National Defense Briefs – August 5

By W. Thomas Smith Jr.

National Defense Briefs is a series 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 presents the “National Defense Briefs” that matter.

• As of this writing [Aug 5, 0930 EDT], a 72-hour truce is in effect between the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. How long the truce will last is anyone’s guess as Hamas regularly violates ceasefires. IDF infantry and armored units are being “redeployed in defensive positions outside the Gaza Strip and we will maintain those defensive positions,” said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an IDF spokesman. The three-day ceasefire will allow Israel and Hamas “to hold indirect talks in Cairo on a broader deal that would prevent future cross-border violence,” CBS News reports. “Previous international attempts to broker a temporary halt in the fighting have failed.”
• The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) – also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) – is advancing and gaining ground, not only in Syria and Iraq, but in Lebanon. Newsweek reports that in Iraq, where the greatest territorial gains have been made, ISIS has “captured a strategically key hydroelectric dam as the Islamist terrorist group expands its offensive and takes its first steps into confronting the Kurdish forces in the north of Iraq.”

• Newsweek adds, “The semi-autonomous Kurdistan region was until recently a relatively safe haven for Iraq’s displaced Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities who were forced by ISIS to flee their towns. Sunni ISIS fighters are continuing their offensive across northern Iraq and Syria, where they have declared a caliphate over all Muslims.” In the wake of its gains, ISIS is reportedly torturing civilians and summarily executing captured soldiers. ISIS is telling residents in newly captured territories “to convert to Islam or face death.”
• U.S. Marines based in Sigonella, Italy flew to Tripoli, Libya, Jul 19, safely evacuating approximately 70 U.S. Embassy personnel “in response to intense insurgent fighting” in that country, according to Business Insider. What few Americans know however is that these Marines flew in MV-22 Ospreys, fast-roped onto the roof, set up security (while Marines stationed inside the embassy “protected the ambassador and secured or destroyed classified materials”), withdrew the personnel and ferried them to Tunisia in less than five hours. Marines are expected to execute these types of missions within six hours. No other force on earth is trained or equipped for this. [See video here]
• The MV-22 Osprey is a multi-mission, tilt-rotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. Pioneered by U.S. Marines – which suffered terrible losses of men (aircrews and ground forces) and equipment during the testing and development phases – the MV-22 is today employed not only by Marines (its primary users) but by the U.S. Special Operations Command.
• Definition of an infantryman as expressed in the World War II-era film, The Way Ahead (1944) – “The infantryman is one of the most highly skilled technical men in the modern army. He has to be a mechanic, a gunner, an explosives expert, and an athlete. He has a greater variety of weapons than all the rest of the army put together. He has to be trained in not just one sort of tactics, but in every sort; street-fighting, tank-hunting, wood-clearing and all the rest.”
• Ten men – U.S. Army Rangers all – were inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame during ceremonies at Ft. Benning, Georgia, last month. Among those honored was Brig. Gen. Herbert J. Lloyd, U.S. Army (Ret.), who said, “I want to represent those fellows who are in their graves. … Sometimes, it’s been a guilt trip. Why was it them and not me?” The other nine were Lt. Gen. John LeMoyne, Lt. Gen. Dell Dailey, Col. Robert Guy, Col. Robert Tonsetic, Command Sgt. Maj. James Fowler, Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Greer, Sgt. Maj. Peter Bacerra, Master Sgt. Kenneth Bachmann and Staff Sgt. Calvin Rollins. “Rangers lead the way!”

– 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.