The Watch

THE WATCH STAFF During the recent Noble Defender military exercises in Alaska, Soldiers from Special Operations Command North (SOCNORTH) deployed to the remote Shemya Island in the Aleutian chain. The 6-square-mile island known as “The Rock” is home to Eareckson Air Station, which played an important role in the United States’ Cold War defenses. Eareckson is the closest U.S. military installation to Russia — just 200 miles across the Bering Sea — and fighter aircraft once based there were in position to quickly intercept Russian warplanes, according to an October 23, 2021, Forbes.com story. The U.S. troops who trained on the…

THE WATCH STAFF China presumptuously declared itself to be a “near-Arctic state” in a 2018 white paper, raising concerns about its ambitions in the region that have only intensified. Recent history suggests those concerns are warranted: Beijing’s broad claims to maritime rights have led to disputes in the South China Sea, and it has sought greater global influence through its One Belt, One Road infrastructure scheme. Still, one scholar says that China’s goals in the Arctic may be more nuanced than its conduct in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere, given what he calls “two very inconvenient truths.” “First of all, China’s…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin signed an agreement to continue U.S. support for Georgia’s military for six years as part of his trip through the Black Sea region to support allies facing Russian aggression. The action came ahead of visits to Ukraine and Romania to deliver a message of support for their sovereignty and territorial integrity. “One point I’d like to be clear on is the United States condemns Russia’s ongoing occupation of Georgia and its attempts to expand influence in the Black Sea region through military coercion and malign activities,” Austin said while standing beside Georgian…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The United States and its closest partners are stepping up pressure on Iran to return to stalled nuclear negotiations, warning that it will face greater international isolation, new economic penalties and possibly military action if it forges ahead with its atomic program. In a series of high-level diplomatic meetings in Washington, U.S., European, Israeli and Arab officials agreed on the need to make clear to Iran that its continued resistance to rejoining the talks in Vienna will not be ignored or left unpunished. The consensus comes amid growing concerns that Tehran is not serious about returning to…

THE WATCH STAFF The U.S Air Force recently ended its second-busiest season in nearly 50 years of battling wildfires. Air crews flying C-130 transport aircraft carried out 945 sorties in California, dropping 2,583,204 gallons of fire retardant in 2021, according to U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM). That total is the second highest since the military program using the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) was established in the 1970s, and it was surpassed only by the 1994 fire season, according to USNORTHCOM. MAFFS units are requested through the USNORTHCOM commander to provide support to the National Interagency Fire Center in conducting…

THE WATCH STAFF Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) has called it mission accomplished in the campaign to vaccinate nearly 50,000 Afghan evacuees temporarily housed at eight military installations in the United States. The evacuees were vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox in a nationwide effort called “historic” by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in an October 4, 2021, announcement. Eligible Afghans also received shots for polio, COVID-19 and other diseases, as well as medical exams and health screenings, as a condition of their humanitarian resettlement, according to DHS. (Pictured: Army Spc. Isaiah Whiteside prepares a vaccine to be administered…

THE WATCH STAFF The U.S. Army is closer to fielding its Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) after Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state received the final shipment of the system’s prototype ground equipment. The Army celebrated completion of the hardware’s delivery with a base ceremony on October 7, 2021. The LRHW, called “Dark Eagle,” is a ground-launched missile that will equip the I Corps’ 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade. The deliveries, which did not include missiles, were completed at the end of September. They include a battery operations center, four transporter/erector launchers, and trucks and…

INDO-PACIFIC DEFENSE FORUM The People’s Republic of China (PRC) increasingly relies on coercive economic tactics to advance its political agenda — whether to bully democracies such as Taiwan or to extract natural resources from cash-strapped debtor nations. Despite the PRC’s repeated use of sanctions and other economic levers, a growing body of evidence suggests these tactics are becoming less effective as nations defend their independence. A September 2020 study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said the PRC used “coercive diplomacy” 152 times against foreign governments and companies since 2010. Its tactics included trade sanctions, investment restrictions, tourism bans and…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NATO expelled eight members of Russia’s mission to the military alliance on October 6, 2021, saying that they were secretly working as intelligence officers. The move halved the size of Moscow’s team at NATO headquarters in Brussels. “We can confirm that we have withdrawn the accreditation of eight members of the Russian Mission to NATO, who were undeclared Russian intelligence officers,” a NATO official said. The official was speaking under the customary condition of anonymity. NATO also reduced the number of positions that Russia can accredit people for at the Belgium-based organization from 20 down to 10,…

THE WATCH STAFF Military thinkers say the United States must achieve “decision superiority” to meet the evolving threats to the homeland. U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) have made it a strategic priority. Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of USNORTHCOM and NORAD, defines the principle simply: “At its heart, decision superiority is about giving senior leaders options,” he wrote in the journal Joint Force Quarterly in April 2021. “Decision superiority,” he said, “expands the aperture beyond kinetic kill into nonkinetic solutions.” Expanding that aperture is known as “deterrence by denial.” “That’s where I’m focused,”…