Kenyan President William Ruto visited Haiti in September 2024 to meet with 450 Kenyan police officers who are spearheading a U.N. mission in the Caribbean country. AFP/GETTY IMAGES THE WATCH STAFF The Bahamas is readying 150 Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) members to deploy to Haiti as part of the U.N. security mission being led by Kenya. Prime Minister Wayne Munroe said the departure date of the three platoons is still uncertain, according to a September 18 report by ZNS, the state television broadcaster. The Bahamas committed the RBDF force in 2023 after the U.N. authorized the mission to stabilize…
The Watch
LT. COL. (RET.) WILLIAM HAGESTAD II/U.S. MARINE CORPS The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) economic and political position in Europe is extremely important to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and effort is being made to enhance that position. The PRC engages in political alignment, intelligence gathering, information control and measured military cooperation to facilitate the expansion of its influence across the European landscape. Beijing leverages all instruments of national power to further its interests in the region. The DIME (diplomatic, information, military and economic) philosophy is a conceptual framework to analyze and understand the multifaceted elements of a nation’s power…
U.S. Soldiers with Alpha Battery, 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (Long Range Fires Battalion), 1st Multi-Domain Task Force set up a M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System on Shemya Island on September 12, 2024. ARMY SPC. BRANDON VASQUEZ/U.S. ARMY THE WATCH STAFF The U.S. Army deployed paratroopers, radar operators and at least one M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to Shemya Island in the Aleutian Islands chain in September 2024 to monitor a combined People’s Republic of China (PRC)-Russia exercise nearby. The quick response highlighted the mobility and readiness of U.S. forces and their ability to respond rapidly…
U.S. Navy SEALs and Special Warfare Combat Crewman conduct Maritime Interdiction Operation demonstrations off the USS JOHN L. CANLY, a U.S. Navy Expeditionary Sea Base ship, as part of Operation POLAR DAGGER 24. AIRMAN 1ST CLASS JOHNNY DIAZ/U.S. AIR FORCE THE WATCH STAFF United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), U.S. Special Operations Command North (SOCNORTH), and the U.S. Navy have rapidly deployed 150 U.S. Special Operations Forces (USSOF) aboard USS John L. Canley (ESB 6) to conduct multi-domain maritime operations in the North American Arctic as part of Operation POLAR DAGGER 24 (OPD24) during July and August 2024. Operating in the…
The 399-foot U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Star opens a channel to Greenland. U.S. COAST GUARD The Watch Staff The recent agreement involving Canada, Finland and the United States to produce icebreakers will help maintain the international rules-based order in the Arctic and is an important step to counter growing cooperation between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia, experts contend. The pact will also provide lower costs and technological transfers among the allies, which will aid more broadly in NATO’s defense of its northern flank, according to two U.S. experts on the PRC who examined the issue in Foreign…
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) has partnered with a U.S. company, Swift Tactical Systems, to field more drones and increase the force’s domain awareness. SWIFT TACTICAL SYSTEMS/SWIFT ENGINEERING THE WATCH STAFF The Bahamas graduated 13 newly certified drone pilots in August 2024 in its latest multiagency training session. The drone training program bolsters national security and defense — especially maritime domain awareness — of a key U.S. partner in the Caribbean region. Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF) Capt. Carlton Bethel, the director of the Ministry of National Security’s national unmanned systems (BAHNUS) program, said adding drone pilots increases the…
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen speaks to the media at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in June 2024. Finland is negotiating terms under which NATO forces can be stationed in the Nordic country, including during times of “tense” border relations with Russia. AFP/GETTY IMAGES THE WATCH STAFF Finland is discussing plans to host NATO troops and exercises, Scandinavian media outlets reported. Those reports indicate that NATO troops may be based in Finland in peacetime as well as war, a major shift in the traditionally non-aligned country’s national defense policy. The revelations follow a NATO defense ministers meeting this year…
U.S. Army North (ARNORTH) Commander Lt. Gen. John Evans visits Fort Pickett in Virginia shortly after taking command in December 2021. Evans retired as commander in August 2024. U.S. ARMY THE WATCH STAFF U.S. Army North’s (ARNORTH) commander, Lt. Gen. John Evans, retired in August 2024 after nearly three years of leadership at the command, which oversees all Army activity in the U.S. and supports civil authorities in responding to natural disasters. U.S. Army North also works closely with Canada and Mexico in collaborative efforts to strengthen defense relationships to address shared security concerns in the cooperative defense of North…
Canada launched its fifth Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship in August 2024. The Frèdèrick Rolette will bolster the country’s Arctic defense and security posture. IRVING SHIPBUILDING THE WATCH STAFF The fifth of six Artic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) was delivered four months ahead of schedule to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in August 2024, the latest milestone in a major overhaul of Canada’s fleet. The Frédérick Rolette, like the other Arctic vessels, is designed for long Arctic voyages and will help Canada defend its extensive territory in its Far North. “The delivery of our fifth Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel,…
Iceland Minister of Foreign Affairs Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjoro Gylfadottir talks with Rear Adm. Patrick Hayden of the U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, U.S. 6th Fleet, during the annual NATO exercise Northern Viking. GOVERNMENT OF ICELAND THE WATCH STAFF About 1,200 personnel from nine NATO-member navies performed a complex set of maritime operations to defend Iceland from a simulated attack over an 11-day period beginning in August 2024. The operations demonstrated the interoperability of the naval forces and honed advanced surveillance and deterrence techniques in a highly contested, critically important sea passage known as the GIUK Gap, an acronym for Greenland, Iceland…