Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has visited Afghanistan to mark the newest milestone inside the drawdown of UK forces. Mr Hammond was inside the country to witness the closure of Observation Post Sterga, the last remaining forward base for use by UK troops. The closure of Sterga implies that the best UK troops remaining in Helmand are at Camp Bastion and locations in Kandahar and Kabul. During the visit, which was conducted as closure work continued, Mr Hammond spoke to soldiers from the 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS) who have been living and dealing there. Defence Secretary Philip... Read More »
The US military should help fly African Union peacekeeping troops to the Central African Republic as a part of a French-led effort to revive security there, US officials said Monday. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, in Qatar on a tour of the region, has ordered American forces “to begin transporting forces from Burundi to the Central African Republic, in coordination with France,” his spokesman said in a press release. The Pentagon will make two C-17 transport planes available to move roughly 850 Burundian soldiers, a US defense official said on condition of anonymity, noting: “We hope to start out tomorrow.” The... Read More »
It’s hot. Humidity is near one hundred pc, and you’re in full combat gear — including chemical-biological protection. Between your helmet and mask, all of your head is roofed, leaving a sensation of suffocating heat. Sweat pours as you run, climb and crawl through enemy territory. How will you get through it? A fan blows soothing air across your face, under the tight-fitted mask. Technology brings this relief to a Soldier through a powered air purifying respirator, which is composed of a hose connected to the face mask from a blower unit and battery pack hanging off the hip or... Read More »
Blood flowing from a bullet wound, the gray-haired man lies in the course of the roadblock waving weakly for help as shots ring out nearby and thick black smoke from burning tires curls into the sky. “I’ve called an ambulance. They must come, they need to come,” a guy screams, ducking for canopy behind a concrete breezeblock. A hundred meters (yards) away, a column of Ukrainian army armored vehicles opens fire again. The sound in their mounted machine guns and the soldiers’ automatic rifles echoes as they move in on one of the vital remaining pro-Russian rebel checkpoints just south... Read More »