Dawn Patrol 05/14/2010

Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our continuously updated roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and various sources around the world.

Updating - Refresh for updates.

AFGHANISTAN

The Long War and Long Good-byes -- [Red Bull Rising]
Like I was saying, send-off ceremonies can also drag along like a southbound river barge. If you want to get a feel for the high points, however, I'd recommend listening to this May 13, 2010 National Public Radio story that captured the Maj. Gen. John Campbell's sending remarks to members of his 101st Airborne Division--the "Screaming Eagles." The radio report offers everything an outgoing soldier needs to hear, packaged into less than 3 minutes: "Twenty years from now, you're going to be sitting in a rocking chair someplace thinking about what you did in 2010 and 2011..."

An Afghan border police tower at Forward Operating Base Tillman; this tower is one of many built to observe the traffic and people movement to the valley by FOB Tillman, Paktika province, Afghanistan. Photo by Sgt. Derec Pierson

Troops likely to see spike in fighting -- [Washington Times]
U.S. and allied forces will see increased fighting in Afghanistan as their offensive in the southern part of the country unfolds in coming weeks, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal said Thursday.
"We should expect increased violence as our combined security forces expand into Taliban-controlled areas," Gen. McChrystal told reporters at the Pentagon.

Various tactical vehicles streak through a refueling point during a combat logistics patrol conducted by Bravo Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), May 7. The Marines embarked on the five-day journey in support of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment. Photo by Sgt. Justin Shemanski

Hold fire, earn a medal -- [Military Times]
U.S. troops in Afghanistan could soon be awarded a medal for not doing something, a precedent-setting award that would be given for "courageous restraint" for holding fire to save civilian lives...

U.S. Army crew chief looks out for possible threats from the UH-60 Blackhawk while traveling from combat outpost to the next. Combat Outpost Margah, Paktika province, Afghanistan. (Photo by Russell Hampsey)

A Loony Toons Ambush and One Captured Bad Guy -- [Kandahar Diary - in Afghanistan]
I manage to get out on the road today with some of the Force Protection lads on a minor task - good to get out of the office.
One of my convoys from here to Lashkargah was ambushed earlier by a large party (20+) of insurgents...

U.S. Army Capt. Phillip Stone and Sgt. Timothy Stone join an Afghan border policeman at the Observation Point to look out over the village of Margah. They are members of the Provincial Reconstruction Team Paktika from Forward Operating Base Orgun-E, Combat Outpost Margah, Paktika province, Afghanistan. (Photo by Russell Hampsey)

DOD News Briefing with Gen. McChrystal from the Pentagon -- [defense.gov]
Q General... Is it true that you are contemplating -- awarding some sort of special honor for soldiers who make a special effort to avoid civilian casualties?
GEN. MCCHRYSTAL: ...The issue of courage -- we have a number of ways to recognize courage in uniform. And I think courage in uniform can come under enemy fire in the most traditional ways, or it can come under actions that may not be as expected or as traditional -- involve killing the enemy; it may involve protecting civilians.
There's a great photograph from the Marja operation. I think it's a U.S. Marine shielding an Afghan man and an Afghan child with his own body. He wasn't shooting anyone; he didn't kill any Taliban; but I would argue that he showed as much courage as any that I've seen on the battlefield.
So when we talk about courage, I think -- I don't think we need a different medal to differentiate different kinds of courage.

'Red Cloud' Marines rub elbows with Afghan locals -- [Marines.mil]Sgt. Clifton Shackleford, a security team leader with Bravo Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward) with local children in the village outside Combat Outpost Cafferetta here, May 10. The Marines conducted a series of combat logistics patrols in the region.

Canadian Parking Drills, Eh... -- [Kandahar Diary - in Afghanistan]
...Being observant men, they noticed the Maple-leaf sticker on the window of the Surf and, being fairly quick on the uptake, decided to check if the parking space actually had a 'Reserved for ..." sign stuck to the T-wall. It did. It appears they were parked in a senior Canadian officer's car park. Said Canuck, in a fit of pique, has obviously parked them in figuring they would have to wait until he got back to take a bollocking and have the armoured released. My lads scratched their heads. What to do?

A young Afghan boy pauses in front of the camera as other children from his village interact with Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward) outside of Combat Outpost Cafferetta here, May 10. The Marines were in the area as part of a five-day combat logistics patrol in support of the Marines stationed in the surrounding area. Photos by Sgt. Justin Shemanski

Afghan official: Troops killed civilians -- [CNN/Afghanistan Crossroads]
Nasrutullah Arsala, head of the provincial council of Nangahar province, told CNN on Friday that troops killed nine civilians in Kushkak, a village in the Surkh Rod district of Nangahar, in eastern Afghanistan...
News of possible civilian casualties enraged locals. They staged a demonstration and tried to enter the district governor's compound. Police confronting the protesters shot and killed two civilians, Arsala said.

Forward Operating Base Bullard, Zabul--Afhgan local shows off his granddaughter in the village of Pasani. Street engagement teams from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 508st Parachute Infantry Regiment go out after incidents occur in or around Shajoy to meet with locals to see how they can provide greater security and strengthen the relationship between U.S. forces, Afghan National Security Forces and the local community. Photo by Senior Airman James Bell

U.S. officials dampen expectations for Kandahar offensive -- [Stars and Stripes]
American-led military operations in and around the Afghan city of Kandahar in the next months will look markedly less militaristic than this year's offensive in Marjah, top U.S. officials said Thursday...
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, appearing alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai before a Washington think tank audience later on Thursday, said the effort in Kandahar would not be "a massive military action," with "tanks rolling into the city."
...The military, Clinton said, was taking steps to ensure the allied effort in Kandahar did not resemble campaigns in Iraq.
"This is not Fallujah," she said at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Forward Operating Base Bullard, Zabul--Rock, the unit interpreter, and 1st Lieutenant Sal Corma, platoon leader (right), talk to a local in the village of Pasani. Teams from the Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment find out information to help local communities through visiting and relationship building. Photo by Senior Airman James Bell

Taking a Breather -- [Rajiv Srinivasan - in Afghanistan]
...as I take a step back and look at where this simple website is today from where it started almost a year ago, I shake my head in disbelief. What started as a means of sharing stories from the front lines has turned into my haven away from the battlefield. Managing this site has been a therapeutic release for me during a stressful tour. I read messages of phenomenal inspiration and support from well-wishers all over the world. Your love and empathy have been one of the strongest forces pushing me forward through a difficult tour...

Pfc. John T. Smith II, a heavy machine gunner with Company A, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, provides security as the sun sets over Now Zad. As a member of his company's Quick Reaction Force, Smith often works sun up to sundown. (Official U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ned Johnson)

IRAQ

Despite political uncertainties in Iraq, U.S. sticking with drawdown plan -- [Washington Post]
The U.S. Special Operations footprint will remain largely unchanged after Sept. 1, U.S. officials say, with roughly 4,500 elite troops tasked with targeting terrorist networks in partnership with Iraqi special forces...
The seven combat brigades that will remain after the summer, temporarily rebranded as "advice and assist brigades," have been reinforced with senior officers who have expertise in training. The military will keep one brigade in Baghdad and one in Anbar province, west of the capital. The remaining five -- each with 3,000 to 5,000 troops -- will be split between northern and southern divisions. Also remaining will be headquarters and certain support personnel. U.S. forces will have a negligible presence in most urban areas, and will be spread thin in southern provinces, where security has improved considerably in recent months.

Iraq's New Qaeda "War Minister" Vows Attacks -- [Reuters/NY Times]
An al Qaeda-linked militant group named a new "war minister" in Iraq and threatened majority Shi'ites with "dark days coloured in blood," after two of its commanders were killed by U.S. and Iraqi forces.
Attacks that have left dozens dead in the past weeks were seen as al Qaeda in Iraq's response to the killing in May of its leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri...
The al Qaeda statement, posted on Islamist Internet forums on Friday and translated by SITE Intelligence Group, identified the new ISI war minister as al-Nasser Lideen Allah Abu Suleiman, who replaced Masri...
"How can the men of the state close their eyes while they see... (Shi'ites) transgressing against the people of Islam, men and women, in the prisons of the apostates in Baghdad, Mosul, and Diyala," Abu Suleiman said in the statement.
"The matter has become unbearable, patience has run out... We named this invasion, 'The Attack of the Monotheists in Revenge for Honors in the Prisons of Apostates'."

Iraqi Kurd spokesman criticizes U.S. response to impasse -- [Stars and Stripes]
Qubad Talabani, representative of the Kurdish regional government, said U.S. officials in Iraq have had limited involvement in efforts by political parties to form a government over the two months since the country's inconclusive national elections.
Talabani said that the administration is determined to avoid the perception that "they are trying to concoct a democratic Iraq."
...Talabani, who is also the son of Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, said that while U.S. officials have largely remained on the sidelines, officials of most neighboring states, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey have been "heavily involved" with political players inside Iraq to exert influence...

U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Amid doubts, offensive to retake Somalia capital looms -- [LA Times]
On streets and alleys whittled by gunfire, Col. Abdi Bashir Dhagol is arming for a new battle amid the fleeing families, bloodied markets and boy soldiers of Mogadishu.
Somali troops, supported by U.S.-funded weapons and training, are preparing to retake the capital from Al Qaeda-backed militants in an offensive to shift the balance of power in the Horn of Africa...

Thai troops battle protesters as crisis deepens -- [Reuters]
Troops fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds at the protesters who hurled petrol bombs and launched home-made rockets on roads surrounding an area of luxury hotels and shopping malls they have occupied for nearly six weeks, witnesses said.
"We hope to return the situation to normal in the next few days," said government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn.
By nightfall, at least five loud blasts were heard followed by bursts of automatic gunfire in the business district. Armoured personnel carriers were seen arriving in the area.
The fresh wave of violence follows an assassination attempt on Thursday on a renegade general who had been advising the protesters and was critically wounded during an interview with foreign reporters outside the barricaded encampment... (Slideshow)

Obama was target of Indonesia militants -- [Reuters]
Indonesian militants captured in recent police raids were planning a series of attacks including a Mumbai-style hotel siege targeting foreigners and an assault on the president at an independence day ceremony, police said on Friday.
The men also planned to target U.S. President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to visit the country later this year, and plotted the attacks to install sharia law in the world's most populous Muslim nation, officials said...

Violence surges in Indian Kashmir after years of decline; authorities worry of bloody summer -- [AP]
Nearly everyday, the crackle of gunfire and the roar of mortars can be heard somewhere in the towns and forests of the scenic Himalayan region, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan but divided between them.

Obama Expands Modernization of Nuclear Arsenal -- [NY Times]
President Obama promised Thursday to spend $80 billion over 10 years to maintain and modernize the nation's nuclear arsenal, a commitment that could help win Republican support for his new arms control treaty with Russia.
"I'd like to see it happen before the election," Mr. Obama told Russian state television last week.

Oliver North Confirms Big Government Report ** Intelligence Sources in U.S. & Afghanistan: Mullah Omar in Hands of Pakistan's ISI -- [Oliver North/Big Government]
...This lack of intelligence was evident last week in the aftermath of the failed Times Square bombing on May 1 when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proffered a blunt indictment of Pakistani cooperation with the U.S. Her stunning comment: "I believe somewhere in this government are people who know where Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda is (sic), where Mullah Omar and the leadership of the Afghan Taliban is (sic)..." created a diplomatic firestorm.
Hopefully, Ms. Clinton was dissembling, because intelligence sources here in the U.S. and Afghanistan inform me that Pakistani officials know exactly where Mullah Omar is: in the hands of the ISI. This should not be news to the U.S. Secretary of State.
Last month, while I was still in Afghanistan, rumors were circulating that the ISI had detained Mullah Omar in Karachi on March 27, and placed him under house arrest in what they call "community care." American operatives say he has since been transferred to a secret ISI lock-up under the Pakistani euphemism: "institutional care." According to several reports, all of this information was confirmed to U.S. officials by a senior Pakistani military officer "several weeks ago."
"Why would the ISI take down 'one of their own?'" I asked. The answer came in a mixed metaphor but the meaning was clear: "The ISI intends to be in the driver's seat when the 'Peace Talks' get underway in Afghanistan later this month. And the ISI officers calling the shots know Mullah Omar is the best bargaining chip they have."

WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Judge orders former Russian dancer's release from Guantanamo -- [McClatchy/Stars and Stripes]
A federal court on Thursday ordered the Pentagon to set free from Guantanamo a former Russian army ballet dancer turned devout Muslim whose plight captured the imagination of a Massachusetts college town...
Thursday's midday ruling raised to 35 the number of Guantanamo detention cases the U.S. government has lost since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled two years ago that the war-on-terror captives can sue for their freedom in federal courts...
The Guantanamo captive's Washington, D.C., attorney, Douglas K. Spaulding, ...was seeking talks with the Obama administration to arrange for his client's release to a country other than his homeland because of the stigma of nearly a decade in U.S. detention. Seven other Russians, who were released from Guantanamo in 2004, were tortured, beaten, harassed and sent into hiding, according to a Human Rights Watch study.
Liberal activists in Massachusetts showcased the tale of Mingazov and an Algerian man named Ahmed Belbacha in a campaign last year that condemned the detention policies of the Bush administration.

U.S. Decision to Approve Killing of Cleric Causes Unease -- [NY Times]
To eavesdrop on the terrorism suspect who was added to the target list, the American-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is hiding in Yemen, intelligence agencies would have to get a court warrant. But designating him for death, as C.I.A. officials did early this year with the National Security Council's approval, required no judicial review...

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS

A free ride for sleazy car dealers? -- [OldNavy/Burn Pit/American Legion]
When I was a fuzzy-faced Ensign in flight school about a hundred years ago, a car salesman in Pensacola screwed me over big time. He was a big-smilin', glad-handin' guy who claimed to be real "Navy-friendly", especially to Airedales - which is why he would offer low mileage, late model cars and E-Z financing to brave young lads such as myself when banks and other big businesses would not. Hey, he was a retired Navy Commander himself, or so he said.
Anywho - the old Commander gave me the "best deal anywhere" on a slick British racing green '68 Camaro - just the thing for a hotshot, would-be fighter jock. The interest rate was kinda high, but at least the old officer and gentleman was nice enough to get me the loan. The car was a couple of years old, but a fresh paint job made it look like new - and it only had 26,000 miles on the clock!
You can guess the rest...

Battle over financial reform pits auto dealers vs. military -- [LA Times]
Car dealers, a well-organized small-business lobby with members in nearly every legislative district, have swarmed the Senate in recent weeks clamoring to be exempt from the legislation's proposed protections against loan scams.
They say the tough new government oversight should focus on the big Wall Street firms that caused the financial crisis, not auto dealers struggling to recover from it.
"There's a lot of dealers that are still on the brink, and taking their finance revenue away from them could be the straw that breaks the camel's back," said John Symes, who owns three auto dealerships in Pasadena.
But in a letter released Thursday, a top Pentagon official said soldiers need to be protected from "unprincipled auto lending" so they can concentrate on their primary mission: "protecting our great nation."
"Soldiers who are distracted by financial issues at home are not fully focused on fighting the enemy, thereby decreasing mission readiness," Army Secretary John M. McHugh wrote Wednesday...

MILITARY

Warrior Games, Day 3 -- [Mothax/Burn Pit]
Army, Marine Corps and Air Force tied in Chairman's Cup Standings
Picture: Legionnaire and Former Marine Scott Martin (closest athlete) competes in the swim competition as part of the Ultimate Champion Pentathlon.
Another great day, another very long day, in scenic and wonderful Colorado Springs. Today was Archery, Swimming, Wheelchair Basketball and Seated Volleyball.
A quick note on the Chairman's Cup since I have not adequately explained it...

WELCOME HOME

Legislating Fear -- [Demophilius/Burn Pit]
The state of Georgia recently pushed a piece of legislation through the state that would establish a designation on drivers' licenses showing the bearer's status as a sufferer of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)...
Obviously, there are critics of the bill. Unfortunately, the critics aren't exactly helping the situation either. "Why would I want to put out there on my license - hey, I'm a nut job," said Marvin Myers, president of the Georgia Vietnam Veterans Alliance Inc...
Really Mr. Meyers? "Nut job"? Way to show your sympathy to fellow veterans.
We have enough people out there who think PTSD transforms out service members into ticking time bombs without trying to slap warning labels on them...

VETERANS

USS Cole survivor finds his future in the wrestling ring -- [Stars and Stripes]
Jesse Neal heard the fans shouting his name after a frenzied night of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. The former sailor had come a long way in the more than nine years since his ship, the destroyer USS Cole, was attacked by terrorist bombers in Yemen.

BLOGGING/MILBLOGS/SOCIAL MEDIA

"Milbloggers" Not United on DADT Repeal -- [Cassandra/Villainous Company]
Yesterday, fifteen Milbloggers signed an open letter acknowledging that Sec. Gates and Admiral Mullen have directed an inquiry into how the services will comply with the anticipated repeal of DADT. The letter urged Congress to listen to what the services recommend as a result of this inquiry. Somehow, this nuanced message morphed into a simple (and misleading) meme: Milbloggers Call for Repeal of DADT.

Don't Ask Don't Tell for Idiots -- [Hooah Wife]
It appears so many people need a cluebat (especially those who pretend they understand it), regarding Don's Ask Don't Tell (DADT). This week, I was part of a group statement with some fellow Milbloggers that made, what I thought was a clear position on how we felt about it. Yet the headlines from Huff PO, Politico, NPR and so many other websites showed that they totally misunderstood our message. Or maybe that it was that they were just using whatever they could to fuel their agenda (I report, you decide). You can read about these SNAFUs here.
I decided to ask my most intelligent Hooah Wife contributor, Silke, a former Army Officer and current military spouse, to help me write this guide.

Key Dates in U. S. Policy on Gay Men and Women in Military Service -- [US Naval Insitute]
March 11, 1778 - Lieutenant Gotthold Frederick Enslin becomes the first documented service member to be dismissed from the U.S. military for homosexuality. Under an order from General George Washington which states "abhorrence and detestation of such infamous crimes," Lt. Enslin is drummed out of the Continental Army after being found guilty of sodomy.
March 1, 1917 - The Articles of War of 1916 are implemented. A revision of the Articles of War of 1806, the new regulations detail statutes governing U.S. military discipline and justice. Under the category Miscellaneous Crimes and Offences, Article 93 states that any person subject to military law who commits "assault with intent to commit sodomy" shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
1919 - Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt requests an investigation into "vice and depravity" in the sea services. A sting operation is launched in which undercover operatives attempt to seduce sailors suspected of being homosexual. At least 17 sailors are jailed and court-martialed before public outcry prompts the Senate to condemn the operation...

Bread, Circuses, and Teh Gheys -- [Chuck Z/From my position... on the way]
During the decline of the Roman Empire, whenever the great unwashed citizenry became unhappy, the Caesar would bestow upon them gifts of free entertainment (gladiators) and free bread. These were, for a time, quite effective at keeping the population's mind off of politics, and the general dimming of the great light of civilization that was ancient Rome. Happy to be entertained, and happier still to eat freely from the government trough, the people of Rome were distracted while the empire slowly collapsed beneath them...

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Monument by Albert Jaegers in Lafayette Park Washington, D.C.

THE MEDIA/CULTURE

The Wounded Platoon -- [PBS/Frontline]
Since the Iraq War began, soldier arrests in the city of Colorado Springs, Colo., have tripled. At least 36 servicemen based at the nearby Army post of Fort Carson have committed suicide, and 14 Fort Carson soldiers have been charged or convicted in at least 11 killings. Many of the most violent crimes involved men who had served in the same battalion in Iraq. Three of them came from a single platoon of infantrymen. FRONTLINE tells the dark tale of the men of 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion of the 506th Infantry, and how the war followed them home. It is a story of heroism, grief, vicious combat, depression, drugs, alcohol and brutal murder; an investigation into the Army's mental health services; and a powerful portrait of what multiple tours and post-traumatic stress are doing to a generation of young American soldiers.

STRATEGY & TACTICS

COIN Symposium, Part I -- [Grim/Blackfive]
Dave Dilegge of Small Wars Journal and I were invited to attend a panel discussion at the end of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Symposium: "Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan: an Azimuth Check." Over the next day or so I'll post a few pieces about the discussion, and particular points of interest...

COIN Symposium, Part II -- [Grim/Blackfive]
...There were differing opinions on this subject from the panel's members. This would be a good time to mention who the panelists were.
COL Gian P. Gentile, Director of Military History Program at U.S. Military Academy at West Point
COL Joe Felter, Director of COIN Advise and Assist Team (CAAT), Afghanistan
Col Joseph Lacroix, CD Deputy Commander Joint Task Force Afghanistan
LTCol C. Cabaniss, 2nd Marine Div G3 Operations, USMC
Lt Col Rupert Jones, Commander 4th Battalion of the RIFLES Regiment
LCol Bertrand Cadour, Allied Transformation Command, NATO
Dr. Daniel Marston, Counterinsurgency at US Army Command & General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS
Dr. Lester Grau, Research Coordinator for Foreign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth, KS
Dr. R. Scott Moore, Deputy Director for Center for Complex Operations
Maj J. T. Adair, Officer Commanding C Company 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
MAJ Jason Crigger, 6th Special Operations , USAF
MAJ Jim Gant, AFPAK Hands, US Army Special Forces
An impressive crew, several of whom have names that will be familiar to you. In addition...

Magnifisent Basterds (II) -- [Greyhawk]
"The Army is looking at a whole realm of things having to do with measuring and recognizing excellence in THIS war," says Morgan, "which is different from any we've fought before in that we are trying to get our Soldiers and Marines to behave differently... It is difficult to measure and difficult to recognize excellence in a war where to subdue your enemy by making him irrelevant is oftentimes more effective in the long run than rendering him inert... The portrayal of this internal Army conversation in such a light as it has been is misleading, sensationalistic and simplistic... it's not the thinking while in the TIC that anyone is trying to reward. It's the thinking over the map, in the TOC, at the targeting meeting with the USAID and State folks... and their Afghan counterparts. You plan before you seek. You seek what you plan for. You find what you seek."

Hold Your Fire -- [Demophilius/Burn Pit]
The military is currently considering medals for "Courageous Restraint" ...
My point here is not that someone who doesn't fight is a Coward, quite the contrary. It takes a hell of a lot of inner fortitude to hold back, it's one of the things that separate us from base animals. It's a hard line to walk and I have nothing but admiration for folks who can hold back in the face of severe situations and not give in to emotions. Moving away from violence as a first resort is really something worth striving for. No real soldier, nobody who has actually seen war, thinks that war should ever be the first option.
Where are the Medals of Honor for this war, for this Global War on Terror, for OEF/OIF? As of this writing we have awarded 6, and none to a living recipient. Six... In Afghanistan, they have awarded two Medals of Honor in nine years, for a sense of perspective, in the battle of Mogadishu, Somalia two Medals were awarded (justly) in one day. Are our service members not fighting? Are there no heroes out there performing actions worthy of this award? I would argue not.
I would argue that Admiral Nimitz's words about Iwo Jima are as true about this war as they have been for any war that we have fought and the service members who fought for us. "Uncommon valor was a common virtue"
It's just not a virtue that we reward any more...

A CIA COINdinista's Misgivings on Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan -- [Spencer Ackerman/The Washington Independent]
It's crossed desks at the White House, the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command and even Gen. Stanley McChrystal's command in Afghanistan.... While I can't go into the sourcing of this memo, it's penned by someone who began embracing population-centric counterinsurgency to mitigate the deterioration of the Iraq war as far back as 2005 -- something that not a lot of CIA operatives bought into, then or today. Despite that pedigree, the CIA operative contends that attempts to protect the population from the insurgency and facilitate the delivery of Afghan government services are fatally undermined by the persistent corruption and ineffectiveness of the Afghan government and its institutions.
His counterproposal, similar to a controversial approach advocated by an Army Special Forces major named Jim Gant, is to use Afghanistan's various tribes as a proxy for both political legitimacy against the Taliban and a more effective and relevant structure for the provision of governance and economic development. He's taken to calling it "Tribe-Centric Unconventional Warfare/Foreign Internal Defense."

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Assault Breacher Vehicles: The USMC's latest answer to the deadliest threat in Afghanistan -- [Soldiers' Angels Germany]
Count me in as being in favor of anything that could save even one life, or one limb. "The Assault Breacher Vehicles are the Marines Corps' answer to the deadliest threat facing United States and NATO troops in Afghanistan, thousands of land mines and roadside bombs aka improvised explosive devices, that litter the Afghan Taliban region...."

Mattis: Military should rely less on technology -- [Marine Corps Times]
he military relies too much on technology, and soldiers need to practice more "with the radios turned off," a key general said.
"We must be able to operate when systems go down," Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, head of Joint Forces Command, told a luncheon audience Thursday at a joint war-fighting conference. "It is much more important for officers to get comfortable operating with uncertainty rather than to keep grasping for more certainty."

CLIMATE AND SECURITY

POLITICS

Senate panel takes up war funding measure -- [AP/Stars and Stripes]
The measure, approved by a unanimous 30-0 vote, blends about $30 billion for President Barack Obama's 30,000-troop surge in Afghanistan with more than $5 billion to replenish disaster aid accounts, as well as funding for Haitian earthquake relief, and a downpayment on aid to flood-drenched Tennessee and Rhode Island.
The must-pass legislation is the only appropriations bill likely to advance to Obama's desk until the fall and is a tempting target for Democrats seeking to add money for a summer jobs program or to help to local school district to retain teachers...
The measure contains $13 billion in benefits for Vietnam War veterans exposed to Agent Orange, but does not provide more than $4 billion requested by the administration to finance settlements of long-standing lawsuits against the government, including $1.2 billion to remedy discrimination by the Agriculture Department against black farmers and $3.4 billion for mismanaging Indian trust funds.
The measure contains $1.1 billion for mine-resistant vehicles, $657 million for military bases in Afghanistan, and $6.2 billion in foreign aid for Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Haiti. The panel cut about $300 million from Obama's Afghanistan request and added about $130 million to the request for Haiti, according to a summary.

MILITARY HISTORY

Walker 'Bud' Mahurin, ace WWII fighter pilot, dies at 91 -- [Stars and Stripes]
Walker "Bud" Mahurin, the Army Air Forces' first double ace in Europe during World War II who went on to serve in the Pacific and later became a POW after being shot down during the Korean War, has died. He was 91.
Mahurin, a retired Air Force colonel who had suffered a stroke in October, died Tuesday at his home in Newport Beach, said his stepdaughter, Valerie Miller.
"The name is familiar to almost everybody in the Air Force," said Doug Lantry, a historian at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
"Bud Mahurin was the only Air Force pilot to shoot down enemy aircraft in the European theater of operations and the Pacific and in Korea," said Lantry. "He was known as a very courageous, skilled and tenacious fighter pilot."

Fighter pilot, war hero 'Bud' Mahurin dies -- [Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal Gazette]
Walker "Bud" Mahurin was an ace fighter pilot and a war hero from Fort Wayne, the kind of person kids everywhere wanted to be like.
He was shot down twice - once over France and later in Korea - and escaped both times. He was responsible for 21 kills from the cockpit of his P-47 Thunderbolt in the European Theater of World War II and one more in the Pacific. Later, in Korea, he downed four Communist MiG fighter jets.
The South Side High School graduate died Tuesday at his home in Newport Beach, Calif., after months of declining health. He was 91.

HUMOR/SATIRE

Exercise, exercise:Tech Sgt. Correy Hodge, 28th Medical Group non-commissioned officer in-charge of medical material, stands guard at an entry control point during the Phase II Operational Readiness Exercise, May 12. The Phase II ORE will test Airmen across the base on their ability to operate in a deployed environment. Photo by Senior Airman Adam Grant

(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)