US and Chinese military and diplomatic officials are finalizing how the Chinese navy will turn over a US Navy drone it stole in view of a US ship last week. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Monday there are military-to-military conversations about turning over the glider drone, which was conducting unclassified research in the South China Sea when a Chinese destroyer plucked it out of the water. The news prompted immediate discussion and speculation, including by President-elect Donald Trump who took to Twitter to say the move was unprecedented, and that China should “keep it.” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, asked about the incident on Monday, said from her understanding of the Chinese military it is unlikely that low-level Chinese sailors would do something on their own. “What I understand about the Chinese is they act upon orders,” James said. “They do not sort of make stuff up at the lowest level on their own. So that sounds like maybe it was a coordinated action from the top, but of course I don’t know, I’m speculating, but that’s based on my understanding of the way Chinese personnel are trained in their armed forces.”
Airman 1st Class Marcus White-Allen concocted a story to cover up that he fired his M18 9mm pistol into Airman Braden Lovan’s chest killing him on July 20, two Airmen from F.E. Warren Air Force Base, WY testified during separate courts martial proceedings on Oct. 30-31.
