Christopher Woody

Search-and-rescue operations are underway for two US Marine Corps aircraft involved in a "mishap" 200 miles off the coast of Japan, the Marine Corps said Wednesday.

The <a id="9b7608c1-5b7e-3259-a806-4ab0ed938d05" href="https://twitter.com/W7VOA/status/1070439051461844994"> planes </a> in question were an F/A-18 Hornet fighter and a KC-130 Hercules cargo plane that were taking part in aerial refueling exercise.

The KC-130 had five crew aboard and the F-18 two, according to the Marine Corps. Five crew members are still missing.

"The aircraft involved in the mishap had launched from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and were conducting regularly scheduled training when the mishap occurred," the service said in a <a id="17b9d239-e6c9-337d-ab44-0fdac93f45fc" href="https://news.usni.org/2018/12/05/39344"> statement </a> published by USNI News.

The incident happened around 2 a.m. local time on December 6. Japanese search-and-rescue aircraft responded immediately, the Corps said, adding that the circumstances were under investigation.

One of the seven missing was rescued alive, a spokeswomen for the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing <a id="c1dbe414-bbd2-392d-a8c5-9ec416b48f49" href="https://taskandpurpose.com/marine-aircraft-crash-off-japan/"> said </a> Wednesday evening. A second crew member was found alive around 60 miles from Shikoku island, according to the Associated Press, citing Japanese officials.

"The search and rescue operations continue for the remaining five US Marines," the III MEF Marines wrote in a <a id="61da8699-e79e-3881-ab4b-c068af00672b" href="https://www.facebook.com/IIIMEF/posts/2475671802666791"> Facebook </a> update.

One of the two rescued crew members was in a stable condition at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Reuters quotes Japan's defense ministry as saying on Wednesday.

The other, located 10 hours after the crash and taken aboard a Japanese military vessel, is now being transported to a hospital for evaluation, the Marines said in the Facebook update.

The search — conducted by the US 7th Fleet, a Navy P-8A Maritime Patrol reconnaissance Aircraft flying out of Kadena Air Force Base, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japanese Coast Guard — is <a id="023f5237-4dd8-3d49-a9e7-80f777584df4" href="https://twitter.com/Elizabeth_McLau/status/1070449045968175104"> ongoing </a> in an area about 200 miles of the Japanese coast, the Marine's post said.

Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces’ Joint Staff, told Reuters on Wednesday: "We plan to keep at it all through the night."

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FA-18 Hornet Navy Marine Corps Japan Iwakuni

Crash of 2 Marine Corps aircraft over Japan leaves 5 missing as a search-and-rescue operation unfolds

The Japanese attack on the US Navy at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, propelled the US into a war that had been raging for years.

The US campaign had a mixed start. In April 1942, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-last-doolittle-raider-101-recalls-attack-75-years-later-2017-4?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="60dabdec-994c-325a-a179-3d911d82f901"> success of the Doolittle Raid </a> on Japan was leavened by the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bataan-death-march-photos-from-world-war-ii-2017-4?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="821e7c2e-632c-3fa3-ad08-6d4af9b5f7d0"> horrors of the Bataan Death March </a> , during which thousands of US and Philippine soldiers died.

But mid-1942 saw <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/battle-of-the-coral-sea-world-war-ii-anniversary-2018-5?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="8dd3c34d-f28a-353f-ae00-6e566bc4c05d"> the Battle of the Coral Sea </a> , when the Allies beat the Japanese in the first naval battle in which the combatants were never within sight of each other, and the Battle of Midway, when outnumbered US forces <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-tricked-into-revealing-battle-of-midway-plans-in-world-war-ii-2018-5?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="125ad46f-96a5-3e65-a2ee-f4775624b920"> fooled and cripple </a> the Japanese navy.

By February 1943, the US had secured Guadalcanal after the first major Allied offensive in the theater. From there, US forces were able to plot retribution for the attack that started it all.

Pearl Harbor newspapers World War II WWII Times Square New York City

On April 13, 1943, US naval intelligence intercepted a coded signal sent to Japanese commanders in the area around Bougainville, in the Solomon Islands northwest of Guadalcanal.

The US had long since broke Japan's codes. The April 13 message was sent in a new variant, but US intelligence deciphered it in short order.

"On April 18 CINC Combined Fleet will visit RXZ, R–, and RXP in accordance with the following schedule..." the <a href="https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/operation-vengeance-the-mission-to-kill-admiral-yamamoto/" id="044cd408-7326-359d-aa42-2e3c09f76de0"> message </a> began. Adm. Isokoru Yamamoto, commander in chief of Japan's Combined Fleet and planner of the Pearl Harbor attack, was visiting Japanese units in the Solomons.

The message <a href="https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/ASPJ/journals/Volume-32_Issue-4/V-Martin.pdf" id="d77bac9a-111f-3a84-a1b9-bbc4495b1c17"> revealed </a> not only the trip but also the schedule, the planes — two Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" medium bombers escorted by six Zero fighters — that would be involved, the orders for commanders at Bougainville, and the recommended uniforms.

Yamamoto was one of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/opinion/a-reluctant-enemy.html" id="def80a21-b228-3c83-a4cd-e2a48bb43973"> most charismatic </a> and forward-thinking naval officers of his generation. He graduated from Japanese Naval Academy in 1904 and fought in the Russo-Japanese war, where he lost two fingers at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.

He went to the US in the 1920s, learning English and studying at Harvard and at the US Naval War College, where he learned about a new style of naval warfare fought with carrierand island-based planes.

He reformed Japan's navy and was highly regarded by sailors and the Japanese royal family. While he was no pacifist, he was part of a moderate faction within the navy.

He <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/opinion/a-reluctant-enemy.html" id="4ce50990-cf6c-31b5-aadf-d332dbc6b262"> criticized bellicosity </a> from right-wing ultranationalists, scorned the army and its leaders who undercut civilian officials, and resisted an alliance with Nazi Germany. This earned him death threats.

As Japan's naval attache in Washington in the late 1920s, he traveled the US and witnessed its might.

"Anyone who has seen the auto factories in Detroit and the oil fields in Texas," he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/opinion/a-reluctant-enemy.html" id="4d09508c-d5dd-3425-a78d-43428a31c22a"> said </a> later, "knows that Japan lacks the national power for a naval race with America."

He cautioned against a war with the US but took part in its planning and believed only a knockout blow could spare Japan a ruinous end. "We should do our best to decide the fate of the war on the very first day," he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/opinion/a-reluctant-enemy.html" id="4d09508c-d5dd-3425-a78d-43428a31c22a"> said </a> .

His plan for a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was resisted, but he pushed it through, noting the irony of spearheading a mission he opposed. "Alas, is that fate?" he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/opinion/a-reluctant-enemy.html" id="a038ced2-def8-3ee8-af76-1fb3a6d5582b"> wrote </a> to a friend.

Despite Yamamoto's reservations about the war, he became the face of the enemy after Pearl Harbor, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/opinion/a-reluctant-enemy.html" id="545294d5-73b5-3bde-acf0-5e0ac5969c91"> appearing </a> on the cover of Time magazine on December 22, 1941, under the headline "Japan's Aggressor."

If the name "Operation Vengeance" didn't illustrate US sentiment toward him, Pacific Fleet chief Adm. William "Bull" Halsey got the point across <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/how-the-us-assassinated-the-japanese-admiral-who-planned-20202" id="da136056-8c31-37a2-a5b0-c945341ffe07"> with the order </a> , "TALLY HO X LET'S GET THE BASTARD."

President Franklin Roosevelt is reputed to have told the Navy, "Get Yamamoto." (It's not clear he actually said that.) Adm. Chester Nimitz, the US commander in the Pacific, gave the go-ahead to shoot down Yamamoto's plane — a task assigned to the 339th Fighter Squadron.

But all the motivation didn't make the operation easier.

Navy and Marine fighters didn't have the range to intercept Yamamoto and his escorts over Bougainville. The Army Air Force's twin-engine P-38G Lighting had the range to get there and the firepower to deal with the bombers and the fighters.

Eighteen P-38s — 16 for the attack and two extras — were selected and outfitted with extra tanks of fuel. Maj. John Mitchell, commander of the 339th, <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/04/historian_says_oregonian_rex_b.html" id="292766fc-328b-3569-ada2-4337a46a009c"> said </a> he wasn't sure the P-38s could take off with the added weight.

Four fighters, <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/04/historian_says_oregonian_rex_b.html" id="cf9e2f9e-d5e8-3e6f-a9df-8931f8114526"> called </a> the Killer Division, were to attack the bombers, one of which would be carrying Yamamoto. The rest would attack the fighter escorts.

To avoid detection, planners wanted the P-38s to fly "at least 50 miles offshore of these islands, which meant dead-reckoning over 400 miles over water at fifty feet or less, a prodigious feat of navigation," <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/how-the-us-assassinated-the-japanese-admiral-who-planned-20202" id="2ec38c07-895a-328f-a20d-fd851225d1b1"> according </a> to a history of the 13th Fighter Command, of which the 339th Fighter Squadron was part.

The approach was complicated by the lack of radar to guide the P-38s. They would have to navigate with charts, though estimates of Yamamoto's plane's speed and the weather conditions, as well as his reputation for punctuality, allowed US planners to calculate where he'd be.

They <a href="https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/operation-vengeance-the-mission-to-kill-admiral-yamamoto/" id="acf86791-bc61-346e-a1a7-d4f6caddac57"> planned </a> for a 1,000-mile round trip, with a 600-mile approach flight from the south. Mitchell, the squadron commander, gave the plan <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/04/historian_says_oregonian_rex_b.html" id="24b09439-6be6-3993-aa8e-cc6fe69433d2"> 1,000-to-1 odds </a> of success.

They left Henderson Field early on April 18, 1943 — the first anniversary of the Doolittle Raid. The monotony of the long flight combined with the low altitude increased the risks. One pilot <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/04/historian_says_oregonian_rex_b.html" id="6a08fa06-01ec-3606-a155-504a8036190c"> counted </a> sharks to stay awake; he saw 48.

Despite lacking navigational aids, they got to Bougainville just as Yamamoto's convoy — the two bombers and six fighters 1,500 feet above them — flew into the area.

Twelve of the P-38s climbed to the Zeroes; the other four headed to the bombers, not sure which carried Yamamoto.

The US fighters split up and chased the bombers, shooting both down. One crashed into the jungle on Bougainville, killing all aboard — including Yamamoto. The other plunged into the ocean.

Japanese troops on Bougainville eventually found the wreckage of Yamamoto's plane. The bodies on board were cremated and put in boxes that returned to Japan.

"His cremation pit was filled, and two papaya trees, his favorite fruit, were planted on the mound," <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/how-the-us-assassinated-the-japanese-admiral-who-planned-20202" id="2ec38c07-895a-328f-a20d-fd851225d1b1"> according </a> to the 13th Fighter Command history. "A shrine was erected, and Japanese naval personnel cared for the graves until the end of the war."

Yamamoto's death was kept <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/04/historian_says_oregonian_rex_b.html" id="b9709189-cec2-3394-a6dd-04aa382a97a6"> secret </a> for some time, but he was eventually given a state funeral.

Japan navy Mitsubishi G4M bomber crash Isoroku Yamamoto

The US planes, minus one downed during the operation, returned to Henderson Field around noon, with some running out of fuel as they touched down.

While Yamamoto met his end on April 18, 1943, how it arrived was less clear.

Capt. Thomas Lanphier, who led the four fighters targeting the Japanese bombers, and his wingman, 1st. Lt. Rex Barber, were both credited with a kill on the mission.

The Air Force reviewed records in the 1970s and reduced it to <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/04/historian_says_oregonian_rex_b.html" id="8beaf9a1-8d66-38e1-a1ae-01fc7b3788b9"> a half-kill each </a> , but it remained unclear who had shot down the bomber carrying Yamamoto.

In 1998, a panel of the surviving US pilots and one Japanese Zero pilot considered eyewitness comments, reports from Barber and Lanphier, and an examination of the bomber that crashed on Bougainville.

Fifty-five years after Yamamoto was sent crashing into the jungle, they <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/04/historian_says_oregonian_rex_b.html" id="104a8fdc-0029-3506-ae8c-2157bde00b62"> concluded </a> Barber had put him there.

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President Donald Trump will tap Army chief of staff <a id="e66133ff-77ad-3221-a591-16ba27a72272" href="https://dod.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography-View/article/614392/general-mark-a-milley/"> Gen. Mark Milley </a> to take over as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, people familiar with the decision told <a id="f7aa25ac-bc12-3845-a26a-3252f651e9f0" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-expected-to-tap-army-chief-as-next-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs/2018/12/07/dba7e8ea-fa3c-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html"> The Washington Post </a> .

The New York Times <a id="1217ae08-90a1-369e-a3d2-0f1ee5d2ba35" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/us/politics/trump-mark-milley-chairman-joint-chiefs.html"> also reported </a> that Milley would be named chairman, citing administration sources.

Milley, a four-star general, was commissioned in 1980 and has led command and staff positions in eight Army divisions and Special Forces. He has also held positions with the 82nd Airborne and 10th Mountain Division and is <a id="4ac5e1fc-b313-32e1-a9cb-aac039d9c5d1" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/us/politics/trump-mark-milley-chairman-joint-chiefs.html"> well known </a> at the Pentagon and throughout the Army.

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He was deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and served three tours during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, where he was the commanding general of International Security Assistance Force joint command and deputy commanding general of US forces.

Milley's experience with counterinsurgency operations <a id="c7a43a96-8c84-3e06-a92d-5c39388e8c8d" href="https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/military/article199188524.html"> informed </a> the creation of the Army's Security Force Assistance Brigades, which are units tasked with training and advising local partner forces. The first brigade was launched earlier this year and <a id="37247d50-452c-3fd5-ab26-ae9ff7b3e1a0" href="https://www.army.mil/article/202410/1st_sfab_uncases_colors_begins_train_advise_assist_mission_in_afghanistan"> deployed </a> to Afghanistan. Several <a id="d605fd9b-0a8f-3d85-af81-372af1fd108f" href="https://www.army.mil/article/205490/army_announces_the_stationing_of_three_security_force_assistance_brigades"> other brigades </a> have been stationed in the US.

U.S. Army General Milley testifies at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination to become the Army's chief of staff, on Capitol Hill in Washington

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs oversees US military operations around the world and is the top adviser to the president on military affairs. The current chairman, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, is set to retire on October 1, 2019.

Milley, along with Navy chief of operations Adm. John Richardson and Marine Corps commandant Gen. Robert Neller, is <a id="3b07112c-cd17-3080-a2a6-fd47b42eb688" href="https://taskandpurpose.com/trump-joint-chiefs-announcement/"> expected to complete </a> his current position around the middle of 2019.

Trump hinted a looming announcement about the chairmanship on Friday after confirming his picks for the attorney general and the US ambassador to the United Nations.

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"I have another one for tomorrow that I’m going to be announcing at the Army-Navy game," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I can give you a little hint: It will have to do with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and succession."

Two weeks ago, Trump <a id="29d0cb29-b4fc-3f14-a458-a564a0fcee7c" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/us/politics/trump-mark-milley-chairman-joint-chiefs.html"> met </a> with Milley and Air Force chief of staff Gen. David Goldfein, <a id="3f7990fd-57d0-3459-a8e5-26f0450ab08c" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-f117-nighthawk-stealth-aircraft-still-flies-after-retirement-2018-7?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> an experienced aviator </a> who is also well respected at the Pentagon.

While Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had a good relationship with Milley, he preferred Goldfein, according to The Post. Trump's decision to go with the Army chief of staff was noted by some current and former officials as another <a id="2f6bdd30-b59f-37e6-a024-76c799b10bec" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-may-replace-jim-mattis-new-nickname-moderate-dog-2018-9?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> sign of Mattis' waning influence </a> .

If chosen, Milley will need to be confirmed by the Senate.

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Trump reportedly plans to pick the Army chief to be his top general

One Marine is dead, another is injured, and five are missing after <a id="3169134f-3aa3-3c06-a99f-842dda4d69fb" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2-marine-corps-aircraft-crash-during-refueling-in-japan-2018-12?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> an F/A-18 Hornet collided with a KC-130J </a> refueling tanker during a night-time training mission off the coast of Japan on Wednesday.

Capt. Jahmar F. Resilard, the pilot of the F/A-18, was rescued after crash but <a id="56503ada-0ec4-38c2-a161-5eed26ce1164" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marines-mourn-charismatic-pilot-killed-in-refueling-crash-off-japan-2018-12?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> died on Thursday </a> . The other Marine aboard the Hornet was rescued and is in stable conditions, but all five Marines aboard the KC-130J remain missing.

The deadly incident is the latest in series of fatal and costly accidents among Marine Corps aircraft that have raised concerns about the condition of aircraft and quality of training in the Corps and across the US military.

In this Monday, July 10, 2017 frame from video, smoke and flames rise from a military plane that crashed in a farm field, in Itta Bena, Miss., killing several.

On July 10, 2017, a Marine Corps KC-130T tanker aircraft crashed in Mississippi, killing 15 Marines and a sailor.

The KC-130T was introduced in the early 1980s. The aircraft in that incident, one of the last ones still flying, was set for retirement within a few years.

The proximate cause of the accident, however, was a corroded propeller blade that went unfixed when it entered an Air Force maintenance depot in 2011, according to <a id="99776eb5-d8e5-3ce2-a915-73949c8f86e7" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fiery-military-plane-crash-that-killed-16-caused-by-maintenance-failures-2018-12?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> an investigation </a> released this month. The corrosion became a crack that allowed the blade to shear off in flight and rip through the fuselage, causing the plane to break up.

Data compiled <a id="01e3aa54-5274-3aec-afd5-3de8eb52c618" href="https://breakingdefense.com/2017/09/marine-aviation-deaths-are-six-times-navys/"> by Breaking Defense </a> in September 2017 — after a summer in which deadly accidents led Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller to order rolling stand-downs across aviation units — showed that over the previous six years, 62 Marines had been killed in aircraft accidents, compared to just 10 personnel from the Navy, which has more people and more aircraft.

The Corps also had more Class A Mishaps, the most serious category of accident which involve loss of life or more than $1 million in damage.

The Marine Corps has fewer aircraft than the Navy, so a few accidents can boost the accident rate considerably. Marine Corps aircraft are also frequently carrying troops, which can make fewer accidents more deadly.

The age and nature of Marine Corps aircraft also complicate matters. The F/A-18 Hornet and the KC-130T both entered service around the same time. (The Corps has said it <a id="eb302791-996e-30c3-a61f-b2d650b08b0e" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-marines-are-getting-rid-of-old-fa-18-hornet-jet-fighters-2018-10?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> will get rid of </a> its oldest Hornets, but delays in the F-35 program have slowed that process.)

Planes like the <a id="a0a2cb17-9c72-3144-a797-e2a12c4b1095" href="http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.display&amp;key=40EAA7E2-1C25-4857-A429-E2D7D16ED62B"> AV-8B Harrier </a> , which first became operational in 1971, and the newer MV-22 Osprey are vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, which makes them trickier to fly even when they're new.

But, as Breaking Defense <a id="73c9066a-a033-3412-addc-334f707a00a9" href="https://breakingdefense.com/2017/09/marine-aviation-deaths-are-six-times-navys/"> found </a> , the Corps was seeing accidents at a much higher rate than the Navy — 10% more in the best year.

An investigation <a id="43425bfb-fbdc-36c1-a315-3e3cb80d5582" href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/04/08/marine-corps-aviation-mishaps-on-the-rise-up-80-percent/"> by Military Times </a> this spring found Marine Corps aviation accidents had increased 80% over the previous five years, rising from 56 in fiscal year 2013 to 101 in fiscal year 2017. The greatest increase came among Class C mishaps, where damage is between $50,000 and $500,000 and work days are lost due to injury.

2013 marked the beginning of mandatory budget cuts known as sequestration, and other services also saw an increase in mishaps starting that year as squadrons reduced flying hours for training.

The Marines, however, have a smaller budget, fewer personnel, and fewer aircraft. After 2013, flying hours were reduced and and experienced maintainers supervisors were released.

Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey engine maintenance

The next year, military operations increased as a part of the campaign against ISIS and in response to Chinese activity in the South China Sea. Flying hours for deployed pilots grew while returned pilots were " <a id="95712049-2100-3bc4-abb6-3743821961ad" href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/04/08/marine-corps-aviation-mishaps-on-the-rise-up-80-percent/"> flight-time deprived </a> ."

Along with increased flight hours for deployed Marine pilots, maintenance suffered, as the Corps was not able to replace some of its more experienced maintainers and crew members. That drove an increase in the number of aircraft that were unable to fly, in turn depriving pilots of flight time for training.

The loss of both skilled maintainers and pilot hours increases the chances a mishap will occur and the chances that a minor mishap will escalate, defense analysts <a id="65223f52-17bb-30c8-a584-4ec462ba5296" href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/04/08/marine-corps-aviation-mishaps-on-the-rise-up-80-percent/"> told Military Times </a> .

"You got worse at everything if you flew two or less times a week," John Venable, a former F-16 pilot and senior defense fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Military Times this spring. "And the average units have been flying two or less times for five years. It lulls your ability to handle even mundane things."

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Deadly crash between 2 US Marine Corps aircraft is raising concerns about the service's shockingly high fatality rates

No one had an inkling of the <a id="0b8e4e71-19b6-350b-a308-7a30db982ddc" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pearl-harbor-attack-photos-2016-12?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> devastating Japanese attack </a> that would commence at 7:48 a.m. and leave 2,402 Americans dead.

"The Japanese bombs did tremendous damage to the immediate strength of America's Pacific airpower, as well as her Pacific sea power, which was based upon Pearl Harbor," a British Movietone narrator <a id="47244f27-eed3-3458-a3dd-1a0d201c7249" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H-BTblzqO0&amp;feature=youtu.be"> says over footage </a> taken just hours after the onslaught, which you can see below.

In addition to leaving thousands dead, the attack destroyed aircraft and airfields and sank four battleships, among them the USS Arizona, where a bomb struck an ammunition magazine at the front of the ship, sending it up in a mighty conflagration that burned for days.

At the same time Pearl Harbor was struck, Japan <a id="0fc9c9f4-2384-361f-a5db-20addd926b08" href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/history/wwii_timeline.html"> attacked </a> the Philippines as well as Wake and Guam, two US islands in the Pacific.

"Yet even on the day of disaster, American sea power began the process of recovery," the Movietone narrator <a id="4d0cb80e-7ea7-3f91-a585-1ade66be310c" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H-BTblzqO0&amp;feature=youtu.be"> continues </a> . "An undamaged cruiser, putting to sea, steams past the burning Arizona — a symbol of America's resolve to take complete revenge."

The following day, the US declared war on Japan, and three days later Germany and Italy declared war on the US.

In April 1942, the US mounted <a id="52ce40c7-8865-3fa3-a54f-637dd1bcc805" href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/history/wwii_timeline.html"> the Doolittle raid </a> , striking Tokyo with <a id="731a6256-e52d-3fcf-aaa5-98e5e5437b6c" href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/untold-story-vengeful-japanese-attack-doolittle-raid-180955001/"> 16 B-25 bombers </a> in a daring operation that boosted Allied morale.

Two months later, the war in the Pacific took <a id="e8cc06aa-d130-3ca8-a715-af073928f6ec" href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/history/wwii_timeline.html"> a decisive turn </a> when the US repelled the Japanese at Midway, a US base in the middle of the Pacific.

US carrier-based planes sent four Japanese carriers to the bottom of the sea, while the US lost just one carrier.

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December 7, 1941, began like any other Sunday at Pearl Harbor, the US's most important Pacific base. Sailors and airmen slowly roused themselves from sleep as the might of the US fleet sat at anchor across the waterfront.

Here's what Pearl Harbor was like hours after the devastating Japanese attack on December 7, 1941

India has watched warily as China's navy has ventured into the Indian Ocean, and now New Delhi plans to expand its navy to keep its edge in the ocean with which it shares a name.

India's navy <a id="7c4f853f-3996-3960-a498-33196fb77b51" href="https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2018/12/04/India-to-add-56-warships-six-submarines-to-naval-fleet/2151543950800/"> currently </a> has 140 warships and 220 aircraft, and navy chief Adm. Sunil Lanba <a id="0422c5e8-fd24-31fa-abba-c20ee42d697d" href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/navy-looking-at-inducting-56-warships-and-submarines-admiral-lanba/articleshow/66917971.cms"> said </a> Monday that there are 32 ships and submarines under construction in Indian shipyards

Delhi has also approved the construction of another 56 warships and six submarines, part of a 10-year plan. "By 2050, we will also have 200 ships, 500 aircraft and be a world-class navy," Lanba <a id="8fec3581-093e-3697-aa13-9160cfe75a14" href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/indian-navy-chief-admiral-sunil-lanba-5477138/"> said </a> .

One of those six submarines will be from Project-75I, a $12 billion initiative to <a id="64c74fad-8bdb-38c8-a2da-bf49a10e32f4" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-to-buy-submarines-amid-china-naval-activity-in-the-indian-ocean-2017-7?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> acquire advanced subs </a> equipped with air-independent-propulsion systems that allow nonnuclear subs to operate without atmospheric oxygen, replacing or augmenting diesel-electric systems.

Lanba also said that the second of India's Scorpene-class diesel-electric subs had been through the needed trials and would be commissioned soon. The first of the class was inducted in December 2017.

Read more: China's growing submarine force is 'armed to the teeth' — and the rest of the Pacific is racing to keep up

India said in November that is first domestically built nuclear-powered missile sub, INS Arihant, had completed its first deterrence patrol, giving the country the <a id="af54d4fe-3938-39f0-a4f0-aa21d75c70dd" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-india-says-nuclear-submarine-makes-first-patrol-modi-warns-against-misadventure-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> ability to fire nuclear weapons </a> from land, air, and sea.

The Arihant was a message to rivals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the time: "Don't try any misadventure against India."

India Narendra Modi Arihant navy submarine

Lanba also said on Monday that plans to produce India's second domestically built aircraft carrier had "received the necessary impetus," <a id="720e0205-a857-3046-afef-3bb067d573af" href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/navy-looking-at-inducting-56-warships-and-submarines-admiral-lanba/articleshow/66917971.cms"> according </a> to The Economic Times. The Indian Express <a id="139dbbfc-b188-3ce3-a70c-df81044d0a56" href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/indian-navy-chief-admiral-sunil-lanba-5477138/"> reported </a> that the government is wary of the cost of a third carrier but that Lanba had said "the cost is justified in the Combat Battle Group."

India's first carrier, INS Vikramaditya, is a modified Kiev-class carrier purchased from Russia. The first domestically built aircraft carrier, the second overall, is under construction and is expected to undergo sea trials in three years, Lanba said.

Read more: 2 of Asia's biggest militaries are working on a deal that could give them an edge over China

The third carrier will take seven to 10 years to build, Lanba said, but it would allow India to operate two carriers at all times, complementing India's submarine force.

"A submarine is for 'sea denial,' while the a carrier battle group is for sea control," Lanba said. "Carrier battle groups will enhance the navy's role in the" Indian Ocean Region.

India runway Port Blair Andaman Nicobar Islands

Delhi's efforts to enhance its position in the Indian Ocean are not limited to ships.

A naval air station in the northern Andaman and Nicobar Islands boosts connectivity in the region and improves surveillance in the area. The islands are west of the Malacca Strait, through which much of the shipping between the Indian and Pacific oceans passes — including Chinese subs.

India has <a id="5f3eafe0-e098-33d6-a704-e0de5184188d" href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/To-fight-Chinas-Andaman-and-Nicobar-forays-India-deploys-submarine-hunters/articleshow/50632020.cms"> already deployed </a> its variant of the advanced US P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to the islands.

Read more: With an eye on China, India is looking to buy more US-made advanced sub-hunting planes

Negotiations are <a id="193c5aee-3032-3d12-abcb-9613e2be5303" href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/navy-looking-at-inducting-56-warships-and-submarines-admiral-lanba/articleshow/66917971.cms"> underway </a> to build a naval base in the Seychelles, at the opposite end of the Indian Ocean. In addition to exercises with partners in the region, the navy is conducting patrols with the Maldives, where India appears to have come out ahead in <a id="efad8be6-303d-3aa8-a062-ec54840b1134" href="https://www.ft.com/content/24b0bb54-c22d-11e8-95b1-d36dfef1b89a"> a geopolitical struggle </a> with China.

"In Maldives, there is a government which is favourable to India. We are providing [exclusive economic zone] patrols with Maldives. We continue to do so ... we will move forward in all discussions, not only in maritime," Lanba <a id="0422c5e8-fd24-31fa-abba-c20ee42d697d" href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/navy-looking-at-inducting-56-warships-and-submarines-admiral-lanba/articleshow/66917971.cms"> said </a> Monday.

Delhi has been <a id="8210da98-ca99-3120-a201-76245a69cea4" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-to-buy-submarines-amid-china-naval-activity-in-the-indian-ocean-2017-7?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> tracking Chinese subs </a> entering the Indian Ocean since 2013. Lanba's comments come as China's warships grow increasingly active there.

At any time, Lanba said Monday, there are six to eight Chinese navy ships in the region: a three-ship anti-piracy force in the Gulf of Aden and three to four survey vessels. "In October, a Chinese submarine was deployed and spent a month in the Indian Ocean," he added. "All this was in 2018."

Read more: US submarines are better than China's 'by far,' but in a war that may not matter

India's Eastern Fleet commander Rear Adm. D.K. Tripathi said Wednesday that India's navy had over the past year moved to mission-based deployments to maximize their time at sea.

"We are monitoring all that is happening in the Indian Ocean," he <a id="bef89f33-9c9f-3b50-ac2c-7c0c1ad6513f" href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/navy-monitoring-all-happenings-in-indian-ocean/articleshow/66956758.cms"> said </a> when asked about the presence of other navies.

MiG 29K aircraft INS Vikramaditya indian navy aircraft carrier

India has a long history of tension with its northern neighbor, including several wars over a disputed boundary in the Himalayas.

For now, the land border remains the Indian military's primary focus, as the army is the dominant wing of the armed forces, Faisel Pervaiz, a South Asia expert at the geopolitical-analysis firm Stratfor, told Business Insider in October.

But Chinese naval activity, as well as diplomatic overtures through Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, have worried Delhi.

"For India, the concern now is that although it maintained this kind of regional hegemony by default, that status is beginning to erode, and that extends to the Indian Ocean," Pervaiz said. "India wants to maintain [its status as] the dominant maritime power in the Indian Ocean, but ... as China's expanding its own presence in the Indian Ocean, this is again becoming another challenge.

On Monday, when asked to compare to the Indian navy to those of China and Pakistan, Lanba <a id="6442e96b-8067-36f5-a6b9-ac93d8ed00aa" href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/second-indigenous-aircraft-carrier-got-necessary-impetus-says-navy-chief-admiral-sunil-lanba/story-DV0HoMadxIxdg65EsNoHAL.html"> said </a> Delhi was still on top where it mattered.

"As far as the Indian Navy is concerned, we have only one front. And that is the Indian Ocean. We have overwhelming superiority over Pakistan navy in all fields and domains. In the Indian Ocean region, the balance of power rests in our favor compared to China."

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India is beefing up its navy to counter China's increasingly powerful fleet

Hours before the inauguration of Mexico's new president in Mexico City, two grenades were thrown at the US consulate in Guadalajara, the country's second-biggest city and home to one of the largest US expatriate communities in the world.

A little before 11 p.m. local time on November 30, an unidentified person was caught on film throwing two grenades into the consulate compound in central Guadalajara, which is also the capital of Jalisco state in western Mexico.

The consulate was closed at the time, and no one was killed or injured, but the blast left a <a id="5caa512c-385a-3452-a9d6-d7e0b363f2df" href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/mexico/2018/12/03/grenade-attack-us-consulate-may-ominous-warning-mexicos-new-president"> 16-inch </a> hole in an exterior wall, and grenade fragments found at the scene.

A view shows the facade of the U.S Consulate General in Guadalajara, Mexico, January 7, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer

The US consulate <a id="783ebb35-0cad-31a3-a946-29ee3accdf20" href="https://mx.usembassy.gov/security-alert-u-s-consulate-general-guadalajara/"> said </a> the following day that the damage was minimal and that US and Mexican authorities were investigating and "strengthening the security posture" around the consulate. Jalisco state prosecutors also said that federal authorities had taken over the investigation.

The consulate's operations were limited on Monday, but it <a id="3308181b-2ee9-3686-a718-495b56912628" href="https://twitter.com/USCGGuadalajara/status/1069719658754912258"> resumed </a> normal business on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, the FBI <a id="3ead7934-bd16-31f8-a3ba-b0c4b5db3dfc" href="https://mx.usembassy.gov/42301/"> said </a> it was seeking help from the public to identify the person or people involved, offering up to $20,000 for information leading to those responsible.

"All information can remain anonymous and confidentiality is guaranteed," a notice on the consulate's website said.

The attack came shortly before Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was sworn in as Mexico's president, and it illustrates the challenging criminal dynamics he confronts.

Mexico president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador inauguration

Attacks on US facilities and personnel in Mexico have been rare, and when they have happened, the response has been forceful.

Pressure from Washington after the 1985 kidnapping and killing of of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena led to <a id="9ef119b9-a3c2-3651-a128-26011fc49728" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/miguel-angel-felix-gallardo-godfather-of-mexicos-cartel-sentenced-2017-8?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> the breakup of the powerful Guadalajara cartel </a> , and the US response to the 2011 killing of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata <a id="36b9e9c9-e7a3-322d-ab96-1bfc78ddd626" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jaime-zapata-special-agent-killed-mexico-zetas-cartel-2016-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> helped crippled the Zetas cartel </a> , which was linked to the incident.

While it's possible the attack Friday could be unrelated to organized crime, the timing and nature of the attack <a id="063b2d99-7e3d-326b-a765-de092c472c11" href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/mexico/2018/12/03/grenade-attack-us-consulate-may-ominous-warning-mexicos-new-president"> suggest </a> it could be related to political and criminal dynamics in the country

Guadalajara is the home turf of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, which has grown rapidly over the past decade to become one of Mexico's largest and most violent criminal groups.

Its rise was boosted by the 2015 <a id="3f10c851-e199-3067-a55c-2734b3b52702" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-catch-cjng-jalisco-cartel-gunmen-who-shot-down-army-helicopter-2018-8?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> shoot-down of a Mexican army helicopter </a> in western Jalisco, killing six soldiers, which came during an operation to capture New Generation leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or "El Mencho," who is <a id="8017fc9b-8dd7-30bf-a9d1-efa810145a39" href="https://www.dea.gov/fugitives"> among </a> the US Drug Enforcement Administration's most wanted fugitives.

Two weeks before the grenades were thrown at the consulate, the cartel purportedly posted a video online in which it threatened to attack the consulate.

In the recording, a bandaged man says he was ordered to attack the consulate and capture Central American men, women, and children for ransom with which to pay Mexican officials to ignore other criminal activity, <a id="cabcc389-e117-3999-a816-8e43774f3621" href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/mexico/2018/12/03/grenade-attack-us-consulate-may-ominous-warning-mexicos-new-president"> according to The Dallas Morning News </a> , which could not independently verify the footage.

That attack, the man reportedly said, was to be a message to the US to leave "Mencho alone."

The November 30 attack comes a few weeks into the trial of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in New York City. Guzman is the longtime leader of the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful criminal groups and a main rival of the New Generation.

In the past, the arrest or death of criminal leaders has triggered more violence, as <a id="6ad2f414-c62d-30a3-a3db-922ad1545624" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-kingpin-strategy-failures-and-social-economic-conditions-2017-6?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> others fight to fill the void </a> .

Criminal groups may also be hurting because of Central American migrant caravans crossing Mexico that don't need protection from criminal groups or help from those groups' human-smuggling networks.

Losing that business ahead of the holiday season have put a strain on cartel leaders, security experts <a id="7a94f464-35b7-383e-a0e1-53f389e0843b" href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/mexico/2018/12/03/grenade-attack-us-consulate-may-ominous-warning-mexicos-new-president"> told </a> The Dallas Morning News.

Mexico's political transition — from the center-right government of Enrique Peña Nieto and his establishment Institutional Revolutionary Party to leftist Lopez Obrador and his new National Regeneration Movement party — may also be stirring turmoil in the underworld.

In the past, such changes <a id="854b65bc-35d6-36e4-a3dc-7cc054e2c080" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cartel-gang-violence-in-reynosa-nuevo-laredo-matamoros-mexico-border-2017-6?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> have led to more violence </a> , as criminals and corrupt officials adjust to a new political environment — an attack designed to avoid death or injury may be a signal to those assuming power, <a id="1d51ae3f-af49-3cc9-a450-80b1b3f194d9" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/militarized-police-violence-in-latin-america?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> 12 years into Mexico's bloody war on drugs </a> .

The New Generation in recent months has also been challenged in Guadalajara. A new group, called Nueva Plaza, is believed to be led by a one-time confidant of Oseguera, and some have said other rivals, namely the Sinaloa cartel, could be backing the new group.

In the past, criminal groups have committed high-profile acts, <a id="3f1fa93b-dbbc-3131-ac17-68dc6c66fa9f" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tijuana-cartel-violence-2016-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> like dumping bodies in public </a> , on rivals' turf to draw authorities' attention there.

"Remember that the [New Generation] grew exponentially and became what it is now since the beginning of the Peña Nieto government," Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a political science professor at George Mason University and expert on security in Mexico, <a id="fc4e19e3-70da-3947-a9a8-77ed9ab9ba1f" href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/mexico/2018/12/03/grenade-attack-us-consulate-may-ominous-warning-mexicos-new-president"> told The Morning News </a> . "But they should not be attracting attention, and with this attack you're calling for a response from two governments. Why?"

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The Russian military and its NATO counterparts have been increasingly active in Eastern Europe, as the West moves to counter what they view as Russian aggression in the region.

One facet of Russian military activity that has been well noted by Western military planners is <a id="77e8edc6-d882-3765-a470-ae3dccdc24e9" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-is-trying-to-gain-a-military-edge-over-nato-in-eastern-europe-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> the expansion of anti-access/area-denial </a> , or A2/AD, capability in strategically valuable areas.

Assets like the S-400 air-defense system — believed to be able to target aircraft from as far as 250 miles away, even the latest stealth aircraft — have been set up around Kaliningrad, which is Russia's exclave on the Baltic Sea, further south on the Crimean Peninsula and around the Black Sea, and on the Syrian coast, which provides a base from which to reach into the eastern Mediterranean.

US soldiers troops NATO Suwalki Gap Lithuania

Surface-to-air missile systems deployed around Kaliningrad, which is tucked between Poland and Lithuania, were "layered in a way that makes access to that area difficult," retired Air Force Gen. Frank Gorenc <a id="b07c3567-95da-3d79-a0a7-8684c40209f7" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/world/europe/air-force-general-says-russia-missile-defense-very-serious.html?_r=0"> told The New York Times </a> in January 2016, when he was head of the US Air Force in Europe and Africa.

Those systems could affect NATO operations in Poland and the Baltic States, Gorenc said. (Russian forces using Kaliningrad to <a id="b757e6a2-539e-3c2c-a5c2-0e282a66a638" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-building-up-military-base-in-kaliningrad-near-suwalki-gap-2018-7?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> block the Suwalki Gap </a> and cut the Baltic States off from the rest of NATO <a id="f4e00b52-6244-352e-a29e-ed226c84ba53" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amid-nato-war-games-activity-rises-around-kaliningrad-baltic-2018-10?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> is a particular concern for the alliance </a> .)

Read more: The US Army is gearing up for a potential fight with Russia, and it just put a crucial defensive weapon back in Europe permanently

"There are varying degrees of capabilities" at each of those sites, Ben Hodges, who led the US Army in Europe before retiring as a lieutenant general at the end of 2017, told Business Insider at the beginning of November.

"But the one in Kaliningrad and the one in Crimea are the most substantial, with air- and missile-defense and anti-ship missiles and several thousands of troops" from Russia's army, navy, and air force, Hodges said. "That's part of creating an arc of A2/AD, if you will."

Three Ukrainian ships are seen as they docked near the Kerch after been seized ate Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, in Kerch, Crimea, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018.

Russian <a id="6fd155fc-7344-3370-aca1-8b7d564e591f" href="http://tass.com/defense/1033358"> state media said </a> another battalion of S-4oo missiles had assumed combat duty in Crimea at the end of November, amid a state of increased tension with Ukraine over a violent encounter between their navies in the Black Sea.

Other air-defense systems, including the less advanced but highly capable S-300, are deployed in the region, including in the Black and Baltic seas. Other deployed A2/AD assets include coastal missile batteries firing anti-ship missiles.

Read more: 'Good luck, guys': 17 Russian jets buzzed a British destroyer and left an ominous message earlier this year

When those systems — long <a id="dc28f6f7-5df5-3161-a5e4-ea62e13eed6f" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-is-trying-to-gain-a-military-edge-over-nato-in-eastern-europe-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> embraced by Moscow to counter </a> NATO's technical and numerical superiority at sea and in the air — are paired with electronic-warfare and radar systems, the concern is they could limit NATO's freedom of movement, especially in situations short of all-out war, when offensive options are restrained.

Christopher Woody

Articles written by the author

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