October 20 Weekly Update

SHIP LOGS & EXERCISES:

Ship & Group Locations Checked & Updated (October 7 to 13)

ACTIVE EXERCISES:

RUSSIAN PACIFIC FLEET TACTICAL HARBOR EXERCISE (October 14 to 20) @ Avachinskaya Bay, Kamchatka, Russia

PHIBLEX (October 8 – 18) @ Philippines

RUSSIAN PACIFIC FLEET MARINE SCOUT FIELD EXERCISES (October 8 to 20?) @ Primorsky Krai, Klerk Peninsula, Russia

COUGAR 2012 (October to November) @ Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas

• (Oct 12) UK Task Force visits Gibraltar (Panorama )
• (Oct 19) UK & French Task Forces join up in Mediterranean, CORSICAN LION begins (Royal Navy )(French Defense Ministry )(French Army )

INDIAEX 2012 (October 19 to November 13) @ Mumbai, India

SHIP LOGS:

FS Siroco (LSD)

• (Oct 11) visited Conakry, Guinea for 2-days (French Defense Ministry )

HMS Dauntless (DDG)

• (Oct 19) visiting Boston, US, berthed next to USS Constitution (Royal Navy )

HMS Defender (DDG)

• (Oct 17) began helicopter trials and training off south UK coast

HMS Diamond (DDG)

• (Oct 15) at Bahrain, Royal Navy's Fleet Commander visits ship

HMS Monmouth (FFG)

• (Oct 18) Deploys to Arabian Gulf patrol (MOD )

PLAN Liaoning (CV)

• (Oct 15) Flight Trials begin, Chinese naval fighters begin touch-and-go tests at sea (Boston)

USS America (LHA-6)

• (Oct 20) the US Navy's newest assault ship will be christened at Pascagula, MS

USS Bonhomme Richard ARG

• (Oct 18) returns to Subic Bay, Philippines

USS Carr (FFG-52)

• (Oct 11) recovered $26 million worth of cocaine during it's Operation Martillo patrol in Caribbean

USS Enterprise CSG

• (Oct 11) in Red Sea
• (Oct 12) transits Suez Canal, returning home
• (Oct 13) in Mediterranean
• (Oct 17) USS Vicksburg (CG) and Porter (DDG) @ Lisbon, Portugal (US Navy )
• (Oct 18) @ Naples, Italy

USS Stennis CSG

• (Oct 17) CSG enters 5^th Fleet AOR

USS Washington CSG

• (Oct 15) in S. China Sea
• (Oct 17) 3M assessment scheduled for (Oct 21-24)

GROUND UNITS LOGS & EXERCISES:

US Ground units logs updated per DOD reports, up to (October 14 to 20) (DOD News Releases )

France, UK, Russia, China Army logs updated per various news releases and open sources

ACTIVE EXERCISES:

CHISTOY NEBO 2012 (October 5 - 16) CIS ADA Exercise in Central Asia

US – ISRAEL JOINT MISSILE DEFENSE EXERCISE (October 21 – November 11)

UNIT LOGS:

RUSSIA

• MOLDOVA: NATO forces may replace Russian peacekeepers in Moldova (ITAR-TASS )

USA

• 2^nd Infantry Division, 2^nd Stryker Brigade – KIA @ Kandahar, Afghanistan (Oct 13)
• 2^nd Infantry Division, 3^rd Stryker Brigade – KIA @ Spin Boldak, Afghanistan (Oct 13)

NEWS that makes me go Hmmmm......

MALI

• (Oct 13) Mali rebels tell France they'll “open gates of hell” ...or more specifically, kill french hostages, if France continues to push for international action against them (Yahoo News )
• (Oct 17) Will the world go to war to save Mali? Pros and Cons (Time )
• MY OPINION: If you're OK with another pro-western country split by civil war, with neither side strong enough to outright win, and eventually becoming a self destructive puritanical islamist stronghold, then please do nothing. Otherwise, hold the line wherever the fight goes. Fight or flee. Help them protect themselves or let them perish. That is the choice. You're already in a world war of insurgent proportions. Are you willing to live under the same terms forced on other peoples by the islamists? No? Then fight them...

RUSSIA

• (Oct 18) NATO includes Russia, China, Iran on list of main cyber-enemies (Rusnavy )

SYRIA

• (Oct 17) Hezbollah moves rocket units into Syria from their bases in Lebanon, directing them against rebel units at Homs; Meanwhile, Russia moves S-400 AA missile batteries close to the Turkish border (Debka )
• MY OPINION: ...Close to Turkey? Didn't they notice Georgia is between them, and provides 100-miles of separation. I'm sure the S-400 has enough range to effect something in Turkey, but honestly, that would overfly Georgia, and in light of Russia's and Belorus's efforts to reconcile with Georgia and bring them back into the CIS, and tear them away from NATO, shooting missiles over Georgian airspace would probably be less than optimal. Instead, I think it's more realistic to assume the move is related to the need to pre-stage defensive units in advance of the Sochi Olympics. Sure, it's REALLY in advance. But the Russians never do anything quick, and they might need time to settle in and find the best vodka bars in the area ...ok, that was mean. But the UK was actively preping for the London Olympics 6-months in advance with exercises and positioning air defense units, and planning for 2-years. While the UK has transitioned into helping Brazil with their Olympic plans, it's realistic enough to assume Russia is laying the groundwork for their Sochi games right now.
• (Oct 18) IISS foresees the potential for 150,000 pro-Assad refugees settling in Russia's N. Caucasus if the regime collapses (World Tribune )
• (Oct 20) Lebanon on edge after car bomb kills Lebanese intelligence chief Brigadier-General Wissam al-Hassan, who will be buried with full honors. Several protests were broke up by the army and police in beirut and Tripoli (Yahoo News ); Lebanese Cabinet holding emergency talks after car bombing, Syria accused of assassinating pro-FSA Intel Chief (BBC )