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CAF international bases, staging areas, and fighting formations

99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hielt man für Ufos aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
'ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn es so wär
Dabei war'n da am Horizont
Nur 99 Luftballons

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If you are not supply what are you? A trucker has to know to count.
 
6V666 said:
If you are not supply what are you? A trucker has to know to count.

I am willing to bet that someone in your trade should probably know how to write properly.
 
For land bases near current trouble spots there's the British Overseas Territories -sovereign base areas of Dhekelia and Akrotiri on Cyprus and the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean (currently leased to the United States and used as an anchorage for Military Sealift Command MPS). There's also the French islands of Reunion and Mayotte in the Indian Ocean but Mayotte is small and Reunion has occasional volcanic eruptions.  There's French and US military bases at Djibouti on the Red Sea.
 
Tom Billesley said:
For land bases near current trouble spots there's the British Overseas Territories -sovereign base areas of Dhekelia and Akrotiri on Cyprus and the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean (currently leased to the United States and used as an anchorage for Military Sealift Command MPS). There's also the French islands of Reunion and Mayotte in the Indian Ocean but Mayotte is small and Reunion has occasional volcanic eruptions.  There's French and US military bases at Djibouti on the Red Sea.

Its probably not good to be on an island, 2012 is coming...now where did I put my tinfoil hat...there it is  :Tin-Foil-Hat:

If we built an aircraft carrier, wouldn't that provide the much needed capability.
Edit: Or a hybrid of the Aircraft Carrier and Helicopter Carrier.
 
captloadie said:
I hate to burst any of those 99 Red Balloons, but from what I have heard, they are basically picking up the 4 or 5 positions that were in Spangdhelam and moving them to Koln-Bonn. Even the outcan positions that were advertised this year said "position location TBD". Other developments and closures are happening, which will lead to even fewer Outcan positions  :'(

I believe you are correct. Spangdahlem is a great place geographically but it is not the best logistically for many reasons, still I would have loved to have had more than six months there. From what I know it is being moved.

 
Article from thestar.com - 5 Jun 2012 - Link <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1205776--canada-s-military-hunting-for-seven-new-foreign-bases?bn=1">Here</a>

Canada’s military hunting for seven new foreign bases
Allan Woods
Ottawa Bureau
5 June 2012

OTTAWA—The military is hunting for seven strategically placed nations willing to host a network of Canadian bases aimed at cutting costs and boosting response times to future wars, disasters and humanitarian crises.

Two of those bases — in Germany and Kuwait — have already materialized, but the full extent of the plan to create overseas beachheads for military planes, ships and equipment has not been previously acknowledged.

Defence officials and diplomats, armed with a $500,000 budget, are now working to finalize agreements with governments in some of the most volatile parts of the world.

When the collection of operational support hubs is complete, Canada’s military will also have a permanent footprint in the Latin America and Caribbean region, on both sides of the African continent, in the swath of countries marked by the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as in Southeast Asia.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said last week that Canada is actively seeking a deal to set up one of those hubs in Singapore.

The bases will form dots along the line of what military planners refer to as the Arc of Instability — the parts of the world where future conflicts are deemed most likely to occur.

“It is expected that hubs will be capable of supporting a wide variety of operations including combat missions, peace support operations, disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and non-combat evacuation,” says a briefing note prepared last year for the Canadian Forces’ senior commanders.

The Star obtained the nearly 200 pages of material under the Access to Information Act.

Orders to start the search came in November 2008 from Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk. The bases will help military logisticians cut expenses by storing equipment and supplies at the overseas hubs. That way, resources will already be in place when they are needed for operations.

The documents suggest Ottawa put aside more than $500,000 for what’s known as engagement and reconnaissance — or paying for officials to travel the world, woo potential host nations and investigate on-the-ground challenges the Forces might face.

A skeleton staff of soldiers and civilians will work on site to set up local contracts and sustain the base on a “caretaker status.” But operations will be able to quickly scale up to a “cadre level” with a small permanent staff for limited operations, such as humanitarian assistance.

Operations like the Afghan war or the seven-month bombing campaign in Libya would mean an even greater expansion of the base to hold and process hundreds or even thousands of military personnel and their equipment. The agreement with Kuwait allows for up to 3,000 Canadian troops to enter the country.

The German hub at the Cologne-Bonn International Airport was established earlier this year following the military’s expulsion from Camp Mirage in the United Arab Emirates. Before that, about 100 Canadian military personnel were based in Spangdahlem, 150 kilometres south of Cologne, since April 2009.

The arrangement was saving the government $6 million each quarter while costing just $328,000 for operations and maintenance, the documents state.

That level of cost-savings will be vital if the Canadian Forces hope to maintain its record of operations and interventions (including the 2006 evacuation of citizens from Lebanon, responding to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and conducting anti-piracy missions off the Horn of Africa) in an age of austerity and budget cutbacks.

But the request to help Canada launch low-cost, quick-reaction military missions has not won over everyone. After the deal to operate out of the Cologne airport was announced in February, the local mayor complained that he was never consulted and said the added noise of military aircraft in the skies above his city would be unwelcome.

The Defence Department documents note that Canadian military and foreign ministry officials also ran into difficulties when they approached the government of an East African nation — likely either Kenya or Tanzania — about hosting a military hub.

Local officials were suspicious and demanded to know Ottawa’s motivation for moving into the region.

“The team articulated that there is no Canadian Forces intent to establish a base within, merely to establish a capability that would be used when and if required,” says the report, written by Navy Capt. Alan Kerr.

“The team also stressed that no plans exist for Canadian actions in East Africa that would require the activation of a hub.”

An unnamed West African government that was approached about hosting a hub had the opposite reaction, seeing the potential to tap into Canadian military expertise with joint exercises, training and operations. Kerr recommended warships and aircraft visit the country to “demonstrate our interest and resolve.”

Officials with the Canadian Operational Support Command (CANOSCOM) declined an interview request and did not respond to a list of questions submitted last week. A public affairs officer said an official response would take time to prepare because of the sensitive diplomatic nature of the government’s plans.

There is no indication in the Defence Department documents when the network of hubs is to be completed.
 
Bump with the (related) latest from MERX:
.... On behalf of the Department of National Defence, a Request For Standing Offers has been issued for the provision of logistics support services to support deployed naval vessels assigned to the Royal Canadian Navy, and any deployed support staffs, or other Canadian Forces elements deployed on an "if and when requested" basis within the following geographical areas:

- Zone 1: United States West Coast
- Zone 2: Mexican and Central American West Coast
- Zone 3: South American West Coast
- Zone 4: South Pacific Ocean Coast
- Zone 5: Japanese and South Korean Coasts
- Zone 6: Chinese Coasts
- Zone 7: South West Pacific Coasts
- Zone 8: Indian Ocean Coasts.

Goods and services may be requested in various ports throughout the specified geographical areas.

Up to eight National Individual Standing Offers (one per Zone) may be established as a result of this solicitation ....
 
ok....that's that 1/2 of the world.....what about the rest of it?
 
GAP said:
ok....that's that 1/2 of the world.....what about the rest of it?
The US is "pivoting" towards the Pacific (while now renouncing the term "pivoting" [See Small Wars' Journal,  Rebalancing the US Military for 21st Century Threats] ), so we're focusing on Asia. Keep it simple; no need to drag in strategic forecasts on future threats, because they tend to focus on the Middle East and/or Africa.....and those are just too messy.
 
Well it will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Will it be like our Joint Support ships and Maritime special ops unit, neither of which seemed to launch?
 
Bumped w/the latest - Japan's in for a base, according to the PM ....
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, today announced that they have reached an agreement in principle on a treaty that will provide a framework for logistics support between the Canadian Armed Forces and Japan’s Self-Defence Force.

“Canada and Japan enjoy excellent bilateral relations, underpinned by strong cooperation in the areas of commerce and security,” said the Prime Minister.  “Our countries took an important step today towards strengthening bilateral defence relations. We reached an agreement in principle on a mutual logistics treaty that will facilitate the sharing of basic goods and services between Canadian and Japanese Forces, wherever they are working together in the world.”

The treaty - which will be known as the Canada-Japan Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement - will facilitate future defence cooperation between the two countries. It will allow the Canadian Armed Forces and Japan’s Self-Defence Force to exchange basic goods and services such as fuel, water and facilities wherever both forces are cooperating, including during common training exercises, peacekeeping missions, and humanitarian assistance operations ....
A bit more in the backgrounder here.
 
Not quite as nice as a posting to Jamaica, but not to shabby either...

Jon
 
Are the bases actually minimally staffed/static storage....what's to stop pilfering?
 
The Japan agreement is in the wrong thread.  It is only an agreement for cooperation should we find ourselves working together in a common theatre of operations.  From the backgrounder:

While the treaty would serve to shape and add momentum to bilateral defence relations, it does not involve the stationing of troops in either country.

Don't be expecting too many Japanese postings from this.
 
MCG said:
The Japan agreement is in the wrong thread.  It is only an agreement for cooperation should we find ourselves working together in a common theatre of operations.  From the backgrounder:

Don't be expecting too many Japanese postings from this.

True but it could be a stepping stone for something down the road, get the foot in the door and opportunity will create it self.
 
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