Two honor guards from U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., salute the Memorial Site of Ronald Reagan at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Feb. 6, 2009, at a celebration of the anniversary of his birth.
Early Bird summary
Thursday’s Early Bird leads with coverage of Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ visit to Poland, with the Associated Press reporting that Gates said he sees a chance for better relations with Russia with a new president in the White House, but warned that Moscow is trying to "have it both ways" by offering help in Afghanistan and undermining U.S. efforts there at the same time. Reuters reported that Gates said on Wednesday he would ask NATO allies this week for a short-term increase in troops for Afghanistan to provide security for elections due in August.But Gates, speaking to reporters as he flew to a NATO defense ministerial meeting in Poland, said the Obama administration would also seek longer-term NATO assistance for a range of civilian programs ranging from governance and development to police training and funding of the Afghan army. Agence France Presse ran a similar piece, reporting that Gates said he administration of President Barack Obama will expect NATO allies to up troop levels in Afghanistan ahead of elections there in August, and Bloomberg.com stated that Gates said he will ask allies to boost the number of civilian personnel for missions such as police training, strengthening the rule of law, improving governance and countering the narcotics trade.
Despite the Gates trip leading the EB slate, the most significant number of stories this morning concern Afghanistan, with the Washington Post reporting that United States will have to keep about 60,000 troops in Afghanistan for at least the next three to four years to combat an increasingly violent insurgency, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said yesterday, warning that 2009 will be "a tough year."At least 10,000 additional U.S. troops are required in Afghanistan beyond the 17,000 that President Obama announced Tuesday would go to Afghanistan this spring or summer, with decisions on two additional brigades -- one focused on training and one on combat -- expected later this year, said Gen. David D. McKiernan, the commander of international forces in Afghanistan. The New York Times reports that General McKiernan, who spoke at a news conference at the Pentagon a day after Mr. Obama ordered 17,000 additional troops to the country, said that the buildup “is not a temporary force uplift” and that it was essential to break what he called a stalemate in southern Afghanistan, the epicenter of the Taliban-led insurgency.He said that he could not determine exactly how long the troops would be there, but that the buildup would “need to be sustained for some period of time,” and that he was looking at “the next three to four or five years.” Reuters reports Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze said Wednesday in a continued effort to court NATO that Georgia planned to send a company of troops to join the NATO-led force in Afghanistan. A company usually has around 200 troops. NATO headquarters was closed when the announcement was made. Georgia hopes to join the alliance despite fierce opposition from Russia, which it fought in a brief war in August. The London Times, meanwhile, says (British Foreign Secretary) David Miliband applauded yesterday the deployment of 17,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan but said that Britain had no plans to increase its military presence in the country.Britain has almost 9,000 troops in Afghanistan This month Mr. Miliband announced the deployment of a further 300 soldiers, mostly specialists to counter Taliban roadside bomb attacks, amid reports that the US Government was pressing Britain for an additional 1,500 troops. USA Today reports that President Obama is heading to Canada on Thursday for his first foreign trip as president with plans to discuss the two nations' roles in curbing the worsening fighting in Afghanistan.The visit to Canada, which has the fourth-highest level of troops in Afghanistan, comes two days after Obama said he was sending 17,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.Canada has 2,830 troops in Afghanistan and has lost 108 in the war that started in October 2001. Obama said he wants Canadian help with a new approach to the war that includes more diplomacy and economic assistance.
Other noteworthy articles in today’s EB:
§ London Times reports that the US was secretly flying unmanned drones from the Shamsi airbase in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan as early as 2006, according to an image of the base from Google Earth.The image — that is no longer on the site but which was obtained by The News, Pakistan's English language daily newspaper — shows what appear to be three Predator drones outside a hangar at the end of the runway. The Times also obtained a copy of the image, whose co-ordinates confirm that it is the Shamsi airfield, also known as Bandari, about 200 miles southwest of the Pakistani city of Quetta.
§ The London Daily Telegraph reports that Syria is rebuilding its chemical weapons capability in a move that threatens to provoke a new round of hostilities with Israel, according to satellite images analyzed by Jane's Intelligence Review.Any suggestion that Syria is enhancing the offensive potential of its chemical munitions will be treated as an additional threat to Israel's existence by its defense establishment.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox all lead with President Obama's new plan to help as many as 9 million struggling homeowners stay in their homes by helping them refinance their mortgages or prevent foreclosure. (Slate Magazine)
2. Deploying Marines learn to use MRAPS: May 11, 2005 in Iraq was just one of the many days in the past that proved why Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles are necessary for Marine forces. (marines.mil)
Leading newspaper headlines
The Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox all lead with President Obama's new plan to help as many as 9 million struggling homeowners stay in their homes by helping them refinance their mortgages or prevent foreclosure. The WP calls it "the largest federal foreclosure-prevention package in decades." The plan could cost as much as $275 billion, of which $75 billion will go to help up to 4 million homeowners prevent foreclosure; the rest will go toward doubling the government's financial backing of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $400 billion. Many of the plan's details won't be released until early March, but everyone notes that it "was more ambitious and expensive than many housing analysts had expected," as the NYT puts it. Still, many cautioned that it won't end the foreclosure crisis, and millions of homeowners won't be eligible to receive help.
The Los Angeles Times off-leads Obama's announcement and leads locally with the continuing fight over California's budget. After state senators "spent a second frustrating day locked inside the Capitol," it looks like a deal could finally be in the making that would give Democrats and the governor the one Republican vote they need to pass the spending plan that includes more than $14 billion in tax increases.
The plan announced by Obama yesterday essentially helps two types of homeowners. It would help as many as 5 million people who have a mortgage guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and are current on their payments but don't have enough equity in their homes to refinance to take advantage of lower interest rates. The administration hopes that by giving $200 billion more in financial backing to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it can broadly increase the amount of credit that is available. But a vast majority of homeowners who are "underwater," those who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, won't qualify. Homeowners will only be able to refinance if their mortgages are no more than 5 percent above the current market value.
The centerpiece of the plan was the $75 billion that will be devoted to helping ailing homeowners avoid foreclosure by bringing mortgage payments down to 31 percent of monthly income. The idea is that if a lender agrees to reduce mortgage payments so they make up no more than 38 percent of monthly income, the government would share the cost to bring that down to 31 percent. Lenders would receive direct financial incentives to participate, a fact that has led some to criticize the plan because foreclosures are expensive, so lenders should usually want to avoid them, anyway. "They don't need the extra gravy from a government handout," one expert tells the Post. In order to further encourage lenders to avoid foreclosures, Obama also said he would push Congress to give bankruptcy judges the power to modify mortgages.
The WSJ points out the program doesn't do anything to try to increase demand for housing. The focus will be on helping owners stay in their homes and not investors, which, as the Post notes, is "a politically understandable position but one that ignores the fact that investors accounted for as much as 40 percent of home sales during the peak of the housing bubble." In a front-page analysis, the LAT says that while the plan involves "strategies that attack the complex problems on several fronts," many still have doubts "about whether the initiative will be bold enough and swift enough to succeed."
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Sgt. Danny Koleski, the chief instructor at the 2nd Marine Logistics Group's Motor Vehicle Incidental Drivers School, counsels a Marine on how to successfully guide his Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle through the "dog leg" during the 2nd MLG MRAP Operator Course, here, Feb. 11. MVIDS instructors are licensed to operate and teach how to use the MRAP.
Deploying Marines learn to operate MRAPs
2/18/2009 By Cpl. Aaron Rooks, 2nd Marine Logistics Group
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. —
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — May 11, 2005 in Iraq was just one of the many days in the past that proved why Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles are necessary for Marine forces.
Aaron Mankin, who was a Marine combat correspondent at the time, would probably agree after his experience that day when an improvised explosive device destroyed the 26-ton amphibious assault vehicle he was in.
The blast inflicted second- and third-degree burns over 25 percent of then-Lance Cpl. Mankin’s body, also permanently damaging his lungs after he inhaled the heat, flames and debris. He has since undergone about 40 surgeries. Sadly, the six other Marines he was with died in the blast.
The Marine Corps Times reported in September 2008 that roadside bombs remained the No. 1 killer of U.S. troops in Iraq. Data from the Pentagon showed that 70 percent of the then-4,151 troop deaths were caused by roadside bombs.
IEDs still remain the weapon of choice in both Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JEIDDO), which was created by the Department of Defense in February 2006 to counter the threat of IEDs.
The MRAP is meant to protect service members from the violent, deadly blasts of IEDs like the one that changed Mankin’s life forever and killed six others. The armored vehicles feature V-shaped hulls to deflect any explosive forces originating from below the vehicle, protecting both the vehicle and the passengers.
“They’ve taken hits – many, many hits that would have killed soldiers and Marines in up-armored Humvees,” Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a June 2008 interview.
USA Today reported Feb. 4 that there are currently 9,746 MRAPs in Iraq and 1,608 in Afghanistan.
But having MRAPs in the two countries is only half the fight. Marines must first know how to operate the new-age vehicles correctly if they are to continue being effective.
“The probability of no fatalities is great, and the vehicles have been proven effective,” said Gunnery Sgt. William Cartwright, the director of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group’s Motor Vehicle Incidental Drivers School. “This is why it’s important that everyone know how to operate these vehicles. They are the standard for transporting troops now.”
Cartwright and his team of 11 motor transport Marines and one corpsman conduct the 2nd MLG MRAP Operator Course once every month to train Marines on the basic knowledge needed to drive and maintain the vehicles.
The native of Norfolk, Va., who deployed to Iraq in 2003, implemented the course for 2nd MLG in December 2007 after familiarizing himself with the vehicles at Force Protection Industries in Ladson, S.C. Since then his teams have instructed more than 500 Marines from a multitude of different military jobs on operating MRAPs.
Cartwright said the prerequisite for the course is that all students are certified to operate a Humvee. With that said, most individuals who come through the course aren’t familiar with operating a large vehicle like an MRAP.
Sgt. Danny Koleski, the school’s chief instructor, said the vehicles are also more high tech in comparison to the Humvees and 7-tons that most Marines are used to. He stated that the MRAP simply takes time and knowledge to make it effective to its full extent.
Koleski, a native of Louisville, Ky., said the five-day course gives the students the knowledge necessary to return to their units, operate the vehicles and find success. Cartwright said the course features classroom instruction, vehicle and safety familiarization, driving skills practice and on-road driving time.
“Our instructors are licensed to operate and teach how to use the MRAPs and every other vehicle the Marine Corps operates,” said Koleski, who deployed to Iraq in 2005 and 2006. “They receive more than 40 hours of training in driving and maintaining the MRAPs. We try to make sure the students get as much knowledge from us about these vehicles as possible.”
Students must show clear familiarization with the MRAPs before they are actually allowed to drive them. This begins following classroom time with what the instructors call a “show me test”. This test presents various questions involving the MRAP that students are required to answer correctly if they are to continue their training.
Koleski said if they accomplish this test, they must then complete what is known as Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services. This document addresses every part of the vehicle from the tires to the fluids and seatbelts to ensure everything is functioning properly.
“You have to take care of these vehicles,” Koleski said. “If you start it wrong, you can mess up the computer. If you don’t check the fluids, the vehicle can become inoperable. These vehicles are vital to operations, so they have to stay operational.”
Once they get past these various tests, they begin their driving skills training. They call this the “dog leg.” The course is made up of cones, simulating objects like a pole or a rock, spread out along a narrow gravel path. Koleski said the goal is to weave the MRAP through the cones without hitting one.
He said the dog leg gets the individuals familiar with how the vehicle turns and how the breaks feel. He added that it also helps them become use to the visibility limits that come with the MRAP. In the end, these various skill sets builds their confidence as drivers.
“The vehicle maneuvers and handles excellent,” said Pfc. Marion Frye, a 20-year-old motor transport operator with Combat Logistics Battalion 8, 2nd MLG. “You just have to learn to judge the obstacles properly in order to get around them safely.”
The students are permitted to begin their on-road driving time after they successfully negotiate the dog leg. Koleski said they complete 35 road miles at the school. They must then return to their units with learner’s permits until they gain the remaining 90 miles experience required to attain their license. Once they achieve the total 125 miles experience, they may return to the school to take the final driver’s test.
Lance Cpl. Miles Malinowski, a motor transport operator with CLB-8, had prior experience with MRAPs before coming to the course. The 22-year-old, who deployed to Iraq in both 2007 and 2008, said the Marine Corps has done an excellent job transitioning to what the fight dictates with the introduction and fielding of MRAPs.
But the Marine Corps has not finished adapting yet as Afghanistan terrain poses problems for the MRAP due to scarce paved roads and rutted mountain passes that are common in the region.
To combat this, the pentagon plans to field an all-terrain vehicle later this year to provide off-road maneuverability and enough armor to deflect the growing threat of roadside bombs in Afghanistan, according to the Feb. 4 article by USA Today. This vehicle will combine the maneuverability of the Humvee with the protection of the MRAP.
According to JIEDDO, there were 3,276 recorded IED attacks in Afghanistan in 2008, which killed 161 coalition service members and wounded 722.
“It’s a desire to get off the roads and be able to maneuver cross-country,” Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, the Pentagon’s MRAP program head, said in the article. “That does a couple of things. First of all it increases the areas that they can maneuver and occupy. But it also significantly increases the targeting problem for the bad guys. You’re much less predictable if you can go many more places.”
The Marines of the logistics group’s MVIDS are ready to adapt to any new equipment to help ensure Marines accomplish their missions in Afghanistan, much as in the past when the need for trained Marines to operate MRAPs in Iraq came up.
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