Archive for November, 2013
SHAKO: Native American Heritage Month
America’s First Defenders
We almost let November go by without mentioning this is National Native American Heritage Month.
Wallace Coffey, chief of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma, left, and Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Chief Gregory Pyle stand during a ceremony in which their tribal citizens received the Congressional Gold Medal in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Nov. 20, 2013
(DoD photo by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Sean K. Harp)
The Department of Defense has acknowledged the contributions of Native Americans to the country’s defense in a number of ceremonies, exhibits and performances. On Capitol Hill earlier in the month, Native American “code talkers” who used their tribal dialects to confuse and stymie the enemy in both Word War I and World War II, were honored in a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony.
The Marine Corps’ Navajo code talkers have gotten a lot of attention, due in part to the 2002 Nicholas Cage film “Wind Talkers,“ but soldiers and Marines from several other tribes including the Comanche, Choctaw and Meswaki thwarted German and Japanese troops listening in on U.S. field telephone and radio communications in both world wars.
Choctaw Indian telephone squad Soldiers pose for a photo, in 1918.
According to the U.S. Army, Choctaw Soldiers joined the 36th Infantry Division in October 1918, becoming some of the Army’s first code talkers. The commander of the 142nd Infantry Regiment, said of them: “The enemy’s complete surprise is evidence that he could not decipher the message.” Within 24 hours after the Choctaw sent their first message, the tide of battle turned and U.S. soldiers drove the Germans out of Foret Ferme, France and the Army set up a Choctaw training program.
Comanche code-talkers of the 4th Signal Company
(U.S. Army Signal Center and Ft. Gordon)
Native Americans didn’t just serve as code talkers. In the Civil War, the Cherokee and other tribes living in what is now the state of Oklahoma fought for both the Blue and the Gray. The War of 1812 also split the Creek (Muscogee) Indians and other tribes in the Southeastern United States. There were Indians with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War and Indians fought on both sides in the Revolutionary War.
Click here to see a list of American Indians who were awarded the Medal of Honor by the U.S. Army. And click here for some first person accounts of Native Americans who served in World W II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Visit the Defense Department web page to learn more about Native Americans in uniform.
Corp. Henry Bake, Jr., and PFC. George H. Kirk, Navajos serving with a Marine Signal Unit in the Pacific War on the island of Bougainville in 1943.
(Marine Corps photo)
SHAKO is an occasional 4GWAR posting on military history, traditions and culture. For the uninitiated, a shako is the tall, billed headgear worn by many armies from the Napoleonic era to about the time of the American Civil War. It remains a part of the dress or parade uniform of several military organizations like the corps of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York.
FRIDAY FOTO (November 29, 2013)
Sunset Patrol
(Photo by Cpl. Mark Doran, Australian Defense Force)
Soldiers with the 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, patrol at Multinational Base Tirin Kot, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan. The Australians are assigned to the U.S. Army 2nd Cavalry Regiment Task Force.
DISASTER RELIEF: Typhoon Assistance from International Militaries
U.S. Scaling Back
Nearly three weeks after first responding to the typhoon that ravaged the central Philippines, U.S. Marines are reducing their presence in the disaster zone as the need for their unique skills decrease, officials say. Priorities are shifting from emergency relief to long term recovery operations.
The after effects of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban,
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by MSgt Antoine Robinson)
The area in and around Tacloban City on the island of Leyte was destroyed November 8 when Typhoon Haiyan (also known as Typhoon Yolanda) struck the area, packing winds reaching over 200 mile per hour. The island of Samar was also hard hit by the super storm. More than 5,000 people died during and after the storm, according to CNN.. Thousands more were injured and more than 1 million people were left homeless.
The first U.S. military assistance arrived on November 10 with two KC-130J Super Hercules tanker/transport aircraft carrying about 80 Marines from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (3rd MEB). The Marines’ MV-22 helicopter/fixed wing hybrid has also been flying relief missions in the Philippines as well as MH-60s Seahawks helos and Navy P-3C maritime surveillance and Air Force C-130 Globemaster heavy lift transport airplanes.
The were quickly joined by an eight vessel strike force headed by the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). The task force includes two guided missile cruisers, two guided missile destroyers and a dry cargo transport ship. On November 22, two amphibious dock landing ships – the USS Ashland and the USS Germantown – replaced the aircraft carrier and its 21 helicopters which delivered relief supplies including food and bottled water to devastated areas of the Philippines.
The Air Force has also been flying its large surveillance drone, the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk over the Philippines disaster area, to help relief workers plan helicopter landing zones and check the status of storm damaged roads and bridges, according to Maj. Ryan Simms, chief of remotely piloted aircraft policy at Air Force headquarters Executive Action Group. The high flying drone has completed three missions, supplying 50 hours’ worth of images, he told a session on non-military uses of unmanned aircraft at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank.
The Ashland and Germantown each carry landing craft for moving large amounts of cargo and equipment ashore. The 900 Marines aboard the two workhorse ships bring heavy equipment which can clear debris.
Joint Task Force 505 (JTF 505) was created by U.S. Pacific Command on November 13 to conduct humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in support of the Philippine government and its armed forces.
At its height, JTF 505 included nearly 850 personnel on the ground and an additional 6,200 in the George Washington Strike Group. An additional 1,000 Marines and sailors with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) also were sent to aid the Philippines. Personnel and equipment from the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps have come from Hawaii, Okinawa, Japan and the continental United States, according to the Defense Department.
The British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious is also in the Philippines carrying about 500 tons of aid supplies and seven helicopters to deliver them, Sky News reports. Sailors from the HMS Darling supplied fresh water and other relief aid to starving, homeless villagers on remote islands, the Telegraph reported. Japan has sent three naval warships and more than 1,000 personnel to the Philippines on a relief mission, according to the website Euronews.
And Canada has sent a 200 member Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), including Canadian soldiers, three CH-146 Griffon helicopters and a water purification system that can produce 50,000 liters of pure water a day, reported Canadian Press via the Huffington Post.
Philippine civilians surround an MH-60S Seahawk from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 12 as it delivers relief supplies.
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Peter Burghart)
U.S. humanitarian assistance — especially from the U.S. military — has been a goodwill bonus to America, which has seen its popularity battered internationally because of controversial drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen and meta data collection by the National Security Agency. By contrast, China — which at first donated only $100,000 in assistance — suffered a public relations black eye in world opinion. Beijing scrambled to improve its reputation by increasing its aid donation to $1.6 billion and sending a hospital ship, the 300-bed Peace Ark to Philippine waters, the BBC reported.
Like many of its neighbors around the South China Sea, the Philippine government has been in a bitter territorial dispute with China.
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FRIDAY FOTO (November 22, 2013)
Changing of the Guard
U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. David J. Loeffler
A U.S. Air Force F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jet piloted by Col. John York leads an F-16C Fighting Falcon flown by Lt. Col. Sean Navin on the Falcon’s final mission for the 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard in Fresno, California.
The F-16s have been transferred to the 162nd Fighter Wing in Tucson, Ariz., after the 144th Fighter Wing received the F-15 as its new airframe. York is the 144th Operations Group commander. Navin is the commander of the 194th Fighter Squadron.
FRIDAY FOTO Extra (November 22, 2013)
Alaska Dawn
(U.S. Air Force photo by Justin Connaher)
This beautiful shot was going to be the Friday Foto today until we realized this was a static display of a retired F-15. However, it’s still a nice photo, so here it is. This McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle resides at Heritage Park near U.S. Air Force 3rd Wing headquarters. We see it here just as the sub-arctic dawn breaks over Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.
The 3rd Wing flies the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor stealth fighter as well as the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy lift and the Beechcraft C-12 light cargo and passenger aircraft and the E-3 Sentry AWACS (airborne warning and control system) aircraft.
AROUND AFRICA: Joseph Kony Surrender Talk; Nigeria vs. Boko Haram, Swedish Drone on East African Anti-pirate Patrol
UPDATE1
End of the Road for LRA Leader?
Is he really sick? Does he seriously want to surrender? Those were the questions swirling around Joseph Kony, leader of the infamous, brutal rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army. An African Union official told reporters at United Nations headquarters Wednesday (November 20) that many reports say Kony – who has been indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court – is seriously ill and on the run along the borders of Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR), according to the Associated Press.
Uganda and neighbors
(CIA World Factbook)
Ambassador Francisco Madeira told reporters the nature of Kony’s illness isn’t known, but he said Michael Djotodia, president of the Central African Republic (CAR) told him that his people had been in contact with Kony.
A spokesman for Djotodia went even farther, telling the Voice of America that Djotodia has talked with Kony by phone and that Kony said he is ready to put down his arms and come in from the bush.
The spokesman said Kony is in the southern part of the CAR near the Democratic Republic of the Congo with some 7,000 fighters. Past estimates have placed Kony’s troop strength as less than a thousand.
But U.S. Officials are skeptical that Kony means to surrender, the BBC reported. A State Department official told the British broadcaster that while some rebels have been in contact with authorities but Kony is not among them. Kony created the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the 1980s as a popular uprising against the Ugandan government. But the LRA was driven out of Uganda in 2005 and has been wandering between the CAR, the DRC and South Sudan, wreaking havoc, killing villagers and soldiers and abducting children to serve as child soldiers and sex slaves.
A contingent of U.S. Special Operations Forces have been advising African troops in the hunt for Kony and the LRA. The U.S. is offering a $5 million reward for him.
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Battling Boko Haram
Lawmakers in Nigeria have approved a six-month extension of a state of emergency declaration in areas of the West African nation where troops are fighting Islamist militants, the Voice of America reports.
Nigeria
(CIA World Factbook map)
President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the northeastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa in May, as part of an effort to defeat the violent militant group Boko Haram.
Last week (November 13) the U.S. State Department declared Boko Haram and a splinter group, Ansaru, as foreign terrorist organizations. The U.S. government finding labeled Boko Haram a “militant group with links to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)” – al Qaeda’s North African affiliate.
The State Department designation held Boko Haram responsible “for thousands of deaths in northeast and central Nigeria over the last several years – including targeted killings of civilians.” It accused the group of a “brutal campaign” against Nigerian military, government and civilian targets including a September attack that killed more than 160 civilians in Benisheikh and a 2011 suicide bombing at United Nations headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, that left 21 dead and dozens injured.
U.S. officials accused Ansaru, a smaller group which split with Boko Haram in January 2012, of attacking the Nigerian military and Western targets like the kidnapping and execution of seven international construction workers earlier this year.
Despite the inroads Nigerian security forces have made against the jihadist group in urban areas, Boko Haram killings and kidnappings have increased in rural areas, says John Campbell, a senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations. On the CFR Blog, Africa in Transition, Campbell says there are reports Boko Haram is now targeting – and beheading – truck drivers on the road between Kano and Maiduguri (see map, click to enlarge image) in northeast Nigeria, where the group is trying to impose strict Islamic sharia law.
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Horn of Africa
Saab Skeldar V-200 UAS
(Photo by Stefan Kalun, Copyright Saab AB)
Saab’s Skeldar Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) has been operationally deployed aboard a Spanish naval vessel on anti-piracy duty in the Gulf of Aden off the Horn of Africa, the African defense and security website Defence Web reports.
Skeldar is an unmanned rotary wing short-to-medium range aircraft. Mikael Franzen, director of tactical UAS for the Swedish defense contractor, said the Skeldar V-200 is being operated together with a manned helicopter to extend the ship’s surveillance reach in counter piracy activities by the European Union’s Operation Atalanta anti-piracy mission in the Indian Ocean .
The unmanned helo is based on the Spanish Navy offshore patrol vessel BAM Meteoro. Prior to being deployed in the Atalanta mission, Skeldar unerwent successful sea trials aboard the BAM Relampago in the waters off the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, Defence Web said.
SPECIAL OPERATIONS: SOCOM Looks for Partners – Here and Abroad
Money’s Tight but Threats Are Growing
U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) may be best known for rescuing pirate captives in and around the Horn of Africa and taking out al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in Pakistan …
A Green Beret from 7th Special Forces Group inspects a soldier from the 15th Fuerzas Especiales Battalion, at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras before a joint airborne exercise. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Steven K. Young)
… but that’s only a small part of what the SOF community does, says Adm. William McRaven, head of U.S. Special Operations Command – which oversees the organization, training and equipping of SOF in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
“Our core competency is understanding this human domain,” McRaven, a Navy SEAL, said during a panel discussion at last month’s Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) conference in Washington. He was referring to understanding the language, culture, history and human networks of any given battle space before operations begin – whether counter insurgency or hostage rescue.
And that competency will be crucial in future conflicts where landpower intersects with the human and cyber domains, said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno, another member of the panel discussing the human nature of war and its implications for strategic landpower at AUSA. “Human interaction in a complex environment is going to be key to our success in the future,” Odierno said, noting: “I see SOF as the connective tissue between the [local] population and the conventional forces.”
McRaven has been telling audiences that as threats rise globally – but defense funding dwindles in coming years – SOF is going to have to partner with foreign allies, NATO forces and other agencies within the U.S. government like the State Department to accomplish its missions.
“We have limited resources, we have to figure out where we’re going to apply those resources,” McRaven told the Aspen Institute Security Forum in July. But he noted that working with partners is nothing new to SOF. “The larger part of what we do is help build partner capacity,” McRaven told the Aspen, Colorado conference.
A Marine with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command provides security at a landing zone in Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand Province.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Kyle McNally)
To read more of this article, go to the Institute of Defense and Government Advancement‘s website.
FRIDAY FOTO (November 15, 2013)
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ricardo R. Guzman)
DISASTER RELIEF: Post Typhoon Gridlock Stalling Relief Efforts
Racing Against Time
Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher Pring coordinates the loading of pallets of water with the Philippine Air Force for transport at Vilamor Air Base in Manila.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Codey Underwood)
In the typhoon-ravaged Philippines there is finally a speck of good news. The country’s president says the death toll is expected to be far lower than the early estimates of at least 10,000 dead.
But the region hardest hit by Typhoon Haiyan is still largely cut off from humanitarian aid and rescue workers by debris, blocked roads and a near total infrastructure collapse.
The official death toll stood at 1,833 Wednesday (November 13) morning – including nearly 1,300 in the province of Leyte. At least 244 people were killed in Tacloban City, Leyte’s provincial capital, NBC reported.
On Sunday – two days after the storm smashed into the Philippines, packing winds of 195 miles per hour – a regional police official estimated the death toll could hit 10,000. But President Benigno Aquino told CNN that the figure might go above 3,000 dead. But “ten thousand, I think, is too much, Aquino said.
Meanwhile, hungry thirsty survivors are scouring the wreckage hoping to find scraps of food and water.
Rescue operations are being hampered by the devastation, the New York Times reported, with aid supplies piling up but few ways to distribute it. The are plentiful gasoline supplies but no merchants willing to sell it. And there is no place to house the growing number of emergency volunteers, the Times reported.
The Philippine government says it is facing the biggest logistical challenge it has ever encountered. As many as 11 million people have been affected by the monster storm, the BBC reported. Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras said the government had been overwhelmed by the storm’s impact, one of the most powerful storms on record.
U.S. military planes have been arriving at Tacloban’s shattered airport, delivering supplies from the World Food program, which is then transported by helicopter to hard-hit areas. The BBC said a French-Beligian field hospital has been set up in Tacloban.
Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said 250 sailors and Marines from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) are on the ground operating from Philippine air bases. The Marines have four KC-130 transport aircraft and four MV-22 Osprey aircraft to bring in supplies and evacuate the injured and displaced. The key supplies include water, food, shelter, hygiene products and medical supplies. Another four Ospreys were sent from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Japan — bringing the number of MV-22s sent as aide to Japan — as eight.
The Philippine government says it is facing its biggest ever logistical challenge after Typhoon Haiyan, which affected as many as 11 million people. Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras said the government had been overwhelmed by the impact of Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record.
Civilians displaced by Typhoon Haiyan board a U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J Super Hercules at Tacloban Air Base, Nov. 13, before being transported to Manila.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Anne K. Henry)
LESSONS LEARNED: Veterans Day 2013
Home is the Sailor
Engineman 1st Class Kevin Ives — assigned to the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) — embraces his sons during a homecoming celebration at Naval Base San Diego. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Christopher Farrington)
Maybe it’s just us, but it seems like more organizations and individuals are making a bigger fuss about Veterans Day this year.
Is it because after a dozen years of war, most American troops will be out of Afghanistan by about this time next year? December 2014 is the deadline for the U.S. and NATO troops to end their combat role in Afghanistan, turning over responsibility for the war-torn country’s security to the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police.
It could also be that with each passing year, more and more World War II veterans – the Greatest Generation – are passing away.
Whatever the reason, there seems to be more commemorations – including a new Medal of Honor stamp – this year, as well as dedications, reunions, parades, receptions, commercial offerings, flags flying and news stories about the heroism of U.S. troops over the past 238 years and the hardships confronting many vets today.
With all that in mind, we decided to include the above photo – which someone on the Pentagon website cleverly headlined “All Hands on Dad” – in this year’s November 11 Blog.
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In May, on Memorial Day, America remembers the honored dead, those who gave their lives in this country’s wars since 1775.
On Veteran’s Day every November, Americans honor the living who served or continue to serve in uniform. Nov. 11 is the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I – the “War to End All Wars” in 1918. Unfortunately, history has proven that was an overly optimistic term for what turned out to be the First World War.
After years of bloodshed in the 20th and early 21st centuries, we’d like to pause here – through the above photo – to remember the sacrifice of all those who serve their country in both war and peace. Even far from a combat zone, many of them have risky jobs on aircraft carrier decks, in fast moving Humvees and high flying aircraft. There is hard work, as well as danger, in airplane hangars and ships at sea. Depots and warehouses are stuffed with equipment and supplies that can blow up, burn, sicken or maim the humans working nearby.
It’s also a time to reflect on the sacrifices of veterans’ families who, like the little boys in the photo, suffer the absence of a loved one for months — or longer.
After reading the stories in the links above, we realize that remembering and thanking veterans for their service isn’t enough. We as a nation have to do something to make sure the people who put themselves at risk have a place to live, a job with a decent wage and the healthcare they richly deserve. They did their duty. Now we have to do ours.
More on this in future postings.
4GWAR 
