NHL: Losses drove Lightning to Stanley Cup repeat Page 56 MOVIES Finally, an TRAVEL: Family fun at origin story dino park in UK Page 27 for Marvel’s Black Widow FOOD: Starbucks’ 47 new Profile, Page 19 drinks honor Japan Page 28 Review, Page 20 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 60 ©SS 2021 FRIDAY,JULY 9, 2021 $1.00 MILITARY AFGHANISTAN Biden: US mission will Out of end Aug. 31 President announces plan to evacuate control Afghan translators BY SARAH CAMMARATA Stars and Stripes WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday an- nounced the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan will end by Aug. 31 and his administration will start to move thousands of Afghan trans- lators to several other countries as they await visa approval to enter the United States. “Our message to those women and men is clear. There is a home for you in the United States… We will stand with you, just as you stood with us,” Biden said. He said the administration has already approved 2,500 Special Immigrant Visa applications that offer safe passage to the U.S. for these Afghan partners. A “point person” in the White House and a State Department-led task force are coordinating these efforts, Bi- den said. The administration has already KIP SUMNER/U.S. Air Force “dramatically accelerated” the U.S. Air Force Capt. Kristin “BEO” Wolfe flies an F-35A Lightning II near Hill Air Force Base, Utah, in 2020. The Pentagon plans to procure processing time for visa appli- nearly 2,500 F-35s, but the Government Accountability Office said that plan is not financially sustainable. cants to reach the U.S. safely, the president said. Biden committed in late June to GAO says cost overruns should force Pentagon to scale back F-35 program evacuate Afghans who assisted U.S personnel for nearly 20 years BY JOHN VANDIVER costs for years. And while the military has tried the F-35 program,” the GAO said. as interpreters, lawyers, teachers Stars and Stripes to reduce expenses, those efforts “have pro- About 400 F-35s are already in service, mak- and other contract jobs after The failure to control F-35 aircraft cost over- duced limited results,” the Government Ac- ing the aircraft a growing portion of the Penta- weeks of mounting pressure from runs should force the Pentagon to scale back its countability Office report released Wednesday gon’s tactical fleet. lawmakers and advocates to do so. fleet of advanced warplanes unless it can find said. The Pentagon plans to procure nearly 2,500 At the time, he did not offer details new savings, a government watchdog agency “DOD’s inability to arrest the increases in F-35s with an estimated life cycle cost exceed- on where they would be relocated report said. F-35 sustainment costs and make progress to- ing $1.7 trillion, the GAO said. About $1.3 tril- and in what time frame. The development of the advanced F-35 fight- wards the services’ established affordability lion of those costs are related to operating and White House Press Secretary er, the most costly weapon system in Defense constraints is due in part to the department’s Department history, has faced steadily rising not having a clear, strategic approach across SEE CONTROL ON PAGE 5 SEE AFGHAN ON PAGE 4 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, July 9, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER EUROPE GAS PRICES EXCHANGE RATES Prices unavailable at press time. Military rates South Korea (Won) 1,150.09 Switzerland (Franc) .9153 Euro costs (July 9) $1.16 Thailand (Baht) 32.49 Dollar buys (July 9) 0.8221 Turkey (New Lira) 8.6855 British pound (July 9) $1.34 Japanese yen (July 9) 108.00 (Military exchange rates are those available South Korean won (July 9) 1,113.00 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) .3766 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ Britain (Pound) 1.3787 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2538 your local military banking facility. Commercial China (Yuan) 6.4878 rates are interbank rates provided for reference PACIFIC GAS PRICES Denmark (Krone) 6.2712 Egypt (Pound) 15.6692 when buying currency. All figures are foreign Country Super E10 Super unleaded Super plus Diesel Euro .8432 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Japan $3.189 ... $3.869 $3.399 South Korea 3.199 3.639 $3.899 3.409 Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7682 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Change in price +3 cents ... +3 cents +3 cents Change in price +3 cents +4 cents +3 cents +3 cents Hungary (Forint) 302.02 Israel (Shekel) 3.2805 Okinawa 3.189 $3.629 $3.869 $3.299 Guam 3.199 $3.639 $3.879 ... Japan (Yen) 109.67 INTEREST RATES Kuwait (Dinar) .3011 Change in price +3 cents +4 cents +3 cents +3 cents Change in price +3 cents +4 cents +3 cents ... Norway (Krone) 8.7552 Prime rate 3.25 Philippines (Peso) 50.32 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 *DieselEFD **Midgrade Poland (Zloty) 3.84 Federal funds market rate 0.09 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7507 3­month bill 0.05 For the week of Nov. 13-19 Singapore (Dollar) 1.3521 30­year bond 1.94 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 67/64 Kabul Seoul 98/58 80/69 Baghdad 111/80 Osan Tokyo Drawsko Kandahar Mildenhall/ 81/69 83/70 109/68 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 74/63 77/74 69/55 Iwakuni Kuwait City 78/75 Bahrain Zagan Sasebo Guam 113/91 95/88 Brussels Ramstein 72/56 78/75 68/55 71/58 86/83 Riyadh Lajes, 111/78 Doha Azores Stuttgart 109/84 72/69 68/58 Pápa Aviano/ 76/73 Vicenza 77/65 Naples 86/74 Okinawa Morón 82/79 100/65 Sigonella Rota 99/71 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 85/64 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 102/85 79/76 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 14 Comics .............38, 40,41 Crossword ....... 38, 40,41 Faces .......................... 16 Opinion ....................... 42 Sports ................... 44-56 Friday, July 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Thomas returns to Yokosuka to lead 7th Fleet BY ALEX WILSON “Security issues important to both Stars and Stripes of our navies are increasing, such YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, as the growing activity of Chinese Japan — A familiar face has taken Coast Guard ships around the the helm of 7th Fleet, a command Senkaku islands and the militari- he described as a “supremely zation of the reefs of the South credible and integrated naval China Sea.” force” that gives the United States Yamamura also said peace and and its allies an upper hand over stability in the Taiwan Strait is its rivals in the Indo-Pacific re- “very critical” to Japan, the U.S. gion. and the region as whole. Vice Adm. Karl Thomas as- The odds of U.S. warships en- sumed command of 7th Fleet on countering Chinese vessels are set Thursday during a ceremony at to increase along with tension Yokosuka’s Fleet Theater. He re- across the strait and the frequen- lieved Vice Adm. William Merz, cy of U.S. freedom-of-navigation who had led the nation’s largest patrols in the South China Sea, Bo overseas fleet since September Kong, co-director of the Institute 2019. for US-China Issues at the Univer- Thomas most recently served sity of Oklahoma, told Stars and as assistant deputy chief of naval Stripes in an email this spring. operations for operations, plans ARON MONTANO/U.S. Navy Likewise, Jeff Kingston, direc- and strategy at the Pentagon, but Vice Adm. Karl Thomas salutes after taking command of the 7th Fleet at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, tor of Asian Studies at Temple previously served as the com- Thursday. University Japan, in an email to mander of 7th Fleet’s Task Force Stars and Stripes on Wednesday, 70 and Carrier Strike Group 5. to a new, no-port-at-all routine,” dom-of-navigation patrols and Korea, coupled with regional said Thomas “will face the ongo- “This is oddly, and pleasantly, he said. “Through that, we other operations designed to up- weather impacts, violent extre- ing escalation of tensions in the re- very familiar,” he said during the learned some things about what it hold international law or keep the mists, and, most recently, the CO- gion related to a rising and more ceremony. “Less than two years truly means to be a command peace. VID-19 pandemic,” he said. assertive China.” ago, my family and I left Yokosuka ship.” Another speaker, Vice Adm. Adm. Hiroshi Yamamura, chief Kingston said rising tension and wondered if we’d ever serve Merz, Thomas and several Phillip Sawyer, deputy chief of na- of staff for the Japan Maritime surrounding Taiwan, the Senkaku our Navy in this spectacular coun- guest speakers took a moment val operations for operations, Self-Defense Force, highlighted Islands and China’s expansion in try again — and I certainly hoped during the otherwise upbeat cere- plans and strategy, outlined the the importance of Japan’s rela- the South China Sea would keep that we would,” mony to reflect on the critical na- numerous forces at play in the re- tionship with the U.S. and 7th Thomas busy “and require a cool Merz noted the novel challeng- ture of 7th Fleet’s mission in the gion.