IED's, Mines, Route Clearance and Talisman. Two years ago (almost to the day) I wrote about the Talisman route clearance system that had been introduced with great fanfare in Afghanistan as part of the many faceted counter IED effort. Although I have done a couple of updates from Mo. D news releases its time for a recap and new post with a wider remit. I did hold off posting anything on current counter IED equipment for obvious reasons but as the controversy around Snatch Land Rovers led to a widespread awareness of the issue the Mo.
The Afghan National Army (ANA) is the main branch of the military of Afghanistan and is. Kynan is an active member of the West Kelowna Fire Department where he holds the rank of Captain. He has been actively serving for over 11 years in this exciting. Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics is the management of the flow of. Donald Trump is reportedly adding another member to his administration that wants to see the destruction of the program that they’ve been charged with leading.
A military staff (often referred to as general staff, army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and. Veterans Health Identification Card The Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC) provides: Increased security for your personal information - no personally. UK forces in theatre (from June 2014) This final phase of the UK’s combat operations in Afghanistan, known as Operation Herrick, will come to an end on 31 December.
D and industry became generally more open to releasing information on which we can stitch together and comment. There is often a great deal of criticism of the Mo. D about its tardy response to IED’s but whilst much of it is complete nonsense there is equally much to be critical of. I do not think I would be saying anything controversial if I said the speed of response has been very slow, especially in comparison with other nations, but the Mo. D has for some time aligned itself behind a coordinated programme to counter the very serious threat from IED’s.
This is a detailed post with quite a broad remit that has taken a very long time to research and pulls in information from a number of sources including commenters on previous articles to whom I am very grateful. Plus, we have spent far too much time on bloody floaty and flying things for a while!
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Put the kettle on. Background. To start this post it might be worthwhile covering in general terms what an IED actually is. In its most basic form, an IED is some form of trigger connected to some form of explosive. IEDThe . The explosive may be commercial or military, home- made, use remnants of military equipment such as artillery shells or combinations of all. The explosives may be augmented with fragmentation components or even chemicals to enhance their destructive effects.
IED pressure plate trigger. The device can be buried, placed in a vehicle, in a wall or even on a person i. In some respects therefore, an IED is a strategic weapon, used to influence the conduct of a campaign and its ongoing political support. They can be alternatively viewed in the context of the age old and simple measure, countermeasure cycle, but however one might view them, they remain a significant challenge. We often talk of paradigm shifts or game changers and whilst we should avoid over hyping their impact IED’s have produced a range of tactical, strategic and equipment shifts in recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; that cannot be disputed. IED’s have been used ever since military forces made use of explosives but the generally accepted term is a device used by non- conventional forces, terrorist groups and insurgents.
The British Army has a long history and extensive expertise based on dealing with all manner of IED’s in Northern Ireland and the UK. The munitions legacy of WWII has also resulted in a continuing workload and evolution of the means of dealing with explosive devices. Afghanistan also has a unique and particularly ugly landmine legacy, often described as the most landmined country on the planet. Russia mined Afghanistan in a completely indiscriminate manner, very lax on recording and with no regard for civilian casualties, in fact, one can only conclude that the mining of civilian areas was cynical and deliberate. Landmines still pose a threat in Afghanistan and many British casualties have been caused by soviet era mines and given that many mines can remain effective up to 5.
In the British armed forces there are a number of different organisations that have evolved to deal with IED’s, mines and unexploded munitions. This legacy division of role continues today although the inexorable march of . All three services maintain capabilities for dealing with unexploded munitions with the Army having two, the Royal Engineers and Royal Logistic Corps. BD) Squadron RAF (they have their own website) provide rapid clearance for detached operating bases, all RAF estate and crashed aircraft. Both RAF and RN teams have also deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The Royal Engineers are responsible for the clearance of WWII German bombs (except those in crashed aircraft which the RAF look after), land mines and military booby traps.
Just to make this even more complex, they also deal with service ammunition above the high water mark or non tidal water (rivers and lakes) except those specifically within the remit of the RAF, RN or RLC. The Royal Engineers will also be used where functions like drilling or excavation are required and also provide specialist high risk search capabilities. The Land Forces EOD and Search Branch was established in 2. The Royal Engineers now field the one- star Defeat the Device lead for C- IED search. History of RE EOD, click here. Because the Royal Engineers have the mobility and counter mobility role which includes both the deployment of mines and their clearance, the route clearance capability, of which Talisman has evolved into, is also within the domain of the Royal Engineers.
The Royal Logistic Corps, the Royal Army Ordnance Corps as was, because of their expertise with ammunition have generally dealt with the more complex IED’s. The RAOC were made responsible for disposal of defective munitions in WWI and this continues today, they retain the lead for all IED disposal activities. Joint Defence Pamphlet 2/0. Joint Service Explosive Ordnance sets out the details, read here.
The RAOC Felix operators taking the long walk in Northern Ireland, the development of EOD robots including the world’s first, the Wheelbarrow and their heavy protective suits are all iconic images. RAOC Felix – The Long Walk. It is worth pointing out that members of 1. EOD Regiment RLC were specifically requested by the USMC in Iraq to clear booby trapped oil installations in 2.
These high threat IEDD operators show a unique form of bravery, worthy of similarly unique admiration. As with any capability area where two organisations have sometime overlapping responsibilities there has been continual . As vehicles become more resistant to IED’s, devices get bigger, as we defeat radio remote control devices with ECM the enemy might go low tech and use two saw blades or a bicycle inner tube as a rudimentary pressure plate device.
If we decide to get out of vehicles and walk we might find instead of huge IED’s that take much time and effort to manufacture and emplace, the enemy simply switches to directional anti- personnel IED’s in walls or trees. Despite this categorisation complexity and ever changing threat landscape the anti IED effort comprises broadly three legs; Training and awareness. Defeating the networks that create IED’s.
Defeating the device. Each is closely connected and defeating the device can comprise elements as diverse as scene change detection using airborne radar to blast attenuating seating in .
The flail tank was invented by a South African Army Major in 1. Captain Abraham du Toit, although there were patents before that and another South African officer also came up with a similar idea independently.
After the customary official disinterest, duplication of effort and ingenious persistence the idea eventually came to fruition as a collaborative effort in the North African desert, resulting in the Matilda Scorpion. The Scorpion flails were driven by a separate engine enclosed in the box on the right, this also included space for the operator, must have been rather warm. Matilda Scorpion Flail Tank North African Desert WWIII had a look at General Percy Hobart, a true armoured warfare visionary, and the use of armoured combat engineering in an earlier post. I think it’s one of the most interesting aspects of D- Day.
The Sherman Crab was a marked improvement on previous implementation; the flails were driven from the main engine via a power take off, hydraulic raising/lowering and barbed wire cutters which enabled it to double up as a barbed wire breaching device. One of the most important innovations was a system that allowed the marking of a safe lane, using smoke grenade launchers, an illuminated pole launcher and chalk dispenser.
The Sherman Flail performed a vital service during D Day and beyond and its importance should not be underestimated. A similar system was also fitted to the Churchill AVRE’s. Sherman AVRE Flail. Flails were not the only anti mine technology, ploughs and rollers were used before the flail as early as 1. There was no end to the mad schemes thought up in WWII to counter the mine threat. This slideshow requires Java. Script. British Post War Overseas Experience.
This 1. 95. 2 video from British Pathe shows a Churchill flail on exercises. Sappers Show Their Paces (1. Despite some smaller developments, post war, the fail and roller eventually fell out of favour and the explosive breaching charge like the Giant Viper were generally seen as the answer to minefield breaching for operations in Europe. Giant Viper Trailer (Image Credit – Flickr Cold War Warrior)We certainly faced mines and IED’s in Rhodesia and Aden but the main effort was still Europe and providing rapid breaching capabilities for armoured forces. Although not for route clearing it is worth noting that for operations in Aden during the last sixties and the 1. Commonwealth Ceasefire and Elections Monitoring Force operation (Op AGILA) in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia mine protected vehicles were deployed, commonly, Land Rovers and Bedford RL and 3 Tonne trucks.
Mine Protected 3 Toner Aden 1. Image Credit Aden 3. Fd Sqn RE)Mine Protected Land Rover Aden 1. Image Credit Aden 3. Land Rover Mine Protected – Op AGILA Rhodesia – Zimbabwe 1.
Image Credit – Flickr Cold War Warrior)Land Rover Mine Protected – Op AGILA Rhodesia – Zimbabwe 1. What is interesting about these images is the length of time between them, Aden in 1. Rhodesia/Zimbabwe in 1.
Contrast that with the Mo. D’s accounting model now that sees equipment disposed of with undue haste, a theme I will look at later in this post. Bedford RL’s were also modified.
Afghan National Army . It is under the Ministry of Defense in Kabul and is assembled by NATO states. The Kabul Military Training Center and the National Military Academy of Afghanistan serve as the main compounds for training the new army. The Afghan Defense University (ADF), after completion, will serve as the primary educational institution for the army as well as the Afghan Air Force.
The ANA is divided into six regional Corps, with about 1. December 2. 01. 1. Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi. It was reorganized in 1. Emir. Abdur Rahman Khan's reign. From the 1. 96. 0s to the early 1.
Afghanistan was equipped by the Soviet Union. By 1. 99. 2, the national army fragmented into regional militias under various local warlords. This was followed by the Taliban government in the mid 1.
Pakistan. Billions of dollars worth of military equipment, facilities, and other forms of aid has been provided to the ANA. Some of the weapons arrived from the United States, which included Humvees and other trucks, M- 1. It also included the building of a national military command center, with training compounds in different parts of the country. To thwart and dissolve anti- government militant groups, the Karzai administration began offering cash and vocational training to encourage members to join the nation's security forces. NATO is expanding the Afghan armed forces to about 2. United States Department of Defense.
In 1. 88. 0 Amir. Abdur Rahman Khan established a newly equipped Afghan army with help from the British. King Amanullah and his Afghan army fought against the British in 1. Afghanistan becoming fully independent after the Treaty of Rawalpindi was signed.
The Afghan army was further upgraded during King Zahir Shah's reign, starting in 1. Afghan army soldiers in the 1. From the 1. 96. 0s to the early 1. Afghan army received training and equipment mostly from the former Soviet Union. Before the 1. 97.
Marxist revolution, according to military analyst George Jacobs, the armed forces included . All the formations were under the control of three corps level headquarters. All but three infantry divisions were facing Pakistan along a line from Bagram south to Khandahar. A big problem in the Afghan army became deserters or defectors. The Afghan army's casualties were as high as 5. The Afghan army's defection rate was about 1. Afghan army after the first five months.
Abdul Rashid Dostam's 6th Corps was based at Pul- i- Khumri and had three divisions. The Defence Ministry of the Kabul government's 6th Corps was based at Kunduz and also had three divisions, two sharing numbers with formations in Dostum's corps. The country was factionalized with different warlords controlling the territories they claimed, and there was no officially recognized national army in the country. The Taliban also began training its own army troops and commanders, some of whom were secretly trained by the intelligence agency (ISI) or Pakistani Armed Forces in the border region on the Durand Line.
After the removal of the Taliban government in late 2. Formations in existence by the end of 2. Army Corps (Nangrahar), 2nd Army Corps (Kandahar, dominated by Gul Agha Sherzai and his allies), 3rd Army Corps (Paktia, where the US allegedly attempted to impose Atiquallah Ludin as commander), 4th Army Corps (Herat, dominated by Ismail Khan), 6th Army Corps at Kunduz, 7th Army Corps (under Atta Mohammad Noor at Mazar- i- Sharif in Balkh Province. After some consideration, it was decided that U.
S. Army Special Forces might be able to provide the training. Thus follow- on battalions were recruited and trained by 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group of Ft. Bragg, NC, under the command of LTC Mc. Donnell. 3rd SFG built the training facilities and ranges for early use, using a Soviet built facility on the eastern side of Kabul, near the then ISAF headquarters. The first training commenced in May 2.
Afghanistan. Early training was done in Pashto and Dari (Persian) and some Arabic due to the very diverse ethnicities. Approximately 1,0. ANA soldiers were deployed in the US- led Operation Warrior Sweep, marking the first major combat operation for Afghan troops. Initial recruiting problems lay in the lack of cooperation from regional warlords and inconsistent international support. The problem of desertion dogged the force in its early days: in the summer of 2.
March 2. 00. 4, estimate suggested that 3,0. Some recruits were under 1. Recruits who only spoke the Pashto language experienced difficulty because instruction was usually given through interpreters who spoke Dari. The death toll from the fighting was estimated at 5. In response to the fighting, about 1,5.
Afghan National Army troops were deployed to Herat. The ANA were sent to the garrison of the 1. Herat Division of the Defense Ministry's 4th Corps – General Abdul Zaher Nayebzadah's headquarters. The 1. 7th Division headquarters had been overrun by Ismail Khan's private militia on 2. March. Newly trained ANA officers recite the oath ceremony of the first term bridmals at the Ghazi Military Training Center in Kabul.
Newly graduated recruits from its Basic Warrior Trainee course at Regional Military Training Center (RMTC) in Kandahar. This starting salary increases to $2. Department of Defense, and is trained and supplied by different branches of the United States armed forces. Other NATO nations have also made contributions to the rebuilding of the military of Afghanistan.
Aminullah Karim speaks to three companies of soldiers in a parade review during a deployment ceremony held in 2. Col. Shirin Shah Kowbandi giving a speech to soldiers during an awards ceremony in the Helmand province. According to a 2. Afghan National Army was plagued by inefficiency and corruption. What began as a voluntary literacy program became mandatory for basic army training in early 2. Some Afghan soldiers often find improvised explosive devices and snip the command wires instead of marking them and waiting for U.
S. The Americans say this just allows the insurgents to return and reconnect them. Michael Bell, who is one of a team of U. S. I couldn’t get them to shoot their weapons.
Their rifle muzzles were often elevated several degrees high. Eight American soldiers died and twenty- two others were wounded in the battle. One in every four combat soldiers quited the ANA during the 1. September 2. 00. 9, according to data from the U.
S. Defense Department and the Inspector General for Reconstruction in Afghanistan. The problem was so severe that the army is forced to write off 2,0. In order to filter potential deserters from the rank, some of the soldiers are trained by being deployed in real operations. Only when Afghan security forces reaches those numbers would they achieve the level necessary for success in counterinsurgency. Barack Obama called for an expansion of the Afghan National Army to 2. The cost would reach $2. Kandaks may be further broken down into four toli (company- sized units).
Every ANA Corps will be assigned an ANA Commando Brigade with the sixth designated as a special national unit under the Afghan Defense Ministry's purview. At least nine brigades are planned at this time, each consisting of six battalions. By March 1, 2. 00. ANA soldiers had been achieved with 4. Afghan battalions operating in the fore or in concert with NATO forces.
The size and limits of the ANA were specified in the Bonn II Agreement, signed in 2. This agreement called for the establishment of the ANA and formal development of Afghan forces under NATO doctrine. According to Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan (CSTC- A) thirteen of these brigades are to be light infantry, one will be mechanized and one will be commando.
Each corps has three to four subordinate brigades, and each brigade has four infantry battalions as its basic fighting unit. Each infantry battalion is assigned a specific area for which it is responsible, the battalion's mission is to secure its area from internal and external threats. Originally, the four outlying corps were assigned one or two brigades, with the majority of the manpower of the army based in Kabul's 2. Corps. This was superseded by a buildup in which each corps added extra brigades. Establishment of the corps started when four regional corps commanders and some of their staff were appointed on 1 September 2. Brigade, at Pol- e- Chakri, is to be a mechanised formation including M- 1. It’s battlespace includes the Afghan capital of Kabul as well as vital routes running north and south, and valleys leading from the Pakistani border into Afghanistan.
Currently the Third Brigade of the 2. Corps is the only unit that has control of an area of responsibility in Afghanistan without the aid or assistance of U. S. The corps has integrated artillery and airlift capacity, supplied by a growing Kandahar Wing of the ANAAC. An Army Corps of Engineers solicitation for Kunduz headquarters facilities for the Second Brigade was issued in March 2.
The 2. 15th is a new unit, developed specifically to partner with the Marine Expeditionary Brigade in Helmand. The corps was formally established on 1 April 2. Bde, 2. 15th Corps, is at Garmsir, partnered with a USMC Regimental Combat Team. Bde, 2. 15th Corps, partnered with the UK Task Force Helmand is at Camp Shorabak. The new division, designated the 1.
Capital Division, became operational on April 2. It is headquartered at Camp Moorehead in Wardak province. The commandos underwent a grueling three month course being trained by American special forces. They received training in advanced infantry skills as well as training in first aid and tactical driving. They are fully equipped with US equipment and have received US style training.
The first female Afghan parachutist Khatol Mohammadzai, trained under the Soviets, became the first female general in the Afghan National Army on 1. August 2. 00. 2. They will also receive more advanced equipment from NATO. The team is based on the U.
S. Army Special Forces teams.