Background – Central Command – General John Abizaid has driven big changes in the American military. Now, as he commands U.S. forces in the Middle East, his ideas are being put to the test.

• The Atlantic: Abizaid of Arabia

US Marines – More Marines will head to Iraq.

• San Diego Union Tribune: More Marines than originally planned heading to Iraq
• BBC: US to send extra marines to Iraq

US Marines – U.S. forces have disrupted several planned terrorist attacks against Western and other targets in the Horn of Africa and local authorities have killed or captured more than two dozen militants, according to the Marine general in command of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.

• Associated Press: African General Says U.S. Has Helped

US Navy – The Navy has further detailed its plan to reorganize its helicopter communities to use the new MH-60 helicopters to full advantage.

• Sea Power: Navy Maps Out Transition Plan for New Helicopters

US Navy – The USS Cole deploys for the first time since it was attacked in Yemen.

• Virginian Pilot: Cole ready to deploy again

Background – Al Qaeda – James F. Dunnigan asks if it is inevitable that terrorist organizations ultimately evolve into mafia-like organizations more focused on profit than terror.

• StrategyPage: The Mullah’s Mafia

Royal Navy – The new aircraft carrier’s names have been chosen – Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales.

• The Sun: ‘Queen’ rules the waves

US Navy – The latest naval news from around the US fleet.

• Sea Power: Super Hornet Basing Divided on East Coast

Royal New Zealand Navy – HMNZS Canterbury will be repaired, after an onboard fire.

• Stuff: Crippled steam warship to be repaired

Background – Ocean Gliders – The latest on ocean gliders, a form of unmanned underwater vehicle.

• Associated Press: Gliders of the sea take flight

Background – Public Awareness of Naval Affairs – Most Britons are ignorant of the Royal Navy and what it does for the country, according to a recent poll. If only they all would just read NOSI???sigh???;-)

• The Western Mail: Many Britons ‘ignorant about the Royal Navy’

Background – Mission Creep – William Arkin on how mission creep is seeping through the Pentagon, as American armed forces are assuming major new domestic policing and surveillance roles.

• Los Angeles Times: Mission Creep Hits Home

US Navy – A surface action group departs for the Mediterranean Sea.

• Virginian Pilot: Destroyers leaving for Med duty next week

Background – Foreign Aid – Critics have long derided the U.S. government for stinginess in international giving. But such charges miss the point. Today, it is private funds that make the difference in poor countries, and here the United States leads the pack.

• Foreign Affairs: The Privatization of Foreign Aid: Reassessing National Largesse

US Marines – The first Marine to lead an Expeditionary Strike Group takes charge.

• San Diego Union Tribune: Marine colonel takes charge of Navy strike unit

Royal Navy – The UK’s First Sea Lord says a sea-borne terrorist strike against the UK is inevitable.

• Reuters: Maritime terror now prime concern

US Marines – The Marines continue to experience problems with close air support.

• Sea Power: Close Air Support: More Improvement Is Needed

US Navy – Aircraft from the USS Enterprise are providing close air support in Iraq.

• Virginian Pilot: Two jets from Enterprise strike suspected insurgent targets in Iraq

Background – War in Kosovo and General Wesley Clark – An interesting look at the War in Kosovo and its lessons, told through the lens of Wesley Clark’s presidential candidacy.

• The New Yorker: General Clark’s Battles

US Navy – HSV-2 Swift is exercising with the Ghanaian military.

• Accra Mail: US High-Speed Vessel in Tema

Indian Navy – India has finally signed a deal for the Russian aircraft carrier Gorshkov?

• Indian Express: Gorshkov: Government to Announce Deal Next Week

US Navy – The latest naval defense industry news.

• Sea Power: Shipbuilders Push for Stability In Ship Contracts, Labor Force

US Navy – More on the significance of the USS Vandegrift’s visit to Vietnam.

• BBC: Warship visit lifts US-Vietnam ties

US Marines – More on the Marine’s new deployment plans.

• Sea Power: One Certainty for Marine Corps: Constant Change

Background – War Planning – The US is substantially modifying its warplanning, based on its experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq.

• Washington Post: Military Alters Plans For Possible Conflicts: Focus Is on Ending Wars More Quickly

Background – Saudi Arabia – James F. Dunnigan analyses the developing civil war in Saudi Arabia.

• StrategyPage: Al Qaeda Makes Terrorism Backfire

Background – Terrorism at Sea – A more indepth look at the potential for a terrorist act in the Straits of Malacca.

• The Straits Times: Terror at sea: The world’s lifelines are at risk

US Marines – An interview with the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

• Sea Power: Marine Corps Commandant Hagee: Projecting Power Faster, Better

Background – Lessons Learned on Occupation – U.S. troops on conquered territory, infrastructure in ruins, international squabbling over reconstruction: a window onto occupied Germany seven months after V-E Day, when progress was still unsteady and Europe’s future hung in the balance.

• Foreign Affairs: That Was Then: Allen W. Dulles on the Occupation of Germany

Chinese Navy – More details of the Chinese – Indian exercises this week.

• Associated Press: China, India Conduct Joint Naval Exercise
• Xinhua: Interview with Eastern Commander of Indian Navy

Background – Iraq – Ralph Peters analyzes the situation in Iraq.

• New York Post: Saddam’s Strategy

Background – Air Power – For three months, it was all the rage. Then its popularity faded fast.

• Air Force: What Happened to Shock and Awe?

Background – Piracy – A look at how deadly links between pirates and terrorists could be in the Straits of Malacca.

• The Straits Times: Greatest threat at sea? A terrorist-pirate link-up

US Navy – A profound change is occurring in the way the Navy will acquire computer combat systems. In the past, vessels and aircraft were equipped separately with computers designed to perform specific functions, working together ad hoc when required. But as the Navy now wants seamless, networked cooperation among its warships, airplanes, aircraft carriers, and submarines, a new paradigm is required in computer combat systems.

• Sea Power: Navy Plots New Course for Combat Systems Acquisition

US Navy – More on the Sea Power 21 vision???

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: Sea Trial: Enabler for a Transformed Fleet

Background – Iraq – John Keegan analyzes the situation in Iraq???

• Daily Telegraph: Like it or not, America is becoming an imperial power

Background – Iraq – ???while Thomas Ricks asks if Saddam’s plan for the war is finally becoming clear???

• Washington Post: Is This Hussein’s Counterattack?

Sea Power International – The latest naval news from the Spanish, Turkish, UK, Danish, Indonesian, Singaporean, Indian, and South African navies.

• Sea Power: Spanish Approve New Submarine Program

Asian Navies – Navies in Asia are expected to double their spending on shipbuilding in the next few years. As the European naval market dries up, the Asian market is expanding???

• The China Post: Naval ship spending to increase in Asia Pacific, defense experts say

Taiwanese Navy – Taiwan says the US submarine being offered to it are too expensive.

• The China Post: Navy may call off U.S. sub deal due to overpricing

US Marines – Young Marines went off to war straight from entry-level training and performed superbly, validating the Corps’ quality efforts in making Marines who can win America’s battles.

• Leatherneck: Feet to the Fire

Indian Navy – India again successfully tests the Brahmos cruise missile.

• Reuters: India tests supersonic Brahmos cruise missile

US Navy – An advanced version of the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM), armed with seven warheads rather than one, is under development to improve the Navy’s land attack capability.

• Sea Power: Multiwarhead Tomahawk Could Strike Many Targets

Background – Iraq – Two interesting analysis pieces, one of which is by William Lind, stating the tide is turning against Coalitiion forces in Iraq.

• Defense and the National Interest: Indicators – Iraqi guerrillas are attacking tanks
  

• Defense and the National Interest: A one month follow-up to my September “scorecard”

Background – Foreign Policy – Ralph Peters argues that the 21st century will not be “The Pacific Century”, but instead “The Atlantic Century.”

• Parameters: The Atlantic Century

Canadian Navy – The destroyer HMCS Huron is formally mothballed.

• Times Colonist: HMCS Huron officially mothballed

Background – War Correspondents – What is it like to be a war correspondent? Veteran war correspondent Peter Maass gives us some idea, and gives us the background to his excellent story ‘Good Kills’ from earlier this year about his journey with the US Marines in Iraq.

• Outside: The Race to Baghdad

Background – Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons – An overview of the allure and danger of electromagnetic pulse weapons.

• IEEE Spectrum: The Dawn of the E-Bomb

Feedback – Thanks for the 13 Comment Forms I have received in the last week. I have been hard at work improving NOSI over the last month, implementing a set of new features that have been on my “To Do List” for too long. Now that I am caught up on my list, I am analysing the two hundred emails and Comment Forms I’ve received over the last 3 years, looking for new ideas to implement. I’ll summarize what I learned and what I intend to do in the near future. In the meantime, please keep the Comments coming. I am interested in learning how you use NOSI to educate yourself and others. I am especially interested in hearing from military personnel or teachers at all levels.

Indian Navy – India and China will hold their first joint naval exercise.

• People’s Daily: India, China to hold joint naval exercises

US Marines – The Marines are headed back to Iraq for occupation duties.

• Associated Press: U.S. Plans for Marines to Return to Iraq

US Navy – The USS Nimitz battlegroup returns home.

• Associated Press: Navy’s Last Carrier Group Heads Home

Background – War Studies Courses – More courses from the US Naval War College.

• US Naval War College: Course Syllabi are online for its courses in Strategy and Policy, National Security Decision Making, and Joint Military Operations.

Royal Marines – The SBS continue to mount special operations inside Iraq.

• Daily Telegraph: Royal Marine dies in secret Iraq operation
• The Sun: SBS hero killed in gunfight

Background – War Studies Courses – Over the last two weeks, as I have been putting together the Reading List / Curriculum page, I have realized that taken in whole, this reading list may serve as a basic introduction to, and curriculum in, war studies that may be used to give context to current and future naval operations. Therefore I thought I would provide some pointers to formal courses in War Studies.

• Kings College London War Studies Department eLearning Programme. Kings College London, in 2004, will begin offering a Masters Degree in War Studies via the Internet, to all interested parties.
• University of Sussex MA in Contemporary War and Peace Studies. The Reading List for Contemporary Warfare and Society is an excellent starting point for self education in War Studies.

• University of North Carolina Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense has Syllabi for a number of its courses online.

Background – US Army – The After Action Report of the US Army’s Third Infantry Division from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Reality is separated from fantasy, and important lessons learned are well documented.

• US Army: Third Infantry Division (Mechanized) After Action Report Operation Iraqi Freedom (PDF format) and (HTML format)

Nigerian Navy – Nigeria arrests more oil pirates.

• Vanguard: Navy Arrests 7 Ships With Crude Worth $250m

Background – Operations Other Than War – How the Bush administration’s prewar planners bungled postwar Iraq. A tragic case study of how not to conduct an operation other than war.

• New York Times Magazine: Blueprint for a Mess