Pacific Perspective:Super Garuda Shield 2023

Exercise Super Garuda Shield 2023 began on 31 August and runs till 13 September 2023.Nations fully participating include:Australia,France,Indonesia,Japan,Singapore,the UK and the US.Observers from several other countries will also be present for the drills:Bruneij,Brazil,Canada,Germany,India,Malaysia,the Netherlands,New Zealand,Papua New Guinea,Republic of Korea and Timor Leste.The exercise is focused on obtaining a stable,secure and more peaceful,free and open Indo-Pacific,said General Charles Flynn,commanding general,U.S. Army Pacific.About 2100 US and 1900 Indonesian TNI service members,out of a total of 5,000 international troops, across multiple service branches will enhance interoperability through training and cultural exchanges,U.S. Embassy Jakarta said in a news release.* The drills,through professional training and combat exercises,will take place in Surabaya and Banyuwortigi,East Java,Indonesia,strengthening the US-Indonesia defence partnership through cooperative learning and enhanced trust.The training involves expert academic exchanges and professional development workshops;a Command and Control simulation;an amphibious drill;airborne operations practise;an airfield seizure exercise;and a combined joint field training culminating in a live-fire event.* Furthermore,a command post drill will focus on mission planning staff in a combined military setting.Field training will feature battalion strength elements from each nation,exercising warfighting skills to enhance interoperability and combat operational capacity.* Said Royal New Zealand Army Colonel Paul Heyward,deputy commander of U.S. 25th Infantry Division,which is providing most of the US Soldiers:This year we are seeing significant expansion,not only across participating nations,but in the depth and complexity of the training we are conducting across Indonesia,the Stars and Stripes newspaper reported.* Paratroopers from the U.S. Army 11th Airborne Division will also participate.The USS Green Bay (LPD 20),a San Antonio-class amphibious dock out of Naval Base Sasebo,Japan will augment the Forces.Designed to transport elements of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU),it is armed with 2x30 mm Bushmaster cannon and 2 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers,as well as 10 .50 caliber machine guns both fore and aft.The Green Bay carries aircraft such as the MV-22B Osprey tilt rotor aircraft;CH53E Super Stallion helicopter;MV-22B Osprey tilt rotor aircraft;CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters;and AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom attack helicopters.The Green Bay also carries Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) or Landing Craft Utility (LCU) and Amphibious Assault Vehicles.

North Korean parade showed off record number of ICBMs, analysts say - Stars and Stripes

North Korean parade showed off record number of ICBMs, analysts say: North Korea held the event marking the 75th anniversary of its army’s founding at the main parade grounds in Pyongyang, where it showcased roughly 15 intercontinental ballistic missiles.

NATO:US Service Member Killed

NATO'S Resolute Support Mission has announced in a press release that a US service member was killed in Afghanistan today,24 November 2018.
In accordance with Department of Defense policy,the service member's identity is being withheld for 24 hours following notification of family.
It is the tenth US death in the Afghan War this year,according to the Stars and Stripes newspaper.About 2400 Americans have died in the war since it began when President George W. Bush dispatched the CIA and US military to Afghanistan in 2001,in order to respond to al-Qaida's 9-11 attacks on the United States.