Another Coast Guard Cutter Being Handed Over to the Philippines

The US has approved the transfer of another Coast Guard ship to the Philippines to help strengthen their navy.

The U.S. Congress has approved the transfer of a second Coast Guard ship to the Philippines, an official said Friday as Washington shifts its military ties with the Southeast Asian nation that has been engaged in a territorial spat with China.
In the past, U.S. cooperation with the Philippines has focused mostly on counterterrorism, but it has recently expanded to building up the country's moribund navy.
Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro told reporters Friday that he will consider a Philippine request to have the warship turned over with as much military equipment as possible.
"I'm pleased that the congressional notification period for a second Coast Guard cutter expired this week, so that means Congress has now approved the transfer ... to the Philippines, which will further help Philippine security needs," he said after talks with Filipino defense officials in Manila.
The ship — the second such delivery since last May under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty — is just one of many defense projects that the U.S. is discussing with the Philippines. That comes in addition to having American ships regularly visit and refuel in Philippine ports, rotating U.S. troops in the southern Philippines where al-Qaida-linked Muslim militants are active and holding large-scale joint military exercises.
China has said that it views with concern the increased U.S. military engagement with the Philippines and balked at what it sees as Washington's interference in the South China Sea dispute. The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan all have conflicting territorial claims over potentially gas and oil rich islands with the Asian superpower.

What's funny about China's statement of "increased U.S. military engagement with the Philippines" is how it demonstrates a total lack of knowledge of the area beyond the past 15 years. For a country that supposedly takes a long view of things, they sure have a short-term memory on relations between the US and the Philippines.
I mean, Subic Bay and Clark Air Force Base were freakin' enormous back in the day. And the only reason the Philippines weren't still part of Spain was because we kicked their ass and took them away. Even if you tripled US engagement in the Philippines, it would still pale in comparison to our involvement from 1901-1986.

By: Brant

Hero-class Canadian Coast Guard Ship Named For VC Winner

One of nine Hero-class patrol vessels, the CCGS Private Robertson V.C. was recently unveiled in Halifax.

IN NOVEMBER 1917, Peter Robertson was like many young Canadian men of his era, in the thick of it on a battlefield in Europe, entangled in a bloody months-long campaign of the First World War forever remembered as Passchendaele.

Also like many men of his era, the private from Pictou County lost his life in the war but not before engaging in many acts of bravery, including rushing ahead of his platoon to single-handedly capture a German machine gun and turn it on his enemy combatants, who fled from his attack.

Later, he emerged from a trench to save two wounded Canadian snipers. He was killed while rescuing the second man.

For his heroism, the man who preferred to go by Pete received the Victoria Cross, presented to his grieving mother the following April.

Some 94 years after his death, Pte. Robertson was remembered again for his sacrifice in a ceremony to announce that the first of nine new Hero-class Canadian Coast Guard vessels being built at Halifax Shipyard will bear his name.

The announcement was made Wednesday by federal Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield and Defence Minister Peter MacKay in the shadow of three mid-shore patrol vessels being built at the Irving-owned yard.

MacKay noted that announcing the name —CCGS Pte. Robertson VC — was particularly apt leading up to Remembrance Day.

By: Shelldrake

Canadian Government Names Hero Class Coast Guard Vessels

The names of seven fallen Canadian heroes will live on in Canada's new class of mid-shore patrol vessels. These 43-metre vessels will support a crew of eight and carry up to six RCMP Officers or Fishery Officers. Top speed will be 25 knots. The ships will have a range of 2000 nautical miles and be able to stay at sea for two weeks before needing to reprovision.

Today, the Harper Government announced that seven new Hero Class Canadian Coast Guard vessels will be named in honour of fallen Canadian heroes. The announcement was made by the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, together with the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Veterans Affairs, and the Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety.

“Our Government is proud to name these new Coast Guard vessels in honour of Canadian heroes who put their duty ahead of their own safety in service to our country,” said Minister Shea. “As proud Canadians, we must always remember those who have paid the greatest price for our safety, security and freedom.”

A total of nine new Hero Class mid-shore patrol vessels are being built by our government. In November 2010, our government announced that two of these new vessels would be named in honour of two fallen First World War soldiers, Corporal Joseph Kaeble, V.C., and Private James Peter Robertson, V.C.

The remaining seven Hero Class vessels will be named in honour of:

•Royal Canadian Mounted Police members Corporal Gordon Robert Teather, C.V., and Constable J.L. François Carrière;
•Canadian Coast Guard Chief Officer Gregory Paul Peddle, S.C., and Seaman Martin Charles, S.C., M.B.;
•Canadian Fisheries and Marine Service Fishery Officer Agapit LeBlanc; and
•Corporal Mark Robert McLaren, M.M.V., and Captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard, M.S.M., Canadian Forces members who served in Afghanistan.

With the exceptions of Corporal Gordon Robert Teather and Seaman Martin Charles, all individuals died in the line of duty.

By: Shelldrake

US Coast Guard Looking North to Arctic

An interview with the USCG OIC for Alaska reveals some interesting concerns about the Arctic Circle and navigation over the globe.

"We have to have presence up there to protect our claims for the future, sovereignty claims, extended continental shelf claims," Colvin told The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview conducted aboard a C-130 on a lumbering flight to the Arctic Ocean.
The advent of Russian shipping across the Arctic is of particular concern to Alaska and the U.S. because "there's one way in and out of the Arctic Ocean for over half the world, and that's the Bering Strait," Colvin said.
The 56-mile wide strait lies between northwestern Alaska and Siberia, separating the North American and Asian continents and connecting the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean.
"The Bering Strait will end up becoming a significant marine highway in the future, and we're seeing it with Russia, the way they are promoting this maritime transportation route above Russia right now, today."
Warming has facilitated such travel. The National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado reported last month that Arctic sea ice coverage was recorded at a summer low of 1.84 million square miles. It said sea ice melted to the third-lowest level since satellite monitoring began in 1979.
More open water is something Colvin's veteran icebreaker captains confirm.
They're also concerned about the state of their fleet.
The Coast Guard has three icebreakers, of which only one — the Healy — is operational. The two other icebreakers, the Polar Sea and the Polar Star — "are broken right now," Colvin said. Both are docked in Seattle, with the Polar Sea expected back in service next June. The Polar Star isn't expected back until 2013.
Help could be on the way. A bill that awaits President Obama's signature would have the government conduct a 90-day review of the icebreaker fleet, looking at possibly renovating the current fleet and building new icebreakers.
Colvin said it's imperative the Coast Guard has icebreakers operating in the Arctic, and not only to have a presence there to protect U.S. claims.
"We need to have U.S. vessels with U.S. scientists operating in the U.S. Arctic, conducting research," he said.

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By: Brant

Canada In Action: Operation NANOOK

Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Montreal and HMCS Goose Bay (background) shortly after departing from St. John’s Newfoundland transiting towards the Arctic to participate in Operation NANOOK.

Operation NANOOK is one of three major recurring sovereignty operations conducted annually by the Canadian Forces (CF) in Canada's Arctic. Planned and directed by Joint Task Force North (JTFN) the whole-of-government operation highlights interoperability, command and control, and cooperation with interdepartmental and intergovernmental partners in the North. Operation NANOOK 10 takes place in Canada's Eastern and High Arctic area from August 6 to 26 and includes two major exercises, Exercise NATSIQ, a sovereignty and presence patrolling exercise of military resources, and Exercise TALLURUTIIT a whole-of -government exercise that focuses on environmental containment and remediation resulting from a simulated fuel spill.

Operation NANOOK 10, as a combined, joint and integrated operation engages personnel and resources (ships and aircraft) from: the Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army, Canada's Air Force and CF Special Forces; other federal government departments to include Public Safety, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Coast Guard (central and Arctic region), Transport Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada, Parks Canada, the Government of Nunavut; the municipal communities of Resolute Bay, Pond Inlet, Grise Fjord, Iqaluit and Arctic Bay; and internationally the US Navy's 2nd Fleet, the US Coast Guard and the Royal Danish Navy.

By: Shelldrake

Two if by Sea

The US has developed a 'floating academy' to deliver training assistance around West Africa.

Men in blue overalls haul on the ropes alongside American crewmen sporting hardhats shaped as Stetsons and decorated in the stars and stripes.

"Pull harder! Coil the ropes!" one of the Americans barks at the "ship riders," a term used for the West African sailors aboard the U.S. amphibious landing vessel as she slips her moorings in the port of Dakar.

This is a floating academy, part of an effort by the U.S. military to train local navies and coast guards to combat rising instability in the Gulf of Guinea -- an increasingly important source of oil and other raw materials for western markets which has drawn huge international investment.

The United States says the destabilizing effects of piracy, drug smuggling, and illegal fishing in the area are also costing West and Central African coastal economies billions of dollars each year in lost revenues.

"You have an area that is traditionally a landward-focused region which is awakening to the impact of the maritime domain," said Captain Cindy Thebaud, commander of the U.S. Navy's Destroyer Squadron Six Zero and head of the project.

After two weeks of training in Senegal, the African officers and deckhands will spend a week at sea on the USS Gunstall Hall alongside their U.S. counterparts learning skills ranging from basic navigation to anti-piracy techniques.

The training is part of U.S. efforts to make Gulf of Guinea maritime security more robust but, with navies often coming low in the pecking order in African militaries, there is a need for increased investment in boats and other equipment.

By: Brant

BUB: African Developments

An ECOWAS meeting pledges military force off the table for political interventions.

The 27th ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS) meeting has ended in Cotonou, Benin Republic with a resolution that "enough is enough with regards to military intervention in the politics of member nations."

Towards giving teeth to the resolution, the ECOWAS Defence Chiefs decided to send the Chiefs of Defence Staff of Ghana, Liberia, Togo and Cape Verde to Guinea Bissau, which has been having continuing disruption of democratic governance by its military, "to express our unhappiness and misgivings at the consistent military interventions in the country."

The body stressed that "any further disrespect for political authority must be condemned in the strongest terms” “military government is no longer in vogue and we must move ahead with the times."
Addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike, who is the chairman of the CCDS, announced that the next quarterly meeting of the body would be held in Guinea Bissau "to make collective strong representation to the military so that they fall in line as other militaries in the region."

He also said that the body resolved that "pro-active steps will be taken to counter the activities of extreme religious groups prevalent in the Sahel region of West Africa."
It therefore tasked the Chiefs of Defence Staff of Mali and Niger to study the problem of religious extremists and ways to tackle them and report to the next meeting of the body.

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US AFRICOM has helped the Liberians re-institute their Coast Guard.

A small team from the newly formed Liberian Coast Guard successfully launched, for the first time, a Zodiac boat off of Bushrod Island, the historic home of the Liberian maritime forces, March 25, 2010.

The event was historic for the unit of 49 men and one woman, which was activated just more than a month earlier at Liberia's 53rd Annual Armed Forces Day in Monrovia.

At the activation ceremony, coast guard members marched in formation onto Monrovia's Barclay Training Center parade field. Standing at attention in their new white uniforms, a strong contrast to the sea of green fatigues worn by soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), the coast guard received its charge from Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and its guidon.

After a decade's long absence from the water, the coast guard's activation signaled Liberia's commitment to reestablish its presence on its territorial waters.

"What is especially significant this Armed Forces Day is the reactivation of the Liberian National Coast Guard…," Sirleaf said during the ceremony. "Under the 2008 National Defense Act, we are obliged to develop and re-establish our capacity to man our territorial waters. The coast guard has a mandate to improve the security of our coastline and control smuggling and illegal fishing. I congratulate you, the members of the coast guard, who have pledged to safeguard Liberia's territorial waters."

Watching from the stands that day, and also looking on with pride the day of the boat launch, was U.S. Coast Guard Commander Jennifer Ketchum, who works out of U.S. Africa Command's (AFRICOM) Monrovia Office of Security Cooperation, responsible for coordinating all security cooperation engagements between the U.S. and Liberia.

"This is a great job," she said, "being able to see and measure success and help the Liberians."

"This is the first we've had the boat out and I'm so excited I just can't tell you," said Ketchum. "A lot of training has come before this and I'm just really proud of the guys today for getting out here and launching the boat."

+++

The South Africans are putting the military back on border patrol duty, especially facing Zimbabwe.

The first four SA National Defence Force (SANDF) companies to take over border security from the SA Police Service (Saps) on the northern borders, held a farewell parade in Bloemfontein on Monday.

SANDF chief Lieutenant General Solly Shoke said the troop deployment would work closely with other law enforcement agencies along South Africa's borders, as they had done in the past.

The group of soldiers is part of the first phase of the South African Border Management Agency (BMA) approved by Cabinet in October 2009.

The four companies, of about 130 soldiers each, would be deployed on South Africa's north-eastern borders with Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

The soldiers would conduct foot and mobile patrols, monitor the border fence and supply reaction capabilities.

Shoke said advance teams of SANDF engineers were already deployed to the areas, including bases at Musina and Pontdrif, to prepare the facilities for the troops.

By: Brant

Index of US Coast Guard Cutters

This is a list of named vessels of the Revenue Marine, Revenue Cutter Service, Coast Guard and the Lighthouse Service.

The Historian's Office maintains a file on most of the following vessels. Please note that decommissioned cutters' and tenders' logbooks, action reports and other official documentation are held by the National Archives, not the Coast Guard Historian's Office.

By: Brant

Back at the C4ISR Conference

From day 2 of the C4ISR Conference in Washington, DC.
Still working; still experimenting with live-blogging...
Updates coming throughout the day on this post...

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First Session
Coast Guard C4&IT, Mark Powel, Director, C4 & IT Infrastructure Operations, U.S. Coast Guard

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Start with some CG history
Only guy talking here whose parent is not DoD b/c they take strategic direction from DHS instead

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Goal 1: promote compliance, efficiency, sharing, quality
Goal 2: Technology: Innovative, Interoperable, Spectrum Use, Net-centric, Optimized, Enterprise-wide, Mission-focused
Goal 3: Security: Complaince, Prevention, Mitigation, Awareness, Recovery

Boy, they're big on "compliance" aren't they?

Goal 4: Governance: Requirements, Project Mgmt, Performance Mgmt, Systems development Lifecycle, Capital Planing & Investment Control, Enterprise Architecture

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It feels like this guy's just using a canned brief for USCG IT guys, and not something specifically targeted at this audience.

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Yet another goal... (that doesn't include "compliance")
Goal 5: Organizational Excellence: Outreach, Customer Service, Workforce Development, Process Improvement

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Good explanation of Strategy to Implementation to Results
DHS/USCG plan to CG-6 plan, then CG-6 performance plan to roadmap of unit performance plans, to actual target architecture and individual performance plans, then the results

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During Q&A, good point came up, USCG has to work both SIPR/NIPR and the DHS networks, b/c of dual reporting chain.

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Next speaker is late getting here, so BREAK TIME!

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And now, a word from our sponsors... the exhibitors here were/are:
OWL Comp Tech, NEK Advanced Security Group, Dynamic Aviation, Goodrich, L3 Communications, Mercury Computer Services, ESRI, Tactronics Holdings.

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Next Session
Change of plans... next speaker is CAPT Jack Steiner, USN. Chief of Staff of J-6 / C4 Systems
(Scheduled speaker called away)

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Wants to talk less about what we need to do than what we need to stop doing
Basing talk around GIG 2.0

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Show of hands - who's on social networking vs who's just on email. Who shares info daily and willingly vs only when required.
You can probably guess the generational divide in that show of hands.

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Poking fun at the USAF, with the baby-pilot video... (yes, the one we had last month)

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GIG 2.0 - Warfighter-focused
Global authentication, access control, directory services
Information and services "from the edge"
Unity of Command
Joint Infrastructure
Common Standards and Policies - key point he made was here: the limitations we're using here are not technological. How long does it take to get set up on email when you PCS to a new station? How many installations have IT managers who limit what's on the network based on their local definition of some centralized regulation instead of centralized mgmt?

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We have created our own boundaries to sharing and collaboration, whether through tech, or policy, or funding, we create NIPR, SIPR, MCFI, GCTF, CFE, Bilat, all separate on the desk, and force the commander with 6 computers on his desk to be the integrator.

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Policies say we should share. Technology is not causing the problem. But technology while technology can help with solutions, technology doesn't write/enforce policies.

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Don't stand up 38 different bi-lateral networks for each bi-lateral partner in the coalition. Set up 1 physical network, with 38 data 'enclaves' to share the data, rather than 38 networks.

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Where does industry fit in? (bullet points)
- Today's teens = tomorrow's leaders
- Embrace different cultural approaches
- Leverage across government and mission partners
- Global authentication and access control (identity management)
- Directory services
- Scalable enterprise services

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Comments, in order with above:
- The kids have the right ideas about sharing ideas; already doing socially what everyone should be doing professionally
- Don't be a slave to your technology. How do you make a phone call in nation with no landlines?
- Need to attack policy, culture, bad habits. Don't engineer a technology solution around a bad policy decision; fix the decision.
- Authentication token should be good anywhere on the planet on mil domain and not wait 2 days for an account. Example is free online email systems like Yahoo or GMail (same login/info, anywhere)
- Mil domain directory should not be segmented
- We currently build complex and intricate networks that can't deploy to the forward edge b/c of the bandwidth constraints. Build the network to focus on deployability and make sure it works where it's needed, and not in the GO's office.

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Final bullets:
Remove impediments that don't add value.
Shared information is the enabler.
Less about tools, more about culture and habits.
GIG 2.0 is achievable

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Q&A: Interesting bit about whether or not a collaborative wiki is more or less authoritative than a 'vetted' source. Though not invoked by name, James Suroweicki's Wisdom of Crowds was mentioned as evidence that wikis can work when their material is given time to gel.

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Q from moderator: When posting shared information, how do you ensure people read what you want them to?
A from presenter: If something out there is of value to me, I will get off my butt and go get it. And if it's not of value to them and they don't go get then maybe you as the sender need to re-evaluate how much value you think you're providing, and either increase the value or educate the receiver about why it really is more valuable than he sees it.

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Collapsing the networks is pointless unless the tools you need to work exist on the resulting network.

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Favorite show of hands, thus far:
How many of you use text-messaging on your phones? Five or seven hands, including me...
How many of your kids use text-messaging? Lots of hands. Of course, my son is 5. But he'll get there.

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Overall a very good talk about what people should be doing. But unfortunately, until the current crop of O5s and above die off and go away, we won't, b/c they inherently don't trust the technologies.

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Next Session
Delivering More Intel to Forces in Iraq & Afghanistan
Kevin Meiners, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Portfolio, Programs & Resources, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence)

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(filling the time with some jokes while they get the presentation up on the screen)

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And here we go...

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Looking for irregular warfare in earlier QDRs/reports, they found 1 hit in 8 reports from '99-'01:
2001, Annual report: "Although irregular forces will be unable to match the combat power of heavy us weaponry in the near future, they could pose challenges to the US military"
2006, there were several hundred hits.

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Opational ISR TF
6 integrated product teams, which is entry point for the 'great ideas'"
ISR Requirements
Rapid Acquisition
Operational Concepts
Operations Integration
Evaluation
Future Initiatives

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ISR equivalent of WWII Liberty Ships. Now called the "Liberty Project Aircraft"
Modified C12 aircraft, and within 12 months, they put 37 aircraft out.
Picked C12 b/c all the services use them.

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Find - Fix - Finish
ISR for this in irregular warfare requires greater persistence and resolution.
Example: to identify individuals, you need ground-sample-distance: 0.05m resolution at 15Hz frame rate and 5x5km area
To ID vehicle, not as high-res, but to identify actions of people, you need more.

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Look for next QDR to recommend MQ1 / MQ9 split within the services, with the Army taking over one of them.

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Persistence / endurance seems to always lead back to an airship, and the 'giggle factor' goes up with snarky remarks about putting "Goodyear" on the side. But airships offer years of endurance. DARPA is apparently seriously investigating this.

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Ops ISR task force focused on deploying is fast. How are you getting your gear/ideas deployed in 6-9 months? The two-year deployment is no good for them.
How is large data being moved around?
NSA is building a new cloud architecture for SIGINT enterprise, and everyone needs to be educated on that cloud architecture if you're going to work with NSA / Ops ISR TF.

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Q&A time... and a few crickets at first...
Lots of hardware questions and wanting to know about where acquisition decisions are going and how they're shaped.

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Not sure what's up for after-lunch presentations. Might be time to E&E before Friday afternoon DC traffic turns the town into a 1500 sq mi parking lot...

By: Brant