PACIFIC MILITARY MILITARY Veterans of Pearl Harbor Pentagon chief plans Tricare premiums mark 78th anniversary of to shift US focus to skyrocket for nearly surprise attack by Japan China and Russia 75K after glitch Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Joshua outboxes Ruiz, reclaims heavyweight title » Page 17 stripes.com Volume 78, No. 168 ©SS 2019 MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas FBI probes Fla. base shooting as terrorist act BY BRENDAN FARRINGTON AND MIKE BALSAMO Associated Press PENSACOLA, Fla. — The FBI is work- ing under the presumption that a fatal shooting at a Florida naval base carried out by an aviation student from Saudi Ara- bia was an act of terrorism, the agency said Sunday. “We are, as we do in most active-shooter investigations, working with the presump- tion that this was an act of terrorism,” said Rachel L. Rojas, FBI agent in charge of the INSIDE investigation. All interna- Commander: tional students Victims ‘didn’t at the Pensacola base have been run from danger’ accounted for, Page 3 there have been no arrests, and the community is under no immediate threat, Rojas said at a news conference. A Saudi commanding officer has ordered all students from the country to remain at one location at the base, officials also said at the news conference. Additionally, authorities believe the gun- N. Korea caps tense man made social media posts in which he talked about U.S. support for Israel and charged that Americans are anti-Muslim, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Sunday. Investigators also believe the week with rocket test gunman visited New York City, including Rockefeller Center, days before the shoot- ing and they are working to determine the purpose of the trip, said the official, who Trump warns Kim could lose ‘everything’ was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. BY KIM GAMEL and might be leaning toward a “new way” The FBI and others had said they were mentioned by Kim earlier this year. Stars and Stripes trying to determine whether the gunman, On Tuesday, a North Korean diplomat SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, 21, of said it is “entirely” up to the U.S. what the Royal Saudi Air Force, acted alone. said Sunday that it successfully conduct- “Christmas gift” it wants to get as the ed a “very important test” at a long-range Alshamrani was a flight student at Pensac- year draws to a close, prompting specu- ola, where members of foreign militaries rocket launch site, prompting President lation the North may be preparing for a Donald Trump to warn that Kim Jong Photos by AP, top, and KCNA/KNS, above are routinely trained by the U.S. long-range missile test. Earlier in the week of the shooting, Un could lose “everything” if he acts Top: A man watches a TV screen Trump, who is eager for foreign policy Alshamrani hosted a dinner party where aggressively. showing the Sohae Satellite Launching success in North Korea and has consis- he and three others watched videos of mass The statements were the latest sign Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea, tently maintained his friendship with shootings, another U.S. official told the AP that hopes for diplomacy are unraveling in March. After North Korea said it had Kim, adopted a more threatening tone on on Saturday. ahead of a year-end deadline set by the conducted a “very successful test” at Sunday. The U.S. has sought the assistance of North for Washington to offer concessions the site on Sunday, President Donald “Kim Jong Un is too smart and has far Saudi officials as they try to piece togeth- to restart stalled nuclear talks. Trump warned that North Korean too much to lose, everything actually, if er information about the gunman and his They capped a week of warnings as the leader Kim Jong Un, above, “has far he acts in a hostile way,” Trump wrote on motive. communist state suggests it is increasing- too much to lose” to continue acting ly impatient over the diplomatic deadlock SEE TEST ON PAGE 3 aggressively. SEE FBI ON PAGE 3 PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Monday, December 9, 2019 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Hiring up, easing worries of weakening economy Military rates Switzerland (Franc) ...........................0.9900 Euro costs (Dec. 9)............................$1.1380 Thailand (Baht) ....................................30.35 Dollar buys (Dec. 9) ..........................€0.8787 Turkey (Lira) ........................................5.7825 British pound (Dec. 9) ..........................$1.35 (Military exchange rates are those BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER soon slow simply because there Steady job growth has helped re- Japanese yen (Dec. 9) ........................106.00 available to customers at military banking are fewer unemployed workers assure consumers that the econ- South Korean won (Dec. 9) ............1,158.00 facilities in the country of issuance Associated Press Commercial rates for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the available. omy is expanding and that their Bahrain (Dinar) ...................................0.3770 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For WASHINGTON — American That day may still come, but it jobs and incomes remain secure. British pound ......................................1.3137 nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., businesses have complained for Canada (Dollar) ..................................1.3264 purchasing British pounds in Germany), didn’t in November. Employers That should boost spending and China(Yuan) ........................................ 7.0353 check with your local military banking years that they can’t find the added 266,000 jobs last month, growth in the months ahead. Denmark (Krone) ...............................6.7586 facility. Commercial rates are interbank Egypt (Pound) ...................................16.1397 rates provided for reference when buying workers they need to fill available currency. All figures are foreign currencies the most since January. The new job numbers were re- Euro ......................................... 1.1056/0.9045 jobs. to one dollar, except for the British pound, Monthly hiring has, in fact, leased as companies have been Hong Kong (Dollar) ............................7.8288 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, November’s robust hiring gain picked up since earlier this year. getting more creative about en- Hungary (Forint) ................................299.49 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) Israel (Shekel) ....................................3.4709 suggests that at least some have It averaged 205,000 for the past ticing workers as the ranks of Japan (Yen) ..........................................108.55 found a way to do so. three months, up from a recent the unemployed dwindle. Some Kuwait (Dinar) ....................................0.3036 INTEREST RATES Norway (Krone) ..................................9.1258 With the unemployment rate low of 135,000 in July. are willing to hire people who Philippines (Peso) ................................ 50.77 Prime rate ................................................4.75 now at a half-century low of Friday’s jobs report largely are less qualified and train them, Poland (Zloty) .........................................3.87 Discount rate ..........................................2.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ..........................3.7498 Federal funds market rate ...................1.56 3.5%, many economists have squelched fears of a recession that while others are raising pay to at- Singapore (Dollar) .............................1.3604 3-month bill .............................................1.49 also warned that hiring would had taken hold in the summer. tract more applicants. South Korea (Won) .........................1,186.04 30-year bond ...........................................2.24 WEATHER OUTLOOK MONDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST MONDAY IN EUROPE TUESDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 44/33 Kabul 50/28 Seoul 47/38 Baghdad 60/45 Kandahar 62/44 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 48/41 51/41 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 43/40 43/40 54/38 Iwakuni 56/50 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 73/70 Brussels 46/43 Guam 65/56 45/42 Ramstein 60/48 84/78 Lajes, 50/41 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 70/55 75/64 66/63 45/42 45/39 Aviano/ Vicenza 43/39 Naples 57/53 Okinawa Morón 72/69 59/51 Sigonella Rota 57/39 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 82/75 61/42 62/59 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ............ 11 Classified ......................... 13 Comics ............................. 15 Crossword ........................ 15 Faces ............................... 14 Opinion ............................ 16 Sports ......................... 17-24 Monday, December 9, 2019 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 MILITARY Navy, families recount heroics of fallen sailors BY BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press FBI: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Joshua Watson Trump says foreign military training policies will be reviewed had just graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and looked forward to a military FROM FRONT PAGE President Don- 153 countries in the U.S. going through career as a pilot. On Saturday, he was being Alshamrani opened fire inside a class- ald Trump declined military training. hailed a hero as his room at the base, killing three people to say whether the “This has been done for many de- family recounted how and wounding two sheriff’s deputies, one shooting was ter- cades,” Trump said. “I guess we’re going the 23-year-old — in in the arm and one in the knee, before rorism-related but to have to look into the whole procedure. his last minutes of life one of the deputies killed him. Eight oth- said Saturday that We’ll start that immediately.” — led first responders ers were also hurt. Both deputies were he would review Family members and others identi- policies governing to an active shooter at expected to survive. fied the three dead as Joshua Kaleb the Pensacola naval foreign military The official who spoke Saturday said Watson, 23, a recent graduate of the U.S. base. training in the U.S. one of the three students who attended Naval Academy; Airman Mohammed In a Facebook post, the dinner party hosted by the attacker The U.S.