Saturday Morning Odds and Ends
Several e-mailed items that caught my attention this week:
The U.S. Army Security Assistance Training Management Organization – Via the U.S. Army’s STAND-TO! “The U.S. Army Security Assistance Training Management Organization (USASATMO) is a brigade-equivalent command, headquartered at Fort Bragg, N.C., employing more than 260 Soldiers, Department of Army civilians and contractors who are deployed to more than 20 countries throughout the year to meet the requirements of the foreign nations requesting training assistance.” More at the link.
November and December 2010 Issue of the CTC Sentinel – The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point contributes relevant scholarly perspectives through education, research and policy analysis to combat terrorist threats to the United States. Read the latest issue of the CTC Sentinel at the link.
The Foreign Fighter Problem: Recent Trends and Case Studies – Audio and video files of the proceedings of a 27 and 28 September 2010 conference sponsored by the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Reserve Officers Association. The conference brought together recognized academic and analytical expertise to examine recent trends in the foreign fighter phenomenon and explore the particular cases of Somalia, the Maghreb, Yemen, and Afghanistan/Pakistan. The conference report can be found at the link.
World Almanac of Islamism – The American Foreign Policy Council’s World Almanac of Islamism is a comprehensive resource designed to track the rise or decline of radical Islam on a national, regional and global level. This database focuses on the nature of the contemporary Islamist threat around the world, and on the current activities of radical Islamist movements worldwide. Browse the Almanac at the link.
A Community Based Approach to Countering Radicalization: A Partnership for America – Dr. Hedieh Mirahmadi with Mehreen Farooq of the World Organization for Resource Development and Education. WORDE is a nonprofit, educational organization whose mission is to enhance communication and understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim communities and to strengthen Muslim institutions that will mitigate social and political conflict. Read their report at the link.
Marines’ Instant Gunship Blasts Taliban, Pentagon Bureaucracy – David Axe, Wired’s Danger Room. The first Harvest Hawk-modified C-130 arrived in southern Afghanistan in October, just 18 months after the Marines first announced the program. Much more at the link.
22nd Annual SO/LIC Symposium & Exhibition – NDIA event with theme “Defense, Diplomacy, and Development: Translating Policy into Operational Capability”. 8 and 9 February 2011 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. Much more at the link to include agenda and registration.
Afghanistan and the Culture of Military Leadership – Dr. Lawrence Sellin at Human Events. Opinion piece that argues that while the U.S. military spends billions of dollars on service academies, war colleges, graduate programs and other forms of education in order to train people to think, it then places them inside a bureaucracy that prevents them from doing so. Go to the link for more.
