Wichita Falls to host inaugural Navy Week, September 15-21

May 28—MILLINGTON, Tenn. — The U.S. Navy has announced the inaugural Wichita Falls Navy Week, taking place Sept. 15-21. As part of a nationwide outreach effort, Wichita Falls Navy Week will bring 70-80 Sailors to engage directly with the community through a week-long series of performances, educational events, and service projects.
This milestone event marks the first-ever Navy Week in Wichita Falls. Navy Week offers residents a unique opportunity to interact with Sailors and learn more about the Navy's role in national security and global stability.
This year's 2025 Navy Week schedule holds special significance as it coincides with the U.S. Navy's 250th birthday — a historic milestone celebrating a quarter-millennium of maritime excellence, national security, and global leadership.
"America is a maritime nation! Today, 90% of commerce travels across the oceans that the Navy has protected for 250 years, and we're thrilled to bring your Navy Sailors to Wichita Falls," Cmdr. Julie Holland, Navy Office of Community Outreach director, said in a news release. "Sailors are the reason America's Navy is the most powerful in the world, and Navy Weeks are an opportunity to showcase our 250-year tradition and share with the Wichita Falls community why we continue to be a decisive global power from seabed to cyberspace."
Since its inception in 2005, the Navy Week program has visited more than 95 markets across the United States, but this marks the first time Wichita Falls will host the event. The week will feature a dynamic lineup of activities designed to educate, inspire, and strengthen community ties:
— Senior Navy Leaders: Meet and hear from senior Navy officials, including those with local ties to Texas, and Wichita Falls Navy Week Senior Executive Rear Admiral Douglas J. Adams, Program Executive Officer, Undersea Warfare Systems.
— Namesake Ships: Interact with Sailors serving aboard U.S. Naval vessels and learn about their assignments while deployed at sea and around the world.
— U.S. Navy Band Southwest: Enjoy live musical performances and masterclasses led by talented Navy musicians.
— Naval History and Heritage Command: Explore the rich connection between Texas and the Navy through interactive presentations and educational programs.
— USS Constitution: Witness demonstrations featuring the Navy's oldest commissioned ship and its enduring legacy.
— U.S. Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command: Engage in STEM-focused sessions highlighting oceanographic and atmospheric science.
— Navy Talent Acquisition Group: Discover opportunities within the Navy through community projects, displays, and career discussions.
Wichita Falls Navy Week brings the Navy to regions without a major naval presence, fostering connections and showcasing how the Navy's mission ensures the security, prosperity, and freedom of our nation.

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Time​ Magazine

18 hours ago

• Time​ Magazine

The Lavender Scare and the History of LGBTQ Exclusion

This month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the Navy would rename the USNS Harvey Milk, named after the assassinated gay-rights icon, Navy Veteran, and San Francisco politician. The decision is the latest in a series of actions by the Trump Administration during its second term that reflect a broader rollback of LGBTQ rights. Since January, the administration has reinstated a ban on transgender military service members, which the Supreme Court has allowed the administration to implement while legal challenges wind through the court system; has ordered the federal government only to recognize two sexes; and has sought to bar transgender athletes from participating in women's sports. According to Gallup, since 2022, Republican support for same-sex marriage has dropped from 55% to 41%. The rollback of LGBTQ rights and inclusion echoes an often overlooked, but deeply consequential, chapter of American history: the Lavender Scare. During the Cold War, U.S. officials branded gay and lesbian Americans as national security threats, fueling a moral panic that reshaped American society and stigmatized countless individuals. The legacy of the Lavender Scare era continues to influence America's culture and political landscape. The Lavender Scare emerged in the early 1950s alongside the Red Scare. But while Red Scare proponents like Senator Joseph McCarthy and others linked homosexuality to communism, the campaign against LGBTQ Americans operated on distinct ideological grounds. A 1950 State Department memo, titled 'Problem of Homosexuals and Sex Perverts in the Department of State,' linked tolerance of 'homosexuality with the accompanying decline of the Egyptian, Greek and Roman Empires' and argued that the United States, as the modern global power, had to purge gay and lesbian individuals to survive the Cold War. The State Department took heed of such harmful, and ahistorical, rhetoric. Read More: The Military's Unexpected Role in Building San Francisco's LBGTQ+ Community That same year, Deputy Undersecretary of State John Peurifoy testified before a Senate subcommittee that while no communists were employed at the State Department, the department had ousted various individuals considered security risks, including 91 people the department deemed homosexuals. Rather than calming fears, Peurifoy's testimony intensified public anxiety. White House Cabinet meetings followed up on the supposed security threats of homosexuality. Newspapers ran stories highlighting the imagined security risks posed by gay and lesbian government workers. Politicians brought the issue to House and Senate floors and committees. On the House floor, Rep. Arthur L. Miller, a Republican from Nebraska warned that while there were 91 of them dismissed in the State Department, there were 'several thousand" more LGBTQ workers employed by the Federal Government. 'I sometimes wonder how many of these homosexuals have….been in sensitive positions and subject to blackmail,' he asked, asserting that "the Russians are strong believers in homosexuality, and that those same people are able to get into the State Department and get somebody in their embrace.' Miller argued that Russian agents could seduce gay and lesbian federal workers in order to blackmail them, exploiting their fear of being outed to force them to betray the United States. 'These people are dangerous. They will go to any limit," summarized Miller. "They are not to be trusted and when blackmail threatens they are a dangerous group.' Officials across the government and journalists repeated the suggestion that Soviet agents could threaten to out, or blackmail, gay and lesbian government workers if they refused to collaborate. Yet, no evidence ever surfaced that any gay or lesbian government worker had betrayed the U.S. under duress. Nonetheless, in 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450, declaring 'sexual perversion,' a euphemism for homosexuality, a national security risk. The order authorized invasive investigations, surveillance, and dismissals across federal agencies and the military. By the end of the decade, an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 individuals accused of being homosexual had been fired or forced to resign, often ruining the lives of dedicated civil servants. But the Lavender Scare spread far beyond the federal government. With discrimination being not only encouraged but legal, businesses increasingly refused to hire queer people, stripping them of dignity and opportunity without any legal recourse. Municipal governments and postal authorities cracked down on queer literature. Newspapers, magazines, and tabloids often tied homosexuality to criminality and even equated queer people to pedophiles and murderers. Some newspapers even published the names and addresses of those arrested for consensual same-sex acts, leading to job loss, public shaming, and, in some tragic cases, suicide. Read More: The Miami Museum Showcasing LGBTQ Histories The anti-LGBTQ campaign also reshaped the cultural norms of minority communities. Many working-class Black neighborhoods before the 1950s had a culture of queer acceptance. Harlem's drag ball culture, for example, thrived from the 1920s through the early 1950s. Transgender people, drag queens, and drag kings participated openly in public life. Black newspapers and magazines promoted drag balls as community events in Harlem and other places such as Chicago, Washington D.C., and Baltimore. As the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, however, many Black leaders embraced white, middle-class norms—including heteronormativity—as a strategy for advancing desegregation and civil rights for the larger Black community. Bayard Rustin, an openly gay Civil Rights leader and the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, was often sidelined from playing a more prominent role in the Civil Rights Movement because of his sexuality, despite his political talents. Even Martin Luther King, Jr., while hiring Rustin as a close advisor and collaborator, began to publicly distance himself from queer people because, as Rustin observed, it became 'a problem for the movement.' Rustin noted King's other advisors 'felt I was a burden.' To insulate King from critique, Rustin chose to resign from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference although he remained a close collaborator of MLK. The influence of the Lavender Scare on Black leaders' public perception of queer people is evident in an advice column King wrote for Ebony. In 1958, an advice seeker reached out the magazine, writing: 'I am a boy, but I feel about boys the way I ought to feel about girls….Is there any place where I can go for help?' With generally sympathetic words, at least for a national leader during the Lavender Scare era, King responded, 'Your problem is not at all an uncommon one….The type of feeling that you have toward boys is probably not an innate tendency, but something that has been culturally acquired.' King went on, 'I would suggest that you see a good psychiatrist who can assist you.' He assured the writer, 'You are already on the right road toward a solution, since you honestly recognize the problem and have a desire to solve it.' By the mid-1950s, publications like Ebony, as evident with King's advice column, shifted from covering and celebrating Black queer culture to emphasizing Black nuclear families, military service, and economic mobility. During the late 1960s the narratives surrounding the Lavender Scare began to unravel under queer liberation movements. Black and Latino activists played a central role in increasing the visibility of LGBTQ communities, bolstered by advocacy from organizations like the Civil Liberties Union. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that homosexuality could not justify terminating federal employment. Two years later, in 1975, the Senate disbanded its investigative committee targeting LGBTQ federal workers. While LGBTQ rights saw little advancement during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, this changed in 1994 when President Bill Clinton Administration's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy ended the outright ban on LGBTQ military service, even if enforcing silence. The next year, Clinton issued an executive order ending the Lavender Scare-era practice of denying security clearances based on sexual orientation. By 2011, queer people were allowed to openly serve in the military. Finally, in 2017, President Barack Obama entirely nullified Eisenhower's 1953 Executive Order 10450 with his own executive order during his last days in office. The Lavender Scare devastated the lives of queer people and for decades redefined American ideas of citizenship and belonging along narrower parameters. Today's political efforts to purge queer people and curtail their rights are not new—they are part of a longer history of exclusion and marginalization. Understanding that history is essential to confronting the present. Joel Zapata is an Assistant Professor of History and Cairns K. Smith Faculty Scholar at Oregon State University. Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

Yahoo

19 hours ago

• Yahoo

Major U.S. Middle East-Focused Buildup Confirmed (Updated)

The U.S. Navy is sending the supercarrier USS Nimitz and the rest of its strike group to the Middle East amid a new buildup of forces in the region ostensibly for defensive purposes, U.S. officials have told TWZ. Overnight, dozens of U.S. Air Force KC-135R and KC-46A tankers had already been tracked heading east over the Atlantic Ocean. That has prompted speculation about the potential start of a major contingency operation, possibly around a shift in U.S. policy toward the ongoing Israel-Iran war, as you can read about in more detail here. U.S. air, naval, and ground forces have already been aiding in the defense of Israel since the start of the current hostilities last week. Readers can first get up to speed on the latest developments in the conflict between Israel and Iran in our reporting here. Though currently sailing in the Western Pacific, 'the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group is heading to the Middle East without delay,' a U.S. official told TWZ. The U.S. official added that this is a scheduled deployment to replace the USS Carl Vinson and its strike group, which is currently on station in the Middle East. However, they would not say when Vinson might now be expected to leave the region. USS Nimitz is about to transit Malacca Strait, likely heading to CENTCOM AOR. — Duan Dang (@duandang) June 16, 2025 Fox News has separately reported that the decision to send Nimitz to the Middle East, though previously planned, has been accelerated by multiple months, and that it and Vinson will be in the region together for at least a period of time. In addition to the carrier and its air wing, Nimitz's strike group is currently known to include four Arleigh Burke class destroyers. At least one fast attack submarine also typically accompanies Navy carriers on deployments. CONFIRMED: The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group is on its way to the Middle East from the South China Sea, a U.S. official tells Fox News. The Nimitz was previously scheduled to replace the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group which has been deployed for several months,… — Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) June 16, 2025 When asked, a second U.S. official could not comment specifically on the recent movement of KC-135R and KC-46A tankers, but told TWZ that 'additional defensive forces are moving to the region to provide flexible options for leadership.' They declined to elaborate on the exact composition of those forces. Other reports have linked the flights directly to this 'defensive' buildup. A U.S. official confirms to me a wave of tanker flights across the Atlantic in the last 24 hours, in part to have resources closer to the Middle East and provide options to defend U.S. assets and interests. — Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) June 16, 2025 Both U.S. officials spoke to TWZ on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational details. The Air Force's Air Mobility Command (AMC), which oversees the bulk of the service's tanker and airlifter fleets, declined to comment in response to queries from TWZ, citing operational security concerns. We have also reached out to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), and the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) headquarters for more information. CENTCOM directed us to contact the White House, which we have also done. Just having an additional aircraft carrier strike group in the region will offer an important boost in available defensive and offensive capacity to U.S. commanders. As part of any regional contingency operation, Nimitz's air wing could be tasked with helping to intercept aerial threats, including drones and cruise missiles, as well as striking targets on land and at sea. Naval F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, like the F-35Cs currently embarked upon the USS Carl Vinson, are known to have shot down drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen in recent months, something TWZ was first to report. The other ships in a carrier strike group offer significant air and missile defense capabilities, as well as their own ability to target enemy vessels and/or ground-based assets. Collectively, a carrier and its escorts can provide a wide array of other forms of valuable support, including in terms of surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as command and control and battle management. A senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told TWZ over the weekend that Aegis combat system-equipped ships, which would be Arleigh Burke class destroyers and/or Ticonderoga class cruisers, have already been helping to intercept missiles heading toward Israel since the current conflict erupted. There is also evidence of the use of SM-3-series anti-ballistic missile interceptors, which U.S. warships with Aegis systems specially configured to support the ballistic missile defense mission employ. The Third-Stage Rocket Motor for a U.S. Navy RIM-161 SM-3 Block lB Surface-to-Air Missile was apparently discovered yesterday in Iran, confirming that Arleigh Burke-Class Guided-Missile Destroyers with the U.S. Navy, likely stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean, are assisting in… — OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 15, 2025 U.S. officials had previously told us that an additional Arleigh Burke, the USS Thomas Hudner, was moving into the Eastern Mediterranean in light of current events. Another destroyer of this type was also reportedly repositioned for a potential forward deployment to the region, if requested. Thomas Hudner is notably a BMD configured Arleigh Burke, which would bring additional SM-3s to the theater along with other munitions. U.S. stockpiles of SM-3s, in general, are relatively limited, and the Navy also currently has no operational way of re-loading vertical launch systems on warships like Arleigh Burke at sea. In terms of observed U.S. airpower movements, online flight tracking software shows that at least 32 Air Force tankers have now arrived at locations across Europe and the Middle East. It remains unclear whether any of the tankers were 'dragging' combat jets with them across the Atlantic. Good the addition of 4 tankers out of New Jersey, there are now at least 32 tankers observed in the overnight group. A considerable portion went to Morón Air Base in Spain, with others on to UK, Germany, Italy and 1 to Estonia. A few pressed on to CENTCOM AOR. — Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) June 16, 2025 4 of the 32+ tankers that crossed the Atlantic overnight are still en route to their destinations. KC-46A Pegasus RCH026 and RCH027 are heading to the Pegasus convention at Ramstein, while KC-135s RCH032 and RCH033 join the party in Chania, Greece. — TheIntelFrog (@TheIntelFrog) June 16, 2025 Distribution map. Moron, Spain had the most at 11-12 tankers. — RivetJoint (@SpeckleBelly64) June 16, 2025 The aforementioned senior IDF official also told TWZ that U.S. fighter aircraft in the region have been taking part in defensive operations already. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles played key roles in defending Israel from incoming missile and drone attacks last year. F-15Es recently saw their counter-drone capabilities, in particular, significantly expand through the addition of laser-guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) rockets to their available arsenal. Air Force F-16s in the Middle East had already been using APKWS IIs to down drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen since last year, which we were first to report. From bases in Europe, the armada of aerial refueling aircraft would also be positioned to support long-range flights by cargo aircraft, movement of fighters, or even global airpower bombers, from the United States to the Middle East and back. TWZ has previously highlighted the potential role that the unique combination of Air Force B-2 bombers carrying 30,000-pound GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster bombs could play in procuring deeply buried Iranian facilities, including the nuclear enrichment plant at Fordo, should the U.S. government make the decision to join Israel's campaign on a kinetic level. Just moving additional ground-based air and missile defense assets, or replenishing stocks of interceptors for units already forward deployed, by air, also requires significant resources, as you can read more about here. U.S. Army Patriot surface-to-air missile systems and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ballistic missile defense systems in the Middle East are also among the assets already being employed in the defense of Israel. Third, Anniston. RCH313 is C-17A 07-7172 # — Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) June 16, 2025 Whether the new U.S. military buildup presages a new phase of American participation in the conflict remains to be seen. As TWZ noted when the armada of tankers first appeared heading east over the Atlantic, that movement is something one expects to see in a number of different contingency scenarios. Beyond increasing options for defending Israel, there remains the prospect that U.S. interests across the region come under more direct threat. Iran has notably reiterated long-standing threats to close the highly strategic Strait of Hormuz, though there are questions about its ability to and interest in doing so given the global ramifications of such action, as we recently explored in detail. Anti-ballistic missile defense, in particular, would be key to responding to any Iranian strikes aimed at bases hosting U.S. forces in the Middle East, as well as an attempt to blockade the Strait of Hormuz. Contingencies include: -opting to provide AR to IAF.-Joining the kinetic offensive fight (offensive) -Dealing countering an attempt to close the strait (defensive)-Providing BM left of launch interdiction/hunt (defensive) -Providing a robust bridge for global airpower bomber… — Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) June 16, 2025 Pressure also reportedly continues to build on U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration to enter the conflict more actively in support of Israel and its objectives. In particular, Israeli forces have significantly more options for attempting to neutralize deeply buried facilities in Iran, especially the Fordo enrichment plant. Knocking out Fordo is widely seen as essential for putting a real hold on Iran's ability to produce nuclear weapons. Even just providing the Israeli Air Force (IAF) with U.S. aerial refueling support would give that country's ongoing campaign a major boost, as we have noted before. In the meantime, the scope of Israel's campaign against Iran is also steadily moving beyond its initial focus on nuclear targets. This has been driven in part by what Iran has targeted in Israel, including energy-related sites, in retaliation. Whether or not a major shift in U.S. policy toward the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict occurs, the U.S. military is now engaged in a major buildup of forces that could be poised to help with any future offensive, as well as defensive operations, in the Middle East.'Over the weekend, I directed the deployment of additional capabilities to the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility,' U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has now said in a statement. 'Protecting U.S. forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in there region.' — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) June 16, 2025'Consistent with the duty to protect U.S. forces in the Middle East, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth directed the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility to sustain our defensive posture and safeguard American personnel,' a U.S. defense official has now also told TWZ directly. ' In the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) AOR the U.S. Navy continues to conduct operations in the Eastern Mediterranean in support of U.S. national security objectives.' They also reiterated a previous statement that 'the U.S. is assisting in shooting down missiles targeting Israel on land and by sea.' Contact the author: joe@

Wall Street Journal

a day ago

• Wall Street Journal

U.S. Races to Defend Israel as It Burns Through Missile Interceptors

The U.S. is racing to reinforce Israel's defenses, sending more warships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles to the region as Iranian attacks drain Israel's stocks of interceptors. An additional U.S. Navy destroyer arrived in the eastern Mediterranean on Friday, joining three others in the area and two in the Red Sea. The ships are operating close enough to Israel to be able to intercept missiles fired by Iran, a defense official said.