Lieutenant General James Terry,US Army,ISAF Afghanistan Joint Commander,said the progress there is very substantial.With our partners,we're gonna be working on the challenges.The Afghan National Police and Army can and do fight for the people of Afghanistan.
The general briefed reporters at the Pentagon on the status of International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan,or ISAF.
The ISAF mission is Train,Advise and Assist,he continued.Today the insurgents fear the Afghan National Security Forces,or ANSF.They are taking the lead because long term stability demands it.It undermines the insurgents' doctrine of fighting foreign forces.
The militants have been forced out of urban areas.Cellphone coverage extends to over 80% of the population and the kids are back in school.The people are tired and have no desire to be controlled by insurgents.The majority believe the country is headed in the right direction.
We are now bringing in brigade-size training and assistance forces.These forces are accelerating self-security.We are witnessing examples of increasing ANSF capability.There are Afghan-planned and executed operations using Afghan helicopters and pilots.We are putting our advisors and enablers at the right levels in the ANSF.
The future is not without risk.We are confident we can mitigate that risk.While ANSF move to the lead,coalition forces will still conduct operations in combat conditions.As we look toward national elections in 2014,I am confident the security provided by the ANSF will be sufficient.
It can and will work.They will need a partner and our help,but they are well on the way to taking the lead.From where I'm at,they're at the run phase.I was recently pleased the insider threat has in my mind receded.The vetting and counterintel are ongoing.
We'll be with the ANSF through this fighting season,providing help with logistics;counter-IED;surface fires;and the Afghan helicopter fleet.
Besides the US Army,the US Marines,US Air Force and Individual Augmentees from the US Navy are a part of ISAF Afghanistan,along with NATO and other coalition partners.Around 60,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan and most are slated for withdrawal by the end of 2014.
The blog features coverage of maritime forces,NATO,air defence,combat operations,the Department of Defense,the Intelligence Community,space exploration and nature.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Department of the Navy Status Report
The US Navy had 318,406 active duty personnel as of October 2012.There were also 108,718 Ready Reservists.
Battle force ships totaled 288 vessels.
Raymond E. Mabus is Secretary of the Navy,overseeing more than 200,000 civilians of the Department of the Navy as well as the active duty and reserve forces and the US Marine Corps.He was a surface warfare officer in the Navy,then governor of Mississippi and ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Robert O. Work,a retired US Marine Corps officer,is Undersecretary of the Navy.
Admiral Johnathan W. Greenert is Chief of Naval Operations and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff..He was a career submariner.
General John F. Amos,a former naval aviator,is Commandant of the US Marine Corps.Always close and members of the same Department,the Navy and Marine Corps plan to become even more of a cohesive force in the years ahead.
Marine Corps personnel carry Department of the Navy ID cards.
Battle force ships totaled 288 vessels.
Raymond E. Mabus is Secretary of the Navy,overseeing more than 200,000 civilians of the Department of the Navy as well as the active duty and reserve forces and the US Marine Corps.He was a surface warfare officer in the Navy,then governor of Mississippi and ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Robert O. Work,a retired US Marine Corps officer,is Undersecretary of the Navy.
Admiral Johnathan W. Greenert is Chief of Naval Operations and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff..He was a career submariner.
General John F. Amos,a former naval aviator,is Commandant of the US Marine Corps.Always close and members of the same Department,the Navy and Marine Corps plan to become even more of a cohesive force in the years ahead.
Marine Corps personnel carry Department of the Navy ID cards.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Intelligence Special:NGA Receives Joint Meritorious Unit Award
An obscure Defense Department agency,the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,or NGA,received a Joint Meritorious Unit Award on January 11.Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter presented the honour.It was bestowed for extraordinary contributions to the warfighter and national defense from January 1 to December 31,2010.
The award consists of a framed citation and service ribbon.
Carter hailed NGA as a constant source of innovation,aiding our efforts in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations,using new sensors,technologies and analytic methods.NGA's success on the battlefield in all phases of operations prompted many tactical commanders to declare they would never go to war without NGA.
Attending the ceremony were Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper and NGA Director Letitia A. Long.Long,the first woman to head a US intelligence agency,said every employee played an important role in the effort.NGA will continue to be totally dedicated to providing the highest quality GEOINT products,information and knowledge to support our many mission sets.
Geospatial intelligence,or GEOINT,is the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information to describe,assess and visually depict physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth.NGA provides timely,relevant and accurate GEOINT in support of national security.
The award consists of a framed citation and service ribbon.
Carter hailed NGA as a constant source of innovation,aiding our efforts in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations,using new sensors,technologies and analytic methods.NGA's success on the battlefield in all phases of operations prompted many tactical commanders to declare they would never go to war without NGA.
Attending the ceremony were Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper and NGA Director Letitia A. Long.Long,the first woman to head a US intelligence agency,said every employee played an important role in the effort.NGA will continue to be totally dedicated to providing the highest quality GEOINT products,information and knowledge to support our many mission sets.
Geospatial intelligence,or GEOINT,is the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information to describe,assess and visually depict physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth.NGA provides timely,relevant and accurate GEOINT in support of national security.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Low-Flying Helicopters Prepare For Nuclear Emergencies
The National Nuclear Security Administration,or NNSA,a US Department of Energy agency,is actively preparing for an emergency such as a low level nuclear or radiological attack by terrorists,a so-called dirty bomb,on major urban areas.Special response teams are being trained and equipped for such an eventuality.More obviously,low-flying helicopters have been repeatedly buzzing major urban areas within the past year as they survey background radiation for the Nuclear Emergency Support Team,NEST,a collaboration of NNSA and the Department of Homeland Security.
So that's what it was doing.I observed such a civilian helicopter flying back and forth at a low altitude in the greater Washington,DC area one morning recently.It certainly struck me as peculiar,if not alarming.The twin engine helicopters may fly a grid pattern at an altitude of 300 feet and can cover dozens of square miles for the intensive surveys.
The purpose of the surveys is to improve aerial radiation measurement in order to swiftly detect an incident's exact parameters and respond to it
.A certain amount of radiation occurs naturally or in the course of daily business in urban areas-even in asphalt roadbeds-and in order to find a nuclear debris field,you need to know the radiological lay of the land so you can indentify any anomalies.
Besides Metropolitan Washington,DC,surveys have also been done in the San Francisco Bay Area,the Puget Sound area in Washington state,and the Chicagoland area.
The NNSA also secures National Laboratories where nuclear research is conducted,and transports nuclear materials by road in heavily armed truck convoys.
So that's what it was doing.I observed such a civilian helicopter flying back and forth at a low altitude in the greater Washington,DC area one morning recently.It certainly struck me as peculiar,if not alarming.The twin engine helicopters may fly a grid pattern at an altitude of 300 feet and can cover dozens of square miles for the intensive surveys.
The purpose of the surveys is to improve aerial radiation measurement in order to swiftly detect an incident's exact parameters and respond to it
.A certain amount of radiation occurs naturally or in the course of daily business in urban areas-even in asphalt roadbeds-and in order to find a nuclear debris field,you need to know the radiological lay of the land so you can indentify any anomalies.
Besides Metropolitan Washington,DC,surveys have also been done in the San Francisco Bay Area,the Puget Sound area in Washington state,and the Chicagoland area.
The NNSA also secures National Laboratories where nuclear research is conducted,and transports nuclear materials by road in heavily armed truck convoys.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Special Intelligence Report:Inside Iran
Iranian authorities have asked some 1.5 million residents of the city of Isfahan to leave the city if they can because of dangerous air pollution.The air quality is not expected to improve for another two days.
Pollution has been particularly bad this year because of the cold,which traps polluted air near the ground unless winds blow it away;millions of cars on the roads of the city that lacks mass transit;and the use of diesel cars spewing untreated carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
With Western sanctions ratcheted up on Iran for failing to halt its suspected nuclear weapons development program,Iran has been forced to convert petrochemical plants into refineries that lack adequate pollution controls.Isfahan is an old,picturesque city of tiled mosques and minarets blanketed with smog.
A year ago,the World Health Organisation listed four Iranian cities on its list of the ten worst polluted cities in the world.
In another development,Iran has been conducting five days of naval maneuvers,Velayat-91,near the strategically significant Strait of Hormuz,through which one fifth of the world's oil supply passes.According to the semi-official Mehr news agency,military spokesman Admiral Amir Rastgari claimed that Iran issued 30 warnings to foreign spy planes,drones and warships approaching the maneuvers,and that the reconnaissance assets distanced themselves from the activity in response.
The naval exercises involved the firing of the new Ghader anti-ship cruise missile,a sea-skimmer with a range of 120 miles/200 kilometers.The Ghader,or "Capable,"was delivered in late 2011.Both the Iranian navy and Revolutionary Guard navy have the weapon in their arsenals.It is claimed to be able to sink large warships.
The Noor anti-ship missile was also fired during the exercises.Video showed the missiles hitting target vessels.The maneuvers took place in an approximately one million square mile area extending from the Strait of Hormuz to the Northern Indian Ocean.
Pollution has been particularly bad this year because of the cold,which traps polluted air near the ground unless winds blow it away;millions of cars on the roads of the city that lacks mass transit;and the use of diesel cars spewing untreated carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
With Western sanctions ratcheted up on Iran for failing to halt its suspected nuclear weapons development program,Iran has been forced to convert petrochemical plants into refineries that lack adequate pollution controls.Isfahan is an old,picturesque city of tiled mosques and minarets blanketed with smog.
A year ago,the World Health Organisation listed four Iranian cities on its list of the ten worst polluted cities in the world.
In another development,Iran has been conducting five days of naval maneuvers,Velayat-91,near the strategically significant Strait of Hormuz,through which one fifth of the world's oil supply passes.According to the semi-official Mehr news agency,military spokesman Admiral Amir Rastgari claimed that Iran issued 30 warnings to foreign spy planes,drones and warships approaching the maneuvers,and that the reconnaissance assets distanced themselves from the activity in response.
The naval exercises involved the firing of the new Ghader anti-ship cruise missile,a sea-skimmer with a range of 120 miles/200 kilometers.The Ghader,or "Capable,"was delivered in late 2011.Both the Iranian navy and Revolutionary Guard navy have the weapon in their arsenals.It is claimed to be able to sink large warships.
The Noor anti-ship missile was also fired during the exercises.Video showed the missiles hitting target vessels.The maneuvers took place in an approximately one million square mile area extending from the Strait of Hormuz to the Northern Indian Ocean.
Labels:
anti-ship cruise missiles,
drones,
Ghader,
Indian Ocean,
Iran,
Isfahan,
Noor,
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