19 December 2011 — Stop NATO
- Black Sea: New Flash Point For U.S./NATO Versus Russia Conflicts
- Romania: U.S. Marines Plan Six-Month Mission In Eastern Europe
- Romania: Pentagon Military Outpost On The Black Sea
- Romania Again Offers Troops For Global NATO, EU Missions
- U.S. Senate Bill Adds Arms For Georgia
- Afghan Provincial Council Closes To Protest Deadly NATO Raid
- Vaclav Havel: ‘Bombs Combat Evil’
- After Libya War, NATO Focuses On Cyberwar
- Japan To Acquire Joint Strike Fighters Against China
- Australia Trains Marines For Bigger Global Missions
Black Sea: New Flash Point For U.S./NATO Versus Russia Conflicts
Today’s Zaman
December 18, 2011
New centers of crisis in Black Sea: America’s security that extends to Caucasus
by Emrah Usta*
[Edited]
-The creation of the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM = Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) is the outcome of such initiatives by the White House. This organization, established in 1997, seeks to consolidate the presence of NATO in the Black Sea and to restrict the sphere of influence of Russia…Within the framework of the recent policies of the US and NATO in the Black Sea, the demand for the expansion of NATO’s Operation Active Endeavor (OAE) from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea region attracted a reaction from and opposition by Russia and Turkey…The region is also important because of the eagerness of NATO in the Caucasus and its closeness to the centers of crisis in Ossetia, Chechnya, Dagestan and the Balkans.
The United States has been able to penetrate into economic, cultural and political spheres as well as hold military operations in some places.
We have witnessed such examples of military action in recent times in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The Black Sea basin, unlike other areas of conflict, allows less frequent interventions from external forces because of its relative isolation. The remarks and ambitions expressed by the US and the EU over the basin out of political considerations raise suspicions in Turkey and Russia.
The Black Sea basin is attracting the growing attention of global actors because of international trade, its service and probable contribution to energy lines and transportation routes through the Caucasus region, the significance for Russian geopolitics as well as military and commercial ports. The use of Black Sea ports by Russia for energy transportation to Western countries and its service for the transportation of the natural gas reserves of Asian and Caucasus states to European markets are some other factors to cite that make the basin extremely important.
The Black Sea is the most reasonable and shortest route for countries in the Caucasus region to extend the trans-gas network between Azerbaijan and Georgia to Western markets. Current energy hubs in the region, transportation lines and future technological investments will make the region even more important.
The independence of the countries in the region after the collapse of the Soviet Union has created an area of interaction between the eastern and western shores of the Black Sea and contributed to regional trade. The ports at Sevastopol, Crimea, Konstanz [Constanta], Varna, Poti, Batumi, Sohum [Sukhumi] and Trabzon are part of the energy-trans area and included in the current area of interaction that also covers naval fleets.
The most recent crisis in this area broke out in 2008 when Russia held a military operation in South Ossetia, a region of Georgia, opening the role of the Black Sea to discussion. A probable conflict between Russia and the US over the Black Sea is possible considering that Russia has to draft a new doctrine vis-à-vis the newly independent states.
Missile shield radar stationed in Kürecik
Even though the shift of the missile shield project from Central Europe to Romania by the United States is attributed to nearby countries, the missile shield radar stationed in Kürecik, Turkey, a Black Sea littoral state, points to the importance of the region.
To this end, joint initiatives are also stationed in countries where civil society has not been properly rooted such as Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, and NATO has asked to hold military exercises. The creation of the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM = Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) is the outcome of such initiatives by the White House. This organization, established in 1997, seeks to consolidate the presence of NATO in the Black Sea and to restrict the sphere of influence of Russia. The hope is that this organization takes the Caucasus closer to Euro-Atlantic institutions. Within the framework of the recent policies of the US and NATO in the Black Sea, the demand for the expansion of NATO’s Operation Active Endeavor (OAE) from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea region attracted a reaction from and opposition by Russia and Turkey.
On the other hand, the Black Sea Cooperation Task Group created in 2001 and the Black Sea initiative launched in 2004 support this move by NATO. It should also be noted that the US was vetoed in 2005 by Russia when it wanted to join the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) as an observer state.
During the same years, the media reported that Turkey did not approve of an American demand for a base in Trabzon. It is apparent that American initiatives and efforts to be involved in the Black Sea will remain limited because the Montreux Convention as well as the new military doctrine of Russia do not allow the US to create an outpost in the region. However, in response to the harsh measures and sanctions due to the violation of sovereignty in these two countries in this probable conflict zone, the US and NATO will remain low profile.
The region is also important because of the eagerness of NATO in the Caucasus and its closeness to the centers of crisis in Ossetia, Chechnya, Dagestan and the Balkans. On the other hand, it is apparent that the EU has since 2007 been particularly ambitious about becoming more influential in this region. This attitude of the EU, which has been extending support in the fields of economy, transport and energy cooperation in the region, proves the presence of the adoption of policies inconsistent with the Eastern Partnership Strategy with Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Breaking point in Black Sea security: War in Ossetia
…
While it was seen as revenge for Kosovo by Russia, the message that the Ossetia case carried for the West was also evident for the energy line. The operation halted the Georgian leg of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
New energy lines have expanded the geopolitics of the region, also enabling the different actors to move from the Caucasus to the Black Sea. In this way, the West-East direction centers in the Black Sea were viewed as an outpost in which Russia would interfere whenever it deems necessary and pro-Russian regimes were supported. Future important geostrategic locations in the Black Sea region include Sevastopol, Crimea, Konstanz and Trabzon.
Russia is aware that Konstanz has become an important center for NATO moves and activities as well as commercial activities…The identity and past experience of Crimea should also be taken into consideration as major factors.
For Trabzon, another strategic city in the new era, American policies rather than Russian policies may become more relevant. An American base in this city, similar to the one in Adana in Turkey, will change the balance of power in the region, and it may also serve as insurance for Caucasian and gas line security. Even though those scenarios seem possible, it is unlikely that such an option is viable given the sensitive nature of the people in the region.
…
The region, which is important in terms of energy lines, gas security and strategic location, will become one of the new centers of crisis where the Caucasus and Eastern Europe meet. The region, which remains closed to interaction due to its ‘closed-basin’ structure, may trigger the start of a new era for US policies in Turkish-Russian relations.
*Emrah Usta is a US Foreign Policy analyst and a fellow at the Center for Strategic Research at ?stanbul Süleyman ?ah University (SAHSAM) in Turkey.
====
Romania: U.S. Marines Plan Six-Month Mission In Eastern Europe
http://www.stripes.com/news/marine-corps/marines-gear-up-for-east-european-mission-1.163560
Stars and Stripes
December 15, 2011
Marines gear up for east European mission
John Vandiver
-The rotational task force, first launched in 2010, will work with numerous nations, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Latvia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. The task force also served as a model for a new Africa-focused SPMAGTAF, which was launched in October and operates out of Sigonella, Sicily.
STUTTGART, Germany: Marines leading a six-month mission in eastern Europe were in Stuttgart this week to meet with allies ahead of a deployment that the Corps is touting as a model for maintaining partnerships at a time of diminishing resources.
In March, 360 U.S.-based Marines will deploy to Romania as part of the Marines’ Black Sea Rotational Force, which will work with militaries from 19 nations across the Black Sea, Balkans and Caucasus.
…
On Wednesday, Marine Forces Europe wrapped up a three-day conference of U.S. and European military officials to finalize planning for the deployment.
For the March mission, MARFOREUR formed a Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force of Marines and sailors. Most of them are drawn from the 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division out of San Antonio.
The rotational task force, first launched in 2010, will work with numerous nations, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Latvia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. The task force also served as a model for a new Africa-focused SPMAGTAF, which was launched in October and operates out of Sigonella, Sicily.
The Black Sea force operates from a base in Romania, but the troops spend much of their time fanned out across the region. The work will be heavily focused on counterinsurgency and peacekeeping tactics, said Maj. Brent McClellan, the task force’s operations officer.
…
—————————————————————————-
http://www.marines.mil/unit/marforeur/Pages/MFEConferencePlansBlackSeaOps.aspx#.Tu5-19R8BUk
U.S. Marine Corps
December 15, 2011
Marine Forces Europe Conference Plans Black Sea Ops
By Gunnery Sergeant Will Price, Marine Forces Europe
-Currently, there are 19 nations involved in BSRF-12, with 71 training events planned throughout the Black Sea, Balkan and Caucasus regions…
-The first evolution in BSRF-12 is ‘Exercise Agile Spirit,’ a two-week combined forces counter-insurgency and peacekeeping operations training exercise with members of the Georgian Army. Other major BSRF exercises include amphibious operations, BALTOPS 12 in Lithuania and Noble Shirley 12 in the Levant.
Panzer-Kaserne, Germany: Marine Forces Europe hosted the final planning conference for Black Sea Rotational Force 12 at their headquarters building aboard United States Army Garrison Stuttgart’s Panzer Kaserne, Dec. 12-14.
…
Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, European Command Deputy Director of Plans, led off discussions on the second day of the conference.
‘It is a great opportunity to maintain inter-operability and sustain our ability to deploy together,’ said Montgomery to a room of more than 50 members from the U.S. services, as well as representatives of the Armenian, Azerbaijan, Bulgarian, Georgian, Latvian, Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian and Ukrainian militaries.
The purpose of BSRF-12 is to promote regional stability, build partnerships with host nations, and enhance the military training capacity of European armed forces during their six-month rotation in Eastern Europe.
‘BSRF is the cornerstone for our engagement in the Black Sea Region…,’ said Brig. Gen. Charles Chiarotti, MFE Deputy Commanding General…
To work with regional partners, MFE and Chiarotti have forged a Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force comprised primarily of nearly 360 Marines and sailors with 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, out of San Antonio, Tex.
…
Currently, there are 19 nations involved in BSRF-12, with 71 training events planned throughout the Black Sea, Balkan and Caucasus regions…
While BSRF-12 does not officially kick-off until March 2012, all members of the conference share Coates’ exuberance to begin training.
‘This is the most important training for Bulgaria,’ said Bulgarian Col. Lavor Mateev, Chief of Joint Facilities & Training Department, Ministry of Defense. ‘The Marines provide us the only opportunity to combine our navy, air force, army, and special forces to work together. Every year we increase the events and the personnel…’
This will be the third annual rotation since the program’s inception in 2010.
The first evolution in BSRF-12 is ‘Exercise Agile Spirit,’ a two-week combined forces counter-insurgency and peacekeeping operations training exercise with members of the Georgian Army. Other major BSRF exercises include amphibious operations, BALTOPS 12 in Lithuania and Noble Shirley 12 in the Levant.
…
====
Romania: Pentagon Military Outpost On The Black Sea
Romanian News Agency
December 15, 2011
Romania, US sign Agreement amending secret defence intelligence protection measures
Romanian National Defence Minister Gabriel Oprea and U.S. Ambassador to Romania Mark Gitenstein, at the ministry headquarters on Wednesday signed an Agreement between the Government of Romania and the Government of the United States of America to amend the Agreement between the Governments of Romania and the U.S. on measures to protect the defence intelligence rated a state secret signed in Washington on June 21, 1995.
…
Minister Oprea, in an address to the event, reviewed the development of the bilateral defence relations and he highlighted the cooperation between Romania and the U.S. within the Strategic Partnership, in an array of projects currently at various phases of implementation.
‘The American military’s presence in the facilities offered by Romania, our common participation in the missions in the operation theatre in Afghanistan as well as placing elements of the missile shield on the territory of Romania represent undeniable elements of the dynamic character of the relations between our two armies and our two states. The signing of this Agreement one more time proves our determination to respect all the obligations incumbent on us in offering the required guarantees for ensuring the security of the intelligence communicated by the Defence Ministry to the U.S. Department of Defence, in the enforcement of the provisions of the Strategic Partnership with the United States, given the constant mainly defence intelligence swap between our two countries. I am convinced the military relations between Romania and the United States will continue their upward trend’, Oprea stressed.
The minister reiterated gratitude for the concrete and very important support rendered by the U.S. allies to significantly enhancing the degree of the protection of the Romanian troops acting in Afghanistan.
U.S. Ambassador Gitenstein said the signing of the document represents one more step towards a deeper strategic cooperation between the U.S. and Romania. In his address, he underscored that the common foundation in the field of the secret intelligence operation is absolutely necessary to ensure the exchange of high technology, military especially, as the Governments of Romania and the U.S. are in advanced talks on strategic acquisitions.
====
Romania Again Offers Troops For Global NATO, EU Missions
Romanian News Agency
December 16, 2011
Supreme Defence Council approves forces plan for missions outside country
The Romanian Supreme Defence Council (CSAT) approved the forces plan for missions outside Romania in 2012, President Traian Basescu announced.
‘Today, the plan of forces for missions abroad was approved, forces of the National Defence Ministry (MApN and of the Ministry of Administration and Interior. The missions will be fulfilled by 2,348 defence ministry troops simultaneously acting in the operation theatres. Therefore, there is a cut by 177 military compared to the year soon to end. However, we maintain our participation in Afghanistan with 1,940 troops, along with 64 troops in Kosovo who are part of a NATO mission, KFOR, and 71 troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina,’ the Head of State told a press conference held after the CSAT siting.
He said that MApN will deploy a T 22 frigate with helicopter and crew, meant for special operations in the Indian Ocean in the ‘Atlanta’ EU operation. ‘The area is the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean in order to protect commercial vessels from piracy,’ Basescu added.
As regards the reserves for 2012, Basescu said that units amounting to a total of 1,210 troops will be ready for interventions inside the country, forces that can be available for NATO anytime.
‘As regards the operative forces, you know too well that when one has 2.348 troops in operation theatres, one must have actually four times this figure, with one resting, another in preparations, another in the operation theatres and another ready to replace at any given time the entire group, no matter their status,’ Basescu said.
As regards the MAI forces for missions abroad, the Head of State says that they are 36 people more than in 2011. Thus, a total number of policemen and gendarmes will be deployed.
…
He added that we will also have troops deployed as observers in areas such as Africa.
…
====
U.S. Senate Bill Adds Arms For Georgia
http://rustavi2.com/news/news_text.php?id_news=44107&pg=1&im=main&ct=0&wth=
Rustavi 2
December 17, 2011
US Senate`s bill calls for closer military ties with Georgia
The US Senate passed a $662 billion defense bill, which calls for closer military ties with Georgia, including the sale of weapons that supporters say would help the country, which fought a brief war with Russia in 2008, defend itself.
As reported, the addition to the to the bill was proposed by Senator John McCain.
The $662 billion defense bill was sent to the president`s office and Barack Obama is expected to sign it.
====
Afghan Provincial Council Closes To Protest Deadly NATO Raid
http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/12/18/paktia-council-office-closed-protest-nato-raid
Pajhwok Afghan News
December 18, 2011
Paktia council office closed to protest NATO raid
By Daud Tapan
GARDEZ: Provincial council members on Sunday closed their office in protest against an overnight raid on the house of a senior counternarcotics official by NATO-led troops in southeastern Paktia province.
The predawn raid by NATO and Afghan forces on the house of Paktia Counternarcotics Department head, Hafizullah Ahmadzai, left a woman dead and four others females injured. Ahmadzai was arrested along with his two sons in Gardez city.
‘We will not reopen the office unless the perpetrators of the raid are handed over to the Afghan government,’ the council head, Shaista Jan Ahadi, told at a news conference. He said the real culprits were those giving wrong tip offs to foreign soldiers.
‘Although our previous such demands have not met, but this time we are seriously calling for our demands to be met,’ he said. He questioned foreign troops, if the counternarcotics official had any links with the Taliban, then why he was freed back home?
The Governor’s House also condemned the raid, saying foreign soldiers carried out the operation without coordination with local authorities.
The governor’s spokesman, Rohullah Samoon, told Pajhwok Afghan News the raid was a cruel action. ‘Raiding the house of a government department head is not tolerable by any means,’ he said.
A tribal elder from Ahmadaba district, Muqbil Fazli, said the government had been unable to bring perpetrators of such attacks to justice in the past. He warned of protests if the soldiers involved in the raid were not punished.
Another tribal elder, Abdullah Gardezi, on the other hand, asked parliamentarians not to attend the Wolesi Jirga sessions as a mark of protest against the raid. ‘All MPs hailing from Paktia should not attend the house in protest and if they cannot do this, they are no more our representatives,’ he said.
====
Vaclav Havel: ‘Bombs Combat Evil’
Ottawa Citizen
December 18, 2011
Archived story: Bombs ‘combat evil,’ Czech president Vaclav Havel says
Human rights more important than state rights
By Juliet O’Neill
This article was originally published in The Ottawa Citizen, April 17, 1999.
PRAGUE: Czech President Vaclav Havel says the NATO bombing campaign is totally justified in the face of evil and that the rights of people must take precedence over the sovereignty of the state of Yugoslavia.
In an exclusive interview with the Citizen, the president of one of NATO’s three new member countries said he will address the Canadian Parliament on the theme of human rights versus state rights during his visit to Ottawa in late April.
His unambiguous support for NATO is controversial in the Czech Republic, where the government has been deeply divided over the bombings and the country’s ambassador to NATO was threatened with recall for being candid about the internal conflict at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
…Mr. Havel said he not only supports the NATO action but was labelled ‘a warmonger’ for calling long ago for military force against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
‘My opinion is that evil must be combatted and that force can be used in combatting evil if it becomes truly necessary,’ he said. In his view, force is the only way to get Mr. Milosevic to engage in genuine political negotiations. Diplomatic efforts had been exhausted, genocidal attacks intensified and NATO had no choice.
…
The NATO air strikes, which began only days after the alliance memberships of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were formalized, created such havoc in the government here that Mr. Havel worried aloud that the 19-member military alliance might hesitate about enlarging any farther to include other Central and East European countries formerly in the Soviet sphere.
The interview was held at Mr. Havel’s huge office, adorned with personally chosen contemporary art, at the Prague Castle.
…Mr. Havel understood the interview questions in English but answered through an interpreter…
Mr. Havel’s personal stature suffered a blow a few years ago when he married glamourous actress Dagmar Veskrnova, the woman who nursed him through his brush with cancer and took on the role of first lady with gusto. The marriage came a little less than a year after the death of his first wife, Olga.
Ms. Veskrnova is to accompany Mr. Havel on his 12-day North American trip, which begins next week at NATO’s 50th-anniversary events in Washington and ends with a three-day swing to Canada, April 28-30, where he will receive an honorary degree at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg before flying to Ottawa to address a joint session of the House of Commons and the Senate.
In the interview, Mr. Havel said the character of the NATO events in Washington next week will be changed as a result of the war.
‘I doubt if the celebratory elements will be stressed,’ he said, noting the gathering, planned before the bombing campaign, was intended to adopt a new strategy for the 21st century.
He was unperturbed about NATO violating the principle of state sovereignty by intervening in an internal conflict or about the absence of United Nations Security Council authorization for the attacks.
For one thing, he said, NATO was following its own model from when it bombed Serb targets during the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina…
For another, he said, NATO’s action conforms to the spirit of previous UN Security Council resolutions.
‘Of course it would be better if there were a direct mandate from the Security Council,’ he said.
‘But there are certain situations where the concern for the fate of human beings simply leads democratic states to taking actions, even without such a legal background, because in some cases the rights of man have to take precedence over the sovereignty of the state.’
‘…The establishment of the Kosovo Liberation Army — which is not made up of saints either – was a reaction to the oppression on the part of Milosevic’s regime and especially the fact that Kosovo was deprived of its autonomy 10 years ago.’
Mr. Havel said he does not know how the situation will be resolved but he knows how it should be settled. ‘The key is obtaining Yugoslavia’s consent for the presence of peacekeeping forces on that territory,’ he said.
…
‘This kind of ceasefire could pave the way for political negotiations on the future state of Kosovo, which obviously will be complex and it’s difficult to predict a result,’ he said. ‘But without the presence of peacekeeping forces on the territory, I do not think the conflict can be stopped.’
He hopes it ends as soon as possible. ‘It now largely depends on President Milosevic.’
====
After Libya War, NATO Focuses On Cyberwar
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203733304577102171947782202.html
Wall Street Journal
December 18, 2011
Firms Bid on NATO Cyberwar
‘Technically Ambitious’ Upgrade in Security Likely to Lead to More-Lucrative Work
By Daniel Michaels
BRUSSELS: NATO, fresh from its battlefield success in Libya, is focusing on the next front: cyberwar.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Monday will collect bids from some of the world’s top defense companies, including Lockheed Martin Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp., to update and expand the alliance’s cybersecurity abilities.
The €32 million ($42 million) contract, although valued at less than the price of one fighter jet, holds great significance because it cements the alliance’s role in protecting cutting-edge infrastructure, say NATO officials.
‘It’s a small amount of money but it’s technically ambitious,’ said Suleyman Anil, head of NATO’s Cyber Defense…
====
Japan To Acquire Joint Strike Fighters Against China
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/13/us-lockheedjapan-idUSTRE7BC0H420111213
Reuters
December 13, 2011
Japan ‘likely to pick F-35 fighter’ this week
By Tim Kelly and Kiyoshi Takenaka
TOKYO: Japan will likely pick Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jet as its next frontline fighter, media reported on Tuesday, which may help end six decades of isolation for the country’s defense contractors and bolster its military against growing Chinese might.
The government will choose between two U.S. models – the F-35 and the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet – and Europe’s four-nation Eurofighter Typhoon, at a meeting of the national security council on Friday, the Nikkei business daily said.
…
Analysts say the purchase is potentially worth $8 billion.
The hope for Lockheed is that assembling the F-35 in Japan will spur the pacifist [sic] nation to lift a ban on military equipment exports, allowing contractors such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compete as suppliers for the fighter.
‘If the government chooses to go forward and relax the (export ban) we believe there is a very strong case for participating in the F-35 program,’ said Dave Scott director of international business development for the F-35.
…
Fielding the F-35 would put Japan a step ahead of China.
…
But any easing of a weapons export ban may prompt criticism from Beijing and be seen as step away from Japan’s pacifist constitution.
…
India is expected to choose between the Eurofighter and Dassault Aviation Rafale, on a potential $11 billion order for 126 fighter jets in coming weeks.
Those two aircraft are also bidding for an order in the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. said on Monday it would sell 18 more Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters to Iraq.
(Additional reporting by Balaji Sridharan Tim Hepher, Jim Wolf, Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Nick Macfie)
====
Australia Trains Marines For Bigger Global Missions
The Australian
December 19, 2011
Marine role for returned soldiers
By Mark Dodd
A radical overhaul of the military’s fighting brigades into three combined battle groups will ensure the army is the best prepared in 10 years to deploy on overseas operations, says the commander of the first regiment to undergo amphibious conversion training.
The doctrinal changes mean officers of the Townsville-based 2nd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (2RAR), currently deployed in Afghanistan, will most likely be posted to British or US marine units to learn new amphibious warfare skills, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Smith told The Australian.
Army chief Lieutenant General David Morrison last week announced Plan Beersheba, the name for the phased restructure of the army’s 1st, 3rd and 7th brigades to form new multi-role manoeuvre brigades.
Under the new configuration, the three brigades will all be configured with an equal mix of capabilities including armour, engineering, infantry, logistics and communications assets similar to a US Marine Expeditionary Unit.
The changes reflected lessons learnt from recent large-scale military deployments to East Timor, Iraq and the Solomon Islands Colonel Smith [said] ‘When it comes to deploying on an operation they (brigades) should be far better prepared than what we have probably been in the last 10 years,’ he said in his first media briefing on the new changes. ‘It’s important to say that this change is a function of what we’ve learnt in the last 10 years from producing battle groups to deploy on these types of operations.’
…
The army has already been closely examining US Marine Corps doctrine and that of Britain’s Royal Marine Commandos as part of its new learning curve.
The Chief of Army designated 2RAR to spearhead the push to acquire a new amphibious force.
‘The intention at the moment is not that 2RAR will become the permanent marine battalion of the army; it’s a capability that will be shared by the entire army,’ said Colonel Smith.
The New Dark Age 
Leave a comment