maximum allowed offer of 

$50,000 for people to join. 

"It is necessary. I think these are 

two of our hardest career fields to 

recruit toward," said Col. Jason 

Scott, chief of operations for the 

Air Force Recruiting Service. 

"It is absolutely necessary to do 

$50,000 for each of those, and 

actually $50,000 is the highest 

initial enlistment bonus amount 

that we can give." 

Overall, the Air Force is dedicating 

$31 million to recruiting bonuses 

in 2022, nearly double what was 

originally planned for. 

The Army faces the same problem 

-- and is putting up the same big 

offers. 

"We're in a search for talent 

just like corporate America 

and other businesses; almost 

everyone has the same issue the 

military does right now," Maj. 

Gen. Kevin Vereen, head of U.S. 

Army Recruiting Command, 

told Military.com. "We're trying 

to match incentives for what 

resonates. For example, financial 

incentives. Nobody wants to be 

in debt, so we're offering sign-up 

bonuses at a historic rate. 

"We've never offered $50,000 to 

join the Army," he added. 

In addition to the sign-on bonuses, 

the Army is also offering new 

recruits their first duty station of 

choice -- an unprecedented move 

as new soldiers are typically placed 

at random around the world. New 

recruits can choose locations such 

as Alaska, Fort Drum in New York, 

and Fort Carson in Colorado. 

"Youth today want to make their 

own decisions. We're letting them 

do that," Vereen said. 

The services are also trying to keep 

troops from leaving, knowing that 

a raft of employment opportunities 

are available for them if they get 

fed up with military life. 

The Army, Air Force and Navy 

have all announced reenlistment 

bonuses for certain career fields 

and specialties, some of them in 

the six-figure range. 

The Air Force is offering up to 

$100,000 reenlistment bonuses 

based on experience and career 

field. The Navy is also offering 

those incentives, with fields 

such as network cryptologists


and nuclear technicians making 

anywhere from $90,000 to 

$100,000. The Army is offering 

a more modest cap of $81,000 to 

reenlist for some jobs. 

Anecdotally, military families 

are describing on social media 

an inability to find open slots 

for TAP's sessions. Each inperson 

class is generally limited 

to 50 people, but Lawrence, the 

Pentagon spokesperson, denied 

the program is being overwhelmed 

since classes are also available in 

live online, on-demand or hybrid 

formats. 

The urgency described by leaders 

who are putting their money 

toward keeping skilled service 

members is a sign of the worry 

about a brain drain. 

Unlike the broader enlistment 

bonuses, many military career 

fields don't offer cash for 

reenlistment, and some of these 

incentives existed prior to the 

pandemic. But the job market has 

put pressure on the services to pay 

up to keep service members in the 

force. 

Overweight and Hard to Reach 

The military's difficulties 

attracting recruits go far beyond 

making the right bonus offer. The 

forces working against recruiting 

increased during the grinding 

global pandemic -- lockdowns 

kept recruiters home and young 

Americans are refusing vaccines, 

for example -- and are also 

rooted in longer-term societal 

shifts in physical fitness and 

communication. 

"The aggregate effects of two 

years of COVID is that is two 

years of not being in high school 

classrooms, two years of not 

having air shows and major 

public events like being in those 

public spaces, where our potential 

applicants or potential recruits are 

getting personal exposure, faceto-face 

relationships with military 

recruiters," Thomas said. 

Only about 40% of Americans 

who are of prime recruiting age 

are vaccinated against the virus. 

Outright refusal to get the shot 

immediately precludes joining 

the force and short-circuits any 

pitch from recruiters. COVID 

vaccines are among at least a 

dozen inoculations mandated by 

the Defense Department. 

"Seventeen-to-24-year-olds are 

not getting vaccinated, and those 

[are] people we aren't having a 

conversation with," Vereen said. 

Even when potential recruits 

are interested and big bonuses 

motivate them to sign on the 

dotted line, only about 23% of 

young Americans are even eligible 

for service. 

Past legal run-ins or a drug 

history prevent potential recruits 

from joining, and more and 

more Americans are overweight. 

According to the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention, 

40% of adults aged 20 to 39 are 

obese. That problem has been 

deemed a national security risk 

by somebecause it causes an 

increasingly shallow pool of 

potential recruits. 

The confluence of challenges has 

others loudly alerting the public 

that there's a problem. 

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., the 

ranking member of the Senate 

Armed Services Committee 

personnel panel, says the military 

is on the cusp of a recruiting crisis. 

"To put it bluntly, I am worried we 

are now in the early days of a longterm 

threat to the all-volunteer 

force. [There is] a small and 

declining number of Americans 

who are eligible and interested in 

military service," Tillis said during 

an April 27 hearing. 

He added that "every single 

metric tracking the military 

recruiting environment is going in 

the wrong direction." Just 8% of 

young Americans have seriously 

considered joining the military, 

while only 23% are eligible to 

enlist, according to Tillis. 

Meanwhile, the prime demographic 

for recruiting -- 17-to-24-yearolds 

-- is getting harder to reach. 

The military is running high 

production value recruiting ads on 

TV, but most younger Americans 

are watching YouTube, Twitch 

and other streaming services. On 

those platforms, ads are dictated 

by algorithms based on a person's 

search history, and prime-age 

viewers may never be exposed 

to recruiting spots if they don't 

already have a general interest in 

the military. 

The military has relied on 

Facebook, with its user base that 

skews much older, and Instagram 

pointing users to ads based on their 

existing interests. The Defense 

Department banned TikTok from 

government-issued phones in 

2019, shutting out Generation Z's 

social media platform of choice. 

However, some recruiters have 

ignored the ban on the Chineseowned 

platform, which is seen by 

some as a security risk. 

"I know a lot of young people are 

on TikTok and we're not," Vereen 

said. 

When the military does get 

widespread exposure and makes 

the news, it can be due to scandals 

such as the slaying of Guillén 

at Fort Hood, Texas, or other 

problems that raise questions 

about safety and the quality of life 

in the services. 

Following a wave of suicides 

and disclosure of a lack of basic 

ameneties such as hot water and 

ventilation aboard the George 

Washington, Master Chief Petty 

Officer Russell Smith, the Navy's 

top enlisted leader, was asked 

by a sailor why the service was 

spending so much on new recruits, 

specifically mentioning the hefty 

$25,000 bonus. 

"I gotta use those bonuses to 

compel something. ... A post- 

COVID workforce doesn't love 

the idea that they have to, they 

actually have to go to work, talk 

to people, see them face-to-face, 

exchange ideas and do work," 

Smith told the crew, according to 

a Navy-provided transcript. "They 

would rather phone it in or work 

from home somehow and, with the 

military, you just can't do that." 

Some sailors said it didn't seem 

like the service was prioritizing 

making its current ranks happy or 

financially incentivizing them to 

stick around. Smith said the Navy 

already offers some bonuses to indemand 

specialties and that if a 

particular job doesn't offer one it's 

because enough of those sailors 

"love the work that they do ... and 

when they do, I don't have to use 

money as leverage." 

Smith also told the sailor that 

he "can compel [them] to stay 

right here for eight years." 

Most contracts have an inactive 

period of reserve service built in 

following the end of active duty 

that the Navy can tap into. 

"So, you want me finding sailors 

to come in and relieve you on 

time," Smith added. 

The military services hope the 

new bonuses will overcome all the 

difficulties and that they will meet 

recruiting goals for the year. But 

the numbers are not encouraging 

so far. 

The Army has an uphill climb 

for the rest of the year, having 

recruited just 23% of its target in 

the first five months of the fiscal 

year. 

The Navy said that, in order to reach 

its recruiting goal this year, it will 

have to reduce the delayed-entry 

program -- allowing someone to 

enlist before they plan on actually 

shipping out -- to below "historic 

norms," which could in turn cause 

recruiting issues in future years. 

There's likely no relief in sight, 

according to experts. 

U.S. population demographics 

are going in the wrong direction 

and will make the recruiting job 

increasingly hard. The millennial 

and Gen-Z generations are 

smaller than previous generations, 

meaning there is a dwindling 

workforce to pull from. And only 

a small percentage of those youths 

appear likely to meet the physical 

qualifications to join in the first 

place. 

"I think it's likely that the labor 

shortage is going to be longlasting," 

Von Nessen said. "This 

is not a short-term phenomenon. It 

was exacerbated by the pandemic, 

but it wasn't created by the 

pandemic exclusively."


Pandemic-era Asylum Limits in Hands of Federal 

Judge 

LAFAYETTE, Louisiana 

(AP) — An attorney arguing 

for 21 states urged a federal 

judge Friday to block Biden 

administration plans to lift 

pandemic-related restrictions 

on migrants requesting 

asylum, saying the decision 

was made without sufficient 

consideration on the effects 

the move could have on public 

health and law enforcement. 

Drew Ensign, an attorney 

for the state of Arizona, 

told U.S. District Judge 

Summerhays the lawsuit 

Arizona, Louisiana and 19 

other states filed to block 

the plan was "not about the 

policy wisdom" behind the 

announcement to end the 

plan May 23. 

But, Engsign said, the 

Centers for Disease Control 

did not follow proper 

administrative procedures 

requiring public notice and 

gathering of comments 

on the decision to end the 

restrictions imposed under 

what is known as Title 42 

authority. The result, he said, 

was that proper consideration 

was not given to likely 

resulting increases in border 

crossings and their possible 

effects, including pressure 

on state health care systems 

and the diversion of border 

law enforcement resources 

from drug interdiction to 

controlling illegal crossings. 

Jean Lin, with the Justice 

Department, argued that the 

U.S. Centers for Disease 

Control was within its 

authority to lift an emergency 

health restriction it felt 

was no longer needed. She 

said the CDC order was a


matter of health policy, not 

immigration policy. 

"There is no basis to use Title 

42 as a safety valve," Lin told 

Summerhays. 

Summerhays gave no 

indication when he would 

rule, but he noted that time 

is short and he told attorneys 

they did not need to file 

post-argument briefings. In 

addition to deciding whether 

to block the policy, he also 

will decide whether his 

ruling applies nationwide or 

in specific states. 

So far, Summehays' rulings 

have strongly favored 

those challenging the 

administration. 

Migrants have been 

expelled more than 1.8 

million times since March 

2020 under federal Title 42 

authority, which has denied 

them a chance to request 

asylum under U.S. law 

and international treaty on 

grounds of preventing the 

spread of COVID-19. 

it had already begun phasing 

out the pandemic restriction 

by processing more 

migrants under immigration 

law instead of Title 42, 

Summerhays ordered the 

phaseout stopped. 

An appointee of then- 

President Donald Trump, 

Summerhays wrote last 

month that winding down 

restrictions before May 23 

would inflict "unrecoverable 

costs on healthcare, law 

enforcement, detention, 

education, and other services" 

on the states seeking to keep 

the policy in effect. 

He also said the administration 

likely failed to follow federal 

rule-making procedures in 

planning the May 23 end of 

the policy. Friday's arguments 

pertained to whether to keep 

restrictions in place beyond 

that date while litigation 

proceeds. 

Several migrant advocacy 

groups have asked 

Summerhays to at least allow 

Title 42 to be lifted as planned 

in California and New 

Mexico, two border states 

that have not challenged the 

administration's decision. 

Separately, Congress has 

presented another potential 

obstacle to ending Title 42. 

Several moderate Democrats 

have joined Republicans to 

voice concern that authorities 

are unprepared for an influx 

of migrants. 

Large numbers of illegal 

crossings have emboldened 

some Republicans to try 

to make the border and 

immigration an electionyear 

issue. U.S. authorities 

stopped migrants more 

than 221,000 times at the 

Mexican border in March, a 

22-year high. Many of those 

were repeat crossers because 

Title 42 carries no legal or 

criminal consequences. 

Title 42 authority has been 

applied unevenly across 

nationalities. Mexico has 

agreed to take back migrants 

from Guatemala, Honduras, 

El Salvador and Mexico 

— and limited numbers 

from Cuba and Nicaragua. 

High costs, strained 

diplomatic relations and 

other considerations have 

made it more difficult to 

remove migrants from other 

countries, who must be flown 

home. 

Title 42 is one of two major 

surviving Trump-era policies 

to deter asylum at the border. 

Last month, the U.S. Supreme 

Court heard arguments 

on whether to allow the 

administration to force 

asylum-seekers to wait in 

Mexico for hearings in U.S. 

immigration court. That case 

originated before another 

Trump-appointed judge, in 

Amarillo, Texas. 

On April 1, the CDC 

announced President Joe 

Biden's plan to end the 

restriction by May 23, 

drawing criticism from 

Republicans and some 

Democrats who fear the 

administration is unprepared 

for a widely anticipated 

influx of migrants. 

Arizona, Louisiana and 

Missouri quickly sued and 

were later joined by 18 other 

states in the legal challenge 

being heard Friday. Texas 

sued independently. 

After the administration 

acknowledged last month that


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Prosecutors plan to continue presenting evidence against Shishimarin 

following his guilty plea, although the trial is like to be shorter. 

As the inaugural war-crimes case in Ukraine, Shishimarin’s prosecution 

was being watched closely. Investigators have been collecting evidence of 

possible war crimes to bring before the International Criminal Court in The 

Hague. 

Venediktova’s office has said it was looking into more than 10,700 potential 

war crimes involving more than 600 suspects, including Russian soldiers 

and government officials. 

With help from foreign experts, prosecutors are investigating allegations 

that Russian troops violated Ukrainian and international law by killing, 

torturing and abusing possibly thousands of Ukrainian civilians. 

Man Sentenced to Prison 

for Derailing Train Near 

Hospital Ship at LA Port in 

Pandemic’s Early Weeks 

KYIV, Ukraine — A 21-year-old Russian soldier facing the first war crimes 

trial since Moscow invaded Ukraine pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing an 

unarmed civilian. 

Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin could get life in prison for shooting a a 62-year-old 

Ukrainian man in the head through an open car window in the northeastern 

Sumy region on Feb. 28, four days into the invasion. 

Shishimarin, a captured member of a Russian tank unit, was prosecuted 

under a section of the Ukrainian criminal code that addresses the laws and 

customs of war. 

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova previously said her office 

was readying war crimes cases against 41 Russian soldiers for offenses that 

included bombing civilian infrastructure, killing civilians, rape and looting. 

It was not immediately clear how many of the suspects are in Ukrainian 

hands and how many would be tried in absentia. 

Shishimarin's trial opened Friday, when he made a brief court appearance 

while lawyers and judges discussed prosecedural matters. After his plea on 

Wednesday, the proceedings were continued until Thursday, when the trial 

is expecgted to resume in a large courtroom to accomodate more journalists. 

Ukrainian authorities posted a few details on social media last week from 

their investigation in his case. 

Shishimarin was among a group of Russian troops that fled Ukrainian 

forces on Feb. 28, according to Venediktova’s Facebook account. The 

Russians allegedly fired at a private car and seized the vehicle, then drove to 

Chupakhivka, a village about 200 miles east of Kyiv. 

On the way, the prosecutor-general alleged, the Russian soldiers saw a man 

walking on the sidewalk and talking on his phone. Shyshimarin was ordered 

to kill the man so he wouldn’t be able to report them to Ukrainian military 

authorities. Venediktova did not identify who gave the order. 

Shyshimarin fired his Kalashnikov rifle through the open window and hit 

the victim in the head, Venediktova wrote. 

“The man died on the spot just a few dozen meters from his house,” she said. 

The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, posted a short video 

on May 4 of Shyshimarin speaking in front of camera and briefly describing 

how he shot the man. The SBU described the video as “one of the first 

confessions of the enemy invaders.” 

“I was ordered to shoot,” Shyshimarin said. “I shot one (round) at him. He 

falls. And we kept on going.” 

Russia is believed to be preparing war crime trials for Ukrainian soldiers.


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A third of US should be considering masks, officials 

say 

WASHINGTON — COVID-19 cases 

are increasing in the United States – and 

could get even worse over the coming 

months, federal health officials warned 

Wednesday in urging areas hardest hit 

to consider reissuing calls for indoor 

masking. 

Increasing numbers of COVID-19 

infections and hospitalizations are 

putting more of the country under 

guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention that 

call for masking and other infection 

precautions. 

Right now, about a third of the U.S. 

population lives in areas that are 

considered at higher risk — mostly in 

the Northeast and Midwest. Those are 

areas where people should already be 

considering wearing masks indoors — 

but Americans elsewhere should also 

take notice, officials said. 

"Prior increases of infections, in 

different waves of infection, have 

demonstrated that this travels across the 

country," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, 

the CDC director, said at a White House 

briefing with reporters. 

For an increasing number of areas, "we 

urge local leaders to encourage use 

of prevention strategies like masks in 

public indoor settings and increasing 

access to testing and treatment," she 

said. 

However, officials were cautious about 

making concrete predictions, saying 

how much worse the pandemic gets will 

depend on several factors, including to 

what degree previous infections will 

protect against new variants. 

Last week, White House COVID-19 

coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha warned in 

an interview with The Associated Press 

the U.S. will be increasingly vulnerable 

to the coronavirus this fall and winter 

if Congress doesn't swiftly approve 

new funding for more vaccines and 

treatments. 

Jha warned that without additional 

funding from Congress for the virus 

would cause "unnecessary loss of life" 

in the fall and winter, when the U.S. 

runs out of treatments. 

He added the U.S. was already falling 

behind other nations in securing supplies 

of the next generation of COVID-19 

vaccines and said that the domestic 

manufacturing base of at-home tests is 

already drying up as demand drops off. 

Jha said domestic test manufactures have 

started shuttering lines and laying off 

workers, and in the coming weeks will 

begin to sell off equipment and prepare 

to exit the business of producing tests 

entirely unless the U.S. government has 

money to purchase more tests, like the 

hundreds of millions it has sent out for 

free to requesting households this year.


That would leave the U.S. reliant on 

other countries for testing supplies, 

risking shortages during a surge, Jha 

warned. About 8.5 million households 

placed orders for the latest tranche of 

8 free tests since ordering opened on 

Monday, Jha added. 

The pandemic is now 2 1/2 years old. 

And the U.S. has seen — depending 

how you count them — five waves of 

COVID-19 during that time, with the 

later surges driven by mutated versions 

of the coronavirus. A fifth wave 

occurred mainly in December and 

January, caused by the omicron variant. 

The omicron variant spread much more 

easily than earlier versions. 

Some experts are worried the country 

now is seeing signs of a sixth wave, 

driven by an omicron subvariant. On 

Wednesday, Walensky noted a steady 

increase in COVID-19 cases in the past 

five weeks, including a 26% increase 

nationally in the last week. 

Hospitalizations also are rising, up 19% 

in the past week, though they remain 

much lower than during the omicron 

wave, she said. 

In late February, as that wave was 

ebbing, the CDC released a new set 

of measures for communities where 

COVID-19 was easing its grip, with less 

of a focus on positive test results and 

more on what's happening at hospitals. 

Walensky said more than 32% of the 

country currently live in an area with 

medium or high COVID-19 community 

levels, including more than 9% in the 

highest level, where CDC recommends 

that masks and other mitigation efforts 

be used. 

In the last week, an additional 8% of 

Americans were living in a county in 

medium or high COVID-19 community 

levels. 

Officials said they are concerned 

that waning immunity and relaxed 

mitigation measures across the country 

may contribute to a continued rise 

in infections and illnesses across the 

country. They encouraged people 

— particularly older adults — to get 

boosters. 

Some health experts say the government 

should be taking clearer and bolder 

steps. 

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The CDC community level guidelines 

are confusing to the public, and don't 

give a clear picture of how much 

virus transmission is occurring in 

a community, said Dr. Lakshmi 

Ganapathi, an infectious diseases 

specialist at Harvard University. 

When the government officials make 

recommendations but do not set rules, 

"it ultimately rests on every single 

individual picking and choosing the 

public health that works for them. 

But that's not what is effective. 

If you're talking about stemming 

hospitalizations and even deaths, all of 

these interventions work better when 

people do it collectively," she said.


Sailors Must Wait 

5 Weeks for Mental 

Health Appointments 

as Navy Battles 

Suicides, Top Enlisted 

Leader Says 

WASHINGTON — It takes more than a month 

for sailors struggling with thoughts of suicide 

to get a mental health appointment, the Navy’s 

top enlisted leader told House lawmakers 

Wednesday. 

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Russell 

Smith was speaking from experience when he 

addressed the issue during a subpanel hearing 

of the House Appropriations Committee.


“For those who are on the precipice of suicide, 

appointment times average five weeks,” Smith 

told members of the subcommittee on military 

construction, veterans affairs and related 

agencies. “I can personally attest to this as I 

sought care last year and we had to use a private 

provider at my own expense – something our 

sailors should never have to endure.” 

Smith did not elaborate on his personal 

experience, but he said the coronavirus 

“pandemic exacerbated an already critical need 

for greater mental health care capacity.” 

Smith’s comments come as the Navy copes 

with the suicides of seven sailors assigned to 

the USS George Washington. All the sailors 

took their own lives since 2019 when the 

aircraft carrier began an overhaul in Newport 

News, Va. 

Four of the suicides took place in the past year, 

with three happening during one week in April, 

the Navy has said. 

A five-week wait is unacceptable for mother 

of a George Washington sailor who she said 

survived a suicide attempt last week. Her son is 

now awaiting a spot in an in-patient treatment 

facility because many are full, she said. 

Stars and Stripes is not naming the mother and 

sailor due to privacy concerns. 

Smith said it’s not just access to mental health 

care that’s contributing to the problem – keeping 

sailors aboard the ship for long periods of time 

while it’s in the shipyards hurts morale. 

For example, hundreds of the George 

Washington's 2,700-person crew were living 

aboard the ship earlier this year as its overhaul 

was scheduled to end. However, the schedule 

changed and the ship’s time in Newport News 

was extended to March 2023. The crew was 

eventually moved off the aircraft carrier again 

last month after the string of suicides made 

headlines.




The Navy mother said her 

son can attest to the ship's 

harsh living conditions, 

which he told her included 

with power outages leading 

to hot water shortages and 

no air conditioning in the 

stuffy ship. 

“The way he was treated, 

he would much rather be 

at boot camp than to be 

on the ship – and he's like, 

‘And no, I'm not putting 

[the difficulty of] boot camp 

lightly, Mom,” she said. “So 

that's a bold statement.” 

Another reason driving the 

spike in suicides is sailors 

receive disappointing 

job assignments during 

maintenance periods 

unrelated to their Navy 

specialties, Smith said. 

“Everybody who’s there 

have those jobs [that are] 

not, frankly, what they were 

paid to do,” he said. 

When House lawmakers 

asked Smith what the Navy 

can do to address the issue, 

the master chief was blunt – 

those jobs are necessary for 

the aircraft carrier to remain 

in service. 

“The pragmatic answer is 

to be honest with [sailors] 

and acknowledge and 

validate as they're feeling 

the frustration … while still 

telling them that if [they’re] 

not willing to do what they 

do, the George Washington 

doesn't have another 25 

years of life to defend this 

nation,” Smith said. 

The master chief on April 

22 visited the ship where, 

during a speech to the 

crew, he made insensitive 

comments comparing their 

living situations to those of 

service members in combat, 

according to a Navy 

transcript. 

“What you're not doing is 

sleeping in a foxhole like 

a Marine might be doing,” 

Smith said during his speech 

to the George Washington 

crew. “What you are doing 

is going home at night, most 

nights, unlike the [USS] 

Harry S. Truman.” 

The Harry S. Truman, 

another aircraft carrier, 

is now deployed to the 

Mediterranean Sea to 

support NATO allies during 

Russia’s war on Ukraine. 

Smith also expressed 

pessimism about finding a 

way to end suicides in the 

Navy during the speech, 

saying “beating suicide 

is like beating cancer,” 

according to the transcript. 

The Navy has two 

investigations into the 

George Washington suicides 

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In the meantime, most 

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exposed to Agent Orange. Specifically, it 

would add Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Guam, 

American Samoa and Johnston Atoll to the 

list of places where veterans were exposed to 

Agent Orange and so can get coverage. 

Deal for Sweeping Toxic Exposure 

Bill Reached in Senate 

Lawmakers have reached a bipartisan 

agreement on a historic expansion of health 

care and disability benefits for millions of 

veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during 

their military service. 

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman 

Jon Tester, D-Mont., and committee ranking 

member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., announced 

in a Wednesday morning statement that they 

have reached an agreement on what they called 

"the most comprehensive toxic exposure 

package the Senate has ever delivered to 

veterans in this country's history." 

"For far too long, our nation's veterans have 

been living with chronic illnesses as a result 

of exposures during their time in uniform," 

they added. "Today, we're taking necessary 

steps to right this wrong with our proposal 

that'll provide veterans and their families with 

the health care and benefits they have earned 

and deserve." 

The bill could help an estimated 3.5 million 

veterans who were exposed to burn pits and 

other airborne hazards while serving to get 

medical coverage and other benefits they 

have often been denied under Department of 

Veterans Affairsarguments that there was not 

enough evidence linking their diseases to their 

military service. 

The full text of the agreement was not 

immediately released, but a summary included 

in Tester and Moran's news release indicates it 

retains some of the key provisions of a wideranging 

House-passed toxic exposure bill, 

such as designating 23 diseases, including 

hypertension, as presumed to be linked to 

burn pits and other airborne hazards. 

The bill, now named the Sergeant First Class 

Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act in 

honor of a veteran who died of lung cancer 

after being exposed to burn pits in Iraq, would 

also create a framework for establishing future 

presumptions of service connection related to 

toxic exposure, according to the summary. 

The House passed its sweeping toxic exposure 

bill in a 256-174 vote in March. But most 

Republicans bristled at its $208 billion price 

tag and opposed the House legislation. 

A cost estimate for the new agreement was not 

immediately released. 

In response to critics of the price, senators had 

previously planned to address toxic exposure 

in three prongs, the first of which was easily 

approved by the upper chamber in February. 

But veterans advocates decried the piecemeal 

approach, and President Joe Biden made 

passing comprehensive legislation one of his 

top priorities. 

Biden, who believes his son Beau's fatal brain 

cancer may have been caused by burn pits in 

Iraq and Kosovo, said in a statement last month 

that if Congress passes a comprehensive bill, 

he "will sign it immediately." 

Right now, the VA makes case-by-case 

decisions on most claims by post-9/11 veterans 

that their illnesses were caused by toxic 

exposure, requiring vets to produce proof their 

disease is connected with their service. Some 

illnesses are already presumed to be linked to 

service, including asthma, rhinitis, sinusitis 

and several respiratory-related cancers. 

In addition to expanding benefits for post-9/11 

veterans, the agreement announced Wednesday 

broadens coverage for Vietnam-era veterans 

The agreement also includes provisions to 

strengthen federal research on toxic exposure, 

increase toxic exposure-related training for 

VA personnel, establish 31 new VA health 

care facilities in 19 states, and invest more 

money in VA claims processing and the VA 

workforce, according to the summary. 

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, 

D-N.Y., announced from the Senate floor 

that he "strongly" supports the agreement 

and plans to have his chamber vote on it the 

week of June 6, the first week back from the 

Senate's Memorial Day recess. 

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman 

Mark Takano, D-Calif., also said in a statement 

he was "elated" at the agreement -- indicating 

it will pass both chambers of Congress and 

become law. 

"I'm proud that both the House and Senate 

have now taken monumental steps forward 

to advance this historic legislation, and I look 

forward to continuing to work with Sen. Tester 

and Sen. Moran on the final details to ensure 

this vital legislation heads to President Biden's 

desk without delay," Takano said. "We cannot 

let cost or implementation hurdles get in the 

way of making good on our promise -- toxicexposed 

veterans do not have time to wait." 

Advocates who have been pushing the Senate 

to take up the House bill and knocking 

Republican opposition hailed the agreement 

Wednesday. 

Rosie Torres, who cofounded Burn Pits 360 

in 2009 with her husband, Le Roy Torres, 

an Armyveteran who developed a rare lung 

disease, constrictive bronchiolitis, as a result 

of his deployment to Iraq, called the agreement 

a "victory" for all veterans who have died as 

a result of illnesses caused by environmental 

pollutants 

"After 13 years of Burn Pits 360 veterans 

and families knocking on doors and being 

'boots on the ground' in Washington, we are 

encouraged by the progress," Torres told 

Military.com. "We are seeing Congress stand 

on the side of justice in support of our nation's 

warfighters."

May 2022 — M2CC Newsletter

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