Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
US Army Artillery Thunders in Anbar Province,Iraq - training not primary focus at air base
On 27 June 2016,US Soldiers blasted shells from an M109 A6 Paladin howitzer,which is a very powerful self-propelled artillery piece,at Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant militants during a fire mission at Al-Taqqadum Air Base in Habbaniya,Anbar Province.This illustrates the wide-ranging role of US artillery in the anti-ISIL Operation Inherent Resolve:it is not limited to the Mosul recapture build-up in the north of the country;now it is clearly being utilised to suppress ISIL activity in Anbar in Western Iraq as well.*
The air base is a joint environment,home to Task Force Al Taqqadum Advise and Assist site,with all four Pentagon branches of the military represented,along with Allies Italian and Australian troops and their Iraqi counterparts of the 8th,10th and 16th Iraqi Army Divisions;the Iraqi Anbar Operations Centre,or AOC;Anbar National Police;and the Iraqi Counterintelligence Service.Still classified as an expeditionary airfield,it is officially a US Marine Corps base served with a complete range of support by the US Air Force's 321st Contingency Response Element in combination with Marines from Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command,who will handle long-term security and logistics at the base,once the 321st withdraws.*
TFTQ,as the task force is known,operates out of Camp Manion at Taqqadum.It is an Operation Inherent Resolve force of Marines and Sailors from II Marine Expeditionary Force;the Marine augments from SPMAGTF-CR-CC;and members of the US Army's 1st Infantry Division.Its mission is to advise and assist the Iraqi Security Forces in the Ramadi area of Anbar,which,despite protracted combat operations and some notable successes,remains a somewhat unstable and contested zone.For example,as late as 25 July,Khalidiya Island in Eastern Ramadi was still the target of an extensive military operation by the ISF against ISIL strongholds and headquarters on the island.Also on that day,the ISF were reinforcing to counter reported plans by ISIL to converge on Haditha district from three directions west of Ramadi.*
To assist,the US Marines are embedded as full time advisors with the AOC,helping coordinate airstrikes and counterstrikes based on Iraqi reports of encounters with the enemy such as firefights;and intelligence data.USMC Colonel Christopher J. Douglas,TFTQ commander,said the assistance we provide is specifically in the form of intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance flights and air support and strikes that are provided by coalition aircraft.All strikes and operations are approved by Iraqi leaders.*
The environment that we train in now is not a learning environment;we are very much in an operational environment where training is not the primary focus,said a USMC primary advisor to the 8th Iraqi Army Division.Still,they have conducted artillery,communications,medical,explosive ordnance disposal and engineering training as the occasion presented itself.*
The air base is a joint environment,home to Task Force Al Taqqadum Advise and Assist site,with all four Pentagon branches of the military represented,along with Allies Italian and Australian troops and their Iraqi counterparts of the 8th,10th and 16th Iraqi Army Divisions;the Iraqi Anbar Operations Centre,or AOC;Anbar National Police;and the Iraqi Counterintelligence Service.Still classified as an expeditionary airfield,it is officially a US Marine Corps base served with a complete range of support by the US Air Force's 321st Contingency Response Element in combination with Marines from Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command,who will handle long-term security and logistics at the base,once the 321st withdraws.*
TFTQ,as the task force is known,operates out of Camp Manion at Taqqadum.It is an Operation Inherent Resolve force of Marines and Sailors from II Marine Expeditionary Force;the Marine augments from SPMAGTF-CR-CC;and members of the US Army's 1st Infantry Division.Its mission is to advise and assist the Iraqi Security Forces in the Ramadi area of Anbar,which,despite protracted combat operations and some notable successes,remains a somewhat unstable and contested zone.For example,as late as 25 July,Khalidiya Island in Eastern Ramadi was still the target of an extensive military operation by the ISF against ISIL strongholds and headquarters on the island.Also on that day,the ISF were reinforcing to counter reported plans by ISIL to converge on Haditha district from three directions west of Ramadi.*
To assist,the US Marines are embedded as full time advisors with the AOC,helping coordinate airstrikes and counterstrikes based on Iraqi reports of encounters with the enemy such as firefights;and intelligence data.USMC Colonel Christopher J. Douglas,TFTQ commander,said the assistance we provide is specifically in the form of intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance flights and air support and strikes that are provided by coalition aircraft.All strikes and operations are approved by Iraqi leaders.*
The environment that we train in now is not a learning environment;we are very much in an operational environment where training is not the primary focus,said a USMC primary advisor to the 8th Iraqi Army Division.Still,they have conducted artillery,communications,medical,explosive ordnance disposal and engineering training as the occasion presented itself.*
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
UK to Keep Nuclear Deterrent,Build New Ballistic Missile Submarines
The British House of Commons voted yesterday to preserve the UK's independent nuclear deterrent and take the necessary steps required to maintain its current posture by replacing the Vanguard-class submarine with four of the new Successor-class ballistic missile submarines.The Conservatives,led by new Prime Minister Theresa May,secured a strong majority vote of 472-117 to approve the motion.The UK will now proceed with the building of the new Trident II D5 missile submarines by the BAE Systems Barrow shipyard at a cost of 31 billion dollars with a contingency of an extra 10 billion over 35 years.It is one of the largest expenditures in the history of the UK,besides also being a project of great complexity and scale,involving hundreds of subcontractors in addition to prime BAE.*
Two parliamentary Strategic Defence and Security Reviews approved the Successor programme in 2010 and 2015.For her part,Mrs.May said it would be sheer madness to contemplate even for a moment giving up Britain's independent nuclear deterrent.We cannot abandon our ultimate safeguard out of misplaced idealism.That would be a reckless gamble,a gamble that would enfeeble our allies and embolden our enemies.The nuclear threat has not gone away.If anything,it has increased,the new Prime Minster pointed out,citing a newly assertive Russia and countries such as North Korea who are seeking nuclear weapons.We will not leave NATO and our European allies behind,Mrs.May promised.*
Construction of the Successor-class is to begin in late 2016,with the first of the four vessels entering service in 2028.A minimum of four submarines is required to sustain the continuous at sea deterrence (CASD) posture which Britain has today,according to the formula of,at any given time,one armed submarine being on patrol;one in maintenance;and two in port or on training manoeuvres.All UK ballistic missile and nuclear powered submarines are based at HM Naval Base Clyde in Faslane,Scotland,which is 25 miles/40 kilometers west of Glasgow.The base is secured by Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines.*
As a crucial element of their special relationship,the US and UK now coordinate both nuclear strategy and hardware.Both countries endorsed the Trident II D5 Service Life Extension Programme that extends the life of the missiles out to 2042.Both will also be installing a common 12-missile compartment in the Royal Navy Successor-class and the US Navy SSBN-X successor to the Ohio-class submarine.*
BAE Systems PLC (London:BA/),BAE Systems PLC ADR (OTC:BAESY)
Two parliamentary Strategic Defence and Security Reviews approved the Successor programme in 2010 and 2015.For her part,Mrs.May said it would be sheer madness to contemplate even for a moment giving up Britain's independent nuclear deterrent.We cannot abandon our ultimate safeguard out of misplaced idealism.That would be a reckless gamble,a gamble that would enfeeble our allies and embolden our enemies.The nuclear threat has not gone away.If anything,it has increased,the new Prime Minster pointed out,citing a newly assertive Russia and countries such as North Korea who are seeking nuclear weapons.We will not leave NATO and our European allies behind,Mrs.May promised.*
Construction of the Successor-class is to begin in late 2016,with the first of the four vessels entering service in 2028.A minimum of four submarines is required to sustain the continuous at sea deterrence (CASD) posture which Britain has today,according to the formula of,at any given time,one armed submarine being on patrol;one in maintenance;and two in port or on training manoeuvres.All UK ballistic missile and nuclear powered submarines are based at HM Naval Base Clyde in Faslane,Scotland,which is 25 miles/40 kilometers west of Glasgow.The base is secured by Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines.*
As a crucial element of their special relationship,the US and UK now coordinate both nuclear strategy and hardware.Both countries endorsed the Trident II D5 Service Life Extension Programme that extends the life of the missiles out to 2042.Both will also be installing a common 12-missile compartment in the Royal Navy Successor-class and the US Navy SSBN-X successor to the Ohio-class submarine.*
BAE Systems PLC (London:BA/),BAE Systems PLC ADR (OTC:BAESY)
Monday, July 18, 2016
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
More US Troops to Iraq as Mosul Recapture Mission Looms - major air base recovered,ops center set up
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter made a secret trip to Baghdad and,while there,met with his Iraqi counterpart,Khalid al-Obaidi about the mission to retake Mosul from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant control.The Islamist extremists seized Mosul in 2014 when they took much of the rest of Iraq from government hands as well.Since then,however,these militants have experienced blowback as the Iraqi Security Forces,backed by anti-ISIL coalition Operation Inherent Resolve airpower,artillery,advice and training have wrested back Tikrit,Ramadi and,most recently,Fallujah,from their hands and furthered the process of surrounding Mosul.Mosul is ISIL's sole remaining major stronghold in Iraq and their biggest holding in Iraq and Syria.*
Now,however,OIR is focused intently on recovering Mosul as a crucial step in delivering a lasting defeat to ISIL.Along those lines,the US is sending an additional 560 troops to Iraq for a total of about 4650 engaged in the OIR mission.The new soldiers will be based at the sprawling Qayyarah Air Base,which the ISF,backed by US airpower,recaptured from ISIL on Saturday.Among the troops will be logisticians,engineers,security and communications forces.The troops have received warning orders to deploy and will arrive in country relatively soon,said Lieutenant General Sean McFarland,US Army,commander of OIR forces in Iraq and Syria,who requested the new personnel from the President.Even more such requests could be on the way,a US military official indicated.*
With its two runways for easier movement,Qayyarah will be a key staging area for the recapture of Mosul,and the US forces there will be able to help the ISF complete the southern-most envelopment of Mosul;Kurdish forces are already dug in on the east,north and west of the city.Many of the US troops will be assigned to rehabilitate the base that has been scarred by years of war.The logisticians will help the Iraqis deal with the large formations of ISF that will be transiting through the air base;other US troops will be available to advise and assist the ISF,accompanying them to the battalion level,which is closer to the front lines than the Americans have gone before.Some US forces may help develop the air intelligence stream as the refurbished air base brings US and Iraqi aircraft strategically closer to Mosul than previously.*
Besides Qayyarah Air Base itself,a new Nineveh Liberation Operations Center,referring to Nineveh Province where Mosul is located,has been set up and staffed by dozens of US and British soldiers to coordinate the offensive with their Iraqi colleagues.
Now,however,OIR is focused intently on recovering Mosul as a crucial step in delivering a lasting defeat to ISIL.Along those lines,the US is sending an additional 560 troops to Iraq for a total of about 4650 engaged in the OIR mission.The new soldiers will be based at the sprawling Qayyarah Air Base,which the ISF,backed by US airpower,recaptured from ISIL on Saturday.Among the troops will be logisticians,engineers,security and communications forces.The troops have received warning orders to deploy and will arrive in country relatively soon,said Lieutenant General Sean McFarland,US Army,commander of OIR forces in Iraq and Syria,who requested the new personnel from the President.Even more such requests could be on the way,a US military official indicated.*
With its two runways for easier movement,Qayyarah will be a key staging area for the recapture of Mosul,and the US forces there will be able to help the ISF complete the southern-most envelopment of Mosul;Kurdish forces are already dug in on the east,north and west of the city.Many of the US troops will be assigned to rehabilitate the base that has been scarred by years of war.The logisticians will help the Iraqis deal with the large formations of ISF that will be transiting through the air base;other US troops will be available to advise and assist the ISF,accompanying them to the battalion level,which is closer to the front lines than the Americans have gone before.Some US forces may help develop the air intelligence stream as the refurbished air base brings US and Iraqi aircraft strategically closer to Mosul than previously.*
Besides Qayyarah Air Base itself,a new Nineveh Liberation Operations Center,referring to Nineveh Province where Mosul is located,has been set up and staffed by dozens of US and British soldiers to coordinate the offensive with their Iraqi colleagues.
Monday, July 11, 2016
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
War On ISIL:Air and Artillery Campaign Update
On 4 July 2016,attack,bomber,fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted strikes in Syria,among them:
near Abu Kamal,a strike destroyed 6 ISIL oil wellheads;
near Ayn Isa,a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle;
near Manbij,8 sorties struck ISIL tactical units and destroyed 8 fighting positions and a vehicle.*
In Iraq,fighter,attack and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted strikes coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government.Ground-based artillery fire or in counterfire support to manoeuvre roles is not classified as a strike.Strikes included:
near Beiji,a strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position and a trench;
near Mosul,a strike struck an ISIL bomb factory;
near Sinjar,a strike suppressed ISIL rocket fire;
near Qayyarah,3 strikes destroyed an ISIL excavator,aircraft hangar,2 vehicles,18 rocket rails,11 rockets,a boat and a checkpoint.*
All strikes were conducted by members of the anti-ISIL Operation Inherent Resolve coalition.
near Abu Kamal,a strike destroyed 6 ISIL oil wellheads;
near Ayn Isa,a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle;
near Manbij,8 sorties struck ISIL tactical units and destroyed 8 fighting positions and a vehicle.*
In Iraq,fighter,attack and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted strikes coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government.Ground-based artillery fire or in counterfire support to manoeuvre roles is not classified as a strike.Strikes included:
near Beiji,a strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position and a trench;
near Mosul,a strike struck an ISIL bomb factory;
near Sinjar,a strike suppressed ISIL rocket fire;
near Qayyarah,3 strikes destroyed an ISIL excavator,aircraft hangar,2 vehicles,18 rocket rails,11 rockets,a boat and a checkpoint.*
All strikes were conducted by members of the anti-ISIL Operation Inherent Resolve coalition.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
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