The Marine Corps Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) has made strides towards reaching the goals set forth in Expeditionary Force 21 (EF 21); however, the MEU has also fallen short in other areas and will need to evolve to fulfill the goals envisioned in EF 21, particularly in developing an amphibious landing craft, increasing littoral maneuverability, and engineering new platforms to increase logistical capabilities. A line of effort in EF 21 was “increasing naval integration” by “strengthen[ing] our partnership with the Navy, Coast Guard, and SOF [Special Operations Forces].”1 In certain aspects the Marine Corps has evolved to strengthen that partnership and an example of this strengthened partnership is the development and use of the USS San Antonio. Although the USS San Antonio was commissioned prior to EF 21, the ship is an example of not only the integration of the Navy and Marine Corps by its design; it also enhanced the command and control (C2) capability with the inclusion of a combat information center, joint intelligence center, and supporting coordination center.2 This increased C2 capability was a focus area of EF 21 and a meets the goal of maintaining C2 even as command structures change and the MEU conducts disaggregated…
MISSION AND VISION The mission of the 90th Security Support Squadron [SSPTS] is to “Protect F.E. Warren AFB and defend America with the world’s premier ICBM force” (F.E. Warren Air Force Base Fact Sheet, n.d.). The vision of the 90th SSPTS is “Ready to fight ... Anytime, Anywhere” (F.E. Warren Air Force Base Fact Sheet, n.d.) .…
The United States makes great use of technology today. We live in a world where new ideas and innovations are constantly made. Having access to these technologies makes our naval forces more powerful and efficient. We have more aircraft carriers than any other nation in the world, and because of that we have access to all waters. The aircraft carrier serves as our Navy’s primary means of power projection and its development changed the landscape of naval…
NATO’s two most spectacular antiterrorism operations to date have been Operation Eagle Assist, and Operation Active Endeavour, both of which were among NATO’s first actions following the 9/11 attacks in the US. They are fundamental examples of NATO’s antiterrorism strategy in action. Eagle Assist, which was operated from October 2001 to May 2002, gave direct surveillance support to the US by deploying seven AWACS aircraft over American soil. In all, 830 NATO crew members representing 13 member nations participated in the operation which flew over 360 expeditions over the US. Since Operation Eagle Assist, NATO’s AWACS squadrons have participated in protection actions, by providing airborne control and surveillance for events…
This memorandum provides background and justification to obtain approval to upgrade the Director, LRR JPO to the grade of GS-15. In 2005, faced with a pending Federal Aviation Administration shutdown of the system, the Office of Management and Budget deemed DoD and DHS jointly responsible for the nation’s primary enroute radar network. As a result, the LRR JPO was established to fund and streamline the interdepartmental coordination for their respective surveillance requirements. The LRR JPO was chartered to ensure a reliable primary long range radar system was maintained in order to provide airspace security throughout the continental United States and adjacent regions, as required by National Security authorities.…
With today’s technology, there is a rift between technology and personal privacy. Currently, no precise federal law prohibits surveillance cameras, but there is a fear with common-law confidentiality rights, which frequently leads to an evaluation of a person's "reasonable expectation of privacy. " Expectation of privacy is not an issue when overt cameras are used. A person’s expectation of privacy is also not void when on public campuses, such as Grand Valley. Surveillance cameras in public locations such as sidewalks or parking lots are no problem because there is not an expectation of privacy in such areas.…
In September 2009, the United States Air Force (USAF) graduated its first pilot training class that did not receive flight training.1 These pilots are not headed for the cockpit but to the controls of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS). In 2009, the USAF trained more UAS pilots than fighter or bomber pilots2 in an attempt to meet what the former commander of United States Central Command labeled an “insatiable need” for UAS.3 While the UAS “surge” began under President Bush, President Obama is expanding both UAS acquisition and their use.4 The proposed 2011 defense budget would double UAS production and for the first time the USAF will order more UAS than manned…
Conclusion Some policy-makers ponder that the airborne division is outdated in today’s fight. Many believe that the United States has too many airborne units with-in the force. The United States is the second largest airborne force in the world (right behind Russia). They also believe that airborne operations are outdated and flawed with lack advancement in technology and still structured with old doctrine. In the end, the higher-level commanders understand the airborne division capabilities and what it can bring to the battlefield.…
While on the other hand, the responsibility for securing the homeland against maritime threats brings significant challenges across different entities’ efforts (2014). The two organizations that contributed the most in maritime security are the Department of Defense (U.S. Navy) and the Department of Homeland Security (U. S. Coast Guard) (2014). Challenges they faced escalates due to the numerous unguarded coastlines around the United States. In 2005, the National Strategy for Maritime Security confronted the challenges by providing a Maritime Operational Threat Response Plan (MOTR) on how to respond to maritime threats (2014). Maritime security calls for a synchronized inter-agency response to real-time emergent threats in which the MOTR has proven to be effective…
The purpose of the DHS (Interim) Strategic Air Surveillance Requirements is to identify surveillance capabilities needed to address the wide spectrum of aerial threats. These capabilities allow for continuous monitoring, enabling the detection and tracking of air vehicles entering and within U.S. airspace. Air surveillance facilitates the rapid identification of airborne threats and provides decision makers the maximum amount of time available to determine an optimal course of…
The Marine Expeditionary Unit, the basis with which the MAGTF operates, must evolve in the near future in order to cope with the concepts and challenges presented in Expeditionary Force 21. First, refining our organization and adjusting the way we train and fight is necessary to face the ever changing tactics and strategies of our adversaries. Second, our forward posture needs to adjust in order to smartly prepare for crises and hostilities abroad. Nested in these two concepts are several focus areas. High quality people will always be the foundation of our readiness, accurate and timely intelligence is critical in the high tempo world that we live in, and seabasing is the future of our forward naval forces.…
When one hears the words, “Naval Nuclear Power Program” they expect to hear a long, and boring speech about how a reactor works on some ship. In reality, the nuclear program the U.S. Navy offers is an extensive system is one of the backbones of our modern day military. With sTwo Truths and a Lie - Teacher Edition Us students have wandered the halls of this high school for years. In a small school like Southold, we’ve gotten to know our teachers pretty well -- making small talk in the classrooms or awkwardly greeting each other in the grocery store. The majority of students have had memorable classes with almost all of the teachers in this school.…
Soldiers in the U.S. military can be separated into two specific categories. First are conventional armed forces that are used to fight an opposing nation’s military. Two examples would be U.S. conventional forces fighting the Iraqi Army in both the Gulf War in 1990 and the early stage of the War on Iraq in 2003. The second category is Special Operations Forces or SOF who are used to fight an unconventional enemy such as insurgencies. Some examples would be SOF battling insurgent groups in the Afghanistan War in 2001 and the War in Iraq during 2003 after Saddam was removed from power when the U.S. was fighting insurgencies.…
Unconventional Warfare (UW) is considered the trademark of the U.S. Army Special Forces (SF). In fact, UW often serves as the focus for training, planning, and discussion within every aspect of the SF community. Most debates involving UW turn into an analysis of defining Unconventional Warfare and trying to figure out how to fit current SF operations into that definition. Special Forces prides itself on owning UW and serving as the Department of Defense’s subject matter experts on operating by, with, and through an indigenous force. The debate over Special Force’s ownership of this domain should not rely solely on the training, funding, or even doctrine that validates UW as a SF core task.…
Ivan MartinRigging Trade ClassJeremy Varner19 October 2016LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) “Independence Variant Class”It’s a UFO! Is a “Star-Destroyer” Ship! No! Is the new Navy LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) Independence Class! Why the U.S Navy is in need of a new class of ship?…