Zitat:Two American soldiers killed in Afghanistan insider attack: US military
Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:35PM GMT

Two American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan as the number of so-called 'green-on-blue' attacks continue to rise in the country.

"Two US forces-Afghanistan service members died after an individual wearing an Afghan National Police uniform turned his weapon against them in Khas Uruzgan, Uruzgan," the US military said in a statement.
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Zitat:US can’t produce documents for $7 billion Iraq money it spent since 2003

A recent US government investigation has found that American army cannot present authentic documents for billions of dollars of Iraqi money it claims it has spent during occupation of the oil-rich Arab state.

The total amount of funds unaccounted for has now reached about $7 billion, and American officials are worried that the Iraqi government would demand all or a portion of the money back, Foreign Policy magazine reported on Friday.

According to the report, which was released by the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction (SIGIR), the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) cannot produce about $1 billion of receipts for fuel and other supplies it bought in Iraq through the UN-created Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) since 2003.

The DFI funds were the result of Iraqi oil and gas sales or was left over from the "oil-for-food" program.
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Zitat:US can’t produce documents for $7 billion Iraq money it spent since 2003

A recent US government investigation has found that American army cannot present authentic documents for billions of dollars of Iraqi money it claims it has spent during occupation of the oil-rich Arab state.

The total amount of funds unaccounted for has now reached about $7 billion, and American officials are worried that the Iraqi government would demand all or a portion of the money back, Foreign Policy magazine reported on Friday.

According to the report, which was released by the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction (SIGIR), the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) cannot produce about $1 billion of receipts for fuel and other supplies it bought in Iraq through the UN-created Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) since 2003.

The DFI funds were the result of Iraqi oil and gas sales or was left over from the "oil-for-food" program.
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Zitat:8. Januar 2013 18:51
Militäreinsätze unter Obama
Machtpolitik per Joystick

Isolation statt Invasion, Cyberangriffe statt Soldateneinsätze: Obamas Politik des Rückzugs ist ein Produkt der Kriegsskepsis, aber auch der finanziellen Erschöpfung. Nun sinken zwar die Kosten, doch die Kriegsführung des Präsidenten ist nicht weniger grausam als die seines Vorgängers.
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Zitat:Hero of COP Keating battle to receive MoH

Clinton L. Romesha, 31, will be the fourth living service member to receive the nation’s highest award for valor for actions in Afghanistan or Iraq. Seven other service members have posthumously been awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions in those wars.

Romesha was a section leader in B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division during the Oct. 3, 2009, attack on Combat Outpost Keating in eastern Afghanistan.

Eight American soldiers were killed and two dozen others wounded in the battle as the troop-sized element fought against an overwhelming enemy force that launched a brazen attack to overrun the COP.

The attack on COP Keating remains one of the deadliest attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan and is chronicled in the book “The Outpost” by Jake Tapper.

Several other soldiers at COP Keating that day have been honored for their actions. According to Army Times’ reporting and “The Outpost,” at least nine soldiers — including the platoon leader who ran operations that day and the physician assistant who treated numerous casualties and gave his own blood to keep one of his patients alive — were awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third highest award for valor.

[...]

According to the citation accompanying Romesha’s Medal of Honor, the staff sergeant moved under intense enemy fire to reconnoiter the battlefield and seek reinforcements from the barracks before returning to action with the support of an assistant gunner, who is identified in “The Outpost” as Cpl. Justin Gregory.

Romesha “took out an enemy machine gun team and, while engaging a second, the generator he was using for cover was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, inflicting him with shrapnel wounds,” according to the citation.

Undeterred by his injuries, Romesha continued to fight, and upon the arrival of another soldier to aid him and with the assistant gunner, Romesha again “rushed through the exposed avenue to assemble additional soldiers.”

Romesha then mobilized and led a five-man team and returned to the fight.

“With complete disregard for his own safety, Romesha continually exposed himself to heavy enemy fire as he moved confidently about the battlefield, engaging and destroying multiple enemy targets, including three Taliban fighters who had breached the combat outpost’s perimeter,” according to the citation.

As the enemy attacked the COP with even “greater ferocity, unleashing a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades and recoilless rifle rounds,” Romesha “identified the point of attack and directed air support to destroy over 30 enemy fighters.”

When he learned that other soldiers at a distant battle position were still alive, Romesha and his team provided covering fire, allowing three of their wounded comrades to reach the aid station, according to the citation.

Romesha and his team also moved 100 meters under “withering fire” to recover the bodies of their fallen comrades.

Zitat:USA sparen durch Truppenreduzierung in Europa
Weit und breit kein Feind in Sicht

Von einst Hunderttausenden Soldaten der US-Army in Europa sind knapp 40.000 übrig geblieben - Tendenz sinkend. Die USA müssen sparen und fragen sich, warum sie noch Truppen in Europa haben - schließlich gebe es dort ja keine Feinde mehr. Der neue Kommandeur verwaltet vor allem den Sparzwang.
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Stand: 25.03.2013 19:31 Uhr

Zitat: Hightech-Bomben gegen Iran: Amerika stärkt seine Bunkerbrecher

Zitat:Bei dem Kriegsgerät, "Massive Ordnance Penetrator" oder kurz MOP genannt, handelt es sich um eine der größten konventionellen Waffen im Pentagon-Arsenal. Die MOP wiegt rund 14 Tonnen und wird von B-2- und B-52-Bombern transportiert.

In der überarbeiteten Version soll die Bombe noch tiefer in den Boden eindringen können, bevor sie ihre Sprengkraft entwickelt. Sogar Schichten von Granit und Stahl, wie sie in Fordow vermutet werden, sollen durchschlagen werden.

Zitat:Für die Luftabwehr soll die Bombe laut dem "Wall Street Journal"-Bericht schwer zu bekämpfen sein. "Wir hoffen, dass wir sie niemals einsetzen müssen", zitiert das Blatt einen Pentagon-Vertreter: "Aber wenn, dann würde sie funktionieren."

Der neueste Typ, entwickelt von Boeing, wurde bisher nicht von einem Flugzeug abgeworfen. Es existieren jedoch umfangreiche Testvideos einer früheren Entwicklungsstufe. Diese wurden dem Artikel zufolge vor allem Vertretern der israelischen Armee vorgeführt.

Zitat:This week, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) eliminated all funding for the XM-25 in its revision of the Pentagon's budget. ....Hundreds of XM-25s are deployed with U.S. ground forces in Afghanistan receiving rave reviews from the warfighters. It has been employed in combat some 6,000 times to great effect and with almost no problems. The system has proven so effective that the Army wants to buy an additional 10,000 XM-25s.

Zitat:FT. BELVOIR (13 June 2013) Following extensive testing of vendor-submitted carbines, the Army announced today that the Individual Carbine (IC) competition will formally conclude without the selection of a winner.

In lieu of a new competition for an IC, the Army will continue fielding and equipping Soldiers with the M4A1 carbine, which consistently performs well and has received high marks from Soldiers. Given limited fiscal resources, the Army’s decision would free IC funding to address other high priority Army needs.

The Army’s decision not to pursue a new carbine competition was reached following careful consideration of the Army’s operational requirements in the context of the available small arms technology, the constrained fiscal environment, and the capability of our current carbines.

Zitat:Today, the Army announced that it plans to redesign its combat brigades from an organization that currently has two maneuver battalions to one that has three. To do so, the Army plans to eliminate 12 brigade headquarters and “realign” the subordinate combat battalions to existing brigades over the next four years.

Zitat:The Army will eliminate at least 12 combat brigades, relocate thousands of soldiers and cancel $400 million in construction projects as the first wave of federal budget cuts takes aim at military communities around the country.

In a massive restructuring, Army leaders said Tuesday that they will slash the number of active duty combat brigades from 45 to 33, as the service moves forward with a longtime plan to cut the size of the service by 80,000. And they warned that more cuts — of as many as 100,000 more active duty, National Guard and Reserve soldiers.

Zitat:Lightly-armed U.S. Army infantry brigades need heavier firepower -- that means light tanks and bigger guns on Stryker infantry carriers, say senior leaders here at the Maneuver Center of Excellence.

The enemy's use of home-made bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan forced the Army to make vehicle protection a higher priority than mobility and firepower, MCOE Commander Maj. Gen. H.R. McMaster said.

The Army is hoping to balance that approach with programs such as the Ground Combat Vehicle to replace the Bradley fighting vehicle and the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle to replace the M113 armored personnel carrier.

But maneuver leaders maintain that the Army cannot forget about lighter units such as Stryker and infantry brigade combat teams that currently are not equipped with enough potent firepower to win fights quickly, McMaster said.

Zitat:most Stryker vehicles are infantry carriers armed with .50 caliber machine guns or MK19 automatic grenade launchers.

This has to change, argues MCOE Command Sgt. Major James Carabello.

"The Stryker needs to get up-gunned; It needs a bigger gun," Carabello said. "It needs something that is a better platform than a MK 19 or a .50 caliber machine gun."

Currently, Training and Doctrine Command is working with Stryker program officials on a plan that could mean mounting a 30mm cannon on to the remote weapons stations on Stryker infantry carriers.

This would give much greater firepower and still not require a turret be mounted on the Stryker, Army officials say.

Zitat:Washington - Bei der Integration von Frauen in US-Elitekampfeinheiten gibt es neue Hindernisse. Die Marineinfanterie hat die zum Jahreswechsel geplante Einführung von Klimmzugtests für Soldatinnen zunächst ausgesetzt.

Eine Sprecherin begründete das am Donnerstag (Ortszeit) damit, dass etwas mehr als die Hälfte der Teilnehmerinnen bei einem Training keine drei Klimmzüge geschafft habe, die Armee aber keine unüberwindbaren Hürden für Frauen schaffen wolle. Es sollten weitere Daten erhoben werden.

In einer Testgruppe des Marineinfanteristen-Ausbildungszentrums Parris Island im US-Bundesstaat South Carolina kam man zu dem Ergebnis, dass 55 Prozent der Frauen das Minimum von drei Klimmzügen nicht schafften - bei den Männern ist es nur jeder Hundertste.

Zitat:USA: Gewalt gegen Frauen in der US-Armee

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Stand: 17.01.2014 11:46 Uhr

Zitat:In a breakfast speech Thursday, Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odierno drew a thick black line under that assumption when he asked, “Do we need a new infantry fighting vehicle? Yes. Can we afford a new infantry fighting vehicle now? No.”

Zitat:09:37
Entlassungen

US-Armee kämpft gegen Disziplinlosigkeiten

Das mächtigste Militär der Welt entlässt immer häufiger Soldaten wegen Verbrechen, Drogen- oder Alkoholkonsum. Die Zahl der entlassenen Offiziere hat sich in den vergangenen drei Jahren verdreifacht. ...