Oct. 11, 2022

New approach at West Point has cadets attacking future war problems

Wrestling with legal questions on how to use high-energy lasers to strike low-orbiting satellites. Designing and testing a hypersonic rocket test vehicle to cross the 100 kilometer line. These are key future warfare problems that need solutions. But it is not colonels or generals in the Pentagon or some underground research facility doing the work; it’s cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point piecing the puzzle together. The above scenarios, involving Cadets Ashley Clegg and McKenzie Arns on lasers and law and Cadet Josiah Gibson on hypersonics, are only a sample of a list of complex work that cadets now undertake at the Army’s premiere university.

Oct. 5, 2022

Civilian Casualties, Accountability, and Prevention Session 18 of the Congressional Study Group

On January 14, 2022, the Congressional Study Group on Foreign Relations and National Security convened over Zoom to discuss the issue of accountability for—and prevention of—civilian casualties resulting from U.S. military operations. In the months prior to the study group session, there had been a number of disturbing media reports relating to such civilian casualties, including a report that one elite unit may have knowingly or deliberately targeted civilians during operations in Syria. This session examined the scope of this problem and the legal strategies that Congress and others might pursue to address it.

Oct. 3, 2022

Hoosier Guardsmen depart Indiana for Kosovo deployment

Approximately 300 Indiana National Guardsmen with the 38th Infantry Division's 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, headquartered in Lawrence, said goodbye to family, friends and peers during a ceremony at Camp Atterbury, Friday. The Hoosier soldiers deployed as Task Force Nighthawk and will be led by Col. Chris Mabis, from Columbus, and his senior enlisted leader, Command Sgt. Maj. Joshua Brown, from Greenwood.

Sept. 27, 2022

Japanese Security Guards train with OC spray

Okinawa's base installations are guarded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by Japanese Security Guards and Provost Marshal’s Office personnel. They have a variety of tools to help with base safety, one of which is oleoresin capsicum spray. OC spray response training is mandated annually while serving in a law enforcement capacity on base.

Sept. 26, 2022

Directed energy weapon system points toward the future of warfare

No, the Army is not building the Death Star. Contrary to what is in the movies, directed energy does not emit a large red laser, nor does it make a loud noise, and if done right, the target will simply fall out of the sky, not explode in brilliant shards of light, set to a John Williams score. But that is not to say that directed energy is not making remarkable strides in record time. Take Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense, or DE M-SHORAD. The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center, the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office have joined with industry partners to build the next generation laser weapon. And they did it in less than three years.