08-31-2021-2026 - STARS AND STRIPES • AUGUST 31, 2021

New haircuts, higher heels approved in Navy’s latest grooming standards

by caitlin doornbos • stars and stripes • august 31, 2021

In addition to hairstyles, the new standards allow punctuation marks in name tags and tape for sailors whose legal names contain accents. The standards also permit male sailors to wear earrings while on leave or liberty while wearing civilian clothes. In addition, female sailors can now wear heels up to 3 inches in height, up from 2 and 5/8 inches.

The service has officially sanctioned flat-tops, faded and bald hairstyles in addition to the traditional “high and tight” look for male sailors, the Navy said in a statement. Sideburns are also authorized, but not for bald sailors.

https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2021-08-31/navy-sailors-new-grooming-standards-haircuts-eyeglasses-earrings-2734006.html

Eleven Marines, one sailor and one soldier were among the dead in a suicide bombing at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport Thursday, which also claimed the lives of more than 160 Afghans. Top row, from left: Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola and Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui. Center row, from left: Seaman Maxton W. Soviak, Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo and Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss. Bottom row, from left: Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz and Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover. (Facebook, U.S. Marine Corps, Twitter, Instagram)

Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23, had been pictured in photos of the evacuation holding an Afghan baby and escorting girls to a waiting military aircraft. Note. Prussian dishonor to hold a baby in line of duty; kill order only. Nikiya would never hold a baby in line of duty.

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/middle_east/2021-08-27/service-members-killed-identified-kabul-afghanistan-bombing-2691405.html

MIDDLE EAST

Lone suicide bomber attacked Kabul airport gate killing 13 US troops, including a soldier, sailor and Marines

by caitlin doornbos • stars and stripes • august 27, 2021

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/middle_east/2021-08-27/kabul-airport-attack-troops-killed-suicide-bomber-afghanistan-2687211.html

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Taliban show off captured weapons at Kandahar victory parade

By Jonny Hallam and Mick Krever, CNN

Updated 1:43 PM ET, Wed September 1, 2021

(CNN) The Taliban on Wednesday showed off dozens of American-made armored vehicles along with newly seized weapons at victory celebrations in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

Taliban forces celebrate the withdrawal of US forces in Kandahar.

Fighters waved white Taliban flags from Humvees and armored SUVs at the military parade, where many of the vehicles appeared in near perfect condition. The Taliban also organized an air display with a recently seized Black Hawk helicopter flying past the militants along the road while also trailing a white Taliban flag.
The parade came the day after video footage showed the militants making their way through an abandoned hanger in Kabul airport strewn with equipment the US left behind.

Taliban supporters gather to listen to the Taliban's governor for Kandahar province.

A Taliban fighter parades seized US weaponry through Kandahar.

In one video, militants dressed in US-style uniforms and holding US-made weapons examined a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter parked inside a hangar. Taliban fighters were also seen posing for photographs while sitting in the cockpits of planes and helicopters that once belonged to the Afghan Air Force.He added that the US military had made "unusable all the gear that is at the airport -- all the aircraft, all the ground vehicles," leaving only some fire trucks and fork lifts operational.

The Taliban have pledged to govern more moderately this time around, and said they would still allow foreign nationals and Afghans with proper documentation to leave the country after August 31. But many Afghans are skeptical of their claims, and huge question marks hang over the Taliban's ability to run the country.
Standing on the Kabul airport runway on Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a small crowd that: "This victory belongs to us all."
He was joined by heavily armed fighters from the Taliban's Badri 313 special forces brigade, kitted out in camouflage uniforms and desert boots.
Mujahid congratulated the Taliban fighters who had lined up, and indeed "the whole of the nation."

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/01/asia/taliban-kandahar-captured-weapons-intl/index.html

Note. US (The United States of America, United States, USA, etc.) may offer to repair the equipment (e.g. repairs of equipment performed by ex-US soldiers that chose to stay behind in Afghanistan/United Arab Emirates/etc.; study abroad students in USA of Taliban ancestry that return home to Afghanistan/Taliban region; etc.), and to provide information to the Taliban on the procedure/material/etc. for repair and use of the equipment. Equipment must have structure-function intact, and must be safe and effective for use as intended by the original designer-manufacturer (safe/effective/etc. and to the standard that the equipment-fuel-etc. was originally manufactured and prepared for use by the intended recipient, inc. USAF/US/etc.). The intended recipient may be extended to include the Taliban. Thank You.
Note 2. It was the proper choice to gift the equipment to the Taliban. USA should not trojan horse with equipment, facilities or people gifted, including by base in United Arab Emirates. Thank You.