China's First D-TEWT?

Or is it their first D-PENIS?

China will next month conduct its first "digital" technology military exercise, state media said on Wednesday, against growing concern in Washington and elsewhere about Chinese hacking attacks.
A brief report by the official Xinhua news agency said the exercise, in north China's remote Inner Mongolia region, will "test new types of combat forces including units using digital technology amid efforts to adjust to informationalized war".
"It will be the first time a People's Liberation Army exercise has focused on combat forces including digitalized units, special operations forces, army aviation and electronic counter forces," the brief English-language report added.

For the uninitiated:
TEWT - "Tactical Exercise Without Troops", the official US term for a type of exercise only involving the leadership moving around, rather than dragging all the soldiers out to the woods
PENIS - "Practical Exercise Not Involving Soldiers", the nickname used for a TEWT by many folks


By: Brant

Nice to Know China's MilGov Hackfest Isn't Just Targeting the US

Yep, the Chinesians have now ripped off the building plans for Australia's new intel HQ being built soon.

Chinese hackers have stolen the blueprints of a new multi-million-dollar Australian spy headquarters as part of a growing wave of cyber attacks against business and military targets in the close U.S. ally, a Australian news report said.
The hackers also stole confidential information from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which houses the overseas spy agency the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, Australia's ABC Television said late on Monday.
The ABC report, which did not name sources, said Chinese hackers had targeted Australia-based companies more aggressively than previously thought, including steel-manufacturer Bluescope Steel, and military and civilian communications manufacturer Codan Ltd.
The influential Greens party on Tuesday said the reported hacking was a "security blunder of epic proportions" and called for an inquiry, but the government refused to confirm the security breach.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr said the report would not damage Canberra's ties with its biggest trade partner China.
"We have enormous areas of cooperation with China. I won't comment on whether the Chinese have done what is being alleged or not," Carr told reporters on Tuesday.
Hackers using a computer server traced to China had stolen floorplans of a new A$630 million headquarters for the Australia Security Intelligence Organisation, the country's domestic spy agency, said the ABC report.
The attack through the computers of a construction contractor exposed not only building layouts, but also the location of communication and computer networks, said the ABC.
Australia security analyst Des Ball told the ABC in the report that such information made the yet to be completed spy headquarters vulnerable to future cyber attacks.
"You can start constructing your own wiring diagrams, where the linkages are through telephone connections, through wi-fi connections, which rooms are likely to be the ones that are used for sensitive conversations, how to surreptitiously put devices into the walls of those rooms," said Ball.
The ASIO building, being built near the location of Australia's top secret Defence Signals Directorate, is supposed to have some of the most sophisticated hacking defenses in the country, which is part of a global electronic intelligence gathering network including the United States and the UK.

By: Brant

Arms to Syrian Rebels? From Europe?

Perhaps showing they learned the lessons of Bosnia 20 years too late, the EU is set to end the arms embargo on Syria rebels that will allow them to arm up and fight back.

European Union foreign ministers have said they will not renew an arms embargo on the Syrian opposition, due to expire on Saturday.

But there was no immediate decision to send arms to Syrian rebels and all other sanctions remained in force.

Even so, Russia said it would "directly harm" the prospects of an international peace conference on Syria.

Meanwhile, the BBC has heard evidence that 200 people were killed in a massacre in western Syria this month.

Opposition activists said they had documented the civilian deaths in al-Bayda and Baniyas after government troops and militias entered the towns.

The Beeb continues with some detailed analysis in the sidebar.

While the lifting of the EU arms embargo is theoretically good news for the fractious Syrian opposition, it is clearly going to be some time before it has any effect on the battlefield.

Its authors, especially Britain, hope the decision itself will send a strong enough signal to President Bashar al-Assad that it is time to hand over power. That is extremely unlikely. For a government that has shown every sign of determination to fight to the end, it is hard facts on the ground that count.

Government forces have recently been making significant gains. To reverse that trend will take time and sacrifice by the rebels - and the kind of quality weapons they have so far been denied, especially armour-piercing and anti-aircraft projectiles.

The Americans in particular insist that much-needed shoulder-fired ground-to-air missiles must not be given, lest they end up with extremists. But for the rebels at least the eventual possibility of carefully-controlled arms deliveries is there, in what looks like being a bloody, long-haul struggle.

Now, there's absolutely -zero- doubt in this guy's mind that there's going to be at least one anti-aircraft missile that will be provided to the Syrian rebels that will be used somewhere else. Will it be a Kurdish shootdown of a Turkish airliner? Make its way to Africa somewhere? Used by Sunnis to plink an airliner out of Baghdad's sky? Who knows. But some Syrian dude somewhere will sell it on the black market for a harem girl and some terrorist somewhere will get it.

By: Brant

Arms to Syrian Rebels? From Europe?

Perhaps showing they learned the lessons of Bosnia 20 years too late, the EU is set to end the arms embargo on Syria rebels that will allow them to arm up and fight back.

European Union foreign ministers have said they will not renew an arms embargo on the Syrian opposition, due to expire on Saturday.

But there was no immediate decision to send arms to Syrian rebels and all other sanctions remained in force.

Even so, Russia said it would "directly harm" the prospects of an international peace conference on Syria.

Meanwhile, the BBC has heard evidence that 200 people were killed in a massacre in western Syria this month.

Opposition activists said they had documented the civilian deaths in al-Bayda and Baniyas after government troops and militias entered the towns.

The Beeb continues with some detailed analysis in the sidebar.

While the lifting of the EU arms embargo is theoretically good news for the fractious Syrian opposition, it is clearly going to be some time before it has any effect on the battlefield.

Its authors, especially Britain, hope the decision itself will send a strong enough signal to President Bashar al-Assad that it is time to hand over power. That is extremely unlikely. For a government that has shown every sign of determination to fight to the end, it is hard facts on the ground that count.

Government forces have recently been making significant gains. To reverse that trend will take time and sacrifice by the rebels - and the kind of quality weapons they have so far been denied, especially armour-piercing and anti-aircraft projectiles.

The Americans in particular insist that much-needed shoulder-fired ground-to-air missiles must not be given, lest they end up with extremists. But for the rebels at least the eventual possibility of carefully-controlled arms deliveries is there, in what looks like being a bloody, long-haul struggle.

Now, there's absolutely -zero- doubt in this guy's mind that there's going to be at least one anti-aircraft missile that will be provided to the Syrian rebels that will be used somewhere else. Will it be a Kurdish shootdown of a Turkish airliner? Make its way to Africa somewhere? Used by Sunnis to plink an airliner out of Baghdad's sky? Who knows. But some Syrian dude somewhere will sell it on the black market for a harem girl and some terrorist somewhere will get it.

By: Brant

More Thoughts on the Widening "Military Gap" in US Society

The "drift" has been going on forever, but it's become far more noticeable since the post-9/11 lovefest for the military that's over-corrected from the vitriol inflicted on returning Vietnam vets. Still it's clear the majority of the country has no idea what it's like to be in/around the military. And that's too bad.

AFTER fighting two wars in nearly 12 years, the United States military is at a turning point. So are the American people. The armed forces must rethink their mission. Though the nation has entered an era of fiscal constraint, and though President Obama last week effectively declared an end to the “global war on terror” that began on Sept. 11, 2001, the military remains determined to increase the gap between its war-fighting capabilities and those of any potential enemies. But the greatest challenge to our military is not from a foreign enemy — it’s the widening gap between the American people and their armed forces.

Three developments in recent decades have widened this chasm. First and most basic was the decision in 1973, at the end of combat operations in Vietnam, to depart from the tradition of the citizen-soldier by ending conscription and establishing a large, professional, all-volunteer force to maintain the global commitments we have assumed since World War II. In 1776, Samuel Adams warned of the dangers inherent in such an arrangement: “A standing Army, however necessary it may be at some times, is always dangerous to the Liberties of the People. Soldiers are apt to consider themselves as a Body distinct from the rest of the Citizens.”

For nearly two generations, no American has been obligated to join up, and few do. Less than 0.5 percent of the population serves in the armed forces, compared with more than 12 percent during World War II. Even fewer of the privileged and powerful shoulder arms. In 1975, 70 percent of members of Congress had some military service; today, just 20 percent do, and only a handful of their children are in uniform.

In sharp contrast, so many officers have sons and daughters serving that they speak, with pride and anxiety, about war as a “family business.” Here are the makings of a self-perpetuating military caste, sharply segregated from the larger society and with its enlisted ranks disproportionately recruited from the disadvantaged. History suggests that such scenarios don’t end well.

Second, technology has helped insulate civilians from the military. World War II consumed nearly half of America’s economic output. But in recent decades, information and navigation technologies have vastly amplified the individual warrior’s firepower, allowing for a much more compact and less costly military. Today’s Pentagon budget accounts for less than 5 percent of gross domestic product and less than 20 percent of the federal budget — down from 45 percent of federal expenditures at the height of the Vietnam War. Such reliance on technology can breed indifference and complacency about the use of force. The advent of remotely piloted aircraft is one logical outcome. Reliance on drones economizes on both manpower and money, but is fraught with moral and legal complexities, as Mr. Obama acknowledged last week, in shifting responsibility for the drone program to the military from the C.I.A.

Third, and perhaps most troubling, the military’s role has expanded far beyond the traditional battlefield. In Iraq and Afghanistan, commanders orchestrated, alongside their combat missions, “nation-building” initiatives like infrastructure projects and promotion of the rule of law and of women’s rights. The potential for conflict in cyberspace, where military and civilian collaboration is essential, makes a further blurring of missions likely.

"No state has an inherent right to survive through conscript troops and, in the long run, no state ever has. Roman matrons used to say to their sons: “Come back with your shield, or on it.” Later on this custom declined. So did Rome."
-- Robert Heinlein

By: Brant

Why We'll Never Win

As long as idiots are allowed to run rampant and the authorities penalize the victims, the clash of cultures will be lost by the more pussified society.

Since last Sunday, May 19, rioters have taken to the streets of Stockholm’s suburbs every night, torching cars, schools, stores, office buildings and residential complexes. Yesterday, a police station in Rågsved, a suburb four kilometers south of Stockholm, was attacked and set on fire.
But while the Stockholm riots keep spreading and intensifying, Swedish police have adopted a tactic of non-interference. ”Our ambition is really to do as little as possible,” Stockholm Chief of Police Mats Löfving explained to the Swedish newspaper Expressen on Tuesday.
”We go to the crime scenes, but when we get there we stand and wait,” elaborated Lars Byström, the media relations officer of the Stockholm Police Department. ”If we see a burning car, we let it burn if there is no risk of the fire spreading to other cars or buildings nearby. By doing so we minimize the risk of having rocks thrown at us.”
Swedish parking laws, however, continue to be rigidly enforced despite the increasingly chaotic situation. Early Wednesday, while documenting the destruction after a night of rioting in the Stockholm suburb of Alby, a reporter from Fria Tider observed a parking enforcement officer writing a ticket for a burnt-out Ford.
When questioned, the officer explained that the ticket was issued because the vehicle lacked a tag showing its time of arrival. The fact that the vehicle had been effectively destroyed – its windshield smashed and the interior heavily damaged by fire – was irrelevant according to the meter maid, who asked Fria Tider’s photographer to destroy the photos he had taken. Her employer, the parking company P-service, refused to comment when Fria Tider contacted them on Wednesday afternoon.

By: Brant

US Navy Names Next Two Destroyers

The US Navy has named their next two DDGs.

Navy Names Next Two Destroyers

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced today the next Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDG) will be named USS Paul Ignatius and USS Daniel Inouye.

“As secretary of the Navy it is my privilege to name these ships to honor a respected naval leader and a true American hero.” Mabus said. “For decades to come, the future USS Paul Ignatius and USS Daniel Inouye will represent the United States and enable the building of partnerships and projection of power around the world.”

The future USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) honors Paul Ignatius who served as secretary of the Navy 1967--1969 and as assistant secretary of defense under President Lyndon Johnson. The future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) is named to honor former Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. Inouye was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Tuscany, Italy, during World War II and later became a U.S. senator. USS Paul Ignatius and USS Daniel Inouye will be the first naval ships to bear these names.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers conduct a variety of operations from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection. They are capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and contain a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime warfare.

DDG 117 and DDG 118 are part of the DDG 51 multiyear procurement with the contract award to the building yard pending. The ships will be 509 feet long, have a beam length of 59 feet and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 30 knots.

By: Brant

Pres Obama Maps Road to "End" of GWOT. Maybe.

We've already removed the boots on the ground, and now we're talking about limiting the drone strikes, and closing Gitmo. You remember Gitmo, right? That prison that then-Senator Obama said he'd close within his first year in office if elected President. Back in 2008. Yeah, that one.

Twelve years after the "war on terror" began, President Barack Obama wants to pull the United States back from some of the most controversial aspects of its global fight against Islamist militants.
In a major policy speech on Thursday, Obama narrowed the scope of the targeted-killing drone campaign against al Qaeda and its allies and took steps toward closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba.
He acknowledged the past use of "torture" in U.S. interrogations; expressed remorse over civilian casualties from drone strikes; and said that the Guantanamo detention facility "has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law."
After launching costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States is tiring of conflict. While combating terrorism is still a high priority for the White House, polls show by large margins that Americans' main concerns are the economy and domestic concerns such as healthcare.
"We have now been at war for well over a decade," Obama said near the start of his address. Toward the end, he added: "But this war, like all wars, must end."
Though aimed first at a domestic audience, Obama's speech at Washington's National Defense University was also the latest milestone in his campaign to reshape the global image of the United States - particularly in the Islamic world.
But he faces obstacles from opponents in Congress who will try to block the closure of Guantanamo prison and reject his call to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force passed right after the September 11, 2001, attacks. The law is the legal basis for much of the "war on terror."
Faced with criticism about civilian casualties in attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles, Obama said the United States would only use those drone strikes when a threat was "continuing and imminent," a nuanced change from the previous policy of launching strikes against a significant threat.

By: Brant

Karzai to Pakistan: F-Off, We're Hanging Wit' India, Yo

Karzai has apparently given India a military equipment 'wish list'

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday he had given a "wish list" of military equipment to India during a visit this week, presenting a conundrum for New Delhi as it weighs whether arming the Afghan army is in its interests.
India wants to stabilize Afghanistan and is concerned about the resurgence of militant groups after foreign combat troops leave in 2014.
But arming Afghanistan would alarm Pakistan. It takes issue with the influence of its old rival in Afghanistan. India does not want to get drawn into a proxy war with Pakistan, which has ties to the Taliban.
India and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2011 under which New Delhi agreed to assist in the training and equipping of Afghan security forces.
India has trained Afghan security force personnel in its military academies, but it has provided little military equipment, according to Indian officials. India's Afghan strategy has centered on boosting its influence through economic reconstruction projects.

By: Brant

Syrian Hackers Running Amok

So who is in charge of the Syrian Electronic Army and what are they trying to accomplish?

It’s the question of the moment inside the murky realm of cybersecurity: Just who — or what — is the Syrian Electronic Army?

The hacking group that calls itself the S.E.A. struck again on Friday, this time breaking into the Twitter accounts and blog headlines of The Financial Times. The attack was part of a crusade that has targeted dozens of media outlets as varied as The Associated Press and The Onion, the parody news site.

But just who is behind the S.E.A.’s cybervandalism remains a mystery. Paralleling the group’s boisterous, pro-Syrian government activity has been a much quieter Internet surveillance campaign aimed at revealing the identities, activities and whereabouts of the Syrian rebels fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Now sleuths are trying to figure out how much overlap there is between the rowdy pranks playing out on Twitter and the silent spying that also increasingly includes the monitoring of foreign aid workers. It’s a high-stakes search. If researchers prove the Assad regime is closely tied to the group, foreign governments may choose to respond because the attacks have real-world consequences. The S.E.A. nearly crashed the stock market, for example, by planting false tales of White House explosions in a recent hijacking of The A.P.’s Twitter feed.

The mystery is made more curious by the belief among researchers that the hackers currently parading as the S.E.A. are not the same people who started the pro-Assad campaign two years ago.

Experts say the Assad regime benefits from the ambiguity. “They have created extra space between themselves and international law and international opinion,” said James A. Lewis, a security expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The S.E.A. emerged during the Syrian uprisings in May 2011, they said, to offer a pro-Assad counternarrative to news coming out of Syria. In speeches, Mr. Assad likened the S.E.A. to the government’s own online security corps, referring to the group as “a real army in a virtual reality.”

We'll probably start seeing more and more of these types of 'loosely associated' groups, especially when cyber warfare is largely independent of geography.

By: Brant

Norks Launch Short-Range Missiles

Apparently, the ocean pissed them off, and they fired three short-range missiles at it. The Beeb reports:

North Korea has fired three short-range missiles from its east coast, South Korea's defence ministry said.

Two missiles were fired on Saturday morning and one in the afternoon, the ministry said in a statement.

Officials at the ministry said they were "monitoring the situation and remain on alert".

The launches come at a time of stalemate between the two neighbours following weeks of high tension earlier this year.

Saturday's missiles were fired in a north-east direction, and did not pose the same threat as the intermediate-range missiles Pyongyang was believed to have deployed along its coastline last month.

It removed them from the launch site early in May, indicating a lowering of tension on the peninsula, a US official said.

By: Brant

AEGIS-Based BMD Intercepts Test Target

As per the DoD, an AEGIS Cruiser-based missile interceptor has hit a test target.

AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense System Completes Successful Intercept Flight Test

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS Lake Erie (CG-70) successfully conducted a flight test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, resulting in the intercept of a separating ballistic missile target over the Pacific Ocean by the Aegis BMD 4.0 Weapon System and a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB missile. 

At 5:25 p.m. (Hawaii time, 11:25 p.m. EDT), May 15, a separating short-range ballistic missile target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, on Kauai, Hawaii.  The target flew northwest towards a broad ocean area of the Pacific Ocean.  Following target launch, the USS Lake Erie (CG-70) detected and tracked the missile with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar.  The ship, equipped with the second-generation Aegis BMD weapon system, developed a fire control solution and launched the SM-3 Block IB missile.  The SM-3 maneuvered to a point in space based on guidance from Aegis BMD Weapons Systems and released its kinetic warhead.  The kinetic warhead acquired the target reentry vehicle, diverted into its path, and, using only the force of a direct impact, engaged and destroyed the target. 

Initial indications are that all components performed as designed.  Program officials will assess and evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test. 

This test exercised the latest version of the second-generation Aegis BMD Weapon System and Standard Missile, providing capability for engagement of longer-range and more sophisticated ballistic missiles. 

Last night’s event, designated Flight Test Standard Missile-19 (FTM-19), was the third consecutive successful intercept test of the Aegis BMD 4.0 Weapon System and the SM-3 Block IB guided missile.  Previous successful ABMD 4.0 SM-3 Block IB intercepts occurred on May 9, 2012 and June 26, 2012.  Other Aegis BMD intercepts have employed the ABMD 3.6 and 4.0 with the SM-3 Block IA missile, which is currently operational on U.S. Navy ships deployed across the globe.

FTM-19 is the 25th successful intercept in 31 flight test attempts for the Aegis BMD program since flight testing began in 2002.  Across all Ballistic Missile Defense System programs, this is the 59th successful hit-to-kill intercept in 74 flight tests since 2001. 

Aegis BMD is the naval component of the MDA’s Ballistic Missile Defense System.  The Aegis BMD engagement capability defeats short-to intermediate-range, unitary and separating, midcourse-phase ballistic missile threats with the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), as well as short-range ballistic missiles in the terminal phase with the SM-2 Block IV missile.  The MDA and the U.S. Navy cooperatively manage the Aegis BMD program.

By: Brant

Pentagon Shuffling Units in the Med - Syria or Libya?

Foreign Policy's E-ring blog has a note about the reshuffling of units in the Med and that they're focused on Libya, not Syria.

With security deteriorating in Tripoli, Libya, the U.S. has shifted several dozen U.S. Marines and assault aircraft of the rapid response force that just arrived in Spain eastward to Sigonella, Italy.

The Pentagon's spokesman called the move a precautionary measure but would not say it was directly tied to Tripoli, which foreign diplomats and oil companies recently have begun evacuating. On Monday a car bomb reportedly exploded outside a hospital in Benghazi, killing 10 people.

The shift to Naval Station Signoella marks the first assignment for the response force -- a group of 550 Marines and six MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which only arrived at Moron Air Base two weeks ago. A defense official told the E-Ring that the number of personnel moved from Moron totaled "less than 100."

Call them the Benghazi Unit. Officially dubbed Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response, the unit was created specifically as the Pentagon's answer to congressional criticism that troops were not available in Europe or Africa to respond quickly enough to the September 11, 2012, attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi that killed four Americans.

The unit falls under Africa Command's purview and Marine Corps Commandant Jim Amos told Congress to expect they will be moving around Africa.

By: Brant

Leave No Man Behind: Vietnam Crew Edition

The DoD has announced that a Marine missing from the Vietnam War will be buried with his crew.

Marine Missing from Vietnam War to be Buried with Crew


The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, was recently accounted for and will be buried along with the 12 other servicemen who were lost in the same crash. 

Marine Corps Pfc. Daniel A. Benedett of Seattle, Wash., will be buried May 15, at Arlington National Cemetery, along with Air Force 2nd Lt. Richard Vandegeer of Cleveland, Ohio; Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Bernard Gause Jr., of Birmingham, Ala.; Hospitalman Ronald J. Manning of Steubenville, Ohio; Marine Corps servicemen Lance Cpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver of Lewistown, Pa.; Lance Cpl. Andres Garcia of Carlsbad, N.M.; Pfc. Lynn Blessing of Lancaster, Pa.; Pfc. Walter Boyd of Portsmouth, Va.; Pfc. James J. Jacques of La Junta, Colo.; Pfc. James R. Maxwell of Memphis, Tenn.; Pfc. Richard W. Rivernburgh of Schenectady, N.Y.; Pfc. Antonio R. Sandoval of San Antonio, Texas; and Pfc. Kelton R. Turner of St. Louis, Mo. 

On May 12, 1975, Khmer Rouge gunboats captured the S.S. Mayaguez in the Gulf of Thailand, approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of Cambodia. After the vessel was taken to Koh Tang Island, U.S. aircraft began surveillance flights around the island.  When efforts to secure the release of the ship and its crew failed, U.S. military forces began a rescue mission. 

Three days after the Mayaguez seizure, the Air Force dispatched six helicopters to the island.  One of the helicopters came under heavy enemy fire and crashed into the surf with 26 men on board.  Thirteen of the men were rescued at sea, leaving Benedett and 12 other service members unaccounted-for from the crash. 

Between 1991 and 2008, investigators conducted more than 10 investigations and excavations, led by Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC).  On three occasions, Cambodian authorities turned over remains believed to be those of American servicemen.  In 1995, U.S. and Cambodian specialists conducted an underwater recovery of the helicopter crash site where they located remains, personal effects and aircraft debris associated with the loss.  Between 2000 and 2004, all of the missing service members from this helicopter, except Benedett, were accounted-for.

On Jan. 30, 2013, Benedett was accounted-for.  Scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and DNA process of elimination to account for his remains. 

By: Brant

Is it Time for a Serious Wargame on Arctic Issues?

Sure, there's Naval Warfare: Arctic Circle, but is it time for the DoD to seriously examine a structured - not BOGSAT! - wargame on Arctic strategy.

The Obama administration on Friday unveiled its National Strategy for the Arctic Region – three broad priorities it plans to pursue, as opportunities open to drill for oil and gas, harvest minerals, and increase other forms of economic activity at the top of the world.
The priorities in the 13-page document include beefing up defense and other national security activities in the region, as well as the infrastructure to support them; working to safeguard the region's environment; and working with other Arctic nations one on one and through multicountry organizations, such as the Arctic Council, to manage activities in the region in ways that reduce the potential for conflict. In addition, the strategy calls for a push for ratification of the UN's Law of the Sea Treaty, which failed to clear the Senate last year.
Participation in the treaty regime would give the US standing in disputes that might arise with nations that have ratified the treaty over conflicting claims of sea-floor sovereignty.

By: Brant

CONNECTIONS 2013 Conference on Professional Wargaming

CONNECTIONS 2013 Conference on Professional Wargaming
The Connections 2013 conference will be held 22-25 July in Dayton Ohio, near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Connections is the only national event dedicated specifically to professional military wargaming. Organized and chaired since its beginning in 1993 by (now retired) Air Force COL Matt Caffrey, the annual Connections conference has worked to advance the art, science and application of serious wargaming by bringing together all elements of the field (military, commercial and academic) so participants can exchange information on achievements, best practices and needs.
The theme for 2013 is: "Enhancing Wargaming Support to Budget Decisions." Given the current and future uncertainty over US Department of Defense budgets, this is a timely theme indeed.

Another valuable element of Connections is the chance to meet leaders from across the spectrum of wargaming. Past attendees and speakers have included Larry Bond, James F. Dunnigan, Joe Miranda, Al Nofi, Peter Perla, John Prados and many more.
Keynote speakers for this year are:
- COL Chris Froehlich, Chief Strategic Planning Division, Air Force Material Command
- Dr. Peter Perla, author of The Art of Wargaming, Lead, Wargaming, Centre for Naval Analysis
- Dr. Thomas Allen, Deputy Director for Studies and Analysis, Joint Staff

Connections is open to all contributors to the field of professional wargaming: military, government, defense contractor, academic, and recreational. It is an unclassified event. Many of the attendees are recreational wargamers in their spare time, but the emphasis of the conference is on discussion of activity and issues in professional wargaming, from the military, commercial and academic perspectives.

See the conference website and agenda at http://connections-wargaming.com/
Contact Matt Caffrey at matthewbcaffreyjr - at - gmail.com for further information.
Thanks for your interest,
Brian Train

By: Brant

Maneuvers in the Persian Gulf and Unspoken Threats?

Maneuvers in the Persian Gulf, aimed at Iran, of course, but trying to influence their elections?

Massive US-led military drills began in the Persian Gulf in a second such show of maritime might in under a year. The US says the exercises are not aimed at Iran, who earlier vowed to close the Hormuz Strait, and now expresses concern over the drills.

The US Navy has issued a statement that the mass exercises are aimed at “enhancing capability to preserve freedom of navigation in international waterways.” The drills will reportedly focus on mine-sweeping and search-and-seizure operations, and some on-shore training.

The Pentagon is directing the maneuvers, which will reportedly involve 35 ships, 18 unmanned submarines and unmanned aircraft. The 40 other countries participating in the drills have not yet been named; Britain, France, some Middle Eastern states, and nations as distant as New Zealand have previously participated in similar exercises.

The Obama administration has stated that the maneuvers are not a warning to Iran, and are intended solely to secure a key oil route in the region.

Tehran has said it will be monitoring the exercises, and voiced concerns about how the maneuvers come in the run-up to the Iranian elections.

Iran has previously threatened to close the Hormuz Strait, through which 40 percent of the world’s oil is transported by ship, if "its interests are in serious trouble". The US condemned the threats and warned that such a move would provoke US Military action.

By: Brant

German AFV Deal to Indonesia

The German government is exporting Cold War-era hardware to Indonesia.

The German government has once again approved a controversial deal to export arms to a country with questionable democratic credentials. The German Security Council, which meets in secret, has approved a deal by defense firm Rheinmetall to export 104 Leopard 2 battle tanks to Indonesia.
In addition, 50 Marder 1A2 infantry fighting vehicles are to be delivered as part of the deal, as are 10 other military vehicles, including armored recovery vehicles, mobile bridges and military engineering vehicles. While the broad outlines of the deal had been reported by Reuters previously, the exact numbers of tanks and armored vehicles involved come from a government response to a parliamentary inquiry made by Green Party lawmaker Katja Keul and seen by SPIEGEL ONLINE.
Indonesia's interest in German arms had long been apparent, but Berlin had remained silent on its intentions. Previously, Indonesia had approached the Netherlands regarding its interest in acquiring Leopard tanks, which are widely considered to be the most modern battle tanks available. But the Dutch parliament declined to approve the deal due to concerns about the human rights situation in Indonesia. Jakarta then turned to Germany. The German parliament has no veto right over arms deals.

By: Brant

USAF Benches 17 Missile Launch Officers

They're not being relieved, but they're being pulled from operations for a few months.

The Air Force stripped an unprecedented 17 officers of their authority to control — and, if necessary, launch — nuclear missiles after a string of unpublicized failings, including a remarkably dim review of their unit's launch skills. The group's deputy commander said it is suffering "rot" within its ranks.
"We are, in fact, in a crisis right now," the commander, Lt. Col. Jay Folds, wrote in an internal email obtained by The Associated Press and confirmed by the Air Force.
The tip-off to trouble was a March inspection of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., which earned the equivalent of a "D'' grade when tested on its mastery of Minuteman III missile launch operations. In other areas, the officers tested much better, but the group's overall fitness was deemed so tenuous that senior officers at Minot decided, after probing further, that an immediate crackdown was called for.
The Air Force publicly called the inspection a "success."
But in April it quietly removed 17 officers at Minot from the highly sensitive duty of standing 24-hour watch over the Air Force's most powerful nuclear missiles, the intercontinental ballistic missiles that can strike targets across the globe. Inside each underground launch control capsule, two officers stand "alert" at all times, ready to launch an ICBM upon presidential order.
"You will be a bench warmer for at least 60 days," Folds wrote.

By: Brant

Anniversary: Battle of Puebla

If you don't know that Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Battle of Puebla, and that it's not the Mexican Independence Day, then you don't get to drink Coronas 'til you're blind.

By: Brant

"Why Heavy Armor?" Asks Nat'l Defense Mag

In a blog post, the author raises questions about why and how the Army should field heavy armored forces.

Army officials and manufacturers of combat vehicles have shifted into damage-control mode as the service’s flagship armor-modernization program comes under attack on multiple fronts.

The ground combat vehicle, or GCV, is intended to replace the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are increasingly doubting the Army’s buying strategy for the GCV. Budget analysts have challenged the Army’s decision to pursue a new GCV design instead of opting for existing, less costly, alternatives. And military experts are raising more fundamental questions about the GCV’s raison d’être. They wonder why the Army is spending billions of dollars on heavy armor for an era that presumably will be dominated by cyberwarfare, surgical-strikes and low-intensity conflicts.

A Congressional Research Service report published this month warns that Congress should consider the “role and need for the GCV in a downsized Army that will likely have fewer armored brigade combat teams.” The administration’s strategic shift to the Asia-Pacific region, the report says, “presents questions as to the necessity for armored brigades and, by association, the GCV.”

The estimated $29 billion GCV program illustrates the dilemma that confronts the U.S. military as it contemplates how it should equip its forces to fight future enemies, says Frank Capuccio, an industry consultant and a former executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Corp.

The Army wants to end production of Abrams and Bradley, but it is about to start a program that seeks basically improved versions of 70-ton vehicles. “Where is the GCV going? Where are you going to put this tank?” Capuccio asks. When one looks at the areas of the world where the U.S. military is fighting, and likely to fight in the foreseeable future, it is hard to see how heavy armor fits in the picture, he says. “Roads can’t handle the weight of the tanks,” says Capuccio. The Air Force’s cargo planes that must transport these vehicles to combat zones have limited capacity, he adds. Moving 70-ton vehicles by ship takes weeks. “Will enemies stand down for six months until we get our equipment there? I don’t think that is going to happen,” he says. “People don’t ask those questions because they do not like the answers.

By: Brant

Australian Airpower Increase?

Will the F35 JSF make a difference to the Australian military in returning to focus on Indo-Pacific?

Australia announced a significant boost to its military air power on Friday, committing to buy up to new 100 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, as it shifts its focus back to the Indo-Pacific as China and India beef up forces.
After more than a decade of having forces first in Iraq, and then Afghanistan, Australia wants to focus on the military challenges closer to home, in line with U.S. President Barack Obama's 2011 "pivot" towards the Asia-Pacific.
In a new defense strategy, Australia reinforces that the United States remains its closest ally, but also struck a conciliatory tone towards top trading partner China, noting its rising defense capabilities are a natural outcome from its growing economy.
"The government does not approach China as an adversary. Rather, its policy is aimed at encouraging China's peaceful rise and ensuring that strategic competition in the region does not lead to conflict," the defense strategy said.
In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying noted Australia's assessment of China in the document "as a partner and not an opponent" and its view that the country's development was "beneficial to the region and world".

By: Brant

Most "Powerful" Mercenary Armies

Business Insider has a list of the world's most "powerful" mercenary armies - in this case defining "powerful" as "manpower" - along with a quick synopsis on a few of them, starting with G4S and including Triple Canopy, Aegis, and AcademiXeWater.

Most battles eventually come down to boots on the ground and rifles in the field. So when commanders are building their ranks it's often with professional soldiers who know how to fight, and get paid well to do it.
The idea of a mercenary may seem a bit quaint in the 21st century, but those forces make a difference and are often all that stands between a leader and his fate.

By: Brant

Tracking Insurgencies on an Interactive Map

CFR has a pretty cool interactive map to show insurgencies over the years around teh globe.

The Invisible Armies Insurgency Tracker presents a database of insurgencies from 1775 to 2012. It supplements the comprehensive historical narrative in Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present, by CFR Senior Fellow Max Boot.

By: Brant

Anniversary: Bin Laden Plays Bullet Catcher

CNN.com has a pretty good look back at how the story unfolded.

President Obama announced bin Laden's death shortly before midnight ET on May 1, 2011, more than an hour after the Internet and social media began exploding with reports of his demise.

President Obama announced bin Laden's death shortly before midnight ET on May 1, 2011, more than an hour after the Internet and social media began exploding with reports of his demise.

Much more, including a lot of links to the coverage as it unfolded.

By: Brant

Leave No Man Behind: Vietnam Edition

A Navy aircrew from the Vietnam War have been identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that a Navy pilot, missing from the Vietnam War, has been accounted for and will be buried with full military honors along with his crew.

Navy Lt. Dennis W. Peterson of Huntington Park, Calif., was the pilot of a SH-3A helicopter that crashed in Ha Nam Province, North Vietnam. Peterson was accounted for on March 30, 2012. Also, aboard the aircraft was Ensign Donald P. Frye of Los Angeles, Calif.; Aviation Antisubmarine Warfare Technicians William B. Jackson of Stockdale, Texas; and Donald P. McGrane of Waverly, Iowa. The crew will be buried, as a group, on May 2 at Arlington National Cemetery.

On July 19, 1967, the four servicemen took off from the USS Hornet aboard an SH-3A Sea King helicopter, on a search and rescue mission looking for a downed pilot in Ha Nam Province, North Vietnam. During the mission, an enemy concealed 37mm gun position targeted the helicopter as it flew in. The helicopter was hit by the anti-aircraft gunfire, causing the aircraft to lose control, catch fire and crash, killing all four servicemen.

In October 1982, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) repatriated five boxes of remains to U.S. officials. In 2009, the remains within the boxes were identified as Frye, Jackson, and McGrane.

In 1993, a joint U.S./S.R.V. team, investigated a loss in Ha Nam Province. The team interviewed local villagers who identified possible burial sites linked to the loss. One local claimed to have buried two of the crewmen near the wreckage, but indicated that both graves had subsequently been exhumed.

Between 1994 and 2000, three joint U.S./S.R.V. teams excavated the previous site and recovered human remains and aircraft wreckage that correlated to the crew’s SH-3A helicopter. In 2000, U.S. personnel excavated the crash site recovering additional remains. Analysis from the Joint POW/MIA Command Central Identification Laboratory subsequently designated these additional remains as the co-mingled remains of all four crewmen, including Peterson.

DoD scientists used forensic tools and circumstantial evidence in the identification of the remains.

By: Brant