PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS SEAN WEIR/U.S. NAVY Afghan Col. Mohammadi Shams directs planning and budgeting for the Afghan National Police (ANP), where he has served for 34 years. He said he joined out of love for his country and has stayed because he enjoys helping people in his community. Shams attends the newly opened Center for Acquisitions and Procurement (CAP) at the Pohantoon-e-Hawayee military installation in Kabul. The CAP is where police, Soldiers and civilian employees from the security ministries go to receive training on how to correctly perform acquisition, procurement and resource management functions such as budgeting and tracking…
Unipath
UNIPATH STAFF Dealing with the aftermath of earthquakes, avalanches and mudslides is critical for the Kyrgyz Republic. In 2012, the country experienced 449 official emergencies, more than double the number of incidents dealt with the previous year, according to Mukhammed Svarov, head of the Kyrgyz Republic’s Crisis Management Center for the Ministry of Emergency Situations. In May 2013, an urban search and rescue training session at the ministry’s Sadovoye National Training Center tested national response plans during a scenario that included responding to a collapsed building. Teams had to shore up the building to ensure they could evacuate the wounded…
COMBINED MARITIME FORCES Exercise Falcon Response brought together navies and coast guards from Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United States to practice rescuing distressed mariners at sea. The effort was coordinated by Combined Maritime Forces’ Combined Task Force (CTF) 152, a specialist task group designed to promote maritime security and closer cooperation between regional partners in and around the Gulf. The aim of the exercise was for the international maritime forces to work together in testing and proving search and rescue techniques. Set against a fictitious scenario in which the Bahrain headquarters of CTF 152 received a distress call…
UNIPATH STAFF Members of the Egyptian Air Force and Royal Saudi Air Force met at the King Fahd Air Base in June 2013 for the Faisal-10 tactical military air drills. The exercise aims to reinforce bilateral military cooperation between the two countries, while building force readiness. Participants take part in drills to hone air combat skills and search and rescue operations. Sources: Saudi Press Agency; Egyptian State Information Services
Qatar International Academy for Security Studies The Qatar International Academy for Security Studies (QIASS) and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) – The Hague want to expand cooperation between their two organizations, citing areas of mutual interest that include countering violent extremism, crafting counternarratives and rehabilitating violent extremists. In February 2013, members of the two groups gathered in the Netherlands to explore possibilities and sign a memorandum of understanding. QIASS is a professional institute working to raise security standards, knowledge and cooperation. The organization serves multiple market sectors including government, commercial and nonprofit within the Gulf region and around the…
Stripped of many of its forests during the past 30 years, Lebanon is engaging in a massive reforestation campaign with the help of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). In March 2013, the Army worked with the U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the nongovernmental organization Jouzour Loubnan in Marjayoun district. “Today, the efforts of UNIFIL Soldiers from the French and Spanish contingents, together with the LAF and Jouzour Loubnan, are an example of the cooperation that exists between civilians and the military. This is an activity that demonstrates our commitment toward maintaining stability and development in the south, and…
Yemeni general emphasizes the importance of connecting with the public In essence, the pen is the weapon of choice for Yemeni Brig. Gen. Ali Ghaleb Ali al-Harazi. As deputy director of the Moral Guidance Department, the media arm of Yemen’s Defense Ministry, al-Harazi has spent the bulk of his career in public affairs, which he describes as a vital role for any military. “In order for any Army to be victorious in battle, it must be closely linked with its people, because the people are the main source from which the Army obtains its strength and power,” al-Harazi told Unipath.…
The Coalition Coordination Center strengthens international military relationships LT. COL. LINNAEUS CLINTON DE ZILVA, SENIOR NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE, SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES U.S. Central Command’s Coalition Coordination Center (CCC) is a melting pot of some of the world’s best military minds, all working together to solve shared security challenges and achieve joint goals. Since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, the responsibility to integrate the coalition with U.S. forces has rested with the CCC. Located at command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, the center was created after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Construction began September 21, 2001,…
Multinational efforts can help counter threats LT. COL. KHALID ALNAEMI/QATAR DELEGATION OFFICE TO U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND Failing and failed states provide a serious danger to international security as well as to the welfare of their citizens. On the international level, they have the potential of becoming safe grounds for terrorist organizations, creating a base for criminal activities such as drug, arms and human trafficking. On a regional level, they can destabilize neighboring countries. Domestically, these states cannot provide essential and basic services for their populations, which generates insecurity and poverty. These consequences of failed states have fueled concerns in the…
Law enforcement programs increase information sharing and strengthen border crossings UNIPATH STAFF Central Asia is awash in heroin and raw opium smuggled from Afghanistan. The numbers are staggering: Traffickers moved 90 tons of heroin and nearly 40 tons of raw opium through Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in 2010. But country by country and city by city, authorities are working to address the problem. The Uzbek National Center for Drug Control says that in the first half of 2011 law enforcement agencies seized 2,457 kilograms (5,417 pounds) of illicit drugs, a 21 percent increase over the same…