Archive for category News

Photo: Iraqi special operations forces

Iraqi special operations forces run toward a Black hawk helicopter during a joint air-insertion training exercise, Oct. 2. Soldiers from the Pennsylvania National Guard's Company B, 1st Battalion, 150th Aviation Regiment, supported the training exercise. Photo by Sgt. Matthew Jones

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Taliban using children to plant IEDs

“In mid-May, a 9-year-old boy and his 4-year-old spotter died when an IED they were laying blew up, Kidnie said. And on June 6, two Afghan kids, aged 11 and 8, were caught in the act of planting an IED. Their hands tested positive for explosive residue, Brown added.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/836407–on-the-battlefield-canadian-soldiers-get-permission-to-shoot

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Oscar Company savoring some payback

Canadian soldiers patrolling for IEDs in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, are finding it easier to take out insurgents due to a shortened "kill chain." LOUIE PALU/THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO

“Oh ya, baby!” one soldier shouted up at the sky as the airborne gatling gun spewed repeated bursts. Whoops and cheers rippled across the dust-blown camp.

In a war where the enemy hides in villages, and fights mainly with homemade bombs hidden in cooking pots, water jugs, farmer’s fields and trees, it’s not often Canadian soldiers get to fight back.

Oscar Company was savouring some payback, a sweet taste they’ve been enjoying more often in recent days.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/836407–on-the-battlefield-canadian-soldiers-get-permission-to-shoot

Canadian Commander in Afghanistan Brigadier-General Jonathan Vance

Since Brigadier-General Jon Vance returned to take command in early June, the kill chain has been cut shorter, and Canadian troops on the battlefields of eastern Panjwai district say it’s getting easier to take the fight to the insurgents.

Major Steve Brown, commander of Oscar Company, in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment battle group, called Vance “a no-nonsense kind of guy” whose personality has helped reshape battlefield operations.

We’re getting quite a few stories about the frustration soldiers are having with the operational restrictions brought in by McChrystal (which was actually the focus of the Rolling Stone article that got him fired). I can understand the frustration…but let’s remember why those restrictions were brought in, yes? It’s the big picture. The negative effects of dead civilians almost always outweigh the benefits of dead Taliban.

http://canada-afghanistan.blogspot.com/

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“Always we women should do the sacrifice?”

Governor of Bamyan Province, Dr Habiba Sorabi

“Habiba Sorabi, the governor of the Bamiyan province — where the Taliban terrorized Shiite members of the Hazara minority during their rule, and destroyed ancient Buddhist monuments — rejected a suggestion from a minister in the national government that women would have to “be sacrificed” in return for a deal with the fundamentalist insurgents. Speaking in English to a crew from Channel 4 News, Ms. Sorabi said:

“Why are they not doing the sacrifice? Always we women should do the sacrifice? Always women during the war and during the conflict, for a long period in Afghanistan, women sacrificed. So this is enough I think.”

Ms. Sorabi was not invited to the conference in Kabul, the Afghan capital, on Tuesday.

http://canada-afghanistan.blogspot.com/

The Canada-Afghanistan Blog: Nation-building in Afghanistan is a noble and justified cause, consistent with our broad Canadian values of democracy and human rights. We recognize the military aspect is a vital, but not sufficient, component of this mission.

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Riding with Ghosts

“Doing the Canadian thing: getting the job done without all of the fuss and fanfare.”

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN—We are motoring down a bare-dirt back road in Kandahar Province, a road where NATO patrols never go. This way is better, explains the ghost behind the wheel, because roads without soldiers tend not to explode….

…Nearly every other civilian foreigner has fled Kandahar. Some have taken refuge inside nearby NATO bases, others have retreated to comparably calmer Kabul. But not Team Canada, despite the rash of bombs and targeted killings that torment this crucial southern city. They are working under the radar to rapidly turn tens of millions of international aid dollars into jobs for thousands of Afghan men.

Fighting-age Afghan men, you understand, some of whom, in their desperation for income, would join the only other gainful employers in town — the cash-paying Taliban, or, more likely, one of the corrupt private armies that Panjwaii Tim assesses bluntly as “akin to the Sicilian mafia.”

Never mind hearts and minds, Team Canada is about hands and bellies — a largely invisible aid network on the front line, offering stay-alive sustenance to Afghans who might otherwise plant roadside bombs aimed at sending more Canadian bodies home down the Highway of Heroes…

…“They are the best crew in the country,” the blogger, Tim Lynch, an American contractor who does work similar to Team Canada in safer Nangahar Province, wrote in an email to the Star. “They have balls the size of grapefruit.”

http://freerangeinternational.com/blog/?p=3357

Afghans soldiers during a patrol near Kandahar.

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The Military in Pictures

An MV-22B Osprey from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, prepares to land on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan during routine flight operations.

Members of Task Force Cyclone load a Chinook helicopter while another lands in Surkh-e Parsa district, Parwan province, Afghanistan, Nov. 16. Task Force Cyclone's mission was to check on current building projects, meet with Afghan police officials and talk with civilians about concerns in the area. Photo by Spc. William Henry

An Afghan national army soldier speaks with the elder of one of the villages visited Sept. 23 during Operation Gator Crawl. Photo by Cpl. Daniel Flynn

http://www.freemilitaryphotos.com/photo/03-23-2010/operation-enduring-freedom-ghazni-prt

An Indiana National Guard Soldier fires his M4 Assault Rifle on a range at the Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center in central Indiana, Jan. 22. His unit is training for deployment to Afghanistan slated for the following

Petty Officer Scott "Doc K" Kuniyuki, Medic from Provincial Reconstruction Team Ghazni, provides security for the landing zone during 9-line training with Polish medics and Special Forces along with U.S. Army personnel on the side of a mountain inside Ghazni province, Afghanistan. Photo by Master Sgt. Sarah Webb

An F/A-18C Hornet from Carrier Air Wing 5 prepares to land aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. George Washington, the Navy's only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier, is underway supporting security and stability in the western Pacific Ocean. Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class John Hageman

U.S. Army Sgt. Benjamin Cascarano, from Lisle, Ill., Security Forces member assigned to Ghazni Provincial Reconstruction Team, keeps watch as members of the Ghazni PRT conduct a quality assurance/quality control inspection at the construction site of the Ergato comprehensive health clinic located in Waghez district, Ghazni province, Feb. 3. Photo by Master Sgt. Sarah Webb Date: 02.03.2010

U.S. Soldiers with Bravo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment fire a 155mm illumination round using an M-777A2 towed howitzer at Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, Jan. 10. (Photo by: Tech Sgt. Francisco V. Govea II)

MV-22B Ospreys with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (Reinforced), 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, fly over the Egyptian coastline during Exercise Bright Star 2009 in Egypt, Oct. 12. The multinational exercise is designed to improve readiness, interoperability, and strengthen the military and professional relationships among U.S., Egyptian and participating forces

Residents of western Paktika stand in line to receive saplings handed out by members of the provincial government, the Paktika Provincial Reconstruction Team, and the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, March 24. Afghan national security forces escorted the tree saplings to their respective district for distribution as well as providing security for the class and distribution process to prevent thievery and corruption. These trees will be equally distributed and planted throughout the region in order to allow the root systems to hold the soil in place.

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Juarez Graffiti Message to U.S. law enforcement Warns of Another Car Bomb

“A graffiti message found Sunday night in Juárez warned U.S. law enforcement that another car bombing will occur if they do not arrest corrupt federal police agents.

The unsigned message told the FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate authorities that support the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Otherwise, there will be another car bomb placed in Juárez to kill federal police, the threat stated.

“If in 15 days, there is no response with detention of corrupt federales, we will put a car with 100 kilos of C4,” the message read.”

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/07/graffiti-message-in-juarez-warns-of.html

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More Dead in Nuevo Laredo

Nuevo Laredo

“More bloody gunbattles erupted in Nuevo Laredo on Wednesday night, leaving several people dead and an unknown number injured as armed gunmen fought each other through the streets near the center of the city, on Colosio Boulevard in the Parque Viveros area, on Guerrero, on Reforma and other parts of the city.

“I saw a dead body hanging out of a car,” near the restored historic train station downtown, said one witness who asked not to be identified.

Special Forces Police in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico

On Monday, an unknown person dressed in civilian clothes tossed a grenade into a late-night crowd at a sports complex, killing one person and injuring 16, including several children.”

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/

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Man saves family from road-side robbery, shoots assailant

David Jayquon Jakes of Smoaks, armed robbery suspect

“…At that time, a silver-colored sedan pulled up occupied by three individuals and a male subject, later identified as David Jayquon Jakes, 19, exited the back seat and pointed a large caliber handgun at one of the women.

The victims said Jakes was covering his face with a cloth of some type and started ordering her as he referred to her as “pretty lady.” At that time, the woman’s son-in-law stood up from behind his vehicle and she ran to her daughter as they took cover.

Her son-in-law was armed and drew his weapon and ordered them to leave several times. As Jakes turned and pointed his large caliber weapon, the son-in-law fired several rounds striking Jakes who then fell to the ground and dropped his weapon.

The two subjects in the suspect vehicle helped the wounded Jakes back into their vehicle and fired several rounds back at the victim and then drove away.

A short time later, the Colleton Regional Hospital staff notified the Sheriff’s Office that they just had an individual come in to their emergency room with several gun shot wounds.”

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12598387

“The man who shot him recently returned from the Middle East as an Army Specialist and has a concealed weapons permit to carry his weapon.

Sheriff George Malone said he will not be charged since he acted in self-defense.”

http://www2.counton2.com/cbd/news/local/article/driver_working_on_broken_down_vehicle_in_colleton_co._shoots_armed_robber/143852/

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“I always ALWAYS carry a knife”

“I always ALWAYS carry a knife. I have a few that I mix it up with. A nice 4 inch Gerber, a small Swiss army, a jack knife I got from my grandfather.

My reason is a little sad so be forewarned. When I was young (8-10) My brother and I were friends with these kids across town named Rob and Tom. We were over at their house or them at ours at least 5 nights a week. One night we were building a bridge out of sticks and boards across some water in a shallow ditch after a big rainstorm. It couldn’t have been more than half a meter deep. We hear brakes squeal and see a car flip into the ditch a ways down the road.

We ran over to see what happened and recognized the car. It was Rob and Toms father. He hit a puddle going a little to fast and lost control. This was not an abandoned road so 2 other cars had stopped to help by the time we bolted down to the crash.

The car was upside down in the water and we could see him struggling with his seat belt. Everyone tried to get him loose but the belt was twisted and no one had a knife on them. We tried to fray it with keys and burn it with a lighter but to no avail. I watched with my brother, my best friends and 3 adults as said best friends’ father drowned in front of them in half a meter of water because no one had a knife to cut him loose.”

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/crocy/how_many_folks_carry_a_knife_on_a_daily_basis/

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Our Porous Southern Border: 7,000 illegals a year – on one trail?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPCyrTGaOpc&feature=feedu

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Stealth Drones

Via Danger Room:

…the Avenger is capable of staying in the air for up to 20 hours, and operating at up to 50,000 feet. Powered by a 4,800-lb. thrust Pratt & Whitney PW545B jet engine, it can fly at over 400 knots — 50 percent faster than the turboprop-powered Reaper unmanned plane, and more than three times as quick as the Predator.

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New Smaller Suppressors from SureFire

Press Release

Suppressor-Mini-BK

Suppressor-Mini-BK

Fountain Valley, CA — SureFire, LLC, manufacturer of high-end illumination tools and tactical products, have released their Mini and Micro suppressors. Both work with existing SureFire flash hider and muzzle brake suppressor adapters, but come in a significantly smaller package than previous models.

“Adding length and weight to a personal weapon system is usually an unwanted modification,” says Barry Dueck, director of the SureFire Suppressor Division. “These two new suppressors were designed with that thought in mind. We’re trying to reduce the users overall signature, not just the firearm’s.”

At 5.0 inches in length and 14.0 ounces in weight, the MINI suppressor is SureFire’s new flagship 5.56mm suppressor. It provides the same performance as its predecessor, the SureFire FA556-212 suppressor, but at one inch less in length and two ounces lighter in weight.

At 4.0 inches long and 12.0 ounces in weight, the compact and lightweight SureFire MICRO suppressor is designed to attenuate the sound signature of a carbine or rifle to a safe level, as well as reduce the dust and flash signature while minimizing added weight and length to s host weapon with a 14.5” barrel or longer. The MICRO, like the MINI, features the Fast Attach® system for rapid attachment/detachment on any weapon equipped with a compatible SureFire suppressor adapter. Thanks to SureFire’s overlapping mount, only 1.75 inches are added to the length of the rifle.

SureFire’s proprietary suppressor design not only reduces the sound levels and muzzle flash of a fired weapon, helping to protect an operator’s hearing and keep his location concealed, it also typically increases projectile velocity and improves a weapon’s accuracy. This is SureFire’s philosophy of Total Signature Reduction™. Contrary to existing suppressor models, which typically degrade performance of a 1-2 MOA (Minute of Angle) rifle to 3-4 MOA—sometimes as much as 8 MOA, SureFire suppressors typically improve grouping sizes.

Most suppressors also cause a shift in a weapon’s point-of-zero when attached or detached. But under fire, an operator seldom has the time to re-zero his weapon after attaching a suppressor. With a SureFire Suppressor, there is no need to re-zero the weapon. Its Fast-Attach mechanism locks the suppressor onto the firearm in the same position every time, producing a negligible, repeatable point-of-impact shift. And SureFire Suppressors are as durable as the barrels they’re mounted on, making fulltime suppressor use not only probable but practical.

All SureFire suppressors includes a nylon cleaning brush and a padded, ballistic nylon MOLLE pouch for storage. The suppressors are available in a black or dark earth finish. For more information or to find a SureFire suppressor dealer, visit www.surefire.com.

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Traumatic Brain Injury & the Military

“[Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is all too commonly associated with modern warfare, particularly the War on Terror. Many veterans suffer from these injuries without realizing it, until serious problems develop. Through awareness, we can help our military friends and family members avoid the serious implications of a traumatic brain injury.]

Military men and women are continually involved in situations where risk of injury is high. One silent war wound that often goes unnoticed is a traumatic brain injury (TBI). A TBI affects the function of the brain and can often cause life-altering damage ranging from personality and behavioral changes to complete loss of brain function and the ability to communicate. Therefore, some of the affects are not just life-altering, but also life threatening, and wind up requiring, long-term, specialized traumatic brain injury rehabilitation.”

http://americanranger.blogspot.com/

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A soldier’s Perspective: Disappointed In SCOTUS

“While the Supreme Court upheld the Second Amendment in striking down the ban on handguns in Chicago, it would be an understatement to say that I’m disappointed at the narrow margin in which it was done.

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

I think it really goes to show that the Supreme Court has become more a political entity, upholding partisan beliefs and placing them before the language of the Constitution. This goes for both sides. Effectively, the four justices that ruled in the minority believe that the Second Amendment should just be abolished.”

http://www.soldiersperspective.us/

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