National Defense Briefs – 03/30/16

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.

• Pakistani police have arrested or detained 200-plus suspects and those believed to have insider knowledge about the suicide-bombing attack that killed 72 at a public park in Lahore on Easter Sunday. The arrests and detentions are from a pool of 5,000 who have been questioned about the attack which was launched by Jamaat ul-Ahrar, a Taliban affiliate group. The attack deliberately targeted Christians – including many women and children – celebrating Easter.

• In the wake of the attacks on the airport and subway in Brussels, Mar. 22, Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens defended Belgium’s laws aimed at thwarting terrorism, this week, taking “particular issue with criticism that the small European nation remains a soft target and its security services are ill-equipped to deal with extremist networks,” according to NBC News. Geens said, “After the attacks in Paris, we adopted 12 measures, and 11 of those were put into action. One measure that we didn’t make work is connecting the different criminal databases.”

• The terrorist group responsible for the attacks in Brussels was an ISIS-affiliate cell which was also said to be responsible for the siege and attacks in Paris last Nov. The Brussels attacks claimed 32 lives (including four Americans). Another 270-plus were wounded. In the Nov. 2015 Paris attacks, 130 people were killed.

• A suicide bombing in Baghdad, yesterday, killed seven and wounded 23; the bomb exploding in the midst of a group of day laborers. ISIS claimed the attack, which follows Friday’s suicide-bombing attack killing 32 at a soccer match near the Iraqi capitol.

• The U.S. State Department and U.S. European Command “have ordered families of military and diplomatic servicemen in Turkey out of Adana, Izmir, and Mugla province amid security concerns over Kurdish militia and ISIS attacks,” according to reports. Travel warnings remain in place against all travel to southeast Turkey.

• 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).

• Christopher Holton, a vice pres. with the Center for Security Policy and a counterterrorism analyst with National Defense Consultants, says, “Looks like Iran is arming someone in Somalia.” It is believed that Iran has been arming Houthis rebels, Shia Muslims fighting against the Yemeni government in that country’s ongoing civil war. And indeed, the French Navy intercepted a fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean, this month, filled with several hundred AK47 assault rifles, machine guns and anti-tank weapons, according to Combined Maritime Forces, a multi-national naval coalition which patrols 3.2-million square miles of international waters in the Middle East. The arms cache was seized by the French destroyer Provence. The weapons were enroute to Somalia – perhaps destined for al-Shabaab, an Al Qaeda affiliate – but the likely ultimate destination was Yemen.

• The recent film, “RISEN,” about the Roman Army tribune who is seeking the risen Christ (though he initially believes He has not risen) has spawned a renewed interest in both the Bible and in the Roman Army at the time of the Crucifixion. What Roman units would have then-been operating in the region? Though records are sketchy, it is believed there were elements of four Roman Army legions in-and-near Judea at the time of Christ. They would have been the III Gallica, the VI Ferrata, the X Fretensis, and the XII Fulminata. It is believed the Tenth (Fretensis) Legion was based closest to Jerusalem at Caesarea Maritima. About 5,000 men at full strength, a legion was composed of 10 cohorts of about 480-500 men. Each cohort was trained for specific missions and had their own unique identities. Most cohorts were made up of heavy infantry. There were also cavalry units, bowmen, sailors, Marines, scouts, and irregular forces. Some cohorts were composed of foreign troops though commanded by Roman officers. Each cohort was subdivided into five or six centuries of between 80 and 100 men (essentially a small company) commanded by a centurion.

• What about Roman officer ranks? Like organization, ranks are also a bit confusing. What we know is that from the subaltern through company-grade level, there was a centurion who commanded a century of about 80-100 men. But there were degrees of centurion up through the rank of primi ordines followed by the primus pilus, the most senior centurion who commanded a cohort (made up of five or six centuries) and the praefectus castrorum who commanded the entire army camp. Above them were five tribunes; essentially senior staff-officers reporting directly to the legate or legatus. The legate commanded an entire legion.

– 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.