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Posted by Joel Mathis on December 20, 2006 at 6:18 a.m.

More speculation about Petraeus’ future

Here are today's headlines about Kansas military matters:Gen. David Petraeus/Fort Leavenworth[(LA Times) Top general in Mideast to retire:][1] Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, has submitted plans to retire and will leave his post in March, a step likely to make way for a change in military strategy at a time the Bush administration is seeking a new plan for Iraq. ... The leading candidate from the counterinsurgency advocates is Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, a highly respected military thinker who led the 101st Airborne Division during the Iraq invasion in March 2003. In his current job as head of the Army's leading military schools, Petraeus oversaw the rewriting of the Army and Marine counterinsurgency field manual, which was issued last week and argues that while killing insurgents is often important, the most vital task in a counterinsurgency is winning the support of the population. The manual also argues for moving soldiers out of large bases into smaller outposts among the local population. Such manpower-intensive tactics run counter to those now used by Abizaid and Casey. Currently, troops clear dangerous Baghdad neighborhoods with regularity but, because of their limited numbers, must quickly turn over long-term security responsibilities to unprepared Iraqi units, which frequently results in backsliding.[(Secrecy News) Counterinsurgency Manual Flies Off the Shelf:][2] The new Army Field Manual on Counterinsurgency doctrine has been downloaded from the Federation of American Scientists web site at an extraordinary rate -- more than 250,000 times since it was posted on Friday morning. But unlike previous drafts obtained by Secrecy News, the new manual is no secret. It has been published and actively disseminated by the Army. "Why don't you also put up our press release announcing the manual which can also be found on our web site?" inquired Col. Steven A. Boylan of the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth. That December 15 news release (pdf) and the accompanying manual (large pdf) can be found on the Fort Leavenworth web site.Kansas National Guard[(Wichita Eagle) Guardsmen's new mission will transform them mechanics into war intelligence experts:][3] In their third transition in 16 years, Kansas Air National Guardsmen will get a new mission that puts them -- and Wichita -- at the center of the war on terror. Plane mechanics and others assigned to the 184th Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base will be retrained as intelligence experts, handling top-secret information and helping key players in the war decide which enemy targets to strike and how. Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the state's adjutant general, announced the plans Tuesday, one day after Wichitan Robert Gates was sworn in as the new secretary of defense. But don't read too much into that timing, officials said.[(Wichita Eagle) Iraq war's burden falls most heavily on soldiers from rural counties:][4] The death rate per million population aged 18 to 54 was 60 percent higher for soldiers from rural areas than those from urban and suburban areas, said the study by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. The higher rate is linked to higher enlistment in rural areas due to diminished job opportunities, the study said. A sense of duty - and economics - were the motivation for a mother and son from Grainfield, a town of about 320 in western Kansas, to enlist together in the Kansas National Guard on Friday, along with another relative. Patricia Langley, her son Jack Mayfield, and her brother-in-law Damon Rickard made the decision together, Langley said. "We all have an obligation," she said. "If we're going to complain about things, we need to be part of things. We all should at some point do something for our country." Langley, 39, also wanted a change after the cleaning business she and her husband owned for 10 years went under. [1]: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-generals20dec20,1,4286589.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage&track=crosspromo [2]: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2006/12/counterinsurgency_manual_flies.html [3]: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/16279971.htm [4]: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/16258084.htm

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Posted by Joel Mathis on December 19, 2006 at 10:13 a.m.

German magazine profiles Petraeus, Fort Leavenworth

Here are today's headlines about Kansas military matters:Gen. David Petraeus/Fort Leavenworth[(Spiegel) The US Army Learns from its Mistakes in Iraq:][1] Weapons alone aren't enough to win a war -- you also need to dig wells and build schools. Lessons from the war in Iraq have caused nothing short of a cultural revolution in the United States Army. In Fort Leavenworth, leading officers are training troops for the wars of the future. The headquarters of the US Army's officer training program was long seen as a last stop for deserving soldiers en route to retirement. In the 20th century, anyone who was transferred to Leavenworth was no longer considered part of an active-duty unit. "Nowadays," says Army spokesman Stephen Boylan, a colonel with a moustache who served for several years in Germany, "everyone knows that the road to Baghdad leads directly through Leavenworth."[(Spiegel) "We Have to Raise our Sights Beyond the Range of an M-16":][2] In an interview with SPIEGEL, General David Petraeus, a former commander in Iraq who is now responsible for training United States Army troops, discusses the lessons of Baghdad, the reasons a war can't be won using weapons alone and why America's future warriors need a post-graduate education.[(Time Magazine commentary) The Teddy Awards: 2006:][3] Last summer Lieut. General David Petraeus invited me out to visit the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kans. Every U.S. Army major spends a midcareer year going to school there. Most of these officers are headed to Iraq or Afghanistan, and the curriculum has been revised to include intensive language courses in Arabic and Pashtu, the history and culture of Islam, a hefty dose of counterinsurgency strategy and tactics, plus the standard military disciplines. I came away inspired and infuriated: if only the Bush Administration-and the public-took the mission as seriously as the Army does! [(CBS) Is $100M Guantanamo Courthouse Necessary?:][4] The U.S. government already has a courthouse at Guantanamo Bay, but the Pentagon isn't satisfied, CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports. It plans to spend $100 million of your tax dollars to build a huge new facility just down the hill. "This is very expensive for the number of cases, 60, which they anticipate trying," says Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Of course, these aren't run-of-the-mill defendants. They're terror suspects including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammad. Still, both Republicans and Democrats in Congress are balking at the idea - and the cost - in private meetings with Defense Department officials. "I asked them if they had looked at alternatives in the United States, looked at them, and the answer was no," Feinstein says. "I was surprised that they hadn't looked at Fort Leavenworth, at other places to build a courthouse, to bring these people over, to keep them in secure custody, to try them."It looks as though there's enough skepticism on Capitol Hill that the Pentagon will have to put the project through the formal processes in January. Fort Riley[(Topeka Capital-Journal) Soldier killed in accident:][5] Fort Riley soldier has died of injuries he suffered in a one-car accident early Saturday in Manhattan, the Riley County Police Department said Monday. Brad Schoen, patrol division commander with the RCPD, identified the victim as Michael T. Highnote, 37, of the 977th Military Police Company at Fort Riley.[(Voice of America) US Army Intensifies 'Train the Trainers' Program for Iraq:][6] The Iraqi villagers are angry. Two of their friends have been detained, and they want them released. Iraqi soldiers get control of the situation, with the help of their American advisers. But this is not what it seems to be. All the people involved are American soldiers, some in training, others playing the roles of Iraqi soldiers and civilians. And the village? It is a collection of shipping containers and temporary buildings on a sandy field in middle-America.[(AP) Aviation brigade brings new life to Marshall Field:][7] For more than a decade, sounds from field artillery and mighty Abrams tanks have pierced the Flint Hills, confirming for residents that the Army is training. But now, the skies are frequently filled with sights and sounds of the next generation of Fort Riley training, as a new combat aviation brigade takes shape at the post's Marshall Army Airfield. "They probably aren't happy this isn't the shining airport on the hill, but they understand that people are humping to get things done," said airfield manager Troy Mattingly. The Pentagon announced in 2005 it was creating the brigade, bringing parts of several units from across the nation to form a contingent of 130 helicopters and more than 2,500 soldiers and aviators. They will become the aviation wing of the 1st Infantry Division, which returned from Germany in August.[(KETV) Sarpy County Donates Protective Vests To U.S. Army:][8] OMAHA, Neb. -- The Sarpy County Sheriff's Office is donating a set of protective vests to U.S. soldiers. The office is taking 45 ballistic vests to Fort Riley, Kan., on Tuesday for donation to the U.S. Army Military Police brigade that is leaving for Iraq on Friday, according to a news release. The Sarpy vests will be used when soldiers are performing non-combat functions. Military-issued vests will still be used in combat.Kansas National Guard[(WIBW 13 News, Topeka) National Guard campaigns to expand Forbes Field:][9] With a check from contractor for the original building, the Museum of The Kansas National Guard kicked off its drive to create more space. The museum plans to add 2,000 square feet which will contain additional historical displays as well as a place for educational events. [1]: http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,455165,00.html [2]: http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,455199,00.html [3]: http://www.time.com/time/columnist/klein/article/0,9565,1570763,00.html [4]: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/18/eveningnews/main2279127.shtml [5]: http://www.cjonline.com/stories/121906/kan_soldierkilled.shtml [6]: http://www.redbolivia.com/noticias/News%20in%20English/35447.html [7]: http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2431671.php [8]: http://www.ketv.com/news/10561652/detail.html [9]: www.wibw.com/home/headlines/4943842.html

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Posted by Joel Mathis on December 13, 2006 at 11:19 a.m.

NYT: Gen. Petraeus in line to leave Leavenworth for Iraq command

Here are today's headlines about Kansas military matters:Gen. David Petraeus[(New York Times) U.S. General Says Jobs and Services May Curb Iraq Violence:][1] The appeal came from Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, who on Thursday will end a yearlong tour as operational commander of the 140,000 United States troops, the second highest-ranking American officer in Iraq. ... General Chiarelli, said by other senior officers to be among the candidates to succeed Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top United States commander in Iraq, early next year, gave a cagey endorsement to the study group's deadline. ... General Casey, who is 58, has been the overall commander for two and a half years, and is expected to leave before the summer, possibly sooner. In addition to General Chiarelli, two other three-star officers, Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, are also said to be in line to succeed him in what is now a four-star post here. Like General Chiarelli, the others have served as division commanders in Iraq, then returned for second tours, both as commanders of the multibillion-dollar program to train Iraq's new forces. General Petraeus now heads the army's Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. General Dempsey is the head of the training program in Baghdad. Fort Leavenworth[(Stars and Stripes) 2nd ID ready for Warfighter simulation in South Korea:][2] CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea - Preparations kicked into high gear this week for the 2nd Infantry Division's Warfighter simulation, which begins Thursday. About 1,200 soldiers are participating in the large-scale computer war simulation, which pits 2nd ID against a "world-class enemy" in battle. Last month, 2nd ID held a similar Warpath exercise as a dry run in preparation for Thursday's test. Personnel from the Battle Command Training Program in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., will run the exercise. [1]: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/world/middleeast/13general.html [2]: http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=42133

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Posted by Joel Mathis on December 11, 2006 at 10:53 a.m.

Kansas soldier killed in Iraq

Here are today's headlines about Kansas military matters:(AP) Paratroopers Killed in Iraq: The military on Sunday released the identities of two Fort Richardson paratroopers who were killed last week by a roadside bomb in Iraq.They are Army Staff Sgt. Henry W. Linck, 23, of Manhattan, Kan., and Army Specialist Micah S. Gifford, 27, of Redding, Calif.Two other paratroopers were seriously hurt in the same blast Thursday night while on patrol in Baghdad.All four soldiers were assigned to the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division based at Fort Richardson in Anchorage, spokesman Maj. Kirk Gohlke said.The wounded paratroopers were taken to the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq for treatment.Gohlke said the deaths and injuries are the first casualities involving the airborne brigade, whose 3,500 paratroopers left Alaska in the fall for a yearlong tour in Iraq.Other headlines today:Fort Riley[(Washington Post) Training Iraqis May Pose Risks For U.S.:][1] The newest program for training Iraqi security forces, embedding 11- to 15-member U.S. transition teams in Iraqi battalions, represents a "high-risk assignment" for the American officers and soldiers involved, according to top military training officials. The concept is considered so dangerous that a group of potential replacements stand ready at Fort Riley, the U.S. Army base directing the program, for immediate shipment to Iraq if members of a deployed team are killed or wounded, Maj. Gen. Carter Ham, who runs the training program, told House members last week. At Fort Riley, the Army is attempting what some consider its most ambitious structural change since the Vietnam War. The Army is building a training base there that by early next year will be turning as many as 2,000 of its most promising mid-level officers into military advisers every two months, most of them headed to Iraq. Already, there are 3,600 military advisers in Iraq, training, organizing and accompanying Iraqi units into action. But as the effort at Fort Riley ramps up, Army officials acknowledge that number could grow by thousands -- and perhaps tens of thousands, once Afghanistan is added to the program -- in the coming months. Kansas National Guard[(Topeka Capital-Journal) Guard division changes generals:][2] After three years, Maj. Gen. James R. Mason has relinquished command of the Kansas Army National Guard's 35th Infantry Division, an outfit whose history can be traced to combat in World War I. Maj. Gen. M. Wayne Pierson, of Maryville, Mo., took over command of the unit. "It is a challenge that I look forward to and take very seriously," Pierson said. Representatives from the different elements of the division also were part of the ceremony. The 35th Infantry is made up of Army National Guard units from Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Illinois. Mason and Pierson reviewed the command, along with Command Sgt. Maj. Dennis Taylor and Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the Kansas adjutant general. [1]: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/09/AR2006120900862.html [2]: http://cjonline.com/stories/121006/kan_guardgen.shtml

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Posted by Joel Mathis on December 8, 2006 at 6:55 a.m.

‘Big Red One’ commander: Don’t rush Iraqi training

Here are today's headlines about Kansas military matters:Fort Riley[(Reuters) Don't Rush Training of Iraqi Forces: U.S. Commander:][1] A U.S. military commander warned on Dec. 7 against rushing the training of Iraqi security forces, a day after a top advisory panel recommended a substantial boost to the effort within the next year. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group suggested increasing the number of U.S. trainers embedded with Iraqi units to 10,000 to 20,000 from 3,000 to 4,000 now and a switch in the primary focus of U.S. forces to training from combat operations. Maj. Gen. Carter Ham, commander of the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division that prepares teams of U.S. troops to embed with Iraqi forces, said he could boost his operations with more resources but Iraqi units also needed to gain experience. "This is experience that sometimes only time can bring," he told the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee. "I think we're all interested in being faster but we must also be careful not to make it so fast that it would put units in harm's way before they are ready," he said.[(Army Times) Lawmakers question leaders about transition teams:][2] Ham pointed to the difficulty of finding and keeping qualified Iraqi linguists and cultural experts to help train the teams. "Linguists and foreign language speakers are the toughest resource to get. So far we have been able to do that to the requisite standard. We try to get actual Iraqi and Afghan leaders to come and talk to our teams," he said, noting that about half of the team members have prior combat experience. Skelton asked whether the Iraqis being trained have the will to win. "The feedback is that the attitude of the Iraqi counterparts is very positive," said Ham. "They're concerned about capabilities and support from their own government, but understand the role they must play."[(CNN) Army's adviser training focuses on 'hardest part':][3] If the Pentagon follows the Iraq Study Group's advice on embedding more troops with Iraqi battalions, the first phone call might be to Fort Riley, Kansas. One of the recommendations in the study group's report urges the Bush administration to raise the level of embedded advisers from the current level of about 3,500 to as many as 20,000. There are now about 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. At Fort Riley, an intensive training program is turning out teams of American advisers bound for Iraq. The teams are drilled on the latest counterinsurgency tactics so they can teach them to Iraqi soldiers. (Watch soldiers kick down doors in mock Iraqi villages Video) The Army centralized the two-month training program for embedded advisers at Fort Riley in June.[(Philadelphia Inquirer commentary) Two good ideas for Iraq in report:][4] The Army is already moving to change the situation, setting up a training program in Kansas headed by Lt. Col. John Nagl, a highly regarded veteran of Desert Storm and the current Iraq war. The hope is that by early next year up to 2,000 top officers will be trained every two months as embeds; this would get more and more Americans out of combat operations. Nagl is an expert on counterinsurgency, and how armies adapt to changing circumstances in conflicts they entered without adequate preparation. His book How to Eat Soup with a Knife looks at why the British succeeded in Malaya and the United States failed in Vietnam. Indeed, the last time U.S. advisers were used in strength was in Vietnam, under President Nixon's "Vietnamization" program; by then political support for the Vietnam War was waning, and the U.S. troop exit was on the way. [Listen to NPR interview with Nagl][5]Kansas National Guard[(Kansas Adjutant General's Dept. press release) 35th INFANTRY DIVISION CHANGE OF COMMAND:][6] A Change of Command ceremony for the 35th Infantry Division will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006, at Harney Gymnasium, Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Following the ceremony, a reception will be held at the Frontier Conference Center. Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general, will preside over the ceremony. During the Change of Command ceremony, Maj. Gen. M. Wayne Pierson will assume the responsibilities of Commanding General of 35th Infantry Division from Maj. Gen. James R. Mason. The 35th Division is headquartered in Leavenworth, Kan., and is comprised of Army National Guard units from Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Illinois. [1]: http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2409956&C=america [2]: http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2410202.php [3]: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/07/training.trainers/ [4]: http://www.thestate.com/mld/state/news/opinion/16190878.htm [5]: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6580346 [6]: http://www.accesskansas.org/ksadjutantgeneral/News%20Releases/2006/06-123.htm

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Posted by Joel Mathis on December 7, 2006 at 6:23 a.m.

New guidance from Fort Leavenworth on how to fight, survive in Iraq

Welcome to Military Matters.This is a new news blog that will track coverage of military activities in northeast Kansas - how Kansans are affected by the presence of the bases here, and how ideas and units developed here affect the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We'll also focus on news about the Kansas National Guard, which has surely pulled its weight in those conflicts.Here are the most recent Kansas military headlines:Fort Leavenworth[(Army Times) Handbook gives tips on first 100 days in Iraq:][1] Beginning in January, soldiers in basic training will be issued handbooks on how to survive their first 100 days in Iraq. The handbook, whose working title is "Soldier Handbook: Surviving Iraq," will be based on more than 1,700 interviews conducted during the month of August with captains, lieutenants and soldiers in the ranks of staff sergeant and below. ... "There's no doubt that the early part of the deployment is the most dangerous, when people are understanding their environment," said Col. Steven Mains, director of CALL at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., which designed and undertook the survey.[(AP) Army-Marine doctrine retools way U.S. fights beyond Iraq:][2] Army officials say a new counterinsurgency doctrine should make soldiers and Marines better prepared to fight an atypical enemy but shouldn't be viewed as a roadmap for getting out of Iraq. Two years in the making, it is the military's first major effort to combine chapters on low-intensity conflict, guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgencies contained in numerous documents from the past quarter century. Written for battalion and division commanders, the manual discusses the tone and scope of counterinsurgencies, emphasizing a need to see operations as fighting a "three-block war." Additional documents outlining tactics, techniques and procedures will be produced. "This isn't the silver bullet," said Col. Steve Boylan, spokesman for the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, where the manual is being produced. [(AP) Highlights of new counterinsurgency doctrine for Army, Marines][3][(Christian Science Monitor) What the US has learned (so far) in Iraq:][4] The US military, for its part, has been examining lessons learned in Iraq about tactics and operations for some time. This fall, the Army published a new field manu-al for counterinsurgency operations that draws extensively on research conducted from returning Iraq veterans. Among its conclusions: The best counterinsurgency weapons do not shoot. Tactics that work this week might not work next week. The more force protection you use, the less effective you are. Sometimes doing nothing is the best reaction. The most important decisions are not made by generals. "Clearly, there has to be much more specific preparation for these very challenging counterinsurgency operations," said Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, at a recent Brookings Institution seminar on military training.[(Boston Globe) Iraq's hard truths shape general's new battle plan:][5] The new doctrine is part of a sweeping rethink of Iraq strategy underway for some time and accelerated since Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld's resignation. General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has pulled together 12 top military officers to reexamine and, where necessary, change strategy. But Petraeus's suggestions may also come too late, some critics contend, for a war that has already ground on for nearly four years. "It's admirable and overdue," said Andrew J. Bacevich, a West Point graduate and Vietnam War veteran who is now director of the Center for International Relations at Boston University. "But it's too late to have an effect in Iraq." Petraeus doesn't accept that. Earlier this month, he sat at his desk at Fort Leavenworth still penciling in final changes to the document that he drafted with his coauthor, Marine Lieutenant General James Mattis, and other officers and advisers.Fort Riley[(CBS) Training Americans To Train Iraqis:][6] Fort Riley in Kansas is ground zero for America's new approach in Iraq: Train American forces to train Iraqi soldiers to defend their own nation. The 11-man teams at Fort Riley will embed with 500-man Iraq units, CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts reports. That means they eat, sleep, instruct and, when necessary, fight along side Iraq's new army. "Those security forces truly are at today's tip of the spear," says Maj. Gen. Carter Ham. General Ham says that unlike the military advisers scattered across Iraq in years past, these troops receive 60 days of specialized training in linguistics, culture and counter-insurgency. But, he adds, those 60 days aren't enough. "We couldn't get it all done if you gave me a year," he says. Still, the Army needs them ASAP as sectarian violence rages on in Iraq. [1]: http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2406015.php [2]: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/16178663.htm [3]: http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/16180128.htm [4]: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1204/p01s01-usfp.html/ [5]: http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2006/11/29/iraqs_hard_truths_shape_generals_new_battle_plan/ [6]: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/06/eveningnews/main2235597.shtml

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