Intermediate network warfare training up and running

Intermediate network warfare training up and running: "In February, 17 students began the first intermediate network warfare training at the 39th Information Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

The 42-day course began Feb. 2 and features a syllabus geared to the needs of cyberoperators in the field, said 1st Lt. Michelle Buchholtz, the influence flight commander and instructor of the 39th IOS.

"Students learn advanced cyberoperations fundamentals including policy, doctrine, employment, executing organizations and missions, operational functions, and law and ethics," she said.

INWT is only open to Airmen who have completed initial skills training or supplemental skills training, either through the undergraduate network-warfare training course at Hurlburt Field, or the undergraduate cybertraining course at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. It is designed to provide network-warfare-operations initial qualification training for cyberoperators to become cyberspace basic-mission qualified.

"Intermediate network-warfare training serves as initial qualification training for personnel actively defending global Air Force networks," said Lieutenant Col. Brian Denman, the commander of the 39th IOS. "Our advanced cybertraining forges the skills, capabilities and relationships, which will ensure a robust, professional cyberforce prepared to execute the full spectrum of Air Force cyberoperations."

As these cyberoperators progress through their training pipeline, they will focus on several critical areas including mission employment and coordination of network attack, network defense and network-warfare support activities, Lieutenant Buchholtz said.

As the cyberworld is constantly changing, so is the course material, she said.

"The 39th IOS continuously revises current courses and develops new ones to keep pace with the rapidly changing information operations and cyberwarfare mission areas," Lieutenant Buchholtz explained.

Since this is the first iteration of the INWT course, the validation phase, feedback received from the graduating students will help refine and tailor course material to the dynamic cyberwarfare mission for future iterations of the class, she said.

Lieutenant Buchholtz concluded that schoolhouse officials hope to host eight INWT courses per year with an average of 24 students each, and adequately train cyberoperators who can meet the demands of the cyberwarfare mission and embrace the essential concepts that cyberoperators must understand to be successful in the dynamic cyberdomain."
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Cyber Defense

The US military is preparing for 21st Century electronic warfare and cyber terrorism. A joint US Cyber Command and four service cyber commands have been set up.

Their mission is to defend American military networks and civilian American infrastructure from cyber terrorism and from foreign government hackers.

The officers leading these cyber commands explain how they are organized, how they operate, and how they will protect the United States from foreign military hackers, intelligence agencies, and cyber terrorists.

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Merchant Vessel Defense Against Pirates

Preemptive Measures Can Prevent Boarding and Hostage Taking

Too often, ship operators fail to take proper anti-piracy security measures, effectively turning their merchant vessels into “Golden Geese” ripe for the taking, writes the author. He goes on to discuss proven methods of hardening commercial ships and training their crews to prevent pirates – whether from Somalia or elsewhere – from boarding vessels and taking crews hostage.

Ship to bolster Europe's missile defenses: US

Ship to bolster Europe's missile defenses: US: "The US military will send a warship to the Mediterranean next week as a first step in a defense shield to protect Europe from a potential strike from Iran's missile arsenal, a defense official said Tuesday.
The USS Monterey, a guided missile cruiser equipped with Aegis radar designed to detect ballistic missiles, is due to depart next week from its home port in Norfolk, Virginia for a six-month mission, said John Plumb, principal director of nuclear and missile defense policy.
The ship's launch fulfills the US administration's goal of deploying military hardware for the shield in 2011.
After President Barack Obama announced a new missile defense policy in 2009, Plumb said 'now here is our first concrete demonstration of our commitment to the missile defense of our deployed forces, allies and partners in Europe."
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NATO Missile Defense for Europe

NATO has agreed to provide ballistic missile defense or BMD for all of Europe. This NATO BMD will protect NATO (European and American) military forces in Europe. It will also – for the very first time – protect the civilian population throughout Europe from ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction launched from the Middle East.
Much of this NATO missile defense for Europe – known as the European Phased Adaptive Approach – will actually be provided by the United States armed forces. This will include seaborne AEGIS missile defense on board US Navy ships in the Mediterranean, as well as land based radars and interceptor missiles.
This e-book describes how NATO missile defense for Europe will be organized and implemented.

Northrop Grumman Awarded Contract To Provide Cyberspace Operations Solutions To The US Navy

Northrop Grumman Awarded Contract To Provide Cyberspace Operations Solutions To The US Navy: "awarded a contract for cyberspace operations supporting the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) to provide cyberspace science, research, engineering and technology integration.
The cyberspace operations contract is an indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract structure with a two-year base period with three one-year option years with a potential value of $200 million."
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Cyber Defense

The US military is preparing for 21st Century electronic warfare and cyber terrorism. A joint US Cyber Command and four service cyber commands have been set up.

Their mission is to defend American military networks and civilian American infrastructure from cyber terrorism and from foreign government hackers.

The officers leading these cyber commands explain how they are organized, how they operate, and how they will protect the United States from foreign military hackers, intelligence agencies, and cyber terrorists.

Cybercrime 'industry' sees growth

Cybercrime 'industry' sees growth: "Cybercrime has spread globally and resembles an industry with double-digit growth over the past year, industry data indicated.
Estimates of losses to the U.S. economy and society vary but increasingly sophisticated cybercrime consistently targets the government, corporations and individuals.

About 90 percent of U.S. companies that responded to a Computer Security Institute survey said they had detected computer security breaches and 74 percent acknowledged financial losses as a result of the breaches of security.

More than 270 U.S. organizations quantified their financial losses for a total of $265 million. Analysts said the actual costs could be much higher."
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Cyber Defense

The US military is preparing for 21st Century electronic warfare and cyber terrorism. A joint US Cyber Command and four service cyber commands have been set up.

Their mission is to defend American military networks and civilian American infrastructure from cyber terrorism and from foreign government hackers.

The officers leading these cyber commands explain how they are organized, how they operate, and how they will protect the United States from foreign military hackers, intelligence agencies, and cyber terrorists.

First MC-130J training program takes flight

First MC-130J training program takes flight: "As the first MC-130J Combat Shadow II rolled off the Lockheed Martin factory line, a training flight class recently conducted sorties in preparation for transition to the new airframe.

The Air Force Special Operations Training Center's first MC-130J training program flight class practiced air drops, aerial refueling and formation on an EC-130J Commando Solo at Harrisburg International Airport, PA recently.

AFSOTC officials worked in conjunction with members from the 193rd Special Operations Wing, Marines and National Guard Bureau officials to kick-start a training program two years in the making.

"This first class is a small group try-out designed to validate our syllabus of instruction for the remaining classes," said Maj. Robert Deka, the AFSOTC MC-130J training program manager.

In a phase AFSOTC commander Col. Mark Alsid referred to as "train the trainer," the program has pooled the best instructors to provide academic instruction to air commandos who will take that knowledge and bring it back to their home bases.

"AFSOTC is setting the stage for the future of this platform, and the MC-130J is a huge addition to the AFSOC fleet, so we have to get it right," Colonel Alsid said.

The program features pilot, combat systems officer and loadmaster training with different facets held in California, New Mexico, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Florida.

After completing training in their respective areas, the flight class members met in Harrisburg for the first time to practice piloting the J-model with a reduced number of crew, which required enhanced coordination among members.

The MC-130J is manned by a five-member crew. This is a reduction in size from the standard eight-member MC-130P Combat Shadow crew, Major Deka said.

With no flight engineer or radio systems operator, the loadmaster will assume many of the duties previously designated to those positions, including the complete preflight and loading of cryptic codes, said Master Sgt. Scott Reed, the AFSOTC lead J-model loadmaster.
The loadmaster will also be a systems expert.

The combat systems operator will also engage in less traditional navigation duties as he handles in-flight helicopter refueling procedures normally conducted by the flight engineer, he said.

No glitches occurred while coordinating these functions, Sergeant Reed said. Though this was the first class training flight on the Commando Solo, program instructors have been using MC-130J procedures for a few years.

Sergeant Reed has been involved with the training program since its inception two years ago. He said he was honored to jump in headfirst and apply his knowledge of the MC-130P Combat Shadow to developing a training plan for the J-model alongside a select group of talented aviators, which includes some from the Combat Talon community.

"It's rewarding," he said. "We literally started with nothing."

Lt. Col. Tobin Wong, a AFSOTC evaluator pilot and MC-130J subject-matter expert, echoed the sentiments of Sergeant Reed.

"It's exciting. A lot of hard work has gone into the training," Colonel Wong said. "But we could not have gotten to this point without the support of the 193rd SOW."

In addition to qualifying crew members in MC-130J procedures, the program is designed to keep those qualified current until the Combat Shadow II is delivered later this year, Major Deka said.

The goal is to have at least five crews, or 25 members, trained by September, he said.

The EC-130J sorties will continue to take place in Harrisburg through the spring, Major Deka said. The program instructors, many of whom are among the few MC-130J subject-matter experts in the Air Force, will continue to develop the training in anticipation of the arrival of the streamlined airframe.

"The ability to get things right and set standards now is great," Sergeant Reed said. "It's certainly an outstanding time to be an aviator at AFSOC."

These sorties approach the culmination of AFSOC commander Lt. Gen. Donald Wurster's priority to recapitalize the fleet by acquiring up to 37 MC-130Js to replace aircraft that have been flying combat missions for up to 40 years.

The MC-130J will replace aging MC-130E Combat Talon I and MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft.

The Combat Shadow II will fly clandestine, low-level aerial refueling missions as well as infiltration, exfiltration and resupply missions."
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The War of Varus:
Judea Rises Against Rome in 4 BC

King Herod I. served Rome as a willing proxy ruler over Judea, alienating his Jewish subjects by supporting pagan temples, observance of Roman holidays, and sponsorship of arena games in Jerusalem. The last straw for the pious Jewish opposition was erection of a huge gilded eagle – the symbol of Roman power – above the gates to the Temple District.

When Herod died in 4 BC, Jerusalem and all Judea erupted. Pious Jews, would be Messiahs, and terrorists alike rose up, all hoping to restore Judea's liberty. Publius Quintilius Varus, Rome's governor in Syria, was tasked with suppressing the revolts and restoring order -- Rome's order -- in the land.

Varus led three complete legions and numerous Arab auxiliaries into Judea and marched on Jerusalem, systematically and brutally suppressing all opposition, with little regard for the fate of innocents. Jewish-Roman historian Josephus termed the War of Varus one of the greatest catastrophes to ever befall the Jewish people.

Westphal addresses budget cuts, balance

Westphal addresses budget cuts, balance: "Becoming more efficient and innovative will be key to the Army's future as the service gradually downsizes end-strength between 2013 and 2015, said it's chief management officer Feb. 24.

Speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army's Institute of Land Warfare Winter Symposium and Exhibition in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Under Secretary of the Army Joseph W. Westphal posed rhetorical questions and possible solutions to the looming challenges of budget cuts, troop balance and the reserve component.

Making comparisons to the Army he knew during the Clinton administration, Westphal said the Army operated on a tiered readiness model, a base budget of about $76 billion and that there was no ongoing war. Today, the Army operates on a cyclical readiness model and the base budget is nearly double at $145 billion with another $71 billion in contingency funding.

"This model -- cyclical readiness model -- also has forced us to rely more and more on the Reserve Component. I remember being in an Army that didn't want to do that, or didn't think that was as critical as it is today," he said. "I can tell you the leadership of this Army believes strongly that the operationalizing of the Reserve Component is critical to the future and critical to sustaining our model."

Westphal went on to say there would be more than a few issues with funding an operational Reserve and Guard as well as with the sustainment of that model in times of severe stress so "we're really going to have to think critically and analytically about how to do this."

He said during the past 10 years of war, the Army has mobilized from the Army Reserve and National Guard about 600,000 Soldiers. About 70,000 are mobilized today, and he added that the Army couldn't afford to go back to a tiered readiness model. It needs participation by the reserve component, he said, particularly since they bring so many skills to the table.

Since 2001, warfighting costs in Iraq and Afghanistan have exceeded more than $1 trillion and today, that charge comes to $12.5 billion monthly. The interest paid on the national debt alone at $400 billion is almost twice the budget of the Army, so you can imagine the tremendous impact that is having on the economic growth and development, he said.

The undersecretary added that it was fortunate and visionary that Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates saw a challenge to the force structure in the department so he embarked on an efficiencies initiative.

"The reality was if we hadn't done what he asked us to do and we hadn't done it as quickly and as effectively as we did, we would be facing significant problems trying to find ways to address these budget reductions that we're seeing today," he said.

"Each of the services cut about $30 billion in moving basically redundancies and inefficiencies from tail to tooth," Westphal added. "In doing that, the Army was able to identify ways in which we could do this without really affecting the goals of reaching a one-to-two, one-to-three BOG ("boots on the ground" deployed) /dwell (stateside) ratio without affecting the participation of the reserve component and continuing to implement an ARFORGEN (Army Force Generation) model that we are now trying to both analytically and critically continue to improve and adapt."

Initially the president's deficit commission had identified "very, very big and very significant cuts to the Army and to the Department of Defense, and to our end strength, but the secretary's efficiency initiative was able to address some of the recommendations of the White House and stave off significant budget cuts that would have moved the Army back to fiscal year 08 levels," he said.

"So the strategic choices that we have before us today are I think very simple -- how big does the Army need to be?" he asked the crowd. "How big an Army can we afford as a nation? I guess you could answer that question two ways -- you have an Army as large as you need to have and affordability shouldn't necessarily be an issue.

"The secretary of defense and the president have indicated that our temporary end-strength increase of 22,000 Soldiers to address Stop-Loss and the large number of non-deployables that we've had will need to start coming down now into '13 and '14," he said.

Westphal noted another 27,000 Soldiers would be cut in 2014 and 2015.

On the other hand, according to Westphal, Congress and the general public want to support Soldiers, their missions and families, but they question whether DoD is as efficient as it could be.

"I think that kind of question is going to be more and more out there and we're going to have to do more and more to show efficiencies while doing away with inefficiencies," he said. "To answer these questions, I think the Army has to be able to make better decisions, decisions that are output-based, output-focused, performance-based and resource-informed. This is business transformation vocabulary."

The under secretary also said the Army would need to create more integration among the different elements in the force and would have to align better with the other services as well as DoD."
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Cyber Defense

The US military is preparing for 21st Century electronic warfare and cyber terrorism. A joint US Cyber Command and four service cyber commands have been set up.

Their mission is to defend American military networks and civilian American infrastructure from cyber terrorism and from foreign government hackers.

The officers leading these cyber commands explain how they are organized, how they operate, and how they will protect the United States from foreign military hackers, intelligence agencies, and cyber terrorists.

Soldiers to receive new precision mortar round

Soldiers to receive new precision mortar round: "Early next month U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan will receive a first-of-its kind, GPS-guided 120mm mortar munition that can pinpoint targets at ranges up to 6,300 meters, service officials said.

The program, called Accelerated Precision Mortar Initiative, or APMI, emerged out of a request from the field commander in Afghanistan in Feb. 2009. The precision rounds were recently test-fired at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz.

"The testing involved a significant amount of firing and safety requirements. The overall reliability of the round is meeting its requirement of greater than 90 percent. The testing, which has been going on since last fall, has gone extremely well," said Bruce Kay, Department of the Army systems coordinator, Mortar Systems. "This provides the commander with immediate response precision indirect- fire capability."

Overall, the Army plans to deliver 5,480 APMI rounds."
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Merchant Vessel Defense Against Pirates

Preemptive Measures Can Prevent Boarding and Hostage Taking

Too often, ship operators fail to take proper anti-piracy security measures, effectively turning their merchant vessels into “Golden Geese” ripe for the taking, writes the author. He goes on to discuss proven methods of hardening commercial ships and training their crews to prevent pirates – whether from Somalia or elsewhere – from boarding vessels and taking crews hostage.