Tuesday, October 30, 2018
NATO's Trident Juncture 2018 at Full Force
The largest NATO exercise in recent memory is now fully engaged in overcoming wintry challenges in Northern and Central Norway.Trident Juncture 18 got underway with the US Marines doing preliminary training in Iceland in mid-October.This was followed by the Live Field Exercise beginning on 25 October and extending to 7 November.
The Marines have provided the biggest contingent from the US military at the drills.Landing in Iceland via the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from the USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) amphibious assault ship,dozens of Marines secured Keflavik Air Base on 17 October and set up a communications relay point before turning the base over to Icelandic National Police armed with automatic weapons.On 19 October,the Marines marched inland to a cold weather training site attired in watch caps,gaiters and snow/mud boots.
Altogether,more than 14,000 US troops from the Army,Navy,Marines and Air Force are participating in TJ 18.
On 29 October,the Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit went on to conduct an amphibious assault in the Landing Craft Air-Cushioned at Alvund,Norway.*
Operationally,the focus of the drills is qualifying the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) 2019 and testing the Alliance's follow-on forces.Norway is learning how to host these reinforcing Allied troops.
The importance of the Bundeswehr to NATO is being emphasised at the exercise.A brigade of German troops initiated TJ 18,and Germany is leading the VJTF 2019 with its 9th Armoured Demonstration Brigade,Munster (tanks).In all,some 8,000 German personnel will field 200 armoured vehicles and 20 Leopard 2 Combat Tanks in the drills.*
The 65 warships in TJ 18 are interacting with the aircraft carrier USS Harry
S Truman (CVN 75).*
All 29 NATO Allies are involved in the drills,as are partner nations Sweden and Finland,whose airspace is being utilised.The scenario involves a NATO Ally invoking the Article V collective defence clause when an enemy attacks.The VJTF responds first and is then reinforced.NATO's land forces in Norway are being led by Canadian Forces LTGEN Christian Juneau.
NATO is testing its total defence concept at freezing point,conducting collective defence with all-domain warfighting just below the Arctic Circle,while dealing with such conditions as ice,mud,rain and snow.
The Marines have provided the biggest contingent from the US military at the drills.Landing in Iceland via the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from the USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) amphibious assault ship,dozens of Marines secured Keflavik Air Base on 17 October and set up a communications relay point before turning the base over to Icelandic National Police armed with automatic weapons.On 19 October,the Marines marched inland to a cold weather training site attired in watch caps,gaiters and snow/mud boots.
Altogether,more than 14,000 US troops from the Army,Navy,Marines and Air Force are participating in TJ 18.
On 29 October,the Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit went on to conduct an amphibious assault in the Landing Craft Air-Cushioned at Alvund,Norway.*
Operationally,the focus of the drills is qualifying the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) 2019 and testing the Alliance's follow-on forces.Norway is learning how to host these reinforcing Allied troops.
The importance of the Bundeswehr to NATO is being emphasised at the exercise.A brigade of German troops initiated TJ 18,and Germany is leading the VJTF 2019 with its 9th Armoured Demonstration Brigade,Munster (tanks).In all,some 8,000 German personnel will field 200 armoured vehicles and 20 Leopard 2 Combat Tanks in the drills.*
The 65 warships in TJ 18 are interacting with the aircraft carrier USS Harry
S Truman (CVN 75).*
All 29 NATO Allies are involved in the drills,as are partner nations Sweden and Finland,whose airspace is being utilised.The scenario involves a NATO Ally invoking the Article V collective defence clause when an enemy attacks.The VJTF responds first and is then reinforced.NATO's land forces in Norway are being led by Canadian Forces LTGEN Christian Juneau.
NATO is testing its total defence concept at freezing point,conducting collective defence with all-domain warfighting just below the Arctic Circle,while dealing with such conditions as ice,mud,rain and snow.
Friday, October 26, 2018
Afghan War Update:NATO Soldier Killed in Herat Identified
The NATO Soldier killed in a green on blue attack on 22 October 2018 in Herat Province,Afghanistan has been identified.He was CPL Tomas Prochazka of the Czech forces.Two other Czech troops were wounded and evacuated to a hospital in Belgium,according to Radio Prague.
The attacker is believed to have fired at random on Coalition forces from a distance of 80-100 meters with an M-14 assault rifle.He was not a member of an ANDSF unit the Czechs were training.The Czech Soldiers were returning to Shindand Air Base from a routine assignment of gathering building materials for use on base when the disguised militant opened fire on their vehicle.He was immediately subdued by ANDSF.The Taliban Islamist extremists claimed responsibility for the assault.*
It is the Czechs' fourth loss of a service member in Afghanistan in the past three months,and there were seven other Czech troops wounded in that time frame.Czech Defence Minister Lubomir Metnar said the uptick in violence may be related to the ongoing Afghan elections.Mr.Metnar insisted:
We are not leaving Afghanistan,as our mission is not finished.We will go on...Every incident in Afghanistan is deeply analysed and countermeasures are taken.*
CPL Prochazka,42,of Hradek nad Nison,Northern Bohemia,was in the midst of a six-month deployment that started in August 2018.He was a Cynologist,or K-9 specialist.*
Shindand is a former Soviet air base that was refurbished by US forces.
The attacker is believed to have fired at random on Coalition forces from a distance of 80-100 meters with an M-14 assault rifle.He was not a member of an ANDSF unit the Czechs were training.The Czech Soldiers were returning to Shindand Air Base from a routine assignment of gathering building materials for use on base when the disguised militant opened fire on their vehicle.He was immediately subdued by ANDSF.The Taliban Islamist extremists claimed responsibility for the assault.*
It is the Czechs' fourth loss of a service member in Afghanistan in the past three months,and there were seven other Czech troops wounded in that time frame.Czech Defence Minister Lubomir Metnar said the uptick in violence may be related to the ongoing Afghan elections.Mr.Metnar insisted:
We are not leaving Afghanistan,as our mission is not finished.We will go on...Every incident in Afghanistan is deeply analysed and countermeasures are taken.*
CPL Prochazka,42,of Hradek nad Nison,Northern Bohemia,was in the midst of a six-month deployment that started in August 2018.He was a Cynologist,or K-9 specialist.*
Shindand is a former Soviet air base that was refurbished by US forces.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Afghan War:NATO Service Member Killed in Herat
A non-US NATO service member has been killed in Herat Province,Western Afghanistan on 22 October 2018.The person was serving in the Resolute Support Mission's Train,Advise and Assist Command-West (TAAC-West).Two other troops were wounded.No nationalities or identities were available.TAAC-West is led by Italian personnel.Also serving in TAAC-West are troops from Albania,Lithuania,Slovenia,Ukraine and the US.TAAC-West is helping the Afghan National Army's 207th Corps and the 606th Afghan National Police Zone.*
The incident was reportedly a green on blue attack,or someone disguised as an Afghan National Defence and Security Forces member attacking a Coalition service member.A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack,saying one of their "infiltrators" was the assailant.The flare-up was the second green on blue attack in less than a week.On 18 October,the Taliban militants claimed responsibility for an attack following a security review session in Kandahar Province,Southern Afghanistan,in which two Afghan leaders were killed and two Americans were wounded.The Afghans lost were the highly admired Kandahar Province police chief GEN Abdul Raziq,and a senior Afghan intelligence officer.Those wounded in the firefight included a US general officer,BGEN Jeffrey D. Smiley,US Army,commander of TAAC-South,and a US contractor.The Taliban Islamist extremists said they had hoped to kill the new commander of US Forces Afghanistan and NATO's Resolute Support Mission,GEN Austin Scott Miller,US Army,who took command on 2 September 2018,but he escaped unscathed.
GEN Miller has a Special Operations Forces background,having recently served as commander,Joint Special Operations Command.He is a veteran of the Battle of Mogadishu,Somalia;the Iraq War;and the Afghan War.Among his decorations are the Bronze Star Medal,the Purple Heart Medal and the Legion of Merit.
The incident was reportedly a green on blue attack,or someone disguised as an Afghan National Defence and Security Forces member attacking a Coalition service member.A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack,saying one of their "infiltrators" was the assailant.The flare-up was the second green on blue attack in less than a week.On 18 October,the Taliban militants claimed responsibility for an attack following a security review session in Kandahar Province,Southern Afghanistan,in which two Afghan leaders were killed and two Americans were wounded.The Afghans lost were the highly admired Kandahar Province police chief GEN Abdul Raziq,and a senior Afghan intelligence officer.Those wounded in the firefight included a US general officer,BGEN Jeffrey D. Smiley,US Army,commander of TAAC-South,and a US contractor.The Taliban Islamist extremists said they had hoped to kill the new commander of US Forces Afghanistan and NATO's Resolute Support Mission,GEN Austin Scott Miller,US Army,who took command on 2 September 2018,but he escaped unscathed.
GEN Miller has a Special Operations Forces background,having recently served as commander,Joint Special Operations Command.He is a veteran of the Battle of Mogadishu,Somalia;the Iraq War;and the Afghan War.Among his decorations are the Bronze Star Medal,the Purple Heart Medal and the Legion of Merit.
Monday, October 22, 2018
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
US Strikes al-Qaida Group in Somalia - dozens killed
According to a press release from US Africa Command,US Forces,in coordination with the Somali Government,conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab Islamist extremists,who are associated with al-Qaida,on 12 October 2018.It took place in the Haradere area of Mugdu Province,Somalia.The current assessment is that about 60 militants were killed,which makes it the biggest strike since 21 November 2017,in which around 100 al-Shabaab members were killed.No civilians were killed or injured in the latest strike,the assessment found.
Such strikes reduce al-Shabaab's ability to plot future attacks;disrupt the leadership networks;and degrade the freedom of manoeuvre in the region,AFRICOM said.*
The enemy has used parts of Southern and Central Somalia to plot and direct terror attacks;steal humanitarian aid;extort the local populace to fund its operations;and shelter radical terrorists,thus destabilising Somalia and its neighbours,while threatening the interests of the US and its allies in the region.*
Baledogle Airfield,70 miles/112.654 km northwest of the capital Mogadishu,is a former Soviet airbase now used by multinational forces,including the US,which has launched drone attacks against al-Shabaab from it.It is believed that armed General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones were sent on this latest mission.The US has also launched missiles from US Navy warships against the militants.
MQ-9s are additionally used for high altitude surveillance missions.The Reaper is flown by the Royal Air Force and Italian Air Force as well.*
Such strikes reduce al-Shabaab's ability to plot future attacks;disrupt the leadership networks;and degrade the freedom of manoeuvre in the region,AFRICOM said.*
The enemy has used parts of Southern and Central Somalia to plot and direct terror attacks;steal humanitarian aid;extort the local populace to fund its operations;and shelter radical terrorists,thus destabilising Somalia and its neighbours,while threatening the interests of the US and its allies in the region.*
Baledogle Airfield,70 miles/112.654 km northwest of the capital Mogadishu,is a former Soviet airbase now used by multinational forces,including the US,which has launched drone attacks against al-Shabaab from it.It is believed that armed General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones were sent on this latest mission.The US has also launched missiles from US Navy warships against the militants.
MQ-9s are additionally used for high altitude surveillance missions.The Reaper is flown by the Royal Air Force and Italian Air Force as well.*
Monday, October 15, 2018
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Aircraft Carrier Rushed to Europe on Snap Deployment - big NATO exercise scenario revealed
The US Navy's aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) and its Carrier Strike Group of a Guided Missile Cruiser,Guided Missile Destroyers and likely an Attack Submarine has been on a breakneck pace as of late.After a summer deployment that was abruptly halted in July after only three months,as opposed to the customary seven months,and a return to its Norfolk,Virginia homeport,the Truman was ordered right back to Europe and arrived in mid-September.The ship and its 6,000 crewmembers are to be a focal point of the massive NATO Exercise Trident Juncture 2018,which runs from 25 October to 7 November.Some 45,000 personnel from 29 NATO Allies,plus partner nations Finland and Sweden,will participate.*
The Truman's demanding schedule is part of the US Navy's new Dynamic Force Employment strategy.It means the warships and their crews must be on a more agile and unpredictable footing for crisis response in an era of renewed great power competition.As ADL Christopher Grady,commander,Fleet Forces Command,put it:
Let me be clear:all returning units are one hundred percent mission-capable and will remain in the sustainment phase of the Optimized Fleet Response Plan,which means they will sustain warfighting readiness and be ready to surge forward or redeploy when called upon.*
As Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told the US House of Representatives:
The way you do this is ensure that preparation for great power competition drives not simply a rotational schedule that allows me to tell you,three years from now,which aircraft carrier will be where in the world.*
According to US Navy ADL James G. Foggo III,commander,US Naval Forces Europe and Africa and all NATO naval forces:
Trident Juncture 18 is going to test our ability to plan and conduct a major collective defence operation .*
The drills will be held in Central and Eastern Norway;the contiguous Baltic Sea and North Atlantic Ocean;Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden.The exercise scenario is that a NATO Ally has requested help under the Alliance's Article V collective defence clause.*
About 2,000 US Marines and Sailors with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the roughly 700 Marines of the 3rd Battalion,8th Marines already on rotation in Norway will also play a major role in the scenario with the new anti-tank version of the Light Armored Vehicle (LAV-AT).These are armed with the TOW anti-tank missile.
The Truman's demanding schedule is part of the US Navy's new Dynamic Force Employment strategy.It means the warships and their crews must be on a more agile and unpredictable footing for crisis response in an era of renewed great power competition.As ADL Christopher Grady,commander,Fleet Forces Command,put it:
Let me be clear:all returning units are one hundred percent mission-capable and will remain in the sustainment phase of the Optimized Fleet Response Plan,which means they will sustain warfighting readiness and be ready to surge forward or redeploy when called upon.*
As Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told the US House of Representatives:
The way you do this is ensure that preparation for great power competition drives not simply a rotational schedule that allows me to tell you,three years from now,which aircraft carrier will be where in the world.*
According to US Navy ADL James G. Foggo III,commander,US Naval Forces Europe and Africa and all NATO naval forces:
Trident Juncture 18 is going to test our ability to plan and conduct a major collective defence operation .*
The drills will be held in Central and Eastern Norway;the contiguous Baltic Sea and North Atlantic Ocean;Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden.The exercise scenario is that a NATO Ally has requested help under the Alliance's Article V collective defence clause.*
About 2,000 US Marines and Sailors with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the roughly 700 Marines of the 3rd Battalion,8th Marines already on rotation in Norway will also play a major role in the scenario with the new anti-tank version of the Light Armored Vehicle (LAV-AT).These are armed with the TOW anti-tank missile.
Saturday, October 6, 2018
Afghan War:National Guard Soldier Killed in Helmand Identified
A US Army Soldier killed in action in Garmsir district,Helmand Province,Afghanistan has been identified as SPC James A. Slape,23,of Morehead,North Carolina.Serving in support of both the NATO Resolute Support Mission and Operation Freedom's Sentinel,SPC Slape was a member of the North Carolina National Guard's 60th Troop Command,430th Explosive Ordnance Company.
He was an explosive ordnance disposal technician and was approaching a vehicle that had struck an IED,intending to clear a path to it,when a second IED blew up,severely wounding him.He later died at a medical care facility.*
SPC Slape had joined the Guard in 2013 and was deployed to Afghanistan in April 2018,being posted to Camp Dwyer in Helmand Province,which is focused on assisting Afghan National Defence and Security Forces overcome the substantial Taliban militant presence in the Province.He was to have returned home in the spring.SPC Slape's was the seventh American combat death in Afghanistan this year.He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
About 14,000 US troops are serving in Afghanistan at this time,led by General Austin Scott Miller,US Army.*
Righteousness exalteth a nation;but sin is a reproach to any people.
-Proverbs 14:34
He was an explosive ordnance disposal technician and was approaching a vehicle that had struck an IED,intending to clear a path to it,when a second IED blew up,severely wounding him.He later died at a medical care facility.*
SPC Slape had joined the Guard in 2013 and was deployed to Afghanistan in April 2018,being posted to Camp Dwyer in Helmand Province,which is focused on assisting Afghan National Defence and Security Forces overcome the substantial Taliban militant presence in the Province.He was to have returned home in the spring.SPC Slape's was the seventh American combat death in Afghanistan this year.He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
About 14,000 US troops are serving in Afghanistan at this time,led by General Austin Scott Miller,US Army.*
Righteousness exalteth a nation;but sin is a reproach to any people.
-Proverbs 14:34
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
First To Fight:US Marine Corps Bashes the Enemy with the Lightning II - plus the UK's own F-35B milestone
According to Naval Support Activity Bahrain,the US Marine Corps' F-35B Lightning II has been unleashed for combat operations in support of the counter-terrorist Operation Freedom's Sentinel in Afghanistan.On 27 September 2018,an F-35B conducted a successful airstrike to assist with ground clearance operations.
US Navy VADM Scott A. Stearney,commander,US Naval Forces Central Command:
As part of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group,this platform (the F-35B Lightning II) supports operations on the ground from international waters,all while enabling maritime superiority that enhances stability and security.*
The Essex ARG in turn belongs to the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit,which is the first combat-deployed MEU replacing the AV-8B Harrier with the Lockheed Martin F-35B.The F-35B scrambled for the mission is from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211,which is currently embarked on the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2).COL Chandler S. Nelms,13th MEU commander,said that:
The opportunity for us to be the first Navy-Marine Corps team to employ the F-35B in support of manoeuvre forces on the ground demonstrates one aspect of the capabilities this platform brings to the region,our allies and our partners.*
The F-35B,with its short takeoff/vertical landing capability,is the same variant of the Lightning II being acquired by the UK.*
CNN reported that the target on the 27 September Marine Corps mission was a fixed Taliban Islamist extremist location.The raid was dedicated to Marine Corps hero LTCOL C.K. 'Otis' Raible,who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2012 when,armed with only a pistol,he led a quick response as the Taliban launched an incursion against Camp Bastion,blowing up Harrier AV-8B aircraft on the ground.Photos show that the F-35B launched on 27 September was armed with weapons including the GBU-32 JDAM;the GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb;and the GAU-22 gun pod.
It is not known how many F-35Bs went on the mission or how many of them delivered ordnance on the target.Perhaps only one delivered ordnance and others played an intel support roll,so this blog has used the singular to refer to the attacking aircraft.*
In late May,it was revealed that the Israeli F-35 Adir Joint Strike Fighter conducted the first two strikes ever made by any nation with the fifth generation aircraft.The targets were in the Middle East-quite possibly they were Iranian forces on the ground in Syria or elsewhere.*
On 25 September,Royal Air Force and Royal Navy pilots began developing the operational envelope of the F-35B on the UK's new HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier with the first takeoffs and landings on the deck of the advanced warship.This re-established British aircraft carrier aviation after an eight-year gap that began when their last AV-8B Harrier was retired from service.*
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT)
US Navy VADM Scott A. Stearney,commander,US Naval Forces Central Command:
As part of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group,this platform (the F-35B Lightning II) supports operations on the ground from international waters,all while enabling maritime superiority that enhances stability and security.*
The Essex ARG in turn belongs to the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit,which is the first combat-deployed MEU replacing the AV-8B Harrier with the Lockheed Martin F-35B.The F-35B scrambled for the mission is from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211,which is currently embarked on the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2).COL Chandler S. Nelms,13th MEU commander,said that:
The opportunity for us to be the first Navy-Marine Corps team to employ the F-35B in support of manoeuvre forces on the ground demonstrates one aspect of the capabilities this platform brings to the region,our allies and our partners.*
The F-35B,with its short takeoff/vertical landing capability,is the same variant of the Lightning II being acquired by the UK.*
CNN reported that the target on the 27 September Marine Corps mission was a fixed Taliban Islamist extremist location.The raid was dedicated to Marine Corps hero LTCOL C.K. 'Otis' Raible,who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2012 when,armed with only a pistol,he led a quick response as the Taliban launched an incursion against Camp Bastion,blowing up Harrier AV-8B aircraft on the ground.Photos show that the F-35B launched on 27 September was armed with weapons including the GBU-32 JDAM;the GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb;and the GAU-22 gun pod.
It is not known how many F-35Bs went on the mission or how many of them delivered ordnance on the target.Perhaps only one delivered ordnance and others played an intel support roll,so this blog has used the singular to refer to the attacking aircraft.*
In late May,it was revealed that the Israeli F-35 Adir Joint Strike Fighter conducted the first two strikes ever made by any nation with the fifth generation aircraft.The targets were in the Middle East-quite possibly they were Iranian forces on the ground in Syria or elsewhere.*
On 25 September,Royal Air Force and Royal Navy pilots began developing the operational envelope of the F-35B on the UK's new HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier with the first takeoffs and landings on the deck of the advanced warship.This re-established British aircraft carrier aviation after an eight-year gap that began when their last AV-8B Harrier was retired from service.*
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT)
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