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

Royal Australian Navy – The United States is negotiating a new defence treaty covering the use of the high-tech North West Cape naval communications base in Western Australia to maintain contact with its submarines operating in the region, using very low frequency radio.

• The Age: US Navy keen on WA return

Royal Navy – The British continue to hunt drug smugglers in the Caribbean.

• BBC: Warship intercepts £20m of cocaine

Background – US Navy Intelligence Operations – A course designed to provide the minimum essential information for drilling Naval Reserve Intelligence Professionals prior to performing an annual training period at sea. The course gives a good introduction to the type of intelligence processing systems likely to be encountered aboard ship. Highly recommended.

• US Naval Reserve Intelligence Program: United States Naval Reserve Intelligence Program Ready-for-Sea Modular Course & Handbook

Chinese Navy – China pays a port call to Guam.

• People’s Daily: Chinese fleet visit heart of US forces in the Pacific

Canadian Navy – Aboard HMCS Calgary, patroling in the Persian Gulf.

• Times Colonist: Weary sailors heading home

US Navy – The US is grounding EA-6B Prowlers due to wing wear, pending their repair.

• KOMO: Navy Grounds 40 Percent Of Prowler Fleet

Background – Iraq – Thomas Friedman and Ralph Peters opine as to what the US has at stake in Iraq and why the US must succeed. The Atlantic opines that Thomas Friedman’s view of the Middle East is all wrong. Who is right? Time will tell???

• New York Times: It’s No Vietnam
• New York Post: Another Vietnam? No.
• The Atlantic: The Friedman Principle

Background – Diplomacy – Niall Ferguson asks “What is Power?” – that is, which global players have power todayóand which are likely to acquire it in the coming decades?

• Hoover Digest: What Is Power?

Indian Navy – India’s SU-30MKI aircraft are being adapted for a maritime role.

• Times of India: IAF’s SU-30MKI set for maritime role

US Navy – A US ship will make a port call visit to Vietnam, for the first time since the end of the Vietnam War.

• Associated Press: U.S. Navy Ship to Visit Vietnam in Nov.

Background – Bases – In the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, Russia has set up a military base – its first on foreign soil since the USSR imploded. The Kant airbase is also close to a US airbase established two years ago. How do the two co-exist?

• BBC: Military rivalry in Kyrgyzstan