National Defense Briefs
October 26, 2015
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
NATIONAL DEFENSE BRIEFS is a series produced by National Defense Consultants, LLC, aimed at informing readers with timely military and homeland security news updates, trends, definitions, and short commentaries. Defense issues are inextricably connected to business. In that, MidlandsBiz.com and National Defense Consultants presents the “National Defense Briefs” that matter.
• Though “Naval infantry” forces (Marines) have existed at least since the time of the ancient Greeks, Great Britain’s first Marines – the Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foot – was formed, Oct. 28, 1664. This regiment came to be known as the Admiral’s Regiment and ultimately, in 1755, His Majesty’s Marine Forces (Royal Marines). Twenty years later, on Nov. 10, 1775, America’s own Marine Corps was established, the Continental Marines, organized and based largely on the Royal Marine model though America and Britain had already exchanged shots in the American Revolution.
• Today, U.S. Marines and Britain’s Royal Marines share a deep “fraternal bond.” Their uniforms are similar. The emblem of both nations’ Marine forces feature a globe in the center (The Royal Marine emblem showing the Eastern Hemisphere. The U.S. Marine emblem showing the Western Hemisphere.). There are several additional parallel traditions as well as a unique training exchange program between both Corps.
• In an interview with CNN, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the invasion of Iraq was “partly responsible” for the emergence of ISIS. “But he insisted that toppling dictator Saddam Hussein had been the right thing to do.” According to reports. Blair also said the Arab Spring had created “instability that allowed the Islamic fundamentalist militant group to flourish.”
• U.S. Army Master Sergeant Joshua L. Wheeler, the DELTA Force commando who was killed last week in the raid that freed 70 hostages from an ISIS prison in Iraq, was one of 30 U.S. special-operators serving as advisers to Kurdish forces tasked with leading the raid. Wheeler, 39, was a highly decorated DELTA Force team-leader, who had served in the Army as an infantryman since he was 19-years-old. His home was Roland, Oklahoma, He had a wife and four sons.
• DELTA Force – officially the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-DELTA – is the U.S. Army’s premier counterterrorist unit. Its Navy counterpart is SEAL TEAM SIX, officially the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group (or DEVGRU). Both DELTA Force and SEAL TEAM SIX (DEVGRU) are under the operational control of the Joint Special Operations Command, which is a component command of the broader U.S. Special Operations Command.
• USA Today is reporting that Russian warplanes deployed to Syria are “breaking down at a rapid rate that appears to be affecting their ability to strike targets, according to a senior Defense official.” The report adds, “Nearly one-third of Russian attack planes and half of its transport aircraft are grounded at any time as the harsh, desert conditions take a toll on equipment and crews, said the official who was not authorized to speak publicly about sensitive intelligence matters. The Russians appear to be having difficulty adapting to the dusty conditions, and the number of airstrikes they have conducted seems to have dipped slightly.”
• Russian aircraft continue striking ISIS targets as wells as rebels opposed to the Syrian government of Bashar Assad.
• As we have reported, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (also ISIS), the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and the Islamic State (IS). Many Arab-speaking people refer to ISIS as Daesh, an acronym for Al Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham (the Arabic translation of the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham).
• China is increasingly relying on its cyberwarfare capabilities as Chinese defense officials seek to unify all cyberwar planning and operations under a single command. According to Bloomberg Business News, “A move to a centralized command reporting to the Central Military Commission would better organize China’s cyber warfare capabilities, which are scattered across a variety of units and ministries. It would further elevate the role of cyber within a PLA [People’s Liberation Army] that has long prioritized the army over the navy and air force, two branches that require a high level of computerization skills.”
• The S.C. Military Hall of Fame has been established as a “function” of the non-profit S.C. Military Support Foundation. Details will follow.
– W. Thomas Smith Jr. – a former U.S. Marine rifleman – is a military analyst and partner with NATIONAL DEFENSE CONSULTANTS, LLC. Visit him at http://uswriter.com.
