title: Pub

text: Some pubs in the UK also have football teams composed of regular customers. Many of these teams are in leagues that play matches on Sundays, hence the term "Sunday League Football". Bowling is found in association with pubs in some parts of the country and the local team will play matches against teams invited from elsewhere on the pub's bowling green.


title: Pub

text: Pubs may be venues for pub songs and live music. During the 1970s pubs provided an outlet for a number of bands, such as Kilburn and the High Roads, Dr. Feelgood and The Kursaal Flyers, who formed a musical genre called Pub rock that was a precursor to Punk music.


title: Pub

text: Some pubs have a long tradition of serving food, dating back to their historic usage as inns and hotels where travellers would stay.


title: Pub

text: Many pubs were drinking establishments, and little emphasis was placed on the serving of food, other than sandwiches and "bar snacks", such as pork scratchings, pickled eggs, salted crisps and peanuts which helped to increase beer sales. In South East England (especially London) it was common until recent times for vendors of cockles, whelks, mussels, and other shellfish to sell them during the evening and at closing time. Many mobile shellfish stalls would set up near pubs, a practice that continues in London's East End. Otherwise, pickled cockles and mussels may be offered by the pub in jars or packets.


title: Pub

text: In the 1950s some British pubs would offer "a pie and a pint", with hot individual steak and ale pies made easily on the premises by the proprietor's wife during the lunchtime opening hours. The ploughman's lunch became popular in the late 1960s, as did the convenient "chicken in a basket", a portion of roast chicken with chips, served on a napkin in a wicker basket.


title: Pub

text: Family chain pubs which served food in the evenings gained popularity in the 1970s, and included Berni Inn and Beefeater.


title: Pub

text: Quality dropped but variety increased with the introduction of microwave ovens and freezer food. "Pub grub" expanded to include British food items such as steak and ale pie, shepherd's pie, fish and chips, bangers and mash, Sunday roast, ploughman's lunch, chicken tikka masala, and pasties. In addition, dishes such as burgers, chicken wings, lasagne and chilli con carne are often served. Some pubs offer elaborate hot and cold snacks free to customers at Sunday lunchtimes, to prevent them getting hungry and leaving for their lunch at home.


title: Pub

text: Since the 1990s food has become a more important part of a pub's trade, and today most pubs serve lunches and dinners at the table in addition to (or instead of) snacks consumed at the bar. They may have a separate dining room. Some pubs serve meals to a higher standard, to match good restaurant standards; these are sometimes termed gastropubs.


title: Pub

text: CAMRA maintains a "National Inventory" of historical notability and of architecturally and decoratively notable pubs. The National Trust owns thirty-six public houses of historic interest including the George Inn, Southwark, London and The Crown Liquor Saloon, Belfast, Northern Ireland.


title: Pub

text: The highest pub in the United Kingdom is the Tan Hill Inn, Yorkshire, at above sea level. The remotest pub on the British mainland is The Old Forge in the village of Inverie, Lochaber, Scotland. There is no road access and it may only be reached by an walk over mountains, or a sea crossing.


title: Pub

text: The list includes a small number of parlour pubs, one of which is the Sun Inn in Leintwardine, Herefordshire.


title: Pub

text: The smallest public house in Wales is claimed by Y Goron Fach (The Little Crown) in Denbigh, with a single bar of .


title: Pub

text: The largest pub in the UK is the Royal Victoria Pavilion, in Ramsgate, Kent. The venue was previously a casino and before that a theatre.


title: Pub

text: A number of pubs claim to be the oldest surviving establishment in the United Kingdom, although in several cases original buildings have been demolished and replaced on the same site. Others are ancient buildings that were used for purposes other than as a pub previously in their history. Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans, Hertfordshire, holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest pub in England, as it is an 11th-century structure on an 8th-century site. Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham is claimed to be the "oldest inn in England". It has a claimed date of 1189, based on the fact it is constructed on the site of the Nottingham Castle brewhouse; the present building dates from around 1650. Likewise, The Nags Head in Burntwood, Staffordshire only dates back to the 16th century, while it has been claimed that a pub on the site is mentioned in the Domesday book, Burntwood is not in fact listed.


title: Pub

text: There is archaeological evidence that parts of the foundations of The Old Ferryboat Inn in Holywell may date to AD 460, and there is evidence of ale being served as early as AD 560.


title: Pub

text: The Bingley Arms, Bardsey, Yorkshire, is claimed to date to 905 AD. Ye Olde Salutation Inn in Nottingham dates from 1240, although the building served as a tannery and a private residence before becoming an inn sometime before the English Civil War. The Adam and Eve in Norwich was first recorded in 1249, when it was an alehouse for the workers constructing nearby Norwich Cathedral. Ye Olde Man & Scythe in Bolton, Greater Manchester, is mentioned by name in a charter of 1251, but the current building is dated 1631. Its cellars are the only surviving part of the older structure.


title: Pub

text: The town of Stalybridge in Greater Manchester is thought to have the pubs with both the longest and shortest names in the United Kingdom – The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn and the Q Inn, both operating (the Rifleman reopening in new premises, moving from Astley Street to premises two doors away from the Q Inn in Market Street in 2019, after being closed for three years). The original Rifleman building retains a pub sign, and a blue plaque from 1995 recording the recognition of the name in the Guinness Book of Records.


title: Pub

text: The number of pubs in the UK has declined year on year, at least since 1982. Various reasons are put forward for this, such as the failure of some establishments to keep up with customer requirements. Others claim the smoking ban of 2007, intense competition from gastro-pubs, the availability of cheap alcohol in supermarkets or the general economic climate are either to blame, or are factors in the decline. Changes in demographics may be an additional factor. In the fifteen years to 2017 a quarter of London's pubs had closed. The closures have been ascribed to factors such as changing tastes, rise in the cost of beer due to applied taxes and the increase in the British Muslim population.


title: Pub

text: In 2015 the rate of pub closures came under the scrutiny of Parliament in the UK, with a promise of legislation to improve relations between owners and tenants. The Lost Pubs Project listed 31,301 closed English pubs on 19 July 2016, with photographs of over 16,000. By June 2022, pub numbers in England and Wales had fallen to a record low of 39,970, a loss of 7,000 in 10 years.


title: Pub

text: Inns and taverns feature throughout English literature and poetry, from The Tabard Inn in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" onwards.


title: Pub

text: The highwayman Dick Turpin used the Swan Inn at Woughton-on-the-Green in Buckinghamshire as his base. Jamaica Inn near Bolventor in Cornwall gave its name to a 1936 novel by Daphne du Maurier and a 1939 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In the 1920s John Fothergill (1876–1957) was the innkeeper of the Spread Eagle in Thame, Berkshire, and published his autobiography: "An Innkeeper's Diary" (London: Chatto & Windus, 1931). During his idiosyncratic occupancy many famous people came to stay, such as H. G. Wells. United States president George W. Bush fulfilled his lifetime ambition of visiting a 'genuine British pub' during his November 2003 state visit to the UK when he had lunch and a pint of non-alcoholic lager (Bush being a teetotaler) with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Dun Cow pub in Sedgefield, County Durham in Blair's home constituency. There were approximately 53,500 public houses in 2009 in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller villages no longer have a local pub.


title: Pub

text: Many of London's pubs are known to have been used by famous people, but in some cases, such as the association between Samuel Johnson and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, this is speculative, based on little more than the fact that the person is known to have lived nearby. However, Charles Dickens is known to have visited the Cheshire Cheese, the Prospect of Whitby, Ye Olde Cock Tavern and many others. Samuel Pepys is also associated with the Prospect of Whitby and the Cock Tavern.


title: Pub

text: The Fitzroy Tavern is a pub situated at 16 Charlotte Street in the Fitzrovia district, to which it gives its name. It became famous (or according to others, infamous) during a period spanning the 1920s to the mid-1950s as a meeting place for many of London's artists, intellectuals and bohemians such as Dylan Thomas, Augustus John, and George Orwell. Several establishments in Soho, London, have associations with well-known, post-war literary and artistic figures, including the Pillars of Hercules, The Colony Room and the Coach and Horses. The Canonbury Tavern, Canonbury, was the prototype for Orwell's ideal English pub, "The Moon Under Water".


title: Pub

text: The Red Lion in Whitehall is close to the Palace of Westminster and is consequently used by political journalists and Members of Parliament (MPs). The pub is equipped with a Division bell that summons MPs back to the chamber when they are required to take part in a vote. The Punch Bowl, Mayfair was at one time jointly owned by Madonna and Guy Ritchie. The Coleherne public house in Earls Court was a well-known gay pub from the 1950s. It attracted many well-known patrons, such as Freddie Mercury, Kenny Everett and Rudolph Nureyev. It was used by the serial-killer Colin Ireland to pick up victims.


title: Pub

text: Jack Straw's Castle was a pub named after Jack Straw, one of the three leaders of Peasants' Revolt, the pub was active since 14th century until its destruction by The Blitz during the Second World War.


title: Pub

text: In 1966 The Blind Beggar in Whitechapel became infamous as the scene of a murder committed by gangster Ronnie Kray. The Ten Bells is associated with several of the victims of Jack the Ripper. In 1955, Ruth Ellis, the last woman executed in the United Kingdom, shot David Blakely as he emerged from "The Magdala" in South Hill Park, Hampstead, the bullet holes can still be seen in the walls outside. It is said that Vladimir Lenin and a young Joseph Stalin met in the "Crown and Anchor" pub (now known as "The Crown Tavern") on Clerkenwell Green when the latter was visiting London in 1903.


title: Pub

text: The Angel, Islington was formerly a coaching inn, the first on the Great North Road, the main route northwards out of London, where Thomas Paine is believed to have written much of "The Rights of Man". It was mentioned by Charles Dickens, became a Lyons Corner House, and is now a Co-operative Bank.


title: Pub

text: The Eagle and Child and the Lamb and Flag, Oxford, were regular meeting places of the Inklings, a writers' group which included J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. The Eagle in Cambridge is where Francis Crick interrupted patrons' lunchtime on 28 February 1953 to announce that he and James Watson had "discovered the secret of life" after they had come up with their proposal for the structure of DNA. The anecdote is related in Watson's book "The Double Helix". and commemorated with a blue plaque on the outside wall.


title: Pub

text: Although "British" pubs found outside of Britain and its former colonies are often themed bars owing little to the original British pub, a number of "true" pubs may be found around the world.


title: Pub

text: In Scandinavia, especially Denmark, a number of pubs have opened which eschew "theming", and which instead focus on the business of providing carefully conditioned beer, often independent of any particular brewery or chain, in an environment which would not be unfamiliar to a British pub-goer. Some import British cask ale, rather than beer in kegs, to provide the full British real ale experience to their customers. This newly established Danish interest in British cask beer and the British pub tradition is reflected by the fact that some 56 British cask beers were available at the 2008 European Beer Festival in Copenhagen, which was attended by more than 20,000 people.


title: Pub

text: In Ireland, pubs are known for their atmosphere or "craic". In Irish, a pub is referred to as "teach tábhairne" ("tavernhouse") or "teach óil" ("drinkinghouse"). Live music, either sessions of traditional Irish music or varieties of modern popular music, is frequently featured in the pubs of Ireland. Pubs in Northern Ireland are largely identical to their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland except for the lack of spirit grocers. A side effect of "The Troubles" was that the lack of a tourist industry meant that a higher proportion of traditional bars have survived the wholesale refitting of Irish pub interiors in the "English style" in the 1950s and 1960s. New Zealand sports a number of Irish pubs.


title: Pub

text: Pubs have a long history in Canada, with some still operating after 200 years, like the Olde Angel Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake. A fake "English looking" pub trend started in the 1990s, built into existing storefronts, often run by corporate pub firms. Most universities in Canada have campus pubs which are central to student life, serving food and drink as well as hosting social events. Often these pubs are run by the student's union and at some universities, a budget is reserved for course pub nights. The gastropub concept has caught on, as traditional British influences are to be found in many Canadian dishes. Aside from pubs, the term bar can refer to themed drinking establishments, sports bars, or cocktail bars, or to the physical counter in a pub. Tavern was previously a popular term, though it has become somewhat antiquated.


title: Pub

text: In South Africa pubs and taverns have had a particularly long and notable presence in the city of Cape Town. Prior to the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 Cape Town was a major trading port between Europe and Asia and hosted a very large number of drinking establishments earning the city the moniker "Tavern of the Seas". The oldest currently operating pub in South Africa, and one of the last drinking establishments left from the "Tavern of the Seas" era, is the Perseverance Tavern opened in 1808.


title: Pub

text: Pubs are a common setting for fictional works, including novels, stories, films, video games, and other works. In many cases, authors and other creators develop imaginary pubs for their works, some of which have become notable fictional places. Notable fictional pubs include The Admiral Benbow Inn in the "Treasure Island" pirate story, The Garrison in the 1920s crime TV drama "Peaky Blinders", The Golden Perch in the high fantasy novel "The Lord of the Rings", The Leaky Cauldron and The Hog's Head in the "Harry Potter" fantasy series, Moe's Tavern, a working-class venue in "The Simpsons", and The Oak and Crosier in "" video game.


title: Pub

text: The major soap operas on British television each feature a fictional pub, and these pubs have become household names in Britain. The Rovers Return is the pub in "Coronation Street", the British soap broadcast on ITV. The Queen Vic (short for the Queen Victoria) is the pub in "EastEnders", the major soap on BBC One and the Woolpack in ITV's "Emmerdale". The sets of each of the three major television soap operas have been visited by some of the members of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II. The centrepiece of each visit was a trip into the Rovers, the Queen Vic, or the Woolpack to be offered a drink.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: The United States Army Intelligence Support Activity (USAISA), frequently shortened to Intelligence Support Activity (ISA), also known at various times as Joint Reconnaissance Evaluation Group (JREG), Mission Support Activity (MSA), Office of Military Support (OMS), Field Operations Group (FOG), Studies and Analysis Activity (SAA), Tactical Concept Activity, Tactical Support Team, and Tactical Coordination Detachment, and also nicknamed The Activity and the Army of Northern Virginia, is a United States Army Special Operations unit which serves as the intelligence gathering component of Joint Special Operations Command. Within JSOC, the unit is often referred to as Task Force Orange. Originally subordinated to the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM), it is one of the least known intelligence components of the United States military, tasked with clandestine HUMINT operations and collecting actionable intelligence during or prior to JSOC missions.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: The Activity and its counterparts 1st SFOD-D, DEVGRU, and the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, are the U.S. military's premier Tier 1 Special Mission Units, performing the most complex, classified, and dangerous missions as directed by the National Command Authority.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: The unit is known by many names. USAISA was the official name of the unit from 1981 to 1989. It has also gone by a number of two-word Special Access Program names, including "OPTIMIZE TALENT", "ROYAL CAPE", "CENTRA SPIKE", "CAPACITY GEAR", "GRANTOR SHADOW", "TORN VICTOR", "QUIET ENABLE", "OPAQUE LEAF", "CEMETERY WIND", "GRAY FOX", "TITRANT RANGER", and "INTREPID SPEAR".


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: The Field Operations Group (FOG) was created in the summer of 1980 in order to take part in a second attempt to rescue the U.S. hostages held in the Tehran embassy after the failure of the Operation Eagle Claw. That operation had highlighted the U.S. shortfall in intelligence gathering.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: The Field Operations Group was under command of Colonel Jerry King and operated in Iran, accomplishing various covert intelligence-gathering missions. The work accomplished by the FOG was successful, however the second attempt (called Operation Credible Sport) never took place because the air assets needed were not available.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: After the cancellation of Operation Credible Sport, the FOG was not disbanded but enlarged. The administration saw ground intelligence contingencies as needing improvement if future special operations were to be successful, as the CIA did not always provide all the information needed. So, on 3 March 1981, the FOG was established as a permanent unit and renamed US Army Intelligence Support Activity (USAISA). This ISA should not be confused with a later unit known as the Ground Intelligence Support Activity (GISA), which was subordinated to the Army G2.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: The current badge depicts an American bald eagle grasping a claymore, surrounded by a kilt belt, inscribed with the Latin phrase ""Veritas Omnia Vincula Vincit"" ("Truth Overcomes All Bonds"). In the original crest, the claymore was wrapped in a chain with one of the links broken as a reminder of those killed during the failed Operation Eagle Claw. This symbol of failure was later deemed no longer appropriate.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: The badge was deliberately designed by Jerry King and other founding members of the unit because of their shared Scottish heritage. The claymore is a greatsword originating from the Scottish Highlands, and the belt surrounding the badge is seen on Scottish clan badges (the belt signifies that the wearer is a member rather than the chief of the clan - the chief wears the badge without a belt surround).


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: In 1981 the Intelligence Support Activity began to immediately select new operators, growing from the FOG's original 50 members to about 100. The ISA remained extremely secret; all of its records were classified under a Special Access Program initially named OPTIMIZE TALENT. The ISA was given its classified budget of $7 million, a secret headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and cover name, the Tactical Concept Activity. ISA included three main operations branches (Command, SIGINT and Operations) and an analysis branch, whose name changed over the years (e.g. Directorate of Intelligence, Directorate of Intelligence and Security). Colonel Jerry King became the ISA's first commander.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: The ISA's mission was to support Special Operations Forces (primarily 1st SFOD-D and DEVGRU) in counter-terrorist operations and other special operations units. The ISA would provide actionable intelligence collection, pathfinding, and operational support. The ISA performed several operations mainly in Latin America and the Middle East during the 1980s, but also in East Africa, South-East Asia, and Europe. The current organization of ISA is classified but does contain at least three squadrons (Operations, SIGINT and Mission Support/Communications).


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: The ISA conducted various missions, including giving protection to the Lebanese leader Bachir Gemayel and attempting to buy a Soviet T-72 tank from Iraq (a deal that was finally stopped by the Iraqis).


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: On 17 December 1981, the senior U.S. Army officer in NATO Land Forces Southern European Command, Brigadier General James L. Dozier, was kidnapped from his apartment in Verona, Italy, by Italian Red Brigades terrorists. The search for General Dozier saw a massive deployment of Italian and U.S. forces, including thousands of Italian national police, the Carabinieri. The search also featured some unconventional participants, including "remote viewers" from Project Stargate and an international cast of psychics, largely orchestrated by General Albert Stubblebine, then-Commander of U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command INSCOM, and a great believer in the use of unconventional intelligence-gathering methods. An ISA SIGINT team was sent to Italy as part of Operation Winter Harvest and in conjunction with other Army SIGINT and counter-intelligence units, employed aerial and ground-based SIGINT systems to monitor and geo-locate terrorist communications. ISA and the other Army elements provided useful intelligence, helping Italian police to arrest several Red Brigades terrorists in mid-January 1982. The Italian police and intelligence agencies have never officially disclosed how they located General Dozier in late January 1982. However, U.S. Army participants in the operation have hinted that the mid-January arrests, the interrogation of those arrested, and follow-on investigations led to the eventual location of the Red Brigades hideout where Dozier was being held, in an apartment over a store in Padova. There is little doubt that the successful outcome resulted in part from the contributions of ISA's SIGINT specialists and the other supporting Army intelligence elements. General Dozier was freed unharmed by NOCS operators, also known as "The Leatherheads" for their unique headgear, on 28 January 1982.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: In early 1982, the ISA was needed to support a SIGINT mission in El Salvador, a mission that the CIA, the NSA, and INSCOM were not able to accomplish. The task was submitted to the U.S. Army Special Operations Division (SOD), which started Operation Queens Hunter. Operating from a Beechcraft model 100 King Air flown by SEASPRAY (a clandestine military aviation unit) based in Honduras, ISA SIGINT specialists monitored communications from Salvadoran leftist guerrillas and fascist death squads, providing intelligence which helped the Salvadoran Army defend against guerrilla attacks. The success was such that the operation, planned to last a month, ran for more than three years. More aircraft were deployed, and eventually included eavesdropping on Honduran guerrillas too, as well as Nicaraguan Army units fighting against the Contras.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: The ISA has also conducted an operation to search for US MIAs (soldiers reported as Missing In Action) allegedly held in South-East Asia in secret POWs camps in the 1980s. In 1979, U.S. intelligence thought it had located a POW camp in Laos using aerial and satellite photographs. A ground reconnaissance was needed to determine if people seen on photographs were really American POWs. At the same time, former Special Forces Major James G. "Bo" Gritz planned a private rescue mission with other S.F. veterans. Having informed the U.S. government officials about the mission, Gritz was first told to abort his "mission," but was eventually approached by the ISA. Nonetheless, Gritz was not believed to be doing serious work, and Pentagon officials ordered the ISA to terminate their relationship with him when they discovered that ISA had provided him with money and equipment.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: Operation Grand Eagle-aka "BOHICA" was an ISA Clandestine Armed Operation to seek intelligence on the fate of US military and or CIA personnel who may have been captured and left behind in Laos after the Vietnam war. ISA operatives were sent to Laos and located an armed encampment there that had at least two captured men, believed to be either US military personnel or covert operatives.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: This was detailed in two books, "BOHICA" by Scott Barnes an ISA operative on this mission and "Kiss the Boys Goodbye" by Monika Jensen-Stevenson and William Stevenson both detailed the covert mission of Operation Grand Eagle.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: In 1989, the then USAISA commander John G. Lackey sent a telex "terminating" the USAISA term and his special access program GRANTOR SHADOW. Colonel John Lackey served as unit commander from 1986 to 1989. However, the unit continued under a series of different Top Secret codenames which are changed every two years. Known codenames included CAPACITY GEAR, CENTRA SPIKE, TORN VICTOR, QUIET ENABLE, CEMETERY WIND, and GRAY FOX.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: Gray Fox was the codename used by the ISA at the beginning of the War in Afghanistan. Its members often worked closely with Joint Special Operations Command and the Central Intelligence Agency.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: In 2002, Gray Fox operators served alongside Delta Force and DEVGRU in the mountains of Afghanistan. Gray Fox intercepted enemy communications and trekked to observation posts with special operations units. Their efforts may have saved more than a hundred 10th Mountain Division and 101st Airborne Division soldiers fighting near Takur Ghar in Afghanistan's Shahikot Valley during Operation Anaconda.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: The unit helped spearhead the search for Saddam Hussein and his family after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Gray Fox operatives sometimes work under the broader umbrella of "Joint Special Operations Task Force 20", which also included DEVGRU, the Army's Delta Force, and 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Saddam Hussein was eventually captured during Operation Red Dawn. Under the command of Colonel Michael K. Nagata from 2005 to 2008, Gray Fox continued to operate in Iraq and Afghanistan alongside US Special Operations Forces.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: In 2003, the Intelligence Support Activity was transferred from the Army INSCOM to Joint Special Operations Command, where it was renamed the Mission Support Activity.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: Since 2005 onward, the ISA has not always operated under a two-worded Special Access Program (SAP) name (GRAY FOX, CENTRA SPIKE, etc.). In 2009, the unit was referred to as INTREPID SPEAR, until this was revealed to have been leaked in an email to the Pentagon. In 2010 it was referred to as the United States Army Studies and Analysis Activity.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: Elements of the former ISA assisted in intelligence collection and analysis operations prior to and during the 2 May 2011 U.S. Special Operations Forces mission which resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. Elements of DEVGRU, along with the ISA, members of the CIA Special Activities Division, DIA, and the NSA combined to execute a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, which ultimately killed bin Laden and resulted in the deaths of several family members and associates.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: According to Sean Naylor in "Not a Good Day to Die", most (but certainly not all) Activity operatives come from United States Army Special Forces, due to their self-reliance and specialized skill-set. Candidates also come from the other military branches. Most candidates assigned to the Operations, Communications, and/or SIGINT squadrons go through an assessment and selection course, as well as a lengthy background investigation and psychological testing. Once admitted, they receive further training in a specialized Training Course. Like all units, the Intelligence Support Activity contains operational detachments as well as support detachments such as intelligence analysis, medical, logistics.


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: Candidates must have previous training in tactics, such as CQC, sniper, counter-sniper and source development. Foreign language skills, although highly desired, are not a prerequisite to becoming a member of the ISA, though to be a SIGINT/HUMINT operator in the field with other Special Mission Units, working clandestine operations in non-permissive environments, knowing a minimum of several languages is usually indispensable (e.g. Persian, Arabic, Pashto, etc.).


title: Intelligence Support Activity

text: Some of the disciplines focused on in the training course are infiltration techniques, advanced air operations, professional driving (offensive and off-road), personal defensive measures, use of state-of-the-art communications equipment, deep surveillance, tradecraft, weapons handling, hand-to-hand combat, signals intelligence, etc.


title: Brigette Lundy-Paine

text: Brigette Lundy-Paine (born August 10, 1994) is an American actor. They first came to prominence for portraying Casey Gardner on all four seasons of the Netflix comedy-drama "Atypical" (2017–2021). In 2020, Lundy-Paine achieved further recognition for playing Billie Logan, the daughter of Ted Logan, in the science fiction comedy film "Bill & Ted Face the Music".


title: Brigette Lundy-Paine

text: Born August 10, 1994, in Dallas, Texas, Brigette Lundy-Paine is the child of Laura Lundy and Robert Paine, who are both actors and directors, and has a younger brother. When Lundy-Paine was two years old, their family moved to Alameda, California. In 2012, they graduated from Encinal High School, where they were a cheerleader. They graduated from New York University in 2015.


title: Brigette Lundy-Paine

text: On November 8, 2019, Lundy-Paine came out as non-binary, going by they/them pronouns. They have also been involved as an activist, including participating in the Black Lives Matter movement.


title: Brigette Lundy-Paine

text: Lundy-Paine is known for their portrayal of Casey Gardner on the television series "Atypical". Lundy-Paine also co-founded the "vocal band" Subtle Pride, as well as "Waif Magazine", an art publication.


title: Pier Angeli

text: Pier Angeli (19 June 193210 September 1971), also credited under her real name, Anna Maria Pierangeli, was an Italian-born television and film actress who starred in American, British and European films throughout her career. Her American motion picture debut was in the starring role of the film "Teresa" (1951), for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Young Star of the Year - Actress. She also worked as a singer and model.


title: Pier Angeli

text: Born Anna Maria Pierangeli to Enrichetta (née Romiti) and Luigi Pierangeli in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Her twin sister is the actress Marisa Pavan.


title: Pier Angeli

text: Angeli spent World War II in Rome; she was ten when the Nazis occupied Rome, experiencing both food shortages and bomb shelters. She was deeply affected by her experiences during the war, recalling later: "What was in the world, I didn't want to know."


title: Pier Angeli

text: Angeli made her film debut with Vittorio De Sica's Italian film, "Domani è troppo tardi" (1950) after being spotted by director Léonide Moguy and De Sica while studying Arts in Rome, at the age of sixteen. Her work was so impressive that she won an Italian award for Best Actress, and caught the eye of MGM producers, who offered her a contract with the studio. MGM launched her in "Teresa" (1951), her first American film, which also saw the film debuts of Rod Steiger and John Ericson. Reviews for this performance compared her to Greta Garbo, and she won the New Star of the Year–Actress Golden Globe. Under contract to MGM throughout the 1950s, she appeared in a series of films, including "The Light Touch" with Stewart Granger. Plans for a film of "Romeo and Juliet" with her and Marlon Brando fell through when a British-Italian production was announced.


title: Pier Angeli

text: While filming "The Story of Three Loves" (1953), Angeli began a relationship with costar Kirk Douglas. She next appeared in "Sombrero", in which she replaced an indisposed Ava Gardner, then "Flame and the Flesh" (1954). After discovering Leslie Caron, another European ingénue, MGM lent Angeli to other studios. She went to Warner Bros. for both "The Silver Chalice" (1954), which marked the debut of Paul Newman, and the French-language musical "Oh No, Mam'zelle" ("Mam'zelle Nitouche)", also 1954), co-starring alongside Fernandel. For Paramount, she was in contention for the role of Anna Magnani's daughter in "The Rose Tattoo" (1955), but the role went to Marisa Pavan, her twin sister. MGM lent her to Columbia for "Port Afrique" (1956). She returned to MGM for "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956) as Paul Newman's long-suffering wife (Angeli's former lover, James Dean, was to play the starring role, which went to Newman after Dean's death). Newman would later say of her: "The most beautiful Italian actress of the century. She was an extremely complex and gifted woman. It was so unfortunate that the roles she was asked to play rarely demanded what I know she had to offer." She then appeared in "The Vintage" (1957) and finished her MGM contract in "Merry Andrew" (1958) starring alongside Danny Kaye. In 1959, she released an album, "Italia con Pier Angeli" in which she sings in English and Italian. She also continued to be hired for modelling jobs well into the 1960s.


title: Pier Angeli

text: During the 1960s and until 1970, Angeli lived and worked in Britain and Europe, and was often screen-credited under her birth name, Anna Maria Pierangeli. She starred in French, Italian and English-language movies throughout the 1960s. Her performance in "The Angry Silence" (1960), starring alongside her friend Richard Attenborough, was nominated for a Best Foreign Actress BAFTA, and she was reunited with Stewart Granger for "Sodom and Gomorrah" (1963), in which she played Lot's wife. She had a brief role in the war epic "Battle of the Bulge" (1965). Angeli worked in Israel, and was top-billed, for "Every Bastard a King" (1968), about events during the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War the previous year.


title: Pier Angeli

text: Angeli was fluent in Italian and English, and near fluent in French. She was good friends with Debbie Reynolds, Louis Jourdan, and Richard Attenborough. Because she travelled so much, she encountered many artists throughout her life. For example, In 1960, Angeli met Serge Gainsbourg in a nightclub. On a piece of paper she scribbled in French: "J’adore 'L’eau à la bouche', ça me donne l’eau à la bouche," and slipped it into one of Gainsbourg's pockets. He treasured this relic, and her gesture had the effect of motivating him to persevere in romantic songwriting.


title: Pier Angeli

text: According to Kirk Douglas' autobiography "The Ragman's Son," he and Angeli were engaged in the 1950s after meeting on the set of the film "The Story of Three Loves" (1953). Angeli also had a passionate romantic relationship with James Dean. They met while she was shooting "The Silver Chalice" (1954) and he was shooting "East of Eden" (1955), on an adjoining Warner lot. Elia Kazan, the director of "East of Eden" (1955), remembered hearing Dean and Angeli loudly making love in Dean's dressing room. Much against her will, she was forced to break it off mainly because her mother was not happy with their relationship as Dean was not Catholic. There were rumors that she and Dean secretly saw each other up until his death; Joe Hyams, in his 1992 biography of Dean, "James Dean: Little Boy Lost", claims that he visited Dean just as Angeli, then married to Damone, was leaving his home. An Order for the Solemnization of Marriage pamphlet with the name "Pier" lightly penciled in every place the bride's name is left blank was found amongst Dean's personal effects after his death. She would later say that he was the love of her life: "He is the only man I ever loved deeply as a woman should love a man." Friends of Angeli have said she never fully recovered from his death and that she had nightmares about him up until her own death.


title: Pier Angeli

text: Angeli was married to singer and actor Vic Damone from 1954 to 1958. Singer and actor Dean Martin performed at their wedding. It was reported by several people who attended the wedding that they saw James Dean, claiming Dean watched the wedding from across the road on his motorcycle, even gunning the engine during the ceremony, although Dean later denied doing anything so "dumb". During their marriage, they appeared as guests on the June 17, 1956 episode of "What's My Line?". She had one son with Vic Damone; their divorce was followed by highly publicized court battles for the custody of their only child, son Perry (1955–2014).


title: Pier Angeli

text: Angeli next married Italian composer Armando Trovajoli in 1962 with whom she had another son, Howard, in 1963. She and Trovajoli separated in 1969.


title: Pier Angeli

text: In the early 1970s she returned to California, after having lived in Britain and Europe throughout the 1960s, and briefly lived with her close friend Debbie Reynolds until she found a little apartment in Beverly Hills. On September 10, 1971, at the age of 39, Angeli was found dead of a barbiturate overdose at her home in Beverly Hills. On the day of her death, Angeli had been given an injection of Compazine by her doctor. Death due to anaphylaxis has been suggested; however, it is not supported by the findings of her autopsy. Her former lover Kirk Douglas and his wife Anne Buydens were among those who were invited to her funeral. She is interred in the Cimetière des Bulvis in Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine, France.


title: Pier Angeli

text: Angeli was portrayed by Valentina Cervi in the 2001 TV movie "James Dean", which depicted her relationship with Dean. In 2015, she was portrayed by Alessandra Mastronardi in the James Dean biopic "Life".


title: 2018–19 NBA season

text: The 2018–19 NBA season was the 73rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 16, 2018, and ended on April 10, 2019. The 2019 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 17, 2019, at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The playoffs began on April 13, 2019 and ended on June 13 with the Toronto Raptors defeating the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals, becoming NBA champions for the first time in franchise history and the first team in NBA history to win a championship without a single lottery pick on the roster. This season would mark the first time since 2010 in which LeBron James did not make a Finals appearance. This would also be the final season for Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Dwyane Wade. This was the last NBA season to play in a regular 82-game season from mid-October to mid-April until the 2021-22 NBA season.


title: 2018–19 NBA season

text: Free agency negotiations began on July 1. Players began signing on July 6 after the July moratorium ended. LeBron James' 4 year, $154 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers was the biggest free agency news of the offseason after James spent the last 4 seasons as his second stint with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers which began in 2014.


title: 2018–19 NBA season

text: The Toronto Raptors played two preseason games in Canada outside of their home arena: first against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver on September 29, and second with the Brooklyn Nets in Montreal at the Bell Centre on October 10.


title: 2018–19 NBA season

text: The Dallas Mavericks and the Philadelphia 76ers played two preseason games in China, in Shanghai on October 5 and in Shenzhen on October 8.


title: 2018–19 NBA season

text: The regular season began on October 16, 2018, and ended on April 10, 2019. The entire schedule was released on August 10, 2018.


title: 2018–19 NBA season

text: On June 20, 2018, the NBA announced that the Washington Wizards would play the New York Knicks at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom on January 17, 2019.


title: 2018–19 NBA season

text: On August 7, 2018, the NBA announced that the Orlando Magic would play two games at Mexico City Arena in Mexico City. They played against the Chicago Bulls on December 13, 2018, and they played against the Utah Jazz on December 15, 2018.


title: 2018–19 NBA season

text: The 2019 NBA playoffs began on April 13 and ended with the NBA Finals, which began on May 30 and ended on June 13.


title: 2018–19 NBA season

text: Awards was presented at the NBA Awards ceremony, which was held on June 24. Finalists for voted awards were announced during the playoffs and winners were presented at the award ceremony. The All-NBA Teams was announced in advance in order for teams to have all the necessary information to make off-season preparations.


title: 2018–19 NBA season

text: In April 2016, the NBA announced that teams would be permitted to sign a uniform sponsorship contract for the 2017–18 season. Prior and during the 2017–18 season, 21 teams signed a uniform sponsorship contract. Before and during the 2018–19 season, the remaining nine teams signed such contracts:


title: Bethesda Game Studios

text: Bethesda Game Studios is an American video game developer and a studio of ZeniMax Media based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was established in 2001 as the spin-off of Bethesda Softworks' development unit, with Bethesda Softworks itself retaining a publishing function. The studio is led by Todd Howard as executive producer, Ashley Cheng as managing director, and Angela Browder as studio director. Bethesda Game Studios operates three satellite studios, one in Montreal and two in Texas, and employs 420 people as of March 2021.


title: Bethesda Game Studios

text: In 2001, ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, decided that the two operational units at Bethesda Softworks, development and publishing, should be split apart. Subsequently, Bethesda Softworks retained the publishing, while development staff was moved to the newly established Bethesda Game Studios. Initially, BGS had around 40 people.


title: Bethesda Game Studios

text: By 2008, Bethesda Game Studios was considered one of the industry’s top developers on the reputation of the "Elder Scrolls" fantasy universe and the critically acclaimed "Fallout 3". Bethesda had created a unique role for itself, “spending years to create massive, open-world, single-player RPGs — hardly a booming genre in the industry at large — to great success, bringing a once-niche PC genre to a broad multiplatform audience,” wrote Gamasutra in their year-end best of list.


title: Bethesda Game Studios

text: On December 9, 2015, ZeniMax Media announced the formation of Bethesda Game Studios Montreal, a new Bethesda Game Studios location in Montreal, Quebec. Led by Yves Lachance, the former head of Behaviour Interactive, the studio was set to broaden the portfolio of games across all gaming platforms.


title: Bethesda Game Studios

text: On March 9, 2018, Austin, Texas-based BattleCry Studios, another ZeniMax Media subsidiary, was rebranded as Bethesda Game Studios Austin.


title: Bethesda Game Studios

text: Bethesda Game Studios has principally been involved in the development of role-playing video games with their "The Elder Scrolls" and "Fallout" series for consoles and personal computers, most of which have been commercially and critically successful.


title: Bethesda Game Studios

text: In 2015, the studio entered into the mobile gaming market with "Fallout Shelter" based on the same franchise, which gained 50 million players by mid-2016. In February 2017, Howard said that they are in development of another mobile title following onto the success of "Fallout Shelter". This was revealed in 2018 to be "".


title: Bethesda Game Studios

text: In 2016, Howard confirmed that while they are developing "The Elder Scrolls VI", it was still a long way to the game's release. Meanwhile, two other significant projects are in development which are expected to be released prior to "The Elder Scrolls VI". On May 30, 2018, "Fallout 76" was announced. On June 10, 2018, during Bethesda's E3 2018 conference, the other project in development was revealed to be the company's first new intellectual property in 25 years, "Starfield". During the 2021 Xbox/Bethesda Games Showcase, "Starfield" was announced to be releasing exclusively for PC and Xbox Series X/S. It has a planned release for the first half of 2023. On June 14, 2022, Howard confirmed that "Fallout 5" would start development after the completion of "The Elder Scrolls VI," with the latter currently in the pre-production phase of development.


title: Stereophonics

text: Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley, Wales. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (bass guitar, harmonica, backing vocals), Adam Zindani (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Jamie Morrison (drums, percussion) and touring member Tony Kirkham (keyboards). The group previously included Stuart Cable (1992–2003) and then Javier Weyler (2004–2012) on drums. Stereophonics have released twelve studio albums, including eight UK number one albums. A successful compilation album, "", was released in November 2008 and charted at number two on the UK Album Chart.


title: Stereophonics

text: Described as "classic UK rock delivered with whiskey vocals", the band have been summarised as possessing a sound akin to the genres of alternative rock and "British traditional rock". Stereophonics' debut album, "Word Gets Around", was released in August 1997 and charted at number six in the UK, aided by the singles "Local Boy in the Photograph", "More Life in a Tramps Vest" and "A Thousand Trees". The band reached mainstream success with the release of "Performance and Cocktails" (and its promotional singles "The Bartender and the Thief", "Just Looking" and "Pick a Part That's New") in 1999 and have achieved a total of ten top-ten singles as well as one number one: "Dakota" (2005). Having sold around 10 million copies worldwide by 2016, Stereophonics are one of the most successful Welsh rock acts. Upon their release of "Pull the Pin", they achieved five consecutive UK number one albums.


title: Stereophonics

text: The band have also been praised for their live performances, which have landed them headlining slots at many of the UK and Ireland's most high-profile music festivals, including Reading and Leeds in 2000, Glastonbury in 2002, V Festival in 2002, the Isle of Wight in 2004 and 2009, Oxegen in 2010, Tramlines Festival and TRNSMT in 2018, and Latitude in 2019. The band is part of the Cardiff music scene.


title: Stereophonics

text: Kelly Jones and Stuart Cable lived on the same street in the Welsh village of Cwmaman. Jones heard Cable played drums so asked if he wanted to jam together. After some time practising in Jones' dad's garage, Nicholas Geake joined in on guitar. Later, Jones invited Paul Rosser and Chris Davies to play on bass guitar and keyboards, respectively. Cable recalls he was the one who suggested that Jones be the singer, as his dad was a singer back in the sixties who supported Roy Orbison. In 1986 the band recorded a demo under the name "Zephyr". When Jones went on holiday the band played a gig without him, which resulted in Jones leaving the band and Jones and Cable going their separate ways. Jones, Rosser and Davies formed their own R&B band called "Silent Runner" while Cable joined a glam-rock band named "King Catwalk" on drums.


title: Stereophonics

text: A few years later, Cable got sacked from the band and after a few weeks after that when on a bus, he waved to Jones who was standing at a bus stop and waved back. It was the first contact they had since Zephyr had broken up. Two weeks later, Jones and Cable started speaking again in the Ivy Bush. They agreed to give the band another go but Cable only wanted to play their own songs, to which Jones agreed. The duo invited Mark Everett to play for them on bass guitar and Jones then started writing his own songs.


title: Stereophonics

text: Everett went on holiday for two weeks but Jones and Cable wanted to continue rehearsing, so Jones invited long-time friend Richard Jones to fill in for Everett. Stunned by Richard's appearance and bass playing, Cable convinced Kelly to keep him instead of Everett. The band decided they needed another member to play lead guitar. Simon Collier was the first guitarist brought in, but didn't stay in the band; he did, however, become Kelly's guitar technician. The band tried hiring two other guitarists, another Richard Jones and Glenn Hyde. Neither stayed for long. Hyde did however play harmonica on "Rooftop" for the band's 2001 album "Just Enough Education to Perform". After Hyde left, the band stuck as a three-piece act.


title: Stereophonics

text: Kelly, Richard and Cable began writing and performing music in working men's clubs together in 1992 as a band known as "Tragic Love Company", a name inspired by their favourite bands (the Tragically Hip, Mother Love Bone and Bad Company). After Tragic Love Company supported Smalltown Heroes in the Borderline Club, London, they met Marshall Bird and Steve Bush who were interested in producing for the band. The band agreed and recorded a demo for "A Thousand Trees".


title: Stereophonics

text: Wayne Coleman organised a series of concerts throughout South Wales after receiving a demo from the band. Wayne liked it a lot but hated the band name and told them they wouldn't be performing unless they changed it. After Cable read the manufacturer name of a gramophone, "Falcon Stereophonic", he told Kelly and the band agreed to change their name to "the Stereophonics". In March 1996, the band played a gig at their local Coliseum Theatre, Aberdare with Catatonia and the Pocket Devils. When the band finished their slot, John Brand approached them and he became their manager. Brand managed to get over 35 record companies in the UK interested in signing the Stereophonics. In May 1996, they signed with V2, the first artists to be signed to newly formed record label. Upon signing, they dropped "the" from their name and simply became "Stereophonics".


title: Stereophonics

text: In August 1997, the band released their first studio album, "Word Gets Around", which reached number six in the UK charts, from which five singles were released. The debut single, released 25 November 1996, was "Looks Like Chaplin". Afterwards, the band embarked on a successful world tour.


title: Stereophonics

text: In February 1998, the band received a BRIT Award for Best New Group. In the same week, the band re-released the single "Local Boy in the Photograph", which in turn reached number fourteen in the UK Singles Chart. The band's debut album, "Word Gets Around", also went gold in the UK.


title: Stereophonics

text: In November 1998, "The Bartender and the Thief" (the first single from the album "Performance and Cocktails") was released, eventually reaching number three on the UK charts. "Just Looking" was released next and reached number four in March 1999. In that same month, the album was released, entering at number one and going platinum within three weeks. Later that year, the band played in front of 50,000 people at Morfa Stadium in Swansea. The concert was filmed and released on DVD the following year. They also collaborated with Tom Jones on a cover of the Randy Newman song "Mama Told Me Not To Come", for the Tom Jones album "Reload".


title: Stereophonics

text: Throughout 1998 and 1999, the band toured in Europe, Australia and the US. On 12 June 1998, Stereophonics played to over 10,000 spectators in the grounds of Cardiff Castle in Wales. Footage of the concert was released on VHS and DVD, titled "Live at Cardiff Castle".


title: Stereophonics

text: The band released their third album, "Just Enough Education to Perform", in April 2001. The album included the track "Mr. Writer", which includes lyrics that criticise a critic who the band believe gave them a negative review. The album also contained one of the band's most famous tracks, "Have a Nice Day", which reached number five in the UK charts. To promote the new album, "Just Enough Education to Perform", the Stereophonics played a two-day festival, which was called "A Day at the Races". This event was held in Donington Park on the first day and at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on the second. The concerts were supported by Ash, Black Crowes and the Crocketts, with Proud Mary playing Donington only. Over 200,000 separate tickets were sold for the weekend festival. The performance was released on a DVD in 2002.


title: Stereophonics

text: 2003 saw the release of their fourth album, titled "You Gotta Go There to Come Back". The album contained one of the band's most popular songs, Maybe Tomorrow. In September 2003, drummer Stuart Cable was sacked. According to reports, it was because of his lack of commitment to the band. Cable, at the time, presented a TV show called "Cable TV" and felt that the band would never improve. Because of this, he missed several rehearsals and live concerts. He was eventually replaced by Javier Weyler. Steve Gorman, from the Black Crowes, stood in for Cable during the band's live performances until Weyler was appointed. When asked about Cable leaving the band in a 2010 interview with "Rip It Up" magazine, Kelly Jones acknowledged the difficulty of the situation.


title: Stereophonics

text: Towards the end of the year, Stereophonics did a sold-out tour of the UK, ending with a Christmas show at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, supported by Feeder, Ocean Colour Scene and Adam Masterson. The show was closed with a live version of "Merry Xmas Everybody", originally recorded by Slade. The group took a break after their 2003–2004 world tour, which included a set at the Manchester Move Festival in July 2004.


title: Stereophonics

text: Their fifth studio album, "Language. Sex. Violence. Other?" was released in March 2005. It marked their first recording with new drummer Javier Weyler. The band achieved their first number one hit in the UK singles charts with the album's first single, "Dakota". The second single from the album was "Superman". However, that song did not repeat the success of "Dakota", peaking at number thirteen. After "Superman" came "Devil", featuring a controversial video and reaching number eleven in the charts. The album was nominated for a Pop Factory award at the end of the year, losing out to Feeder's "Pushing the Senses".


title: Stereophonics

text: On 2 July 2005, the group appeared at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London, playing to their biggest audience yet. The band were also scheduled to support Oasis for a number of dates across Europe, in early 2006, but pulled out due to family commitments. 2006 also saw the release of Stereophonics' first live album, "Live from Dakota". The album is a two-disc compilation, featuring twenty tracks spanning all five of the band's albums and capturing the best of their 2005 world tour. Rather than being a recording of a single show, the tour was recorded every night and the band picked out the best version of each song individually. The album also features a track titled "Jayne", later released as part of Kelly Jones' solo album, "Only the Names Have Been Changed".


title: Stereophonics

text: "Pull the Pin" was released in the UK on 15 October 2007, along with a download-only taster; "Bank Holiday Monday". The track was also available for free to people who pre-ordered tickets for the band's concerts in 2007. The album was written and recorded by November 2006 but held back for release until late 2007. "It Means Nothing" was the first single of the album, released in September before the LP was released a week later on 15 October. The album contains twelve songs and reached number one in the UK's official album chart. The next single, "My Friends", reached number thirty-two in the UK charts, their poorest chart performance since "More Life in a Tramps Vest" from their debut album.


title: Stereophonics

text: On 20 May 2007, at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Preston, the band were joined on stage by Casino frontman Adam Zindani. Zindani continued to tour with the band for the remainder of the "Pull the Pin" tour, playing lead guitar and backing vocals. He has been credited for writing and performing on two of the band's new tracks, "You're My Star" and "My Own Worst Enemy". On "You're My Star", he sings backing vocals and plays lead guitar, whereas on "My Own Worst Enemy" he only plays lead guitar. In November 2008, Stereophonics released their first greatest hits compilation, "".


title: Stereophonics

text: On 8 December 2009, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games announced the line up for performers for the nightly Victory Ceremonies. These ceremonies included 30 minutes of entertainment from the evening's host province/territory, 30 minutes of medal presentations, and a one-hour performance by a musical talent. Stereophonics performed their song "I Got Your Number" at this event on 20 February – Yukon Night. The band's seventh album, titled "Keep Calm and Carry On", was released on 16 November 2009. They decided on this name after seeing a poster in the White Horse pub in Richmond where they spent a lot of time whilst recording the album. The album's debut single was "Innocent". The second single from the album, "Could You Be the One?", was released on 15 February 2010. The band embarked on a seven-date tour to support the new album in March 2010 playing at Aberdeen, Newcastle, Glasgow, Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and London. with support from Glasgow band Hip Parade.


title: Stereophonics

text: On 5 June 2010, Stereophonics played the first-ever gig at the Cardiff City Stadium with support from unsigned South Wales band 4th Street Traffic, followed by Kids in Glass Houses and Doves. The concert, known as "Summer in the City", was played to a sold-out audience of 30,000. Two days later, original drummer Stuart Cable was found dead in his home in Aberdare having choked on his own vomit after binge drinking. After the Keep Calm and Carry On Tour concluded, and their contract with Universal at an end, Kelly Jones wanted to change the way the band works and so decided to take a break from writing and recording an album every two years.


title: Stereophonics

text: On 3 March 2011, Stereophonics announced on their Facebook page that they were working on new music in the studio. In July 2012 it was announced that Weyler and the band had parted company. The announcement was made on the band's Facebook page, though no reason was given for his departure. It was announced on 24 September 2012 that Jamie Morrison, former drummer for Noisettes, had replaced Weyler in the band. On 8 October 2012, Stereophonics released the video to a track titled "Violins and Tambourines" from the upcoming album. On 4 November, the first single from the new album, "In a Moment", was released as a free download from the band's website. On the same day, NME.com reported that the album would be titled "Graffiti on the Train". The album was released on 4 March 2013. Second single preceding the album, "Indian Summer" was released in January 2013; by 10 March it had peaked at number 30 in the UK, making it their group's first UK top-40 single since 2007. A third single, the album's title track, was released on 13 May.


title: Stereophonics

text: In late September 2014, it was announced via their Twitter page that a new album has been mixed and that it should be released in 2015. On 21 March 2015, Stereophonics performed in Bristol and in London's Royal Albert Hall and debuted 3 new songs "C'est La Vie", "I Wanna Get Lost With You" and "Song for the Summer" which are to be on their 9th album "Keep the Village Alive" with the release date of 11 September. "C'est la Vie" was released as the first single of the album. In September 2015 the band appeared on BBC Two's "Later... with Jools Holland". During the Keep the Summer Alive Tour, Kelly Jones announced he would like to release the band's tenth studio album "before next summer" to commemorate the 20th anniversary of "Word Gets Around", rather than release a compilation album.


title: Stereophonics

text: On 27 July 2017 the band announced "Scream Above the Sounds" as the title for the album and will be released on 27 October 2017. It became available to pre-order on the same day. The album was released under the new distribution label "Parlophone", as the band parted ways with the old label V2. The band released "All In One Night" on the same day as the lead single from it. On 4 September 2017 "Caught By The Wind" was released as the second single from the album followed by "Before Anyone Knew Our Name" as the third single on 20 October 2017.They released the album's fourth and final single, "What's All the Fuss About?" on 4 December 2017. They embarked on the Scream Above The Sounds tour in 2018.


title: Stereophonics

text: In January 2019, Stereophonics announced two shows as part of Forest Live, the summer concert series promoted by the Forestry Commission: 13 June at Westonbirt Arboretum, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire and 23 June at Thetford Forest, near Brandon, Suffolk. "Kind." became their seventh number-one album later that year.


title: Stereophonics

text: Originally intending to release another greatest hits album, he band announced their twelfth album, "Oochya!" on 6 September 2021. It became their eighth number-one album, putting them level with Oasis, R.E.M. and Taylor Swift for the most UK number-one albums ever.


title: Stereophonics

text: On 18 June 2022, the second of the band's two concerts at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, was broadcast live on BBC One Wales and BBC Two, with special guest Sir Tom Jones.


title: Stereophonics

text: On 9 October 2007, a retrospective DVD was released in the United States, "Rewind: The First 10 Years". The DVD is a double disc with a runtime of nearly four hours. Much of this footage was recorded around the time that the "You Gotta Go There to Come Back" album was being recorded. This is because a similar band history DVD was listed for release shortly after that album but was never released, due to the departure of Stuart Cable. This explains Jones' hairstyle (circa 2003/2004) in the interview footage and the appearance of Stuart and the rest of the band freely talking about their togetherness and solidarity as the original three members. The original footage was updated by adding further footage to the end, bringing it up to date with the band's fifth album. Stuart does not appear on any of the extra footage. Availability coincides with the US re-release of the "Language.Sex.Violence.Other?" DVD, and the worldwide digital debut of their latest studio album, "Pull the Pin".


title: Stereophonics

text: In 2007, Jones released a solo album, titled "Only the Names Have Been Changed", while recording the band's sixth studio album, "Pull the Pin". The album contains ten tracks (all named after women) and features minimal instrumentation. The album also includes the song "Jayne", a previously unreleased Stereophonics track featured on the live album "Live from Dakota" and the "Rewind" DVD.


title: Stereophonics

text: Stereophonics also performed the original opening theme tune for the TV series "Long Way Round". The song's lyrics were slightly altered for the follow-up series, "Long Way Down and Long Way Up".


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The Laotian Civil War (1959–1975) was a civil war in Laos which was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975. It is associated with the Cambodian Civil War and the Vietnam War, with both sides receiving heavy external support in a proxy war between the global Cold War superpowers. It is called the Secret War among the American CIA Special Activities Center, and Hmong and Mien veterans of the conflict.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The Kingdom of Laos was a covert theater for other belligerents during the Vietnam War. The Franco–Lao Treaty of Amity and Association (signed 22 October 1953) transferred remaining French powers to the Royal Lao Government (except control of military affairs), establishing Laos as an independent member of the French Union. However, this government did not include representatives from the Lao Issara anti-colonial armed nationalist movement.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The following years were marked by a rivalry between the neutralists under Prince Souvanna Phouma, the right wing under Prince Boun Oum of Champassak, and the left-wing Lao Patriotic Front under Prince Souphanouvong and half-Vietnamese future Prime Minister Kaysone Phomvihane. Several attempts were made to establish coalition governments, and a "tri-coalition" government was finally seated in Vientiane.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The fighting in Laos involved the North Vietnamese Army, U.S. troops and Thai forces and South Vietnamese army forces directly and through irregular proxies in a struggle for control over the Laotian Panhandle. The North Vietnamese Army occupied the area to use for its Ho Chi Minh Trail supply corridor and as a staging area for offensives into South Vietnam. There was a second major theater of action on and near the northern Plain of Jars.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao eventually emerged victorious in 1975 in the slipstream of the victory of the North Vietnamese army and the South Vietnamese VietCong in Vietnam War. A total of up to 300,000 people from Laos fled to neighbouring Thailand following the Pathet Lao takeover.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: After the communists took power in Laos, Hmong rebels fought the new government. The Hmong were persecuted as traitors and "lackeys" of the Americans, with the government and its Vietnamese allies carrying out human rights abuses against Hmong civilians. The incipient conflict between Vietnam and China also played a role with Hmong rebels being accused of receiving support from China. Over 40,000 people died in the conflict.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The Lao royal family were arrested by the Pathet Lao after the war and sent to labor camps, where most of them died in the late 1970s and 1980s, including King Savang Vatthana, Queen Khamphoui and Crown Prince Vong Savang.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The 1954 Geneva Conference established Laotian neutrality. The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), however, continued to operate in both northern and southeastern Laos. There were repeated attempts from 1954 onward to force the North Vietnamese out of Laos, but regardless of any agreements or concessions, Hanoi had no intention of withdrawing from the country or abandoning its Laotian communist allies.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: North Vietnam established the Ho Chi Minh trail as a paved highway in southeast Laos paralleling the Vietnamese border. The trail was designed to transport North Vietnamese troops and supplies to South Vietnam, as well as to aid the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong).


title: Laotian Civil War

text: North Vietnam also had a sizable military effort in northern Laos, while sponsoring and maintaining an indigenous communist rebellion, the Pathet Lao, to put pressure on the Royal Lao Government.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in an attempt to disrupt these operations in northern Laos without direct military involvement, responded by training a guerrilla force of about thirty thousand Laotian hill tribesmen, mostly local Hmong (Meo) tribesmen along with the Mien and Khmu, led by Royal Lao Army General Vang Pao, a Hmong military leader. This army, supported by the CIA proprietary airline Air America, Thailand, the Royal Lao Air Force, and a covert air operation directed by the United States ambassador to Laos, fought the People's Army of Vietnam, the National Liberation Front (NLF), and their Pathet Lao allies to a seesaw stalemate, greatly aiding U.S. interests in the war in Vietnam.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The status of the war in the north throughout the year generally depended on the weather. As the dry season started, in November or December, so did North Vietnamese military operations, as fresh troops and supplies flowed down out of North Vietnam on newly passable routes, either down from Dien Bien Phu, across Phong Saly Province on all-weather highways, or on Route 7 through Ban Ban, Laos on the northeast corner of the Plain of Jars. The CIA's covert operation's clandestine army would give way, harrying the PAVN and Pathet Lao as they retreated; Raven Forward Air Controllers would direct massive air strikes against the communists by USAF jets and RLAF T-28s to prevent the capture of the Laotian capitals of Vientiane and Luang Prabang. When the rainy season six months later rendered North Vietnamese supply lines impassable, the Vietnamese communists would recede toward Vietnam.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The war in the southeastern panhandle against the Ho Chi Minh Trail was primarily a massive air interdiction program by the USAF and United States Navy because political constraints kept the trail safe from ground assault from South Vietnam. Raven FACs also directed air strikes in the southeast. Other Forward Air Controllers from South Vietnam, such as Covey FACs from the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron and Nail FACs from the 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron, also directed strikes. Other air strikes were planned ahead. Overall coordination of the air campaign was directed by an Airborne Command and Control Center, such as those deployed in Operation Igloo White.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The existence of the conflict in Laos was sometimes reported in the U.S., and described in press reports as the CIA's "Secret War in Laos" because details were largely unavailable due to official government denials that the war existed. The denials were seen as necessary considering that the North Vietnamese government and the U.S. had both signed agreements specifying the neutrality of Laos. U.S. involvement was considered necessary because North Vietnam had effectively conquered a large part of the country and was equally obfuscating its role in Laos. Despite these denials, however, the civil war was the largest U.S. covert operation prior to the Soviet–Afghan War, with areas of Laos controlled by North Vietnam subjected to years of intense U.S. aerial bombardment, representing the heaviest bombing campaign in history. Overshadowing it all was the struggle of the Cold War, with the United States' policy of the containment of communism and the policies of the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union of spreading communism via subversion and insurgency.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The end of World War II left Laos in political chaos. The French, who had been displaced from their protectorate by the Japanese, wanted to resume control of Laos, and sponsored guerrilla forces to regain control. The Japanese had proclaimed Laos independent even as they lost the war. Though King Sisavang Vong thought Laos was too small for independence, he had proclaimed the end of the French protectorate status while simultaneously favoring the French return. He let it be known he would accept independence if it should occur. Thus there was a nascent movement for independence amid the turmoil.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Underlying all this was a strong undercurrent of Vietnamese involvement. Sixty percent of the population of Laos' six urban areas were Vietnamese, with the Vietnamese holding key positions in the civil bureaucracies and the police. Since the 1930s the Indochinese Communist Party had established wholly Vietnamese cells in Laos.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa, as Viceroy and Prime Minister, established the Lao royal treasury account with the Indochinese treasury in Hanoi in an attempt to establish a functional economy.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: French commandos parachuted into Laos beginning in 1945 to organize guerrilla forces. By November, they had formed the guerrillas into four light infantry battalions of the newly founded French Union Army. The officers and sergeants of the new Lao battalions were French.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In October 1945, a Lao nationalist movement called Lao Issara (Free Laos) was founded as a new government for Laos. Among Lao Issara's prominent members were three European-educated princes; brothers Phetsarath Ratanavongsa and Souvanna Phouma, and their half brother, Souphanouvong. The former became the titular founder of Lao Issara. Souphanouvong became commander in chief, as well as minister of foreign affairs. Souvanna Phouma became minister of public works.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Independence began with an uprising of the Vietnamese residents in Savannakhet. Prince Souphanouvong took command of a band of partisans armed with weapons looted from the local militia. The band moved northward to the administrative capitol of Vientiane with its provisional revolutionary government. Souphanouvong then urged the signing of a military cooperation treaty with the newly established North Vietnamese communist government, which was done. The French military mission was escorted out of Laos into Thailand by a contingent of Chinese troops.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: However, the Lao Issara never gained more than a tenuous hold on the entirety of Laos. Roving Viet Minh detachments ruled the northeast, but the Viet Minh declined to aid the new government. Chinese troops, including the Chinese Nationalist 93rd Division, occupied cities as far south as Luang Prabang. The French-sponsored guerrillas controlled the southern provinces of Savannakhet and Khammouan. Prince Boun Oum, who sympathized with the French, occupied the rest of the southern panhandle.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: For these, and other reasons, Lao Issara could not hold the country against the returning French colonial government and its troops. The French negotiated a Chinese withdrawal from Laos prior to their own return, removing them from the field.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In January 1946, the French began the reconquest of Laos by sweeping the Bolovens Plateau. They had organized six battalions of light infantry, to which they added a minor force of French troops.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: On 21 March 1946, Souphanouvong and his largely Vietnamese force fought the French Union troops at Savannakhet, to no avail; the attackers mustered paratroopers, artillery, armored cars, and Spitfire fighter-bombers. The Lao Issara troops suffered 700 killed. They fled, leaving behind 250 bodies and 150 prisoners.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: On 24 April, the French dropped a paratroop battalion on the outskirts of Vientiane, and took the city without resistance. On 9 May, they repeated their airborne tactics with a drop outside Luang Prabang. This was coupled with a thrust to the north by the French forces, from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, that chased Phetsarath Ratanavongsa and the Lao Issara ministers out of Laos. The king reinstated the French rule by repudiating his actions that had been pressured from him by the Japanese, Chinese, and Lao Issara.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: By September 1946, the Lao Issara had been defeated and had fled to exile in Bangkok. One of its splinter groups, led by Thao O Anourack, fled to Hanoi.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: There he allied himself with two men trusted by Ho Chi Minh; Nouhak Phoumsavanh was Vietnamese, and Kaysone Phomvihane was Vietnamese-Lao. These three men founded the military movement that would become the Pathet Lao (Land of Laos).


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Thao O Anourack established the initial Pathet Lao base at Con Cuong, Vietnam. Kaysone Phomvihane organized the first detachment of the new force. By the end of 1946, at least 500 Viet Minh agents had crossed into Laos.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: On 11 May 1947, King Sisavang Vong granted a constitution declaring Laos an independent nation within the French Union. This began the building of a new government over the next few years, including the establishment of a national army, the Armée Nationale Laotienne, which was the first iteration of the Royal Lao Army.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: the new Armée Nationale Laotienne consisted of light infantry battalions officered by the French. There was one paratroop battalion included. The French began training Lao officers and non-commissioned officers even as they continued to lead and train the new army.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In opposition, the Viet Minh raised a subsidiary revolutionary movement, the Pathet Lao, starting with an initial guerrilla band of 25 in January 1949.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In October 1949, the exiled Lao Issara dissolved and the three royal brothers each chose a separate destiny.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Phetsarath Rattanavongsa chose to remain in Bangkok. His stay was temporary. He would once again become the viceroy of Laos.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Souvanna Phouma chose to return to Laos via an amnesty, believing that the Lao would soon free themselves. In 1951 he became Prime Minister for the first time and held that office until 1954.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Souphanouvong, who had spent seven years in Nha Trang during his sixteen years in Vietnam, met Ho Chi Minh and acquired a Vietnamese wife while in Vietnam, and he solicited Viet Minh aid in founding a guerrilla force.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In August 1950, Souphanouvong had joined the Viet Minh in their headquarters north of Hanoi, Vietnam, and become the head of the Pathet Lao, along with its political arm dubbed Neo Lao Hak Sat (Lao Patriotic Front). This was an attempt to give a false front of authority to the Lao communist movement by claiming to represent a united non-partisan effort. Two of its most important founders were members of the Indochinese Communist Party, which advocated overthrow of the monarchy as well as expulsion of the French. This got Laos involved in the First Indochina War but it started off mainly against the French.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: On 23 December 1950, the Pentalateral Mutual Defense Assistance Pact was signed by the United States, France, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; it was a tool to transfer American military aid to the French war effort in Indochina. This year also marked the infiltration of at least 5,000 more Viet Minh into Laos.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In February 1951, the Indochinese Communist Party decided to split in three to sponsor war against the French in Cambodia and Laos, along with the war in Vietnam. The new Laotian branch consisted of 2,091 members, but included only 31 Lao.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Also, by 1951, the Pathet Lao had mustered sufficient trained troops to join the Viet Minh in military operations.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: By October 1951, the Armée Nationale Laotienne had raised two more battalions of infantry and began training a battalion of paratroops. The ANL ended the year with a strength of 5,091.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: By the end of 1952, the Royal Lao Army had grown to include a battalion of troops commanded by Laotian officers, as well as 17 other companies.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In April, 1953, the Viet Minh's People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) invaded the northeastern part of what was still the French Protectorate of Laos with 40,000 troops commanded by General Võ Nguyên Giáp; including 2,000 Pathet Lao soldiers led by Souphanouvong. The objective of the two-pronged invasion was the capture of the royal capital of Luang Prabang and of the Plain of Jars. On 9 November the Pathet Lao began its conflict with the Kingdom of Laos, thus beginning the civil war and technically the Second Indochina War while the First Indochina War was still ongoing.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The North Vietnamese invaders succeeded in conquering the border provinces of Phongsali and Xam Neua, which were adjacent to northern Vietnam and on the northeastern verge of the Plain of Jars. They then moved aside to allow the Pathet Lao force with its mismatched scrounged equipment to occupy the captured ground, and Souphanouvong moved the Pathet Lao headquarters into Xam Neua on 19 April.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The other strike, moving from Điện Biên Phủ and aimed downriver at Luang Prabang, was thwarted by oncoming monsoons and resistance by the French.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The Vietnamese invasion was stalled, but only because the French had airlifted in battalions of Foreign Legionnaires and Moroccan Tirailleurs.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In December, the French Union Army, as part of its attempt to protect Laos from the PAVN, recaptured the Dien Bien Phu valley.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In January 1954, the PAVN launched two assaults on Laos. One thrust crossed the top of the panhandle to the Mekong River town of Thakhek. The other was again aimed at Luang Prabang. Both were thwarted in a month.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: These were diversions to the famous Battle of Dien Bien Phu, which took place from March through May 1954 within ten kilometers of the Lao border, on the lines of communication into the Plain of Jars. The ruggedness of the karst mountains of northern Laos channels movement into a few canyons; small watercraft could move from Điện Biên Phủ down to the Nam Ou, and thence directly downriver to Luang Prabang, or they cross into the PDJ via


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The United States used Civil Air Transport, which later morphed into Air America, in a covert operation to fly supplies to the embattled French in Điện Biên Phủ. The PAVN also launched a diversionary thrust at Seno, Laos aimed at cutting away the panhandle from the main body of Laos. This thrust was foiled by paratroopers from the French Union's Army of the Republic of Vietnam.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: When the relief troops failed to lift the siege in time, the French and their local allies lost the bastion of Điện Biên Phủ. One of the troopers in the relief column marching from Luang Prabang was a young Hmong named Vang Pao.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The French loss at Điện Biên Phủ marked the end of the First Indochina War; the French were driven to negotiate for peace. On 20 July, the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Laos was signed, ending French rule. Two months later, the North Vietnamese established a support group for Pathet Lao forces at Ban Nameo, well within northeastern Laos.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The Agreement radically changed the geography of Indochina, resulting in independence for Laos. On 1 August 1954 the French army withdrew from Laos declaring independence for the nation alongside North Vietnam, South Vietnam and Cambodia which ended the First Indochina War but the Laotian Civil War was still ongoing. The northern half of Vietnam became independent of the French imperialist enterprise and was ruled by an independent Vietnamese Communist government. Lao French Union troops joined the military of independent Laos, however France kept two military bases in Laos and maintained its "military advisors" in the new Lao military. The Royal Lao government military also received its first aircraft from the French in 1954; nine Morane-Saulnier MS-500 Criquets were supplied for support and medevac.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In January, 1955, French advisors began training the first Lao aviation force. Later that year, Thailand would supply Sikorsky H-19 helicopters and volunteer pilots to the Lao military. The Thais also trained thirty Lao officers in weapons use at Hua Hin, Thailand.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In early 1955, a United States Operation Mission was set up in Laos. Its primary purpose was supply of military defense materials to the Royal Lao Government; 80% of its budget was dedicated to this purpose. The United States paid 100% of the Lao military budget. However, the embassy staff was not up to monitoring this program. There was an obvious need for a Military Assistance Advisory Group; however, the United States had signed a treaty that expressly forbade such.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's solution was to establish the Programs Evaluation Office (PEO) in December, 1955, staffed by American civilians with prior military experience and headed up by retired Brigadier General Rothwell Brown. These civilians were given U.S. State Department status. However, they did not work strictly for the State Department. On military matters, they reported to the Commander in Chief Pacific Command, with information supplied to the American ambassador; on non-military matters, they reported directly to the ambassador.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: 1955 was also notable for the despatch of Royal Lao Government troops to Sam Neua and Phong Saly, which was much resented by the Pathet Lao. As a result of this resentment, and disputes about electoral procedures, the Laotian communists boycotted that year's national elections.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: On 21 March 1956, Souvanna Phouma began his second term as prime minister. He opened a dialogue with his brother, Souphanouvong. In August, they announced the intention of declaring a ceasefire and reintegrating the Pathet Lao and their occupied territory into the government. However, the Pathet Lao claimed the right to administer the provinces they occupied.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: At the same time, they and their North Vietnamese backers ran a massive recruitment campaign, with the aim of forming nine battalions of troops. Many of the new recruits were sent into North Vietnam for schooling and training. This led to United States concern that the Royal Lao Army would be inadequately equipped and trained because there was only one small French military mission working with the RLA.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In February, 1957, the PEO personnel began supplying training materials to the French Military Mission that was charged with training the Royal Lao Army. The rationale was that improved training would better fit the army with defending its country. As part of this process, the United States even took over paying the Royal Lao Army's salaries.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Beginning in March, 1957, the Royal Lao Army began shuttling arms to Hmong guerrillas, to enable them to fight on the side of the RLA.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In November, 1957, a coalition government incorporating the Pathet Lao was finally established. Using the slogan, "one vote to the right, one vote to the left to prevent civil war", pro-communist parties received one-third of the popular vote and won 13 of 21 contested seats in the elections of 4 May 1958. With these additional seats, the left controlled a total of 16 seats in the 59 member National Assembly. Combined with independents, this was enough to deny Souvanna's center right, neutralist coalition the two-thirds majority it needed to form a government. With parliament deadlocked, the U.S. suspended aid in June to force a devaluation of the overpriced currency, which was leading to the abuse of U.S. aid. The National Assembly responded by confirming a right-wing government led by Phuy Xananikôn in August. This government included four members of the U.S.-backed Committee for the Defence of the National Interest (none of them National Assembly members). Three more unelected CDNI members were added in December, when Phuy received emergency powers to govern without the National Assembly.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In November, 1958, Brigadier General John A. Heintges reviewed the PEO. He promptly replaced General Brown and forged a new agreement with the Lao and the French. Integral to the new agreement was the displacement of the French military trainers by Americans. As a result, PEO expanded over twentyfold. Included in the expansion were 149 Special Forces on temporary duty, and 103 Filipino military veterans working for a newly formed front company named Eastern Construction Company in Laos.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: On 15 May 1959, the PAVN established Group 559; this unit was charged with the logistics of moving the necessities of war from North Vietnam to the South. Its foremost feat was building and maintaining the Ho Chi Minh trail down the eastern spine of Laos. Eventually, this transportation network would power the Vietnamese communists to victory. It would have to survive a relentless air campaign comparable to any interdiction bombing in World War II.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: According to assistant secretary of state Roger Hilsman, if the communists Pathet Laos regular forces, assisting by medium size of NVA forces, successfully overthrow Kingdom of Laos government, clarifying as collapse of Vientiane goveernment, before the mid-1960s, then other SE Asian nations feared the massive revolutionary communists expansions from town to town, illusioning the domino effect.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Also in May, the long-awaited integration of 1,500 Pathet Lao troops into the national army was scheduled. The U.S. embassy told the Lao government that it would be difficult to gain congressional approval of aid to Laos with communists serving in the army. The Pathet Lao stalled.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The North Vietnamese government (Hanoi) deployed about 30,000-40,000 NVA soldiers to penetrate northern Laos to assist the battalions of Pathet Laos forces beyond major military campaigns.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Under orders from Souphanouvong, the Pathet Lao battalions refused to be integrated into the Royal Lao Army. Souphanouvong was then arrested and imprisoned, along with his aides. The two Pathet Lao battalions, one after the other, escaped during the night with no shots fired, taking their equipment, families, and domestic animals with them. On 23 May, Souphanouvong and his companions also escaped unscathed.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In July, U.S. Special Forces Mobile Training Teams from the 77th Special Forces Group, working under the code name Hotfoot, began training the Royal Laotian army. The Green Berets were attached to the Programs Evaluation Office, and like other PEO employees, were nominal civilians and dressed as such.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The RLA was being formed into Groupement Mobiles—regimental-sized units of three battalions. The training teams were assigned one per GM, with some battalions also meriting a team.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: On 28 July, PAVN units attacked all along the North Vietnamese-Lao border. As they took ground from the Royal Lao Army, they moved in Pathet Lao as occupation troops. Poor battle performance by the RLA seemed to verify the need for further training; the RLA outnumbered the attackers, but still gave ground.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Also in July, the American embassy began to contract for aerial resupply for RLA troops, hiring Robert Brongersma and his Beech 18.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: In September, Group 100 was succeeded by Group 959; the North Vietnamese were upgrading their military mission to the Pathet Lao, just as the Americans had expanded PEO. Both sides were raising larger client armies, in hopes the Lao would fight.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: On 9 August 1960, Captain Kong Le and his Special Forces-trained Neutralist paratrooper battalion were able to seize control of the administrative capital of Vientiane in a virtually bloodless coup, while Prime Minister Tiao Samsanith, government officials, and military leaders met in Luang Prabang. His stated aim for the coup was an end to fighting in Laos, the end of foreign interference in his country, an end to the consequent corruption caused by foreign aid, and better treatment for his soldiers. However, Kong Le's coup did not end opposition to him, and there was a scramble among unit commanders to choose sides. If one was not pro-coup, then he had the further decision to make as to whom he would back to counter the coup. The front runner was General Phoumi Nosavan, first cousins with the prime minister of Thailand, Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: With CIA support, Field Marshal Sarit set up a covert Thai military advisory group, called Kaw Taw. Kaw Taw supported a counter-coup against the new Neutralist Lao government in Vientiane, supplying artillery, artillerymen, and advisers to Phoumi's forces. It also committed the CIA-sponsored Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit (PARU) to operations within Laos.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Alongside its covert Kaw Taw operation, immediately after Kong Le's coup the government of Thailand began an embargo via land blockade, cutting off the main source of imported goods for Vientiane. The United States Secretary of State, Christian Herter, stated that the United States supported the "legitimate government under the King's direction." The United States supported the pro-Western government of Prime Minister Tiao Samsanith while at the same time the CIA supported the covert counter-coup effort organized by Sarit against the Neutralist government in Vientiane.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The Neutralist forces in Vientiane organized the executive committee of the High Command of the Revolution as the interim government in Laos the following day. General Phoumi Nosavan, stated on 10 August that he planned to retake Vientiane by force. The United States Ambassador to Laos, Winthrop G. Brown, responded to General Phoumi by stating that the United States supported a restoration of peace "through quick and decisive action."


title: Laotian Civil War

text: PEO had turned its support to General Phoumi. With the help of Air America and covert aid from Thailand, the general and his troops moved north toward Vientiane from Savannakhet in southern Laos, in November.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: The Soviet Union began a military air bridge into Vientiane in early December; it was characterized as the largest Soviet airlift since World War II. This air bridge flew in PAVN artillery and gunners to reinforce the Neutralist/Pathet Lao coalition.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: On their side, the United States flew four B-26 Invader bombers from Taiwan into Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, poised to strike into Laos. They were later joined by an additional eight B26s. With a dozen guns, half a dozen rockets, and a napalm canister apiece, they were a potent threat, but were never used.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: On 13 December, Phoumi's army began a three-day bombardment of Vientiane. Five hundred civilians and seventeen of Kong Le's paratroopers were killed by the shellfire. On the 14th, a U.S. carrier task force went on alert, and the Second Airborne Brigade stood by to seize selected Laotian airfields. The U.S. was poised to rescue its paramilitary and diplomatic advisers in Laos.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Kong Le and his Neutralists finally withdrew northward to the Plain of Jars. Their withdrawal was covered by artillery fire from the PAVN 105 mm howitzers rushed in from Hanoi, and supported by Soviet airdrops of crucial supplies of rations, munitions, and radios. In the retreat, Kong Le picked up 400 recruits, swelling his force to 1,200 men.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Phoumi's coup was thus successful, but the result was the alliance of the Neutralists with the Pathet Lao on 23 December. As 1960 ended, the nation of Laos had become an arena of confrontation for the world's superpowers.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Beginning on 1 January, a new coalition of Kong Le's Neutralists, Pathet Lao, and PAVN drove 9,000 Royal Lao Army troops from the Plain of Jars.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: On 3 January, the Royal Laotian Air Force (RLAF) received its first counter-insurgency aircraft, American-built T-6 Texans, via the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF). These four reconfigured trainers were armed with two .30 caliber machine guns and five-inch rockets, and could carry 100-pound bombs. Four previously trained Lao pilots undertook transition training in Thailand; on 9 January, the pilots flew the new RLAF fighter-bombers to Vientiane. Two days later, they flew their first combat sorties, against PAVN and Pathet Lao covering Kong Le's retreat into the Plain of Jars.


title: Laotian Civil War

text: Russian Soviet air supply continued, bringing in heavy weapons to supplement the light arms previously delivered. On 7 January, the North Vietnamese presence was escalated by an additional four battalions; two of the battalions immediately moved to the point of conflict, on Route 7, which connected to Vientiane. A third PAVN battalion moved into action at Tha Thom, south of the Plain of Jars. On 15 January, the entire 925th Independent Brigade of the PAVN had crossed into Laos to reinforce the Pathet Lao/Neutralist coalition.