Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Can Somalia Find the Will - and the Way - to Fight Its Own Piracy?
My most recent ‘road to Damascus’ experience struck me as I waded through knee-high piles of research material in my office - all part of an on-going search for the raison d'être of Somali Piracy. It was a revelation of sorts as it is one of those questions that only begets more of the same, but it led me down a path we have all, up to this point, tried so hard to avoid:
“Why won’t the outside world fully support legitimate Somalis to fight piracy and terrorism?”
Read the full article at: http://ping.fm/cgRy5
“Why won’t the outside world fully support legitimate Somalis to fight piracy and terrorism?”
Read the full article at: http://ping.fm/cgRy5
Friday, 6 May 2011
Top Army bomb squad officer who resigned reveals IED training problems
During the week of 17 May, Defence IQ (http://ping.fm/2Chj7) will be airing an exclusive interview with the British Army’s most senior counter-IED operator, Colonel Bob Seddon.
The 45 minute exposé, conducted with Defence IQ’s Senior Editor Robert Densmore, is Colonel Seddon’s first public interview since his retirement took effect on 26 April 2011. Having served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, he became well known for his criticism of MoD provisions for training and recruiting IED operators.
Col Seddon served as principal ammunition technical officer of the Royal Logistics Corps and announced his intention to retire in May of 2010, during which time the MoD stated he could only comment in a limited capacity on IED operations in Afghanistan.
The former IED operator, who appeared dressed in civilian attire, commented in length about how he felt the war in Afghanistan was progressing and how the Taliban’s IED tactics have evolved as well as describing the human cost of IED warfare.
For the first time since initially expressing dissatisfaction over British Army policy, Colonel Seddon opened up in front of the cameras about his experience with the personal cost of the Afghan conflict. The interview can be viewed on demand at www.defenceiq.com beginning 17 May.
Col Seddon will be chairing the 5th Annual Counter-IEDs event, to be held on 20-22 June 2011 at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London. To register, visit www.c-ieds.com.
The 45 minute exposé, conducted with Defence IQ’s Senior Editor Robert Densmore, is Colonel Seddon’s first public interview since his retirement took effect on 26 April 2011. Having served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, he became well known for his criticism of MoD provisions for training and recruiting IED operators.
Col Seddon served as principal ammunition technical officer of the Royal Logistics Corps and announced his intention to retire in May of 2010, during which time the MoD stated he could only comment in a limited capacity on IED operations in Afghanistan.
The former IED operator, who appeared dressed in civilian attire, commented in length about how he felt the war in Afghanistan was progressing and how the Taliban’s IED tactics have evolved as well as describing the human cost of IED warfare.
For the first time since initially expressing dissatisfaction over British Army policy, Colonel Seddon opened up in front of the cameras about his experience with the personal cost of the Afghan conflict. The interview can be viewed on demand at www.defenceiq.com beginning 17 May.
Col Seddon will be chairing the 5th Annual Counter-IEDs event, to be held on 20-22 June 2011 at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London. To register, visit www.c-ieds.com.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Rule Number One for Effective Information Operations in the Field: Access Equals Power - http://ping.fm/t2NTJ
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Afghans will be ready to take up the IED challenge by 2014 says ISAF
Ahead of the annual Counter IED conference in London this June, the ISAF Counter-IED (improvised explosive device) Chief of Staff has stated that he is confident that Afghan forces will be both trained and equipped to a sufficient standard to take on the role of defeating the insurgent devices when coalition forces are eventually withdrawn from Afghanistan.
In a recent Defence IQ podcast interview, Lt. Col. Martin Gliniecki of the British Armed Forces and head of the strategy at HQ ISAF to counter the ever-present threat of IEDs, forecast the readiness of Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) by 2014.
“The start of the training is overseen by NTMA (NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan), setting the standards required, so only then will we allow either soldiers or a contractor to train against that requirement, and therefore we are pretty confident that they are trained and assessed to the right competencies,” he said.
“Certainly no EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) Afghan will be going out without the right equipment if, we as ISAF, as mentors, are doing our jobs properly.
“In the timeframe of 2014, we should be able to develop, with our current strategy, the right number of EOD teams with the right capabilities and equipment in time. That’s certainly the plan.”
Gliniecki went on to point out that a decrease in casualties will be an encouragement to Afghan forces when the hand-over takes place.
The overall strategy is being driven by General David Petraeus’s campaign plan, which includes the three elements of protecting the population, supporting the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), and neutralising the insurgent network.
The interview also details the methods that Afghan troops undertake in their training, and elaborated on the process of feeding back frontline information to the commanders formulating strategy and equipment requirements.
Gliniecki will be running a live video stream session from Afghanistan at the 5th Annual Counter IED conference to cover these issues in detail.
The 2011 event, hosted by Defence IQ, is set to present focused sessions that include analysis by the U.K. MoD on staying ahead of the evolving IED capabilities, U.S. Army insight into the use of forensics to trace networks more effectively, and multinational approaches to training and coordination in order to meet national objectives.
The full audio interview can be listened to at http://bit.ly/iS1HC9.
To find out more about the event, which will take place on June 20-22 in London, visit www.c-ieds.com. Alternatively, call +44 (0) 20 7368 9334, or email defence@iqpc.co.uk.
In a recent Defence IQ podcast interview, Lt. Col. Martin Gliniecki of the British Armed Forces and head of the strategy at HQ ISAF to counter the ever-present threat of IEDs, forecast the readiness of Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) by 2014.
“The start of the training is overseen by NTMA (NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan), setting the standards required, so only then will we allow either soldiers or a contractor to train against that requirement, and therefore we are pretty confident that they are trained and assessed to the right competencies,” he said.
“Certainly no EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) Afghan will be going out without the right equipment if, we as ISAF, as mentors, are doing our jobs properly.
“In the timeframe of 2014, we should be able to develop, with our current strategy, the right number of EOD teams with the right capabilities and equipment in time. That’s certainly the plan.”
Gliniecki went on to point out that a decrease in casualties will be an encouragement to Afghan forces when the hand-over takes place.
The overall strategy is being driven by General David Petraeus’s campaign plan, which includes the three elements of protecting the population, supporting the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), and neutralising the insurgent network.
The interview also details the methods that Afghan troops undertake in their training, and elaborated on the process of feeding back frontline information to the commanders formulating strategy and equipment requirements.
Gliniecki will be running a live video stream session from Afghanistan at the 5th Annual Counter IED conference to cover these issues in detail.
The 2011 event, hosted by Defence IQ, is set to present focused sessions that include analysis by the U.K. MoD on staying ahead of the evolving IED capabilities, U.S. Army insight into the use of forensics to trace networks more effectively, and multinational approaches to training and coordination in order to meet national objectives.
The full audio interview can be listened to at http://bit.ly/iS1HC9.
To find out more about the event, which will take place on June 20-22 in London, visit www.c-ieds.com. Alternatively, call +44 (0) 20 7368 9334, or email defence@iqpc.co.uk.
Yankee Military Dollars Trade Up in Global Defence Markets
In the cagey and competitive world of defence spending, the US still stands alone as the key trendsetter. American global dominance in the arena means that all the world’s major military spenders make their decisions with due deference to which direction the stars and stripes are waving. In Germany, the decision to focus on heavy lift capability through the A400M project was taken with at least one eye on the apparent gap left by the US’ strong emphasis on conventional capabilities. In China, defence policy is, nearly without exception, formulated in response to Washington; a recent aerospace conference in Zhuhai boasted a larger-than-life diorama showing a US aircraft carrier patrolling the Yangtze. The importance of the US to global defence purchasing means that sensible predictions about the US’ likely medium-term decisions are a vital tool for policymakers and defence executives alike.
Read the full article at: http://ping.fm/PKmmM
Read the full article at: http://ping.fm/PKmmM
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