Readers; Happy St. Patrick's Day. Since taking over as the managing editor, I've received a ton of e-mail and comments from former Teammates, and friends. I guess throwing your name out in cyber space is an open invitation to people e-mailing you. It's been great to hear from everyone.

Lots of feed back on the article about the Clinton bill to prohibit use of private security contractors. I want to stress the Clinton article was not endorsement of any specific candidate, but whose purpose was to inform you, our readers of current events. We will continue to present similar articles because they can affect you and our industry.

A lot of you have asked for information about courses we offer so in this issue, we provide an overview of our five-day tactical pistol course. We take seriously our Second Amendment rights, so we offer several public courses on safe weapons handling. There are more courses listed on our webpage (http://www.blackwaterusa.com/courses/AT_NC_courses.html) and we will cover those courses in the coming months.

Again, keep those ideas and comments coming. It's very helpful to get the creative juices flowing and I will try and translate them into future themes and continued improvements to the BTW.

Thanks again.

John Wrenn
Managing Editor, Blackwater Tactical Weekly
Director, Corporate Communications

Lord Chesterfield

Good article on the discussion now occurring about the future of U.S. military as it participates in more non-traditional military missions in the current insurgent driven environment.

A new commander in chief next year will decide if and when US troops will leave Iraq.

Full Story

Story that soft sells mandatory military training of Chinese children.

BEIJING - Yang Liheng, 12, heads back to school near Beijing this week, filled with memories of camp.

Article about outreach program to educate America about the military.

WASHINGTON - More than a dozen leaders from two northern Iowa communities met with senior Army leadership Wednesday at the Pentagon to learn more about the Army's mission and the challenges it faces.

Follow on analysis to previous report on Congress letting HLS wiretapping law lapse.

The White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Tuesday said the House of Representatives was drawing up a new wiretap law that would hamper their job of protecting the people.

Full Story

The Backup Training Corporation has introduced a free new Law Enforcement Newsletter. Delivered in electronic format, the newsletter contains a variety of brief training articles in each issue. These articles have been based on portions of the company's extensive library of law enforcement courses and provide practical tips that you can use in your everyday police work. Read these articles and you will want to see the full courses. The Backup is the premier digital training provider for law enforcement. Click here to subscribe or learn more!

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An increase in confidence among service members about military healthcare

The majority of severely wounded warriors say the military health system is on the right track, and is doing all it can and should to provide their care, a new Zogby International survey shows.

Full Story

Article on how DoD is trying to better engage the Inter-Agency during relief operations

But the Pentagon usually is not the agency in charge of these missions. It supports the Department of Homeland Security domestically and the State Department overseas. Most contingencies, however, tend to rely on military equipment because it is functional, rapidly deployable and operated by trained personnel.

Full Story

Overview of the development of a very cool new tool for security personnel.

It looks like a big flashlight - but it's really a nonlethal weapon designed to make you sick.

A look at an increasing trend among companies to limit access to social networking sites.

A report released by MessageLabs , a UK-based security vendor, found that nearly 20 percent of organizations blocked social networking and dating sites in February due to concerns about employee productivity and malware...

Full Story

Report from Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs about PRTs. A long read (56 pages) but builds upon President's praise of PRTs above and provides details of successes and failures.

There are 50 Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs): 25 in Afghanistan under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization International Security Assistance Force (NATO/ISAF), and 25 in Iraq.1 Of these, the United States leads 12 in Afghanistan and 22 in Iraq. PRTs have become an integral part of peacekeeping and stability operations; but they have also been criticized for their mixed effectiveness, over-emphasis on military objectives and priorities, failure to effectively coordinate and communicate with the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and differences in staffing and mission.

Full Story

Tactical Equipment Evaluation

I know and appreciate the value of Kevlar helmets. That said, the military suspension system was a sure fire way for me to get a headache when I had to wear the helmet for more than an hour or two at a time. Putting a cut section of foam padding at the top (affectionately called a "donut") helped, but still, the sweat band and padded net just didn't make it comfortable for me. Enter Gentex and their replacement suspension system. After about five minutes of work and a few minutes of size adjustments, I had replaced the old suspension system in my helmet and now have a comfortable to wear Kevlar.

Full Story Can Be Viewed At:

Recreational Equipment Review

HAIX has been making boots for firefighters for a long name and has earned a great reputation in that arena. Recently they've also started making boots for law enforcement professionals and are making great strides (no pun intended) in that community as well. What strikes me is that, like other boot manufacturers, the HAIX boots for public safety serve more than well as recreational outdoor wear. I got a pair of their Airpower Desert boots for testing and was impressed with their performance. Let's take a better look at their structure, pros and cons.

Full Story Can Be Viewed At:

http://www.borelliconsulting.com/recevals/apparel/haix.htm

A good description of Body Mass Index and how to use it to measure fitness.

One term we hear a lot about recently is "Body Mass Index", or BMI. It seems to be important, but many people are not sure what it is, what it means, or why they should be concerned about it...

Full Story

Fruit juices stir up and flush out accumulated toxins. Their concentrated natural sugars bring about vital energy and speed up the eliminative process. Vegetable juices provide the important elements for rebuilding healthy blood, bones and tissues.

Black Five (http://www.blackfive.net/)
Blackwater Facts (http://www.blackwaterfacts.com/
Blogs of War (http://www.blogsofwar.com/)
Fifteen Months (http://www.fifteenmonths.blogspot.com/)
Iraq Slogger (http://www.iraqslogger.com/)
The Long War Journal (http://www.longwarjournal.org/)
Small Wars Journal (http://www.smallwarsjournal.com/)
The Spy Who Billed Me (http://www.thespywhobilledme.com/)

Interested in Training at Blackwater?

In response to your requests, here is an overview of our five-day pistol course. This is an article from our March alumni newsletter Communiqué, where you will find more info about BW events.

Blackwater Training Center is known worldwide for providing the highest caliber of training to law enforcement, military, and government agencies. Training is conducted at our facilities located in Moyock, North Carolina and Mount Carroll, Illinois along with mobile training at any approved facility.

The Tactical Pistol I course is one of many courses offered by Blackwater. This five day training course emphasizes the development of real life tactical and shooting skills. You will learn and use techniques that will reduce your reaction time, allow you to shoot faster with a higher degree of accuracy and increase your confidence with your handgun. The class predominately uses the Glock 17, but students are encouraged to bring their own handguns.

Article

The Blackwater Tactical Weekly is a free weekly e-publication.

The BTW provides readers valuable information from diverse sources regarding tactical and strategic security issues.

Editor-in-Chief -Gary Jackson (btw@blackwaterusa.com)
Managing Editor - John Wrenn (btw@blackwaterusa.com)
Format Editor - Jennifer Granoff (btw@blackwaterusa.com)
Frank's Review - Frank Borelli (frank@borelliconsulting.com)
Chaplain's Corner - Chaplain D. R. Staton(chpln1@verizon.net)
Advertising - Melissa Cuthbert (MCuthbert@blackwaterusa.com)

Questions regarding Security Consulting or Training at Blackwater (252) 435-2488

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