Tuesday, June 21, 2016
US Army Europe:How Russia Troubles Them
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges,Commander,US Army Europe,shared his perspective with the BBC's Stephen Sackur:
The thing I worry about the most,LTGEN Hodges said,is the freedom of movement.The Russians are able to move huge formations and lots of equipment across a long distance very fast.Their snap exercises that they do,I personally am surprised each time they do it,and so you can see why that scares me.When 20,000 troops or a lot of equipment shows up on the border of a NATO country or a country like Georgia or Ukraine,that is concerning.
The Russians have what we call freedom of movement on interior lines.They can move anywhere inside Russia as fast as they want.In order for our political leaders to have other options than a liberation campaign,we need to match that same speed inside NATO.We need what I call a military Schengen Zone that would allow the military to move inside a British convoy;an American convoy;a German convoy-should be able to go anywhere inside NATO in order to have the same freedom of movement.
I'm talking about three days-three days' notification-we ought to be able to do that.We absolutely don't have that now.I think that's a necessary part of this deterrence,that the Alliance is shifting from assurance to deterrence.Deterrence is in the mind of a potential adversary.We absolutely do have deterrence,but my mind is uneasy that we have the ability to assemble quickly,for others to be able to assemble quickly,and so I'm going to continue trying to explain why this matters.It's not for our convenience;it's for the ability to give political leaders options short of having to do a liberation campaign,USAEUR's LTGEN Ben Hodges re-emphasised to the BBC.
The thing I worry about the most,LTGEN Hodges said,is the freedom of movement.The Russians are able to move huge formations and lots of equipment across a long distance very fast.Their snap exercises that they do,I personally am surprised each time they do it,and so you can see why that scares me.When 20,000 troops or a lot of equipment shows up on the border of a NATO country or a country like Georgia or Ukraine,that is concerning.
The Russians have what we call freedom of movement on interior lines.They can move anywhere inside Russia as fast as they want.In order for our political leaders to have other options than a liberation campaign,we need to match that same speed inside NATO.We need what I call a military Schengen Zone that would allow the military to move inside a British convoy;an American convoy;a German convoy-should be able to go anywhere inside NATO in order to have the same freedom of movement.
I'm talking about three days-three days' notification-we ought to be able to do that.We absolutely don't have that now.I think that's a necessary part of this deterrence,that the Alliance is shifting from assurance to deterrence.Deterrence is in the mind of a potential adversary.We absolutely do have deterrence,but my mind is uneasy that we have the ability to assemble quickly,for others to be able to assemble quickly,and so I'm going to continue trying to explain why this matters.It's not for our convenience;it's for the ability to give political leaders options short of having to do a liberation campaign,USAEUR's LTGEN Ben Hodges re-emphasised to the BBC.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
War On ISIL:US Army Artillery,Helicopters Open Up on Militants
The US Army is becoming more active in the anti-ISIL effort Operation Inherent Resolve.On 3 June 2016,soldiers with 1st Battalion,320 Field Artillery Regiment,2nd Brigade Combat Team,101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) fired an M777 howitzer from Kara Soar Counter Fire Complex,Iraq during a night operation in support of the Iraqi Army.Such fire missions enable the Iraqi Army to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant,Combined Joint Task Force-OIR said.
Kara Soar CFC was established in March 2016 and was initially manned by US Marines of Task Force Spartan,the last 170 of whom departed from the fire base for Camp Lejeune,North Carolina on 10 June 2016.They were relieved by the 101st Airborne troops.About 15 miles/24 kilometers from ISIL territory,Kara Soar in Northern Iraq is a key staging area for the Iraqi Army's mission to retake Mosul from ISIL.*
In other US Army activity in Iraq,AH-64 Apache helicopters have been used in OIR combat operations for the first time,US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters on his way to the NATO Defence Ministers meeting in Brussels,Belgium.More than one Apache was sent to assist in the effort to recapture Mosul on 3 June 2016,and one of these attack helos fired on and struck an ISIL vehicle.The Apaches have been in Iraq since early spring and are at the disposal of the Iraqi government in their campaign against the Islamist extremist militants.
Kara Soar CFC was established in March 2016 and was initially manned by US Marines of Task Force Spartan,the last 170 of whom departed from the fire base for Camp Lejeune,North Carolina on 10 June 2016.They were relieved by the 101st Airborne troops.About 15 miles/24 kilometers from ISIL territory,Kara Soar in Northern Iraq is a key staging area for the Iraqi Army's mission to retake Mosul from ISIL.*
In other US Army activity in Iraq,AH-64 Apache helicopters have been used in OIR combat operations for the first time,US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters on his way to the NATO Defence Ministers meeting in Brussels,Belgium.More than one Apache was sent to assist in the effort to recapture Mosul on 3 June 2016,and one of these attack helos fired on and struck an ISIL vehicle.The Apaches have been in Iraq since early spring and are at the disposal of the Iraqi government in their campaign against the Islamist extremist militants.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
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