FROM THE EDITOR

March 6, 2006

Blackwater USA named in Fast Company's Fast 50

Fast Company magazine, the foremost magazine for innovatively driven businesses annually hosts a list of Fast 50 in recognition of high profile business leaders who have accomplished remarkable tasks within the business world. Founded on the principles of expertise, leadership, and vision, Fast Company has a circulation in excesss of 750,000 and provides businesses the information and solutions necessary to strategically outperform the competition.

Fast Company's Fast 50 is dedicated to recognizing the leaders of the business world determined to make a difference. Only the most innovative and creative are among those recognized. Congratulations to Gary Jackson for being one of America's Fast 50.
The Fast 50 will be released in the March issue of Fast Company magazine. Please view the article at http://www.fastcompany.com/subscr/103/open_11-jackson.html

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Dwight Eisenhower:
Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

George Patton:
Live for something rather than die for nothing.

Dwight D. Eisenhower:
Neither a wise nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.

PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES, EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS

Al-Qaeda in Gaza and West Bank, says Abbas

From our friends at the Terrorism Research Center (http://www.terrorism.com)

PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas has warned that al-Qaeda has infiltrated the West Bank and Gaza, from where it could launch "disastrous" attacks on Israel and its neighbours.
Israeli army officers and intelligence analysts have already warned several times over the past year that al-Qaeda has established cells in the Palestinian territories — a claim that the Palestinians have denied. But in an interview with al-Hayat newspaper, Mr Abbas admitted that Palestinian security forces had picked up traces of al-Qaeda operatives.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/alqaeda-in-gaza-and-west-bank-says-abbas/2006/03/03/1141191852378.html

Training, Time, Tactics and Troops Moving training forward and re-thinking scenario driven exercises

Train, train, train. Great words often affected by so many outside factors. We know the biggest offenders. I generally group it all under one title; Resources. The top vote getter is funding; who is going to pay for this? As a risk management consultant working on emergency response plans for communities, I learned a hard lesson; “If I pay, I play and set the rules”. Understandable.
Larger municipalities generally have planning resources (staff) and easier access to State and Federal agencies. Smaller municipalities often do not have these resources, specific to funding. An approach my partner and I often used was the “If we all pay a little, then we can all play a lot” and “Low cost, no cost”. Share the expense, share the wealth. The wealth being all the dynamics being brought into play. I offer some now.
By J. Riotte
http://www.swatdigest.com/swmag_mar_tacticalprep.html

Protecting Personal Privacy; Drawing the Line Between People and Containers

By MICHAEL J. BULZOMI, J.D.
More so today than perhaps at any time in this nation’s history, law enforcement officers must be proactive when interacting with individuals in the towns and communities in which they serve. Understanding the full depth of the tools available to ferret out criminal activity and to protect their safety, as well as the safety of others, is critical to law enforcement effectiveness. In the face of this mandate, officers must constrain their actions according to constitutional principles as interpreted by America’s judicial system. Critical in the constitutional analysis is the value afforded personal privacy. This article examines the recognition of personal privacy in the context of a regular and potentially valuable, as well as volatile, law enforcement activity—stopping a vehicle and developing probable cause to search it. Officers must be mindful of the scope of their authority and the legal tools within their arsenal. These tools may justify further governmental intrusions, including intrusions into personal privacy, when the officer’s initial response reveals additional information.
http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2006/feb2006/feb2006leb.htm#page26

BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL

AP: AC-130 Gunships Returning to Iraq

The U.S. Air Force has begun moving heavily armed AC-130 airplanes — the lethal "flying gunships" of the Vietnam War — to a base in Iraq as commanders search for new tools to counter the Iraqi resistance, The Associated Press has learned.
An AP reporter saw the first of the turboprop-driven aircraft after it landed at the airfield this week. Four are expected.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/03/05/military/16_33_503_3_06.txt

Pakistani police use batons to disperse anti-US protest before American president arrives

Anti-U.S. protests erupted across Pakistan on Friday, with crowds burning American flags, chanting "Death to Bush" and scuffling with police just hours before the U.S. leader was to arrive for a two-day visit.
Hundreds of police swung batons as they dispersed about 1,000 protesters on a major road in the city of Rawalpindi, about six kilometers (four miles) from where U.S. President George W. Bush's plane was expected to land.
http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=3992

Army to Begin New Probe Into Tillman Death

The Army said Saturday it will launch a criminal investigation into the April 2004 death of Pat Tillman, the former professional football player who was shot to death by fellow soldiers in Afghanistan in what previous Army reviews had concluded was an accidental shooting.
Col. Joseph Curtin, an Army spokesman, said the Defense Department office of inspector general had reviewed the matter at the Army's request and concluded that a criminal probe was warranted.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/05/D8G5H5CO1.html

Military denies withdrawal plan

The U.S. military in Iraq said on Sunday media reports that America and Britain planned to pull all troops out of Iraq by spring 2007 were "completely false," reiterating that there was no timetable for withdrawal.
Two British newspapers reported on Sunday that the pull-out plan followed an acceptance by the two governments that the presence of foreign troops in Iraq was now an obstacle to securing peace.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2006-03-05T163735Z_01_MAC231520_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ.xml&rpc=22

White House trains efforts on media leaks

The Bush administration, seeking to limit leaks of classified information, has launched initiatives targeting journalists and their possible government sources. The efforts include several FBI probes, a polygraph investigation inside the CIA and a warning from the Justice Department that reporters could be prosecuted under espionage laws.
In recent weeks, dozens of employees at the CIA, the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies have been interviewed by agents from the FBI's Washington field office, who are investigating possible leaks that led to reports about secret CIA prisons and the NSA's warrantless domestic surveillance program, according to law enforcement and intelligence officials familiar with the two cases.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11676209/

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SECURITY FOR THE PROFESSIONAL

Leader of al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia Killed

The leader of al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia and two men who helped attack the world's largest oil-processing complex were among five militants killed during police raids in the capital, authorities said Tuesday.
The announcement was the first acknowledgment by Saudi authorities that some attackers had escaped after Friday's attack on the Abqaiq facility, which processes about two-thirds of the country's oil for export.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SAUDI_TERROR_RAIDS?SITE=WDUN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

In Tape, Al-Zawahri Blasts Cartoons

Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri criticized the West for its insult to Islam's prophet, complaining in a video broadcast Sunday on Al-Jazeera that the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus "are not sacred anymore."
Referring to the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that have been printed in a number of European newspapers, al-Zawahri said: "They did it on purpose and they continue to do it without apologizing, even though no one dares to harm Jews or to challenge Jewish claims about the Holocaust nor even to insult homosexuals."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/Z/ZAWAHRI_TAPE?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-03-04-18-10-23

U.S. casts wide net in war on terror

New documents on the Guantanamo detainees suggest the Bush administration has cast a wide net in its war on terror. But the U.S. has often come up empty as American troops picked up suspects with descriptions as varied as a Kazakh apple seller and a Pakistani millionaire.
Evidence against the apple seller, for example, showed he had been captured by the Taliban and forced to work as a cook.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11674324/

Venezuela prepares military to repel invasion

At a rural military base on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuelan officers have started classes in unconventional warfare to repel an invasion left-wing President Hugo Chavez warns Washington may attempt.
Snipers draped in foliage and civilian reservists armed with knives, catapults and handguns crawled out of a hidden tunnel in a demonstration as instructors lectured on resistance tactics.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11669255/

FRANKS REVIEW

Service Equipment Review

Kestrel NV 4000 Pocket Weather Tracker

I had the pleasure of going through Sniper School at Blackwater in June of 2002. Sure, I had done what all prior-service members had as far as qualifying with an M16, but precision shooting wasn't my strong suit. I was (and continue to be) much more of a handgun guy. What I learned in that school was invaluable - even as it only applies to my use of a carbine / combat rifle. Part of what I learned was the effect weather can have on shot placement. If you are a precision shooter engaging targets out to and past 600 yards, it quickly starts to matter what the wind is - direction and speed; what the humidity is; what altitude you are (vs that of the target), etc. To provide such information to the military and law enforcement sniper, Kestrel specifically engineered the NV 4000 Pocket Weather Tracker.

Going beyond the ability to simply measure ten different environmental, the NV 4000 also stores that data and then can reference it for predicting upcoming weather conditions. Since it has limited memory storage capacity, Kestrel makes available the means to transfer the data to a personal computer for on-going use and reference.

The rest of the story: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/other/kestrelnv.htm

Recreational Equipment Review

Buck Knives Code 3

At SHOT Show this year I made some really great connections with manufacturers I'd never had the opportunity to work with. Buck Knives was one of them. After SHOT, I started getting emails, packages, boxes, etc with new gear or product items to test. One of the things I got from Buck is their Code 3 folding lock-blade knife.

Let's review the basic information about it first, and then we can go into what's different, new, or could be improved specifically for police use. The Code 3 has red handles and the nationally recognized EMS logo on one side. It was obviously designed by Buck for EMS, Paramedics, Rescue Workers, etc. However, it is very serviceable for law enforcement, and the very features that make it EMS-specific will assist in defending any force use by law enforcement.

The rest of the story: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/recevals/toolknife/buckcode3.htm

CHAPLAINS CORNER

START..

by doing what's necessary...

then what's possible... and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

-Saint Francis
(Contributed by a reader)

Today (Friday the 3rd) is one of those days after a battle has worn my spirit until I do
not want to do anything. I watched a very informative movie this afternoon about
"THE POWER OF ONE".

As I watched I contemplated my past thirty eight years... my anniversary of meeting
Jesus Christ is this weekend and it is bearing powerfully on my memory... that long,
long journey from there to here.... and of some of the things I have experienced and
learned... also of things I have gained... and of beautiful things and precious people
that I have already outlived in this world. ( I usually compile this message on Saturday
morning but I am heavily impressed to do this one now... on Friday.)

In the process I have received a most intimate relationship with my Commander-in-
Chief, my Heavenly Father; with my Eternal Captain, my Lord Jesus Christ; and with
my Keeper and Protector, the Holy Spirit of the Living God. I have seen Angels work.
I have seen demons run. I have been in the middle of war and seen the Hand and
Power of the Living God move on behalf of those in need or in danger.
http://blackwaterusa.com/btw2006/articles/030606chaplain.html

Be Blessed(a condition to be envied by the world).
Be Successful. Be SAFE.
VSP ALUMNI 757-431-2190
Chaplain D.R.Staton, VBPD (Don, C1)
chpln1@verizon.net

BUMPER STICKER

Peace through victory

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