Contingency photos on Flickr

Prepared for Any Contingency by Erik Wilson

Kentucky National Guard by The National Guard

3

Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard's 123rd Contingency Response Group offload cargo from a Kentucky Air Guard C-130 Hercules during Capstone '14, a homeland earthquake-response exercise at Fort Campbell, Ky., on June 18, 2014. The 123rd CRG joined forces with the U.S. Army's 688th Rapid Port Opening Element to operate a Joint Task Force-Port Opening here from June 16 to 19, 2014. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Phil Speck)

"Ace & Che~Never Negotiate" by LB: ACE Enterprises

2 1

"The wicked spies upon the righteous and seeks to kill him." - Psalms 37:32

In a bag store on ancient Jinli Street in Chengdu China there is a newspaper article bearing the image of Che Guevara and chinese characters which states "Never Negotiate".. S.P.E.C.T.O.R./G.H.O.S.T.S. (STS) took this as an omen that the time is near:

"Time to go to War" by STS

Che Guevara was right and Einstein was wrong!!

The City of CHEngdu China was named after CHE Guevara though the city's name has never changed since it was first founded.

Marco Polo first arrived here in the 13th Century and STS followed the path leading the way of european ancestry unity with the asiatics for a common interest.

It was here that STS chose to come and establish the revolutionary base for the creation of "The Black Berets Manifesto" and bond with the Chinese Contingency Army.

Although STS was offered Beijing, Hong Kong, ShangHai, Nanjing, a better association for starting a new counter-revolution with a name that had the same word within it as the world's great revolutionary hero, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, for the history books when it would be decided to re-write it.

Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China houses 14,047,625 combatants. One of the most important economic, transportation, and communication centers in Western China and for Best Chinese Cities for Investment, Chengdu was chosen as one of the top ten cities to invest in out of a total of 280 urban centers in China. Recently named China's 4th-most livable city.

Known as the headquarters of the Chengdu Military Region administrative command located in southwest China, also includes some of the Kunming Military Region..

This military region includes two army groups, the 13th and 14th and the Tibetan 52nd and 53d Mountain Brigades, as well as the 149th Motorized Infantry Division, 2 Mobile Armed Police Divisions, the 38th 'parallel' and 41st, and the 2nd Army 'Aviation' Regiment.

What's really interesting is the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group which

produces the Jian-10 (Chengdu J-10) fighter considered to be one of the

most advanced in China's inventory, as well as the FC-1/JF-17 (Super-7

Fighter).

The J-10 "Annihilator-Ten" known in the West as the "Vigorous Dragon"

can track 10 targets at once thanks to israeli consultants and their

canceled Lavi technology which they sold to China. The first J-10

rolled out on 11/97 first delivered to the 13th Test Regiment. The last

part of the test flight program was the live firing of air-to-air

missiles carried out by test pilot Xu Yongling.

The Tomb of Wang Jian named Yongling Mausoleum is located in Chengdu as

well. The tomb of Wang Jian is much smaller compared with the Ming Tomb

in Beijing, however, it's much older built during the Five Dynasties

and Ten States Period.

www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSmcid=4708...;

www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GSmcid=4708...;

Wang Jian was the first emperor of the former Shu Kingdom during the

Five Dynasties and Ten States Period. It was during this period that

the Tang dynasty collapsed.

It was said Yongling was a rascal when he was young, slaughtering cows,

robbing donkeys, and smuggling salt. Joining the army he was promoted

to troop officer because of his bravery and cleverness. Towards the end

of the Tang Dynasty he took charge of the emperor’s palace guards.

The PAC JF-17 Thunder (CAC FC-1 Xiaolong) "Fierce Dragon" had started

as a combined program between China and Grumman but Grumman left the

project when sanctions were placed on China following the political

fallout from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. As recent as May 2011

China offered 50 JF-17s to Pakistan on an urgent basis at no cost.

The first JF-17 squadron, No. 26 Black Spiders first saw service in the

anti-terrorist operation in South Waziristan "Operation Rah-e-Nijat".

There is also The Chengdu J-20 (Jian-20) "Annihilator-Twenty" stealth

fighter prototype also developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group for

the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force expected to be

operational in 2017–2019. It's cost to build will be 50-80% less than

US.

I believe that China may have adopted some stealth technology from the

F-117 Nighthawk shot down by the Serbs in 1999.

The J-20 may become the first operational combat aircraft that carries

sufficient fuel to super-cruise throughout its missions, doubling it's

sortie rate to operate as a heavy interceptor, destroying opposing

AWACS and tanker aircraft, this combination of forward sector stealth

and long range will allow the J-20 to make attacks on surface targets

while the United States lacks sufficient bases for F-22s in the area to

counter and allies have no comparable aircraft. The Pentagon's 2011

report on the Chinese military agrees that the J-20 is "a platform

capable of long range, penetrating strikes into complex air defenses".

The aircraft is in development, estimates are from available only from

images.

Where is the Tomb of Ghenghis Khan and what lies within China's first emperor's tomb..Qin Shi Huang?

Marco Polo 1254-1324 died at age 70 - traveled across asia and made it as far as Chengdu China.

In Beijing he met Kublai Khan and like Alexander the Great before him he sailed home instead of overland returning after 24 years to find Venice at war with Genoa; Marco was imprisoned, and dictated his stories to a cellmate (Rustichello da Pisa) which is why the Tower of Pisa leans southeast. He was released in 1299, became a wealthy merchant, married, and had 3 children. He died in 1324, and was buried in San Lorenzo to fulfill the prophecies of 1964.

The chinese poet Tao Qian also known as Tao Yuanmin came from a notable family which fell into poverty. When he was young he was torn between ambition and a desire to retreat into solitude. His great-grandfather was the famous Eastern Jin general and governor, Tao Kan. He served in a series of minor posts but the death of his sister and disgust at the corruption and infighting of the Jin Court prompted his resignation, convincing him that life was too short to compromise on his principle.

He lived in retirement for his last 22 years.

STS came to Chengdu as the resurrection of the second coming of Che Guevara but was received as the Return of Marco Polo.

He read poems by Li Bai, theories by Liu Shaoqi, learned about Liu Bei's military conquests, and Lin Biao's failed military coup to oust Mao..

Chinese culture must be implemented with Western culture if both are to survive..

The Chinese are a much stronger culture than the americans.. with over 5,000 years of history far out reaching the Romans and the Greeks.. Only they will over thrown this regime.. but by then they'll be nothing worth saving.

Che Guevara after his meeting with Chairman Mao had emerged as a prominent symbol of self-sacrifice, armed struggle, internationalism and uncompromising opposition to U.S. domination. His death stands as a glaring example of the role the U.S. and its agents play in the brutal repression of humanity’s highest aspirations.

Che is a highly romantic martyr of the people’s cause. But he was also a revolutionary leader and thinker in a particular complex time; he was associated closely with a specific series of approaches and strategies.

Che (and the Cuban movement he was part of) had a particular line on the role of the people in their own emancipation. It was a view that exalted the actions of small military groupings of “heroic guerrillas” (called focos) in galvanizing revolution. Unlike the Maoists at that same time, Che and Fidel Castro were not advocates of a “land to the tiller” agrarian revolution, but sought to nationalize the existing plantation structure of Cuba and similar countries.

The fact that so many people revere him is a testimony to the deep desires for liberation throughout the world. And at the same time, revolution is not made by symbolism alone. The controversies surrounding Che’s strategies have contemporary significance.

New CIA-run armies were organized. The Green Berets were founded. U.S. training schools were cranking out torturers, coup-makers and counterrevolutionaries. Many places throughout the world were seeded with U.S.-trained agents and killers.

Over the last 30 years, Che Guevara has been seen by many as a symbol of resistance to all that–to U.S. domination and military power. And today, in 2011, the fight against all that remains the burning issue–just as it was 41 years ago.

How do we fight the oppressors today in a way that can actually defeat them, overthrow them and create a new liberated society?

That is the issue that confronts this new generation. The revolutionary process needs dreams of a better world and heroes that people can look up to. But it also needs a serious evaluation of historical experience. The people need revolutionary theory and strategy that can win.

Che Guevara advocated a particular path for the struggle against U.S. domination. And today, Guevarism–and the historical experience of those who followed it–needs to be critically evaluated. As a veteran communist once said, “We have to want revolution bad enough to be scientific about it.”

Che Guevara was right in the middle of these developments. He made several criticisms of the Soviet Union–for not firmly backing national liberation struggles and for their trade policies with countries like Cuba.

In the early 1960s, Mao Tsetung made a startling and penetrating analysis of developments within the Soviet Union. A fundamental change of power had happened, Mao said, in 1956 when Nikita Khrushchev seized power in the Soviet Union. Capitalist-roaders within the Communist Party there had carried out a restoration of capitalism. The Soviet Union, which had been a socialist country for decades, was now a social-imperialist power (socialist in name, imperialist in essence).

Mao warned about the danger of driving the tiger out the front door while letting the wolf in the back. Relying on this new imperialist power, he said, was extremely dangerous for the masses of people. The new rulers of the Soviet Union represented a new bourgeoisie–fundamentally opposed to liberation.

Today such issues may seem “a thing of the past” to a generation that lives in a world where the Soviet bloc has collapsed and the U.S. is top dog of the imperialist heap. But it is impossible to evaluate the historical experience of Che and the “Cuban Road” without understanding the nature of Soviet social-imperialism and the negative impact that alliances with the Soviet Union had on the national liberation struggles of Latin America and around the world.

The path to power advocated by Maoists was radically different from the one formulated by Che Guevara. The Maoists argued that power won through shortcuts would not be able to resist the pressures of imperialism or lead to an all-the-way revolutionary society. For that, the masses needed to be mobilized and trained in the course of a protracted class struggle, led by the proletariat.

In the Third World, Maoists argued the armed struggle needed to take the form of a protracted people’s war–that was waged by relying on the masses of people, surrounding the cities from the countryside and building up a new power within revolutionary base areas. Though this approach was based on the rich experience of the Chinese revolution, Mao warned revolutionaries around the world not to copy that experience but to creatively apply this strategic orientation to their own conditions.

In the beginning, Mao had hopes of possibly winning the Cuban leadership to a better path, and he personally met with Che during his 1960 trip to China. But Che Guevara remained convinced of his foco strategy and convinced that the Soviet Union should be embraced as a potential ally of the people’s movements.

Many other issues were raised by this famous ideological struggle of the 1960s and 1970s: Whether to forge new, revolutionary, communist parties to lead the revolutionary struggle, the role of armed struggle in revolution and how to organize the people for revolutionary war, how to evaluate different class forces in the world–including especially the peasantry in the world’s semi-colonial, semi-feudal countries–and how to continue the revolution after the seizure of power.

In this process, a new clarity emerged, based on advances in communist ideology–Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.

Today, 41 years after the murder of Che, there have been many changes in the world. Major transformations have happened–including increased “shantytownization” in the Third World–and new leaps have taken place in the linkages of the international production and world market. With these changes have come new questions of how people can liberate themselves from imperialism. But for several billion dispossessed, poor and uprooted people across the planet, imperialist development and technology is nothing but a nightmare. For them the future is either going to be desperation or revolution. And for those in the oppressed nations, the Maoist path of protracted people’s war remains an urgent and practical solution to the problems of today.

There are many today, among the youth in the U.S. and Latin America, who have been attracted to Che Guevara–because they see in him a symbol of self-sacrifice, armed struggle and internationalism in the fight against U.S. imperialism. For all those motivated by deep love for the people, it is extremely important to dig deep into the historical experiences, to seriously struggle to grasp the differences between different lines and roads. Today, this is a life-and-death issue. It has everything to do with whether we can turn our revolutionary dreams into reality.

Chinese have a powerful past culture and unlike other vanished empires China is the only culture that is resurrecting itself once again.. only the germans were able to do this during the 1930's and 40's.. the chinese empire will rise to haunt the western world.. just like the former japanese empire once did.

The United States Corporate Government's religious practice of Corporate Flight created this imbalance beginning in Post-World War II to appease it's allies as well as maximizing corporate profit and tax exemptions.

Now, not so much a 'recession' or 'depression' but more Apocalypse/Armageddon.

'Divide and Rule' Masonic Philosophy

21st December 2012 to those who use the Gregorian calendar.

Year of the Dragon to the Chinese.

Dragon = Dinosaur of the Church.

Xanadu - Present day Beijing

Return of the Dragon (STS)

Enter the Dragon (The Black Berets)

141112-N-UD469-232 by U.S. Pacific Fleet

4

PHILIPPINE SEA (Nov. 12, 2014) Members of the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) carry a simulated injured patient from a JGSDF CH-47 Chinook to the medical ward of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42) during a Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) drill for exercise Keen Sword. Exercise Keen Sword is a bilateral field training exercise held biennially since 1986. The exercise is designed to increase the interoperability of U.S. Forces and the Japanese Self Defense Forces (JSDF) to effectively and mutually provide for the defense of Japan, or respond to a regional crisis or contingency situation in the Asia-Pacific region. Germantown is part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group, commanded by Capt. Heidi Agle, and is conducting joint forces exercises in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Amanda R. Gray/Released)

U.S. Africa Command C4ISR Senior Leaders Conference, Vicenza, Italy, February 2011 by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

U.S. Army Africa photo by David Ruderman

U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) hosted its second annual C4ISR Senior Leaders Conference Feb. 2-4 at Caserma Ederle, headquarters of U.S. Army Africa, in Vicenza, Italy.

The communications and intelligence community event, hosted by Brig. Gen. Robert Ferrell, AFRICOM C4 director, drew approximately 80 senior leaders from diverse U.S. military and government branches and agencies, as well as representatives of African nations and the African Union.

The conference is a combination of our U.S. AFRICOM C4 systems and intel directorate,” said Ferrell. “We come together annually to bring the team together to work on common goals to work on throughout the year. The team consists of our coalition partners as well as our inter-agency partners, as well as our components and U.S. AFRICOM staff.”

The conference focused on updates from participants, and on assessing the present state and goals of coalition partners in Africa, he said.

“The theme for our conference is ‘Delivering Capabilities to a Joint Information Environment,’ and we see it as a joint and combined team ... working together, side by side, to promote peace and stability there on the African continent,” Ferrell said.

Three goals of this year’s conference were to strengthen the team, assess priorities across the board, and get a better fix on the impact that the establishment of the U.S. Cyber Command will have on all members’ efforts in the future, he said.

“With the stand-up of U.S. Cyber Command, it brings a lot of unique challenges that we as a team need to talk through to ensure that our information is protected at all times,” Ferrell said.

African Union (AU) representatives from four broad geographic regions of Africa attended, which generated a holistic perspective on needs and requirements from across the continent, he said.

“We have members from the African Union headquarters that is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; we have members that are from Uganda; from Zambia; from Ghana; and also from the Congo. What are the gaps, what are the things that we kind of need to assist with as we move forward on our engagements on the African continent?” Ferrell said.

U.S. Army Africa Commander, Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg, welcomed participants as the conference got under way.

“We’re absolutely delighted to be the host for this conference, and we hope that this week you get a whole lot out of it,” said Hogg.

He took the opportunity to address the participants not only as their host, but from the perspective of a customer whose missions depend on the results of their efforts to support commanders in the field.

“When we’re talking about this group of folks that are here — from the joint side, from our African partners, from State, all those folks — it’s about partnership and interoperability. And every commander who’s ever had to fight in a combined environment understands that interoperability is the thing that absolutely slaps you upside the head,” Hogg said.

“We’re in the early stages of the process here of working with the African Union and the other partners, and you have an opportunity to design this from the end state, versus just building a bunch of ‘gunkulators.’ And so, the message is: think about what the end state is supposed to look like and construct the strategy to support the end state.

“Look at where we want to be at and design it that way,” Hogg said.

He also admonished participants to consider the second- and third-order effects of their choices in designing networks.

“With that said, over the next four days, I hope this conference works very well for you. If there’s anything we can do to make your stay better, please let us know,” Hogg said.

Over the following three days, participants engaged in a steady stream of briefings and presentations focused on systems, missions and updates from the field.

Col. Joseph W. Angyal, director of U.S. Army Africa G-6, gave an overview of operations and issues that focused on fundamentals, the emergence of regional accords as a way forward, and the evolution of a joint network enterprise that would serve all interested parties.

“What we’re trying to do is to work regionally. That’s frankly a challenge, but as we stand up the capability, really for the U.S. government, and work through that, we hope to become more regionally focused,” he said.

He referred to Africa Endeavor, an annual, multi-nation communications exercise, as a test bed for the current state of affairs on the continent, and an aid in itself to future development.

“In order to conduct those exercises, to conduct those security and cooperation events, and to meet contingency missions, we really, from the C4ISR perspective, have five big challenges,” Angyal said.

“You heard General Hogg this morning talk about ‘think about the customer’ — you’ve got to allow me to be able to get access to our data; I’ve got to be able to get to the data where and when I need it; you’ve got to be able to protect it; I have to be able to share it; and then finally, the systems have to be able to work together in order to build that coalition.

“One of the reasons General Ferrell is setting up this joint information enterprise, this joint network enterprise . . . it’s almost like trying to bring together disparate companies or corporations: everyone has their own system, they’ve paid for their own infrastructure, and they have their own policy, even though they support the same major company.

“Now multiply that when you bring in different services, multiply that when you bring in different U.S. government agencies, and then put a layer on top of that with the international partners, and there are lots of policies that are standing in our way.”

The main issue is not a question of technology, he said.

“The boxes are the same — a Cisco router is a Cisco router; Microsoft Exchange server is the same all over the world — but it’s the way that we employ them, and it’s the policies that we apply to it, that really stops us from interoperating, and that’s the challenge we hope to work through with the joint network enterprise.

“And I think that through things like Africa Endeavor and through the joint enterprise network, we’re looking at knocking down some of those policy walls, but at the end of the day they are ours to knock down. Bill Gates did not design a system to work only for the Army or for the Navy — it works for everyone,” Angyal said.

Brig. Gen. Joseph Searyoh, director general of Defense Information Communication Systems, General Headquarters, Ghana Armed Forces, agreed that coordinating policy is fundamental to improving communications with all its implications for a host of operations and missions.

“One would expect that in these modern times there is some kind of mutual engagement, and to build that engagement to be strong, there must be some kind of element of trust. … We have to build some kind of trust to be able to move forward,” said Searyoh.

“Some people may be living in silos of the past, but in the current engagement we need to tell people that we are there with no hidden agenda, no negative hidden agenda, but for the common good of all of us.

“We say that we are in the information age, and I’ve been saying something: that our response should not be optional, but it must be a must, because if you don’t join now, you are going to be left behind.

“So what do we do? We have to get our house in order.

“Why do I say so? We used to operate like this before the information age; now in the information age, how do we operate?

“So, we have to get our house in order and see whether we are aligning ourselves with way things should work now. So, our challenge is to come up with a strategy, see how best we can reorganize our structures, to be able to deliver communications-information systems support for the Ghana Armed Forces,” he said.

Searyoh related that his organization has already accomplished one part of erecting the necessary foundation by establishing an appropriate policy structure.

“What is required now is the implementing level. Currently we have communications on one side, and computers on one side. The lines are blurred — you cannot operate like that, you’ve got to bring them together,” he said.

Building that merged entity to support deployed forces is what he sees as the primary challenge at present.

“Once you get that done you can talk about equipment, you can talk about resources,” Searyoh said. “I look at the current collaboration between the U.S. and the coalition partners taking a new level.”

“The immediate challenges that we have is the interoperability, which I think is one of the things we are also discussing here, interoperability and integration,” said Lt. Col. Kelvin Silomba, African Union-Zambia, Information Technology expert for the Africa Stand-by Force.

“You know that we’ve got five regions in Africa. All these regions, we need to integrate them and bring them together, so the challenge of interoperability in terms of equipment, you know, different tactical equipment that we use, and also in terms of the language barrier — you know, all these regions in Africa you find that they speak different languages — so to bring them together we need to come up with one standard that will make everybody on board and make everybody able to talk to each other,” he said.

“So we have all these challenges. Other than that also, stemming from the background of these African countries, based on the colonization: some of them were French colonized, some of them were British colonized and so on, so you find that when they come up now we’ve adopted some of the procedures based on our former colonial masters, so that is another challenge that is coming on board.”

The partnership with brother African states, with the U.S. government and its military branches, and with other interested collaborators has had a positive influence, said Silomba.

“Oh, it’s great. From the time that I got engaged with U.S. AFRICOM — I started with Africa Endeavor, before I even came to the AU — it is my experience that it is something very, very good.

“I would encourage — I know that there are some member states — I would encourage that all those member states they come on board, all of these regional organizations, that they come on board and support the AFRICOM lead. It is something that is very, very good.

“As for example, the African Union has a lot of support that’s been coming in, technical as well as in terms of knowledge and equipment. So it’s great; it’s good and it’s great,” said Salimba.

Other participant responses to the conference were positive as well.

“The feedback I’ve gotten from every member is that they now know what the red carpet treatment looks like, because USARAF has gone over and above board to make sure the environment, the atmosphere and the actual engagements … are executed to perfection,” said Ferrell. “It’s been very good from a team-building aspect.

“We’ve had very good discussions from members of the African Union, who gave us a very good understanding of the operations that are taking place in the area of Somalia, the challenges with communications, and laid out the gaps and desires of where they see that the U.S. and other coalition partners can kind of improve the capacity there in that area of responsibility.

“We also talked about the AU, as they are expanding their reach to all of the five regions, of how can they have that interoperability and connectivity to each of the regions,” Ferrell said.

“(It’s been) a wealth of knowledge and experts that are here to share in terms of how we can move forward with building capacities and capabilities. Not only for U.S. interests, but more importantly from my perspective, in building capacities and capabilities for our African partners beginning with the Commission at the African Union itself,” said Kevin Warthon, U.S. State Department, peace and security adviser to the African Union.

“I think that General Ferrell has done an absolutely wonderful thing by inviting key African partners to participate in this event so they can share their personal experience from a national, regional and continental perspective,” he said.

Warthon related from his personal experience a vignette of African trust in Providence that he believed carries a pertinent metaphor and message to everyone attending the conference.

“We are not sure what we are going to do tomorrow, but the one thing that I am sure of is that we are able to do something. Don’t know when, don’t know how, but as long as our focus is on our ability to assist and to help to progress a people, that’s really what counts more than anything else,” he said.

“Don’t worry about the timetable; just focus on your ability to make a difference and that’s what that really is all about.

“I see venues such as this as opportunities to make what seems to be the impossible become possible. … This is what this kind of venue does for our African partners.

“We’re doing a wonderful job at building relationships, because that’s where it begins — we have to build relationships to establish trust. That’s why this is so important: building trust through relationships so that we can move forward in the future,” Warthon said.

Conference members took a cultural tour of Venice and visited a traditional winery in the hills above Vicenza before adjourning.

To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil

Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica

Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica

Royal Marines Commandos by World Armies

2

Royal Marines from 42 Commando Boarding RFA Mounts Bay

Members of 42 Commando Fleet Contingency conducting high vertical assaults on RFA Mounts Bay as part of the Autonomous Advance Force 4.0 trials. 42 Commando Royal Marine’s Fleet Contingency Troop have been conducting high vertical assault drills onto RFA Mounts Bay in Portland Harbour, supported by Offshore Raiding Craft and Coxswains from 47 Commando RM.

The training forms part of the Autonomous Advance Force 4.0 trials, utilising modern communication systems and autonomous capabilities, including mobile ad hoc networking radios MPU5, Ghost drone, which provides a live feed to ground commanders and the MADFOX unmanned surface vessel, used to provide deception and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

Photos: LPhot Joe Cater

Jumps and Chutes: 736th SFS conduct airborne training by US Air Force

2

Staff Sgt. Daniel Guy, 736th Security Forces Squadron fire team leader, collects his parachute Aug. 21, 2013 after a static line jump over the Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, flight line. As the integrated force protection element of the 36th Contingency Response Group, members of the 736th SFS provide a quick-response airborne capability that serves as an advance echelon team for contingency and humanitarian missions all over the Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Marianique Santos)

Royal Marines Commandos by World Armies

3

Royal Marines from 42 Commando Boarding RFA Mounts Bay

Members of 42 Commando Fleet Contingency conducting high vertical assaults on RFA Mounts Bay as part of the Autonomous Advance Force 4.0 trials. 42 Commando Royal Marine’s Fleet Contingency Troop have been conducting high vertical assault drills onto RFA Mounts Bay in Portland Harbour, supported by Offshore Raiding Craft and Coxswains from 47 Commando RM.

The training forms part of the Autonomous Advance Force 4.0 trials, utilising modern communication systems and autonomous capabilities, including mobile ad hoc networking radios MPU5, Ghost drone, which provides a live feed to ground commanders and the MADFOX unmanned surface vessel, used to provide deception and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

Photos: LPhot Joe Cater

‘Black Knight’ troops deliver accuracy on range by The 4th Infantry Division

6

Tanks maneuver into position.

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq – Two M1A2 Abrams tanks maneuver to their firing positions on Memorial Range near Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, July 27, 2011. Tank crews from Company D, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, zeroed their 120mm main guns and machine guns during the exercise in support of Operation New Dawn.

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Quentin Johnson, 2nd AAB PAO, 1st Cav. Div., USD – N)

Djiboutian Army Quick Reaction Regiment trains at Ali Oune, Djibouti, February 2011 by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

2

Djiboutian Army 1st Rapid Action Regiment Squad Leader, Abou Bakr Housein, draws a sand table for his fellow squad members during a break from instruction on basic infantry movements, as part of a training course held in Ali Oune, Djibouti, Feb 2, 2011.

Photo by Master Sgt. Dawn M. Price

ALI OUNE, Djibouti– Under an overcast sky, nearly 200 members of the Djiboutian Army’s elite 1st Rapid Action Regiment honed their infantry skills, mentored by members of the U.S. Army National Guard’s 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 137th Infantry Regiment.

The training included instruction on squad movements, convoy operations, contact drills, camp security and marksmanship, and was part of a one-month course which began Jan. 16 and culminated with a graduation Feb. 10. The instruction included mortar crew training and a combat engineering course, according to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Nelson Perkins, mission commander and member of Charlie Company.

“Our mission here is to mentor the Djiboutian military as they prepare for upcoming missions. We’re trying to help them so they are capable of preventing conflict, establishing regional stability, and protecting coalition interests here,” said Staff Sgt. Travis Elder, an infantry squad leader with the 137th, who is a sheriff’s deputy in his hometown located near Topeka, Kan.

“My team and I are out here mentoring the soldiers and helping them along, basically giving them more tools for their toolbox. We’re showing them things that have helped us get through certain operations, and we want to help them so they can get through their future missions without any problem,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges the instructors faced was the language barrier due to few Djiboutian soldiers speaking English, according to Sgt. Jonathan Moyer, a team member with Echo Company. Instructors relied heavily on 2nd Lt. Omar Ali, Djibouti Army 2nd Company commander, who is fluent in four languages, and Mohamed Said, a Somali-born U.S. Army interpreter.

Throughout the morning, the small groups practiced team movements, and communicated contact and direction of fire. Loud whistle bursts signified enemy contact, and the Djiboutian soldiers moved succinctly, went into the prone position and assumed their staggered firing positions.

The regiment, which was established in 1991 and is comprised of a number of 20-year combat veterans, is the first unit in the Djiboutian Army called to deploy during a contingency, according to Ali. The regiment also provides border security on the Somaliland border located approximately seven miles from the camp.

“The goal for my soldiers is to prepare them for their mission and especially for a deployment under the United Nations, like they did in Haiti and Central Africa,” Ali said, who has been in the army since 2001. He attended an officer’s course with Germany’s mountain troops from 2004-2008 and will soon attend the Infantry Career Captain’s Course at Fort Benning, Ga.

According to Ali, the training is part of a continuation of training that began in September 2010 that included effective methods of instruction, commander operation skills course, a command post exercise, and company grade and noncommissioned officer courses.

Just one month ago, the newly-formed training camp consisted of just six concrete pads. Today the camp consists of about 12 tents, a mosque and a large covered classroom area.

“Camp Ali Oune is actually the first of its kind. The Djiboutians don’t have any bases here on the Somali border, and this camp is supposed to be here for quite a while. They will be utilizing the camp as a training area and for continuing operations to keep this region safe,” he said.

About two miles away in the shadow of a steep hill, other members of the Rapid Action Regiment sharpened their marksmanship skills using the Russian PKM 7.62-mm machine gun, which is the equivalent of the M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon. Automatic gunfire and the ricochet of rounds echoed from the large rock-covered hill as each two-man team practiced firing in staccato bursts of three and five rounds.

“Very well done,” one of the instructors exclaimed after seeing a bullseye on the target of one team.

Ali said the training and mentoring provided by the 137th is beneficial because the cadre of instructors bring real-world operational experience.

“We already had a good relationship with the U.S. Army, and I have to say it’s a good thing and we have a good image of the U.S. Army,” Ali said.

To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil

Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica

Official Vimeo video channel: www.vimeo.com/usarmyafrica

Royal Marines Commandos by World Armies

1

Royal Marines from 42 Commando Boarding RFA Mounts Bay

Members of 42 Commando Fleet Contingency conducting high vertical assaults on RFA Mounts Bay as part of the Autonomous Advance Force 4.0 trials. 42 Commando Royal Marine’s Fleet Contingency Troop have been conducting high vertical assault drills onto RFA Mounts Bay in Portland Harbour, supported by Offshore Raiding Craft and Coxswains from 47 Commando RM.

The training forms part of the Autonomous Advance Force 4.0 trials, utilising modern communication systems and autonomous capabilities, including mobile ad hoc networking radios MPU5, Ghost drone, which provides a live feed to ground commanders and the MADFOX unmanned surface vessel, used to provide deception and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

Photos: LPhot Joe Cater

Leading from the front by US Air Force

2 1

Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group carry whole blood to a waiting C-130 Hercules at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, Oct. 22, 2014. The blood is being sent to Liberia to support U.S. troops deployed for Operation United Assistance, the U.S. Agency for International Development-led, whole-of-government effort to respond to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer/Released)

Royal Marines Commandos by World Armies

3

Royal Marines from M Coy hone their skills during Royal Marine Boarding Course

:

The Marines of M Coy, 42 Commando RM, have been consolidating their tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) on the final exercise of the RM Boarding Course at Bovington Training Area, Dorset.

:

The arduous 8-week course will qualify the Commandos to take the mantle as the Fleet Contingency Troop (FCT) and will see them being held at a high state of readiness for potential deployments to key areas of national interest.

:

Image: POPhot Paul Hall

:

Djiboutian Army Quick Reaction Regiment trains at Ali Oune, Djibouti, February 2011 by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

2

U.S. Army interpreter, Mohamed Said, instructs soldier of the Djiboutian Army’s 1st Quick Reaction Regiment his sector of fire during a training scenario at Camp Ali Oune, Djibouti, Feb. 2, 2011.

Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Lindsey