Paul McLeary
@paulmcleary
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Pentagon and National Security for @politico . #LetsGoBuffalo sufferer, also at paulmcleary @protonmail .com
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I was on Politico's Dispatch podcast this morning talking about the fight to control the airspace over Ukraine, and the questions hanging over the war
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NEW: confirming the UK is sending Harpoon anti-ship missiles to Ukraine. Huge move, can do serious damage to Russian warships.
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Air Force C-130s delivering howitzers and ammo to Europe, loading up on baby formula and turning around to fly it back to the United States.
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It's official - Europe won't transfer fighter planes to Ukraine. Poland decided not to, and Slovakian defense ministry spokesperson confirms to me just now: “Slovakia will not provide fighter jets to Ukraine."
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Confirmed: The US is sending 100 Switchblade armed drones to Ukraine. The loitering munition has been used by US special operations forces for several years, and is good at penetrating armor
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NEW:
@PentagonPresSec
said just now Ukraine "have received additional aircraft and the aircraft parts to help them get more more aircraft in the air" recently
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I’m told the USS Truman aircraft carrier has for the first time pushed far north into the Aegean Sea, putting more US airpower in play around the Black Sea region
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Defense official says no reports of casualties so far in the missile attack on the US base in Erbil
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NEW: Norway says it plans to send 2,000 M72 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, joining Finland and Sweden in sending lethal weapons
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CNN reporting now the explosion over Kyiv tonight was a Ukrainian SU-27 shot down by Russian anti-air battery in the city's suburbs. Ukraine has lost the skies over its capital. Grim.
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Breaking: Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirms to reporters that President Trump ordered him to allow Eddie Gallagher to keep his Trident pin
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NEW: UK intel assessment says Russia has lost so many troops in Ukraine it is struggling to conduct offensive ops, and pulling troops from Pacific region, Armenia, and mercenaries.
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This is the first time a US official as been so explicit on the record: “We want to see Russia weakened to the degree it cannot do the kind things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
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Overheard in the Pentagon press room: "Hello, two F-35s apparently just drew a sky penis over Luke Air Force Base. Do you have a comment?"
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Czech defense policy chief, Jan Jires, brings the heat:
"Some crucial segments of the European defense industry are now performing better than US defense industry....Rheinmetall in Germany is producing way more 155 artillery shells than the entire US defense industry combined."
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NEW: Ukraine's top general says he told US Joint Chiefs chair Gen. Milley that Russian TU-160 bombers have launched dozens of cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea, adds he needs US HIMARS and multiple launch rocket systems quickly.
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NEW: The US sees Russian troops North of Kyiv actually digging into defensive positions, and not trying to move forwards, defense official says
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Everyone should drink nine gallons of milk a day, says milk industry exec.
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Dizzying day at DoD. Out: Policy chief James Anderson, UnderSec for Intel Joseph Kernan, Esper's Chief of Staff Jen Stewart
IN: Ezra Cohen-Watnick, Acting UnderSec Intel, also Kash Patel as CoS. Patel and Watnick both central to Devin Nunes efforts
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BREAKING: The Navy released a fact sheet late Tuesday showing that every major shipbuilding program they're working on is delayed by years. YEARS. It's jaw-dropping.
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NEW: Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told me Lockheed Martin promised “they have increased the production” on HIMARS and “confirmed that there is a slot for Estonia,” which ordered 6 HIMARS in July. Lockheed has orders in the works for Ukraine, Poland and others.
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SCOOP: Czechia has found 450K 155mm rounds for sale outside the EU and is pressuring EU countries to finance the purchase. w/
@joshposaner
@jacopobarigazzi
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NEW: USMC says 15 Marines wounded in Kabul are at Walter Reed, one is in critical condition, three are in serious condition, and 11 are in stable condition.
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Around around 75% of Russia's total military "is committed to the fight in Ukraine" right now, a DoD official says.
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Ukraine has shot down *55* Russian aircraft during the war, USAF Europe chief Gen. James Hecker said Monday,,,
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NEW: US is sending Sea Sparrow anti-air missiles to Ukraine, which Ukraine will launch from its existing Soviet-era BUK launchers. It's part of a new $3.8 billion package for Ukraine and Eastern Europe w/
@laraseligman
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Ukrainians say new shipment of US Javelins and UK NLAWS have arrived
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Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, who posted a viral video demanding accountability from military leaders over Afghanistan, has been relieved of his duties and will leave the Marine Corps, the service confirms.
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JUST IN: The Army is up to making 24K artillery shells/month, Army acquisition chief Doug Bush says this morning.
"Soon to get to 28,000 a month with a path to in excess of 80,000 a month over the following year. So that ramp up is really about to kick in."
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photogs are different - when everyone else ducks, they have to stand up.
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Pentagon spokesman John Kirby lays into Tucker Carlson from DoD podium: “What we absolutely won't do is take personnel advice from a talk show host, or the Chinese military, and maybe those folks feel like they have something to prove - that’s on them.”
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I'm not posting the pic of the dead Russian general laying in the mud in Ukraine, but the thing that astounds me is that he was left behind, and/or was traveling with such a small unit that they all got wiped out
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Update on LtCol Scheller situation: USMC says tonight they’re “taking appropriate action to ensure the safety and well-being of LtCol Scheller and his family” indicating concern over his mental health
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Turkey closing off the Black Sea to Russian warships is akin to establishing a no-fly zone. You have to enforce it with force, or it's meaningless. Boldest move by a NATO country yet.
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82nd Airborne Division's social media team making it happen today.
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Fact check: the price of the F35 was scheduled to drop well before he took office. Dishonest claim here.
...design or negotiations yet. When I do, just like with the F-35 FighterJet or the Air Force One Program, price will come WAY DOWN!
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New details on $1 billion US package for Ukraine to be announced today: two truck-mounted Harpoon launchers; 18 howitzers; 36K artillery rounds; HIMARS ammo, and optics and parts
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The $625 million US weapons package for Ukraine includes:
16 x 155mm howitzers
16 x 105mm howitzers
75,000 155mm artillery rounds, plus 500 precision-guided rounds
1,000 155mm Remote Anti-Armor Ammunition rounds
30,000 mortar rounds
200 MRAPS
Claymore mines
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NEW: Polish official confirms that the government's security committee is gathering in an emergency meeting in Warsaw at this moment
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Incredible. 30 percent of Offutt Air base, home of US Strategic Command, is underwater after massive flooding. Comes months after Tyndall Air base in Fla. was wiped out in a hurricane. The New Normal.
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Scoop: Ukraine has identified 32 pilots who can train on the F-16. BUT...
Only 8 are fluent in English, another 20 or so can start months of language courses in the UK as soon as this month.
US still waiting for a training plan from European partners.
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Saw these guys in action during Katrina. They're for real.
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The Russians are shelling mannequins…and missing
Video of Russian strikes on a Ukrainian trench in the Izyum area.
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Pentagon spokesman continues that the US has helped w/ the "shipment of some additional spare parts that has helped with their aircraft needs, but we have not transported whole aircraft" for Ukraine
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NEW: Ukrainian pilots have arrived in Poland to take delivery of used fighter jets from EU countries, a major new step:
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Ukrainian govt. spokesperson confirms Ukrainian forces defeated Russian airborne troops at Gostomel military airfield near Kyiv. Earlier reports had 200 Russian airborne attacked it.
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Latest in sky dong reporting: "Wait, you're telling me this was an accidental sky penis?!"
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5 minutes after leaving press room at DodD, Gen. Milley turned around and came back in, telling us the letter US sent to Iraqis about withdrawal was a "draft" and it was a "mistake." Wasn't meant to be sent. No US troops are leaving.
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White House's
@PentagonPresSec
says US has new $550 million Ukraine military aid package including HIMARS rockets and howitzer munitions
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NEW: Senior defense official: Russia is "making a move on Kyiv...basically decapitating the government and installing their own method of governance."
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Tweeted just after reports emerge the White House is classifying meetings about COVID-19.
“The way that you control public health outbreak is not to hide data, it's to be transparent to the public & to your partners going forward so that we have a clear understanding of the risk and then we can take appropriate measures to mitigate.”
-Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Paul Friedrichs
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The mystery of the 'Phoenix Ghost' drone the US is sending to Ukraine is solved - it can fly for 6 hours tracking a target, operate at night and blow up armored vehicles.
@LeeHudson_
and I got the details
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A US defense official today paints a picture of a bloody, grinding stalemate in Ukraine, with no major Russian movements even though 95% of the troops staged before the invasion are now in Ukraine.
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A US official says the US got Zawahiri because he liked to stand outside on his balcony in Kabul. That's where two Hellfire missiles fired by a drone got him.
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Defense official: there were Russians stationed at the base the US struck in Syria tonight, but US informed them beforehand
@ForeignPolicy
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Amid the Syria mess, don’t sleep on fact that the Pentagon this morning refused to comply with a Congressional subpoena.
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It's here. The Navy has about 5,700 sailors who are refusing the vaccine, and today they start the process of separating them from the service.
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Two US Navy sailors arrested for spying for China, DoJ says.
One, Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, is accused of passing along "photos and videos, blueprints for a radar system in Okinawa and operational plans for a large scale U.S. military exercise in the Pacific"
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SYRIA UPDATE: The Pentagon doesn't have answers on troop drawdown, Centcom doesn't have answers, and according to White House call just now, they don't have answers. That's some interagency coordination, folks.
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After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “European security has fundamentally changed. There will be no going back to February 23,” a European diplomat just told reporters in a frank briefing
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(AP) KYIV, Ukraine — A second Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane was shot down near Bila Tserkva, 50 miles (85 kilometers) south of Kyiv, according to two American officials with direct knowledge of conditions on the ground in Ukraine.
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Interesting lesson from Ukraine war for US Air Force:
Head of US Air Forces in Europe / Africa, Gen. James Hecker, says that "Ukrainians almost never take off from an airfield and land at the same airfield…and we need to make sure we’re primed to do that as well."
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Not to alarm anyone, but China has surrounded Taiwan with warships and aircraft and the DoD has issued two statements about it over the past hour.
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NEW: There will be a meeting next week between NATO and Ukrainian officials in Warsaw, kicking off a "10-year" process of planning to rebuild Ukraine's defense industry, NATO official says
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Esper added that Spencer indicated to him he would quit if forced to give Gallagher his Trident, which blows up Spencer's repeated denials he would quit over it.
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Alternate headline: I live alone and have no children.
Productivity expert Tim Ferriss starts every day with meditation, tea, and exercise
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NEW: Expect another US military aid package for Ukraine Friday, which will include cluster munitions for the first time.
The number of rounds remains in flux, but almost certainly over 100,000 DPICMS, according to one person familiar.
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NEW: In a first, US will likely send Ukraine the Joint Standoff Weapon for its F16s. It's a precision missile that can travel around 70 miles.
It's part of a $375M aid package expected to be announced Monday.
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Marine LTC Scheller has a new video saying military brass will need money and security after “I do what I’m about to do,” adding, “follow me and we will bring the whole fucking system down.”
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DC has more people than the state of Wyoming....she can ask Liz Cheney, standing right behind her, who represents the state.
Mace: D.C. wouldn’t even qualify as a singular congressional district..
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US confirms it’s sending Switchblade and Puma drones to Ukraine. The Puma package is news…
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NEW: US rejects Russian claims a Virginia-class sub entered Russian waters, per Indo-Pacific Command’s Capt. Kyle Raines:
"There is no truth to the Russian claims of our operations in their
territorial waters. I will not comment on the precise location of our
submarines."
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Gen. Milley’s argument that the $3.8B pulled from DoD budget doesn’t have a “significant, immediate, strategic, negative impact to the overall defense” of the US is a great argument for reducing the DoD budget.
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The massive artillery and rocket barrage across eastern Ukraine last night was "prelude" to what the US thinks will be a larger Russian offensive, a US defense official said today. More from the briefing in a 🧵
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Jires on Czech finding ammo for Ukraine: "we have been able to identify a huge number of already existing artillery ammunition...sitting in non-western countries. Most of these countries [are] unwilling to support Ukraine directly for political reasons so they need a middleman."
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Pentagon spokeswoman won't say that the 800 active duty US servicemembers who are DACA are safe from deportation. Says it is an issue for the Justice Dept.
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A new military aid package for Ukraine to be unveiled tomorrow in Washington will include a Patriot missile battery and JDAM precision bombs for fighter jets, a person familiar says
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NEW: US has "surged" ATACMS production, no longer concerned about sending missiles to Ukraine, Army acquisition chief Doug Bush said today.
“A significant number of missiles that were ordered years ago … is now hitting at just the right time."
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NEW: Defense Secretary Austin orders the 160 US troops in Ukraine to leave the country
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The Pentagon is now accepting the public's recommendations for what to rename bases currently named after confederate generals. This should be fun...
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The Pentagon is looking to send counter-drone technologies to Ukraine -- the US Army can easily start sending some of its’s 1,000-plus Dronebusters, which have already deployed with US troops to Iraq, Syria (1/2)
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Flight trackers show two US Special Operations MC-130J planes and a AFSOC Osprey up over Poland near Ukraine border, heading east.
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Today, US planes mistakenly kill 18 US-backed fighters in Syria, then drop world's largest non-nuke bomb on ISIS tunnels in Afghanistan
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He disobeyed orders, drove a prisoner to an isolated spot, stripped him naked, and shot him to death in what he says was self defense.
NEW: Pres. Trump grants pardon to former U.S. Army first lieutenant convicted in 2009 of killing an Iraqi prisoner.
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State Dept. say it has approved the $495M sale of eight HIMARS launchers to Lithuania...everyone's down with the HIMARS.
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Pentagon acquisition chief William LaPlante on the role of artillery in Indo-Pacom:
“I don’t know what you’d fire a 155 at in the Pacific, maybe the water”
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NATO's top officer, Adm. Rob Bauer, told me at Halifax this wknd Russia's massing of troops near Ukraine is worrying in the number, type, and placement of forces, but also "it looks more thought through than the [buildup] we saw in spring."
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Russian push on Kyiv hasn't moved much in 24hrs. senior US defense official says that because of fuel shortages, "we are also picking up signs that they're having problems feeding their troops -- that they're not only they're running out of gas but they are running out of food."
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There will be around seven US military flights full of weapons for Ukraine landing in next 24 hours, full of stuff from the new $800M package. (Howitzers, drones, radars, etc), US defense official says
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Intel help: The US is "actively sharing information and intelligence with the Ukrainians that we believe can be helpful to them in their everyday" defense official told reporters today...
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Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said that he's concerned about naval bases and sea level rise. US is seeing "100 year storms coming every 2-3 years. We need to start addressing that."
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43 confirmed dead, 70,000 homeless from Dorian.
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State Dept. just said they won't brief today...a day after announcing 3,000 US troops are rushing to Kabul to evacuate US citizens.
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Some interesting tidbits from my interview w/ Pentagon acquisition chief William LaPlante.
A 22-country working group focused on sustainment for Ukraine is tracking over 4,000 supply lines for high-demand spare parts...(con't)
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No questions for Navy SecNav nominee Kenneth Braithwaite in written Qs about his work for Cambridge Analytica. Senators have shown no interest today, either.
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Offutt is being submerged as the Trump administration is looking to pump billions out of military construction accounts to fund the border wall.
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EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Elizabeth Warren reminded the Navy they were breaking the law by stifling transparency, so the Navy changed policy:
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