As foot soldiers are in increased demand in the harsh terrain of Afghanistan while IEDs have created new types of vulnerabilities, individual protective gear for the infantryman keeps evolving and improving to address new kinds of challenges. SLD's Murielle Delaporte sat down with USMC Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur J. Pasagian, Program manager,…
Credit: USCG Atlantic Area, January 3, 2010 As we discussed in an earlier article, the new C4ISR systems allow the USCG to connect their assets and work with other agencies to force multiply. Unfortunately, you cannot break a bottle over a C4ISR system (without destroying it) to celebrate its introduction,…
By Fred H. Allison (U.S. Marine Corps History Division) [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Mountains Surrounding Bagram"][/caption] Harriers Sortie Rate Double the Norm Making a globe-spanning flight from home field at Yuma, Arizona, the Marine aviators arrived on 15 October and began flying missions within 48 hours. The squadron deployed with…
Mountains Surrounding Bagram by Fred Allison "Everybody wanted to go" Although a sizeable Army and coalition force inhabited the base at Bagram, the Marines were required to build their own camp and work spaces. So, as the VMA-513 pilots trained to fly and fight out of Bagram, an advance party,…
From time to time we will run an historical piece which highlights the central focus of this website which is concepts of operations, logistics and deployed capabilities. We are beginning our "History and Lessons Learned Corner" with a piece by Fred Allison, a Marine Corps historian, on the challenges facing…
Ed Timperlake Comments on Air Power Australia's latest article on "FD-2000/HQ-9 SAM - China's Strategic 'Game Changer'" Peer competition is there Secretary Gates has basically said by his actions the US has no peer competitors in Generation 5 Fighters. This assumption rests on having no threats which require the capabilities…
[caption id="attachment_2582" align="alignleft" width="150"] General Walsh[/caption] On November 9th, Brigadier General Walsh discussed his recent experiences in Iraq (watch video abstract). In December 2008 he became the Commanding General of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Forward and deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom on November 3rd and 2nd MAW (Fwd) was…
[slidepress gallery='Osprey_Afghanistan'] These photos are of the VMM-263 arriving in Afghanistan. All of the squadron’s Ospreys landed at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. It is situated northwest of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province. "A Whole Different Animal" In an interview just prior to the deployment of the Osprey squadron from…
