Active-Duty Doctor Among 2 Sailors to Die from COVID-19
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MILITARY FACES OLYMPICS House lawmakers Jennifer Coolidge US gymnast back 2nd destroyer shows she’s more than Lee takes gold in in ’22 Navy budget just a ‘comic actress’ women’s all-around Page 4 Page 13 Page 24 Report: Afghanistan faces ‘existential crisis’ amid Taliban rise ›› Page 3 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 75 ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION FRIDAY,JULY 30, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas VIRUS OUTBREAK Active-duty doctor among 2 sailors to die from COVID-19 BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS Stars and Stripes WASHINGTON — Two sailors — including an active-duty doctor — have died within the last week of complications from the corona- virus, the Navy announced in a statement Wednesday. Capt. Corby Ropp, 48, died Fri- day due to coronavirus-related complications at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C., accord- ing to the Navy. Ropp served as the department leader of ophthalmology and re- fractive surgery at the Navy Med- icine Readiness and Training Command at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our shipmate and ophthal- mologist, Capt. Ropp,” said Capt. Reginald Ewing III, commander JOSE RODRIGUEZ/U.S. Army of NMRTC Camp Lejeune. “Our A soldier looks out of the loading ramp of a C-27 aircraft while he and his fellow soldiers wear face masks and maintain social distance. The thoughts and prayers are with Pentagon on Wednesday reversed its May guidance that allowed fully vaccinated service members to go without masks at DOD facilities. Capt. Ropp’s family, coworkers and friends during this extremely difficult time.” On Monday, Petty Officer 1st Class Allen Hillman, a master-at- arms assigned to Navy Reserve Volunteer Training Unit in Boise, Idaho, died while hospitalized Walking back on masks with the coronavirus. Cmdr. Megan Fine, commander of the Navy Operational Support Pentagon returns to required face coverings at many RELATED Center in Boise, said in the state- Tokyo again breaks 1-day ment that Hillman “was a big part DOD locations as Biden mulls new vaccination plan of our community.” record for COVID cases “We are deeply saddened by the BY COREY DICKSTEIN The directive from Deputy Defense Secre- Page 8 loss of our friend and shipmate Stars and Stripes tary Kathleen Hicks on Wednesday walks back MA1 Hillman,” Fine said. “We will The Pentagon on Wednesday announced it guidance issued in May that allowed service continue to support his family and would once again require all individuals to members and others who had been fully vacci- DODEA students will be shipmates during this difficult wear face coverings when indoors at Defense nated against the virus to forgo mask-wearing offered free meals through time.” Department facilities in locations deemed high at DOD facilities worldwide. It comes one day risk by federal health officials for the spread of new school year SEE SAILORS ON PAGE 5 coronavirus. SEE MASKS ON PAGE 6 Page 9 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, July 30, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Robinhood makes its debut on Wall Street EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1144.82 Associated Press 60.5 million shares of its stock in Robinhood convince them to em- Switzerland (Franc) .9069 Euro costs (July 30) $1.16 Thailand (Baht) 32.87 NEW YORK — Robinhood is an initial public offering, with brace its stock, just as it helped a Dollar buys (July 30) 0.8210 Turkey (NewLira) 8.4938 British pound (July 30) $1.36 selling its own stock Thursday on trading expected to begin on the generation of investors take on Japanese yen (July 30) 107.00 (Military exchange rates are those available Wall Street, the very place the on- Nasdaq under the ticker symbol trading stocks, options and crypto- South Korean won (July 30) 1121.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger line brokerage has rattled with its “HOOD.” currencies? many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) .3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur stated goal of democratizing fi- It was priced late Wednesday at Robinhood’s revenue soared Britain (Pound) 1.3978 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2474 your local military banking facility. Commercial nance. $38 a share, the low end of its ex- 245% last year to $959 million. It China(Yuan) 6.4596 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.2583 Through its app, Robinhood has pected range of $38 to $42, indicat- then hit $522 million in the first Egypt (Pound) 15.6798 when buying currency. All figures are foreign introduced millions to investing ing tepid investor interest. three months of 2021 alone, more Euro .8414 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7710 pound, which is represented in dollarsto and reshaped the brokerage in- Still, it’s a huge moment for the than quadrupling from the year- Hungary (Forint) 301.39 pound, and the euro, which is dollarstoeuro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2445 dustry, all while racking up a long fast-growing company based in ago level. Japan (Yen) 109.76 INTEREST RATES list of controversies in less than Menlo Park, Calif., which is re- Robinhood doesn’t charge trad- Kuwait(Dinar) .3004 Norway (Krone) 8.5609 Prime rate 3.25 eight years. serving many of the shares for its ing commissions or require cus- Philippines (Peso) 50.29 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.85 Federal funds market rate 0.10 Robinhood Markets and three own customers, rather than just tomers to carry big balances — Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7503 3month bill 0.05 of its executives are selling up to big professional investors. Can one reason why it’s so popular. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3533 30year bond 1.91 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 74/71 Kabul Seoul 92/57 84/76 Baghdad 110/80 Osan Tokyo Drawsko Kandahar Mildenhall/ 85/76 83/71 101/71 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 71/55 80/77 62/55 Iwakuni Kuwait City 80/77 Bahrain Zagan Sasebo Guam 109/87 97/93 Brussels Ramstein 74/58 81/76 69/58 74/55 84/81 Riyadh Lajes, 111/83 Doha Azores Stuttgart 110/91 70/67 79/55 Pápa Aviano/ 88/65 Vicenza 83/66 Naples 90/74 Okinawa Morón 82/79 96/69 Sigonella Rota 104/71 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 80/69 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 97/84 84/77 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 11 Comics .........................14 Crossword ................... 14 Faces .......................... 13 Opinion ........................ 16 Sports .................... 17-24 Friday, July 30, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 WAR/MILITARY SIGAR: Afghanistan faces grim future BY PHILLIP WALTER ty forces as they fight the Taliban. WELLMAN Most Afghan army units refuse Stars and Stripes to conduct missions without sup- KABUL, Afghanistan — Af- port from Afghan special oper- ghanistan faces an “existential cri- ations forces, SIGAR said. When sis” after a continuing rise in Tali- special operations forces do ar- ban attacks that began well ahead rive, they’re often misused to per- of the withdrawal of U.S. troops form tasks intended for conven- from the country, a government tional forces, like route clearance watchdog agency said Thursday. and checkpoint security, the re- Each quarter since the U.S. and port said. Taliban signed a peace deal in All Afghan aircraft have also be- February 2020 has shown a come strained since the departure marked increase in enemy attacks of most international troops be- compared to the same periods in cause of increased requests for previous years, a report by the close air support, intelligence, re- Special Inspector General for Af- connaissance missions and aerial ghanistan Reconstruction said. J.P. LAWRENCE/Stars and Stripes resupply, SIGAR said. The air- NATO data on the increases had Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. special envoy for Afghan reconciliation, signs a peace deal with the Taliban, along withcraft are flying at least 25% over been kept from the public since Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the militant group’s top political leader, in Doha, Qatar, on Feb. 29,2020. their recommended maintenance December 2019, the report said. intervals, which could have dire Between March and May, ene- Last year, the U.S. said the Tali- airstrikes against the Taliban and ment, which could face an existen- consequences, the report added. my forces conducted nearly 10,400 ban verbally agreed to curb vio- could continue doing so, at least tial crisis if it isn’t addressed and The report came after the Unit- attacks, over 1,000 more than were lence, and warned the insurgents until the U.S. combat mission in reversed,” SIGAR inspector gen- ed Nations said earlier this week recorded during that time last would face consequences if they Afghanistan ends Aug. 31. The an- eral John Sopko said in a letter ac- that May and June saw the highest year, and 3,000 more than the didn’t. But the relentless attacks nouncement came just days be- companying Thursday’s report. number of civilian war deaths and same time in 2019, the report said. did nothing to stop the drawdown fore chairman of the Joint Chiefs Since the Taliban launched its injuries in Afghanistan for those Each of the last four quarters of international forces, which is of Staff, Army Gen. Mark Milley, most recent offensive in May, the two months since systematic doc- saw more than 10,000 enemy at- nearly complete.