FACES NATION STANLEY CUP ‘Black Widow,’ Tropical Storm Elsa Montreal wins in Jakob Dylan, ‘Gossip gaining strength, overtime to avoid Girl’ new this week lashing Fla. Keys Tampa Bay sweep Page 14 Page 6 Page 24 Defensive system downs drone at US Embassy in Baghdad ›› Page 3 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 58 ©SS 2021 WEDNESDAY,JULY 7, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas Chronic pain AFGHANISTAN a plague in US military, report finds BY JOHN VANDIVER Stars and Stripes Many service members are in constant pain and the military medical system needs to better identify effective treatments to help them cope, says a new study that found chronic pain as the main factor leading to disability for those on active duty. Between 31% and 44% of active- duty service members suffer from chronic pain, the nonpartisan Rand Corp. said in a study that ex- amined how the military health system deals with the issue. While the Defense Department has invested heavily and made strides in treating chronic pain, expanding efforts to track how service members are doing after they receive care would be a step forward, Rand said. “Accurately measuring the quality of pain treatment is an es- sential step toward improving care,” it said. By better understanding treat- RAHMAT GUL/AP ment outcomes, the Pentagon Afghan security forces keep watch after the U.S. military's departure from Bagram Airfield north of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday. SEE REPORT ON PAGE 3 Silent departure from Bagram US left Afghan airfield at night without notifying new commander BY KATHY GANNON two hours after they left, Afghan The U.S. announced Friday it RELATED Associated Press military officials said. had completely vacated its big- BAGRAM, Afghanistan — The Afghanistan’s army showed off gest airfield in the country in ad- After troops exit, U.S. left Afghanistan’s Bagram the sprawling air base Monday, vance of a final withdrawal the Airfield after nearly 20 years by providing a rare first glimpse of Pentagon says will be completed safety of US AUSTEN ADRIAENS/U.S. Air National Guard shutting off the electricity and what had been the epicenter of by the end of August. Air Force Maj. Matthew slipping away in the night without America’s war to unseat the Tali- “We (heard) some rumor that Embassy in Kabul Puderbaugh performs a notifying the base’s new Afghan ban and hunt down the al-Qaida the Americans had left Bagram ... top concern musculoskeletal adjustment on commander, who discovered the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks on an airman in St. Paul, Minn. Americans’ departure more than America. SEE BAGRAM ON PAGE 3 Page 4 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Wednesday, July 7, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER New rules will protect animal farmers’ rights EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1,134.43 Associated Press nounce in the next few days. The an executive order is expected to Switzerland (Franc) 0.9232 Euro costs (July 7) $1.16 Thailand (Baht) 32.21 OMAHA, Neb. — The Biden ad- U.S. Department of Agriculture is be announced later this week that Dollar buys (July 7) 0.8231 Turkey (NewLira) 8.6624 British pound (July 7) $1.35 ministration plans to issue a new also expected to tighten the defi- will clear the way for the new Japanese yen (July 7) 109.00 (Military exchange rates are those available rule to protect the rights of farm- nition of what it means for meat to rules. South Korean won (July 7) 1,104.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ ers who raise cows, chickens and be labeled a “Product of USA” to The Agriculture Department many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain (Dinar) 0.3767 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ hogs against the country’s largest exclude when animals are raised also plans to invest in new local Britain (Pound) 1.3837 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2407 your local military banking facility. Commercial meat processors as part of a plan in other countries and simply and regional markets, so farmers China(Yuan) 6.4661 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.2829 to encourage more competition in processed in the United States. will have more options of where to Egypt (Pound) 15.6907 when buying currency. All figures are foreign the agriculture sector. Some farmer advocacy groups sell the animals and crops they Euro 0.8449 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7670 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ The new rule that will make it have pressed for these changes raise. Critics have said the major Hungary (Forint) 298.60 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2655 easier for farmers to sue compa- for several years but Congress meat processing companies dom- Japan (Yen) 110.77 INTEREST RATES nies they contract with over un- and the meat processing industry inate the market for cattle, hogs Kuwait (Dinar) 0.3012 Norway (Krone) 8.6352 Prime rate 3.25 fair, discriminatory or deceptive have resisted the changes in the and chickens, which makes it har- Philippines (Peso) 49.64 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.80 Federal funds market rate 0.09 practices is one of several steps past. A USDA official familiar der for farmers to get a fair price Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7510 3­month bill 0.05 that the White House plans to an- with the White House’s plan said for the animals they raise. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3452 30­year bond 2.05 WEATHER OUTLOOK WEDNESDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST WEDNESDAY IN EUROPE THURSDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 67/64 Kabul Seoul 94/57 82/71 Baghdad 112/79 Drawsko Osan Tokyo Kandahar Mildenhall/ 80/74 72/69 Pomorskie Busan 106/72 Lakenheath 67/64 66/55 75/72 Iwakuni Kuwait City 78/75 Bahrain Zagan Sasebo Guam 110/89 93/89 Brussels Ramstein 70/66 71/62 72/59 77/74 83/80 Riyadh Lajes, Stuttgart 109/75 Doha Azores Pápa 68/65 69/60 104/87 Aviano/ 95/68 Vicenza 82/63 Naples 89/72 Okinawa Morón 82/79 89/65 Sigonella Rota 97/68 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 78/66 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 102/85 81/74 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 11 Classified .................... 13 Comics .........................16 Crossword ................... 16 Faces .......................... 14 Opinion ........................ 15 Sports .................... 18-24 Wednesday, July 7, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Drone shot down over US Embassy in Baghdad BY CHAD GARLAND tion. Footage shared online over- Marotto said Tuesday in an email sors and weapons that can detect responsible for the rocket and Stars and Stripes night showed the system’s famil- to Stars and Stripes. and destroy drones, Marotto con- drone attacks. The strikes were A counter-rocket system at the iar stream of red tracers and ex- On Twitter late last month, Ma- firmed. The Mobile-Low, Slow, intended to disrupt and deter fu- U.S. Embassy in Baghdad shot ploding rounds arcing over part of rotto highlighted some of the mil- Small Unmanned Aircraft System ture attacks without escalating vi- down an armed drone early Tues- Baghdad. itary systems being used to bol- Integrated Defeat Systems, or M- olence, the military said. day, a little over a week after The systems can defend against ster defenses against the small re- LIDS, are in CENTCOM, Marotto On Monday, the leader of one of President Joe Biden ordered unmanned aerial vehicles, but the motely piloted aircraft, including said, but he declined to say where, the targeted militias vowed to re- strikes meant to deter drone and cheap drones also can be flown to handheld signal jammers and citing security concerns. taliate for the deaths of four of his rocket attacks in Iraq. evade C-RAM fire. This has led to ground-based lasers. Those sys- The C-RAM’s downing of the men in the strikes, The Associat- A defensive system “engaged their adoption by Iran-backed mi- tems and others aim to disable drone came just hours after a ed Press reported. Abu Alaa al- and eliminated an airborne litias that mount sporadic harass- threats without firing projectiles rocket attack struck al Asad Air Walae, commander of Kataeb threat,” the embassy said on ing attacks, sometimes with dead- that could cause casualties or un- Base in western Iraq on Monday Sayyid al-Shuhada, hinted in an Facebook. U.S. and Iraqi officials ly effect, in an effort to oust U.S. intended damage on the ground. afternoon. The rockets hit the pe- interview that his fighters might were investigating the incident, it forces deployed to Iraq to help Some troops with the Louisiana rimeter of the base and caused no use drones in future attacks. said. battle Islamic State. Army National Guard’s 256th In- injuries, Marotto said. Revenge could come from the The system was a counter-rock- “There have been at least five fantry Brigade Combat Team, Last week, U.S. warplanes car- air, the sea or anywhere, he told et, artillery and mortar system, one-way UAV attacks against Ira- who deployed to the U.S. Central ried out strikes in western Iraq the AP, calling it an “open war.” known as C-RAM, said Army Col. qi Security Forces facilities used Command region recently, and eastern Syria targeting what Wayne Marotto, a military by U.S.