Military death toll in Afghanistan reaches 2,000

US military deaths in the Afghan war have reached 2,000, a cold reminder of the human cost of an 11-year-old conflict that now garners little public interest at home as the United States prepares to withdraw most of its combat forces by the end of 2014.
The toll has climbed steadily in recent months with a spate of attacks by Afghan army and police — supposed allies — against American and NATO troops. That has raised troubling questions about whether countries in the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan will achieve their aim of helping the government in Kabul and its forces stand on their own after most foreign troops depart in little more than two years.

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New year lay-offs: Army to fire 8,000 soldiers in 'fast-track' redundancies and sackings of over-45s

Facing redundancy: Every regiment in the army will be hit by the cuts that will see 8,000 soldiers lose their jobs

Eight thousand British soldiers – many serving on the front line in Afghanistan – will be told days after Christmas that they are to lose their jobs.
Redundancy notices will be sent to servicemen and women telling them their careers are over as part of sudden speeded-up cutbacks by the Ministry of Defence.
The Army has already been shaken by the announcement of a swathe of cuts, which included the loss of historic regiments and the prospect of a gradual reduction in personnel over the next eight years.
But now The Mail on Sunday has discovered that the MoD will make a single devastating cut of 8,000 servicemen and women, reducing the Army to 86,000 – its smallest size since the 1700s. A further 4,000 soldiers will go before 2020.
The axe will fall across every branch and regiment of the Regular Army, with only Special Forces ringfenced. Thousands of soldiers will disappear from regiments such as the Royal Welsh, the Royal Fusiliers, the Royal Engineers, the Royal Lancers and the Army Air Corps, which includes Prince Harry among its officers.
The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers is expected to lose 600 of its most skilled personnel, while the Royal Logistics Corps will also be badly hit.
Last night serving officers, military experts and MPs condemned the drastic measure as a stab in the back for soldiers and a blow to the Army’s capability.
Former commander Tim Collins, who led the Royal Irish Regiment into Iraq in 2003, said: ‘This is meltdown. We’re still fighting in Afghanistan, the world is changing  rapidly and looks increasingly dangerous yet the Government is crippling our operational capability.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2210548/New-year-lay-offs-Army-8-000-soldiers-fast-track-redundancies-sackings-45s.html#ixzz28441ybdh
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Navy Relieves Another Officer of Command

Yet another Navy commander has been relieved of command.
This time it's Capt. James CoBell III of the Oceana Naval Air Station's Fleet Readiness Center Mid-Atlantic, based on published reports.
An investigation found CoBell used subordinates to conduct personal business, was verbally abusive to subordinates, and failed to properly account for personal leave, according to The Virginian-Pilot and Navy Times.
The Navy Times reported that CoBell is the 18th naval commander to be relieved of command this year.

In statements to The Navy Times and The Virginian-Pilot, CoBell disputed the charges. The Virginian-Pilot reported that CoBell noted  the investigation dealt with allegations of fraud, waste and abuse, and a hostile work environment. CoBell denied that was the case and said the investigating officer found the allegations to be unsubstaniated.

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Big U.S. Fleet Nears Disputed Islands, But What For?

U.S. Navy

Aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis, front, and USS George Washington sail in formation with an escort vessel during a training exercise in waters near Guam, earlier this month.

TOKYO – It’s probably just a coincidence; no need to worry yet. But the U.S. has quietly assembled a powerful air, land and sea armada not far from where Japan and China are squaring off over disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Two Navy aircraft carrier battle groups and a Marine Corps air-ground task force have begun operating in the Western Pacific, within easy reach of the Senkaku Islands. That’s where Japanese and Chinese patrol boats are engaged in an increasingly tense standoff.
Chinese vessels have repeatedly entered territorial waters around the small islands in recent weeks and Coast Guard vessels from Japan and Taiwan fired water cannons at each other last week. The islands are controlled and administered by Japan, but claimed by both China and Taiwan.

Read more: http://nation.time.com/2012/09/30/big-u-s-fleet-nears-disputed-islands-but-what-for/#ixzz2843QYJnK

National defence cuts could tally $2.5B

Last Updated: Oct 1, 2012 7:07 AM ET

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Defence Minister Peter MacKay announces the new Canadian Forces Leopard 2A4 tank at CFB Gagetown in Oromocto, N.B., on Thursday, September 13. (David Smith/Canadian Press)

An independent analysis has concluded the waves of federal budget cuts washing over National Defence will run deeper and likely be more painful than advertised by the Harper government.
While it won't exactly be a return to the "decade of darkness" the Conservatives attribute to the Liberal years, the reductions will be significant and are expected to cut into the military's "readiness" — or ability to respond quickly to a crisis.
The days of soldiers rationing their training ammunition, fuel and money used to make equipment operationally ready may be about to return, the report warned.
The research paper, written for the Centre for Security and Defence Studies at Carleton University, estimates the cumulative effect of the Harper government's strategic review and the overlapping deficit reduction action plan will carve up to $2.5 billion out of the nearly $21 billion National Defence budget by 2014-15.

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China denies blame for damaged ship boiler

MOSCOW, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- China rejected Russian claims that faulty Chinese firebricks caused the failure of boilers powering a retrofitted Indian aircraft carrier, officials said.

The carrier Vikramaditya had propulsion problems during trials in the Barents Sea last month, RIA Novosti reported.

Andrei Dyachkov, president of United Russian Shipbuilding, which refitted the ship, said earlier this month "substandard Chinese firebricks" had damaged the boilers the company was supposed to insulate.

Chinese Defense Minister Yan Yujun turned aside the claim, saying "Chinese enterprises" have never exported such products to Russia."

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Philippines Sends More Troops To Guard Disputed Islands

MANILA— The Philippines has deployed 800 more Marines and opened a new headquarters to guard its interests in the disputed Spratly Islands, which China also claims, a senior military official said Sept. 30.
Straddling vital shipping lanes and believed sitting atop vast reserves of mineral deposits, including oil, the Spratlys chain in the South China Sea has long been considered a flashpoint for conflict in the region.
Apart from the Philippines and China, the Spratlys are claimed in whole or in part by Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.


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