Iran Update 16JAN2024

Key Takeaways: 

• Palestinian militias are likely re-infiltrating into areas of the northern Gaza Strip where Israeli forces previously conducted clearing operations. 

• The IDF 646th Paratroopers Brigade (assigned to the 99th Division) continued to conduct clearing operations in the Central Governorate of the Gaza Strip. 

• The New York Times reported that the IDF now believes that there are more tunnels underneath the Gaza Strip than previously thought. 

• The 98th Division conducted clearing operations focused on locating Hamas leadership and degrading Hamas’ Khan Younis Battalion in the southern Gaza Strip. 

• The IDF announced Special Forces Unit 217 (Duvdevan) operating under the 89th Commando Brigade withdrew from the southern Gaza Strip. 

• A low-level Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander told Israeli intelligence he received military training in Iran before Hamas’ October 7 attack. 

• Hamas and Israel reached a deal to supply medicine to Israeli hostages in exchange for additional humanitarian aid inflows to the Gaza Strip. 

• The al Qassem Brigades fired rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. 

• Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian fighters four times across the West Bank. 

• Lebanese Hezbollah (LH) conducted six attacks from southern Lebanon into northern Israel. 

• Iran conducted three drone and missile strikes abroad.

• The Islamic Resistance in Iraq—a coalition of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias—claimed that it conducted a long-range cruise missile attack targeting Israel.

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Russian Operations Assessment 16JAN2024

Key Takeaways: 

• Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to demonstrate that Russia is not interested in negotiating with Ukraine in good faith and that Russia’s maximalist objectives in Ukraine – which are tantamount to full Ukrainian and Western surrender – remain unchanged. 

• Russian President Vladimir Putin notably amplified a longstanding Kremlin effort to set information conditions for future escalations against Baltic countries, likely as part of his wider effort to weaken NATO.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated the importance of defeating Russia in Ukraine at the Davos World Economic Forum on January 16. 

• Russian tactical aviation operations are reportedly decreasing near the Sea of Azov, and Russian aviation capabilities may be degraded after Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and caused severe damage to a Russian Il-22 airborne command post aircraft on the night of January 14. 

• At least two state-owned Chinese banks reportedly ordered reviews of their business with Russian clients and will sever ties with sanctioned Russian entities and entities with ties to the Russian defense industry. 

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov thanked North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui for North Korea’s support for Russia in the war during Choe’s official state visit to Moscow on January 16. 

• The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on its second reading to digitalize Ukrainian military records on January 16. 

• Russian forces made confirmed advances near Kreminna and Bakhmut as positional engagements continued along the entire frontline. 

• Russian State Duma deputies from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) proposed a bill on January 16 that would create a legal status for volunteers of the Russian war in Ukraine that would grant them compensation in case of injury or death. 

• Russian occupation officials from occupied Kherson, Zaporizhia, and Donetsk oblasts attended a meeting of Russian municipal representatives in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 16.

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Iran Update 15JAN2024

Key Takeaways: 

• Iranian-backed Iraqi actors are trying to install their preferred candidate as Iraqi parliament speaker as part of their ongoing campaign to expel US forces from Iraq. 

• Israeli forces have continued targeting the remaining Palestinian fighters and militia infrastructure in the northern Gaza Strip. 

• The IDF announced that it withdrew the 36th Division from the Central Governorate of the Gaza Strip. 

• The IDF 646th Paratroopers Brigade Combat Team (assigned to the 99th Division) continued to conduct clearing operations in Nuseirat in the Central Governorate of the Gaza Strip. • The IDF 98th Division continued clearing operations in the southern Gaza Strip. 

• Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Hamas’ “Khan Younis Brigade is gradually disintegrating as a fighting force.” 

• The Gaza Strip is experiencing the longest, large-scale internet blackout since the Israel-Hamas war began. 

• The al Quds Brigades fired rockets from the Gaza Strip targeting Sderot in southern Israel. 

• The al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades announced the establishment of a “military council” to plan attacks on Israeli targets “in every corner of the Earth.” 

• Two West Bank residents conducted a car-ramming attack in Raanana, killing one civilian and wounding 17 others.

• Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian fighters five times across the West Bank, compared to the weekly average of nine attacks per day. 

• Lebanese Hezbollah conducted eight attacks from southern Lebanon into northern Israel. 

• Lebanese Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech detailing the state of the Israel-Hamas war and ongoing Iranian-backed escalation against the United States throughout the region. 

• The Islamic Resistance in Iraq—a coalition of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias—claimed four attacks on three US positions in Iraq and Syria. 

• The Houthis continued attacking and harassing US naval forces and commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

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Russian Operations Assessment 15JAN2024

Key Takeaways: 

• Ukrainian officials announced that Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and severely damaged an Il-22 airborne command post aircraft on the night of January 14. 

• A senior Ukrainian intelligence official confirmed that Russian forces can generate forces at a rate equal to Russian monthly personnel losses, which is consistent with ISW’s assessment that Russian forces are able to conduct routine operational level rotations in Ukraine. 

• Skibitskyi indicated that international sanctions are constraining Russian missile and drone production as Russian forces likely continue to adapt their missile and drone strike packages in an effort to penetrate Ukrainian air defenses. 

• German outlet BILD reported on classified German documents describing a hypothetical scenario to prepare for a possible future conflict between NATO and Russia. Developing such scenarios, which are usually classified, is a normal task for professional military staffs. 

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Switzerland on January 15 to discuss aspects of the Ukrainian peace plan and support for Ukraine with global leaders at the Davos World Economic Forum from January 15 to 19. 

• A North Korean delegation including North Korean Foreign Minister Choi Song Hui arrived in Moscow on January 14 for an official state visit to Russia on January 15 to 17. 

• Russia and Iran are preparing to sign a Grand Interstate Treaty to further develop Russian-Iranian military-technological cooperation. 

• The Kremlin is intensifying censorship measures to limit criticism of the Russian war effort in Ukraine ahead of the March 2024 presidential election.

• Russian forces made confirmed advances west of Donetsk City and near Krynky amid continued positional fighting along the entire line of contact. 

• The Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) is reportedly forming a women’s drone operating detachment. 

• The Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) stated that Ukrainian resistance forces detonated a Russian military UAZ Patriot vehicle in occupied Melitopol, Zaporizhia Oblast, injuring four Russian personnel and killing an unspecified number of personnel.

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Russian Operations Assessment 11JAN2024

Key Takeaways: 

• The reported concentration of the Russian military’s entire combat-capable ground force in Ukraine and ongoing Russian force generation efforts appear to allow Russian forces to conduct routine operational level rotations in Ukraine. 

• Russia’s ability to conduct operational level rotations will likely allow Russian forces to maintain the overall tempo of their localized offensive operations in eastern Ukraine in the near term, but it is unclear if Russian forces will be able to conduct effective rotations in the long term or in the event of intensified Russian offensive efforts or a significant Ukrainian counteroffensive operation. 

• Ukrainian intelligence reported that Russian efforts to expand Russia’s defense industrial base (DIB) have yet to fulfill operational requirements in Ukraine and that munitions shortages will continue to prompt Russia to source supplies from abroad.

• Freezing temperatures in Ukraine are likely constraining operations along the front but will likely create more favorable terrain for mechanized maneuver warfare as the ground freezes in the coming weeks. 

• Latvia and Estonia announced new military aid packages to Ukraine on January 11. 

• Russia may be setting information conditions for future escalations against Latvia by threatening to punish Latvia for closing a likely base of Russian informational influence in Latvia. 

• European Commission (EC) Defense Industry Spokesperson Johanna Bernsel clarified on January 11 that European Union (EU) member states will be able to produce a million shells per year by spring 2024 but that the delivery of the shells to Ukraine will depend on individual member states. 

• The US Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Inspector General published a report on January 11 that states that the failure to document certain aid provided to Ukraine in a timely manner is largely due to DoD limitations but that does not suggest that any of the material aid has been misappropriated. 

• Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk announced on January 11 that the Verkhovna Rada withdrew a draft law on mobilization for revisions after discussions between Ukrainian legislators and political and military leadership. 

• A Ukrainian official indicated that the Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF) may struggle to compensate for the loss of base infrastructure after allocating naval assets away from the BSF’s main base of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea. 

• Ukrainian and Russian forces continued positional engagements along the entire front. 

• Kremlin newswire TASS reported on January 10 that Russian forces will deploy additional aircraft and vessels and increase the production of hypersonic Kinzhal and Zircon missiles in 2024. 

• The Belarusian Ministry of Emergency Situations stated on January 10 that it sponsored a trip for 35 Ukrainian children from occupied Ukraine to Mogilev for the New Year holiday during which soldiers taught children “the basics of life safety” and how to behave in “extreme situations.”

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Russian Operations Assessment 10JAN2023

Key Takeaways

• The Kremlin’s effort to use the mythos of the Great Patriotic War (Second World War) to prepare the Russian public for a long war in Ukraine is at odds with Russia’s current level of mobilization and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rhetorical attempts to reassure Russians that the war will not have lasting domestic impacts. 

• The Kremlin may be instructing actors in the Russian-backed breakaway republic of Transnistria to set information conditions for a possible false-flag operation in Transnistria as part of wider Kremlin efforts to destabilize Moldova. 

• The Kremlin may also be reviving its efforts to leverage Transnistria to create instability in Moldova in order to undermine Ukrainian grain exports along the western coast of the Black Sea. 

• Iran has reportedly developed a new Shahed drone for Russian forces to use against Ukraine and is “close” to providing Russia with surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and systems. 

• European Union (EU) Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton stated that the EU will be able to supply Ukraine with one million shells by spring 2024. 

• Lithuania announced a new long-term military aid package to Ukraine worth 200 million euros (about $220 million) on January 10. 

• The very characteristics that make the Russian ultranationalist milblogger community popular – its perceived independence from and willingness to criticize the Russian government – likely continue to complicate the Kremlin’s efforts to co-opt the community as Kremlin mouthpieces. 

• Russian insider sources continue to discuss the reported removal of First Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the Russian General Staff (GRU), Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, who was reportedly in charge of the Russian “Volunteer Corps” that was intended to replace the Wagner Group in Ukraine. 

• Russian forces advanced southwest of Bakhmut and Donetsk City and in the east (left) bank of Kherson Oblast amid continued positional engagements along the entire front. 

• Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov stated on January 10 that the Russian military plans to reorganize the five existing naval infantry brigades of Russia’s fleets into naval infantry divisions and the Caspian Flotilla’s naval infantry regiment into a naval infantry brigade in the medium-term. 

• Russian authorities continue to deport prisoners from prisons in occupied Ukraine to Russia and are likely using penal colonies as part of widespread efforts to collect data on Ukrainian citizens.

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Iran Update 10JAN2024

Key Takeaways: 

1. Hamas published several videos of its operations in the northern Gaza Strip, messaging that it still has a military presence there. The al Qassem Brigades and other Palestinian militias are not destroyed in the northern Gaza Strip and maintain a limited presence there, especially around southern Gaza City. 

2. A Palestinian journalist reported that Israeli forces “repositioned” themselves in Gaza City after withdrawing from several areas in the city over the past two weeks. 

3. The Israel Defense Forces continued clearing operations in the Central Governorate of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian militias continued attempting to defend against Israeli clearing operations in the central Gaza Strip. 

4. The Israel Defense Forces continued clearing operations in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces said that it completed operations in Khuzaa, south of Khan Younis.

5. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview with NBC News that normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel is still possible. 

6. Israeli media reported that the latest Qatari proposal for a ceasefire agreement would include exiling Hamas leaders from the Gaza Strip. 

7. Palestinian fighters attacked Israeli forces conducting raids in five locations in the West Bank. Hamas Political Bureau leaders have in recent days called attention to violence and Israeli raids in the West Bank.

8. Iranian-backed militias, including Lebanese Hezbollah, conducted two attacks from southern Lebanon into northern Israel on January 10, compared to the weekly average of around nine attacks. 

9. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al Sudani is attempting to balance pressure from Iranian-backed Iraqi actors to expel US forces from Iraq with his administration’s reported desire to sustain the US-led coalition presence in Iraq. 

10. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq—a coalition of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias—claimed responsibility for three attacks targeting US positions in Iraq and Syria. 

11. The Houthis conducted their largest and most complex attack yet into the Red Sea. 

12. Iran has reportedly developed a new Shahed drone for Russian forces to use against Ukraine and is “close” to providing Russia with surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and systems.

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SPECIAL FORCES

Are you or someone you know interested in trying out for U.S. Army Special Forces in the Army National Guard?

 

No matter your current military status, you can request to try out for U.S. Army Special Forces with A Co 1st BN, 19th SFG(A) in Washington State.

 

Whether you are:

-Civilian

-Currently serving in any branch of the military

-Other USG organization

-Reserves (any branch)

-National Guard (any State)

There is a way for you to begin to earn the Green Beret.

 

If interested, send an email to the email distro below with your contact information, current civilian and/or military status, and your desire to either earn the Green Beret or work in another capacity as Special Operations Forces (SOF) support. Inquire for more information.

 

ng.wa.waarng.list.nqap-sfre@army.mil

 

If you are a current civilian (non-prior service) then you may request an 18X contract to join the Army specifically to enter the Special Forces pipeline.

 

If you are currently serving in the department of Defense then please see the minimum requirements below:

 

 

1. GT Score: Minimum GT score of 107 on the ASVAB (no waivers).

2. Rank: Minimum E-3 to E-6 and 1LT(P) to CPT

3. Clearance: Possess or able to obtain a minimum Secret security clearance.

4. Concurrence: Parent Unit concurrence to drill with A/1/19 SFG(A) and the NQAP.

5. Travel:

- Government Travel Card (Assisted by Parent Unit)

- Defense Travel System account (Assisted by Parent Unit)

 

 

Physical:

1. SFAS PFA: IAW Army APFT, 17-21 age group, with a total score of 280, with a minimum of 80% in each event
2. Pull-ups: 8 Dead-hang pull-ups
3. 10-mile Road March: External frame pack with 65lbs dry weight (not including food and water), 135 minutes allowed time
4. Swim Test: 50m followed by 5 minutes treading water in duty uniform and boots without assistance
5. Endurance Run: No less than 5 miles at an 8 minute mile pace.

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Last chance to nominate for the Freedom Award

Dear Servicemember,

As 2023 draws to a close, end the year on a high note and nominate your employer for a Secretary of Defense Freedom Award! With just a few days remaining in this year’s nomination season, submit your supportive employer before the season ends New Year’s Eve.

Go to www.freedomaward.mil to nominate your awesome employer!

The Freedom Award is the highest honor the Department of Defense gives to employers for supporting National Guard and Reserve employees. The employers chosen exemplify what it means to go above and beyond federal requirements in support of military employees. It is important to recognize those employers who continue to provide unparalleled support to you and your family members.

The nomination form takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. Nominations must be submitted by Dec. 31, 2023.

Did you know that you could also recognize your supervisor(s) for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Patriot Award? It is simple and only takes a few minutes, go to www.esgr.mil then click on nominate your employer!

Thank you for your service,

The Freedom Award Team

This message is by the U.S. Department of Defense, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve

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PPM CIO-010 ARMY COMMERCIAL INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER POLICY

https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_c/ARN44000-PPM_CIO-010-000-WEB-1.pdf

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