The Army Brief: Possible base names; Troops in Somalia; Weapons for Ukraine; and more...

Welcome to The Army Brief, a weekly look at the news and ideas shaping the service’s future. 

List of names. The Naming Commission has come up with a list of 87 names to pick from for renaming nine Army bases that commemorate Confederate generals, Defense One reports. The commission has to submit its final recommendations to Congress by Oct. 1.

More troops in Somalia. The Pentagon may send more troops back to Somalia to counter al-Shabaab, which continues to be a threat, Defense One reports. Most of the U.S. troops were ordered to leave the country during the last weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency and have been carrying out counterterrorism operations from nearby countries.  

Weapons shipment. Ukraine will receive $800 million in military assistance from the United States, bringing the total assistance this week to $1 billion, Defense One reports. The aid includes 9,000 shoulder-mounted anti-armor missiles; 7,000 machine guns, shotguns, and grenade launchers; and 20 million rounds of ammunition.

Sign up to get The Army Brief every Friday morning from Caitlin M. Kenney, Defense One’s military services reporter. On March 20, 2003, the ground invasion of Iraq began; Operation Iraqi Freedom did not come to an official end until 2011. You can watch archival news footage of the beginning of the war from ABC News and CNN.

From Defense One

Don't Expect China to Save Ukraine // Jacqueline Feldscher

"At this point in time, I think it's very difficult for anybody to change Putin's mind," one expert said.

Can Russia's War Revive the Anti-Nuke Movement? // Jacqueline Feldscher

Amid aging leaders and new politics, arms-control advocates are using Putin's invasion to renew attention to nuclear weapons.

The DOD Needs a Joint Wargaming Center // Lt. Col. Gabe S. Arrington

The recent explosion of wargames obscures several flaws in the current system.