New head of Strategic Capabilities Office wants to focus on AI

"WASHINGTON — The Strategic Capabilities Office is under new management, and its new director intends to doubledown on the agency’s emphasis on artificial intelligence. In his first interview since taking over the office, Chris Shank, the new SCO director, made it clear he sees artificial intelligence as a sweet spot for his office. Roughly one third of SCO projects deal with autonomous systems, machine learning or AI in some way, Shank said, including long-range fires programs, cyber programs and some assorted with special forces."

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Lessons I learned from training with special forces that I use in software development - DEV Community ��‍����‍��

"Interestingly, it wasn't until after I left the Army that had the unique opportunity to train with and be taught by some of Military's best. I've trained with and been taught by Green Berets, Army Rangers, Marine Force Reconnaissance, Navy SEALs, and guys whose titles are classified. I learned a myriad of skills, like weapons and tactics, clandestine and covert operations, and small and big team teamwork. While most of the training revolved around the application of these skills and the physical and mental toughness needed to operate effectively in adverse conditions, many of the lessons from a high level view have helped me in my career as a developer. "

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France may take the lead in fighting jihadists - Sahel or high water

"BY ANY standards, the international airport of Niger’s capital is a dozy spot— unless you are a French military air-traffic controller. On the civilian side of the ramshackle airport a few planes come and go. The contrast with the military side could not be starker. Helicopters and military transport planes sit on the apron. Mirage warplanes sit ready for action. This is the aviation hub of Barkhane, France’s four-year-old counter-terrorism operation in the Sahel, which has its headquarters in Chad, and also operates across Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger."

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Pakistan invites Saudi Arabia to be third partner in CPEC - The Hindu

Pakistan invites Saudi Arabia to be third partner in CPEC - The Hindu: "Saudi Arabia will be the third “strategic partner” of the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a senior Pakistani Minister announced on Thursday, soon after Prime Minister Imran Khan returned from his first foreign trip to the cash-rich kingdom. The CPEC is the flagship project of the multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping, aimed at enhancing Beijing’s influence around the world through China-funded infrastructure projects."

ROLLING STONES AND THE SENTIMENTAL SOLDIER

Author: TWI


The Unsentimental Warrior by Lucian K. Truscott IV (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/opinion/24truscott.html?_r=0) is an interesting, and to me, inciting read. I would have let Gen McChrysthal’s (Top US Commander in Afghanistan) sacking by President Obama pass as there-goes-another-one, martyr in the ever existent tussle between civil and military kind of issue. A la Fonseka, if you will. But Lucian K. Truscott IV, celebrated author of a few Army centric books and articles, makes me sit up and take notice. While others are raving about McChrythal’s naivety and impudence, Mr Lucian chose to concentrate on something lesser mortals overlooked. McChrysthal’s apparent attempt to drive home a Three Muskeeter-esque – One for All, All for One- feel of camaraderie and bonhomie within Team America, his clutch of advisers (sidekicks?), is what Mr Lucian finds most revolting and he makes that (“All these men, I’d die for them. And they’d die for me”, he reportedly commented gesturing towards his Team) the subject of his ire. And in seeking to break the monotony and compose an unconventional piece, Mr Lucian sputters, gasps and wheezes his way through an entirely forgettable tirade.

Training of Para SF Commando | Toughest Military Training in India | Veer by Discovery

In the 36 hours stress test during Para SF training, commandos are tested beyond their physical limits and mental fears. They are kept sleep deprived with only 2 hours of sleep. The commandos are tested with a continuous series of gruelling exercise, a simulated battle situation. And when the body starts giving up, they have to do a speed march of 10 KM with a 30 KG battle load and their personal weapons. Watch the short video...

10 Elite Special Forces of the World

Ok, don't fret just yet. Your favourite may be missing but this is just one list of the many out there...

JOINT CURFEW PLAN FOR INTERNAL SECURITY SITUATIONS: SENSING TROUBLE AROUND THE CORNER

Civil unrest is the making of the civilians (politicians and administrators) and they must shoulder the responsibility to control it with their resource, the police. The current curfew plan is a master-stroke to prevent the Army from staying away from unruly mobs and ensuring its involvement abinitio. However, given the drawbacks, the premature commitment of troops as part of the police curfew plan must be scrapped.

Introduction

          The curfew plan, evolved by the civil police post the 2010 protests that rocked the Valley, envisages the occupation of cut-off points by the Army whenever the civil police activate the plan ahead of expected unrest or protests. The Army, blinded by its zeal for synergy, has no say in the activation of the curfew plan and readily complies. While it may seem a matter that is trivial when we encourage police-led rehearsals in the absence of violent mobs to confront, it is the pragmatic analysis of the likely repercussions that must be taken note of.

India, Pakistan & Partition: Borders of Blood

On August 15, 1947, the Partition of the Indian subcontinent created two nation states - India and Pakistan.

In this two-part special, 101 East traces the events and conflicting politics that led to the greatest migration of people in human history, and unleashed a wave of communal violence that claimed more than a million lives.

The Partition sparked three wars, the birth of Bangladesh, and transformed Kashmir into the world's most militarised zone. As tensions between India and Pakistan persist, 101 East explores the Partition's troubled legacy and the unresolved geopolitics between the two nuclear powers.

India, Pakistan & Partition: Borders of Blood Part 1 - 101 East

India, Pakistan & Partition: Borders of Blood Part 2 - 101 East

Taliban Say Haqqani Founder Is Dead. His Group Is More Vital Than Ever. - The New York Times

"KABUL, Afghanistan — For the first time, the Taliban have confirmed the death of Jalaluddin Haqqani, an American ally from the Cold War who later turned his weapons against the United States as the founder of the feared Haqqani militant network, behind some of the deadliest attacks of the 17-year Afghan war. In their announcement on Tuesday, the Taliban gave no details on the timing of Mr. Haqqani’s death. Throughout his 70s, he remained ill even as his followers continued in his name to stage huge bombings and suicide commando attacks in Afghan cities."

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Pakistan:The State that Refuses to Fail

Author: TWI T

he discourse on failed states, dominant through the 1990s, is fuelled afresh by the Failed States Index (FSI)[1]sponsored by the Fund for Peace and supported by Foreign Policy since 2005. Expectedly, the applicability of the 12 indicators[2] being used to judge the extent of failure of Nation States has been debated for their apparent common treatment of disparate circumstances in societies spanning the nether to the first world. Consider a social factor like ‘Continual Human Flight’ described as ‘brain drain’ of professionals, intellectuals and political dissidents, intentional emigration of the middle class or ethnic population to other places of the State or any other State. Or an economic indicator like ‘Imbalance in Economic Development’ defined as inequality and injustice against a group or a tribe in education, jobs, and economic status according to their communal or religious identity. Any discerning analyst, without a goose to cook, will amplify incessantly the resultant discrepancy from applying the same yardstick to States that have evolved and stabilised over seven centuries as against those having a history countable in mere decades.

Security Wise (Bharat Karnad): Why Not Show Pakistan The Same Consideration Shown To China?

"The chief beneficiaries of a squabbling India and Pakistan are China and the United States. They are able to play off the South Asian states against each other, egging on one and then the other, to serve their distinct national interests. For instance, the U.S. has been vocal about its anti-terrorism stance but Washington has time and again made plain—and this has not been paid attention to by Delhi—that their concern is mainly with Pakistan assisting the Afghan Taliban factions fighting the NATO forces in that country, and not with Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Masood Azhar, or Hafiz Saeed. Consider China: The so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is increasingly recognised by Pakistanis as a debt trap that would permit the Chinese to put down roots and redo the ‘East India Company’ scene from some 300 years ago."

Read the full article here

Oxford Research Group | The Golden Age of Special Operations Forces

Oxford Research Group | The Golden Age of Special Operations Forces:

"Special Forces have long captured people’s imaginations. Books, films, videogames and news outlets propagate an image of heroism and mysticism – only added to by governments’ reticence to discuss their operations. The impact of this is that, while almost everyone knows or thinks they know what Special Forces are, few really know what they do. This article seeks to address this by giving an introduction to the operations of Special Forces, using the US Special Operations Forces (SOF) as a case study. The first section of this article will describe what SOF do, especially looking at their two core tasks in dismantling terrorist groups – direct and indirect operations – and their increasing role as the sole boots on the ground. The second section briefly describes the history of SOF, from their origins in World War Two to the Obama administration – where, attempting to balance tackling this threat with the political desire to bring troops home, they became his ‘tool of choice’. The final section touches upon three dangers with the current use of SOF: the damage to democracy, given the secrecy of SOF and prominence of their use in US operations; the overuse what is a comparably small and specifically trained part of the US force; and the problems it could present for US’s broader foreign policy goals."

Final Heroic Moments that earned John Chapman the Medal of Honor | Military.com

Video Shows Final Heroic Moments That Earned John Chapman the Medal of Honor | Military.com: 


"The U.S. Air Force has released video highlights from an overhead intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft taken on March 4, 2002 that shows the final heroic moments of Tech Sgt. John Chapman, who will receive the Medal of Honor for his bravery later this month."

FN FAL: The World's Most Successful Battle Rifle | SpecialOperations.com

FN FAL: The World's Most Successful Battle Rifle | SpecialOperations.com



Ok, and all this while the Indian Army had the cribs flowing out of its ears. Poor metallurgy, poorer cartridges and a woeful quality check relegated this wonderful weapon to a third-world vestige.

The FAL (French: Fusil Automatique Léger, English: Light Automatic Rifle) is a battle rifle designed by Belgian small arms designers Dieudonné Saive and Ernest Vervier and manufactured by FN Herstal.

An interesting read at Wiki below. The politics around a simple weapon is intriguing...

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FN_FAL&oldid=857303618

How the Weak Win Wars: A Theory of Asymmetric Conflict, Ivan Arreguin-Toft

OUTLINE PROPOSAL FOR ESTABLISHING A MULTI-ACTIVITY CENTRE IN SHUPIYAN DISTRICT

OPTIMISING THE PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT EFFORT

Proposal for Establishing a Multi-Activity Centre in Shupiyan Town

Executive Summary

The primary purpose of establishing a Multi-Activity Centre is to provide opportunities for the youth to pursue recreational interests as an acceptable alternative to disruptive activities. Though primarily targeted at the youth, SMAC is designed for all groups in the community and seeks to bring club-like facilities to the population.

The Shah-e-Hamadan Multi-Activity Centre is conceived as a flagship project to showcase the synergy between the Army, Police and the civil administration of Shupiyan District in their common pursuit of ushering peace, development and normalcy in Shupiyan District.

There must be an expressive signature of the Army’s involvement in setting up the facility while the running and maintenance must be left to the civil administration. The organisational abilities of the Army, which are well recognised and acknowledged in Shupiyan, will ensure that the umbilical cord with the Army is maintained. The face of the civil administration is necessary to enable the participation of women in the project without the apprehension of the project being labelled as an effort at cultural aggression.

This paper highlights the scope and philosophy behind the project, infrastructure requirements, target population and policy requirements. It also recommends a Board of Members, its functioning and a model for financial self-sustenance. The last factor is critical to the success of the concept. A concerted review after six months of initial functioning incorporating pragmatic ground realities and feedback from the Board Members will be an imperative to arrive at a long term sustainable model.

JSOU, Will Irwin: A Comprehensive and Proactive Approach to Unconventional Warfare

Underdeveloped and under-equipped, India's special forces in dire need of attention of defence ministry - Firstpost

"First, any SOF is only as good as its equipment. This is true of the armed forces as a whole, but is particularly applicable to the SOF. An army division, for instance, may ‘manage’ a situation by weight of sheer numbers and tight command in a given geographical area. The SOF cannot. An SOF unit can hardly do deep penetration operations if it doesn’t have the platform to get there. It cannot even do a short strike if it doesn’t have the necessary high-end weapons to strafe a terrorist hideout. Second, an SOF operation is only as good as the intelligence available. The tragedy of the Jaffna University helidrop in October 1987, when a covert operation to get the LTTE leadership failed miserably due to defective intelligence, comes to mind."