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Air Force Opens Voting for Spark Tank Ideas

Monday, February 28th, 2022

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFNS) —

Cast a vote for your favorite entry in the Department of the Air Force Spark Tank 2022 competition. Online polling is open through March 4.

Co-produced by the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, Management and Deputy Chief Management Officer Rich Lombardi and AFWERX, Spark Tank is an annual competition designed to unleash a total force innovation capacity reflecting leadership’s continued efforts to empower intrapreneurs, celebrate their problem-solving skills and give them a stage to share their ideas with fellow service members, Department of the Air Force senior leaders, and the world. Only the top 3% of ideas submitted to the Spark Tank campaign are selected to compete as finalists.

Finalists will take the stage March 4 in Orlando, Florida, during the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium, to pitch their innovation ideas to Air Force and Space Force senior leadership and industry experts. The audience poll will select the Fan Favorite and be included in the panel’s votes to determine the Spark Tank winner.

Visit the Spark Tank page to view finalist submissions and vote for the best idea.

Air Force Research Laboratory Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post | 1 Comment »

SCUBAPRO Sunday – Correct Mask Sizing

Sunday, February 27th, 2022

There are a lot of different masks out there. But most of the time, you just go with what is issued to you, which is your standard. Once you are out of training, you can get the mask that works the best for you. Here is the best way to choose a suitable mask for you.

Start by finding a mask that fits your face and your nose. Make sure when you put it on, it fits your face and nose comfortably, and you can pinch your nose if needed to help clear your ears.

When buying a mask, the first issue is determining how it will perform in the water when standing in the diving shop. The best way to answer that question is to go right in. However, there are some indicators you may look for to obtain a good notion.

To see if you can seal the mask on your face, press it against your face and breathe in through your nose. While we’ll get to it, be aware that this can be misleading. To see if the mask suits your face, you must first go through a few steps.

STEP 1: Sit down and look up; from here, lay the mask over your face without the straps and allow gravity to keep it in place.

STEP 2: Have someone inspect the masks outside the seal. The mask should fit the face without covering the hairline or top lip; it’s generally too big if it does. It should always follow the contour of the face and not pull away.

Forward-looking scuba mask red line on the scuba mask’s exterior seal

STEP 3: Have someone inspect the mask’s inner seal; it should sit back behind the eyes and contact the face constantly. It should ideally go around the brows.

STEP 4: Examine your eye location in relation to the lenses’ center. The eyes should be relatively centered in the lenses in the ideal situation. The mask is too tiny if the eyes are wider than the center; if the eyes are very narrow, a smaller or single pane mask may work well.

The first image below displays a somewhat narrowed eye positioning.

The eyes are a little more centered in the second picture with the black mask.

The front eye position on a scuba mask is wide. Black eye position centered on a scuba mask

STEP 5: Inhale deeply through your nose to test the seal. The seal should keep the mask on your face if you look forward.

Front inhalation scuba mask with no strap

STEP 6: Put the strap over your head and tighten it so that it is snug but not too tight. After that, double-check the exterior seal, inside seal, and eye position. Breathe in through your nose one more time to ensure an airtight closure.

STEP 7: Adjust the strap so that the mask frame does not press against any part of your face. Some masks frequently come into contact with the eyes or the bridge of the nose. Any pressure applied to those areas will become uncomfortable or painful over time and should be avoided.

A mask that passes all of these tests is a solid purchase prospect.

What Makes a Seal Bad? “They write a book” Sorry, wrong kind of seal.

Even if you follow all the above procedures, you still can have some issues that can cause leaks. In some cases, a mask will seal in one position but not in another. Ensure the mask stays in place; if the mask strap is too high or too low on the head, the mask may slip out of place, resulting in leaks.

Mask leaking is generally caused by facial hair.

The mask can leak if you grin or have significant smile lines. In addition, if you have a regulator or snorkel in your mouth, the mouth posture may produce a leak. Even with the mouthpiece in place, use a regulator or snorkel mouthpiece to confirm that you have a well-fitting mask while attempting a new mask out of the water.

Posted in Advertiser, Guest Post, Maritime | 1 Comment »

US Army’s 4th SFAB Joins the Fight at Allied Spirit

Saturday, February 26th, 2022

HOHENFELS, Germany – Advisors from the U.S. Army 4th Security Forces Assistance Brigade participated in their first multinational exercise in Europe as they worked alongside their Latvian counterparts during Allied Spirit 22 at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center Jan. 21- Feb. 5.

Approximately 5,000 soldiers from 15 nations including Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States took part at 7th Army Training Command’s JMRC in Allied Spirit 22.

Advisor teams from the 4th SFAB, which is stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, arrived in Europe in September, 2021, and are currently advising land forces in Georgia, Latvia, North Macedonia, Poland and Romania. The SFAB concept was developed as special advisory teams to aid in training and advising armies in specific needs that are developed in close coordination with allies and partners. There are five active duty SFABs and one National Guard SFAB, each with a different geographic focus.

Twenty-one 4th SFAB Soldiers serve as team advisors in warfighting functions such as infantry, engineering, medical, logistics, and field artillery within the Latvian Mechanized Infantry Brigade while deployed to Camp Adazi, Latvia, and integrated into positions across the brigade during exercise Allied Spirit.

“Our main mission here is to improve interoperability between us and our NATO allies and partners, while doing whatever we can to gain understanding of how our allies and partners conduct large-scale combat operations,” said U.S. Army Cpt. Andrew Shanks, a logistics advisor team leader assigned to 4th SFAB, who served as a battle captain within the MIB’s Latvian Combat Service Support Battalion during the exercise.

Unlike the Saber Junction and Combined Resolve series at JMRC, which feature U.S. brigade combat teams in a lead role augmented by allies and partners, Allied Spirit places an allied unit as the main training audience. For the second time since 2017, the Latvian MIB served as the allied brigade headquarters for Allied Spirit.

“This is the first large exercise of its kind in which SFAB teams have integrated with a persistent partner as advisors months prior to the exercise, during the exercise and months after the exercise,” Shanks said.

Allied Spirit 22 was led by the German Army’s 1st Armored Division, whose staff provided command and control over a multinational brigade and other constructive elements. Based in Oldenburg, the division is part of NATO’s 1st German Netherlands Corps.

“The absolute best part of the exercise was working closely with our partners, and as much we could hope to teach, we also learned just as much,” said U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Joshua Kirby, a 4th SFAB advisor who worked with fire support officers in two command posts within the Latvian MIB.

In 2018 the first SFAB was activated in Fort Benning, Georgia. The vision was to take mature and experienced Army leaders and utilize them as small teams of select training advisors trained to deploy worldwide to liaise, support, assess and advise our international partners and allies.

The 4th SFAB initiatives include advising, support, liaising and assessments of military capabilities of allied and partner forces. Building trust through persistent presence aims to improve the security environment and to ensure continued interoperability, 4th SFAB will train with partners and allies to deter aggression and defeat adversaries. The 4th SFAB builds on enduring partnerships in multi-domain areas, extending cooperation throughout the European theater.

“Allied Spirit 22 proved a tremendous opportunity for 4th SFAB to enhance interoperability between allies while building readiness for large scale combat operations. Advisors from the 4th SFAB have established our reputation in Europe as a force multiplying asset since their arrival in October of 2012,” said Col. Robert Born, commander of the 4th SFAB. “The experience gained by our Advisors, in support of the Latvian Mechanized Infantry Brigade, will prove invaluable and dramatically increase the effectiveness of 4th SFAB.”

The U.S. Army’s only overseas training command and combat training center is located in Germany, to provide ready and capable theater assigned U.S. forces but also to facilitate testing and strengthening interoperability with allies and partners to support theater operations and drive readiness within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“There’s only certain times we’re able to go through this Combat Training Center rotation at JMRC,” said Maj. Edward Gibbons, 4th SFAB Team Leader. “For us to do this rotation in a multinational context is significant for our own internal professional development. The lessons we learned, and seeing how other brigades and battalions performed, was a great experience for us.”

The 4th SFAB is scheduled to support multiple scheduled exercises in Albania, Bosnia, Germany, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Poland, and Turkey in spring, 2022.

For more photos, videos and news stories from exercise Allied Spirit, visit: www.dvidshub.net/feature/AlliedSpirit

Follow the 4th SFAB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4SFAB

Follow the 7th Army Training Command on Facebook: www.facebook.com/7thATC

Follow U.S. Army Europe and Africa on Facebook: www.facebook.com/USArmyEURAF

By SPC Nathaniel Gayle

Posted in Army, Forces Focus, Guest Post, Training | Comments Off on US Army’s 4th SFAB Joins the Fight at Allied Spirit

Sitka Arrowhead to Exhibit via PT Defence at Enforce Tac 2022

Friday, February 25th, 2022

PT Defence will be representing SITKA Arrowhead at Enforce Tac 2022. Showcasing at stand 12-544, attendees will have the opportunity to view the current product line – specifically developed for the SOF end-user – to notably include best-in-class Wet Weather Protective (WWP) technical apparel solutions.

The show takes place at the Exhibition Centre, Nuremberg, Germany, March 1-2 2022.

Posted in Advertiser, Enforce Tac, Guest Post | 1 Comment »

FirstSpear Friday Focus: Stratton Fleece Lined Flannels

Friday, February 25th, 2022

Check out the exclusive fleece-lined Stratton Flannel. Get them before they’re gone! Similar in cut and feel to the 4 ounce and 9 ounce flannel weights, this flannel features two oversized chest pockets with button closures to secure your important items, such as your phone. However, a new addition to the flannel is an integral bottle opener. It’s the perfect addition to your EDC line up.

Stratton flannels lovers will still find throughout this stunning shirt smooth metal buttons that will stand up to the test of time.

The Stratton Flannel is machine washable, and slightly oversized to accommodate for a 3% shrinkage after the first wash. Made in the USA with imported cotton. Limited sizes left— get them before we run out. We launch exclusive flannel colorwave each season, so make sure you grab it before it’s gone for good.

To check out the newest flannel, go to www.first-spear.com/stratton_flannel_fleeced_lined.

Posted in Advertiser, Clothing, FS Friday Focus, Guest Post | Comments Off on FirstSpear Friday Focus: Stratton Fleece Lined Flannels

Spartan Brigade showcases Armored Formation On-The-Move Network Pilot

Friday, February 25th, 2022

FORT STEWART, Ga. – The “Spartan Brigade,” 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, showcased the U.S. Army’s Armored Formation On-The-Move Network Pilot on Feb. 8-9 at Fort Stewart. The pilot was in its third and final week when the unit and Army stakeholders conducted a corresponding media day and distinguished visitors day, where they exhibited three equipment sets that leveraged satellite and line-of-sight commercial network prototypes from over 20 industry partners.

Each equipment set enabled different combinations of network communications, both on the move and at the quick halt, to enhance command and control for distributed and dispersed operations and survivability and lethality.

“We know on the future battlefield you have to fight dispersed and distributed,” emphasized Maj. Gen. Charles D. Costanza, Commanding General, 3rd Infantry Division and Fort Stewart. “Even the brigade tactical operations center set up out here [for this pilot], which is scaled way down, is still too big, and so this capability would enable us to fight more distributed and dispersed. And then with the future modernization efforts we are doing with vehicles, for example AMPV [Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle], you put those two capabilities together, I think this is really going to improve our ability to fight and survive on the future battlefield.”

Each week of the pilot a different Spartan Brigade battalion stressed and assessed one of the equipment sets in realistic brigade-designed mission threads, during and after which the Army garnered Soldier feedback and assessment data.

“One of our primary modernization focus areas is really about the network and how we enable the future fight through speed, range and convergence,” said Maj. Gen. Robert M. Collins, Program Executive Officer for Command, Control, Communications-Tactical.

During the media day, a handful of Washington reporters from defense and technology news outlets and a regional news station visited on Tuesday, Feb. 8 to ask questions and talk to Soldiers and Army network acquisition and fielding leaders about the different equipment sets. The following day, modernization stakeholders from various U.S. Army program executive offices, cross-functional teams, training and doctrine commands, science and technology organizations, and additional Army senior leaders had a similar opportunity to talk to Soldiers as well as exchange ideas on the network modernization of armored formations.

The media and distinguished visitors first spoke to Soldiers at a static display that highlighted two of the equipment sets and then rode out to the training area to talk to Soldiers employing the third equipment set.

“They [the Soldiers] truly got to assess each of the equipment sets,” said Col. Terry R. Tillis, commander of the “Spartan Brigade,” 2nd ABCT, 3rd ID. “At the end of the day, if we can’t integrate with current capabilities, and it’s not simple enough for our end user, it is something we don’t want. But the general feedback we have received [is that] it’s easy to use, it is expeditionary, and allows us to keep a much smaller command post signature, which will help us increase our survivability.”

The Soldier feedback combined with qualitative and quantitative assessment data will inform the Army’s Capability Set 25 armored formation network design and concept from the division to the battalion level. The final armored formation OTM network solution set will enable more effective and less predictable offensive and defensive operations and will increase the lethality of the Army’s armored units.

By CPT Sean Minton

Posted in Army, Comms, Guest Post | 1 Comment »

USMC Activates New Littoral Anti-Air Battalion

Thursday, February 24th, 2022

MCB HAWAII, Hawaii —

The Marine Corps administratively activated its first Littoral Anti-Air Battalion, the 3rd LAAB, in a small ceremony aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Feb. 11, 2022.

While the unit is not envisioned to be fully operational for several years, the ceremony marks one of the first steps in the Marine Corps’ Force Design 2030 modernization effort.

The administrative activation of 3rd LAAB sets leadership in place and allows the unit to manage existing facilities and equipment previously managed by the recently de-activated 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. Activation also facilitates wargaming and experimentation to better define unit requirements and employment concepts in support of the Marine Corps’ Force Design modernization goals.

As designed, 3rd LAAB will serve as a subordinate unit to the future 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, or 3rd MLR. While the details of how the LAAB will operate are still in development, the Marine Corps envisions the LAAB providing critical support and protection for small teams of MLR Marines distributed across wide areas of the Pacific region.

“Force Design creates advantages by having Marines think, act and organize in new ways…”

Lt. Col. James Arnold, 3rd LAAB commanding officer

Although 3rd LAAB is a new unit, its mission of air defense, air surveillance and early warning, air control, and forward arming and refueling is not new to the Marine Corps. What is new is how the Marine Corps envisions organizing and employing the battalion.

“Force Design creates advantages by having Marines think, act and organize in new ways,” said Lt. Col. James Arnold, 3rd LAAB commanding officer. “The capabilities formerly only found in the Wing that the LAAB will bring to the MLR commander used to require three different units that directly worked for an aviation commander. As envisioned with Force Design, this capability will now be organic to the tactical ground commander.”

The activation ceremony for 3rd LAAB represents a historical milestone, as the unit inherits the official Marine Corps history and lineage of a Marine anti-air unit that saw action from World War II to Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

The 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Battalion was activated Dec. 19, 1938 and was re-designated as 3rd Defense Battalion in 1939. After the unit relocated in May 1940 to Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, the unit saw action in the attack on Pearl Harbor, and fought in the battles of Midway, Guadalcanal, the Northern Solomon Islands, and Bougainville. It deactivated in 1944 but was later re-activated as the 1st Provisional Marine Guided Missile Battalion in 1961. The unit re-designated as 3rd Light Antiaircraft Missile Battalion, employing its Hawk area defense missile systems as it participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991. The unit de-activated Sept. 30, 1994 as the Marine Corps divested of its medium-range air defense capability.

1st Lt Isaac Liston, 3rd Marine Division

Posted in Forces Focus, Guest Post, USMC | Comments Off on USMC Activates New Littoral Anti-Air Battalion

UF PRO Heading to Nuremberg for Enforce Tac and IWA Trade Fairs; Will Introduce Its Much-Anticipated 2022 Tactical Gear Lineup There

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022

TRZIN, SLOVENIA (23 February 2022)—UF PRO today confirmed it will be exhbiting new products at the first post-pandemic Enforce Tac and IWA Outdoor Classics trade shows in Nuremberg, Germany, next week.

At those events the company will unveil its 2022 lineup of advanced-technology tactical garments. In addition, UF PRO will offer a sneak peek at other gear coming later.

Enforce Tac will be held 1-2 March in Nuremberg’s exhibition centre. UF PRO’s booth will be at Stand 432 in Hall 12.

IWA Outdoor Classics will be held 3-6 March at the same exhibition center in Nuremberg, but the UF PRO booth will have moved to Hall 3, Stand 315.

UF PRO, which makes cutting-edge tactical gear for military and law-enforcement personnel worldwide, plans to introduce at the two trade shows an impressive roster of innovative field apparel and related gear that includes:

M2 Parka. This reimagining of the iconic M65 parka protects against rain and wind, and is nearly 100% noiseless. UF PRO is positioning it as an all-in-one survival jacket that combines functionality with convenience and that is equally suited for use in foul weather or for everyday wear.

Striker XT Gen.3 Combat Shirt. Carrying forward UF PRO’s tradition of excellence in design and construction, the shirt looks to be a popular item thanks to its super-stretchy, fast-drying material in the torso and moisture-wicking 3D mesh fabric.

Striker XT Gen.3 Combat Pants. Tactical trousers that are set to impress with their improved knee protection plus high-comfort venting and Waist/Flex System-adjusted fit.

Striker FR Gen.2 BDU. This fire-resistant battle dress uniform is designed to significantly reduce the risk of life-threatening injury from flames and intense heat caused by improvised explosive devices as they detonate and by proximity to flashover fires.

Additionally, UF PRO will debut its new Delta Winter line of garments built from a novel water-repellent and windproof softshell material that promises improved breathability, better thermal insulation, and greater tactile-pleasing softness. The line consists of:

Delta Ace Plus Gen.3 Winter Jacket for wearing while engaged in physically demanding activities at freezing temperatures.

Ace Gen.2 Winter Combat Shirt featuring a smart combination of thermal insulation and air vents to support ops in frigid environments.

Delta Eagle Gen.3 Softshell Jacket designed for staying warm while preventing overheating on cool, damp, windy days.

Delta OL 4.0 Tactical Winter Jacket sheds nearly all of the bulk normally associated with outerwear intended use in sub-zero temperatures.

Delta OL 4.0 Tactical Winter Pants fit precisely without restricting the wearer’s freedom of movement while also providing impressive warmth.

For more information about UF PRO products, please visit the company’s website at: www.ufpro.com

Posted in Advertiser, Enforce Tac, Guest Post, IWA | Comments Off on UF PRO Heading to Nuremberg for Enforce Tac and IWA Trade Fairs; Will Introduce Its Much-Anticipated 2022 Tactical Gear Lineup There