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Category: Natural Disasters

  • MIL-OSI Security: Lincoln Man Sentenced to 7 Years for Felon in Possession of a Firearm

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Jovan Travis, age 38, of Lincoln, Nebraska was sentenced on January 23, 2025, in federal court in Lincoln for one count of felon in possession of a firearm. United States District Judge Susan M. Bazis sentenced Travis to a total of 92 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Travis’ release from prison, he will begin a 2-year term of supervised release.

    On January 12, 2023, an Omaha Police Department (“OPD”) officer was contacted by a Confidential Informant (“CI”) regarding illegal narcotics sales.  The officer had the CI arrange a controlled purchase of pills from Travis.  On that same day, the CI and Travis met for the transaction. However, at the time of the buy, Travis advised the CI that he did not have the pills yet.  Instead, he offered the CI a handgun for $300, which the CI purchased using the task force money.  The handgun was reported stolen out of Illinois.

    Travis was previously convicted of multiple crimes that were punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

    This case was investigated by the Omaha Police Department.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: Gran Tierra Energy Inc. Reports Robust Reserves Replacement and Record High Reserves

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Sixth Consecutive Year of 1P Total Reserves Growth Resulting in Highest Total Reserves in Company History
    • Delivered 702% 1P and 1,249% 2P Reserves Replacement Including Recent Acquisition
    • Total Liquids 1P and 2P Reserves Increased to 128 and 217 Million Barrels of Oil Equivalent with 1P and 2P Reserve Life Index increasing to 10 and 17 Years, Respectively
    • Added Total Reserves of 89 MMBOE 1P, 159 MMBOE 2P and 191 MMBOE 3P
    • Net Present Value Before Tax Discounted at 10% of $2.0 Billion (1P), $3.2 Billion (2P), and $4.5 Billion (3P)
    • Net Asset Value per Share of $35.24 Before Tax and $19.53 After Tax (1P), and $71.16 Before Tax and $41.05 After Tax (2P)
    • Strong Finding, Development & Acquisition Costs of $4.49 (1P), $2.52 (2P) and $2.10 (3P), Excluding Changes in Future Development Costs

    CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (“Gran Tierra” or the “Company”) (NYSE American:GTE)(TSX:GTE)(LSE:GTE), an independent international energy company focused on oil and natural gas exploration and production in Canada, Colombia and Ecuador, today announced the Company’s 2024 year-end reserves as evaluated by the Company’s independent qualified reserves evaluator McDaniel & Associates Consultants Ltd. (“McDaniel”) in a report with an effective date of December 31, 2024 (the “GTE McDaniel Reserves Report”).

    All dollar amounts are in United States (“U.S.”) dollars and all reserves and production volumes are on a working interest before royalties (“WI”) basis (net). Reserves are expressed in barrels (“bbl”), bbl of oil equivalent (“boe”) or million boe (“MMBOE”), while production is expressed in boe per day (“BOEPD”), unless otherwise indicated. The following reserves categories are discussed in this press release: Proved Developed Producing (“PDP”), Proved (“1P”), 1P plus Probable (“2P”) and 2P plus Possible (“3P”).

    Gary Guidry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gran Tierra, commented: “2024 was another strong year underpinned by multiple exploration discoveries in Ecuador, continued success in managing our Colombian assets, and our new country entry into Canada. The organic and inorganic portfolio growth creates a future runway of highly economic development opportunities in proven plays with access to infrastructure. Gran Tierra’s entry into Canada fits our corporate strategy of focusing on proven hydrocarbon basins which have access to established infrastructure and competitive fiscal regimes. Furthermore, with the addition of Canada, Gran Tierra is well positioned for long-term commodity cycles with approximately 20% of its production, 23% 1P reserves and 26% 2P reserves now attributed to conventional natural gas and shale gas.

    We continue to generate shareholder value through focusing on portfolio longevity and executing on our mandate of growing cash flow and reserves, while maintaining low decline rates through production, development and enhanced oil recovery techniques. Gran Tierra has assembled a diversified, high-quality asset base across multiple attractive jurisdictions and combined with our management team’s strong track record of accretive acquisitions and value creation, we look forward to a successful 2025.

    The success of 2024 is reflected in yet another year of over 100% reserve replacement on a Proved basis. Gran Tierra achieved strong 702% (1P), 1,249% (2P) and 1,500% (3P) reserves replacement through exploration success in Colombia and Ecuador and our entry into Canada. This success resulted in record highs for the Company’s year-end 1P, 2P and 3P oil and gas reserves.”

    *See the below tables for the definitions of net asset values per share.

    Highlights

    2024 Year-End Reserves and Values

    Before Tax (as of December 31, 2024) Units 1P 2P 3P
    Reserves MMBOE 167   293   385  
    Net Present Value at 10% Discount (“NPV10”) $ million 1,950   3,242   4,517  
    Net Debt1 $ million (682 ) (682 ) (682 )
    Net Asset Value (NPV10 less Net Debt) (“NAV”) $ million 1,268   2,560   3,835  
    Outstanding Shares million 35.97   35.97   35.97  
    NAV per Share $/share 35.24   71.16   106.62  
    After Tax (as of December 31, 2024) Units 1P 2P 3P
    Reserves MMBOE 167   293   385  
    NPV10 $ million 1,385   2,159   2,930  
    Net Debt1 $ million (682 ) (682 ) (682 )
    NAV $ million 703   1,477   2,248  
    Outstanding Shares million 35.97   35.97   35.97  
    NAV per Share $/share 19.53   41.05   62.48  

    1Based on estimated unaudited 2024 year-end Net Debt of $682 million comprised of Senior Notes of $787 million (gross) less cash and cash equivalents of $104 million, prepared in accordance with GAAP.

    • As of December 31, 2024, Gran Tierra achieved:
      • Before Tax NAV of $1.3 billion (1P), $2.6 billion (2P), and $3.8 billion (3P)
      • After Tax NAV of $0.7 billion (1P), $1.5 billion (2P), and $2.2 billion (3P)
      • Strong reserves replacement ratios* of:
        • 702% 1P, with 1P reserves additions of 89 MMBOE
        • 1,249% 2P, with 2P reserves additions of 159 MMBOE
        • 1,500% 3P, with 3P reserves additions of 191 MMBOE
      • Finding, development and acquisition costs (“FD&A”), including change in future development costs (“FDC”), on a per boe basis of $9.74 (1P), $8.11 (2P) and $6.92 (3P).
      • FD&A costs excluding change in FDC, on a per boe basis of $4.49 (1P), $2.52 (2P) and $2.10 (3P).
    • Canada now represents 46% of 1P and 51% of 2P reserves compared to Gran Tierra’s total reserves.
    • FDC are forecast by McDaniel to be $1,029 million for 1P reserves and $1,809 million for 2P reserves. Gran Tierra’s 2025 base case mid-point guidance for cash flow** of $280 million is equivalent to 27% of such 1P FDC and 15% of 2P FDC, which highlights the Company’s potential ability to fund future development capital. Increases in FDC relative to 2023 year-end reflect that the GTE McDaniel Reserves Report now assigns Gran Tierra 227 Proved Undeveloped future drilling locations (up from 95 at 2023 year-end) and 441 Proved plus Probable Undeveloped future drilling locations (up from 147 at 2023 year-end).

    *The reserve replacement ratios were calculated based on an annualized production figure based on November and December for Canada plus Colombia and Ecuador actual production, in each case, for the fourth quarter of 2024. The total production rate was 46,619 BOEPD.
    ** “Cash flow” refers to GAAP line item “net cash provided by operating activities”. Gran Tierra’s 2025 base case guidance is based on a forecast 2025 average Brent oil price of $75/bbl. See Gran Tierra’s press release dated January 23, 2025 for additional information regarding cash flow guidance referred to herein. This forecast price used in Gran Tierra’s forecast is lower than the 2025 McDaniel Brent price forecast.

    GTE McDaniel Reserves Report

    All reserves values, future net revenue and ancillary information contained in this press release have been prepared by McDaniel and calculated in compliance with Canadian National Instrument 51-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (“NI 51-101”) and the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (“COGEH”) and derived from the GTE McDaniel Reserves Report, unless otherwise expressly stated.

    Future Net Revenue

    Future net revenue reflects McDaniel’s forecast of revenue estimated using forecast prices and costs, arising from the anticipated development and production of reserves, after the deduction of royalties, operating costs, development costs and abandonment and reclamation costs but before consideration of indirect costs such as administrative, overhead and other miscellaneous expenses. The estimate of future net revenue below does not necessarily represent fair market value.

    Consolidated Properties at December 31, 2024
    Proved (1P) Total Future Net Revenue ($ million)
    Forecast Prices and Costs
      Sales Revenue Total Royalties Operating Costs Future Development Capital Abandonment and Reclamation Costs Future Net Revenue Before Future Taxes Future Taxes Future Net Revenue After Future Taxes*
    2025-2029
    (5 Years)    		 5,139 (981 ) (1,385 ) (1,025 ) (27 ) 1,721 (491 ) 1,230
    Remainder 3,617 (578 ) (1,549 ) (4 ) (377 ) 1,109 (370 ) 739
    Total (Undiscounted) 8,756 (1,559 ) (2,934 ) (1,029 ) (404 ) 2,830 (861 ) 1,969
    Total (Discounted @ 10%)           1,950 (565 ) 1,385
    Consolidated Properties at December 31, 2024
    Proved Plus Probable (2P) Total Future Net Revenue ($ million)
    Forecast Prices and Costs
    Years Sales Revenue Total Royalties Operating Costs Future Development Capital Abandonment and Reclamation Costs Future Net Revenue Before Future Taxes Future Taxes Future Net Revenue After Future Taxes*
    2025-2029
    (5 Years)    		 6,620 (1,297 ) (1,583 ) (1,438 ) (25 ) 2,277 (791 ) 1,486
    Remainder 8,685 (1,529 ) (2,967 ) (371 ) (420 ) 3,398 (1,082 ) 2,316
    Total (Undiscounted) 15,305 (2,826 ) (4,550 ) (1,809 ) (445 ) 5,675 (1,873 ) 3,802
    Total (Discounted @ 10%)           3,242 (1,083 ) 2,159
    Consolidated Properties at December 31, 2024
    Proved Plus Probable Plus Possible (3P) Total Future Net Revenue ($ million)
    Forecast Prices and Costs
    Years Sales Revenue Total Royalties Operating Costs Future Development Capital Abandonment and Reclamation Costs Future Net Revenue Before Future Taxes Future Taxes Future Net Revenue After Future Taxes*
    2025-2029
    (5 Years)    		 7,490 (1,467 ) (1,672 ) (1,563 ) (25 ) 2,763 (1,015 ) 1,748
    Remainder 13,422 (2,598 ) (4,106 ) (519 ) (439 ) 5,760 (1,907 ) 3,853
    Total (Undiscounted) 20,912 (4,065 ) (5,778 ) (2,082 ) (464 ) 8,523 (2,922 ) 5,601
    Total (Discounted @ 10%)           4,517 (1,587 ) 2,930

    *The after-tax future net revenue of the Company’s oil and gas properties reflects the tax burden on the properties on a stand-alone basis. It does not consider the corporate tax situation, or tax planning. It does not provide an estimate of the value at the Company level which may be significantly different. The Company’s financial statements, when available for the year ended December 31, 2024, should be consulted for information at the Company level.

    Total Company WI Reserves

    The following table summarizes Gran Tierra’s NI 51-101 and COGEH compliant reserves in aggregate for Colombia, Ecuador and Canada derived from the GTE McDaniel Reserves Report calculated using forecast oil and gas prices and costs.

      Light and Medium Crude Oil Heavy Crude Oil Tight Oil Conventional Natural Gas Shale Gas Natural Gas Liquids 2024 Year-End
    Reserves Category Mbbl* Mbbl* Mbbl* MMcf** MMcf** Mbbl* Mboe***
    Proved Developed Producing 25,539 20,631 329 123,192 2,302 14,464 81,877
    Proved Developed Non-Producing 1,864 1,256 18 5,769 47 746 4,852
    Proved Undeveloped 26,529 22,491 3,040 81,541 16,785 11,476 79,923
    Total Proved 53,932 44,378 3,387 210,502 19,134 26,686 166,652
    Total Probable 30,480 27,532 6,092 196,621 32,869 24,036 126,388
    Total Proved plus Probable 84,412 71,910 9,479 407,123 52,003 50,722 293,040
    Total Possible 27,606 29,916 2,848 99,333 14,506 12,317 91,659
    Total Proved plus Probable plus Possible 112,018 101,826 12,327 506,456 66,509 63,039 384,699

    *Mbbl (thousand bbl of oil).
    **MMcf (million cubic feet).
    ***Mboe (thousand boe).

    Net Present Value Summary

    Gran Tierra’s reserves were evaluated using the average of three independent qualified reserves evaluators’ commodity price forecasts at January 1, 2025 (McDaniel, Sproule and GLJ). See “Forecast Prices” for more information. It should not be assumed that the net present value of cash flow estimated by McDaniel represents the fair market value of Gran Tierra’s reserves.

    Total Company Discount Rate
    ($ millions) 0% 5% 10% 15% 20%
    Before Tax          
    Proved Developed Producing 1,288,263 1,269,021 1,143,703 1,032,260 941,153
    Proved Developed Non-Producing 119,025 98,908 84,070 72,745 63,864
    Proved Undeveloped 1,422,638 1,002,220 722,242 527,670 387,664
    Total Proved 2,829,926 2,370,149 1,950,015 1,632,675 1,392,681
    Total Probable 2,842,656 1,852,742 1,292,189 945,677 717,447
    Total Proved plus Probable 5,672,582 4,222,891 3,242,204 2,578,352 2,110,128
    Total Possible 2,848,360 1,835,802 1,274,763 931,210 706,630
    Total Proved plus Probable plus Possible 8,520,942 6,058,693 4,516,967 3,509,562 2,816,758
    After Tax          
    Proved Developed Producing 984,109 1,012,837 921,809 835,838 764,272
    Proved Developed Non-Producing 82,049 67,860 57,418 49,460 43,223
    Proved Undeveloped 902,725 603,616 405,947 269,984 173,307
    Total Proved 1,968,883 1,684,313 1,385,174 1,155,282 980,802
    Total Probable 1,831,204 1,148,223 773,804 548,846 404,333
    Total Proved plus Probable 3,800,087 2,832,536 2,158,978 1,704,128 1,385,135
    Total Possible 1,799,304 1,130,855 770,970 554,619 415,175
    Total Proved plus Probable plus Possible 5,599,391 3,963,391 2,929,948 2,258,747 1,800,310

    Reserve Life Index (Years)

      December 31, 2024*    
    Total Proved 10    
    Total Proved plus Probable 17    
    Total Proved plus Probable plus Possible 23    

    * Calculated using an annualized WI production figure based on November and December 2024 for Canada plus Colombia and Ecuador actual average WI production, in each case, for the fourth quarter of 2024. The total production rate was 46,619 BOEPD.

    Future Development Costs

    FDC reflects McDaniel’s best estimate of what it will cost to bring the Proved Undeveloped and Probable Undeveloped reserves on production. Changes in forecast FDC occur annually as a result of development activities, acquisition and disposition activities, and changes in capital cost estimates based on improvements in well design and performance, as well as changes in service costs. FDC for 2P reserves increased to $1,809 million at year-end 2024 from $923 million at year-end 2023. The increase in FDC in 2024 was predominantly attributed to the acquisition of i3 Energy plc in 2024.

    ($ millions) Total Proved Total Proved Plus Probable Total Proved Plus Probable Plus Possible
    2025 141 147 153
    2026 343 379 387
    2027 291 380 388
    2028 135 311 358
    2029 115 221 277
    Remainder 4 371 519
    Total (undiscounted) 1,029 1,809 2,082
    ($ millions) Proved Proved plus Probable Proved plus Probable plus Possible
    Acordionero 175 175 175
    Chaza Block (Costayaco & Moqueta) 138 163 163
    Suroriente 130 213 292
    Ecuador 212 331 428
    Canada – Central 179 378 378
    Canada – Simonette 106 238 238
    Other 89 311 408
    Total FDC Costs (undiscounted) 1,029 1,809 2,082

    Finding, Development and Acquisition Costs

    Reserves (Mboe)   Year Ended December 31, 2024
    Proved Developed Producing 81,877
    Total Proved   166,653
    Total Proved plus Probable   293,041
    Total Proved plus Probable plus Possible   384,700
    Capital Expenditures ($000s)  
    – including acquired properties 400,532

    Finding, Development and Acquisition Costs, Excluding FDC*

    Year Ended December 31, 2024
    Proved Developed Producing    
    Reserve Additions (Mboe)   50,933
    FD&A Costs ($/boe)   7.87

    Finding, Development and Acquisition Costs, Including FDC*

    Year Ended December 31, 2024
    Proved Developed Producing    
    Change in FDC ($000s)   18,319
    Reserve Additions (Mboe)   50,933
    FD&A Costs ($/boe)   8.23

    Finding, Development and Acquisition Costs, Excluding FDC*

    Year Ended December 31, 2024
    Total Proved    
    Reserve Additions (Mboe)   89,210
    FD&A Costs ($/boe)   4.49

    Finding, Development and Acquisition Costs, Including FDC*

    Year Ended December 31, 2024
    Total Proved    
    Change in FDC ($000s)   468,518
    Reserve Additions (Mboe)   89,210
    FD&A Costs ($/boe)   9.74

    Finding, Development and Acquisition Costs, Excluding FDC*

    Year Ended December 31, 2024
    Total Proved plus Probable    
    Reserve Additions (Mboe)   158,662
    FD&A Costs ($/boe)   2.52

    Finding, Development and Acquisition Costs, Including FDC*

    Year Ended December 31, 2024
    Total Proved plus Probable    
    Change in FDC ($000s)   886,720
    Reserve Additions (Mboe)   158,662
    FD&A Costs ($/boe)   8.11

    Finding, Development and Acquisition Costs, Excluding FDC*

    Year Ended December 31, 2024
    Total Proved plus Probable plus Possible  
    Reserve Additions (Mboe)   190,562
    FD&A Costs ($/boe)   2.10

    Finding, Development and Acquisition Costs, Including FDC*

    Year Ended December 31, 2024
    Total Proved plus Probable plus Possible  
    Change in FDC ($000s)   917,617
    Reserve Additions (Mboe)   190,562
    FD&A Costs ($/boe)   6.92

    *In all cases, the FD&A number is calculated by dividing the identified capital expenditures by the applicable reserves additions both before and after changes in FDC costs. Both FD&A costs take into account reserves revisions during the year on a per boe basis. The aggregate of the exploration and development costs incurred in the financial year and the changes during that year in estimated future development costs may not reflect the total FD&A costs related to reserves additions for that year.

    Forecast Prices

    The pricing assumptions used in estimating NI 51-101 and COGEH compliant reserves data disclosed above with respect to net present values of future net revenue are set forth below. The price forecasts are based on an average of three independent qualified reserves evaluators’ commodity price forecasts at January 1, 2025 (McDaniel, Sproule and GLJ). All three of these companies are independent qualified reserves evaluators and auditors pursuant to NI 51-101.

      Brent Crude Oil WTI Crude Oil Alberta AECO Gas Foreign Exchange Rate
    Year $US/bbl $US/bbl $CAD/MMBtu $US/$CAD
      January 1, 2025 January 1, 2025 January 1, 2025 January 1, 2025
    2025 $75.58 $71.58 $2.36 0.712
    2026 $78.51 $74.48 $3.33 0.728
    2027 $79.89 $75.81 $3.48 0.743
    2028 $81.82 $77.66 $3.69 0.743
    2029 $83.46 $79.22 $3.76 0.743

    Contact Information

    For investor and media inquiries please contact:

    Gary Guidry, Chief Executive Officer
    Ryan Ellson, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
    +1-403-265-3221
    info@grantierra.com

    About Gran Tierra Energy Inc.

    Gran Tierra Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, is an independent international energy company currently focused on oil and natural gas exploration and production in Canada, Colombia and Ecuador. The Company is currently developing its existing portfolio of assets in Canada, Colombia and Ecuador and will continue to pursue additional new growth opportunities that would further strengthen the Company’s portfolio. The Company’s common stock trades on the NYSE American, the Toronto Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GTE. Additional information concerning Gran Tierra is available at www.grantierra.com. Except to the extent expressly stated otherwise, information on the Company’s website or accessible from our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference into and should not be considered part of this press release. Investor inquiries may be directed to info@grantierra.com or (403) 265-3221.

    Gran Tierra’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) are available on the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov. Gran Tierra’s Canadian securities regulatory filings are available on SEDAR+ at http://www.sedarplus.ca and UK regulatory filings are available on the National Storage Mechanism website at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism. 

    FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS ADVISORY

    This press release contains opinions, forecasts, projections, and other statements about future events or results that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and financial outlook and forward looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking statements”), which can be identified by such terms as “expect,” “plan,” “can,” “will,” “should,” “guidance,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “signal,” “progress” and “believes,” derivations thereof and similar terms identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the Company’s expectations regarding its anticipated benefits of its recent acquisition of i3 Energy plc (“i3 Energy”), estimated quantities and net present values of reserves, capital program, and ability to fund the Company’s exploration program over a period of time, statements about the Company’s financial and performance targets and other forecasts or expectations regarding, or dependent on, the Company’s business outlook for 2025 and beyond, capital spending plans and any benefits of the changes in our capital program or expenditures, well performance, production, the restart of production and workover activity, future development costs, infrastructure schedules, waterflood impacts and plans, growth of referenced reserves, forecast prices, five-year expected oil sales and cash flow and net revenue, estimated recovery factors, liquidity and access to capital, the Company’s strategies and results thereof, the Company’s expectations regarding organic and inorganic growth opportunities, the Company’s operations including planned operations and developments, disruptions to operations and the decline in industry conditions, and expectations regarding environmental commitments.

    The forward-looking statements contained in this press release reflect several material factors and expectations and assumptions of Gran Tierra including, without limitation, that Gran Tierra will continue to conduct its operations in a manner consistent with its current expectations, the ability of Gran Tierra to successfully integrate the assets and operations of i3 Energy or realize the anticipated benefits and operating synergies expected from the acquisition of i3 Energy, the accuracy of testing and production results and seismic data, pricing and cost estimates (including with respect to commodity pricing and exchange rates), rig availability, the effects of drilling down-dip, the effects of waterflood and multi-stage fracture stimulation operations, the extent and effect of delivery disruptions, and the general continuance of current or, where applicable, assumed operational, regulatory and industry conditions in Canada, Colombia and Ecuador and areas of potential expansion, and the ability of Gran Tierra to execute its business and operational plans in the manner currently planned. Gran Tierra believes the material factors, expectations and assumptions reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable at this time, but no assurance can be given that these factors, expectations and assumptions will prove to be correct.

    Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements in this press release are: certain of Gran Tierra’s operations are located in South America and unexpected problems can arise due to guerilla activity, strikes, local blockades or protests; technical difficulties and operational difficulties may arise which impact the production, transport or sale of Gran Tierra’s products; other disruptions to local operations; global and regional changes in the demand, supply, prices, differentials or other market conditions affecting oil and natural gas, including inflation and changes resulting from a global health crisis, geopolitical events, including the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza region, or from the imposition or lifting of crude oil production quotas or other actions that might be imposed by OPEC and other producing countries and resulting company or third-party actions in response to such changes; changes in commodity prices, including volatility or a prolonged decline in these prices relative to historical or future expected levels; the risk that current global economic and credit conditions may impact oil and natural prices and oil and natural gas consumption more than Gran Tierra currently predicts, which could cause Gran Tierra to further modify its strategy and capital spending program; prices and markets for oil and natural gas are unpredictable and volatile; the effect of hedges, the accuracy of productive capacity of any particular field; geographic, political and weather conditions can impact the production, transport or sale of Gran Tierra’s products; the ability of Gran Tierra to execute its business plan, which may include acquisitions, and realize expected benefits from current or future initiatives; the risk that unexpected delays and difficulties in developing currently owned properties may occur; the ability to replace reserves and production and develop and manage reserves on an economically viable basis; the accuracy of testing and production results and seismic data, pricing and cost estimates (including with respect to commodity pricing and exchange rates); the risk profile of planned exploration activities; the effects of drilling down-dip; the effects of waterflood and multi-stage fracture stimulation operations; the extent and effect of delivery disruptions, equipment performance and costs; actions by third parties; the timely receipt of regulatory or other required approvals for Gran Tierra’s operating activities; the failure of exploratory drilling to result in commercial wells; unexpected delays due to the limited availability of drilling equipment and personnel; volatility or declines in the trading price of Gran Tierra’s common stock or bonds; the risk that Gran Tierra does not receive the anticipated benefits of government programs, including government tax refunds; Gran Tierra’s ability to comply with financial covenants in its credit agreement and indentures and make borrowings under its credit agreement; and the risk factors detailed from time to time in Gran Tierra’s periodic reports filed with the SEC, including, without limitation, under the caption “Risk Factors” in Gran Tierra’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed on February 20, 2024 and its other filings with the SEC. These filings are available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

    Statements relating to “reserves” are also deemed to be forward-looking statements, as they involve the implied assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions, including that the reserves described can be profitably produced in the future.

    Guidance is uncertain, particularly when given over extended periods of time, and results may be materially different. Although the current capital spending program and long term strategy of Gran Tierra is based upon the current expectations of the management of Gran Tierra, should any one of a number of issues arise, Gran Tierra may find it necessary to alter its business strategy and/or capital spending program and there can be no assurance as at the date of this press release as to how those funds may be reallocated or strategy changed and how that would impact Gran Tierra’s results of operations and financing position. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the fact that this press release remains available does not constitute a representation by Gran Tierra that Gran Tierra believes these forward-looking statements continue to be true as of any subsequent date. Actual results may vary materially from the expected results expressed in forward-looking statements. Gran Tierra disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. Gran Tierra’s forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

    The estimates of future net revenue, cash flow and certain expenses may be considered to be future-oriented financial information or a financial outlook for the purposes of applicable Canadian securities laws. Financial outlook and future-oriented financial information contained in this press release about prospective financial performance, financial position or cash flows are provided to give the reader a better understanding of the potential future performance of the Company in certain areas and are based on assumptions about future events, including economic conditions and proposed courses of action, based on management’s assessment of the relevant information currently available, and to become available in the future. In particular, this press release contains projected operational and financial information for 2025 2025 and for the next five years to allow readers to assess the Company’s ability to fund its programs. These projections contain forward-looking statements and are based on a number of material assumptions and factors set out above. Actual results may differ significantly from the projections presented herein. The actual results of Gran Tierra’s operations for any period could vary from the amounts set forth in these projections, and such variations may be material. See above for a discussion of the risks that could cause actual results to vary. The future-oriented financial information and financial outlooks contained in this press release have been approved by management as of the date of this press release. Readers are cautioned that any such financial outlook and future-oriented financial information contained herein should not be used for purposes other than those for which it is disclosed herein. The Company and its management believe that the prospective financial information has been prepared on a reasonable basis, reflecting management’s best estimates and judgments, and represent, to the best of management’s knowledge and opinion, the Company’s expected course of action. However, because this information is highly subjective, it should not be relied on as necessarily indicative of future results. See Gran Tierra’s press release dated January 23, 2025 for additional information regarding cash flow guidance referred to herein.

    Non-GAAP Measures

    This press release includes non-GAAP measures which do not have a standardized meaning under GAAP. Investors are cautioned that these measures should not be construed as alternatives to oil and natural gas sales, net income or loss or other measures of financial performance as determined in accordance with GAAP. Gran Tierra’s method of calculating these measures may differ from other companies and, accordingly, they may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies.

    Net Debt as presented as at December 31, 2024 is comprised of $787 million (gross) of senior notes outstanding less cash and cash equivalents of $104 million, prepared in accordance with GAAP. Management believes that Net Debt is a useful supplemental measure for management and investors to in order to evaluate the financial sustainability of the Company’s business and leverage. The most directly comparable GAAP measure is total debt.

    Unaudited Financial Information

    Certain financial and operating results included in this press release, including debt, cash equivalents, capital expenditures, and production information, are based on unaudited estimated results. These estimated results are subject to change upon completion of the Company’s audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024, and changes could be material. Gran Tierra anticipates filing its audited financial statements and related management’s discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2024 on or before February 26, 2025.

    DISCLOSURE OF OIL AND GAS INFORMATION

    Boe’s have been converted on the basis of six thousand cubic feet (“Mcf”) natural gas to 1 bbl of oil. Boe’s may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of 6 Mcf: 1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. In addition, given that the value ratio based on the current price of oil as compared with natural gas is significantly different from the energy equivalent of six to one, utilizing a boe conversion ratio of 6 Mcf: 1 bbl would be misleading as an indication of value.

    All reserves values, future net revenue and ancillary information contained in this press release have been prepared by McDaniel and are derived from the GTE McDaniel Reserves Report, unless otherwise expressly stated. Any reserves values or related information contained in this press release as of a date other than December 31, 2024 has an effective date of December 31 of the applicable year and is derived from a report prepared by Gran Tierra’s independent qualified reserves evaluator as of such date, and additional information regarding such estimate or information can be found in Gran Tierra’s applicable Statement of Reserves Data and Other Oil and Gas Information on Form 51-101F1 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

    Estimates of net present value and future net revenue contained herein do not necessarily represent fair market value. Estimates of reserves and future net revenue for individual properties may not reflect the same level of confidence as estimates of reserves and future net revenue for all properties, due to the effect of aggregation. There is no assurance that the forecast price and cost assumptions applied by McDaniel in evaluating Gran Tierra’s reserves and future net revenue will be attained and variances could be material.

    All evaluations of future net revenue contained in the GTE McDaniel Reserves Report are after the deduction of royalties, operating costs, development costs, production costs and abandonment and reclamation costs but before consideration of indirect costs such as administrative, overhead and other miscellaneous expenses. It should not be assumed that the estimates of future net revenues presented in this press release represent the fair market value of the reserves. There are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of crude oil reserves and the future cash flows attributed to such reserves. The reserve and associated cash flow information set forth in the GTE McDaniel Reserves Report are estimates only and there is no guarantee that the estimated reserves will be recovered. Actual reserves may be greater than or less than the estimates provided therein.

    References to a formation where evidence of hydrocarbons has been encountered is not necessarily an indicator that hydrocarbons will be recoverable in commercial quantities or in any estimated volume. Gran Tierra’s reported production is a mix of light crude oil and medium, heavy crude oil, tight oil, conventional natural gas, shale gas and natural gas liquids for which there is no precise breakdown since the Company’s sales volumes typically represent blends of more than one product type. Drilling locations disclosed herein are derived from the GTE McDaniel Reserves Report and account for drilling locations that have associated Proved Undeveloped and Proved plus Probable Undeveloped reserves, as applicable. Well test results should be considered as preliminary and not necessarily indicative of long-term performance or of ultimate recovery. Well log interpretations indicating oil and gas accumulations are not necessarily indicative of future production or ultimate recovery. If it is indicated that a pressure transient analysis or well-test interpretation has not been carried out, any data disclosed in that respect should be considered preliminary until such analysis has been completed. References to thickness of “oil pay” or of a formation where evidence of hydrocarbons has been encountered is not necessarily an indicator that hydrocarbons will be recoverable in commercial quantities or in any estimated volume.

    Definitions

    Proved reserves are those reserves that can be estimated with a high degree of certainty to be recoverable. It is likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will exceed the estimated proved reserves.

    Probable reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than proved reserves. It is equally likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will be greater or less than the sum of the estimated proved plus probable reserves.

    Possible reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than Probable reserves. It is unlikely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will be greater or less than the sum of the estimated proved plus probable plus possible reserves. There is a 10% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of Proved plus Probable plus Possible reserves.

    Developed producing reserves are those reserves that are expected to be recovered from completion intervals open at the time of the estimate. These reserves may be currently producing or, if shut-in, they must have previously been on production, and the date of resumption of production must be known with reasonable certainty.

    Developed non-producing reserves are those reserves that either have not been on production or have previously been on production but are shut-in and the date of resumption of production is unknown.

    Undeveloped reserves are those reserves expected to be recovered from known accumulations where a significant expenditure (e.g., when compared to the cost of drilling a well) is required to render them capable of production. They must fully meet the requirements of the reserves category (proved, probable, possible) to which they are assigned.

    Certain terms used in this press release but not defined are defined in NI 51-101, CSA Staff Notice 51-324 – Revised Glossary to NI 51-101, Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (“CSA Staff Notice 51-324”) and/or the COGEH and, unless the context otherwise requires, shall have the same meanings herein as in NI 51-101, CSA Staff Notice 51-324 and the COGEH, as the case may be.

    Oil and Gas Metrics

    This press release contains a number of oil and gas metrics, including NAV per share, FD&A costs, reserve life index and reserves replacement, which do not have standardized meanings or standard methods of calculation and therefore such measures may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies and should not be used to make comparisons. Such metrics have been included herein to provide readers with additional measures to evaluate the Company’s performance; however, such measures are not reliable indicators of the future performance of the Company and future performance may not compare to the performance in previous periods.

    • NAV per share is calculated as NPV10 (before or after tax, as applicable) of the applicable reserves category minus estimated Net Debt, divided by the number of shares of Gran Tierra’s common stock issued and outstanding. Management uses NAV per share as a measure of the relative change of Gran Tierra’s net asset value over its outstanding common stock over a period of time.
    • FD&A costs are calculated as estimated exploration and development capital expenditures, including acquisitions and dispositions, divided by the applicable reserves additions both before and after changes in FDC costs. The calculation of FD&A costs incorporates the change in FDC required to bring proved undeveloped and developed reserves into production. The aggregate of the exploration and development costs incurred in the financial year and the changes during that year in estimated FDC may not reflect the total FD&A costs related to reserves additions for that year. Management uses FD&A costs per boe as a measure of its ability to execute its capital program and of its asset quality.
    • Reserve life index is calculated as reserves in the referenced category divided by the referenced estimated production. Management uses this measure to determine how long the booked reserves will last at current production rates if no further reserves were added.
    • Reserves replacement is calculated as reserves in the referenced category divided by estimated referenced production. Management uses this measure to determine the relative change of its reserve base over a period of time.

    Disclosure of Reserve Information and Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors

    Unless expressly stated otherwise, all estimates of proved, probable and possible reserves and related future net revenue disclosed in this press release have been prepared in accordance with NI 51-101. Estimates of reserves and future net revenue made in accordance with NI 51-101 will differ from corresponding estimates prepared in accordance with applicable SEC rules and disclosure requirements of the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), and those differences may be material. NI 51-101, for example, requires disclosure of reserves and related future net revenue estimates based on forecast prices and costs, whereas SEC and FASB standards require that reserves and related future net revenue be estimated using average prices for the previous 12 months. In addition, NI 51-101 permits the presentation of reserves estimates on a “company gross” basis, representing Gran Tierra’s working interest share before deduction of royalties, whereas SEC and FASB standards require the presentation of net reserve estimates after the deduction of royalties and similar payments. There are also differences in the technical reserves estimation standards applicable under NI 51-101 and, pursuant thereto, the COGEH, and those applicable under SEC and FASB requirements.

    In addition to being a reporting issuer in certain Canadian jurisdictions, Gran Tierra is a registrant with the SEC and subject to domestic issuer reporting requirements under U.S. federal securities law, including with respect to the disclosure of reserves and other oil and gas information in accordance with U.S. federal securities law and applicable SEC rules and regulations (collectively, “SEC requirements”). Disclosure of such information in accordance with SEC requirements is included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other reports and materials filed with or furnished to the SEC and, as applicable, Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The SEC permits oil and gas companies that are subject to domestic issuer reporting requirements under U.S. federal securities law, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only estimated proved, probable and possible reserves that meet the SEC’s definitions of such terms. Gran Tierra has disclosed estimated proved, probable and possible reserves in its filings with the SEC. In addition, Gran Tierra prepares its financial statements in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles, which require that the notes to its annual financial statements include supplementary disclosure in respect of the Company’s oil and gas activities, including estimates of its proved oil and gas reserves and a standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows relating to proved oil and gas reserve quantities. This supplementary financial statement disclosure is presented in accordance with FASB requirements, which align with corresponding SEC requirements concerning reserves estimation and reporting.

    Proved reserves are reserves which, by analysis of geoscience and engineering data, can be estimated with reasonable certainty to be economically producible from a given date forward from known reservoirs under existing economic conditions, operating methods, and government regulations prior to the time at which contracts providing the right to operate expires, unless evidence indicates that renewal is reasonably certain. Probable reserves are reserves that are less certain to be recovered than proved reserves but which, together with proved reserves, are as likely as not to be recovered. Estimates of probable reserves which may potentially be recoverable through additional drilling or recovery techniques are by nature more uncertain than estimates of proved reserves and accordingly are subject to substantially greater risk of not actually being realized by us. Possible reserves are reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable reserves. Estimates of possible reserves are also inherently imprecise. Estimates of probable and possible reserves are also continually subject to revisions based on production history, results of additional exploration and development, price changes, and other factors.

    The Company believes that the presentation of NPV10 is useful to investors because it presents (i) relative monetary significance of its oil and natural gas properties regardless of tax structure and (ii) relative size and value of its reserves to other companies. The Company also uses this measure when assessing the potential return on investment related to its oil and natural gas properties. NPV10 and the standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows do not purport to present the fair value of the Company’s oil and gas reserves. The Company has not provided a reconciliation of NPV10 to the standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows because it is impracticable to do so.

    Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosures and risk factors in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in the other reports and filings with the SEC, available from the Company’s offices or website. These reports can also be obtained from the SEC website at www.sec.gov.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Philadelphia Man Sentenced to 46 Months’ Imprisonment for Firearms Offenses

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Khalif Ward, 27, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Joel H. Slomsky to a term of 46 months’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $25,000 fine for firearms offenses.

    In December of 2023, Ward was indicted on one count of possession of a machine gun and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. He pleaded guilty to both charges in October.

    The defendant, a rap artist known as “Leaf Ward,” with hundreds of thousands of online followers, committed the offenses while on release for a state case involving the straw purchase and illegal transfer of firearms, and after he was found in possession of a firearm after being shot in 2020.

    As stated in court documents, on August 16, 2023, Ward took a stolen vehicle to the Bahama Breeze restaurant in the King of Prussia Mall. Officers doing proactive details in the parking lot ran the registration for the car, which came back stolen out of Philadelphia. The officers then began the process of towing the vehicle. While the car was in the process of being towed, Ward exited the restaurant with his girlfriend.

    Ward ran toward the tow truck, until he saw the uniformed police officers and the marked police vehicle. He then sprinted back into the restaurant, where an employee saw him put a loaded Glock firearm into a kitchen trash can and discard his hat nearby.

    Officers chased Ward into the restaurant and through the kitchen, apprehending him behind the eatery and recovering the loaded Glock .40 caliber pistol, which was found to be fitted with a illegal switch converting it from semi-automatic to fully automatic fire.

    “Despite two prior gun convictions, Ward continued to wield these weapons, boldly displaying them in his videos and carrying them on the street,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “Moreover, the pistol he tried to ditch when running from police was altered to enable automatic fire. This office will continue to work with the ATF and our state and local partners to get guns out of the hands of people not permitted to have them, to tamp down violent crime and make the public safer.”

    “Keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals is why the law prohibits felons from having firearms,” said Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division. “In this case, the defendant was not only illegally carrying a loaded weapon in a busy public location, but he was carrying a pistol turned into a machine gun. Such converted weapons are extremely dangerous as they can fire an entire magazine of bullets in seconds, often hitting uninvolved bystanders. ATF is committed to working with our partners to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals like Ward who endanger our neighborhoods.”

    The case was investigated by the ATF, United States Secret Service, and the Upper Merion Township Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy Lanni, Everett Witherell, and Shayna Gannone.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New Orleans Man Sentenced for Federal Gun and Drug Convictions

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – DWINE HARDY (“HARDY”), age 32, a resident of New Orleans, was sentenced on January 7, 2025, by United States District Judge Jay C. Zainey, after previously pleading guilty to Counts 1, 2, and 3 of a four-count indictment.  The indictment charged HARDY with being a felon in possession of firearm and ammunition, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8) (Count 1); possession of a machine gun, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(0) and 924(a)(2) (Count 2); and possession with the intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C) (Count 3).

    HARDY was sentenced to 70 months’ imprisonment as to Counts 1, 2, and 3, with each count to be served concurrently.  Judge Zainey also imposed a 3-year term of supervised release following HARDY’s release from prison and payment of  a $300 mandatory special assessment fee.

    According to court documents, Kenner police officers stopped HARDY in a stolen vehicle.  During a search of the vehicle, officers discovered illegal narcotics, drug paraphernalia, two Apple iPhones, 15 rounds of ammunition, and a stolen Glock Model 23 .40-caliber pistol.  The firearm was equipped with a machine gun conversion device and an extended 22-round capacity magazine.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Kenner Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Troy Bell of the Violent Crime Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Trump has fired a major cyber security investigations body. It’s a risky move

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Toby Murray, Professor of Cybersecurity, School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne

    Before the end of its first full day of operations, the new Trump administration gutted all advisory panels for the Department of Homeland Security. Among these was the well-respected Cyber Safety Review Board, or CSRB.

    While this change hasn’t received as much notice as Trump’s massive announcement about AI, it has potentially significant implications for cyber security. The CSRB is an important source of information for governments and businesses trying to protect themselves from cyber threats.

    This change also throws into doubt the board’s current activities. These include an ongoing investigation into the Salt Typhoon cyber attacks which began as early as 2022 and are still keeping cyber defenders busy, attributed to hackers in China.

    Salt Typhoon has been described as the “worst telecommunications hack” in US history. Among other activities, the hackers obtained call records data made by high-profile individuals and even the contents of phone calls and text messages. The phones of then presidential nominee Donald Trump were reportedly among those targeted.

    What does the Cyber Safety Review Board do?

    The board was established three years ago by the Biden administration. Roughly speaking, its job is the cyberspace equivalent of government air traffic investigation bodies such as the US National Transportation Safety Board, or the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

    The CSRB investigates major cyber security incidents. Its job is to determine their causes and recommend ways government and businesses can better protect themselves, including on how to prevent similar incidents in future.

    Its members include global cyber security luminaries from industry, such as cyber executives from Google and Microsoft, and US government leaders from several departments and agencies concerned with security.

    The US CSRB has previously published three major reports. Its first covered the infamous 2021 Log4j vulnerability, described at the time as the “single biggest, most critical vulnerability ever”. (A vulnerability is a weakness in a computer system that cyber criminals can exploit.)

    The board’s most recent published investigation involved a very sophisticated hacking campaign that targeted Microsoft’s cloud email services in 2023. As a result, hackers even gained access to the emails of various US government agencies.

    Cyber security experts widely consider the CSRB as a positive thing. Late last year, Australia even committed to establish its own version, the Cyber Incident Review Board.

    At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether the CSRB will continue – perhaps with different membership – or whether its activities will cease entirely.

    Either way, the decision to fire the board’s members has significant security implications. It comes at a moment in history when cyber threats have never been more severe.

    What is Salt Typhoon?

    The CSRB has been investigating the Salt Typhoon hacking campaign. Salt Typhoon is the name Microsoft assigned to a sophisticated group of hackers believed to be operated by China’s Ministry of State Security. The ministry is somewhat like a combination of an intelligence agency and a secret police service.

    Salt Typhoon is best known for hacking into several US telecommunication companies, first reported in August 2024. In December, it came to light Salt Typhoon’s telco hacks may also have impacted countries beyond the US. American, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand authorities also jointly issued public guidance to organisations to help defend against Salt Typhoon.

    Salt Typhoon reportedly targeted prominent figures, including political leaders. The hackers’ goal appears to have been to collect intelligence, rather than cause damage.

    For example, it has been reported Salt Typhoon collected a list of all phone calls made near Washington DC, which could help them determine who was talking to whom in the US capital.

    Salt Typhoon also reportedly obtained a list of phone numbers wiretapped by the US Justice Department. This confirmed the fears of many people opposed to the government’s powers to lawfully wiretap citizens’ phones.

    It is unclear why the hackers obtained that information. Some have speculated it would identify which of their own operatives were being monitored by US law enforcement.

    To say the Salt Typhoon revelations created waves in government and cyber security circles is putting it mildly. Telecommunications are critical infrastructure, as well as highly valuable targets for intelligence collection.

    The idea that foreign spies could burrow so deeply into the communication fabric of the US was unprecedented and disturbing.

    In October 2024 the CSRB was tasked with investigating Salt Typhoon’s activities.

    An uncertain future

    With the board now fired, the future of the Salt Typhoon investigation remains unclear.

    A thorough and impartial investigation of the Salt Typhoon hacks, had it been allowed to run, was likely to have delivered highly valuable cyber security lessons. Those lessons are important for both US companies and those in Australia, which have also been the targets of Chinese intelligence collection.

    The future of the CSRB itself is now also in question. The board and its overseas equivalents serve a vital role in promoting cyber information-sharing that helps to improve best practices.

    It is imperative these bodies are staffed with a diverse collection of impartial experts, able to carry out their work free from government and corporate interference.

    It remains to be seen whether dissolving the current CSRB will be a gift to Chinese hackers (as some have claimed), or simply a speed bump in the evolution of the board.

    Toby Murray is the Director of the Defence Science Institute, which receives Commonwealth and State government funding. Toby receives research funding from the Australian government and has previously received funding from the US Department of Defense, Facebook and Google.

    – ref. Trump has fired a major cyber security investigations body. It’s a risky move – https://theconversation.com/trump-has-fired-a-major-cyber-security-investigations-body-its-a-risky-move-248106

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Schatz: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Whose Dangerous Lies Fueled Measles Outbreak in Samoa & Caused Preventable Deaths, Unqualified To Lead HHS

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) took to the Senate floor today to detail how President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., spread dangerous lies about vaccines which directly led to disease outbreaks and caused preventable deaths. Schatz recounted the story of how Kennedy traveled to Samoa in 2019 to discourage people from taking the measles vaccine which ultimately led to an outbreak in which thousands of people were infected and 83, mostly children, died.
    “In 2019, he flew to Samoa to discourage people from taking the measles vaccine, deepening hesitancy that was already building. And it worked,” said Senator Schatz. “Vaccination rates for eligible 1-year-olds fell to lower than 33%. And just 5 months later, Samoa found itself in the middle of a measles outbreak. Over 5,000 people got the measles. 83 people died.”
    Senator Schatz added, “Yes, this is a question of character and competence. But it is also a question of life or death. And who we want in charge, making decisions, when lives are on the line. And it’s our job, here in the Senate, to make damn sure that person isn’t RFK Jr.”
    The full text of Senator Schatz’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, is below. Video is available here.
    You’d think the person nominated to lead our nation’s top health department – an agency with a budget of over 2 trillion dollars and responsible for running everything from Medicare to vaccine trials. You’d think that person would at least be interested, if not experienced, in curing diseases and promoting public health. That they’d follow science and work to build the public’s trust in it. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is none of those things.
    For the first time ever, we might have a health secretary who’s actively fueled disease outbreaks. He’s literally made a career out of lying about the safety of basic vaccines. And it is not an exaggeration to say: lives will be lost if this man gets confirmed. He has cost lives pretending to be a public health expert before. And he will do it again if he becomes the next health secretary.
    This is not some random dude with his buddies kicking around wacky ideas for the hell of it. He’s a Kennedy, with an enormous fortune, parachuting into countries to tell flat out lies and stop people from taking life-saving vaccines.
    In 2019, he flew to Samoa to discourage people from taking the measles vaccine, deepening hesitancy that was already building. And it worked. Vaccination rates for eligible 1-year-olds fell to lower than 33%. And just 5 months later, Samoa found itself in the middle of a measles outbreak. Over 5,000 people got the measles. 83 people died.
    Aside from spreading baseless lies about vaccines, RFK Jr. has regularly spouted all kinds of deranged conspiracy theories, including that COVID-19 was “targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” He’s also claimed – without any evidence – that antidepressants are to blame for mass shootings and that chemicals in our water are turning kids gay.
    His plans to remake the Department of Health and Human Services are equally terrifying. He wants to revoke approvals for the polio and Hepatitis B vaccines for children and roll back guidance on other vital vaccines. There’s a reason we haven’t had to think about these awful, painful diseases in a long, long time. It’s because we’ve successfully vaccinated our way out of outbreaks.
    He’s also vowed to fire hundreds of federal health researchers and scientists and stop all research into infectious diseases and vaccine development. Because “we’re going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years.” We’re going to give diseases a break.
    This man, in his views and his actions, is as dangerous as they come. You wouldn’t put him in charge of a local clinic – let alone our country’s entire health system.
    And look, I get it. Some people hear his critiques of our food system and agree with him. Our food system is broken. And people are getting sick because of it. We’ve subsidized the wrong things for so long that you can find an unhealthy meal faster and for cheaper than a healthy one. Ultra-processed foods are everywhere. Healthy, hearty meals are harder to come by. And that has to change. But we don’t fix that problem by inviting a measles or mumps outbreak. We don’t have to voluntarily conjure up the horrors of polio in the name of cleansing our diet. That’s a false choice I refuse to make.
    There are many people – including my friend, Senator Cory Booker – who are working to solve this problem with the seriousness and the thoughtfulness it demands. To reign in factory farms, empower family farmers, and make healthy food more readily available and affordable. We can and must do all of that. But RFK Jr. is not the man to do it.
    The medical profession, at it’s best, is about helping people. I think about doctors like my dad, Dr. Irv Schatz, aboard a hospital ship – the SS Hope – providing free medical care to people in Latin America. So many like him put their lives and careers on hold to travel far and wide and care for the less fortunate. Helping kids with cleft palates…distributing mosquito nets…delivering babies…treating and preventing diseases. It’s hard and unglamorous and unselfish work.
    And so it takes a special kind of person to do the exact opposite. To do what RFK Jr. did, which is to fly halfway around the world, and cause pain. Cause disease. Cause death. So yes, this is a question of character and competence. But it is also a question of life or death. And who we want in charge, making decisions, when lives are on the line. And it’s our job, here in the Senate, to make damn sure that person isn’t RFK Jr.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Luján Highlights the Importance of Protecting Nutrition Programs for Children and Families, Hermit’s Peak Recovery and Support for Small Farmers in Agriculture Secretary Nomination Hearing

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry,participated in the nomination hearing for Brooke Rollins, the nominee to be Secretary of Agriculture. Senator Luján raised the importance of programs that feed families and children, wildfire recovery, and cutting red tape for farmers and ranchers. 
    Video of Senator Luján’s exchange with Brooke Rollins is availablehere.
    “One of the areas I shared in our conversation is something that I hold deeply, as I expressed to you, which is that every American should be able to have food on their table. No one should go hungry in America, no matter what zip code or area code they live in, or no matter how much money they make,”Senator Luján said in the hearing.“I am always reminded that budgets are a reflection of values, depending on how those budgets are put forth as well, and I certainly hope that in America we all have a responsibility, a fiscal responsibility, that our priorities would say children shouldn’t go hungry in America. I hope that is something we can find some commonality on down the road.”
    “The other area I raised in our meeting was the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire. This is a fire that started a few years ago that became the largest fire in the state of New Mexico’s history. What surprises a lot of folks, and I appreciate my Republican and Democratic colleagues for supporting me and helping me create a fund specifically for this fire, is that this fire started as a prescribed burn,” Senator Luján continued. “There’s got to be a better way to ensure that the technology we can secure, that firefighters get paid properly, and that we follow this so this doesn’t happen anywhere in America again. I very much appreciate Mrs. Rollins’ commitment to working with Governor Noem and with FEMA and making sure that when these programs exist, that money gets out the door to the families that need it most.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ghana Armed Forces and US Army medics build partnerships through training

    Source: United States Army

    1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Ghana Armed Forces Capt. Emmanuel Oti Boateng and U.S. Army Spc. Danielle Soberanis, a medic assigned to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), assess a simulated casualty during the Partner Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025. SETAF-AF strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partner Medical Training. The Partner Medical Training enables teams from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghana Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners, while challenging medics to conduct their duties under the stress of simulated combat scenarios and preparing teams for the upcoming U.S. Army Best Medic Competition in Texas. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) VIEW ORIGINAL
    2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Sgt. Nathan S. Nance, a combat medic assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, fills a syringe during the Partner Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025.U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partner Medical Training. The Partner Medical Training enables teams from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghana Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners, while challenging medics to conduct their duties under the stress of simulated combat scenarios and preparing teams for the upcoming U.S. Army Best Medic Competition in Texas. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) VIEW ORIGINAL
    3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Ghana Armed Forces Capt. Emmanuel Oti Boateng, prepares to insert a syringe into a simulated casualty during the Partner Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025.U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partnered Medical Training. The Partner Medical Training enables teams from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghana Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners, while challenging medics to conduct their duties under the stress of simulated combat scenarios. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) VIEW ORIGINAL

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    U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

    VICENZA, Italy — Augustine Akagri had never felt anything like the biting cold of the Italian Alps. As a warrant officer class II in the Ghana Armed Forces with 15 years of combat medical experience and a Ghana Jungle Badge, he believed he was ready for any challenge — until he faced the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) in subzero temperatures.

    “When I was going through it [ACFT] I felt the cold in my ribs and my tongue was numb,” said Akagri.

    What carried him through wasn’t his medical training, but the resilience skills he had learned during a session with U.S. Army Chaplain Capt. Allen Hoskyn the day before.

    “The resilience training helped a lot, I told myself ‘forget this cold and this numbness, I need to finish this,” said Akagri.

    1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Ghana Armed Forces Warrant Officer Class 2 Emmanuel Adarkwa, left, and U.S. Army Sgt. Heith E. Walston, a combat medic assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, treat a simulated casualty during the Partner Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025. U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partner Medical Training. The Partner Medical Training enables teams from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghana Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners, while challenging medics to conduct their duties under the stress of simulated combat scenarios. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) VIEW ORIGINAL
    2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Ghana Armed Forces Warrant Officer Class 2 Augustine Akagri, a combat medic, simulates reacting to contact during the Partner Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025. U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partner Medical Training. The Partner Medical Training enables teams from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghana Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners, while challenging medics to conduct their duties under the stress of simulated combat scenarios. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) VIEW ORIGINAL
    3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Ghana Armed Forces Capt. Emmanuel Oti Boateng, a combat medic, prepares to fire an M-4 Carbine in a simulated stress shoot during the Partnered Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025. U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partnered Medical Training. The partnered Medical Training enables participants from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghanaian Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners. The event also challenges medics to conduct their duties while under the stress of simulated combat scenarios, preparing teams for the upcoming Best Medic Competition Feb. 2025 in Texas. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) VIEW ORIGINAL

    The ACFT was just the beginning of Akagri’s experience. Alongside two other medics from the Ghana Armed Forces, he participated in the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force-Africa (SETAF-AF) Partner Medical Training exercise, designed to strengthen medical readiness and interoperability between partners.

    The three-day event brought together U.S. Army medics and medical professionals from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and Dental Health Activity-Italy to train with the Ghana Armed Forces team. Participants underwent intensive medical training over the first two days, followed by a final day dedicated to testing. During the testing phase, participants were divided into three mixed teams, with each team comprising members from all participating units. The teams tackled 12 challenging lanes which included tactical combat casualty care, stress shooting and K9 tactical combat casualty care.

    1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Sgt. Heith E. Walston, a combat medic assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, checks the breathing pattern on a simulated casualty during the Partner Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025.U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partner Medical Training. The Partner Medical Training enables teams from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghana Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners, while challenging medics to conduct their duties under the stress of simulated combat scenarios and preparing teams for the upcoming U.S. Army Best Medic Competition in Texas. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) VIEW ORIGINAL
    2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Ghana Armed Forces Warrant Officer Class 2 Augustine Akagri, a combat medic, places a litter with a simulated casualty in a medical vehicle during the Partner Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025. U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partner Medical Training. The Partner Medical Training enables teams from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghana Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners, while challenging medics to conduct their duties under the stress of simulated combat scenarios. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) VIEW ORIGINAL
    3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Ghana Armed Forces Warrant Officer Class 2 Augustine Akagri, a combat medic, assesses a simulated casualty during the Partner Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025.U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partner Medical Training. The Partner Medical Training enables teams from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghana Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners, while challenging medics to conduct their duties under the stress of simulated combat scenarios. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) VIEW ORIGINAL

    Not only did the training provide valuable experience for both Ghanaian and American medics, but it also created an opportunity to exchange medical knowledge.

    “They [Ghanaian medics] have much more clinical medical knowledge, whereas we focus more on trauma,” said Sgt. Brayden Chapman, a combat medic from the 1-503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. “I saw different ways of treating wounds because they use a different set of medications than we do, based on what’s available to them versus what’s available to us.”

    Chapman added, “Overall, the training was of deep value.”

    1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Ghana Armed Forces Warrant Officer Class 2 Augustine Akagri, a combat medic, left, and U.S. Army Sgt. Brayden J. Chapman, a combat medic assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, discuss how to approach a simulated casualty during the Partner Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025. U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partner Medical Training. The Partner Medical Training enables teams from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghana Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners, while challenging medics to conduct their duties under the stress of simulated combat scenarios and preparing teams for the upcoming U.S. Army Best Medic Competition in Texas. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) VIEW ORIGINAL
    2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Ghana Armed Forces Capt. Emmanuel Oti Boateng, left, and U.S Army Spc. Danielle Soberanis, right, a medic assigned to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), listen to instructions given by a lane grader during the Partner Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025. SETAF-AF strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partnered Medical Training. The Partner Medical Training enables teams from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghana Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners, while challenging medics to conduct their duties under the stress of simulated combat scenarios. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla)
    3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Ghana Armed Forces Warrant Officer Class 2 Emmanuel Adarkwa, left, Ghana Armed Forces Warrant Officer Class 2 Augustine Akagri, center, Ghana Armed Forces Capt. Emmanuel Oti Boateng, right, fire M-4 Carbines in a simulated stress shoot during the Partner Medical Training exercise at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025. U.S. Army Southern European Task Force Africa, (SETAF-AF), strengthens interoperability with African partners through focused security cooperation exchanges such as the Partner Medical Training. The Partner Medical Training enables teams from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Dental Health Activity – Italy, and the Ghana Armed Forces to share medical best practices, strengthening readiness and interoperability between partners, while challenging medics to conduct their duties under the stress of simulated combat scenarios. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla) VIEW ORIGINAL

    Like Chapman, Akagri gained a wealth of medical knowledge during the three-day training, which he hopes to share with his unit back in Ghana.

    “It’s been an amazing experience. We’ve learned a lot of things, and we were also able to share our ideas with the other participants,” Akagri said.

    Most of all, Akagri will remember the cold weather — and that he’ll think twice before turning off the AC at home.

    “When I turned off the AC in my house, my wife told me, ‘How are you going to cope when you’re out there [in Italy]?’ So when I got here and felt the cold, I kept remembering her words.”

    About SETAF-AF

    SETAF-AF provides U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Army Europe and Africa a dedicated headquarters to synchronize Army activities in Africa and scalable crisis-response options in Africa and Europe.

    Follow SETAF-AF on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn & DVIDS

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Colorado Springs Man Sentenced To 13 Years For Being A Felon In Possession of a Firearm

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Lemich Riddle, 27, Colorado Springs, was sentenced to 156 months in federal prison after being found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

    According to the facts established at trial, on November 1, 2022, officers in Colorado Springs located Riddle, who had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.  Colorado Springs Police Department SWAT team officers took him into custody as he was driving back to his apartment.  In his car, officers found six firearms. Riddle has a prior felony conviction that prohibits him from possessing firearms.

    “We will always prosecute dangerous felons who possess weapons,” said United States Attorney Matt Kirsch. “This sentence reflects the seriousness of this defendant’s continued violation of the law.

    “CSPD strives for excellence in every investigation, and those around the illegal possession of firearms are no different,” said Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez. “This case highlights how the quality work of our investigators can be amplified by our partnership with federal authorities, resulting in significant sentencing that holds individuals accountable in meaningful ways that also make our community safer.”

    United States District Court Judge Regina M. Rodriguez presided over the sentencing. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Colorado Springs Police Department handled the investigation. The Violent Crime and Immigration Section of the United States Attorney’s Office handled the prosecution.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    Case Number: 23-cr-00051-RMR

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI China: New wildfire in Los Angeles scorches over 10,000 acres

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    A fast-moving brush fire erupted Wednesday in Los Angeles County, and has burned over 10,000 acres (40 sq km) by Wednesday night, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

    The blaze, dubbed Hughes Fire, broke out around 11:00 a.m. local time in the area of Lake Hughes Road near Castaic Lake, about 80 km northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It quickly expanded to over 8,000 acres (32 sq km) in less than 6 hours, and had crossed the county line to the neighboring Venture County.

    As of Wednesday night, the fire is 14 percent contained, according to Cal Fire. No structures have been reported damaged or destroyed, Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone told a press briefing Wednesday evening.

    Approximately 31,000 residents in the area are under evacuation orders, while 23,000 are under evacuation warnings, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.

    “We have over 4,000 firefighting personnel assigned to the incident,” Marrone said. “The situation remains dynamic and the fire remains a difficult fire to contain, although we are getting the upper hand,” he said.

    Students from middle and elementary schools in the Castaic community were evacuated on Wednesday afternoon, and the Castaic Regional Sports Complex was also under a mandatory evacuation order, which was used by firefighters as a command post.

    The Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic evacuated 476 inmates to the nearby North County Correctional Facility.

    The National Weather Service (NWS) Los Angeles warned Wednesday afternoon that high winds were expected to continue in Southern California throughout the afternoon and overnight, further inhibiting firefighting efforts against the wildfires raging in the region.

    “DANGEROUS FIRE WEATHER environment thru Friday, peaking on Thursday. Any new fires can grow fast and out of control. Stay aware of your surroundings,” NWS Los Angeles warned.

    The entirety of Angeles National Forest is closed to the general public through Friday, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

    Los Angeles County has been inundated with deadly blazes this month. The Palisades and Eaton fires, the largest ones in the most populous county of the United States, have killed 28 people, sparked numerous mandatory evacuations, and destroyed thousands of structures.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: CFA volunteer and educator awarded AFSM medal

    Source: Victoria Country Fire Authority

    CFA firefighter Lisa Hicks was recognised in today’s Australia Day Honours, receiving an Australian Fire Service Medal for her 49 years of dedicated service to CFA and her community. 

    Lisa Hicks has been a dedicated member of CFA for almost 50 years. During this time, she has served in a range of roles in Narre Warren North and Pakenham Upper brigades and supporting roles in Cardinia Group.   

    She is currently the secretary and community safety coordinator of Pakenham Upper brigade and group community safety coordinator and is employed full-time as a brigade administrative support officer (BASO). She has supported incident control centres (ICC) and incident management teams for 30 years as a public information officer and is an endorsed crew leader and is still operational. 

    “When I’m in an ICC, I know what the firefighters are facing and that helps me to understand what they need to make informed decisions. And as a crew leader, I see it through the eyes of a firefighter on the ground and know what I need from an ICC,” Lisa said.   

    Lisa also delivered the Fire Safe Kids Program to local schools and kindergartens for the past 20 years and is involved in a working group to update the program.

    “Fire Safe Kids has been an amazing journey,” Lisa said. “Although each class is different, the children are like sponges absorbing the information. When you deliver the information in a fun way, they learn better. I recently worked with all the schools in Cardinia and asked the kids to do a home fire safety plan and make sure they have working smoke detectors.”

    She was instrumental in establishing and maintaining the Cardinia Group compressed air breathing apparatus refilling station. She supervised the build and testing of the facility, development of documentation and the training of all refilling operators.   

    In her role as a BASO she has supported brigades across the Cardinia Group to recruit new members over many years. She has a strong understanding of the operational and non-operational requirements of brigades.  

    As a dedicated firefighter for almost 50 years, Lisa has made a significant contribution on the frontline of many major fires, including the 1983 Ash Wednesday fire at Upper Beaconsfield. When the fire started in Belgrave South, she responded on Narre Warren North brigade’s tanker and was on one of the first trucks on scene. Despite having only just married Steve Hicks, captain of Narre Warren North, she spent the next fortnight working long hours on opposite shifts to her husband. She fought through all stages of this major fire, including the response, containment, blacking out, patrolling, and supporting the local community, brigade, family, and friends. 

    “As we headed to Belgrave South, the column of smoke just kept growing – it looked bad. None of us had experienced anything like it before. It seemed to change direction at will,” Lisa said.  

    “It was a hot, windy day and nothing was going to stop the fire. We couldn’t hold it, so we were sent further along to try to get ahead of it. Unfortunately, that was impossible so we just did what we could, wherever we could. We never stopped fighting until late that night when we changed crews. 

    “Through the heartache of the loss of fellow firefighters, we took comfort that this was a turning point for CFA to make sure it was never repeated. We now have crew protection, diesel pumps, better radio communication, strike teams and incident control centres.” 

    Another catastrophic fire, the Bunyip Ridge fire, ripped through the Cardinia Group area in February 2009 following a lightning strike three days earlier. In the lead-up to the fire, Lisa supported key district pre-planning meetings and activities to prepare for the extreme weather.  She ensured the Pakenham ICC was fully operational and Cardinia Group brigades were fully stocked and prepared. Over the next few weeks, Lisa worked continuously, undertaking fire brigade activities wearing her two hats – that of a CFA employee and CFA volunteer. Perhaps the most important support she gave was offering a friendly face and focusing on the wellbeing of our brigade leaders and volunteers.  

    On 1 March 2019, multiple lightning strikes started fires across the Bunyip State Park and Gembrook areas. Over the next five days, four fires combined to form one large blaze with the Bunyip fires burning until the end of the month. Through March, Lisa was in high demand by her brigades and the Cardinia Group. She was constantly picking up and dropping off replacement turnout gear, maps, incident action plans, water, foam, and countless other items to brigades and the divisional command point.  

    Lisa’s husband Steve received an AFSM last year. 

    “It’s amazing that both Steve and I have now received this award. To be nominated for an AFSM was an honour, and I’m even more honoured to receive one,” Lisa said. 

    Submitted by CFA Media

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Volcano Watch — Recent lava fountains highlight Pele’s Hair hazards

    Source: US Geological Survey

    Volcano Watch — Recent lava fountains highlight Pele’s Hair hazards

    Residents and visitors alike have been watching episodic lava fountains in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea since late December 2024. While beautiful and safe to view, this activity has left residents of communities nearby wondering about the dusting of glittery threads on their property. 

    Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates.

    On January 16–17, persistent lava fountaining at Kīlauea summit, coupled with Kona wind conditions, resulted in Pele’s hair falling on nearby communities and within parts of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. This photo was taken near Kīlauea Visitor Center, where strands of the fine volcanic glass had accumulated into tubular tumbleweeds of Pele’s Hair reaching up to 56 centimeters (22 inches). USGS photo by K. Mulliken. 

    Pele’s Hair is the name for the strands of volcanic glass that are created when globs of liquid lava are stretched apart during an eruption. These golden strands can be more than a meter (3 feet) long and less than 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) thick. They are very light weight and can be wafted up in the hot or warm eruption plume, allowing them to be carried by wind and fall in areas far from eruption sites. 

    Tradewind conditions would typically take these particles downwind in a southwest direction from Kīlauea summit, into the Kaʻū Desert area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. However, during episode 4, from January 15–18, there were no tradewinds. The lack of wind allowed the eruption plume, and all the particles in it, to spread out to the north dropping Pele’s Hair fell in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National, Volcano Golf Course, Volcano Village, Mauna Loa Estates, and Ohia Estates. In some areas, the hair tangled into tumble-weed like structures up to 60 cm (about two feet) long. 

    You may be wondering if there are steps you need to take regarding vehicles, pets and children being outside, grazing livestock, or water catchment systems if you live in an area that has been affected by Pele’s Hair.

    Much of the general guidance about volcanic ash exposure and cleanup can be applied to Pele’s Hair, though the two are not exactly the same. Ash is defined as particles smaller than 2 millimeters (0.079 inches) in diameter. While Pele’s Hair is usually thicker and longer, it is likely that ash-sized particles are also falling with Pele’s Hair. And fragile Pele’s Hair can also easily break into ash-sized pieces. Pele’s hair doesn’t wash off of grassy areas as easily as ash and might impact grazing animals, but there are no studies of these impacts. If you are concerned, considered supplementing your animals’ feed or relocating them to an area where Pele’s Hair did not fall.  Pele’s Hair could be beneficial to pasture growth in the long term.

    The recent eruption episode deposited less than 1 millimeter (a fraction of an inch) of Pele’s Hair in communities near Kīlauea’s summit. This amount usually does not require any action but it’s good to be aware and prepared in case more Pele’s Hair falls in the future or accumulates over time.

    Take a look at any flat surfaces outside on your property to evaluate the amount of Pele’s Hair that has accumulated. The hood of a vehicle that was parked outside, for example.  If you do notice any material on your vehicle, it’s a good idea to rinse the particles off with water—especially from windows and door handles as it can scratch paint and metal surfaces. 

    Both Pele’s Hair and volcanic ash are abrasive and can irritate eyes, skin, and respiratory systems. Limiting exposure is the best way to avoid being impacted; consider wearing protective clothing or equipment (gloves, eye protection, facemask) if you cannot limit your exposure. Rainfall and wind will eventually remove the Pele’s Hair, or plants will bind it into the soil. 

    The amount of Pele’s Hair that fell recently was small enough to be handled by most general filtration systems. However, if you are concerned about Pele’s Hair getting in your water catchment system during future lava fountain episodes, there are steps you can take to prevent that from happening. Disconnect the downpipe that connects your gutter system to your tank when Pele’s Hair is falling. This will prevent particles from entering your tank. A rainfall or rinsing will clean much of the material off your roof and flush it out of your downpipe. Then, reconnect your downpipe to your tank again. 

    Pele’s Hair deposition depends on the type of eruptive activity and wind conditions. Five fountaining episodes have taken place so far at Kīlauea summit and monitoring data show patterns suggesting that this type of activity could continue. If you live near the eruptive activity, please stay aware and reach out to askHVO@usgs.gov if you have any questions or concerns. 

    Volcano Activity Updates

    Kīlauea is erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert level is WATCH.

    The summit eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began in Halemaʻumaʻu crater on December 23 ended its 5th episode at 4:30 AM HST January 23 after 14 hours of eruptive activity from the north vent. Kīlauea summit has been inflating since the eruption ended. Resumption of eruptive activity is possible within days if summit inflation continues at current rate. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone. Sulfur dioxide emission rates are elevated in the summit region during active eruption episodes. Earthquake rates in the Southwest Rift Zone and upper to middle East Rift Zone remained comparable to the previous week. Ground deformation rates outside of the summit region remained steady. 

    Mauna Loa is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert Level is at NORMAL.

    No earthquakes were reported felt in the Hawaiian Islands during the past week.

    HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.

    Please visit HVO’s website for past Volcano Watch articles, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa updates, volcano photos, maps, recent earthquake information, and more. Email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Weekend wet weather set to hit South Island highways

    Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

    People travelling in Tasman and the West Coast are encouraged to keep an eye on weather and road conditions this weekend.

    The MetService has weather warnings in place for both regions.

    A Heavy Rain Warning is in place for Westland from midday Saturday through until 6 pm on Sunday. This will affect State Highway 6 between Hokitika and Haast.

    A Heavy Rain Watch has also been issued for Tasman, west of Motueka, from 9 pm Saturday until 6 pm Sunday. This will affect State Highway 60 Tākaka Hill and Golden Bay.

    Heavy rain increases the risks of slips, rockfalls, and localised flooding. It can also see roads closed at short notice

    Wet roads can be slippery. Drivers must be alert and prepared for road hazards, and drive to the conditions. Increase following distances, avoid sudden braking, reduce speed, and use headlights if visibility is poor. Be safe, be seen.

    Road users should also check road and weather conditions before they travel:

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Oregon strike teams assist with Lilac Fire in San Diego County

    Source: US State of Oregon

    wo Oregon strike teams were assigned overnight to a new fire in Southern California to help protect life and property. Strike Team 17 (Linn County) and Strike Team 18 (Clackamas County), both made up of water tenders, are working alongside California resources on the Lilac Fire near Bonsall. The fire has prompted evacuations for those living nearby.

    The two teams are part of six water tender strike teams mobilized to California on January 11. They are assigned to a two-week deployment.

    “These strike teams were mobilized at 3 a.m. and quickly engaged with the fire to support the initial attack,” Oregon State Fire Marshal Ruiz-Temple said. “They are working seamlessly with our CAL FIRE partners as we carry out our shared mission of protecting lives and property.”

    Over the weekend, Ruiz-Temple was in Southern California, where she met with CAL FIRE officials, toured the fire-affected areas, and spoke with Oregon firefighters to learn about their experiences and work.

    “Firefighters from across the country are working around the clock to support these communities,” Ruiz-Temple said. “I thank them, their communities, and their families who support their efforts during this deployment. The ability to share resources across state lines ensures states have the extra capacity needed during critical times.”

    In total, the Oregon State Fire Marshal has sent 21 strike teams, 370 firefighters, and 105 apparatus to support California’s response to historic wildfires in the southern part of the state. This is the largest out-of-state deployment for the agency.

    The sharing of resources is made possible through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. The requesting state pays the local fire agencies directly for all costs.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Arrest – Domestic violence and firearms offences – Johnson

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    The Northern Territory Police Force have arrested a 30-year-old male in relation to domestic violence offences on Thursday afternoon.

    Around 10am Thursday, police received intelligence that a male who was allegedly involved in a domestic violence assault the previous day, Wednesday 22 January 2025, was in possession of a firearm and driving through the Palmerston area.

    Territory Safety Division (TSD) members attended the male’s residence on Tarakan Court, established a cordon, and the 30-year-old male was arrested. During a lawful search of the unit, officers located and seized a quantity of illicit substances.

    A subsequent search of the offender’s vehicle located a firearm and ammunition, which were also seized.

    The firearm was not used during either incident.

    The offender remains in police custody, with charges expected to follow. Investigations are ongoing.

    If you or anyone you know is experiencing domestic or family violence, please reach out on 131 444 or, in an emergency, call 000. You can also anonymously report through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Arrest – Domestic violence and firearm offences – Johnson

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    The Northern Territory Police Force have arrested a 30-year-old male in relation to domestic violence offences on Thursday afternoon.

    Around 10am Thursday, police received intelligence that a male who was allegedly involved in a domestic violence assault the previous day, Wednesday 22 January 2025, was in possession of a firearm and driving through the Palmerston area.

    Territory Safety Division (TSD) members attended the male’s residence on Tarakan Court, established a cordon, and the 30-year-old male was arrested. During a lawful search of the unit, officers located and seized a quantity of illicit substances.

    A subsequent search of the offender’s vehicle located a firearm and ammunition, which were also seized.

    The firearm was not used during either incident.

    The offender remains in police custody, with charges expected to follow. Investigations are ongoing.

    If you or anyone you know is experiencing domestic or family violence, please reach out on 131 444 or, in an emergency, call 000. You can also anonymously report through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: On Senate Floor, Shaheen Raises National Security Concerns with Nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense, Announces She Will Vote Against His Confirmation

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen

    (Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), took to the Senate floor to outline her concerns for our national security ahead of the possible confirmation of Pete Hegseth as the next U.S. Secretary of Defense. Specifically, Shaheen addressed Hegseth’s inconsistencies on various foreign policy issues, including respect for the norms of armed conflict, support for our alliances like NATO and Putin’s war on Ukraine. At the conclusion of her remarks, Senator Shaheen announced she will vote against the Secretary of Defense nominee—the first time she’s done so since joining the U.S. Senate. You can watch the Senator’s full remarks here.

    Key quotes from Senator Shaheen:

    • “The almost three million men and women who serve our nation in uniform deserve a Secretary of Defense who will not needlessly throw them in harm’s way or seek to divide them with partisan politics.”
    • “Just as America’s national security interests are not to be trifled with, neither is our commitment to defending democracy and the international world order. And any inconsistency in our commitment to support our allies and partners, to support democracy around the world, to support the international world order is going to be seen and exploited by our adversaries.”
    • “And again, I think it’s very important that we stand by our ally Ukraine, because of the message it sends not just to the Russians and Vladimir Putin, but because of the message it sends to Xi in China, to the Iranians, to the North Koreans, to anyone who is an adversary of the United States. If they think we’re going to walk away from our allies, they’re going to do everything they can to divide us.”
    • “He [Mr. Hegseth] has a documented history of supporting individuals who have violated military and international law by committing war crimes […] I don’t think we can afford to entrust the safety and success of our men and women in uniform to a man who would himself disregard the laws of armed conflict and leave American credibility and moral authority in tatters on the world stage.”  
    • “I am very concerned that Mr. Hegseth lacks the consistency and the moral clarity to lead the most combat-credible military in the world […] Our men and women in uniform deserve better. And therefore, the first time since I was elected to represent the people of New Hampshire in the United States Senate, I plan to vote against this nominee for Secretary of Defense.”   

    Remarks as delivered can be found below:

    Mr. President, I come to the floor today to address some of my concerns about the qualifications of the President’s nominee to lead the Department of Defense, Mr. Pete Hegseth. 

    Like many of my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee, I left Mr. Hegseth’s hearing last week with a number of unanswered questions and some real concerns about his qualifications and abilities to serve in the role of Secretary of Defense. 

    Now, every single nominee for Secretary of Defense—from both Democrat and Republican administrations—have met with me and other members from both sides of the aisle on the committee before their confirmation hearings.  

    And I voted for every one of those nominees from both Democrat and Republican administrations: Secretaries Panetta, Hagel, Carter, Mattis, Esper and Austin.  

    I didn’t always agree with their views or their policies, but I felt that they had the qualifications and the temperament to be Secretary of Defense, so I supported their confirmations. 

    But Mr. Hegseth chose not to meet with me or any other Senate Democrats, except the Ranking Member, Jack Reed. And he broke with strong, longstanding tradition to ensure that our work on national security remains free from partisanship.

    And I think that’s the important point: we are stronger as Senators, as Congress, as a nation if we are acting together.

    The Committee unfortunately was not afforded the opportunity to ask a number of rounds of questions, and so there were a number of questions about his views, particularly regarding foreign policy and military policy that we did not get an answer to.

    I’ve become the Ranking Member on the Foreign Relations Committee, and so I’m very concerned about the role of the United States in the world.

    I think the American people expect transparency regarding Mr. Hegseth’s ability to stand by our allies and partners, to uphold international agreements, to abide by rules of engagement and the bottom line—support the men and women in the military in a way that not only keeps us safe, but protects them as well.

    The almost three million men and women who serve our nation in uniform deserve a Secretary of Defense who will not needlessly throw them in harm’s way or seek to divide them with partisan politics. 

    So, I’d like to address a few issues now that we were not able to get to at the hearing, because we were not able to ask more than one round of questions. And I want to start with the role alliances and that our allies and partners play in our own national security.

    I believe – and we’ve seen it many times since the start of this nation – that we are stronger and safer when we lead together with our allies. 

    And we’re fortunate, because we have strong allies and partners. We don’t see that coming from Vladimir Putin, from Xi in China, we don’t see it from the North Koreans or the Iranians, but the United States has strong allies who can stand with us.

    The most important security agreement we’ve had, I think any time in our nation’s history, is NATO.

    It is a critical, indispensable part of our national security, and yet, the President’s nominee for Secretary of Defense wrote in his book, American Crusade, that NATO is quote “a relic” and quote that it “should be scrapped.”

    Now since his nomination, Mr. Hegseth has tried to walk back his opposition to one of our key international alliances, to NATO. 

    In advance policy questions for the Committee, he calls NATO a quote, “vital U.S. interest” in defending Europe and American interests from Russia and Vladimir Putin. 

    This sudden reversal is welcome, because I think it’s very important that our Secretary of Defense understand how critical NATO is, and that it’s stronger now than it was any time since it was formed, probably. We now have 32 members of NATO.

    But Mr. Hegseth’s 11th hour conversion to understanding the importance of our allies and partners raises questions about what he really believes.

    We asked on our questions for the record about NATO, and we didn’t get much of a response.

    Now, if I had had the opportunity, I would have brought up Ukraine and Mr. Hegseth’s head-spinning contradictions on this matter.

    Just as America’s national security interests are not to be trifled with, neither is our commitment to defending democracy and the international world order. 

    And any inconsistency in our commitment to support our allies and partners, to support democracy around the world, to support the international world order, that is going to be seen and exploited by our adversaries. 

    So again, I’m puzzled about how we should think about Mr. Hegseth’s contradictory positions on a variety of national security and foreign policy issues.

    For example, he was critical of the Biden administration—as have many of us on both sides of the aisle been in this chamber—for not moving fast enough to aid Ukraine. But then question the wisdom of sending any U.S. assistance to Ukraine at all. 

    In 2022, Mr. Hegseth called Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” and called for faster U.S. aid to Ukraine. Now, he says the idea of Russia launching a nuclear war is “over-inflated” and plays down the severity of the conflict as merely Putin’s “give-me-my-shit-back war.”

    Well, I don’t think that our NATO allies, those in the Baltics and Poland and Eastern Europe, think Vladmir Putin’s nuclear ambitions are “over inflated.”

    They know the threat he poses to their countries and the world.

    And to be flippant about the threat of nuclear war, I think is beneath the office of the Secretary of Defense, who will have to engage with those partners on a regular basis. 

    Now, I agree with President Trump that the American people want to see a resolution to this years-long war. I’m sure that’s true of the Ukrainians as well.

    But Mr. Hegseth has not, either in his hearing nor in response to the questions that we submitted to him for the record, expanded on what the Department of Defense’s role should be with respect to Ukraine, even though we have already invested $66 billion in military assistance.

    And again, I think it’s very important that we stand by our ally Ukraine, because of the message it sends not just to the Russians and Vladimir Putin, but because of the message it sends to Xi in China, to the Iranians, to the North Koreans, to anyone who is an adversary of the United States.

    If they think we’re going to walk away from our allies, they’re going to do everything they can to divide us.

    Now, on Afghanistan, Mr. Hegseth has also been inconsistent on his views of the President’s foreign policy.

    Actually, he’s been inconsistent in general on the President’s foreign policies.

    In the lead up to the 2016 election, Mr. Hegseth was highly critical of then-candidate Trump’s foreign policy stances, particularly on Iraq and Afghanistan. 

    Mr. Hegseth called Mr. Trump, who was a candidate at the time, and I quote “all bluster, very little substance” and again quoting, “an armchair tough guy.” 

    He criticized then-candidate Trump in 2015 for advocating for the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan, but then he took the criticism back. 

    He sharply criticized the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, as did I, but he’s failed to publicly comment on President Trump’s 2020 deal with the Taliban, which is what set the date certain for withdrawal in 2021 that then the Biden administration was actually tied to.

    Now, I agree. I agree that that withdrawal was not what I wanted to see. I didn’t support it.

    But they were terms that President Trump, in his first term, set with the Taliban. 

    Terms that I thought gave away the store to the Taliban. Because there were no concessions from them, on what we were to get from the United States. The Government of Afghanistan was not at the table and now we’re seeing the fallout from that.  

    And I know that no one is watching for gaps in U.S. national security policy more closely than President Xi and the People’s Republic of China. 

    Now Mr. Hegseth identifies China as our peer competitor, something that I think all of us on the Armed Services Committee and probably everyone this chamber agree with.

    But if Mr. Hegseth is so concerned about China, then he should realize that nothing will encourage President Xi’s aggression more than seeing America abandon our allies and partners. 

    Mr. Hegseth sees China’s ambitions as, quote, “a fait accompli,” and yet, he does not seem to recognize that his own inconsistencies on all these foreign policy positions could contribute to this.

    A question I would like Mr. Hegseth to attempt to answer is: What message would it send to our adversaries if the U.S. ceases its support not just for Ukraine, but for the international rules and norms that underpin the global order?

    Now, I’m also concerned about that with respect to the conduct of conflict. In his book “The War on Warriors,” Mr. Hegseth argued, and again I’m quoting, “our boys should not fight by rules written by dignified men in mahogany rooms eighty years ago. America should fight by its own rules.”  

    Well, the rules that he’s talking about are the Geneva Conventions—which established bare minimum protections against violence, torture and inhumane treatments.

    And they don’t just protect those people we’re fighting on the battlefield, they protect American soldiers.

    During his hearing, he even doubled down to say, quote, “restrictive rules of engagement” have “made it more difficult to defeat our enemies,” and that it would be his priority, quote, “that lawyers aren’t getting in the way.”

    Unfortunately—and dangerously—this appears to be the few issues that Mr. Hegseth is consistent on. 

    He has a documented history of supporting individuals who have violated military and international law by committing war crimes.  

    These are individuals who were turned in not by our enemies, but by members of their own units who were convicted of crimes by military juries. Individuals for whom Mr. Hegseth lobbied to get pardons.  

    I don’t think we can afford to entrust the safety and success of our men and women in uniform to a man who would himself disregard the laws of armed conflict and leave American credibility and moral authority in tatters on the world stage.  

    Now, while embracing officers convicted of war crimes, Mr. Hegseth has stated it is his intent to review all general officers currently serving in the Department of Defense. 

    And when asked if he would remove the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mr. Hegseth responded, on the record, that, quote, “all senior officers will be reviewed.”

    So, let’s just think about what that means – subjecting our general officers, in our military that is not politicized, to a political litmus test is not only unprecedented, it is dangerous. 

    It will convey to the American public that their leadership is political. 

    One of the most important roles of the Secretary of Defense is to seek out and consider open, honest and direct military advice from the senior officers in charge of our forces.  

    I don’t know how Mr. Hegseth expects to receive open and honest advice from his commanders when he is advocating for a purge of anyone who disagrees with him. 

      

    And I am also deeply troubled by the idea that Mr. Hegseth would act as a “yes man” himself, putting his own personal political interests above the wellbeing of our military men and women.

    At Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, when asked what he would do if he received orders from President Trump that he knew to be illegal or unconstitutional, Mr. Hegseth wouldn’t give a straight answer. All he could do was deny that President Trump was capable of giving an illegal order.

    And just for the record, to be clear: in his first term, President Trump did give an illegal order that then-Secretary Esper refused to follow. 

    And for that, Secretary Esper was fired by the President. 

    So, Mr. President, I am very concerned that Mr. Hegseth lacks the consistency and the moral clarity to lead the most combat-credible military in the world. 

    And I’m very disappointed that this body would put a nominee on the floor without the due process of advise-and-consent that the position of the Secretary of Defense deserves. 

    Our men and women in uniform deserve better. 

    And therefore, the first time since I was elected to represent the people of New Hampshire in the United States Senate, I plan to vote against this nominee for Secretary of Defense.  

    Thank you, I yield the floor.

    As the second-ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Shaheen is instrumental in helping to accomplish top national security objectives and enhancing New Hampshire’s role in support of America’s national defense. A member of the Committee since 2011, Shaheen has voted to confirm multiple nominees from both parties under multiple administrations. During his confirmation hearing, Shaheen questioned Hegseth about his support for women service members and the Shaheen-led Women, Peace and Security law. The bipartisan Women, Peace and Security Act, was signed into law by President Donald Trump, which Shaheen leads with Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), was signed into law in 2017 and requires the U.S. Government to strengthen the meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and peace negotiations. 

    Senator Shaheen is the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and also serves on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs and Defense. In 2018, Shaheen re-established the bipartisan U.S. Senate NATO Observer Group with U.S. Senator Tillis (R-NC). Senator Shaheen believes that a strong and active United States is fundamental to securing our national interests at home and abroad. She also believes that U.S. global leadership is directly tied to the strength of our ideals, our alliances and our diplomacy, and she is constantly working to ensure our national security policies reflect our broader democratic values. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Universities – Native oyster and other shellfish recovery rests with robust reef restoration – Flinders

    Source: Flinders University

    When you slurp an exotic Pacific oyster or throw fresh seafood on the BBQ this weekend, spare a thought for our local shellfish reefs – most of which have been destroyed or forgotten.

    Coastal management and reef restoration has never been more important with shellfish reefs among the most impacted coastal ecosystems, warn Flinders University marine biology experts.

    “As we approach the middle of the United Nations’ Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, shellfish ecosystems have suffered enormous declines worldwide, including losses of up to 85% of oyster reefs, and South Australia is no exception,” says Brad Martin, from the College of Science and Engineering, in a new article in the journal Ocean and Coastal Management.

    The new research, led by Flinders PhD candidate Brad Martin, trawled through historical and archival records tracking centuries of South Australia’s shellfish management, reviving new information on past reef ecosystems and management practices.

    “This research offers a multi-species approach to guide shellfish reef restoration today,” says Mr Martin.

    “Successful conservation requires robust knowledge of ecosystem characteristics and the environmental stressors, to inform better coastal management, restoration targets and important community and other stakeholder support. Efforts to restore shellfish reefs have increased due to growing awareness of their loss and ecological importance.”

    Flinders researchers analysed data from the state’s libraries, archives and newspaper articles that described South Australia’s flat oyster (Ostrea angasi), razor clam (Pinna bicolor), and hammer oyster (Malleus meridianus) reefs.

    Oysters are classified as filter feeders that remove plankton and other organic particles from marine systems. As a result, shellfish reef losses have had significant outcomes for documented marine life and negative socio-economic impacts to coastal fisheries and communities.

    More than 140 shellfish reef locations were identified, which covered about 2630 square kilometres of the state’s coastal waters – including approximately 887 sq km of former native oyster reefs, and temperate coral oyster reefs. Most of these shellfish reefs no longer exist today.

    Commercial wild oyster harvesting commenced in the 1840s, and more than 43 million oysters were consumed by the 1910s, based on historic shipping and landing records. The high demand and potential declines motivated South Australia’s earliest fisheries legislation (in 1853) and marine restoration efforts, including fishery closures (est. 1875), shellfish translocation (est. 1887), and marine reserves (est. 1912).

    “We found successful, large-scale oyster reef restoration historically occurred in Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island in the 1910s, and community awareness of the impacts of shellfish reef loss to local fisheries and other marine life including snapper and whiting. These provide important case studies for future restoration efforts.”

    Community research and restoration efforts in SA include the Port River shellfish reef restoration with OzFish Unlimited, Flinders University Citizen Science Reef on Kangaroo Island and the Coffin Bay citizen science oyster reef project, which supports production of the native oyster and razorfish for future generations.

    The public is also encouraged to report records of existing shellfish ecosystems via citizen science programs such as iNaturalist or the Atlas of Living Australia.

    The historical records indicate that shellfish reefs, of multiple ecosystem-forming bivalves, ultimately diminished over the past 200 years or so due to cumulative impacts of destructive benthic fishing practices, changes in marine resource management and environmental stressors, such as droughts, runaway predation and disease, despite multiple legislative and restoration attempts to reverse the declines.

    “Past records indicate that razor clams or ‘razorfish’ (Pinna bicolor) were foundational to establishing multi-species shellfish reefs in South Australia by providing natural settlement surfaces for oysters,” adds Mr Martin.

    “While razor clams and hammer oyster ecosystems can still be found today, the data demonstrates that these ecosystems are understudied and diminished. Future studies may unlock additional restoration opportunities to revive South Australia’s native shellfish.”

    Flinders marine biologist Dr Ryan Baring, a senior author on the paper, says: “There is a bias towards commercially popular species compared to the distribution and conservation status of our ‘less loved’ shellfish ecosystems, particularly razor clams, hammer oysters and native mussels, which co-occur in these reefs.

    “By reconstructing past shellfish reef distributions and socio-cultural connections, this review identifies evidence-based opportunities and key knowledge gaps to guide future research and management efforts,” says Dr Baring.

    The article, ‘Reviving shellfish reef socio-ecological histories for modern management and restoration’ (2025) by Brad Martin, Charlie Huveneers, Simon Reeves (The Nature Conservancy Australia) and Ryan Baring has been published in Ocean and Coastal Management (Elsevier) DOI: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2025.107540.

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Marine traffic control and safety measures to be followed at Lunar New Year Fireworks Display

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    Marine traffic control and safety measures to be followed at Lunar New Year Fireworks Display
    Marine traffic control and safety measures to be followed at Lunar New Year Fireworks Display
    ******************************************************************************************

         With regard to the 2025 Lunar New Year Fireworks Display to be held on January 30, the Marine Department (MD) will implement marine traffic control and strengthen the inspection of spectator vessels on the event day to ensure that safety requirements are met.         A Closed Area in the waters off the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, where barges for the fireworks display are to be anchored, will be established from 2pm to about 10.30pm on the event day. A Restricted Area will be established in the Central Harbour from 7pm to about 9pm on the event day. Other than authorised vessels, no vessels will be allowed to enter these two areas. Scheduled ferry vessels with permission may continue services until 7.40pm.      Spectator vessels may stay inside the Specified Area, excluding the Restricted Area and the Closed Area, for viewing from 6pm to 9pm (the specified period) on the event day. To enhance marine safety during this major event at sea, coxswains of spectator vessels in the Specified Area during the specified period must ensure that children on board are accompanied by an adult and wear a lifejacket at all times. Coxswains must also keep a passenger and crew list on board for emergency purposes. The MD will step up vessel inspections. If any vessel fails to meet these requirements, the department will initiate prosecution.      In addition, to ensure that vessels disperse in an orderly manner, the Eastern and Western Cordon Lines of the Restricted Area will be lifted in stages after the event. The Western Cordon Line will be lifted first at about 9pm. Spectator vessels behind the Western Cordon Line and those wishing to move east must follow the instructions of officers from the MD and the Police at the scene. The Eastern Cordon Line will be lifted later, depending on traffic conditions in Victoria Harbour. It is anticipated that the Restricted Area will be lifted by about 9.15pm on the event day.      For landside crowd control, the public landing steps No. 4 to 6 at Kowloon Public Pier will be closed temporarily from 6am to midnight, and the public landing steps No. 1 to 3 will be closed temporarily from 6pm to about 9pm. Other public landing steps within the Restricted Area will be closed temporarily from 6.30pm to about 9pm. Buffer zones at Kowloon Public Pier, Kwun Tong Public Pier and Central Piers 9 and 10 will be established immediately after the event for the safe and orderly disembarkation of passengers.      Officers from the MD and the Police will also maintain order at major landing facilities after the event. To ensure smooth disembarkation, coxswains and crew members should remind passengers to pack their personal belongings early before the vessels arrive alongside the landing steps and assist passengers in disembarking. Coxswains and passengers should follow the instructions of the MD and the Police at the scene.      The MD and the Marine Police will also strengthen law enforcement, especially concerning life-saving appliances, speeding and overloading. Coxswains and persons-in-charge of vessels should check again and reconfirm that the operating licence, the certificate of survey and the third-party risk insurance are valid before setting sail, and that relevant crew members are not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.      MD Notice No. 14 of 2025 on marine traffic control and safety measures has been issued and is available for viewing on the MD’s website (www.mardep.gov.hk).

     
    Ends/Monday, January 27, 2025Issued at HKT 16:37

    NNNN

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: DRC has created a reserve force to fight the M23 – why this may backfire

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Judith Verweijen, Assistant professor, Utrecht University

    After nearly three decades of warfare, armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) seems only to intensify. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebellion has been at the centre of attention in recent years. However, eastern DRC is home to more than 100 other armed groups, which are a major source of instability too. The question of their demobilisation has haunted the country ever since the end of the Second Congo War in 2003.

    A new chapter in this long-standing conundrum seems to have started. In 2022, the government decided to form an alliance with armed groups to fight their common enemy, the M23 and its Rwandan backers. At around the same time, it launched an initiative to create an army reserve, known as the Reserve armée de la défense (RAD). This formalised the Congolese army’s established practice of using armed groups as auxiliaries.

    The creation of the reserve army allows the government to reward armed group allies with integration while bringing them under institutionalised control. But will this actually work?

    Our past and ongoing research on army integration and demobilisation in eastern DRC casts doubt on the plan, for three reasons.

    The first risk is that armed groups will boost their numbers to gain a stronger bargaining position once integration does occur.

    Secondly, reservist forces may compete with the army over territorial control and limited resources and turn against those who created them.

    Finally, merely absorbing armed groups into a reserve force does little to address the long-standing grievances that underlie conflict in the east.

    The Wazalendo: eastern DRC’s predatory patriots

    On 9 May 2022, in a secretive meeting in the town of Pinga in North Kivu, the Congolese armed forces and several Congolese armed groups agreed to cease hostilities against each other and instead form an alliance to fight their common enemy, the M23.

    As a result, these groups became quasi-official and increasingly presented themselves as defenders of Congo’s territorial integrity. They started to call themselves Wazalendo or patriots in Kiswahili. Fuelled by President Félix Tshisekedi’s supportive rhetoric, the Wazalendo became symbols of Congolese resistance against foreign aggression. This benefited the president’s 2023 electoral campaign.

    Across North and South Kivu provinces, armed groups have rebranded themselves Wazalendo, even when not part of the coalition fighting the M23.

    As the Congolese army’s attention is on the M23, these armed groups have benefited from the lull in operations against them. Most Wazalendo groups are allowed to roam around freely and have dramatically expanded their zones of influence and violent systems of revenue generation.

    This includes taxation at markets and rapidly proliferating roadblocks, but also ransom kidnappings and contract killings. There is also evidence that Wazalendo groups are engaged in torture, sexual violence and arbitrary arrests, and frequently recruit child soldiers.

    Chequered history of integration

    A few months after the Pinga meeting, Congo’s government launched a new national defence policy that mentioned the establishment of the reserve army. Though it was passed unanimously in parliament in April 2023, MPs voiced concerns that the new army reserve risked repeating mistakes of the past.

    The army is itself the product of the painstaking integration of former belligerents after the Second Congo War (1998-2003). But rebel-military integration became an open-ended process. Armed group officers alternately integrated into and deserted from the army in the hope of gaining higher ranks and positions in a next round of integration.

    Unending rebel integration also weakened the national army. It reinforced parallel command chains, facilitated intelligence leaks and created a lopsided hierarchy.

    The first iteration of the M23 rebellion in 2012 was the result of rebel integration gone wrong. In its aftermath, the Congolese government banned the wholesale negotiated integration of armed groups into the army.

    Hurdles to integration

    The reserve army risks unleashing the same dynamics of rewarding rebellion by doling out positions to armed group leaders and granting them impunity for past violence. In April 2024, the leaders of many Wazalendo groups were flown to Kinshasa where the army reserve leadership told them to start preparing lists of their combatants ahead of their integration.

    This has prompted numerous armed groups to step up recruitment.

    The prospect of integration has also triggered fierce competition for positions between Wazalendo commanders. This risks worsening animosities between groups.

    Other hurdles, some of which have been faced before, include:

    Unity of command. Forcing smaller armed groups into a hierarchical mould doesn’t always work. Most have deep local roots, with their recruitment and influence limited to a relatively small area. Used to calling the shots in their home areas, these commanders tend to be reluctant to take orders from higher-placed outsiders.

    Ethnic competition. Armed groups may resist full integration if they feel their rank and positions in the reserve army will be lower and that this will hamper their ability to protect members of their ethnic community. Such “local security dilemmas” have obstructed army integration and demobilisation efforts in the past.

    Resources. Armed groups currently enjoy substantial income, and considerable freedom in obtaining it. Will the reserve army command allow its members to engage in illegal taxation, kidnapping for ransom, robbery and ambushes? If not, how will it compensate for their lost opportunities? In addition, the reserve army is likely to compete with the army over revenue-generating opportunities. And some of its members may leak intelligence to fellow armed groups.

    Painkiller or cure?

    The army reserve may be read as the latest attempt at solving the decades-old problem of getting rid of the many armed groups in eastern DRC, this time by bringing them into the fold of the state yet not into the army.

    However, this solution does risk unleashing many of the same detrimental dynamics as army integration. It may fuel armed mobilisation and militarisation rather than contain it.

    Wazalendo groups are currently in a comfortable position and there are no repercussions for not integrating the reserve force. To contain them, both the DRC’s army and the military justice system would need to be professionalised.

    Even if the reserve army did not have negative ripple effects, it would be an unlikely cure for armed mobilisation. That requires comprehensive, bottom-up peace efforts that tackle deep-seated grievances related to past violence and conflict over belonging, territory and local authority. Barring such efforts, the reserve force will remain a painkiller at best.

    – DRC has created a reserve force to fight the M23 – why this may backfire
    – https://theconversation.com/drc-has-created-a-reserve-force-to-fight-the-m23-why-this-may-backfire-247476

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Global: DRC has created a reserve force to fight the M23 – why this may backfire

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Judith Verweijen, Assistant professor, Utrecht University

    After nearly three decades of warfare, armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) seems only to intensify. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebellion has been at the centre of attention in recent years. However, eastern DRC is home to more than 100 other armed groups, which are a major source of instability too. The question of their demobilisation has haunted the country ever since the end of the Second Congo War in 2003.

    A new chapter in this long-standing conundrum seems to have started. In 2022, the government decided to form an alliance with armed groups to fight their common enemy, the M23 and its Rwandan backers. At around the same time, it launched an initiative to create an army reserve, known as the Reserve armée de la défense (RAD). This formalised the Congolese army’s established practice of using armed groups as auxiliaries.

    The creation of the reserve army allows the government to reward armed group allies with integration while bringing them under institutionalised control. But will this actually work?

    Our past and ongoing research on army integration and demobilisation in eastern DRC casts doubt on the plan, for three reasons.

    The first risk is that armed groups will boost their numbers to gain a stronger bargaining position once integration does occur.

    Secondly, reservist forces may compete with the army over territorial control and limited resources and turn against those who created them.

    Finally, merely absorbing armed groups into a reserve force does little to address the long-standing grievances that underlie conflict in the east.

    The Wazalendo: eastern DRC’s predatory patriots

    On 9 May 2022, in a secretive meeting in the town of Pinga in North Kivu, the Congolese armed forces and several Congolese armed groups agreed to cease hostilities against each other and instead form an alliance to fight their common enemy, the M23.

    As a result, these groups became quasi-official and increasingly presented themselves as defenders of Congo’s territorial integrity. They started to call themselves Wazalendo or patriots in Kiswahili. Fuelled by President Félix Tshisekedi’s supportive rhetoric, the Wazalendo became symbols of Congolese resistance against foreign aggression. This benefited the president’s 2023 electoral campaign.

    Across North and South Kivu provinces, armed groups have rebranded themselves Wazalendo, even when not part of the coalition fighting the M23.

    As the Congolese army’s attention is on the M23, these armed groups have benefited from the lull in operations against them. Most Wazalendo groups are allowed to roam around freely and have dramatically expanded their zones of influence and violent systems of revenue generation.

    This includes taxation at markets and rapidly proliferating roadblocks, but also ransom kidnappings and contract killings. There is also evidence that Wazalendo groups are engaged in torture, sexual violence and arbitrary arrests, and frequently recruit child soldiers.

    Chequered history of integration

    A few months after the Pinga meeting, Congo’s government launched a new national defence policy that mentioned the establishment of the reserve army. Though it was passed unanimously in parliament in April 2023, MPs voiced concerns that the new army reserve risked repeating mistakes of the past.

    The army is itself the product of the painstaking integration of former belligerents after the Second Congo War (1998-2003). But rebel-military integration became an open-ended process. Armed group officers alternately integrated into and deserted from the army in the hope of gaining higher ranks and positions in a next round of integration.

    Unending rebel integration also weakened the national army. It reinforced parallel command chains, facilitated intelligence leaks and created a lopsided hierarchy.

    The first iteration of the M23 rebellion in 2012 was the result of rebel integration gone wrong. In its aftermath, the Congolese government banned the wholesale negotiated integration of armed groups into the army.

    Hurdles to integration

    The reserve army risks unleashing the same dynamics of rewarding rebellion by doling out positions to armed group leaders and granting them impunity for past violence. In April 2024, the leaders of many Wazalendo groups were flown to Kinshasa where the army reserve leadership told them to start preparing lists of their combatants ahead of their integration.

    This has prompted numerous armed groups to step up recruitment.

    The prospect of integration has also triggered fierce competition for positions between Wazalendo commanders. This risks worsening animosities between groups.

    Other hurdles, some of which have been faced before, include:

    Unity of command. Forcing smaller armed groups into a hierarchical mould doesn’t always work. Most have deep local roots, with their recruitment and influence limited to a relatively small area. Used to calling the shots in their home areas, these commanders tend to be reluctant to take orders from higher-placed outsiders.

    Ethnic competition. Armed groups may resist full integration if they feel their rank and positions in the reserve army will be lower and that this will hamper their ability to protect members of their ethnic community. Such “local security dilemmas” have obstructed army integration and demobilisation efforts in the past.

    Resources. Armed groups currently enjoy substantial income, and considerable freedom in obtaining it. Will the reserve army command allow its members to engage in illegal taxation, kidnapping for ransom, robbery and ambushes? If not, how will it compensate for their lost opportunities? In addition, the reserve army is likely to compete with the army over revenue-generating opportunities. And some of its members may leak intelligence to fellow armed groups.

    Painkiller or cure?

    The army reserve may be read as the latest attempt at solving the decades-old problem of getting rid of the many armed groups in eastern DRC, this time by bringing them into the fold of the state yet not into the army.

    However, this solution does risk unleashing many of the same detrimental dynamics as army integration. It may fuel armed mobilisation and militarisation rather than contain it.

    Wazalendo groups are currently in a comfortable position and there are no repercussions for not integrating the reserve force. To contain them, both the DRC’s army and the military justice system would need to be professionalised.

    Even if the reserve army did not have negative ripple effects, it would be an unlikely cure for armed mobilisation. That requires comprehensive, bottom-up peace efforts that tackle deep-seated grievances related to past violence and conflict over belonging, territory and local authority. Barring such efforts, the reserve force will remain a painkiller at best.

    Michel Thill is a Senior Program Officer for swisspeace, a Basel University affiliated practice and research institute dedicated to advancing effective peacebuilding. swisspeace receives funding from research funding bodies, and bilateral and multilateral organizations. Michel is also a Fellow of the Rift Valley Institute.

    Judith Verweijen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. DRC has created a reserve force to fight the M23 – why this may backfire – https://theconversation.com/drc-has-created-a-reserve-force-to-fight-the-m23-why-this-may-backfire-247476

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI China: Xi lauds China’s solid progress despite challenges in Year of Dragon

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday noted solid progress the country has made in advancing Chinese modernization amid “complex and challenging” situations over the past twelve months at a high-level reception to ring in the Chinese New Year.
    “In the Year of the Dragon, we demonstrated vitality and a can-do spirit. We endured storms and saw the rainbow,” said Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
    Faced with complex and challenging situations, China responded with composure and implemented a range of comprehensive measures, overcame difficulties and forged ahead with determination, Xi said at the reception held by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to usher in the Year of the Snake, which begins on Jan. 29.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: DRC creates a reserve force to fight the M23 – why this may backfire

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Judith Verweijen, Assistant professor, Utrecht University

    After nearly three decades of warfare, armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) seems only to intensify. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebellion has been at the centre of attention in recent years. However, eastern DRC is home to more than 100 other armed groups, which are a major source of instability too. The question of their demobilisation has haunted the country ever since the end of the Second Congo War in 2003.

    A new chapter in this long-standing conundrum seems to have started. In 2022, the government decided to form an alliance with armed groups to fight their common enemy, the M23 and its Rwandan backers. At around the same time, it launched an initiative to create an army reserve, known as the Reserve armée de la défense (RAD). This formalised the Congolese army’s established practice of using armed groups as auxiliaries.

    The creation of the reserve army allows the government to reward armed group allies with integration while bringing them under institutionalised control. But will this actually work?

    Our past and ongoing research on army integration and demobilisation in eastern DRC casts doubt on the plan, for three reasons.

    The first risk is that armed groups will boost their numbers to gain a stronger bargaining position once integration does occur.

    Secondly, reservist forces may compete with the army over territorial control and limited resources and turn against those who created them.

    Finally, merely absorbing armed groups into a reserve force does little to address the long-standing grievances that underlie conflict in the east.

    The Wazalendo: eastern DRC’s predatory patriots

    On 9 May 2022, in a secretive meeting in the town of Pinga in North Kivu, the Congolese armed forces and several Congolese armed groups agreed to cease hostilities against each other and instead form an alliance to fight their common enemy, the M23.

    As a result, these groups became quasi-official and increasingly presented themselves as defenders of Congo’s territorial integrity. They started to call themselves Wazalendo or patriots in Kiswahili. Fuelled by President Félix Tshisekedi’s supportive rhetoric, the Wazalendo became symbols of Congolese resistance against foreign aggression. This benefited the president’s 2023 electoral campaign.

    Across North and South Kivu provinces, armed groups have rebranded themselves Wazalendo, even when not part of the coalition fighting the M23.

    As the Congolese army’s attention is on the M23, these armed groups have benefited from the lull in operations against them. Most Wazalendo groups are allowed to roam around freely and have dramatically expanded their zones of influence and violent systems of revenue generation.

    This includes taxation at markets and rapidly proliferating roadblocks, but also ransom kidnappings and contract killings. There is also evidence that Wazalendo groups are engaged in torture, sexual violence and arbitrary arrests, and frequently recruit child soldiers.

    Chequered history of integration

    A few months after the Pinga meeting, Congo’s government launched a new national defence policy that mentioned the establishment of the reserve army. Though it was passed unanimously in parliament in April 2023, MPs voiced concerns that the new army reserve risked repeating mistakes of the past.

    The army is itself the product of the painstaking integration of former belligerents after the Second Congo War (1998-2003). But rebel-military integration became an open-ended process. Armed group officers alternately integrated into and deserted from the army in the hope of gaining higher ranks and positions in a next round of integration.

    Unending rebel integration also weakened the national army. It reinforced parallel command chains, facilitated intelligence leaks and created a lopsided hierarchy.

    The first iteration of the M23 rebellion in 2012 was the result of rebel integration gone wrong. In its aftermath, the Congolese government banned the wholesale negotiated integration of armed groups into the army.

    Hurdles to integration

    The reserve army risks unleashing the same dynamics of rewarding rebellion by doling out positions to armed group leaders and granting them impunity for past violence. In April 2024, the leaders of many Wazalendo groups were flown to Kinshasa where the army reserve leadership told them to start preparing lists of their combatants ahead of their integration.

    This has prompted numerous armed groups to step up recruitment.

    The prospect of integration has also triggered fierce competition for positions between Wazalendo commanders. This risks worsening animosities between groups.

    Other hurdles, some of which have been faced before, include:

    Unity of command. Forcing smaller armed groups into a hierarchical mould doesn’t always work. Most have deep local roots, with their recruitment and influence limited to a relatively small area. Used to calling the shots in their home areas, these commanders tend to be reluctant to take orders from higher-placed outsiders.

    Ethnic competition. Armed groups may resist full integration if they feel their rank and positions in the reserve army will be lower and that this will hamper their ability to protect members of their ethnic community. Such “local security dilemmas” have obstructed army integration and demobilisation efforts in the past.

    Resources. Armed groups currently enjoy substantial income, and considerable freedom in obtaining it. Will the reserve army command allow its members to engage in illegal taxation, kidnapping for ransom, robbery and ambushes? If not, how will it compensate for their lost opportunities? In addition, the reserve army is likely to compete with the army over revenue-generating opportunities. And some of its members may leak intelligence to fellow armed groups.

    Painkiller or cure?

    The army reserve may be read as the latest attempt at solving the decades-old problem of getting rid of the many armed groups in eastern DRC, this time by bringing them into the fold of the state yet not into the army.

    However, this solution does risk unleashing many of the same detrimental dynamics as army integration. It may fuel armed mobilisation and militarisation rather than contain it.

    Wazalendo groups are currently in a comfortable position and there are no repercussions for not integrating the reserve force. To contain them, both the DRC’s army and the military justice system would need to be professionalised.

    Even if the reserve army did not have negative ripple effects, it would be an unlikely cure for armed mobilisation. That requires comprehensive, bottom-up peace efforts that tackle deep-seated grievances related to past violence and conflict over belonging, territory and local authority. Barring such efforts, the reserve force will remain a painkiller at best.

    – DRC creates a reserve force to fight the M23 – why this may backfire
    – https://theconversation.com/drc-creates-a-reserve-force-to-fight-the-m23-why-this-may-backfire-247476

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Global: DRC creates a reserve force to fight the M23 – why this may backfire

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Judith Verweijen, Assistant professor, Utrecht University

    After nearly three decades of warfare, armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) seems only to intensify. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebellion has been at the centre of attention in recent years. However, eastern DRC is home to more than 100 other armed groups, which are a major source of instability too. The question of their demobilisation has haunted the country ever since the end of the Second Congo War in 2003.

    A new chapter in this long-standing conundrum seems to have started. In 2022, the government decided to form an alliance with armed groups to fight their common enemy, the M23 and its Rwandan backers. At around the same time, it launched an initiative to create an army reserve, known as the Reserve armée de la défense (RAD). This formalised the Congolese army’s established practice of using armed groups as auxiliaries.

    The creation of the reserve army allows the government to reward armed group allies with integration while bringing them under institutionalised control. But will this actually work?

    Our past and ongoing research on army integration and demobilisation in eastern DRC casts doubt on the plan, for three reasons.

    The first risk is that armed groups will boost their numbers to gain a stronger bargaining position once integration does occur.

    Secondly, reservist forces may compete with the army over territorial control and limited resources and turn against those who created them.

    Finally, merely absorbing armed groups into a reserve force does little to address the long-standing grievances that underlie conflict in the east.

    The Wazalendo: eastern DRC’s predatory patriots

    On 9 May 2022, in a secretive meeting in the town of Pinga in North Kivu, the Congolese armed forces and several Congolese armed groups agreed to cease hostilities against each other and instead form an alliance to fight their common enemy, the M23.

    As a result, these groups became quasi-official and increasingly presented themselves as defenders of Congo’s territorial integrity. They started to call themselves Wazalendo or patriots in Kiswahili. Fuelled by President Félix Tshisekedi’s supportive rhetoric, the Wazalendo became symbols of Congolese resistance against foreign aggression. This benefited the president’s 2023 electoral campaign.

    Across North and South Kivu provinces, armed groups have rebranded themselves Wazalendo, even when not part of the coalition fighting the M23.

    As the Congolese army’s attention is on the M23, these armed groups have benefited from the lull in operations against them. Most Wazalendo groups are allowed to roam around freely and have dramatically expanded their zones of influence and violent systems of revenue generation.

    This includes taxation at markets and rapidly proliferating roadblocks, but also ransom kidnappings and contract killings. There is also evidence that Wazalendo groups are engaged in torture, sexual violence and arbitrary arrests, and frequently recruit child soldiers.

    Chequered history of integration

    A few months after the Pinga meeting, Congo’s government launched a new national defence policy that mentioned the establishment of the reserve army. Though it was passed unanimously in parliament in April 2023, MPs voiced concerns that the new army reserve risked repeating mistakes of the past.

    The army is itself the product of the painstaking integration of former belligerents after the Second Congo War (1998-2003). But rebel-military integration became an open-ended process. Armed group officers alternately integrated into and deserted from the army in the hope of gaining higher ranks and positions in a next round of integration.

    Unending rebel integration also weakened the national army. It reinforced parallel command chains, facilitated intelligence leaks and created a lopsided hierarchy.

    The first iteration of the M23 rebellion in 2012 was the result of rebel integration gone wrong. In its aftermath, the Congolese government banned the wholesale negotiated integration of armed groups into the army.

    Hurdles to integration

    The reserve army risks unleashing the same dynamics of rewarding rebellion by doling out positions to armed group leaders and granting them impunity for past violence. In April 2024, the leaders of many Wazalendo groups were flown to Kinshasa where the army reserve leadership told them to start preparing lists of their combatants ahead of their integration.

    This has prompted numerous armed groups to step up recruitment.

    The prospect of integration has also triggered fierce competition for positions between Wazalendo commanders. This risks worsening animosities between groups.

    Other hurdles, some of which have been faced before, include:

    Unity of command. Forcing smaller armed groups into a hierarchical mould doesn’t always work. Most have deep local roots, with their recruitment and influence limited to a relatively small area. Used to calling the shots in their home areas, these commanders tend to be reluctant to take orders from higher-placed outsiders.

    Ethnic competition. Armed groups may resist full integration if they feel their rank and positions in the reserve army will be lower and that this will hamper their ability to protect members of their ethnic community. Such “local security dilemmas” have obstructed army integration and demobilisation efforts in the past.

    Resources. Armed groups currently enjoy substantial income, and considerable freedom in obtaining it. Will the reserve army command allow its members to engage in illegal taxation, kidnapping for ransom, robbery and ambushes? If not, how will it compensate for their lost opportunities? In addition, the reserve army is likely to compete with the army over revenue-generating opportunities. And some of its members may leak intelligence to fellow armed groups.

    Painkiller or cure?

    The army reserve may be read as the latest attempt at solving the decades-old problem of getting rid of the many armed groups in eastern DRC, this time by bringing them into the fold of the state yet not into the army.

    However, this solution does risk unleashing many of the same detrimental dynamics as army integration. It may fuel armed mobilisation and militarisation rather than contain it.

    Wazalendo groups are currently in a comfortable position and there are no repercussions for not integrating the reserve force. To contain them, both the DRC’s army and the military justice system would need to be professionalised.

    Even if the reserve army did not have negative ripple effects, it would be an unlikely cure for armed mobilisation. That requires comprehensive, bottom-up peace efforts that tackle deep-seated grievances related to past violence and conflict over belonging, territory and local authority. Barring such efforts, the reserve force will remain a painkiller at best.

    Michel Thill is a Senior Program Officer for swisspeace, a Basel University affiliated practice and research institute dedicated to advancing effective peacebuilding. swisspeace receives funding from research funding bodies, and bilateral and multilateral organizations. Michel is also a Fellow of the Rift Valley Institute.

    Judith Verweijen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. DRC creates a reserve force to fight the M23 – why this may backfire – https://theconversation.com/drc-creates-a-reserve-force-to-fight-the-m23-why-this-may-backfire-247476

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI China: Classic Peking Opera still resonates on silver screen

    Source: China State Council Information Office 3

    Peking Opera master performer Cheng Yanqiu and playwright Weng Ouhong once collaborated in the production of Suo Lin Nang, a bittersweet tale with a happy ending.

    The production premiered in 1940 and remains a showpiece of the Cheng style of Peking Opera to this day. Its morals still resonate with audiences today — lending a helping hand to those in need, kindness begets kindness, and girls help girls.

    In the story, Xue Xiangling, the daughter of a wealthy family, receives a purse filled with jewels from her mother before her wedding. On the way to the ceremony, a sudden downpour forces her to seek shelter in a pavilion where she meets another bride, Zhao Shouzhen, who is crying over her poverty, so Xue gifts Zhao the purse.

    Years later, a flood separates Xue from her family, and she has to work as a maid. She accidentally finds the purse in the house and realizes that the lady of the household is Zhao. Recognizing Xue as her benefactor, Zhao helps her reunite with her family.

    For more than three years, Shanghai Film Group, the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, Shanghai Media Group and the Capital Jinghu Arts Research Association worked together to bring the production to the silver screen, along with Zhang Huoding, a renowned Peking Opera artist and representative performer of the Cheng opera style.

    The film Suo Lin Nang, or The Kylin Purse, made its Beijing premiere at the China National Film Museum on Dec 27.

    “This year marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of Cheng Yanqiu. The Cheng-style influence is profound and the master’s thoughts and spirit continue to enlighten future generations,” Zhang, also a professor at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, said at the premiere.

    According to her, the film captures the classic stage production through visual storytelling, serving as a tribute to and remembrance of Peking Opera predecessors. “I sincerely hope that the Cheng style continues to thrive and the master’s art will endure,” she adds.

    At the premiere, director Teng Junjie, vice-president of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles, said that during the filmmaking process, he was moved by the professionalism and pursuit of excellence demonstrated by the Peking Opera artists.

    Teng recalls filming during the coldest winter months along the coast of Zhejiang province, but the artists, exemplified by Zhang, gritted their teeth and overcame the difficulties while working more than 10 hours a day.

    “Zhang insisted on canceling the trailer we booked for her to save our limited budget to improve the film’s quality,” Teng says.

    Another example of this camaraderie is that while some supporting actors had limited scenes, they insisted on staying on the set, offering to help in any way they could.

    “With 8K resolution, this film is presented to today’s audience with the clearest images, the most saturated colors, and the most precise combination of camera movement and structure,” Teng says.

    This film is made for today and the future, he adds.

    “With this film, we pay tribute to Cheng Yanqiu, our national treasure Peking Opera, and the excellent contemporary performers of the Cheng style who have been working hard to pass down the art form,” Teng says.

    In 2014, the film concept was included in the Peking Opera Film Project, initiated in 2011 to preserve outstanding stage productions through cinematic techniques. It later received support from the China National Arts Fund, which was approved by the State Council in late 2013.

    The completion of The Kylin Purse highlights that all 21 films listed in the project have been produced, with Shanghai Film Group having filmed and produced six.

    Last June, the film made its Shanghai premiere at the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival.

    In November, it was screened at the 9th edition of the festival of traditional Chinese operas in Paris and won one of its top prizes.

    The China National Film Museum has entered all 21 films from the project into its archives and established a permanent exhibition themed on the project.

    “The Kylin Purse is a highly acclaimed classic in the Peking Opera scene,” says Huang Xiaowei, the museum’s curator.

    “Its script upholds long-standing values such as justice and gratitude. With the distinctive Cheng singing style, especially under the superb performance of Zhang Huoding, the production has remarkable artistic depth and appeal,”Huang adds.

    She stresses the vital role Peking Opera played in China’s cinematic history, as the first-ever Chinese film Dingjun Mountain, released in 1905, was a recording of veteran Peking Opera artist Tan Xinpei performing.

    “The exhibition themed on the Peking Opera Film Project has expanded and enriched our museum’s film collection. It has taken on an integral role in showcasing the achievements of Chinese cinema,”Huang adds.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Weather News Update – Sunny Interlude Before Midweek Rain – MetService

    Source: MetService

    UPDATE: Covering period of Monday 27 – Thursday 30 January – MetService is forecasting a quieter weather day on Tuesday before another system sweeps across the South Island later in the day and into Wednesday, bringing rain and strong winds. Meanwhile, the North Island gets a reprieve from the muggy conditions of the past weekend, enjoying fresher air ahead of the next weather system later this week.

    Following the devastating tornado in Mangawhai early on Sunday morning, Monday brought yet another day of unsettled weather for parts of Aotearoa New Zealand. Showers and thunderstorms were widespread in the east, with unseasonable snow falling in elevated parts of Canterbury, driven by a cold front moving northward. For regions marking Auckland Anniversary Day in the northern half of the North Island, the day was brighter and more settled.

    This brighter weather extends across much of the country on Tuesday, thanks to a brief ridge of high pressure. MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane explains, “After an active couple of days weather-wise, many may welcome a bright and sunny summer day. However, the odd shower may still pop up in the western South Island and upper North Island. Later in the afternoon, the next weather system begins to make its presence felt.”

    From Tuesday afternoon, winds strengthen over the lower South Island as the approaching weather system brings the potential for Heavy Rain and Strong Winds. MetService has issued Strong Wind Watches from Fiordland to inland Canterbury for Tuesday late afternoon to Wednesday. Heavy Rain Watches are also in effect for Fiordland and the ranges of the Westland District, primarily overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday. In the eastern South Island, brief rain is expected on Wednesday as the weather system moves through, while conditions clear on Thursday, with lingering rain possible for Buller and Tasman. The rain reaches the lower North Island early Thursday, where it is expected to be for much of the day.

    In the North Island, the muggy conditions of recent days are replaced by cooler, fresher air. Single-digit temperatures may greet some areas in the central and lower North Island on Tuesday morning. “I imagine the cooler temperatures will make sleeping a lot easier for many compared to these last few nights,” adds Makgabutlane. However, warm overnight temperatures return to the lower North Island towards the end of the working week.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Weather News – Sunny Interlude Before Midweek Rain – MetService

    Source: MetService

    Covering period of Monday 27 – Thursday 30 January – MetService is forecasting a quieter weather day on Tuesday before another system sweeps across the South Island later in the day and into Wednesday, bringing rain and strong winds. Meanwhile, the North Island gets a reprieve from the muggy conditions of the past weekend, enjoying fresher air ahead of the next weather system later this week.

    Following the devastating tornado in Mangawhai early on Sunday morning, Monday brought yet another day of unsettled weather for parts of Aotearoa New Zealand. Showers and thunderstorms were widespread in the east, with unseasonable snow falling in elevated parts of Canterbury, driven by a cold front moving northward. For regions marking Auckland Anniversary Day in the northern half of the North Island, the day was brighter and more settled.

    This brighter weather extends across much of the country on Tuesday, thanks to a brief ridge of high pressure. MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane explains, “After an active couple of days weather-wise, many may welcome a bright and sunny summer day. However, the odd shower may still pop up in the western South Island and upper North Island. Later in the afternoon, the next weather system begins to make its presence felt.”

    From Tuesday afternoon, winds strengthen over the lower South Island as the approaching weather system brings the potential for Heavy Rain and Strong Winds. MetService has issued Strong Wind Watches from Fiordland to inland Canterbury for Tuesday late afternoon to Wednesday. Heavy Rain Watches are also in effect for Fiordland and the ranges of the Westland District, primarily overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday. In the eastern South Island, brief rain is expected on Wednesday as the weather system moves through, while conditions clear on Thursday, with lingering rain possible for Buller and Tasman. The rain reaches the lower North Island early Thursday, where it is expected to be for much of the day.

    In the North Island, the muggy conditions of recent days are replaced by cooler, fresher air. Single-digit temperatures may greet some areas in the central and lower North Island on Tuesday morning. “I imagine the cooler temperatures will make sleeping a lot easier for many compared to these last few nights,” adds Makgabutlane. However, warm overnight temperatures return to the lower North Island towards the end of the working week.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Security Council Press Statement on Situation in Democratic Republic of Congo

    Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council

    The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Amar Bendjama (Algeria):

    The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms ongoing advances by the M23 in North-Kivu, including the control of Masisi centre on 4 January 2025 and of Sake on 23 January 2025, and expressed serious concerns regarding imminent threats against Goma, which are putting hundreds of thousands of civilians at heightened risk. These advances represent a serious violation of the ceasefire, exacerbate the grave humanitarian and displacement crisis in the Eastern DRC and undermine efforts to reach a lasting peaceful and political solution to the conflict through the Luanda process. The members of the Security Council echoed the statement by the Secretary-General dated 26 January 2025 and demanded that the ongoing offensive and advances towards Goma immediately stop. They further called on the M23 to reverse its territorial expansion without delay.

    The members of the Security Council reiterated their full support to MONUSCO, which is acting within its mandate and doing essential work in the DRC, including near Goma, and expressed their strong commitment to the safety and security of its peacekeepers. They paid tribute to all peacekeepers who risk their lives. They expressed their deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the peacekeepers killed, as well as to South Africa, Malawi and Uruguay.  They also expressed their condolences to the United Nations. They wished a speedy and full recovery to the peacekeepers injured. They reiterated that attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes. They stressed that involvement in planning, directing, sponsoring or conducting attacks against MONUSCO peacekeepers constitutes a basis for sanctions designations pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolutions.

    The members of the Security Council condemned the ongoing flagrant disregard for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC, including the unauthorized presence in the Eastern DRC of external Forces as reported by the Group of Experts and demanded that these forces withdraw immediately and that the M23 put an end to the establishment of parallel administrations in the DRC territory. They urged all parties to scrupulously abide by the ceasefire. They further reiterated their condemnation of the systematic illicit exploitation of the natural resources in eastern DRC, noting that these actions fuel the conflict. 

    They urged Rwanda and the DRC to return to diplomatic talks to achieve a lasting and peaceful resolution of the protracted conflict in the region including by addressing respective issues pertaining to the presence of Rwanda Defence Forces in the Eastern DRC and DRC support to the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) respectively, as reported by the Group of Experts. The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their unwavering support for the ongoing mediation efforts between the DRC and Rwanda through the Luanda Process led by the AU -designated mediator President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço of Angola.

    The members of the Security Council are also deeply alarmed by continued occurrences of GPS jamming and spoofing activities in support of M23 operations in North Kivu, which represent imminent risk to civil aviation safety and negatively impact the delivery of humanitarian assistance to populations in need. They called for an end to reported GPS jamming and spoofing and deployment of Surface to Air Missiles, which threaten the safety and security of UN peacekeepers, and impede the implementation of their Protection of Civilians mandate.

    The members of the Security Council condemned persistent violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights in the eastern part of the DRC, including sexual and gender-based violence, the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and summary killings by armed groups. The members of the Security Council called for all perpetrators to be held accountable. They urged both parties to fully and rapidly implement their commitments agreed under the Luanda process, and to fully cooperate in good faith with Angola in order to accelerate the implementation of the harmonized plan for the neutralization of the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) and the disengagement of Forces. Council members also stressed the importance of resuming consultations under the Nairobi Process under the guidance of former President Uhuru Kenyatta to address the protracted issue of armed groups, including the M23, operating in the DRC, and to identify pathways to peace and stability in the region.

    The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as all States in the region. They recalled resolution 2765 (2024) and expressed their full support to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) and the Office of the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: PRITCHARD GROVE, PANORAMA (Grass Fire)

    Source: Country Fire Service – South Australia

    Issued on
    27 Jan 2025 13:19

    Issued for
    PANORAMA near Blackwood and Eden Hills in the Mount Lofty Ranges.

    Warning level
    Advice – Stay Informed

    Action
    CFS is responding to a fire near Panorama, Blackwood and Eden Hills.

    If you are in this area, stay informed and monitor local conditions. More information will be provided by the CFS when it is available.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Quick reporting from public sees two teens arrested, Invercargill

    Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

    Attributable to Detective Peter Smallfield, Invercargill Police:

    Two young people are facing Youth Court in Invercargill after a series of burglaries in a stolen car overnight.

    A Mazda vehicle was stolen from a Kingswell address in the early hours of the morning by two people, who later pulled up to a jewellers in the central city around 5am.

    They have got out and attempted to smash the windows with a scooter, and when they were not able to gain entry, travelled to a service station in Newfield.

    Again, they were not able to gain entry.

    Stopping the vehicle on a street nearby, they have had an interaction with a member of the public, in which they have pretended to have a firearm with them in order to scare them away.

    They have then travelled to a dairy in Winsdor, where they have managed to smash their way in.

    The pair stole items including vapes, cash, and confectionery before getting back into the vehicle and driving a short distance away.

    A Police dog unit has located the vehicle and tracked the occupants who had fled on foot, taking them into custody shortly after 6am.

    Two young males were due in the Invercargill Youth Court today, appearing jointly on three charges of burglary, one of theft of a motor vehicle and one of being unlawfully in a closed yard.

    This behaviour is incredibly frustrating for residents and business owners in our community, and it’s pleasing to have been able to immediately hold this pair to account.

    We want to extend our thanks to the members of the public who observed suspicious behaviour and reported it to Police on 111 straight away, enabling the quick apprehension of the two youths.

    It is also a reminder to take every precaution possible to help avoid becoming a victim of crime.

    Remember to take property security measures with your vehicles – keep them inside a secure garage if possible, remove valuables, and consider a steering wheel lock. This all helps make your vehicle less desirable for opportunistic thieves.

    ENDS

    Issued by the Police Media Centre 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –