Stars and Stripes 9.4.15

Volume 7, No. 37 ŠSS 2015

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015

EXTENDING CONTROL Afghan effort to clear Taliban from key route tests troops Page 2

Afghan troops occupy former Taliban positions captured during Operation Iron Triangle in eastern Afghanistan earlier this month.

For information please contact Waverly Williams 803-774-1237 or waverly@theitem.com

JOSH SMITH /Stars and Stripes

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COVER STORY An Afghan soldier prepares to fire a smoke round from a mortar during Operation Iron Triangle in Nangarhar province earlier this month.

JOSH SMITH /Stars and Stripes

A bone-jarring journey into Nangarhar Afghan troops work to free road of Taliban in Operation Iron Triangle

BY JOSH SMITH Stars and Stripes

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan n a mud-walled compound surrounded by marijuana fields and almost within sight of the local government center, Taliban fighters faced off beneath their white banner against gathering Afghan forces.

By the time the insurgents were driven off, a half dozen Taliban had been killed or captured. The question is will they come back.

Since the end of the NATOled combat mission last year, the

I

Taliban have launched a series of brazen attacks on district centers across Afghanistan. When forced to retreat, they quickly return.

With Afghan troops often on the defensive and losses mounting, the question is whether government forces can extend their control beyond the major towns, even though coalition officials insist the Afghans are “holding their own” during the current summer fighting season.

For almost three weeks, about 2,000 government forces have been fighting through nearly 40 miles of territory in the southern part of Nangarhar province, a key center of the fight against the Taliban, its allied insurgent networks and the nascent Islamic State group in Afghanistan.

A mixed force of Afghan soldiers, police and local militiamen have descended on the area from three directions, equipped with surplus

U.S. military vehicles. It’s a strategic region along the porous border with Pakistan, just north of the mountains where Osama bin Laden slipped away from U.S. and Afghan forces at Tora Bora in 2001.

Without much government presence here in the past 14 years, militants use it as a staging ground for attacks on the Afghan capital,

intelligence officials say.

During the operation, codenamed Iron Triangle, members of the army’s 201st Corps’ 4th Brigade were the tip of the spear. Their mission was to sweep southwest from Jalalabad to the Hisarak district center, which for years had been cut off from the provincial capital.

SEE PAGE 3

‘ The advisers play a critical role in the

success of this operation, but it’s not to make things happen. What we want to do is ask leading questions, help the Afghans think about the best way to synchronize their efforts to achieve the best possible effect.

’

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan Resolute Support’s deputy chief of staff for operations

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COVER STORY FROM PAGE 2

The route, once the main road between Kabul and the border with Pakistan, was made famous by the disastrous British army retreat in 1842 which led to nearly the entire force being massacred.

Now, leaders in Kabul hope to reopen that route and thereby bring some security and government control to the region.

Fourth Brigade is commanded

by Brig. Gen. Mohammad Nasim Sangin, a gravelly voiced veteran of the war against the Soviets.

In a sign of American largesse, Sangin’s troops ride into battle in thin-skinned Ford Ranger pickup trucks and up-armored Humvees.

Also available are a handful of the newer Mine-Resistant, AmbushProtected vehicles currently used

by U.S. forces to counter roadside bombs, but so far the Jalalabadbased troops have only enough to outfit their mine-disposal unit.

Recoilless rifles battered the Taliban compounds during the final operations, while more sophisticated American technology proved less useful. Afghan soldiers trying to drive an American-made Mobile Strike Force Vehicle into position had to retreat after the armored car became stuck and nearly rolled over in the collapsing graves of an unmarked cemetery.

The NATO-led Resolute Support mission provided less-visible support for the operation, too. Advisers visited the units’ bases near Jalalabad to offer advice in planning and executing the mission, coalition officials said.

“The advisers play a critical role in the success of this operation, but it’s not to make things happen. What we want to do is ask leading questions, help the Afghans think about the best way to synchronize their efforts to achieve the best possible effect,” said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, Resolute Support’s deputy chief of staff for operations.

The speed with which Afghan troops moved was partly due to avoiding the road altogether, Sangin said. The advancing soldiers discovered more than 150 mines and improvised explosive devices in their path; one hillside was so heavily mined they gave up counting, he said.

Hampered by a limited number of explosive ordnance disposal teams View more photos from Operation Iron Triangle stripes.com/go/irontriangle

JOSH SMITH /Stars and Stripes

Afghan soldiers drive a Mobile Strike Force Vehicle into position as they prepare to assault a Taliban compound in Nangarhar province in August 2015. The vehicles were used to back up dismounted troops and light artillery. and equipment, the 4th Brigade opted to blaze its own path, in some cases bulldozing through farmers’ fields and across riverbeds to avoid the IED-infested roads.

“That’s how we surprised the enemy,” Sangin said in an interview at his field headquarters, which was still regularly struck by Taliban rockets. “They expected us to get bogged down.”

To reach the brigade’s forward camp bivouacked just minutes from the front lines, Afghan supply convoys make a bone-jarring, fivehour drive through territory still scattered with an untold number of roadside bombs. Lacking significant air support, medevac teams must make the same trip in reverse. As a result, severely injured patients spend agonizing hours jolting around in the back of the bouncing ambulances.

Military officials declined to give an exact number of casualties suffered by the Afghan forces in their drive to Hisarak, but one brigade doctor told Stars and Stripes that medics had treated nearly 400 patients in 19 days, including soldiers, police and civilians. Most of the casualties were caused by IEDs. In many areas of the country, Afghan forces have struggled to project power and security beyond major cities and highways. In most

cases, outnumbered and outgunned, insurgents rarely go up against a major army unit head on, opting instead for strategic retreat. But when troops return to their bases, the Taliban — employing classic guerrilla tactics — come right back.

In some areas of Helmand province in southwestern Afghanistan, Taliban forces have been able to use their bases of control to launch attacks that have overrun several major towns and district centers, sending Afghan troops reeling.

Hisarak’s district center is one of many in Afghanistan that have remained under government control but are regularly attacked. Beyond the main village itself, residents said they feared to spend much time in the bazaar, let alone more remote areas.

Army officials say they plan to call a council of local leaders to ask them what the government can best provide, whether it’s better roads, new schools or other services. The hope is that a greater government presence and effort can prevent the “strategic” area from slipping back under Taliban influence.

“In the last 14 years, there have been no operations in this area ... this is the first time for joint operations here,” Maj. Gen. Mohammad Zaman Waziri, the 201st Corps commander, said in a statement.

“The enemies in the area come from Pakistan into Hisarak. From here they deploy into Kabul.”

A string of recent attacks in Kabul claimed nearly 100 lives and injured hundreds more. Afghan officials, led by President Ashraf Ghani, have accused Pakistan of not doing enough to prevent insurgents from crossing the border.

In one instance during the Hisarak operation, troops detained a man near the district center on suspicion of being a Taliban fighter.

He claimed to be a shepherd, but soldiers doubted his story after finding a wad of Pakistani cash and a notebook with foreign phone numbers and contact information for local Taliban leaders.

Some Afghan troops expressed doubt about their mission, questioning why they were asked to sacrifice so much when the area was likely to be threatened again so soon. But many had plenty of enthusiasm, whooping and cheering as artillery fire struck its targets.

“As long as my country asks me to fight, I will,” said Mohammed Dawoud, a young soldier with a wispy mustache. “As long as the Taliban come back, we will be here.”

Hamidullah contributed to this report. smith.josh@stripes.com Twitter: @joshjonsmith

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AFGHANISTAN

Coalition airstrikes playing key role in Afghanistan fight

BY JOSH SMITH Stars and Stripes

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan troops facing concerted attacks by resurgent Taliban forces are increasingly backed

by American airpower, signaling more aggressive U.S. involvement than the defensive posture outlined when the NATO-led coalition formally ended its combat mission last year.

Coalition officials said they reserved the right to use force against terrorism-related targets and to protect their own troops, the vast majority of whom are American, when they scaled back this year to a small train-advise-and-assist mission. Coalition forces were not meant to be involved in combat, as the Afghan National Security Forces took sole responsibility for the country’s security.

But with the Afghan air force still in its infancy and Afghan troops finding themselves up against a still-powerful insurgency, the coalition policy on using offensive force has been broadly interpreted, said Stephen Biddle, an international affairs professor at The George Washington University in Washington.

“The ANSF is having a harder time holding than American commanders had hoped, and given that, they’ve needed more support,” he said. “For a variety of reasons the administration has been keen to declare an end to the combat mission, but the definition of what they’re doing is combat, under any understanding.”

Since President Barack Obama declared a “responsible conclusion” to America’s combat role in Afghanistan at the end of 2014, U.S. aircraft have flown at least 2,435 close

air support sorties, deploying some kind of weapon during at least 198 missions, according to the latest data released at the end of July.

That doesn’t include at least 18 airstrikes by manned aircraft that the coalition conducted in recent days to assist Afghan troops fighting desperately to retake the Musa Qala district center that had been captured by the Taliban in Helmand province.

Those strikes were carried out against “individuals threatening the force,” Col. Brian Tribus, spokesman for the coalition’s Resolute Support mission, said in a statement.

“Resolute Support is training, advising and assisting elements of the ANDSF involved in counterinsurgency operations in Helmand. While Resolute Support is a noncombat mission, we do maintain the right to use lethal force to protect our personnel,” he said.

In Washington, American officials went further, saying they reserve the right to help Afghan forces that may be in extremely difficult situations.

“The commander [in Afghanistan] does have the ability to provide air support to the Afghan defense forces when they’re in extremis, and we have exercised that option,” Col. Pat Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon.

“There has been an increase in airstrikes in support of counterterrorism efforts and in support of Afghan forces in extremis.”

And at a news conference during a trip to a military base in California last week, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said such aid had always been a possibility.

“When there are special circumstances, wherein assistance by the coalition could

JOSEPH SWAFFORD/Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force

An F-16 Fighting Falcon of the 555th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron takes off from Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, in June. make a material difference, we have said since we began the transition, that we would be prepared to intervene,” he said.

While the U.S. continues to deploy airstrikes, the number this year is a fraction of what it was at the height of American involvement in 2010 and 2011.

American airstrikes in Afghanistan this year have been generally carried out quietly, especially compared to the near daily updates from the high-profile campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Some airstrikes have made headlines in Afghanistan, however. In July, drone strikes reportedly killed top leaders and dozens of fighters of the nascent Islamic State affiliate here. Also in July, American helicopters mistakenly fired on an Afghan army position, killing at least seven soldiers.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has been more welcoming of American use of airstrikes than his predecessor, Hamid Karzai, who was a staunch critic of the civilian casualties sometimes caused by coalition bombs.

Biddle, who says he supports a more liberal use of airstrikes in Afghanistan, said it makes sense for the coalition

to intervene with measures that are useful for Afghan forces and relatively low-risk for the pilots.

“One of the things that airstrikes can do is prevent mass attacks,” he said. “That’s a very valuable asset because, when the Taliban have been successful, it’s been when they could mass. With airstrikes, the West is able to make those kind of tactics very expensive for the Taliban.”

That was an assessment confirmed by a Taliban commander in Helmand who told Stars and Stripes that coalition airpower has been the deciding factor in recent battles.

“If the ANSF didn’t have foreign air support they would not be able to spend even a night in Helmand,” he said in a phone interview on condition he not be named for his own security. “The drones, the big airplanes that drop bombs, and the gunship helicopters are the biggest obstacle to the mujahedeen.”

Many times the Taliban fighters and government units are nearly equally matched, he said, but the use of airstrikes changes that equation.

“Fighting the ANSF would be easy otherwise, but for now we are really careful of our movements so we are not caught by

the drones.”

Formally changing the stated policy of limited support is unlikely to happen as it would look like an admission of error by officials in Washington who have expressed optimism about the situation in Afghanistan, Biddle said.

But because airstrikes can be such a useful tool in helping Afghan forces fight off Taliban attacks, the Obama administration is likely to continue to allow military commanders in Afghanistan to “push the envelope” in their use for now, Biddle said.

“It remains to be seen if the administration will go through with its promise to completely end airstrikes in the coming years,” he said, arguing that a negotiated settlement with the Taliban is the only way to end the conflict and reduce Western involvement. “It is a pipe dream to completely disengage from an ongoing war and expect it will end happily. Realistically, even the ANSF ability to maintain a stalemate without Western airpower looks pretty dicey at this point.”

Zubair Babakarkhail and Stars and Stripes reporter Tara Copp contributed to this report. smith.josh@stripes.com Twitter: @joshjonsmith

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MILITARY

2 special operators killed in Afghanistan

Photos courtesy of the U.S. Air Force

Airmen die in possible insider attack in Helmand

BY CARLO MUNOZ Stars and Stripes

KABUL, Afghanistan — The two servicemembers killed in southern Afghanistan on Aug. 26 by a shooter in an Afghan uniform were Air Force special operations troops, the Pentagon said on Aug. 27.

Capt. Matthew D. Roland, 27, and Staff Sgt. Forrest B. Sibley, 31, were shot and killed Aug. 26 by a lone gunman dressed in an Afghan uniform.

He opened fire on their vehicle near Camp Antonik in Helmand province, the Penta-

gon said in a news release.

Military officials initially reported that two gunmen carried out the attack and that both had been killed in the ensuing firefight.

But on Aug. 27, coalition officials said the shooter and another individual dressed as a member of the Afghan security forces were wounded after coalition troops returned fire.

It was unclear, coalition officials said, whether the killings were the result of a so-called insider attack or possibly an accidental shooting by Afghan forces.

Roland, from Lexington, Ky., was attached to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Sibley, from Pensacola, Fla., was part of the 21st Special Tactics Squadron, based at Pope Army Air Field, N.C., the Pentagon statement said.

Both squadrons are part of the Air Force Special Operations Command.

Gen. John Campbell, commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and his counterparts within the Afghan security forces are leading a joint inquiry into the shootings, Col. Brian Tribus,

Capt. Matthew D. Roland

Staff Sgt. Forrest B. Sibley

spokesman for NATO’s Resolute Support train and advise mission, said Aug. 27.

Army leaders are conducting a separate investigation into the attack, Tribus said.

If the investigations determine the shootings were the result of an insider attack, it will have been the third such attack against American and NATO troops since the end of the coalition’s combat mission last year.

In April, Army Spc. John

Dawson was killed and eight other soldiers were wounded when an Afghan soldier opened fire on American troops in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.

Dawson was the first U.S. military fatality since the end of NATO’s combat mission.

In January, three American contractors were shot and killed by an Afghan soldier at the coalition’s compound at Kabul airport. munoz.carlo@stripes.com

Pentagon: Islamic State hacker killed in strike by drone

BY TARA COPP Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon confirmed on Aug. 28 that a key cyberoperative for the Islamic State who was responsible for releasing the identities of about 1,300 U.S. military and government employees was killed in a drone strike last week.

Junaid Hussain was killed Aug. 24 during a drone strike in Raqqa, Syria.

Hussain, identified by the BBC as a 21year-old British citizen, was “involved

in actively recruiting ISIL sympathizers in the West to carry out lone wolf style attacks,” U.S. Central Command spokesman Col. Pat Ryder said Aug. 28.

News outlets, citing British and U.S. officials, had confirmed Hussain’s death, but Aug. 28 was the first time the Pentagon had officially acknowledged the successful strike. Ryder said that Hussain was the only person killed.

“This individual was very dangerous; he had significant technical skills and he’d expressed a strong desire to

kill Americans and recruit others to kill Americans,” he said.

CENTCOM would not provide details on Hussain’s hacking of U.S. servicemembers’ information, other than to say it had affected about 1,300 personnel.

“He was responsible for releasing personally identifying information on approximately 1,300 U.S. military and government employees and specifically sought to direct violence against U.S. servicemembers and government employees,” Ryder said.

The strike was conducted after coordination with U.S. government agencies and was approved by CENTCOM commander Gen. Lloyd Austin, Ryder said.

The Wall Street Journal said Hussain grew up in the British city of Birmingham and fled to Syria while awaiting trial for involvement in a July 2013 fistfight. By January 2014, he was communicating online with other British Muslims about how to join the Islamic State, the newspaper said. copp.tara@stripes.com

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MILITARY

Carter urged to intervene over Green Beret’s removal

BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — In a letter urging Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to intervene, a congressman said Aug. 26 that the Army went too far in reprimanding and initiating actions against a Green Beret who shoved an Afghan police commander after he allegedly admitted raping a young boy.

Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland faces involuntary separation from the Army

by November. Martland, 32, has said he wants to continue serving and is being removed based solely on the September 2011 incident while deployed to Kunduz province. Messages seeking comment from the Army were not immediately returned on Aug. 27.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, RCalif., a former Marine who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said the Army rushed to judgment after the incident. In the letter, he asks Carter to “review the details of this case and intervene immediately.”

Martland and his detachment commander shoved Afghan Local Police commander Abdul Rahman after they said

he admitted to chaining a 12year-old boy and repeatedly sexually assaulting him over several days.

Citing a letter penned by an unnamed Afghan linguist directly familiar with the incident, Hunter said Rahman also beat the child’s mother for turning him in and laughed off both incidents when confronted.

In a letter to Carter on Aug. 26, Hunter wrote that American officials should “expect each and every one of our warriors and military professionals to intervene in such a situation. … Martland and his team should be commended for showing any restraint at all.”

According to Hunter, that has not been in the case.

Documents cited in the letter say Martland and his team leader were issued “memorandums of reprimand” after the incident, were relieved from their duties in Afghanistan and were redeployed stateside for their actions in “the intentional assault” of Rahman.

Brig. Gen. Christopher K. Haas, then commander of the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command in Afghanistan, wrote in

the October 2011 memo that the Green Berets’ actions were “a flagrant departure from the integrity, professionalism and even-tempered leadership I expect from all soldiers of this command, and especially a Special Forces professional.”

Martland — an 11-year veteran who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan and received the Bronze Star with “V” device for valor — has no other disciplinary issues on his Army record, according to Hunter.

Several Green Beret officers and senior noncommissioned officers have supported Martland, who is serving as a Special Forces underwater operations instructor in Key West, Fla., and intends to become a Special Forces medic.

In a January note to the commander of the U.S. Army Enlisted Records and Evaluation Center, Martland’s current commanding officer, Maj. Joshua A.N. Eaton, said the Green Beret is “without a doubt in the top 1 (percent) of noncommissioned officers I’ve had the pleasure of working with in my 12 years in the Army.” He added: “It would be a disservice to the Army to lose this NCO.”

LENNY IGNELZI /AP

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, left, greets Marines on Aug, 27 after they participated in an exercise at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Another Special Forces officer Martland worked closely with said he would “absolutely trust him with my life.”

“He was completely dependable, trustworthy and loyal to the benefit of the unit,” Maj. Samuel W. Kline wrote, also in a letter to USAREREC. “… I unequivocally implore that (separation) action not be

imposed against Martland as he is the type of person, NCO, and leader that we need in the United States Army.”

Hunter’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, said Aug. 27 that his office has not received a response from the Army or Carter. dickstein.corey@stripes.com Twitter: @CDicksteinDC

DOD seeking electronic devices that bend, stretch

BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — American military troops could wear uniforms made of fabric woven with flexible electronics that monitor their health and increase their situational awareness, if a public-private partnership announced Aug. 28 by Defense Secretary Ash Carter proves successful.

The Pentagon will provide $75 million during the next five years to a consortium of 162 organizations headed by FlexTech Alliance of San Jose, Calif., tasked with researching bendable and wearable electronic devices, Carter said last week during a stop in Silicon Valley.

“Flexible hybrid electronics” combine innovations in the electronics industry and the high-precision printing industry to create lightweight sensors that could conform to the human body or stretch across a structure such as a building, an automobile, an aircraft or a ship. The lightweight, form-fitting computer systems would mean lighter, more agile loads for troops, an important breakthrough for a force that officials say must become increasingly expeditionary. The innovations also could lead to vehicles with smarter electronic systems providing real-time feedback. The announcement was the latest development in Carter’s recent push to bring Silicon Valley and the

military closer together. In April, Carter announced the development of the Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental, a facility at Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif., where military and tech industry leaders could collaborate on nontraditional technical innovation.

“Secretary Carter is demonstrating tangible progress in building relationships with Silicon Valley, which he believes is necessary to help the U.S. military remain on the cutting edge well into the future,” said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook. The FlexTech consortium — which includes 96 companies, 11 laboratories and nonprofit organizations, 41 colleges and universities, and 14 state and regional organiza-

tions — will provide an additional $96 million for the effort. It includes such Silicon Valley staples as Apple and Hewlett-Packard, aerospace manufacturer Boeing, and defense contractors Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.

The Pentagon said its developments could have wide-ranging applications beyond the military, in public and commercial sectors.

“Given what we’ve already done, there’s truly no limit to what we can achieve together,” Carter said in a statement released in advance of his speech. dickstein.corey@stripes.com Twitter: @CDicksteinDC

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PACIFIC

USS Ronald Reagan departs for Japan

BY T YLER H LAVAC Stars and Stripes

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The USS Ronald Reagan is about to become the Navy’s latest forward-deployed aircraft carrier in the Asia-Pacific region.

Reagan’s departure Monday from San Diego is part of the three-carrier swap involving the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS George Washington.

The more modern Reagan is replacing the George Washington, which departed Yokosuka Naval Base for San Diego in May. After a crew swap in August, nearly two-thirds of the servicemembers who departed Japan aboard the George Washington are returning to Yokosuka on the Reagan.

“We are sending our most modern West Coast-based aircraft carrier to

Courtesy of the U.S. Navy

The USS Ronald Reagan departed San Diego on Monday for Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, to become the Navy’s latest forward-deployed aircraft carrier in the Asia-Pacific region. support the security, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region and our allies,” said Vice Adm.

Mike Shoemaker, commander of Naval Air Forces.

The carrier swap is part of the

rebalancing strategy in the Pacific, an area the Obama administration and the Pentagon have deemed their highest long-term priority. The Reagan’s arrival is one of many shake-ups occurring in 7th Fleet Pacific Forces.

The modernized guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville arrived in Yokosuka in May, bolstering 7th Fleet forces in the area.

The Reagan is the second-newest carrier behind the USS George H.W. Bush. It previously played a big role during Operation Tomodachi, the U.S. military’s relief effort after Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The ship served as a floating refueling station for Japanese and U.S. helicopters flying relief missions to the battered coast. hlavac.tyler@stripes.com

Japan launches flat-top destroyer, strengthening its fleet

BY ERIK SLAVIN Stars and Stripes

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Japan on Aug. 27 launched the helicopter destroyer Kaga, the second version of the largest ship the nation has produced since World War II. Kaga’s completion at Japan Marine United’s Yokohama Isogo plant gives Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force two Izumo-class helicopter destroyers as well as two smaller, Hyuga-class destroyers.

None of those vessels looks anything like the Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

The flat-top ships more closely resemble aircraft carriers, though they aren’t equipped with arresting wires, ski-jump ramps or other features used to launch fighter jets. The anti-war clause of Japan’s constitution has long been interpreted to bar weapons deemed offensive in nature, including aircraft carriers.

However, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed to expand Japan’s security options in recent years, despite majority popular opposition to his plans. Security bills expected

to pass the upper house would allow Japan to defend allies such as the United States in combat for the first time in the post-WWII era.

Meanwhile, tension over the Senkaku islands, which Japan administers but China claims, has left some analysts to debate whether the helicopter destroyer designs are part of a carrier contingency plan, should a major conflict ever occur.

“Many experts speculate that (Izumo-class) vessels may already be able to accommodate (vertical takeoff) platforms such as the F-35B and V-22 Osprey given the large nature of the ships, especially when compared to the existing Hyuga class vessels,” according to Navyrecognition.com, which catalogs the world’s naval forces.

Japanese officials have repeatedly denied such speculation.

“We are not thinking about using this as an aircraft carrier,” Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters in March at JS Izumo’s commissioning ceremony, according to The Japan Times.

U.S. Navy officials have

Courtesy of Japan Marine United

Japanese helicopter destroyer the Kaga launches Aug. 27 during a ceremony in Yokohama, Japan.

The Kaga gives Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force two Izumo-class helicopter destroyers. added that operating an aircraft carrier program isn’t something that starts quickly.

Building a training program for pilots to land on wobbling platforms in the ocean takes years, as does learning the logistics of moving aircraft and launching them safely.

In the meantime, the Kaga, which is expected to be commissioned next year, gives the Japanese an 814-foot platform for anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and transporta-

tion missions.

The Kaga defends itself with anti-missile and anti-torpedo systems, according to shipbuilder Japan Marine United.

The destroyer packs two 20mm Phalanx Close In Weapons Systems, better known as CIWS guns, pronounced “sea-whiz.” The high-speed guns are a staple of many U.S. Navy ships.

The Kaga also could give Japan a boost in the event of a natural disaster. In the after-

math of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, aircraft carrier the USS Ronald Reagan acted as a refueling station for Japanese helicopters supplying aid to tsunami-stricken areas.

Japan’s last ship to take the name Kaga was a WWII aircraft carrier that took part in the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack and was later lost during the Battle of Midway, according to IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly. slavin.erik@stripes.com Twitter:@eslavin_stripes

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MILITARY

Cyber soldiers sought

Lt. Gen. Edward C. Cardon, commander of U.S Army Cyber Command, addresses government, business and education cyber professionals in May at the Northwest Cybersecurity Symposium at the University of Washington-Tacoma, Wash.

BY SETH ROBSON

Photos courtesy of the U.S. Army

Stars and Stripes

The Army is looking for soldiers and civilians to serve in new cyber units charged with protecting critical stateside infrastructure and creating “effects” on the battlefield in support of conventional forces.

The challenge: attracting the creative, energetic talent typically drawn to the freewheeling tech sector.

Army Cyber Command has about 20 teams in place, out of the 41 that it hopes to form by the end of next year, said Command Sgt. Maj. Rodney Harris, an adviser to Army Cyber Command and its commander, Lt. Gen. Edward C. Cardon.

Cyber protection teams harden key networks, mitigate risk and hunt for intruders. Other teams protect critical infrastructure, support commanders on the battlefield, analyze intelligence and develop software, Harris said.

Recruiters are hoping to tap into some of the energy that has helped Silicon Valley lead the world in information technology. However, it’s unclear whether the Army can provide an environment compatible with the techies whose skills have made Google, Microsoft and Apple household names.

A different sort of soldier will need to be recruited to fight in “a seriously nontraditional” space, said Arizona State University engineering professor Braden Allenby.

The challenge for recruiters is twofold: They need to attract skilled techies to the military, and then to make sure they don’t trigger an “immune response” from the more traditional military organizations they need to work with, Allenby said.

The Army has been building its cyber force since 2010, and Harris said the goal is to recruit 1,899 cyber workers — its share of 6,000 employees under the umbrella of the Defense Department’s Cyber Command.

The Army’s cyber teams are sched-

Soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division test system solutions in the Capability Development Integration Directorate cyberbattle lab on Aug. 19 at the U.S. Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon, Ga. uled to be fully staffed by the end of next year, though it will take longer to complete training, said Capt. Micah Bushouse, who works for Army Cyber Command’s advanced concepts and technology section.

Bushouse, whose job is to ensure cyber soldiers have the funding and gear they need, has a telecommunications degree from Michigan State University and spent nine years as a signal officer before joining Army Cyber Command.

“Defending the network is a full-time job, but it’s very rewarding when it’s done correctly,” he said.

Cyberspace encompasses all of the networks and devices that hold data, Harris said. “It is impossible to defend the entire network,” he said. “Com-

manders have to decide what pieces of the network are most important to them for a specific operation.”

Cyber soldiers can also go on the offensive. The “effects” they can create on the battlefield are akin to indirect fire, such as artillery and mortars, Harris said.

Cyber effects can, for example, deny an adversary the ability to use their electronic command-and-control systems or block them from using the Internet, said Bill Roach, an Army Cyber Command public affairs officer.

Cyber Guard In June, cyber soldiers tested their skills alongside personnel from other branches of the military and government during Cyber Guard, an exer-

cise that included attacks to disrupt electrical power on both U.S. coasts, said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, Cyber Command’s director of exercises and training.

Under the scenario, oil and gas pipelines were disrupted, and bank and Defense Department information networks were attacked. The training involved responding to power outages, ATM failures, food shortages and other situations that might occur in such an attack, including the intense media interest that would result, Lunday said.

“We’re employing the force while we’re building it,” he said. “So some of the teams that were in this exercise are still under development — still being staffed and trained.”

Army Cyber Command is based temporarily at Fort Belvoir, Va., along with Army Intelligence and Security Command. A permanent facility will open at Fort Gordon, Ga., in 2019, Harris said.

“When we went to design the headquarters, we sent folks to Google and Microsoft to take away some lessons about design of the workplace,” he said.

Google’s Mountain View, Calif., corporate offices — dubbed the Googleplex — feature a cafeteria with free all-youcan-eat lobster, a giant dinosaur statue, a SpaceShipOne replica and plenty of lava lamps. There are also billiard, table-tennis and foosball tables.

Roach said there likely won’t be free lobster or a giant dinosaur at the new cyber headquarters, and there aren’t as many exercise balls at Fort Belvoir as there were in “The Internship,” a 2013 film that lampoons Google’s work environment.

But there are plenty of whiteboards, said Bushouse, who understands a lot of what cyber personnel scrawl on the boards, but not everything.

“A lot of what goes on them is very technical,” he said.

SEE PAGE 14

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MILITARY

US F-22 fighter jets arrive in Poland ‘ They’re there primarily

BY JENNIFER H. SVAN Stars and Stripes

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Just three days after touching down in Germany, two of the F-22 fighter planes on their inaugural deployment to Europe have jetted east to conduct training with the Polish air force.

The Raptors arrived at Lask Air Base in central Poland on Monday, a spokesman with U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa confirmed.

The Associated Press reported the jets were to carry out combat air exercises for a day with their Polish counterparts.

The Air Force on Friday deployed the four stealth jets from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., to Spangdahlem Air Base, a move that Air Force leaders have tied to Russia’s involvement in Ukraine, even as they stress the deployment is for training purposes.

“We’ll get the F-22 into facilities that we would potentially use in a conflict

FROM PAGE 12

To attract the right workforce, Army Cyber Command is still trying to figure out the best culture for its workplace.

“If we don’t acknowledge these capabilities that the civilians and even the soldiers bring to the workplace, they are going to go somewhere else where they are going to have that sort of environment,” he said.

A seed group The Army has hand-picked a seed group of skilled personnel for its cyber force, Bushouse said. The first cyber

for an exercise, training with our European partners.

’

Mark A. Welsh III Air Force Chief of Staff

in Europe, things like the bases where we do aviation attachments, to places where we do air policing missions,” Air Force Chief of Staff Mark A. Welsh III said last week. “They’re there primarily for an exercise, training with our European partners.”

Poland, a NATO ally, has hosted a U.S. Air Force aviation detachment since November 2012.

The unit operates from Lask and hosts U.S. and allied aircraft conducting training exercises in Poland. svan.jennifer@stripes.com

soldiers include those who asked to reclassify from other Army jobs. Some had relevant training or education before their service, while others programmed as a hobby.

About half the enlisted troops assigned to Army Cyber Command transferred from the Signal Corps; others came from military intelligence.

The next intake of officers will be classed specifically as cyber soldiers, Harris said.

Cyber soldiers are honing their skills in cyber, signal and electronic warfare at a new Cyber Center of Excellence being run out of a temporary facility at Fort Gordon.

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A LIK K EPLICZ /AP

Air Force Maj. Gen. Christopher J. Bence speaks to the press as an F-22 fighter jet is parked in the background at a military base in Lask, Poland, on Monday.

The Raptors are part of the first deployment of the high-tech jets to Europe.

“It’s a nexus of highly professional, highly technical folks,” Bushouse said. About one in five is a civilian, Harris said.

Members of National Guard and Army Reserve cyber protection teams are likely the most up to date with what’s going on in the private sector.

“We have people from Netflix, Verizon, Microsoft, Amazon,” Harris said. “If it’s a major IT company out there, there is a good chance that some of their employees, when they are drilling with the National Guard or Army Reserve, they are in our cyber force.”

This publication is a compilation of stories from Stars and Stripes, the editorially independent newspaper authorized by the Department of Defense for members of the military community. The contents of Stars and Stripes are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, including the Defense Department or the military services. The U.S. Edition of Stars and Stripes is published jointly by Stars and Stripes and this newspaper.

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© Stars and Stripes, 2015

Potent skills Cyber Command employees are called “operators,” not “hackers,” and job-seekers must pass extensive background checks. Those who have been involved in nefarious cyberspace activities need not apply, Harris said. Recruiters have a tough time getting candidates past the security clearance — including a polygraph test — required to join the cyber force.

“You can be the most noted white-hat hacker in Silicon Valley, but you can’t join Cyber Command if you can’t pass the clearance and polygraph,” Harris said.

Cyber Command personnel learn potent skills that can be dangerous in the wrong hands.

“Many of these technologies, including not just cyber but domains such as robotics, data analysis and data mining, biotech and biodefense, could have significant impacts if released into civil society, especially if done with criminal motives,” said Allenby, the engineering professor.

Harris spent 30 years in the infantry before becoming a cyber soldier, and he brings his own “nontechie” skills to the mission.

“When I was asked to take this job, I was concerned,” he said. “I’m not an information-technology or militaryintelligence specialist.” But his experience maneuvering troops was exactly what the new command was seeking, Harris said. “We’re trying to develop a maneuver organization that can deliver effects in time and space just like we deliver indirect fires on the battlefield. I bring the awareness to help the rest of the Army understand that cyber is a major capability.”

The first Army Cyber teams are working for the military’s overall Cyber Command, but pilot programs are incorporating teams in exercises at some of the Army’s field-training sites as a way to show commanders the capabilities that will be available.

Americans want their Army to be the best in the world at whatever it does, and that’s the Army Cyber Command goal, Harris said.

“Regardless of skill set — in the air, on land, on sea, in space and in cyberspace — the American people expect us to be better than anyone else,” he said. robson.seth@stripes.com Twitter: @SethRobson1

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