The Watch

THE WATCH STAFF As part of the effort to advance its Arctic capabilities, the U.S. Army is testing a new tactical vehicle to operate in extreme conditions. Oshkosh Defense is collaborating with fellow defense contractor ST Engineering on a prototype for the cold weather all-terrain vehicle (CATV) to replace the small unit support vehicle (SUSV), which has been in service since the 1980s. The Army first announced it was seeking a successor for the SUSV, which the U.S. Marine Corps also operates, in 2018, according to The War Zone military news website. (Pictured: The cold weather all-terrain vehicle prototype, above,…

THE WATCH STAFF When U.S. Army Gen. Laura J. Richardson became the first woman to lead U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), her appointment resonated with women in the military across the hemisphere. SOUTHCOM, based in Doral, Florida, near Miami, oversees U.S. military operations across South and Central America and the Caribbean. Richardson, 57, is the third woman to lead one of the U.S. military’s 11 unified combatant commands. U.S. Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson was the first when she led U.S Northern Command from 2016 until her retirement in 2018. “We will draw upon the strength in our neighborhood from partners…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A Montana Soldier is the first woman to graduate from the U.S. Army’s sniper course, the Montana National Guard announced in early November 2021. “We are extremely proud of this Soldier’s achievement and recognize that this is a milestone for not only Montana but the entire National Guard and Army,” Maj. Gen. J. Peter Hronek, the adjutant general for Montana, said in astatement. The military did not identify the Soldier. She enlisted in the Montana Army National Guard in December 2020 and underwent a 22-week training course at Fort Benning, Georgia, that combines Army basic training with…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Russia’s defense chief signed a road map for closer military ties with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on November 23, 2021, pointing to increasingly frequent U.S. strategic bomber flights near both countries’ borders. During a video call, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe “expressed a shared interest in stepping up strategic military exercises and joint patrols by Russia and China,” according to the Russian DefenseMinistry. “China and Russia have been strategic partners for many years,” Shoigu said. “Today, in conditions of increasing geopolitical turbulence and growing conflict potential in various parts of the…

THE WATCH STAFF The Pentagon has established a new office to investigate reports of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) in sensitive airspace. The Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) will succeed the U.S. Navy’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force and be overseen by the military and intelligence agencies, according to aNovember 23, 2021, news release from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The announcement by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks comes amid public interest in what once were called UFOs, or unidentified flying objects, and a proposed amendment to the pending National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment seeks…

THE WATCH STAFF During its 2021 circumnavigation of North America, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter Healy encountered a rapidly transforming Arctic. More open water. More activity. Less ice. “The climate is changing,” Capt. Ken Boda, commander of the Healy, said on October 21, 2021, when the medium icebreaker made a port call in Baltimore, Maryland, according to the defense news website Janes. “You see a lot more vessels up there. You see a lot more people up there.” The Healy made a transit of the Northwest Passage during its 133-day voyage before returning to its home of Seattle, Washington,…

THE WATCH STAFF The United States teamed with military partners Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom to enhance their air-combatcapabilities during the recent Virtual Flag exercises, which for the first time integrated cyberattacks into the simulatedscenarios. The U.S. Air Force’s 705th Combat Training Squadron, home of Air Combat Command’s Distributed MissionOperations Center (DMOC) at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, hosted the large-scale operation. Virtual Flag 2021, which was conducted October 24 to November 5, spanned eight time zones and 20 locations,according to a November 24, 2021, news release from Kirtland AFB. The exercises focused on combat against a…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Canadian government sent its Air Force to the Pacific coast Canadian province of British Columbia (B.C.) to assist with evacuations and to support supply lines following floods and mudslides caused by heavy rainfall. Canadian Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair said military personnel will also protect residents against further flooding or landslides. “Torrential rains have led to terrible flooding that has disrupted the lives and taken lives of people across B.C. I want people to know that the federal government has been engaging with the local authorities,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in Washington. “We’re…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said November 21, 2021, that the United States and its allies need to operate with a greater sense of urgency amid rising tensions and the increasingly assertive military actions of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). U.S. Navy Adm. John C. Aquilino reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to achieving a Free and Open Indo-Pacific region during meetings with allies at the Halifax International Security Forum. “Look at what the Chinese have said. President Xi [Jinping] has tasked his forces to be at a level of military parity with the United States by…

THE WATCH STAFF The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has selected Alaska’s most populous city to be the site of its new center for regional security studies. The DOD announced November 17, 2021, that the sole candidate to be the home for the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies is Anchorage. (Pictured: The USS Anchorage departs its namesake Alaska city framed by the downtown skyline and the Chugach Mountains.) U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who secured authorization and U.S. $10 million in funding for the institution, called the decision “incredibly welcomed news.” “We are the state that makes America an…