South East Asia’s Dynamic Maritime Threat Environment

09/15/2011
By Karsten Von Hoesslin, Senior Analyst, Risk Intelligence Strategic Insights, No. 30, February 2011 09/25/2011 Overview A considerable increase in reported incidents occurred between 2009 and 2010 with elevated levels of sophisticated piracy and armed sea robbery in the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea, and nearing the end of…

Remembering Massoud

09/14/2011
09/14/2011 [caption id="attachment_23997" align="alignleft" width="662" caption="Johan Freckhaus in Afghan operatons http://www.atlantico.fr/decryptage/combat-officier-francais-aupres-commandant-massoud-contre-taliban-178446.html "][/caption]   As Americans observe the day 10 years ago when terrorists in hijacked planes attacked New York and the Pentagon, the people of northern Afghanistan remember what for them was a greater tragedy two days earlier on Sept. 9,…

Aboard the USCG Bertholf: Operations and Capabilities of the National Security Cutter

09/13/2011
09/13/2011: During the Second Line of Defense visit to USCG Island in Alameda, California, Captain John Prince and the Executive Officer of the Bertholf David Ramassini discussed their recent tour aboard the Bertholf.  The conversation occurred in late July 2011 shortly after Captain Prince had relinquished command of the Bertholf…

The Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and Libya: Shrinking “The Average Commute”

09/13/2011
An Interview With Colonel Mark Desens, Commander of the 26th MEU 09/05/2011 - In July 2011, Second Line of Defense sat down with Colonel Mark Desens to discuss the recent deployment of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.  Earlier we had discussed, with Col. “Ozzie” Osborn, the 15th MEU, the evolution…

The Japanese Coast Guard: Japan’s “hidden navy?”

09/08/2011
By Tetsuo Kotani, Special Research Fellow, the Okazaki Institute, Tokyo Strategic Insights, No. 31, March 2011 09/08/2011 - Surrounded by the sea on all sides, Japan enjoys the benefits of the waters around it in the form of fishery and maritime trade with countries around the world. However, these waters…