The War in October: The Crossing

Great footage of river crossing operations. The Egyptians had the "foresight" to film it for posterity. This is the 1st in a 3-part video series, featuring events of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

The March...

Flanders Soldiers - a picture from the past | Art and design | theguardian.com

Where my love for photography and the military collide. An emotive photo.

A new domain in military operations

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/2/4686848/syrian-electronic-army-hacks-marines-recruiting-site

Have been meaning to write about the work of the "Syrian Electronic Army".

As mentioned in the article above, they have been very active. The latest target is a "military" one, compared to the previous attacks on news websites.

Marines.com is not the main USMC website. It's more of a promotional website for the Marines. So it is likely that no serious infiltration or loss of information has occurred.

The "attack" is more likely a hack on the DNS, to direct users who type www.marines.com to another website, instead of the real Marines.com website. 

It is more an asymmetric attack. But it also brings to reality the many articles written about cyber warfare. Some have been dismissive, but it seems we no longer can ignore this threat.

Staff Sgt. Jessie Johnson and her dog Crach

Short video, but shows that sniffer dogs remain an important part of IED detection.

Gilad Schalit and his capture - useful operational lessons

Gilad Schalit's capture: In his own words
Gilad Schalit's capture, in his own words, part II

2-part Jerusalem Post report on Gilad Schalit, the Israeli soldier who was captured, and kept in captivity for 5 years.

The reporter was a little condescending at certain junctures, but look beyond it, to read the details of the incident, which provides very useful learning points, to serving servicemen.

In Singapore, we often find ourselves limited in the real life case studies that are used. Many are from the way back in the past, either during World War 2, or the Konfrontasi.

opswarfare thinks there is real utility in using foreign case studies, especially when they are more recent, and involve conscripts. Our NSFs may switch off when they hear case studies from US, UK, etc, because they don't see the direct relevance, as those soldiers are fully professional.

But case studies like Gilad Schalit are hopefully more relevant. His candidness also helps here, e.g. he mentioned that he didn't pay attention to the security briefing, as he thought “The commander was listening, and that was enough. I trusted him.”.

This is a great example to show our NSFs, to tell them that one cannot always rely on your commanders. Every soldier needs to be armed, not just with their weapon, but with information.

Battle Damage Assessment - Satellite imagery shows scale of strike in Syria

http://www.janes.com/article/25125/satellite-imagery-shows-scale-of-strike-in-syria

More OSINT gems from Jane's. This time, Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) of the recent attack on military facilities in Syria.

Saudi Arabia & China missiles?

Strange to see China missiles being used by Saudi Arabia.

IHS Defense and Security: After recent IHS #satellite imagery analysis revealed a ballistic #missile facility near Al-Watah (http://bit.ly/14dQiZc), this IHS infographic shows potential strike ranges of #SaudiArabia's DF-21 and DF-3 #nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) capabilities - with #Israel and #Iran well within range.

Original Facebook Status from Jane's: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=490814041002432&set=a.344906415593196.80373.118688984881608

Close Quarters Marksmanship - British Army

Weird camera effect (quadrotor steadicam?) + the commentary that's rhythmic (almost like rapping) by the trainer = cool video :)

Make NS meaningful for every recruit

Also see the milnuts discussion on this article.

Make NS meaningful for every recruit

After completing basic military training (BMT) back in 2004, two platoon mates and I found to our dismay that we were being dispatched to be trained as logistics supervisors.

We were medically fit and while not exactly top performers, we had passed all the physical, marksmanship and field craft tests reasonably well. So we were mystified that the army had found us unsuitable for combat roles.

I went where I was sent, and it was not a "slack" non-combat role. That stint providing logistical support to about 100 men proved mentally draining at times, but I soon grew frustrated with a job I simply had no interest in.

After months of fighting administrative battles, I managed to get redeployed as a radio signaller. Relaying coded messages and bridging communications may not sound like much, but it was a world of excitement after dealing with inventory logs and ration schedules.

SMX-26 submarine concept