U.S. NAVY CENTRAL PUBLIC AFFAIRS Defending the Red Sea region from terrorists and criminals is the focus of a new multinational naval task force formed in April 2022 as part of the Bahrain-based Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). During a ceremony at the U.S. Navy regional headquarters in Bahrain, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and CMF, commissioned Combined Task Force (CTF) 153. “This is a tangible and meaningful demonstration of our commitment to ensuring regional maritime security and stability through international cooperation,” Cooper said. As CMF’s fourth task force, CTF 153 will…
Unipath
Eager Lion 2022 featured a blistering conventional attack across a rolling desert landscape typical of the Middle East. Tanks, heavy artillery, attack helicopters and fighter jets swept enemy positions from the desert floor until little was left but drifting dust. But that conventional display of arms was just one facet of Eager Lion, which, as it celebrated its 10th iteration since 2011, increasingly focused on lightweight aerial drones, sleek unmanned underwater vehicles and cyberattacks launched with a click of a computer mouse. Eager Lion’s scenarios parallel what’s happening in the real world. From conventional battlefield tactics to the revolution in…
Brig. Gen. Kayed Al-Jaarat, then-director of the Jordan Armed Forces’ training and exercises directorate, played a leading role in the success of the Eager Lion 22 military exercise held in Jordan in September 2022. Unipath interviewed him about the importance of military training in tackling contemporary security challenges: Unipath: How important is the Eager Lion exercise for stability and peace in the region? Brig. Gen. Kayed Al-Jaarat: First of all, thank you for your interview. I would like to emphasize the depth of Jordanian-U.S. bilateral relations, as well as the deep ties between the countries participating in this year’s exercise.…
JORDANIAN MAJ. GEN. (RET.) OUDA SHUDEIFAT Despite all the blessings it bestows on mankind, technology is a double-edged sword, damaging lives if exploited in ways that no longer help people. Evil people can harness technology to serve sinister goals and purposes. Everything was legitimized to achieve the aims of deviants, extremists, narcotics traffickers, cheats and fraudsters, and terror practitioners in all forms. How many crimes involved drones, how many lives were lost, how much blood was shed in vain, human dignity desecrated and property destroyed? Long-distance terrorism has become accessible and affordable, used by those who wish to abuse, destroy…
UNIPATH STAFF A cademic institutions rely on experience-sharing and inter-institutional cooperation to develop solid programs and professional staff with experience in nation-building. Military academies are perhaps in even greater need of inter-institutional engagement because of the many changes in the field of military sciences. Indeed, these institutions are making great efforts to keep pace with new tactics, most recently asymmetric warfare, the introduction of aerial drones to the battlespace, and the emergence of new fronts, namely, cyberspace. Consequently, we are seeing allied and friendly nations establish exchange programs, sending students to and receiving students from partner nations. The Fouad Chehab…
DR. KHALID BIN MOHAMMED AL ATTIYAH, QATARI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR DEFENSE AFFAIRS The year 2022 was a particularly special one for the State of Qatar, as we geared up to host World Cup 2022. I echo His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad in saying that we are extremely proud of the developments made by the State of Qatar and are thankful for the spotlight provided by the World Cup that has inspired and expedited our country’s developments in many areas, chiefly in infrastructure and policy. Sports has an extraordinary effect on people; it…
When a state stoked ethnic tensions to instigate a civil war in a bordering country, an international military coalition formed to prevent the conflict from engulfing the entire region. Coalition forces consisting of a Tajik infantry regiment, a Pakistani special operations regiment, a Kazakh infantry regiment, an Uzbek mechanized infantry regiment, two Mongolian special operations companies, a United States mechanized infantry regiment and two NATO regiments deployed as peacekeeping troops. The enemy’s use of asymmetrical warfare — social media propaganda, terrorist bombings and other unconventional tactics — meant coalition forces couldn’t rely on force alone to respond to realistic threats.…
Brig. Gen. Faisal Al-Jumai, Yemen National Representative to USCENTCOM Photos by AFP/GETTY IMAGES Lt. Gen. Sagheer Hammoud bin Aziz stands at the top of the Yemeni Army as chief of the General Staff and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, crowning a military career that began in high school in 1983, when he embarked upon a rich journey between military and civilian life in Amran governorate in the north of the Republic of Yemen. Lt. Gen. bin Aziz descends from the Sufyan tribe, one of the main pillars of the Bakil tribe in Yemen. He was born in 1967, and his…
LT. COL. Dr. Khalid Mohamed Alqahtani, BAHRAIN Defence FORCE When considering the intelligence field, psychological studies show that the human mind struggles to provide useful and unbiased analysis unless rigorously shaped using professional tools and techniques of the intelligence craft. These tangible and intangible tools ultimately validate their effectiveness if they produce clear and correct results valuable to the user of intelligence reports. This new era in intelligence science requires an openness to information from many sources. Rigid thinking — accepting only facts that narrowly conform to prejudices — should be cast aside. Analysts must possess the mental and emotional…
Unipath Staff On October 19, 2022, Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), conducted a visit aboard the USS West Virginia, a U.S. Navy Ohio-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine at an undisclosed location at sea in international waters in the Arabian Sea. Kurilla was joined on the USS West Virginia by Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet and U.S. Navy Central. During his visit onboard the submarine, Gen. Kurilla received a hands-on demonstration of the capabilities of the vessel, which operates globally under U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). “I was thoroughly impressed with…