News of the Force: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 - Page 1

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Wednesday, August 10, 2016 - Today is The Declaration of Independence

of Quito Day in Ecuador

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Gunfire hits Olympics media bus in Rio

    

    A media bus at the Olympics in Rio was vandalized last night, possibly by gunfire, witnesses claim. USA Today reported that a passenger heard gun shots striking one of the buses used to transport media to and from Olympic events.

 

Brazil's Senate votes to impeach president

    

    The Brazilian Senate has voted to hold an impeachment trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff, who is accused of breaking the budget law. The Senate voted early today to indict President Rousseff and put her on trial in an impeachment process that has stalled Brazilian politics since January.

 

Turkey's president rekindles ties with Russia

    

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have agreed to deepen economic cooperation as they seek to restore ties that soured after a deadly encounter between their air forces last year. Putin and President Erdogan met in St. Petersburg, Russia, yesterday to talk about diplomatic relations between the two countries.

 

U.S. concerned about extra-judicial killings in the Philippines

    

    The U.S. Government has expressed concern over extra-judicial killings of suspected drug dealers and users in a bloody crackdown overseen by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and urged his government to ensure laws are properly followed.

 

U.S. State Dept. approves foreign military sale to Saudi Arabia

    

    The U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for M1A2S Saudi Abrams Main Battle Tanks and M88Al/A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift Evacuation System (HERCULES) Armored Recovery Vehicles (ARV), equipment, training, and support. The estimated cost is $1.15 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on Aug. 8th.

 

PLA unveils weapons preview for first time

    

    The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has made public for the first time a directory of weapons projects that are still in the preliminary phases of research and development. The directory includes weapons for the entire Chinese army, the funds for which top 3.7 billion yuan.

    Meanwhile, China and Japan have stepped up a war of words in their long-running row over the sovereignty of East China Sea islands after Tokyo summoned Beijing's ambassador to protest China's activities in the disputed waters.

 

France sells 30 military helicopters to Kuwait

    

    France and Kuwait agreed yesterday on the purchase of 30 Airbus Caracal helicopters in a deal worth more than one billion dollars.

 

U.S. Secretary of Defense's statement on attacks in Turkey

    

    "On behalf of the Department of Defense, I want to convey my deepest condolences to the families of the victims of today's attacks in southeast Turkey," U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said today. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish allies in strongly condemning these despicable attacks, which appear to have targeted Turkish security personnel. With these attacks, we are reminded of the remarkable bravery and self-sacrifice that Allied security personnel demonstrate every day in the fight against terrorism. The United States remains committed to cooperating closely with Turkey - bilaterally, within the Counter-ISIL Coalition, and within NATO - in order to defend our nations against common threats.

 

Ethiopia's death toll climbing toward 100

    

    The death toll from weekend protests in Ethiopia has climbed to nearly 100, by some accounts. Hundreds of people have also reportedly been arrested and many have been injured.

 

OIR campaign reached turning point in Ramadi, commander says

     

    The Iraqi security forces’ liberation of Ramadi from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant control marked the turning point in Operation Inherent Resolve’s fight against ISIL, OIR commander U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland told reporters today. In his final Pentagon press briefing via Skype from Baghdad, MacFarland shared his counter-ISIL campaign observations from the past 11 months while he was commander. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commander of 18th Airborne Corps, soon takes the OIR reins. MacFarland said the campaign to defeat ISIL was in a stalemate a year ago and some wondered if the U.S.-led Coalition should take a more direct role than training, equipping, advising and assisting indigenous forces. "Others questioned whether the Kurds would cooperate with Arab forces to fight ISIL beyond their own traditional region," he said. And since then, the questions were answered by deeds rather than words, McFarland said, adding, "In some ways, the progress against ISIL in Iraq and Syria has been remarkable. We modified the type and level of support we provided over the course of the past year, but we have not fundamentally altered the paradigm of train and equip, advise and assist. That approach is paying off as ISIL is in retreat on all fronts, he said, noting, The ISF proved that they can conduct complex and decisive operations." Paraphrasing Winston Churchill, McFarland said, "The liberation of Ramadi was the end of the beginning of the campaign against ISIL. The beginning of the end will be the liberation of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. Once it is recaptured, the enemy in Iraq will be reduced to scattered pockets of resistance and that is now our focus." And it was the recapture of Ramadi by the ISF that taught important lessons about "how to train and equip the ISF for urban combat, which will pay dividends as we prepare for the battle of Mosul," the general said. "We've shifted away from counterinsurgency toward combined arms maneuver training, teaching the Iraqis how to integrate infantry, armor, artillery, engineers, aviation and other combat multipliers to achieve an overwhelming advantage at the right place and time on the battlefield." MacFarland outlined statistics. He said, individually, the Coalition has trained more than 13,500 Iraqi security forces including more than 4,000 Iraqi soldiers, 1,500 counter-terrorism service soldiers, 6,000 Peshmerga, nearly 1,000 federal police and 300 border guards. The ISF has subsequently liberated almost a quarter of a million civilians in Iraq, he said, noting that stepped-up training was added to police training and recruiting travel forces, which added 5,000 trained local police and more than 20,000 tribal fighters enrolled. "These men will be key to holding the gains and we've already achieved in protecting these newly liberated Iraqis, soon to be joined by over a million additional citizens of Mosul," MacFarland said. "While the forces on the Mara line have indeed held against ISIL's advances, they've even made some progress south of the Turkish border." In Syria, the general said, the Syrian Democratic Forces have made significant progress by pushing ISIL out of the numerous towns such as Shaddadi, Hasakah and Tishreen. "And soon the SDF will finish the fight in the important city of Manbij," he said. Retaking Manbij will set the stage for the eventual attack to seize Raqqah, McFarland said, adding retaking ISIL-controlled Raqqah will "mark the beginning of the end for ISIL in Syria. During these operations, Coalition aircraft have conducted about 50,000 sorties against ISIL in the past year," he said. "During those sorties we've dropped more than 30,000 munitions on the enemy with approximately two-thirds of those in Iraq and about one-third in Syria. Our artillery has conducted more than 700 fire missions." MacFarland estimated that in the past 11 months, 25,000 enemy fighters have been killed, and when added to the 20,000 estimated killed prior to his arrival that's 45,000 enemies taken off the battlefield. "There's no question that our strikes have enabled the liberation of more than 25,000 total square kilometers from ISIL," he said. "That's nearly half of what the enemy once controlled in Iraq and 20 percent of what they once controlled in Syria." In Syria, the U.S.-led Coalition has also conducted "more than 200 strikes against oil and natural gas activities of the enemy, destroying more than 640 of their tanker trucks, but more importantly, a number of critical facilities such as gas oil separation plan critical nodes, which reduce their oil revenue stream by perhaps 50 percent," MacFarland said, noting vigorous attacks on enemy leadership, command and control and weapons manufacturing capability. "Military success in Iraq and Syria will not necessarily mean the end of ISIL, "McFarland said. "We can expect the enemy to adapt, to morph into a true insurgent force and terrorist organization capable of horrific attacks like the one here on July 3rd in Baghdad and those others we've seen around the world."

    Meanwhile, U.S. and Coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. In Iraq, fighter aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 11 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government: Near Baghdadi, a strike destroyed an ISIL rocket cache and damaged an ISIL rocket rail; Near Hit, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL refueling point; Near Kisik, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle and three ISIL weapons caches; Near Mosul, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle; Near Qayyarah, two strikes destroyed four ISIL generators, 17 ISIL oil tankers, five ISIL rocket rails, five ISIL rockets, an ISIL excavator and an ISIL mortar system and denied ISIL access to terrain; Near Ramadi, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, three ISIL weapons caches, an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL vehicle storage area and seven ISIL rocket rails and damaged an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL tunnel entrance; Near Sinjar, a strike struck an ISIL bomb factory. Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed seven ISIL assembly areas and three ISIL vehicles and suppressed an ISIL mortar position; and near Tal Afar, a strike struck an ISIL vehicle bomb factory. And attack, bomber, fighter and remotely-piloted aircraft conducted 14 strikes in Syria yesterday: Near Abu Kamal, a strike struck two ISIL crude oil collection points; Near Ayn Isa, a strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike struck two ISIL crude oil collection points; and near Manbij, 11 strikes struck 11 separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed five ISIL fighting positions and three ISIL vehicles.

 

Turkey unlikely to drop aid for Syria's rebels

By Lisa Levine, News of the Force Tel Aviv

    

    Minutes after news broke of a coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, government-held areas in Syria broke out in celebratory gunfire, heralding what they believed was the removal of the leader they blame for fueling their opponents.

    As the United Nations' relief wing warned today that soaring temperatures and dwindling medical supplies are deepening the woes of some two million people trapped by fighting in and around Aleppo, the world body kept up its call for an immediate halt to the hostilities and, at a minimum, a two-day weekly humanitarian pause so the city's heavily damaged water and electrical systems can be repaired.

    Israeli soldier Oron Shaul was kidnapped by Hamas during the last Gaza Strip War in 2014, and Hamas is still holding him.

    And Israel has celebrated the winning of an Olympics medal for the first time since 2008. Yarden Gerbi is bringing home the bronze in women's judo, and has noted how special it is to represent Israel in Rio.

 

U.S. Army

    

    This being an election year, soldiers, along with every other American, will have a crucial choice to make come Nov. 8th: "Do I vote, or do I not?" The Army doesn't require soldiers to vote in the presidential election. But the Army is making sure that for those soldiers who want to take advantage of the freedom they signed up to defend, they can cast a vote from wherever they are in the world. Rachel Gilman, who manages the Army Voting Assistance Program, oversees the more than 3,000 voting assistance officers Army-wide who are out on the front lines providing soldiers the tools and information they need to get registered to vote, and to get a ballot for the upcoming election delivered into their hands. "Our program really focuses on awareness, assistance, providing education, and really training voters about where to go and what information they need," Gilman said. "Voting is a very personal choice. If they decide to vote, we are there to help and assist them. We don't force people to vote. If somebody wants to make changes on issues that are important in their hometowns and communities, that's what we are there to provide assistance about." Soldiers who want to vote in November should act now, Gilman said. The way to do that is to seek out a unit voting assistance officer, whether stateside, forward-stationed overseas, or deployed, and then fill out a Federal Post Card Application. "The FPCA - that's your form, your go-to form," for voting, Gilman said. The FPCA, also known as GSA Standard Form 76, starts the process of getting a soldier registered to vote in their correct voting district. It also lets the election officials from their voting district know where to send their ballot. The FPCA is not just for solders, but for any voter who needs to cast a ballot when they are away from where they would normally vote. To get the FPCA, soldiers can download it from the Federal Voting Assistance Program's website at FVAP.Gov, or visit a voting assistance officer wherever they are stationed. The voting assistance officer can also help soldiers determine what state, and what location within that state, is their official voting district. That information is required on the FPCA. Soldiers can also use the FVAP website to make that determination. "There is a great voting wizard there that can help them," Gilman said. Soldiers who are interested in voting this November can look on the FVAP.Gov website to determine deadlines for when they can register in their state, when they should request a ballot, and when they have to mail that ballot back to their voting official. Every state has different requirements, Gilman said, but kicking off the process now is better than waiting. "It's really important, especially for overseas voters and those soldiers who are deployed. Once they receive their ballot, it's really important that they immediately fill it out and send it back due to the mailing time," she said. The Army won't make soldiers vote, or even register to vote, Gilman said. But she thinks it's important that they do so - preserving the right to vote, she said, is one of the reasons that soldiers serve in the first place. "I think it's really important for soldiers to vote, because it's a freedom they defend," Gilman said. "I think it's an opportunity to have their voices heard. It's important for them if they want to change issues in their communities, their home towns, for their families. I think it's very important that they have their voices heard." According to a 2014 Federal Voting Assistance Program report to Congress, in 2014, 69 percent of the active duty Army was registered to vote, compared with 65 percent of the civilian population. When it comes to actually voting, about 20 percent of active duty soldiers voted in the 2014 election, while 42 percent of the general population voted.

    On Monday, the remaining 14 autopsy reports of the Pulse night club shooting victims were released by the Orange County, Fla., coroner. One, a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, is being remembered in Orlando. Among those killed were Army Reserve Capt. Antonio Davon Brown and Spc. Angel Candelario-Padro, who served in the Puerto Rico Army National Guard.

    A U.S. Army veteran has been charged in Pennsylvania with shooting and killing his own father.

    The Oregon Army National Guard's medical evacuation helicopter unit was reflagged and structured under the U.S. Army Reserve's 7th Battalion.

    "Operation Platinum Support" allows U.S. Army Reserve soldiers in low-density supply and maintenance specialties to perform and gain proficiency.

    Soldiers of the Idaho Army National Guard's 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team are returning home later this week after two weeks of supporting Romania's armed forces.

    And visitors to the Oswego County Fair will be able to learn about opportunities in the New York Army National Guard by stopping the recruiters' display at the Oswego County Fair in Sandy Creek, N.Y.

 

Homeland insecurity

    

    The city of Bridgeport, Conn., called in the FBI and Homeland Security on Sunday after a Turkish citizen was found by to have a car loaded with jugs of an unidentified liquid.

    Nearly half of ISIS' plots to take lives in the West over the past two years have been successful, according to a Department of Homeland Security report.

    And funded by the Department of Homeland Security, the START study found that, among other things, has shown patterns in Islamic State-related terrorism.

 

DOD releases update of manual governing defense intelligence activities

    

    The Defense Department has released an update of procedures, first published in 1982, that govern the conduct of DOD intelligence activities.

    DoD Manual 5240.01, Procedures Governing the Conduct of DOD Intelligence Activities, is put into effect following Executive Order 12333, which authorizes certain members of the intelligence community to collect, retain or disseminate information about U.S. persons.

    "The procedures set out rules governing how DOD intelligence elements will conduct activities supporting their missions while safeguarding legal rights and protections guaranteed by the Constitution to all U.S. persons," Michael Mahar, the DOD's senior intelligence oversight official, told DOD News in a recent interview. The manual defines U.S. persons as U.S. citizens, lawful permanent resident aliens, and unincorporated associations substantially composed of U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens, and U.S. corporations.

    "The procedures were carefully and methodically developed in 1982 and they've served us well for the many years since then," Mahar said. "But we've reached the point now that, due to changes in technology, law, and intelligence-collection practices, we were compelled to do a significant overhaul." Mahar, who is also the deputy director for oversight and compliance in the Office of the Deputy Chief Management Officer, said similar guidelines are being updated across the Intelligence Community (IC).

    In accordance with EO 12333, Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Attorney General Loretta Lynch have approved the updated manual after consultation with the director of national intelligence.

    The effort to update the 1982 DoD manual’s procedures was an inter-agency process, Mahar explained. "We went line by line, procedure by procedure," he said, working with senior representatives of all defense intelligence components as the updated guidelines were finalized. DOD officials included representatives from the military services, the Joint Staff and several defense and combat support agencies, including the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Security Agency, and the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency. "We worked closely with the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence because EO 12333 requires approval by the attorney general after consultation with the DNI," he said, noting that the process was a good example of interagency collaboration. "We took a very complex set of procedures and effectively updated them to deal with current and near-future operating practices and capabilities," he said.

    The manual’s procedures govern the collection, retention and dissemination of information concerning U.S. persons, including collection techniques such as electronic surveillance, concealed monitoring, physical searches and physical surveillance.

    Mahar said some of the major changes included updated procedures for collecting, retaining and disseminating information about U.S. persons, updated procedures enabling defense intelligence components to conduct vital activities while protecting the privacy and civil liberties of U.S. persons, and updates based on changes in EO 12333, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and other recent laws and policies.

    The updated procedures also make clear that information is "collected" - a key term that triggers protections in the guidelines - when it is received by a DOD IC component. The definition will ensure that the framework in the guidelines will apply clearly and consistently, including retention periods and mandatory deletion requirements for information on U.S. persons that has not been determined to meet the standard for retention, and provisions governing sharing and retaining the information within the intelligence community, Mahar said.

    The revised manual also provides a framework of distinct rules for information about U.S. persons that was intentionally or incidentally collected, or that was voluntarily provided to an intelligence community component. The framework requires the prompt evaluation of USP information for permanent retention where the information was intentionally collected or voluntarily provided. For other information, it provides a longer period but enhances protections for the information, including new access and query rules. It also creates a new framework governing "special circumstances" collection of information on U.S. persons. Special circumstances collection requires that an accountable senior intelligence official makes specific decisions about the intelligence value of collecting certain information on U.S. persons, Mahar said. The senior official makes such decisions based on the volume, proportion and sensitivity of the information, and the intrusiveness of the collection method. The senior official must also consider adding enhanced handling safeguards. The framework also adds specific roles for civil liberties and privacy officials.

    The changes also include rules that govern data repositories shared among intelligence organizations, and expanded procedures for disseminating U.S. persons information inside and outside the DOD to meet intelligence community data-sharing requirements.

    Mahar said the revised procedures will enable the development of a common platform where the intelligence community can easily and securely share technology, information, and resources. This is consistent with the Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise, known as IC ITE (pronounced "eye site"), the strategy to further the DNI’s vision of intelligence integration by changing the intelligence community information technology operating environment, he said.

 

U.S. Coast Guard

    

    A group 17 migrants abandoned a make-shift boat and boarded a U.S. Coast Guard vessel near Elliott Key, Fla., yesterday afternoon.

    U.S. Coast Guard Sector Buffalo, N.Y., is conducting a search in the Erie Basin Marina after an unmanned boat was found near the breakwall.

    A sick woman has been medevaced by the United States Coast Guard from a sailboat near Cuttyhunk Island, Mass.

    The Coast Guard has rescued a 54-year-old woman from a charter fishing boat off the Elizabeth Islands, in Massachusetts.

    And the Cape May County, N.J., Coast Guard Community Foundation donated $1,000 to the Coast Guard Enlisted Memorial this week in honor of a seaman recruit who died in training.

 

News from 'The Donald'

    

    By all measures, Donald Trump has had a rough week. First, he followed up his strong performance at the Republican National Convention with an attack on Sen. Ted Cruz. Then he lashed out at the parents of a fallen Muslim American soldier. Conservative surrogates - Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie, Karl Rove, and Bill O'Reilly, to name a few - have pounded the drum: "Stay on topic, Mr. Trump." But the Republican candidate continues to go off on the media, Sen. John McCain, and now Sen. Ayotte.

    Ivanka Trump, Donald's best weapon, responded yesterday to comments made earlier by President Obama calling her father "unfit to serve" and "woefully unprepared to do this job" in an exclusive interview with Greta Van Susteren of Fox News. She said, "He understands how to put this country back to work."

    And a new survey shows evangelicals and atheists are sharply divided over which presidential candidate to support in 2016. The Pew Research Center study released last week finds that nearly four out of five evangelicals back Donald Trump, while two-thirds of atheists and agnostics plan to support Hillary Clinton. Each constituency makes up about 20 percent of the voting population.

 

          

 

 

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