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Russia is set to hold nationwide exercises early next month, according to new reports, in preparation for "the danger of armed conflicts involving nuclear powers." Russian authorities will hold large-scale drills across the country on October 3 because of the "growing danger of armed conflicts including [with] nuclear-capable powers near Russia's borders," the Baza Telegram channel, which is linked to Russia's security services, reported on Thursday, citing the head of Russia's Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, or Rospotrebnadzor. This will be the first time that Moscow has held such drills, which will imagine that...

Japan has started a nationwide full-scale military drill on Wednesday for the first time in nearly 30 years as it aims to enforce its capabilities to defend remote islands amid China’s assertive actions in the Indo-Pacific.“In order to respond effectively to various situations, including attacks on the islands, it is essential that the necessary forces are deployed quickly and extensively, depending on the situation,” said Nobuo Kishi, the country’s minister of defense, Tokyo-based news agency Kyodo News reported.“In an increasingly uncertain security environment, the focus of our work will be on operational readiness,” the official added.The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force...

JAKARTA—Indonesia’s foreign minister said on Thursday her nation had entered a “new era of bilateral relations” with the United States, as the countries’ armed forces launched their biggest ever joint training exercise this week involving 3,000 troops.Speaking from Washington after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials, Retno Marsudi welcomed more U.S. engagement in the region and expressed high hopes for closer ties with the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.“As a democratic country and Southeast Asia’s largest economy, a strong strategic partnership with Indonesia will provide significant added value for U.S. engagement in the region,” the...

With the Atlantic hurricane season upon us, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting that 2021 will be an above-normal hurricane season. It seems each year climatic hazards — most acutely hurricanes here in the United States — are becoming more intense and more destructive. Yet, our systemic responses to such hazards have evolved little. The federal government traditionally funds programs pre-disaster to mitigate the effects of hazards and post-disaster to assist communities to recover and rebuild. While funding vehicles may operate under different names and emphasize resilience more today than a decade ago, little attention is paid beyond...

More than 10,000 troops from China and Russia will stage a drill together in a further tightening of their defence partnership. Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Thursday that the exercise in China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region would take place in early August. The move comes as both countries face a deteriorating relationship with the US. “The purpose of this exercise is to consolidate and develop a comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation between China and Russia,” Wu said during a regular press briefing in Beijing.

Iran’s army has launched unannounced military drills in the northwest of the country bordering Turkey, Iranian state media reported. The semiofficial ISNA news agency reported on October 9 that the exercises included rapid reaction units, mobile and offense brigades, and helicopters. The maneuvers in Iran’s Western Azerbaijan Province are being overseen by Iran’s army chief, Major General Abdolrahim Musavi, according to state TV. The reports did not mention the number of troops taking part. The announcement of the drills comes as Turkey says it is about to launch an offensive into northern Syria. Tehran, a key ally of President Bashar...

In what may be seen as an ominous case of synchronicity, earthquake and tsunami drills were held all over the world in the last month. On Wednesday, tens of thousands of residents of Oakland, California were shocked when their cellphones buzzed with a message: there had been no earthquake. Though intended to reassure them that the earthquake warning system was operational, many took it is an ominous reminder that they lived in a region with a history of seismic catastrophes. There are plans to have the system over the entire West Coast of the U.S. within the next few years....

A Russian military official has apologized after Russian soldiers carried out unannounced exercises in the Armenian village of Panik on July 17. 30 Russian soldiers blocked off the roads in the village after which a column of military vehicles passed through accompanied by loud gunfire, as documented by local residents: “Everyone immediately ran out of their houses after these sounds, there were even children who fainted,” one local, Vardan Makeyan, told the news website Aravot. “It's insulting that no one warned us that there would be military exercises on the territory of our town.” The soldiers were from Russia's 102nd...

(Gateway Pundit) – On Thursday, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) will accompany the California National Guard’s Homeland Response Force (HRF) and the 95th Civil Support Team, along with FEMA Urban Search & Rescue Forces, CAL Fire, FBI, Department of Energy Radiation Assistance Team 7, and several other emergency response agencies for a “terrorism and active shooter response exercise at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento and Sonoma Raceway,” said California Guard Deputy Director of Public Affairs. “It is only through regular, realistic training alongside our partner agencies that we keep our skills sharp and response times low,”...

The United States is for the first time shipping its tanks across the Black Sea for joint exercises with Georgia. The U.S. Army's 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division loaded the tanks on to ferries in Varna, Bulgaria, in order to ship them to Batumi ahead of the second annual Noble Partner military exercises to be held later this month. The exercises will include 650 American troops, as well as 500 from Georgia and 150 from the United Kingdom. Last year's Noble Partner (the first such exercise) was noteworthy for the fact that the U.S. shipped Bradley Fighting...

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that military units were put on combat alert early Monday, marking the launch of the exercise that involves troops of the Southern Military District. The district includes troops stationed in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as well as forces in the North Caucasus and southwestern regions near the border with Ukraine. ... According to Shoigu, who spoke at a meeting with the top military brass, the war games would include redeployment of air force units to advance air bases and bombing runs at shooting ranges. The maneuvers will...

The U.S. Strategic Command, which is in charge of waging nuclear war, will hold large-scale bomber exercises this week—days after Russia held what Moscow called “massive” war games simulating a U.S. and NATO nuclear attack. Ten U.S. B-52 bombers and up to six B-2 strategic bombers will take part in the war games called “Global Lightning 14” from Monday through May 16, the command said in a statement late Sunday. The purpose is to “demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness in training scenarios throughout the continental U.S.,” the command said in a statement from its Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska headquarters. “This...

Russia has begun extensive military exercises on its Ukrainian border following the escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine. “The order to use force against civilians has already been given, and if this military machine is not stopped, the amount of casualties will only grow,” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said during an official meeting in Moscow. “We are forced to react to the situation.” Shoigu said that the drills involve march and deployment exercises by forces in the southern and western military districts, and separate Air Force maneuvers. DETAILS TO FOLLOW

The Israel Air Force has held large-scale exercises in Bulgaria in recent weeks to practice against the threat of advanced air defense systems. The Bulgarian air force took part. An unnamed senior air force official said recent exercises in general were bearing in mind “the axis known as Iran-Hezbollah-Syria. We’re preparing for what a multifront scenario could mean.” According to a Bulgarian website, about a hundred crew members from the IAF took part in the joint training, which lasted three weeks at Graf Ignatievo Air Base. A photograph on the IAF website shows 18 Israeli pilots and navigators arriving for...

React To Contact, Break Contact and Insurgent Operational Planning I talked about Battle Drills awhile back. Recently Max Velocity talked about Reacting to Contact. We label the steps differently but basically do the same thing. I will get into it a bit but do not feel the need to write it from memory or get fancy paraphrasing FM 7-8. Either you know how to do it and I'm wasting my time or you don't and me writing about it for a couple paragraphs will not fix the problem so I'm wasting my time. For those without an Infantry or Special...

In the movie Tin Cup, Roy McAvoy played by Kevin Costner states “I hit it again because that shot was a defining moment, and when a defining moment comes along, you define the moment… or the moment defines you.”

From people upset at being kept awake by explosions and helicopters to conspiracy-minded theorists with their own explanations, Tinley Park citizens were outspoken on the Defense Department's urban training exercises. Read what they had to say. (TWEETS-AT-LINK) The U.S. Department of Defense's two-night stint of urban training exercises on the grounds of the closed Tinley Park Mental Health Center ended early Thursday. The highlight of the final night, which began Wednesday, April 24, and went until about 1 a.m. Thursday, April 25, were numerous flyovers from military helicopters using the village's helipad. And even though the drills were being staged...

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea began naval drills off its west coast Thursday to strengthen its ability to counter any North Korean provocations despite Pyongyang's latest threat to retaliate against Seoul over its war games. The drills, which follow joint military exercises with the U.S. last month off the east coast, are set to run through Monday and will include exercises in areas near the disputed western sea border with North Korea. They involve about 4,500 South Korean troops, more than 20 ships and submarines, and about 50 aircraft, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Both sets of...

Tucson's night skies will be buzzing with more military traffic for the next several days. Some jet flights will run as late as midnight as personnel at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base test their war readiness. A series of drills simulating real combat conditions began Tuesday and will run until next Friday, base officials said in a news release. Midnight flying deadlines are scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday. D-M officials have pledged to "minimize flight operations that cause undue stress to the community," the news release said. Airmen serving overseas typically work 12- to 14-hour shifts, so the training exercises will...

Terrorists struck a handful of the nation's busiest shipping ports, including Charleston, in a series of fictitious national emergencies acted out Tuesday in a military classroom in Washington D.C. U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., who joined an assemblage of top Bush administration officials and 13 other congressmen, had just minutes to consider a bold and risky proposition of shutting down the nation's seaports in a scenario not unlike what federal aviation officials faced on Sept. 11. "I don't know if that would be the right thing to do," Brown said he advised during the exercise staged by the National Defense...