One-Third of Troops Offered Vaccine Refused, DOD Official Tells Congress Pentagon Wants More Service Members to Accept Shots, Which Are Voluntary
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GAMES: Console-worthy titles MOVIES coming to iPhone 12 Page 18 House-less woman finds a home on the road MUSIC: Robin Thicke in ‘Nomadland’ sees the light Page 28 Page 15 MLB: New year, but same COVID-19 protocols Page 48 stripes.com Volume 79 Edition 218 ©SS 2021 FRIDAY,FEBRUARY 19, 2021 $1.00 NATO allies CORONAVIRUS to expand Iraq mission BY JOHN VANDIVER Stars and Stripes STUTTGART, Germany — NA- TO allies agreed Thursday to sig- nificantly expand their training mission in Iraq, a move that will bolster the alliance’s position in the Middle East and potentially ease demands on U.S. forces in the country. The non-U.S. NATO mission will grow from its current 500 ser- vice members to about 4,000, and its efforts will extend to regions beyond the greater Baghdad area, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at the end of a two-day meeting of alliance de- fense ministers. The U.S., which began drawing down its forces last year, has about 2,500 troops in Iraq in a separate mission. Stoltenberg said the expansion would start in the coming months. “Increases in troop numbers will be incremental,” he said. NATO has been in Iraq since ANTHONY NELSON, U.S. AIR FORCE/AP 2004, when it deployed a small An American service member receives a COVID-19 vaccination at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, on Feb. 9. Thousands of U.S. troops number of advisers who worked are refusing or putting off the vaccine as frustrated commanders look for ways to convince them to take the shot. with Iraqi security forces both in SEE NATO ON PAGE 3 One-third of troops offered vaccine refused, DOD official tells Congress Pentagon wants more service members to accept shots, which are voluntary BY COREY DICKSTEIN ■ roughly 212,000 service members have re- Stars and Stripes In largest drop since ceived their first of two doses of the vaccine, WASHINGTON — About one-third of U.S. he said. TRAVIS MUELLER / U.S. Army WWII, US life expectancy troops offered the coronavirus vaccine as of Pentagon officials in recent weeks had de- Spanish troops salute during a transfer of authority ceremony in Wednesday have refused the inoculation, top shortened by a full year clined to provide information about the num- Iraq in December. NATO’s Defense Department officials told House law- Page 7 ber of troops vaccinated or an estimate of how expansion of its training mission makers. many have declined the vaccination. Salesses in Iraq could ease some of the The Defense Department has fully vaccinat- serves, Robert Salesses, the Pentagon’s home- provided the numbers at the request of Rep. demands on American forces in ed about 147,000 of its troops across the force, land defense chief, told the House Armed Ser- the country. including active-duty, National Guard and re- vices Committee on Wednesday. Another SEE THIRD ON PAGE 7 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, February 19, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER EUROPE GAS PRICES EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1108.65 Switzerland (Franc) .8971 Euro costs (Feb. 19) $1.18 Thailand (Baht) 30.01 Europe gas prices were not Dollar buys (Feb. 19) 0.8068 Turkey (NewLira) 6.9732 British pound (Feb. 19) $1.36 available before press time Japanese yen (Feb. 19) 103.00 (Military exchange rates are those available South Korean won (Feb. 19) 1076.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) .3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur Britain (Pound) 1.3955 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2701 your local military banking facility. Commercial China(Yuan) 6.4782 rates are interbank rates provided for reference PACIFIC GAS PRICES Denmark (Krone) 6.1598 Egypt (Pound) 15.6599 when buying currency. All figures are foreign Country Super E10 Super unleaded Super plus Diesel Euro .8283 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Japan .. $3.209 .. $2.939 South Korea $2.579 .. $3.219 $2.959 Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7528 pound, which is represented in dollarsto pound, and the euro, which is dollarstoeuro.) Change in price .. +4.0 cents .. +7.0 cents Change in price +4.0 cents .. +4.0 cents +8.0 cents Hungary (Forint) 297.62 Israel (Shekel) 3.2664 Okinawa $2.569 .. .. $2.939 Guam $2.579 $2.969 $3.219 .. Japan (Yen) 105.91 INTEREST RATES Kuwait(Dinar) .3026 Change in price +4.0 cents .. .. +7.0 cents Change in price +4.0 cents +5.0 cents +4.0 cents .. Norway (Krone) 8.4833 Prime rate 3.25 Philippines (Peso) 48.56 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 *DieselEFD **Midgrade Poland (Zloty) 3.72 Federal funds market rate 0.04 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7504 3month bill 0.04 For the week of Feb. 19-25 Singapore (Dollar) 1.3284 30year bond 2.07 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 45/34 Kabul Seoul 67/45 57/39 Baghdad 81/58 Tokyo Drawsko Osan Kandahar Mildenhall/ 58/38 63/28 82/52 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 41/30 63/49 52/46 Iwakuni Kuwait City Bahrain 63/39 Brussels Zagan Sasebo Guam 69/49 77/62 Ramstein 47/32 64/46 52/47 48/36 85/77 Riyadh Lajes, 66/50 Doha Azores Stuttgart 74/64 57/48 40/37 Pápa Aviano/ 50/35 Vicenza 52/39 Naples 55/35 Okinawa Morón 66/52 63/49 Sigonella Rota 64/42 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 62/52 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 83/75 57/42 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 36 Classified .................... 37 Comics ................... 38-39 Crossword ............. 38-39 Faces .......................... 35 Opinion ....................... 40 Sports .................... 41-48 Friday, February 19, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Marines resume Arctic exercises in frigid Norway BY JOHN VANDIVER “Norway offers challenging, Stars and Stripes rugged terrain that hones our About 1,000 U.S. Marines left in cold-weather and mountain war- limbo in Norway after Arctic drills fare skills with top specialists in were canceled because of corona- fighting and winning in arctic con- virus concerns will now be staying ditions — the Norwegian mili- on until spring, the Corps said tary,” Rankine-Galloway said. Thursday. The pandemic has complicated “The Marines will carry out military training efforts in Europe their field training in accordance for nearly a year. Numerous exer- with Norwegian and U.S. COVID cises have been canceled or cur- safety protocols,” Maj. Adrian J.T. tailed, including the Marine-led Rankine-Galloway, Marine Corps Cold Response exercise in Nor- Forces Europe and Africa spokes- way last year. The Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based man, said in a statement. Marines are part of a rotational The Marines had traveled to force that trains with the Norwe- Norway last month for the long- gian military and other NATO al- planned Joint Viking and Rein- PHOTOS BY JENNIFER H. SVAN/Stars and Stripes lies. deer I exercises, only to see them Air Force Master Sgt. Jim Burke, an airfield manager and jump master with the 435th Contingency The Marines have been a regu- Response Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, ensures Senior Airman Cody Paynter’s parachute canceled soon after arrival when lar presence in Norway since the equipment is secure and ready to go before a rare jump Thursday. case levels spiked in the country. Cold War and continue to keep The number of new daily cases large stockpiles of weapons in throughout the country dropped Norwegian caves. from highs of about 900 per day in The mission expanded three Paratroopers jump at Ramstein early January to about 250 per day years ago when the Corps as of mid-February, Norway’s launched six-month rotations that despite lousy weather, pandemic public health agency reported kept Marines in Norway all year, Thursday. with back-to-back rotations. BY JENNIFER H. SVAN The Marines say they will now Stars and Stripes press ahead with their Arctic mis- [email protected] For the Air Force and Army sion. Twitter: @john_vandiver paratroopers on the C-130J air- craft that took off from Ramstein on Thursday, the day was good enough for a jump — and that’s NATO: all they needed. Iraq’s government German weather, coronavirus restrictions and maintenance is- sues had forced the Ramstein- wants additional trainers based 435th Contingency Re- sponse Group to scratch several FROM PAGE 1 that concluded Thursday were jumps, including one earlier this the country and in neighboring the first attended by U.S. Defense month at a field near the city of nations. Secretary Lloyd Austin in his new Worms. In 2018, the alliance began its role. They were “getting close to be- current training mission aimed at Allies also discussed the way ing non-current,” said Master helping Iraqi forces prevent a re- forward in Afghanistan, but no Sgt. Jim Burke, a jumpmaster surgence of the Islamic State, decision was announced on and airfield manager with the which a few years earlier con- whether the U.S. and other allied unit. Tech. Sgt. Dwight Stalter folds his parachute after landing Thursday. trolled large swathes of the coun- forces intend to meet a May 1 “That’s not a good situation,” try. deadline for exiting the country, he said. base’s busy airfield. chuting from planes since 2012 NATO got involved in Iraq at in connection with a peace deal Paratroopers in the 435th have Working with the squadrons, and is retiring this summer.