Esmeraldas, Ecuador - A team comprised of more than 900 personnel, embarked aboard USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), commenced their first mission stop as part of U.S. Southern Command’s Enduring Promise initiative in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, October 20.

Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania - The U.S. Navy has a global reach with nearly 300 deployable battle ready ships, 92 submarines, and more than 3,700 operational aircraft operating in oceans and waterways around the world. Each year there are more than 500,000 equipment and repair part demands from a $34 billion inventory of more than 30 million individual parts in support of Navy, Marine Corps, Joint and Allied Forces customers worldwide. Ensuring the Navy has the right materiel, when they need it, and where they need it, falls to the Navy’s only Program Support Inventory Control Point (PSICP), NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support (WSS).

Washington, DC - Today, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), in partnership with the Ad Council and Truth Initiative, rolled out the second phase of the Administration’s “The Truth About Opioids” drug prevention ads, targeted at young adults aged 18-24. The newly released ad, titled “Treatment Box,” brings Americans face-to-face with opioid addiction. The ad captures 26-year-old Rebekkah’s real experience as she undergoes evidence-based treatment for opioid addiction.

New Orleans, Louisiana - Eight New Orleans, Louisiana-area defendants have pleaded guilty for their participation in a conspiracy to obtain oxycodone through fraud by using fictitious prescriptions.  Six of the eight defendants have also pleaded guilty for the roles in a scheme to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone on the black market.

Atlanta, Georgia - When Hardy, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) trained detector dog, sniffed out a roasted pig head in traveler baggage at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International airport early this month, it underscored the efforts USDA and its partners are undertaking to keep African Swine Fever (ASF), a swine disease that could devastate the U.S. pork producers, from entering the country.

Sacramento, California - Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has finalized four cooperative agreements to help rural communities create and implement economic development plans.