Mi-35P with 30mms cannon on the starboard side(above) and Mi-24V with nose+mounted 23mm cannons
LAGOS, Dec. 2 (Xinhua)
Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram fighters in the early hours of Monday launched a massive attack on the Nigerian Air Force Base in northeast city of Maiduguri in Borno State, killing an undisclosed number of people, and forced the government to impose a 24-hour curfew,a competent police source said.
The police source told Xinhua that the
insurgents invaded the restive city and launched coordinated attacks on the 79 Composite Group of the Nigerian Air Force, 33 Artillery Battalion (* error..333 Artillery Regiment) and a trailer park along Maiduguri-Kano road. He said scores including military personnel may have died in the attack described as bloody by an army source.
A military spokesperson in the state,
Colonel Muhammad Dole confirmed the attack but claimed it was repelled. “In the early hours of Monday, Boko Haram terrorists attempted to gain access to own locations (own locations according to Dole mean military formations) in the metropolis. However, troops of the 7 division of the Nigerian Army have successfully repelled the insurgents and inflicted serious casualties
on them. The situation around Njamtilo and Maiduguri International Airport general areas are calm and under control,” he added
“Our troops supported by the Nigerian Air force aircrafts are presently pursuing the terrorists toward the Maiduguri-Benisheik road,” he said through a statement, but declined to give further details.
Meanwhile, the Borno State government has imposed a 24-hour curfew on the state following early morning attacks on military formations in the area. “The Borno State Government in consultation with the GOC 7 Division Nigerian Army has decided to impose a 24-hour curfew on Maiduguri starting from 1100 am today,” a government statement said.
“The imposition of the curfew is
necessitated by an attack in Maiduguri by people suspected to be Boko Haram members in the early hours of today,” the statement quoted the secretary of Borno state government, Amb Baba Ahmad Jidda as saying.
The state government appealed to
residents to remain calm and law abiding until the situation is put under control, adding that security agencies would do everything possible to ensure security of lives and property. There has been no confirmation of the casualties by either local authorities or the Islamist militant sect Boko Haram, which has recently suffered a deadly blow by the military in the volatile northeastern region of Nigeria.
Boko Haram has been proved the biggest security threat in the West African country since it launched the insurgency in 2009. It seeks to enshrine the Islamic Sharia law into the constitution and declared war against Western education.
Beegeagle's Blog 
Oga beegs, did u guys see this yet. Is this actually true??
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/scores-killed-boko-haram-attacks-air-force-base-maiduguri/
very painful
Thanks for sharing, Colonel.
Ndahi Marama has always been one of the more objective journalists from upcountry who has always endeavoured to tell a balanced story – to the credit of “VANGUARD”. However, he sometimes comes up too soon with the gist and even before the details have fully emerged.
Let us wait to read what Ibrahim Mshelizza of Reuters has to say. He is very well-grounded on developments in his native Borno and is not one of those raving anti-govt fanatics who twist details.
What I have come away with from this story is that there has been a major security incident in MDGR which, like Kano, Kaduna and Damaturu, has been largely stabilized barring the odd security incident. For MDGR, that has scarcely happened during the second half of 2013.
Colonel, here is an UPDATE from Borno
CURFEW IMPOSED ON MAIDUGURI
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters)
2 December, 2013
Nigerian authorities imposed a 24-hour curfew in the main northeastern city of Maiduguri on Monday after suspected Islamist militants staged an attack there in the early hours.
Baba Ahmed Jidda, a spokesman for the
government of Borno State, of which
Maiduguri is the capital, announced the
curfew in a statement, but provided no
details about the attack and did not say
whether there had been any casualties.
“The imposition of the curfew is
necessitated by an attack in Maiduguri by people suspected to be Boko Haram
members in the early hours of today,” he
said. “Borno state government pleads with all citizens to remain calm and law abiding until the situation is put under control.”
The Nigerian military has periodically
imposed curfews on Maiduguri, birthplace of the Boko Haram insurgency, but it is rare for the state government to make such an announcement. In May, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno and two other states, ordering an all-out offensive against the Islamist group, which is fighting to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims.
Initially the campaign appeared to
temper the violence as soldiers wrested
back control of towns, cities and stretches of semi-desert in the northeast from the militants. But they have retreated to remoter areas,
including the forested Gwoza hills near
Cameroon, from where they have
mounted deadly counter-attacks and have stepped up killings of civilians they accuse of collaborating with the authorities.
The military said last Friday it may have
killed more than 50 Islamist insurgents in an air strike on one of their main bases in Gwoza.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE9B108K20131202?irpc=932
MORE:
AFP report
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iZunSi9UCQkvGCXE41tGh9jTkH8A?docId=aa078dfa-4099-4328-99ba-69665132f52b
Gentlemen, I believe that we now have the designation of all three new infantry brigades formed for the new 7 Infantry Division and these are start-up formations which did not exist until the new division was formed in August 2013. The brigades are
5 Brigade
12 Brigade
37 Brigade
The 21 Armoured Brigade which has been stationed at Maiduguri for over 30 years now appears to have been transferred to 7 Div AOR for purposes of contiguity. However, the norm is for every NA division to have its own recce battalion, Artillery Brigade and Engineers Brigade operating in support of the maneouvre division.
So 21 Brigade might yet be moved out into 3 Div AOR in the near future while a new artillery brigade, possibly with one self-propelled artillery regiment under command, moving in to replace 21 Bde.
We shall see how it pans out in a bit.
Defence Headquarters Nigeria.
9 minutes ago
DARING TERRORISTS ATTACK MILITARY LOCATIONS IN MAIDUGURI
Nigerian security forces today repelled a pre-dawn attack on Maiduguri by suspected terrorists. Military locations such as Nigerian Air Force Base and some Nigerian Army locations in Maiduguri were targeted during the attack.
Three decommissioned military aircrafts as well as two Helicopters were incapacitated in the course of the attack. Two Air Force personnel were also wounded while 24 insurgents died during the exchange of fire.
Security forces are in pursuit of the terrorists in the Djemtillo general area along the Maiduguri/Banishek axis. Movements in Maiduguri and environs have been restricted. Citizens are enjoined to report any of the fleeing insurgents, most of whom could be identified with gunshot wounds whenever they are sighted.
Meanwhile, normal flights operations to and from the Maiduguri Airport which were earlier temporarily disrupted has resumed.
Oga beeg, i swear my whole day has been spoilt. I really think the Nigerian Army are pussy-footing with these militants. And the level of sophistication of these attacks shows they are getting help from islamic radicals in foreign countries.
The NA needs to saturate the North-East with troops and equipments, air and ground assets like yesterday.
http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/12/02/20-soldiers-2-copters-destroyed-in-worst-boko-haram-strike/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PmNewsNigeriaFeed+%28PM+News+Nigeria%29
NA needs to wake up. This is not a game and it is no longer funny…
seconded
Oh! great, now we have even less helicopters. I can’t believe the powers that be weren’t anticipating this happening. It even happened in Afghanistan where US Marines were killed and several Harrier jets destroyed.
BH were obviously being decimated by air strikes, hence the attack on the air force base. The Air Force Regiment’s responsibility is the protection of the aircrafts, airbase and environs and I can’t for the life of me understand how a large movement of heavily armed BH terrorists was not picked up.
Now we see the importance of helicopters in the recce, troop transport and attack roles, so please FG get your priorities right and get the urgently needed platforms.
Whoever was responsible for security at the air base has serious questions to answer. The US Generals in the Afghanistan incident lost their promotions and appointments.
Honestly, I don’t know what to believe anymore. I’ve got my own job to do, those whose job it is, is to run security in nigeria should also do their own job.
It is bewildering to read that just a day or two ago 50 boko-haram members were claimed to have been killed by the army, and today more than a 300 terrorists almost over-ran an airforce base.
It begs the question of, Where the hell these terrorists are coming from, despite news of repeated success from the military.
Interesting developments in Ghana. http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2013/12/02/un-report-reveals-plot-to-kill-gbagbo-allies-in-ghana/
The military and defence chiefs have no excuse this time,this news has left me really sad,very sad,so many questions I would have loved to ask but words just fail me,how on earth did this happen? What happened to the numerous check points around MDRG? This clearly states the appalling level of our intelligence gathering,did this guys walk into MDGR?why weren’t they spotted? A friend told me the casualties are so numerous,once again the negligence of our military and political top brass has left many of our brave soldiers dead,and surely this guys had support either locally or foreign help. Dammit!!! so disappointed
Your friend was probably talking about civilian casualties. On the rest I agree with you that there is a problem here. As Nigerians we are entitled to an explanation from the FG and the four heads of the armed forces and the NSA.
They need to tell us why this was allowed to happen.
This is what you get when you have an air force chief who looks and acts like a business man out to set up his own civil airline.
http://www.punchng.com/news/bharam-attacks-maiduguri-air-force-base-kills-20-soldiers/
Not sure what top say here. Keep killing them, they keep increasing in number. The hunted (NA, NAF) needs to change their tactic and quickly become the hunters. They need to be the insurgents (and terrorists) to boko haram. I said some months ago that this was a cat and mouse game. Seems that’s what’s happening.
Breaking news:President Goodluck ebele Jonathan in hours of closed door meeting with security chiefs!!!
http://dailypost.com.ng/2013/12/02/maiduguri-attack-jonathan-summons-emergency-security-meeting/
There are even rumors that they used a stolen APC….I am sick!
Men ! GEJ should fire himself. As CIC, the buck stops with him.
He wants to fight this insurgency on a shoestring budget. IT AINT GONNA WORK.
And if Madam Okonjo is behind this miserly spending on security, she should be sent packing also or at least not given any further say on defense spending.
As a matter of fact we can all remember this video, in which she boasts of cutting military spendings:
Is it possible that the aircrafts destroyed were already decommissioned?
http://thestreetjournal.org/2013/12/military-authorities-confirm-maiduguri-attack-say-terrorists-destroyed-decommissioned-military-jets/
@oga rka, according to the official DH statement, i quote- “Three decommissioned military aircrafts as well as two helicopters were incapacitated in the course of the attack”. So, it is clear that apart from the decommissioned aircraft, 2 functioning helos were destroyed! This is bad!
Let us try to be logical a little bit. You can’t say they are increasing in numbers if you don’t know their numbers at any given time. Moreover, nobody said they were not still recruiting and the cash flow that is reaching them from france and their golf allies permits them to buy weapons and recruit. That being said, I still have no confirmation of this, but if true then Lt general Ihejirika, and the COAF and the CDS and the GOC’s involved should lose their jobs in no time.
The Jonathan government is corrupting the military.
Word in the barracks is that ‘hundreds of millions of naira’ in the bank is assured even before the new pips of ‘general’ pasted on you have dried.
How could the NAF be allowed slide to No. 6 position in Africa when you have 1 trillion Naira defence expenditure profile?. Where are the MRAPs, UAVs, air patrols, CCTV protection of vital national assets ?. Where were air force special forces when this was going on?.
Although, I remember General MC Ali accusing IBB of destroying the air force, so I don’t think hat would be Jonathan’s doing. Although I don’t get why the air force has not been revitalized since then. Which air crafts has Jonathan bought for the air force since he took control of the country ? How come we can not see the FG acting in emergency to save the air force, given that right in the Abacha days, General MC Ali was already saying the air force had been canibalized by IBB ?
@rka,only God can tell us ay this point,because I doubt the military would give us their true state.
@Oga Cutievik, one has to wonder. What aircrafts would they have had there that were decommissioned anyway?
I am fuming. I do understand that these things happen in an insurgency as it also happened in Pakistan when an airbase was attacked and several aircrafts destroyed including newly delivered maritime patrol aircraft, so all the more reason they should have been prepared.
Nothing less than an announcement after the emergency security meeting about what the plan is re new equipment will suffice.
I think I am going to cool off somewhere.
@Camoflage,the APC was stolen alright but abandoned on the high way,my problem is how come they keep snatching APC so easily so this stipulates that even if we get MRAP’s they could also be stolen,am quite disappointed.
I don’t think the common journalist or his informants make a the distinction between a technical and an APC or an ordinary pick up truck.
Even worse:
a military officer said: “The terrorists attacked the barracks with sophisticated weapons including armoured tanks, anti-aircrafts vehicles and motorcycles.
“They went away with nine vehicles belonging to the Department of State Services, DSS, while seven security men were seriously injured including an SSS officer in the attack.”
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/scores-feared-dead-boko-haram-attacks-maiduguri-air-force-base/
A battle tank? Do these tale bearers know how much training it would take an untrained hand to steer a tank through a big city such as MDGR? This is low-end sensational journalism. What manner of military officer would utter such bunkum? So what was it – a T55 or a Mk.3 Eagle?
Elsewhere, we read about an obscure VVL (apparently a reference to a Panhard VBL). The accounts are clashing and disjointed for now. The only thing I am sure about is that the NAF Base came under a furious attack.
Like I said earlier on, it is getting too sensational to be news to me. So I have laid off until coherent thought takes hold of the narrators. E don turn to “e say, u say, dem say” 🙂
One thing I want our decision makers to realise as they cling tight to our purse strings while the nation tethers on the brink is that if the Div HQ, 21 Bde and 333 Regt garrisons each had on armed scout helic manned by the Army Aviation Corps which nobody is in a haste to equip even at a time like this, that is where relief for the besieged airbase would have emanated from – not from far away in Yola.
@Gen rka,if we were to measure our anger on a scale you’d bet mine would out run your’s by a far margin,though we can’t understand at this point i only pray the army chief says his mind,the gentleman has been clamouring for financial intervention for the armed forces of which all fell on dead ears,I hope with this attack I can only pray the Govt do the needful!
Let us moderate what we say because we all know that the media tends to blow things out of proportion in order to sell more papers. But, if true then I hope the FG can see why the armed forces need more equipment. It seems we don’t have enough equipment to do a thorough surveillance. And since we are buying only a token of air crafts for our air force, even a terrorist group could decimate our entire air force just like that. There is no more excuse for not providing equipment for the armed forces, our survival makes heavy military procurement an emergency.
Oh !! Oga Igbi finally realizes that BH poses an existential threat to Nigeria.
Thank God for small progress.
Gentlemen, this is a planning failure, failure in tactics-short sightedness on the path of military planners. This stage should have been envisaged. It is failure to prepare for outcome of previous operations that has led to this. When you decimate clusters of organized militant/terrorists with airstrikes and artillery ( destroying means of mobility along with command and control structures,plus ideological structures) what results are formed bandit units which will be part time armed robbers and terrorists. This mistake was made in the first Chechen war with serious casualty for the Russians, but they learned and did not allow the same to repeat itself in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Second Chechen wars.
You must be prepared for these bandit units, they will be armed with RPGs,hand grenades and AKs, will be very daring,unforgiving and would not have any particular great tactics, they would also continually splinter over time-till they will become cells-several cells would die off with time and others will be active for a long time to come.
Airstrikes and Artillery wont bring succor, only massive regular police patrols/urban trained coin troops in armored personnel carriers, establishment of several police outpost and rigorous intelligence works with goo assistance from the local populace can do this.
We are no longer fighting 5000 brainwashed terrorists holed up terrorist in Sambisa forest, we are now faced with several groups of hundreds and tens of confused armed and indoctrinated bandit groups loosely controlled by a weak center.
seconded.
I agree with you, Colonel. Someone needs to up the ante. All too often, Nigerian Ogas seem to delay what needs to be done expeditiously because they appear to be so averse to defence procurement and always seem to hope that a conflict fizzles out so that they do not have to spend money. The procurement is not keeping pace with the the scale of the action.
When statewide emergency rule was first proclaimed in May 2013 in parts of the Northeast, I did say that everyone seems to be under-estimating the size of the task at hand.
The terrorists have long been using Cameroon in particular as rear base. It became obvious when a spate of pre-emergency era scenes of devastation in 2013 appeared to firmly hug the Cameroonian frontier. Our borders across those three states are 1,400 km long and are entirely ringed by desert, mountains and the great Lake Chad.
The AOR itself is expansive – Borno is equal in size to the land area of Sierra Leone; Yobe is equal in size to the land area of Togo while Adamawa is comparable in size to the combined area of Guinea Bissau and Gambia.
Let us make it a bit more stark. The biggest town in the south of Borno is Biu, a garrison town situated about 200 kms south of Maiduguri while Baga is 267 kms north of Maiduguri. Baga is not the most northerly town in Borno. Neither is Biu the most southerly town. The implication is that the driving distances between the most northerly and southerly communities in Borno State is at least 500 kilometres. Pray tell, how do you chase around insurgents in that one state alone which has desert and mountainous frontiers? Not to add even more mountainous Adamawa or the more desertified north of Yobe State. The town near Lake Chad which terrorists attacked last weekend for collaborating with the security forces lies 238km to the north of Maiduguri, across semi-desert terrain. How else do you give consequential chase without air support?
It was always clear from the off that scout helicopters such as can take off from any company-sized FOB and lots of attack and transport helicopters was going to be the way to go. This would make it possible to engage in hot pursuit and to destroy bands of fleeing insurgents quickly. We refused to be persuaded because there are competing demands whereas the country retains about US$55 billion in the Forex Reserves and Excess Crude Account. Is that money being saved only to be spent after terrorists have killed us all? I mean, is there any issue more pertinent that our security at this time? When is the money going to be made to count towards the physical security of Nigerians?
@Oga Henry. They have indeed made gains. Read the REUTERS and AFP reports above. However, too many insurgents are still living to fight another because the air assets which need to be made available are still in short supply.
How the FG cannot seemingly concentrate on the simple task of spending US$120 million to acquire twenty four units of MBB Bo-105 scout helics and twelve units each of Mi-24V and Mi-17 for the COIN operations from German and Russia surplus stocks continues to amaze me. The situation is not yet dire enough?
i had posted a blog where i had said there fire on the mountain run , run , run that the proximity of the a4 highway to bama is chilling.
For now I have refrained from openly criticizing the air chief of staff. i have openly refrained from criticizing his ineptness despite his close relationship with the president. I am personally beginning to realize he is not up to the job of persuading the president and the NSA the importance of procurement of attack helios, transportation helios and insertion helios. It beggars belief we have talked repeatedly about the lackadaisical effort of the NAF, we have talked how some people believe that we still fly migs .
It appears the chief thinks everything is going to be alright, I will not be moderate on this more than 20 AIRFORCE PERSONNEL were KILLED, no LT. COL DOLE Mohammed even you cannot spin this one.
Personally i am not concerned about the stolen equipment or damaged equipment this happened in Afghanistan where a Chinook was bought down , Helios have been bought down by rpgs , that is not the problem,
This is the problem the lack of SECURITY awareness at such a critical AIR FORCE which should of been surrounded by security conscious personnel this is not the case it has demonstrated it has demonstrated itself in the same lack of urgency of their chief, ultimately he bears responsibility, he in my opinion does not have a real grasp of what bh is all about , what the role of the naf should be, what their OVERALL OBJECTIVE SHOULD BE AND HE IS EITHER ILL EQUIPPED AS A PRESIDENTIAL PILOT OR he has decided to completely ignore advice from people who know what is going on we can should expect MORE attacks on both army and air force facilitiesINTHE FUTURE especially the airforce because this will embolden them it should however not come of this easy.
Any air force chief who can not advocate that the NAF is seriously under procured does not deserve to be in the job . I NEED TO COOL DOWN.
Tellem Jimmy. I Beg no cool down.
I think it is safe to say that the only army locations which came under attack were some checkpoints. The problem seems to be the air force, because we all need explanation on how they could allow boko haram destroy some of their equipment.
The checkpoints were supposed to be defending the airport . For the airbase to be attacked successfully, army check points and overall security had to be breached.
Oga Doziex, I think the air force had its own checkpoints to protect its base (correct me if I’m wrong). And I did admit that boko haram must have overran some checkpoints, but please don’t use expressions like “overall security” because they are subject to interpretation. This is what happened: checkpoints were overran, the terrorists tried to invade the airbase but didn’t succeed, although they managed to destroy two helicopters. And still and 3 decommissioned air-crafts
How do you say they destroyed 2 helicopters, but were repulsed ?
It sounds more like they got it, then were expelled.
Oga igbi approximately 20 airmen are dead,the naf needs more helios more equipment better leadership at the very top.I am going to stop here. T-Mobile. America’s First Nationwide 4G Network
Oga Doziex, they don’t need to all be inside the air base to blow up those four peaces of equipment, and perhaps an RPG attack from outside the base would do. The talibans with a handfull of men did the same thing to Nato air forces in Afghanistan.
The airport is a vast complex, and the RPG is a hand held weapon of limited effective range.
If these helicopters were destroyed on the ground the rpg is the most likely suspect, but one would have to be within the confines of the vast airport complex
They may have done it too the USMC in Afghanistan. But that was a security breach (imposters) rather than a successful raid. There is a qualitative difference.
What if a few of the terrorists managed to enter the base (probably dressed in kaki) and then they managed to destroy the aircrafts in a suicide mission. The facts remain that the air force used its air power to chase the terrorists away, which suggests the fleet was not destroyed, which in turn suggests the terrorists didn’t invade the base. And given the cluelessness of the CAS I wouldn’t be surprised if he positionned the air crafts in such a manner that would make them vulnerable to RPG attacks from outside the base.
Is it me or is the new NSA far from being at the same level with General Azazi ? How did the new NSA get the job anyway ? What was the criteria applied to select him as NSA ?
If President Jonathan can’t get the job done and can’t reequip the armed forces then he should leave the seat of power for a more competent person.
I am not so sure about decommissioned aircraft, gentlemen. There are decommissioned MiGs up there but we are talking helicopters here. The only helicopters I know to have been decommissioned since the 1990s are the Hughes helics which were sold to someone in South Africa.
Let me say again that the NAF are badly under-resourced even if successive CASs have continually gone about proclaiming that there is a surplus of air assets to defend this country with. It is a crying shame that for a minimum, we cannot claim to have a minimum of four units each of Mi-35P, Mi-171Sh Terminator, any armed scout helicopter, a C130 Hercules, an Alenia Surveyor and four Su-27/Su-30 stationed at LAG, SKK, MDGR and CAL yet our NAF Ogas always say ‘all correct, sir”. Why, why. WHY?
Come on, I mean, the NN have made it so clear that they need big ships such that even senators, fishermen’s unions and maritime sector stakeholders have joined the chorus. No naval brasshat dares step out of line with that mission. Last I heard, a FOC was even telling the NPA to limit their intervention to platforms larger than 32 metres…such clear communication.
So why are the NAF not placing their concerns on the frontburner in like manner? WHY? Does it take three years to even out the requisite number of airframes for COIN operations? Nigeria received her first consignment of MiG 17s barely sixty days after the Civil War commenced in 1967. Why are we taking so much time to do the needful? Why do we keep hearing of token deliveries of three attack helicopters whereas six units of same can be acquired for as little as US$25 million?
Thirty years ago, the Angolan Civil War had not attained the crescendo of the 1988-1991 period when the great battles such as Cuito-Cuanavale took place. Yet a non-oil producing Angola were clear headed enough to see that 36 units of Alouette III scout helicopters decommissioned from Romanian service had to be acquired, armed up in France and shipped off for COIN operations against UNITA rebels? Angola’s Civil War ended in 2002. They have just acquired eighteen units of factory-refurbished Su-30s and placed an order for 45 Casspir MRAPs. Nigeria’s own War on Terror is on..MRAPs we won’t buy, mere helicopters..whossai! Na wetin sef? I just can’t understand this or are the Israeli and Yankee trainers telling them that they can do this with bare knuckles?
That said, look at the AFP weblink above where a Toyota Hilux truck was described as an armoured vehicle. So I do not know about any stolen or abandoned APC for now.
Finally, we mentioned the need for the NAF air defence chaps to deploy their Vulcan 20mm cannons for point defence/infantry support rather than AA cover at this time. The NAF need to act on that. Fired in flat trajectory, a pair of Vulcan cannons would have mortally crippled this onslaught. The NAF Regiment also need to get in on more serious base defence duties. They are the NAF’s infantrymen. Let us have nests with 40mm AGLs and 12.7mm HMGs. That GPMG gunner beside sandbags won’t help in an attack mounted with DShK .50 cal and RPG 7s.
Fifty air force generals, forty combat aircraft. I rest my case.
Let us look at what happened to the air force:
1) IBB comes to power in a military coup.
2) IBB uses the air force budget as his pocket money and sells some air force assets and keeps the money of those sales.
3) Abacha comes to power with a palace military coup, and his COAS General MC Ali immediately asks him the permission to arrest and prosecute IBB for cannibalizing the air force.
4) Abacha takes no actions against his dear friend and mentor IBB and MC Ali gets fired along the way.
5) Abacha does his own loot and has no time to give the air force back its wings.
6) Obasanjo comes to power and buys 7 rediculous chinese air crafts (and only seven for the entire air force) and declare the air force has got its wings back.
7) Yaradua comes to power and tries to buy some missiles and their licences to increase the capacity of the armed forces, but he mysteriously falls ill and dies.
8) Jonathan comes to power and does absolutely nothing for the air force.
As you can see, our air force is much less capable than it were in 1984, which is to show how bad the situation is. Just imagine having a mobile phone which is less capable than a mobile phone of the 80’s, then you will know how far the situation goes.
And very soon a terrorist propaganda video will be uploaded in youtube and the terrorists will be making all sorts of claims. if a terrorist destroys a checkpoint then he claims he overran the army headquarters, so if he actually manages to destroy air crafts which were in an air force base, then I guess he will be claiming he has defeated the country. I guess we can all thank the short sighted FG and the CAS for providing more material for boko haram propaganda ! Could we just vote for the presidential villa to be located along the border with Cameroon, or any place which should have been secured years ago if the armed forces were provided with adequate funds.
Oga Igbi, Stop dismissing apparent BH successes as mere propaganda.
If you wouldn’t listen to me, or the prevailing news, how about Oga Peccavi’s recent analysis.
@Peccavi states NA failures and recommendations for improvement. He also details BH seemingly successful tactics.
BH clearly has the initiative on this battle field. No use denying it.
What we need is a solution to the status quo.
I call things with their real name, if you read all I wrote then you will see I am not saying boko haram didn’t destroy 2 helicopters. And if you re-read the sentence which you are commenting, then you will understand that I only described the process of terrorist propaganda, or do you mean terrorists are well known for never doing propaganda and never grossly exaggerating any simple smoke ?
A terrorist commander with 200 men will claim he has 10 000 men, a terrorist who blows up a hellicopter will claim he destroyed the air force. A terrorist who kills a 20 civilians will claim he overran an army base. A terrorist who mounts a gun truck will claim he “seized” an APC.
At the very least the CAS should be relieved of his command and replaced by somenoe who is more capable. Even looking at the physical comportment of the current CAS AM Badeh does not inspire confidence (I wonder when last he worked out in a gym).
Take a look at the NAF website and compare it with that of the NN website- the difference is clear. When a fish rots it starts from the top- so the CAS has to go.
Then there is also the question of what the SSS, DIA and the other military operatives were doing to allow 300 men stage attacks at various locations in Maiduguri, including the Airbase.
The President also bears some responsibility for this debacle. He has refused to appoint a substantive Defence minister for over 1 year and now the MOD is being supervised by the Minister for Information (aka loud mouth Labaran Maku) who cannot tell the difference between a rifle and a pistol let alone a combat aircraft or a helicopter. Finally the CDS and the Defence Chiefs need to tell the President some hard truths. Defence/Security is an expensive and serious buisness and it is the primary purpose of Govt.
You can spend #255million on 2 BMW armoured cars (price inflated of course) for the Minister of Aviation – but can’t fnd the noney to equip our armed forces.
I guess the service chiefs need to take their service pistols into the meeting with the President and make him an offer he can’t refuse.
The idea expressed in the latter part of your post is actually not a bad one. Even Obama has been reported leaving meetings with US generals feeling a little chastened.
seconded
Oga yags, this was exactly what I was discussing with my parents last night, how can we be at war and Mr Maku would be running MoD n MoI, things like this shouldn’t happen even at peace time. Did the insurgents move individually then suddenly congregate at the airforce base? They obviously moved as a large group; how comes they weren’t picked out? In abj there are cams almost everywhere in the city center do they exist in the north east? I live in kd I’ve never seen a surveilance cam anywhere in kd, the checkpoints can’t see everything, if we can’t have sattelite imagery of strategic entry points, constantly monitored cams at startegic areas can be useful; machine learning techniques could be used to automate this process, the cost of the technology that I don’t know, but we should try.
Its sad what’s happening in the NE seriously
This is good stuff , very well crafted post and your breadth of knowledge in the field of technology solutions to our defence and security challenges is admirable. It’s a pity that we are compelled to be governed by people who are a little too provincial in their world view and can’t respond to modern challenges.
,
Apart from platform acquisition you need the political will to spend the tens of millions of dollars every month to sustain high tech air patrols and other operational elements of a modern security architecture in the the north east and niger delta theatres.
Are the people in govt ready to commit to this expenditure profile?, have they even actually started building the capacity?. The game has changed and the finance minister who has been known to challenge defence budget increases should be advised on what the current security situation means for defence expenditure going forward. High defence expenditure is an engine for economic growth if properly managed.
Gentlemen apologies if I used the wrong appellation COAS instead of CAS . I certainly don’t mean Chief of Army Staff but the NAF boss (Chief of Air Staff). The guy is bloody incompetent and should be dismissed. Why the former CAS AM Umar was retired and replaced by this joker beats me. The CNS is working. The COAS is working – you can see the results. What concrete thing has the CAS done for the Air force in the time he has been in office? And now about 20 Airforce personel are dead because no one thought it prudent to have the Airbase heavily defended? Common sense it seems is not common.
That fat man at the head of the air force looks like a spoilt child to me. What is the criteria Jonathan used to select him ? Was he looking for the fatest man or the most clueless man for the job or is there a deal between them to continue cannibalizing the air force ? The current government seems to be keeping IBBs legacy alive.
If you look at the behavioural character of the C-in-C who appointed him, personal security assured by a loyal CAS probably trumps ability to perform. That is why the aviation and petroleum ministers are still around. I don’t even think the CAS is a combat aircraft pilot. Our President is one of the most paranoid C-I-C we have ever had (worse than Babangida who destroyed the airforce).
So in their book a ” &$@/# ” CAS is better than a good one of questionable personal loyalties.
Guys, I don’t think anyone can call me an alarmist or a fear mongerer with a straight face.
This situation is bad. And anyone that genuinely loves Nigeria must realize this.
Gentlemen, Our armed forces, are failing at things they used to do reasonably well before.
Because of their secrecy, we can’t be sure of what is going on.
It was 100% predictable, that BH was going to attack NA’s trump card in this war, it’s anemic air support base.
When NAF sent 4 alpha jets to Niamey, didn’t they send 400 airforce special operatives with them ?
The Rebels in LBR and SLR never succeeded in destroying NAF assets in Lungi or Robertsfield airports.
Far away from Nigeria. So what explains this security breach.
A certain cluelessness, and exasperation seems to overhang the current state of affairs.
When one becomes clueless, you should turn to somebody with a clue.
Again, I would assert, hate it or love it, Nigeria needs foreign expertise to get a handle of this insurgency.
I have always said we need mentors, advisors on strategy and trainers.
WE DONT NEED COMBATANTS.
Oga Peccavi presented a simply workable strategy for winning this war, But I don’t think NA is capable of absorbing all that in our current state.
So it’s either the british army sends @peccavi, at the head of some SAS and Paratroop advisors, or Nigeria turns to a Col. Eeben Barlow and his new incarnation of EO.
We all know the brits are not that invested in Nigeria’s success, so that leaves the private PMCs.
Before our eyes, our politicians and by extension our armed forces are losing control of this situation.
Engaging the services of a PMC is the tailor made solution to this problem of astonishing incompetence.
And let’s not be deceived Nigeria is no stranger to foreign military assistance.
From the Egyptian mig pilots of the civil war, to the Pakistani mentors structuring the operation of our accident prone F-7NI’s.
Let’s not let foolish pride get in the way. Remember Pride goeth before a Fall.
Oga Are James – It may be that the millitary might have to move on masse to the National Assembly, round up the bloody civilians and take them to hang out in the North East theatre of operations for a while to experience what is iike to live through a BH attack. The Senate president for goodness sake is a retired Brigadier-General. We have retired millitary officers in both the Senate and the House of Reps. What are they doing? Brave officers and men are losing their lives needlessly because the Govt is pussy-footing on the issue of equipping our military. These men have mothers, wives and children (in somce cases) and other close family relatives. They are not a simle statistic with a service number. They are human beings who have been trained at great cost. In any conflict there are causualties, but to take needless casualties? Haba!! – I’d better stop before I say something I might regret, but I am REALLY ANGRY AND UPSET about this latest BH atrocity and worried abouth the impact it will have upon the moral and psyche of the troops and local population.
With the fat paycheck Nigeria is giving those politicians I think they should be made to relocate to places where attacks occur, we don’t need them in Abuja, let them go to Maiduguri and Jos and the Creeks and the border areas with cameroon, and let them be next casualty if there have to be any other casualty. Then they might start taking our security seriously. Jonathan start packing your luggages: destination Maiduguri. NSA you should be accommodated in Sambisa forest or at least very near the forest.
seconded
Oga Doziex, well said and spot on.
Oga Beegz, I respectfully suggest that the discusion on this BH attack on the NAF Maiduguri base be put on a new thread as this thread was to discuss the incoming OPVs and the helicopters they will carry.
Lol..Mighty Yagz, much as I would love to do that, how do we move all these comments?
Yagazie! You made tears of joy flow down my cheek with your 12:12am post; very funny and candid. No scapegoat should bear the brunt of this apparent BH success, I honestly believe the C-in-C should shoulder the blame and explain the Nation why THINGS ARE THE WAY THEY ARE. The families of the FALLEN HEROS should know why they died needlessly.
Yagazie, let me say with a pure heart that there are Air Vice Marshalls and there are Air Vice Marshalls. You made my day Bro.
A while back I did raise concern about the way the situation in NE was being mismanaged. I blamed wronged leadership for the present state of affairs. Yes we do need more hardware to effectively combat this menace but then with good leadership we should be able to handle things better than we are doing, even with what we have. You can’t just solve BH by throwing money at the problem or by buying more hardware and air frames. We already lack strategy at tackling bokoharam who in turn seem to have a well laid strategy that seem to be working.
If you like get all the MRVPs and SU-30 of this world.. even purchase 200 attack helicopters it won’t change a the fact that an army of sheep lead by a lion will always defeat an army of lions lead by a sheep. NA are leaderless and completely clueless, our men are mismanaged and demoralized. How we missed the Khobes, Dongoyaro, and Malu of time past.. guess they don’t make them like that anymore.
All these coming from the ass kicking NA got in Damaturu just about a month back. Once again BH has raised the game. NA keeps faltering
To the best of my knowledge the NA troops in Damaturu had the upper hand. And in this case the NA is not concerned, it is the Air forces which is concerned. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Its in d news dat maiduguri cud hav been taken over if nt 4 d deployment of alpha jets frm yola.
Nd also, d 333 artillery regiment was completely overran by d insurgents. The soldiers ran nd left deir base.
Dis z highly so embarrassing
OK, I think we can separate rumor from reality. And this is a rumor coming from journalists eager to sell their papers in big quantities.
What are the sources of these reports, Chief Enitan :)? I would not want us to wax pedestrian simply because things went awry yesterday.
When we say overrun, what do we mean exactly – do BH now have one of their own as Commanding Officer of the 333 Artillery Regt or do they now occupy the barracks? Any other definition of ‘overrun’ would sound alarmist and clueless to me.
We say this because we also heard a Jon Gambrell of AP telling the world from 1,000 miles away in Lagos, that the battalion at Bama had been overrun whereas pictures sent by Ibrahim Mshelizza of Reuters which emerged from the ground showed the gate unscathed and shining in the red and yellow colours of the Armoured Corps and with piles of BH corpses heaped at the gate?
It is news24 and of course they announce it with no pictures. By the way I just read two of their previous articles on the north-east, all I can say is that perhaps boko haram should hire them for their propaganda because they seem to be doing a better propaganda job for boko haram than the actual boko haram.
Basically the attack on the base while very sad, is also a pointer to prove that BH is desperate,and the air attack is very effective against BH……I think when BH attacked at 3am in hundreds…….the few armed guards weren’t enough to repel them properly….,what I find appalling is that there were still not enough reinforcements at the base, because I know, other military teams and unit, and check points would have seen them approaching……a quick radio message giving estimated strengnth of approaching enemies…..would have been able to organise a proper defence……..and why were the copters on the ground when been attacked……air assets are always in their hardened bunkers or in the air,when an attack is going on…….I am of the opinion they had internal help……or impersonated been military personnel.
It all point to one thing. Lack of leadership. It wasn’t long ago that a former NAF officer told the story of how he landed a C130 in Lungi even under fire in an unfriendly terrain.. How they had to fly using half the available runway and still were able to offload their supplies and fly back to safety.. Nigeria forces eventually overran and pushed out all enemy forces from Lungi and never lost that airport again till war end. All this happened far away from home in a foreign hostile country. Yet in our own home.. Our NA leaders can not protect an air-force base. This is where we find ourselves gentlemen. Its high time we strive to perfect the rudimentary before we strive for the stars.
I am furious like all of you but our criticism has to be constructive, you can’t be blaming the NA for Air force failures, the air force had its own men to protect its base. The air force is not made up with civilians.
This is an embarrassment nd a big slap nt only to d CAS bt also to d COAS.
He was in maiduguri som days back. Was he dr to increase d tempo of d boys or reduce it. Also d SSS nd DIA hav many questions to answer.
Boko haram hav destroyed almost all( if nt all) d respect our military hav built in africa (even d world) . Our forces can’t b feared nd respected anymore in africa. Hw can a military base b treated lik dis. Heads nid row in dis national embarrassment.
I think some of us need to take it easy and not do boko haram propaganda for them.
I mean that if we don’t take it easy, we might end up doing boko haram propaganda unwillingly. So let’s chill a little bit. The only military base involved in this event was the air base. And the terrorists didn’t manage to overrun it, what they managed to do was to destroy five peaces of equipment. Which is bad enough to call for the replacement of the CAS.
Better weapons for d military or not, its sad d military allow dis to happen. Boko haram can nt b more sophisticated dan d NA nd NAF. Do boko haram hav better strategist nd intelligence men dan d Nigerian forces. Dis generation of d militart re falling hands big time.
D Jonathan administration has done somtin also bt nt well dat gud – d refitting of d military hardwares nd barracks.
Somtims I wish we tak d Russian, German or Japanese style of action against failed officers( d heads of d Artillery regiment nd NAF base, d GOC of d division, d COAS & CAF; b given a gun to put a bullet in deir head).
I suggest that the military produces pictures of the artillery base as of today in order to prove the boko haram friendly media wrong.
Ogas’ I know fit talk.
Can you imagine auseless group like Boko Haram can launch what was in essence a mechanised Battallion atttack against one of the most important strategic assets in Borno State, get through and operate with such impunity to destroy 5 aircraft and most of the buildings.
Somebody should be fired if not shot for this.
Its a failure of intelligence, leadership, force protection and basic fucking soldiering of the highest order
If it was one or two or even 20 I would have said ok, na skills them use but 300? No one noticed 300 of these asshols massing for an attack?
Its insane
hav d boko haram got a kind of paratroop of dere kind,cos it’s funny for a large group of pple (300-500) to move around a city with so many check points and were not seen or noticed.i suspect dis attack was planned and d top leaders even d president knew of it.i tink it’s high tym d civilian jtf takes dere war against d islamist to another level,let d educated among dem use dere brains jst lik d biafrans did since d military ar not serious
I have managed to cool down a little bit since yesterday, but can’t understand how the NAF chaps were caught unawares regardless that it was 3am. This is usually the hour that BH carry out raids.
The Air Force Regiment should be equipped with APCs, IFVs etc as they are the ground troops of the NAF and operate like the army.
I read in one of the on-line papers that an NAF personnel admitted they were caught napping and the situation was rescued by fighter jets being scrambled from Yola. It begs the question, where there only 2 helicopters attached to the composite wing fighting BH? If not, why weren’t assets at the base scrambled?
@oga Doziex, the Afghanistan incident was not carried out by imposters, but Taliban breached the security fence from a section that wasn’t adequately secured (they reduced sentry duties) as they were dug in and waited for their chance. It happens to some of the best.
Well Oga rKa, are you equating Nigeria to the US ?
The US has multiple redundancies. Blackhawks, Chinooks, Ospreys, apaches, Supercobras.
So what a few harriers were destroyed, the USMC has 160 such jets, plus they just bought the entire fleet of the retired UK harriers.
In Nigeria, we would only allow ourselves 12 alpha jets and 11 mi-24/35s ops 11 minus 2 equals 9.
So there you have it. The Americans can afford a day of incompetence, Nigeria can’t.
Oga Doziex, I wasn’t comparing (how can they be compared?), I was just trying to point out that although what happened was really bad, it can happen to the best as well.
You have said it all in regard to attitudes re purchasing attrition aircraft.
“STRATEGIC VISION” (snippets)
We hears things which many might not. That is the moderator’s edge.
It does appear as if the 3 decommissioned aircraft were the MiGs like we suggested earlier. Parked at the north end of the airforce runway.
* the two helicopters are the Mil-type helics (precise details held back by me) usually parked in the new hangars. “This represents a major loss because these aircraft are active in COIN operations”
The terrorists reportedly came from the north side through the desert plains and this is the weak backside of the base set-up because it is away from the population.
CONCLUSION
Firing service chiefs is not going to solve this problem. There are (almost certainly) traitors within!
Oga igbi, I don’t know what your motivation is, however at this point I can only deduce that you are living in an alternate universe. The things you are typing are simply beyond belief.
I mean, our nations security architecture was almost over-ran, and you are here calling the western media. I have seen photos of the army’s 333 artillery regiment, 11 cars were completely burnt and 2 buildings razed. There is no conspiracy anywhere, by all intents and purposes, it was an overwhelming success for the insurgents.
I implore you to wake up and come back to reality, as I find most of your posts on this topic embarrassing to say the least.
Could you share those photos with us ?
And as I can see, you said 2 buildings were razed, only 2 (which is already bad enough, I agree), then what do you have to say about the news outfits claiming twenty buildings were razed ? Please share your pictures.
In as much I would love to calm down,I think I have because my last post was at about 7:30PM,I agree with oga igbi but at this point I believe those in charge has left us heart broken and helpless,I might not be the best mathematician in my days in school but I do know 2+2 gives 4,therefore this is my analysis.
The Nigeria army should hide it’s head in shame because they clearly failed in detecting the movement of this insurgents around MDGR during the suppose curfew hours in which this attacks took place in MDGR,last time I checked ‘Curfew means no arbitrary movement of vehicular or human mediums’ in simple terms ‘stay at home’,if this had been properly enforced by the military surely civilian casualties wouldn’t have been on such high side and the infiltration of the insurgents would have been so easy.
Has the propose chase on the MDGR benishilk high way gone dead? As reported yesterday the airforce and troops were on the tail of fleeing terrorist,what happen in the chase? There is a serious communication gap between the defence headquarters and the general public for God’s sake we deserve some explanations.
Going by the reports I had received from friends and an uncle in MDGR there were heavy shoot outs in and around the airport in MDGR this speaks clearly of some infiltration as they were armed with RPG’s, GPMG’s, and so on,in this stance I presume that any attack helo leaving the base would be within the range of an RPG or possibly an AAA gun,since the attack was pre_planned,the brings to bear the importance of the Nigeria army special forces air wing we have been clamouring for all year long,In foreign climes they learn from mistakes and the mistakes of others but in Nigeria I just can’t tell,this clearly shows if an airforce base is taken out in an offensive ground troops might be vulnerable to all round attacks due to lacking air support,imagine if the NAF had drones or an army air wing in this case I doubt this raid would have been this successful,because it would have giving the airforce special forces a clear pin pointed eyes in the sky having all advantage against the insurgents,but I guess the were blind,confused and preplex at the sudden attack on their base,this must not be allowed to happen again. Enough said!
It’s impressive how these guys a few years ago were just simply bored, jobless youths booing at girls wearing mini skirts and throwing pebbles & sticks to being able to launch coordinated attacks against military installations.
The Nigerian military is no joke; with all it’s peace-keeping operations in Somali, Sierra Leone, Mali, etc. It’s got a lot of battle hardened soldiers and units. So it beats my imagination when I hear of attacks on military bases where aircraft are being destroyed (decommissioned or not).
I don’t get your point, do you mean that you are actually “impressed” by boko haram ?
Mr Igbi,
I’m impressed that a militia could actually have strategized and taken the fight to the Nigerian Armed forces (with about 150 years of history to it’s belt).
I could rationalize it in terms of a next gen smart phone whopping the ass of a mainframe computer. The computer chose not to upgrade while technology is advancing.
Anyway, it is deplorable that the Nigerian Armed Forces (not just the Air-force as all the services should be working together) allowed itself to be kicked in the nutz by a militia.
By all accounts there was an infiltration of foot soldiers into Njitimali and surrounding areas,who launched the attack on other military formations creating a diversion for the mechanised element to come through, but ogas’s this is force protection 101. Theres no excuse for this and somebody at the Colonel/ General officer level is responsible for this. In a sane country the Minister of Defence would resign.
Those Mils were our battle winners and Bh has with impunity despite constant pressure mobilised men and vehicles, got them to Maiduguri and destroyed those helicopters.
The magnitude of this is not something that we can easily put into words, it is a tactical and strategic defeat and this is not the time for face saving but hard and serious questions about what the hell is going on?
If the enemy is strong enough to generate that many forces, this far from the border, get in and get out then we are about to have a very bad December.
Hopefully prisoners were taken.
Because I am seeing a correlation between ransom payments, the wars in Chad, Niger, CAR and the Cameroun safe havens. In essence I think BH has rearmed brought in men, vehicles and weapons in preparation for the harmattan fighting season. No rag tag insurgency can so easily regenerate.
How are they communicating? Radios? messengers? sat phones? If they are using electronic means we should have intercepted this unless we are not scanning the airwaves?
If they are using foot soldiers maybe women and children then we are in big trouble because it means this barbaric pointless, nihilistic force has the ability to reward and motivate people to such an extent that they can run the risk of the military and CJTF
Honestly someone should be shot for this
http://www.imageforum-diffusion.afp.com/ImfDiffusion/Search/Results.aspx?numPage=1&srchMd=8&fsearch=nigeria-unrest&ID_Fulcrum=2037018150_1&mui=1
Visit the link.
It honestly calls into question the claims of repeated multiple successes by the military. If the attackers were 20 in number, ehen, no wahala, I mean, how in the hell did 300 terrorists march to these bases. It is very shameful that the military had it handed to them.
People should be fired, this is absolute complacency.
Oga I dey look the Google map images of the airport and sorry to say but I would have died of old age defending that base,from a mass attack. how can you get vehicles through? interlocking fields of fire, chicanes. berms and ditchs, Defensive fires from mortars, hardened positions for the helicopters, patrols, patrols, patrols.
In Afghan there are always patrols round the main base in Bastion, it took them over 10 years to get through and this was by infiltration not by mass assault.
I’m just so depressed by this
Indeed I see two houses which appear to have been damaged. That suggests the terrorists did come there but I didn’t see anything there which suggested a grand scale attack, indeed there is a house just near the two damaged houses which was untouched. Those two damaged houses could have been damaged by RPG fire. And what puzzles me is that in those pictures we don’t see any soldiers around the place, are we sure that those houses are in the military base in question ? If they are then I expect to see a soldier or any military sign of any kind which would prove that the photo is that of an army base. You can see the contrast between the photos of the two damaged houses and that of the air base in which soldiers are spotted everywhere. So I ask the question again: where are the soldiers near the 2 damaged houses ?
Yes oga Igbi photos from Defense HQ would help seTtle some of the dust raised.
If our military doesn’t understand diversionary tactics, then there is something seriously wrong in their COIN/Counter Insurgency training.
Enough said. We await the military’s and FG’s response and it better be worth its weight in gold.
@ rka,seriously I had a hard laugh when you said ‘we were waiting for the Govt to give us explanations into the incident’ which Govt?,Okay let me not be like doubting thomas,Am waiting!,I pray they prove me wrong!
@ Oga cutievik, na wah for this government. I would have laughed along with you if this wasn’t serious o!
I think this should be a serious wake-up call for the government and military. If no response, then let us all sit tight for a long drawn out insurgency.
I can not accept only 24 deaths among the terrorists if their numbers where above 100. There is no excuse, all the terrorists should have been killed, and if they are running to a foreign country, then we must follow them. We must not let them escape!
Gentlemen- what makes this successful attack all the more disturbing is that this area is supposed to be under a ‘State of Emergency’ and thus the military formations should be operating at the highest state of alert. Furthermore Maiduguri is the HQ of the 7 Infantry Div, which is supposed to be a COIN Division with COIN troops/specialists. What the BH insurgents have effectively said is that ‘we can strike anywhere including the heart of your operations centre whenever and however we choose’. I still believe that there has been a catastrophic faiure of intelligence and the SSS, DIA and other military intelligence outfits at Divisional/Brigade level have some hard questions to answer. The news has gone viral (BBC, Al-Jazeera, France 24 etc), the Nigerian Military cannot protect its own formations and no amount of whitewashing can hide this fact. Oga Peccavi, we have no Defence Minister so there is no one to sack. In any event this debacle was a purely military one. In other civilised countries, if the Govt refused to properly fund the military, the service chiefs would resign enmasse in protest. Our Govt should get serious about CAPITAL EXPENDITURE for the military. Economic Development can only happen in an enviroment where there is peace and security. And get rid of the CAS – AM Badeh. He’s a waste of space.
Instead of that we have General Ihejirika shouting that the worse civilian government is better than the best military government. Is this a joke or what ? was there so much insecurity in Abacha days ?
You are correct there is no Defence Minister which is fascinating for a country with an insurgency in the NE, constant ethnic conflicts, bunkering in the delta and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
Te problem is not money.
what are you going to do with the money, build bunkers with it?
If you are not doing the basic, simple things then what is money going to do?
Was it poor salaries or a lack of technology that allowed the attack.
So tech wise what could we have used? balloon or tower mounted cameras, UAV patrols, mortar detecting radars, CCTV and sensors at key points. armoured vehicles, more helicopters, hardened shelters.
All nice and good, but if you are not patrolling the dead ground, if you are not on alert, if you can allow a force to mass 300 men under your nose then sorry to say more money isn’t changing a damn thing
Would you get 300 ,men to attack any sane armys base in the middle of a desert? Seriously its flat desert, how do you get that close?
Boko Haram were dressed in NAF Camouflage and may explain why they were not picked up.
See Colonel’s posting on the Z9 Harbin thread.
I heard there is a pursuit…….this is where we have the advantage….. We can still get to them, and wipe about 150 of them,why is there no news of thw pursuit fighting, what are the residents not saying, the military went after them?they out to be stopped in their tracks now A-jets and armed heli,so that the army can catch up to them with their light tanks,and heavy machine guns…..and infantry……….. If this is not happening, then am ashamed to be associated with this military that can accept this rude slap in the face,in reality,everything in that base should have put up a fight, but military and civilian, son,uncle or cousins…… It is a disgrace to come into my house,and do this rubbish and not make all of them wish they didn’t….. If not,they will do this again,it is human nature…..you have given them the belief they can, and they will doing it.
Oga Peccavi, it’s time this blog gets behind a push for a PMC.
A profit motivated soldier is better than one with no motivation.
Nigeria has plenty of self motivated mid level officers, but our corrupt system would corrupt and demoralize any one.
Before the Angolan govt hired the executive outcomes, the unita besieged several Angolan towns, and shelled them with mortars and artillery pieces.
Unita used BM-21 multi barrel rocket launchers to decimate a brigade plus FAPLA group gearing up to advance on Nharea.
Unita had all diamond fields and several airstrips under it’s command. Where anything that could be flown in on Victor Bouts II-76 transports were brought in and exchanged for diamonds.
The Angolan airforce was the largest in black Africa, but ineffective against unita.
Fapla had upwards of 500 MBTs, more artillery, mortars and MBRLs than Nigeria, but it took the infusion of a well trained well experienced highly motivated outfit like EO to make all these aforementioned assets effective against Unita.
I think it’s time for Nigeria to do the same. NA would emerge a stronger more motivated institution.
Our rivalry with south Africa is over blown. Besides the new SANDF themselves might soon be in need of COL. Eeben’s PMC services.
In Nigeria at the moment, the “emperor has no clothes” We simply don’t know how bad the rot has gotten.
The brits could help us, but we might have to sign over all our oil fields to the queen first. (LOL)
I am suggesting we gather our best motivated and experienced officers (General Y.S. Bello for instance) let him pick his subordinates and answer directly to the president.
With funds pre allocated for this unit. And ofcourse the advisory/ mentoring services of EO.
Boko Haram declares war on Borno
December 3, 2013 | Filed under: News Update | Posted by: Administrator
borno-boko-war-612x300From TIMOTHY OLANREWAJU, Maiduguri
Maiduguri, the Borno State capital became a war zone yesterday when suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked military formations, police posts and the International Airport.
The Defence Headquaters (DHQ) said 24 terrorists were killed and many were also injured. The military lost three decommissioned jets and two helicopters while two Air Force men were wounded, during the exchange of fire, according to Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade.
Properties estimated at millions of Naira were destroyed.
The DHQ also announced the resumption of normal flight operations to and from the airport which were temporarily disrupted as a result of the attacks.
Residents said the insurgents came in fortified with armoured tanks. The seriousness of the attacks informed the emergency security meeting President Goodluck Jonathan had with the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and service chiefs yesterday.
Maiduguri has enjoyed relative peace since early June when six Boko Haram insurgents were apprehended by unarmed youths. Since then, there have not been any major attack in the state capitals Residents said, “there would have been heavy casualty if the insurgents had attempted to attack civilians.”
Hundreds of the terrorists invaded the city through the western axis in what residents described as well-coordinated attacks that lasted between 2.30am and about 8am. The insurgents attacked the 333 Artillery Regiment Barracks of the Nigerian Army, the 79 Composite Group of the Nigerian Air Force and police stations along the Maiduguri-Damaturu Road. They also torched some petrol stations, fuel tankers, trailers park and a motor park (Tarson Journey) on the same road.
Residents said they started hearing heavy bombardment around the area at about 2.30am. “I live at Bulumkutu not far from the Air Force base. I started hearing sounds like bomb blast and shooting at about 2.30am which continued till this morning. Everybody around my area was awake and terrified because we didn’t even know what was happening. It was later at about 5am that a military helicopter started hovering around our areas and it continued till about 8am,” another resident, who did not want his name in print, told Daily Sun.
A police source said the insurgents were dressed in Air Force camouflage, adding that they were armed with sophisticated weapons including Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs). “They operated till about 8am and it was the military fighter jet deployed from Yola, Adamawa State that dislodged them right in front of the Air Force base. It was a heavy bombardment by the insurgents and they would have continued moving into the city if they had not been curtailed. They came with a VVL, an armoured tank and there are women among them,” the source disclosed. Schools, markets and commercials institutions that had earlier in the day opened were compelled to shut down as the government imposed a 24 hours curfew on the metropolis.
A statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Amb Baba Ahmad Jidda, the state government in consultation with the Army decided to impose the curfew on the state capital and its environs. “The Borno State Government in consultation with the GOC 7 Division, Nigerian Army has decided to impose a 24 hours curfew on Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and environs starting from 11am today Monday, December 2, 2013.
“The imposition of the curfew is necessitated by an attack in Maiduguri by people suspected to be Boko Haram members in the early hours of today. During the period of curfew, Borno State Government pleads with all citizens to remain calm and law-abiding until the situation is put under control as the security agencies will do everything possible to maintain lives and property of the citizenry. Only vehicles on emergency calls and essential services are allowed to move during the period,” the state said.
In a statement, spokesman of the 7 Army Division, Colonel Muhammad Dole, confirmed the attacks. “In the early hours of Monday, December 2, 2013, Boko Haram terrorists attempted to gain access to own locations (military formations) in the metropolis. However, troops of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army have successfully repelled the insurgents and inflicted serious casualties on them. The situation around Njamtilo and Maiduguri International Airport general areas are calm and under control,” he said even as he decline further comment on the incident.
An apparently sad Gov Kashim Shettima during his assessment tour of the damaged military and police facilities described the attack as satanic, promising that government will rebuild all structures burnt or destroyed by the insurgents. “We are going to replace all buildings destroyed by the insurgents even if they destroy them hundred times. The good thing is that the Commander of the Air Force base (79 Composite Group) has briefed me that no life was lost, but some servicemen were injured. The Commissioner of Police has also told me same thing. I know we shall overcome this problem and all the satanic ideology of this group in the soonest of time.”
Three military aircraft within the premises of the 79 Composite Group Air Force base as well as other facilities, structures; clinic and offices were burnt down by the insurgents.
Similar situation was witnessed at the 333 Artillery of the Nigerian Army as almost all the structures including offices, sentry, barracks, mess and about 10 vehicles were burnt. The Bulumkutu Police Station and a police outpost at 777 Housing Estate were also destroyed. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) while briefing the governor in the presence of the Commissioner of Police, Lawan Tanko said the insurgents wore Air Force camouflage, adding that he had initially thought they were Air Force men until he later realized they were enemies. “I was even telling them I am the DPO until I noticed that they are enemies. So, I ordered my men to lie down because they were very armed.”
Two residents of a house opposite the Air Force base were also shot dead by the insurgents. When reporters visited the house yesterday afternoon, the family of the deceased were preparing the corpses for burial. A neighbour of the deceased, Bala Mohammed, said the insurgents had entered a patent medicine store opposite the Air Force base and shot dead a young man operating the shop.
“The boy was still sleeping this morning in the shop with his machete beside him when the insurgents entered the shop. They shot him dead immediately and went into the house at the back where they saw a pick-up vehicle loaded with bags of beans. They asked the man to surrender the key to the vehicle but he declined and he was shot. Unfortunately the operator of the chemist was a younger brother to the man with the pick-up van,” he explained.
He claimed the insurgents even observed their early morning (Zubhur) Muslim prayers in a mosque opposite the Air Force base, before they later went into the patent medicine shop and the house to kill the two brothers.
The Sun
Oga Beeg, i don’t want it to seem as if we are spreading propaganda for BH. But we also have to analyze certain loopholes which our armed forces really have to investigate going forward…
1. three decommissioned jets and two helicopters while two Air Force men were wounded
2.Residents said the insurgents came in fortified with armoured tanks
3. between 2.30am and about 8am. The insurgents attacked the 333 Artillery Regiment Barracks of the Nigerian Army, the 79 Composite Group of the Nigerian Air Force and police stations along the Maiduguri-Damaturu Road
4.It was later at about 5am that a military helicopter started hovering around our areas and it continued till about 8am,
5.A police source said the insurgents were dressed in Air Force camouflage, adding that they were armed with sophisticated weapons including Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs)
6.it was the military fighter jet deployed from Yola, Adamawa State that dislodged them right in front of the Air Force base.
7.They came with a VVL, an armoured tank and there are women among them
8.The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) while briefing the governor in the presence of the Commissioner of Police, Lawan Tanko said the insurgents wore Air Force camouflage, adding that he had initially thought they were Air Force men until he later realized they were enemies. “I was even telling them I am the DPO until I noticed that they are enemies. So, I ordered my men to lie down because they were very armed.”
9.He claimed the insurgents even observed their early morning (Zubhur) Muslim prayers in a mosque opposite the Air Force base.
Where did they get the uniforms, sophisticated arms,intelligence location of the helicopters in the base,APCs??? why did it take till 5 am before our surveillance helicopters were airborne.? DO they even have FLIR tech for night vision?? Why were airborne re-enforcements not rushed in ASAP? THe DPO himself is a disappointment. He was not security conscious and exhibited cowardice by not engaging the BH he saw.
Doesn’t all the above point ring all kinds of alarm bells about the state of operational readiness???
There are underlying sinister forces with possible major external and internal support for BH activities
I am weeping seriously. Infact i am drenched in a cold sweat.
This is truly sad
The NA MUST TAKE THE KIDS GLOVES OFF NOW!!!
Oga beeg, any airforce personnel worth his salt should know that if an airforce base is assaulted, the 1st thing that should happen is for the air assets to take off and become airborne.
Why did the helicopters not take off??
Because there were no SOPs in place in the event of attack, no rehearsals, nada
Pure complacency. The insurgents were confident enough to pray?
I tire
Even i,a navy type knows,from reading literatures mostly about mid-east wars….knows the first thing to do, during an impending attack,is to get off the ground…….. How long does it take to get out the ground,were they always in the ready, or did they just need to start fueling those helicopters, in a war zone, when pilots,ought to be sleeping in their suits…….and helicopters armed and ready……….heads must roll for these, I know officers that have been retired for much less, retired for offenses committed by the boys under them.
“The insurgents were confident enough to pray”, I think you should not believe everything you read. And I am sure that quote sounded ridiculous to your ears. The situation is bad enough, no need to add fiction to it. The only way I would associate the mosque to the matter would be if the mosque had been hiding weapons for the terrorists and and the terrorists regrouped there as civilians and came outside with weapons after the prayers. Let us just use simple logics. There is no way you can suggest the terrorist halted their attack and went to pray and then they came back attacking again. “What you don’t pay with dollars, you pay with blood” -Helmoed Heitman
O’boy, Peccavi, dat wan of pray na pure and undiluted hyperbole. Na movie? Our people reach for the overkill whenever there is a gaffe…no less, the “perpetually opposed types at ‘The Sun’, ‘DT’, ‘Brit Hausa’ etc”. There is political capital for them in any story.
Our journalists call police APCs ‘tanks’, AFP labelled a Hilux van as an armoured vehicle yesterday..never mind idle bystanders. 500 attackers..who counted them? Haba, everyone’s is going haywire now and I need to hear it from elsewhere.
True, there was an inexcusable gaffe yesterday and it stems from “over assumption” for those familiar with Nigerian military lingo. This was a simple case of assuming that the insurgents would not dare whereas the NAF bombing runs have killed hundreds of insurgents since May.
The prime operational base in the AOR could not have been so accessible to attackers and if the GPMG-type gunner I see at the gate of most bases is what they posted there, even in the knowledge that HMG and RPG-armed aggressors are likely to attack, that was quite unfortunate. It was a great chance to have killed these oafs by the high dozens.
But I really need to start getting the other side to the story now and I trust the strategically positioned to feed me snippets as always. I hope the military can learn from this.
We are aware that Harrier jets were destroyed in Afghanistan by the Taliban and their allies have also attacked Army HQ at Rawalpindi in Pakistan, among other “inconceivable targets”.
Hopefully, the whys and wherefores shall follow swiftly and remedial action taken for the long-term.
Spot on oga peccavi THE ROT IN THE FISH STARTED FROM THE HEAD.Take one look at the CNAF and you can understand why the sense of complacency will set in
Okay, so how do we move forward from this mess?
Oga Deway in my humble opinion
(i) relieve the CAS of his appointment
(ii) relieve the NAF Maiduguri base commander of his command.
(iii) appoint a competent non-politician as minister of Defence, preferably a retired senior military officer (such as ACM Paul Dike rtd or Gen Luke Agwai rtd)
(iv) put competent people in charge of millitary formations based purely on merit and not sentiment/ethnic considerations
(v) completely overhaul our intelligence apparatus (SSS, DIA etc) with a focus on HUMINT and ELINT and sattellites – we currently have about 3 in orbit for goodness sake
(vi) for GOD’s sake give the military the tools to do the job- provide equipment (light/heavy attack helos, scout/recon helos, arms and ammunition, MRAPs, drones, communication equipment, in SIGNIFICANT numbers
(viii) get PMCs like Col. Eben’s outfit involved -this is not a time for empty pride as it’s quite clear that our military is currently overwhelmed by the BH tactics
(viii) completely overhaul the Army/Airforce’s PR departments as their spokespersons (Brig. Gen Ibrahim Attahiru? and his airforce equivalent) are not up to scratch,
(ix) get journalists foreign and local – including patriots like our very own OGA BEEGZ embedded in military units to provide factual reports to the Nigerian public and the world at large as to what is actually happening on the ground
(x) Get the Politicians from the President, Finance Minister, National Assembly members to see that Nigeria is facing an existential threat and as such NO EXPENSE SHOULD BE SPARED in proving kit and equipment for our brave men and women in uniform
I agree with all but Nos 8. Oga Eeben and his boys fought their war and fought honourably and covered themselves in glory, they did not go running to anyone to fight for them. We can get advise, tips, guidance whatever but THIS IS OUR WAR. We must finish it ourselves. And when I say our I mean all Nigerians, within and without the country within and without the military.
We have been using foreign coaches for years with our football teams, look what a Nigerian is now doing. Is it perfect? No but its ours and it is succesfull. There are a good many professional soldiers in the military who are as vexed by all this as we are, the main effort is to get the bullshit and politics out of the way and start fighting this thing properly
Interested parties like us must make our voices heard even if what we say is unpalatable.
I was in Naija a few weeks agao in the wake of the Westgate thing in Kenya, ou of interest I did hostile reconnaissance on several formations in Abuja and Lagos as well as shopping malls etc.
Without even doing it thoroughly I had devised plans of attack before I left. this is not to say the plans will work but if you have determined people, nothing is impossible. What is the point of a guard tower if the person in it is sitting down with his feet up?
Whats the use of a machine gun if its not cleaned and oiled?
Whats the use of defensive positions without interlocking arcs of fire?
Whats the use of having thick bush in and around operational military establishment where you could hide an armoured division if you were so inclined?
Hard questions have to be asked. After Dunkirk, Singapore, St Nazaire, Greece, and the myriad of other defeats Britain suffered in 1940-1942, they didn’t give up or start deceiving themselves, they analysed their mistakes and devolved tactics, training and procedures that worked.
It is just one defeat, as long as we learn the lessons and crush these cattle, we can live with it
Oga Peccavi.
Unfortunately, you are badly mistaken. This is not soccer, or one of our prestige projects. This is a battle for the very survival of the nation.
As BH wins victories with the help of experienced islamist fighters from the neighborhood, and around the world, the politics and leadership of northern Nigeria will surely fall under their control .
As their political and financial clout grows, even sworn NA officers would fall prey.
It is said that might makes right.
Once BH consolidates it’s hold on the north, they will surely launch an intolerant war of religious conquest on the south.
You said it, that there is no negotiation with BH, that NA must crush them in battle.
Well, let’s get on with it. Let’s get on with the business of winning this war, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
Who needs science fiction when you can read Oga Doziex ?
Departmental in-fighting with respect to sharing of intelligence is stifling our coin efforts.
this insurgency drama is getting wider and very interesting. something intriguing is obviously going on.
2015 is going to be really hot!
unfortunately, the FRN is now in the cross-hairs of International High Finance and Globalists. who would think boko haram went from shooting arrows to mounting a brigade style attack on a military installation.
there’s a foreign angle to these, guys. things are not as they seem. i guess we all underestimated the 2014-2015 seismic disturbance that has been predicted for Nigeria as a country.
on the bright side, maybe an existential threat to the nation will wake us up from our deep deep slumber. because right now, we are falling right into the trap and the plan is working like a clockwork
@oga doziex and mighty Yagz, please we donot need PMCs. full stop. its like those calling for gun control in America. whenever there’s a massacre or shootout, lobbyists and liberals come out and start screaming gun control. when we all know that isn’t the main issue.
same thing here. PMC is not the solution. our problem is leadership. whether you bring in SEALs, SAS, DELTA, and SA mercs, it wouldn’t solve the current problem being experienced upcountry.
without LEADERSHIP all these will come to NIL. the corruption and complacency plaguing the fed rep of Nigeria is insurmountable. there is a bigger picture than what we all think we know or understands.
the base commander has a to face court martial. military uniforms or not, movements at night, during curfew hours, re highly restricted. as a garrison town, the checkpoints re useless to BH activities and NAF knew this was a likely scenario. they even bragged about their round the clock defences, so this wasn’t out of the blue.
lets wait and hear about the pursuit by NAF. one would expect vertical insertion to block the fleeing terrorists, we know how our military always react to raids.
Well, a well oiled outfit like EO can temporarily substitute for our poor leadership.
If our generals have other important things on their minds, (other than securing a gaddam air base with our paltry but precious assets in them), then maybe we can hire a PMC so foreign experts would remind them how to do their jobs, or how to take it seriously.
I think NA has too much of a good time/ womanizing culture.
Well that is all well and good. But we need our officers to primarily keep their minds on their men and their mission.
This lackadaisical attitude was responsible for some of NA’s worst set backs in sierra leone. Makeni to be specific.
I am quite sure that this blog will eventually agree with me on this issue. But I am afraid by then it will be too late.
Lets all be mindful of the positions we are taking now. So in the near future, we can chastise ourselves accordingly.
Poor leadership and ineffective counter measures are the reasons why this battle inferno was raging. if the battle lasted from 3a.m to 8 a.m,. i expected the naf air base commander to of rousted his chief @3:15 a.m i expected the first a jet and gunship from yola or markudi to be onthe scence about 4. a.m . these are my reasons why both of them need to go.
OGA YAGAZIE it is pointless to appoint anybody DIKE, BELLO OR EVEN PATIENCE OR A FOOL WITH NO COMMON SENSE if that said individual does not have the ability to disregard the fact he can be fired after speaking with Jonathan if that so called individual is so worried about his/ her job that he / she cannot face madam down and tell them the real seriousness of the situation it is pointless
i agree with OGA XNUR my point of constructive criticism is this
1) The chief must go
2) The base commander must go
3) A defence minister who is not a career politician must be appointed COLONEL UMAR comes to mind we do not want someone who is a boot licker like maku
4) A NAF regiment must be stationed @ mdgr
5) This is a Nigerian problem it is not a pride thing Nigerians created the problem Nigerians SHALL SOLVE THE PROBLEM
6) We need to know what went wrong and what went right . oga igbi this is not a propaganda video UNLESS YOU AND YOU ALONE BELIEVE two air men WERE INJURED .
7) All sensitive AIR BASES NEED TO BE FORTIFIED
8) No military equipment and Casualties are inevitable constant AND REPEATED FAILURES OF coin INTEL HUMAN INTEL ARE NOT. army intell, airforce intel, dss intell needs to be revamped especially in the mdgr area.
9) There should be no scape goats the people responsible CNAF, BASE COMMANDER, NAF INTEL, should be held responsible not some common private or lowly air force captain.
10) There is an urgent need for troop carry special force Helios now ! not tomorrow now!!!
I am at a loss here Beeg. We do have allies don’t we? Is the United States an ally or a fair weather friend?. In Niger’s capital Niamey sits a drone base . An ally and a proactive defence leadership would seek help with respect to provision of live actionable intelligence about this insurgents location, deployment and formation as they move through our rural backwaters for our own combat aircrafts to decimate. To a great degree it also reduces dependence on HUMINT which is fallible. We have to swallow our pride and do this cause we need this. This guys are not ghosts. An eye in the sky is one of their nightmares
Well said kf..but i think we should begin to look or redifine friendships
How far is Yola from this incident? How long would it take an alpha jet to fly from Yola to the incident zone? Was there no night patrols by the Nigerian Army? Was there no radio comms available to the overun Army checkpoints? Seems like there is no proper information flow between the Soldiers on duty and their HQ. We should be careful in calling for the sack of the CAF or anyone else until proper investigations are carried out. It could be a case of infiltration!!! My 20 kobo’s
Lets take things logically and not emotionally
By road, Yola is 455 kms due south by road from Maiduguri. By air, it could be 400km. A subsonic A-Jet coming in at 600km/hr could be over its target in 40 mins.
Why do you ask?
Gentlemen, let us be honest here. Nigeria is the only country in Africa to consistently hold down Jihadists who are international in scope. In Mali a small group of rebels but again with support from other terror groups took half the country, a combined team of French-led international forces was what it took to reclaim that part of the country. Look at Somalia, the conflict is gradually spilling into nextdoor states.
Boko Haram practically calls not even 50 square feet of land in Nigeria its own. Save for dastardly and cowardly attacks on innocent people, market women, students and helpless civilians Boko haram has no clear objective and strategy. To compensate for this they need to sow fear and terrorize the people and they have the international media to sensationalize it.
Beeg, i believe the response from Yola was too slow. If the attack started at 2:45am den the A jet should have been over its target by 3:30am. Soneone was asleep on the wheels. If by 3:30am d A Jet was over d incident scene probably we wouldnt have had this much destruction.
@ Ojo
The same thing happened in Algeria, when algeria was fighting against those terrorists, the media was always quick to call any terror attack a success and to always call any Algerian military action a desperate act from a disorganized and impotent military. The so called experts were almost recognizing the terrorists as the new leaders, untill their disinformation couldn’t work anymore because the algerian army had won the war. And no quantity of disinformation could deny that. Now what I find troubling is how many are quick to call anything done by boko haram a success.If boko haram’s aim is to nap, and it naps, I think some fellow will also come and start shouting that boko haram operation was a success. I think some are parting away with objectif thinking. What we should ask ourselves if how that terror attack affects our military and our efforts, that is how you determine if the terrorists were successful. They may have destroyed 2 helicopters, ut does that incapacitate us ? The answer is no, we have already replaced the helicopters and are about to buy a few more (hopefully more than a few). Did that attack make our armed forces weaker ? The answer is no: that attack only archieved in waking our men up. Which would bring more pressure on boko haram and see them dead before the preplanned date. So in essence what was the gain of that attack: two helicopters destroyed which might have delayed our operations in that area for about 6H: the tie to replace the helicopters. So where is the rational on calling boko haram terror attack a success ? I wonder !
Oga Igbi, while Algerians were being slaughtered, and the world press blaming Bouteflika’s govt, the Algerian military went on a 15 billion dollars a year spending spree.
You see, they acted like their very existence was on the line.
And that’s why they ultimately crushed their insurgents.
If Nigerian leadership follows that example, they would be successful also.
But being miserly on defense, when the entire nation is facing one security challenge or another.
Is my beef with this and previous govts.
I have likened it to mizing on the water, when your house is ablaze.
And the worst part is that this mizing on defense expenditure is not motivated by fiscal conservatism, Not from the way our politicians squander Nigeria’s wealth on themselves.
Correct, Algerians acted like they faced an existential threat in every way. It has paid off.
Oga peccavi, the sentry post at MoD last I passed d area was unmanned, u see soldiers around checkpoints without boots on, playing with cellphones; is this normal?
No
This is Spirit,
Reporting for duty sirs.
Modern warfare is in the sky, Nigeria does not have an Air force.
Period.
Oga spirit how you dey? It’s been ages man. Where you run go now?
Counter insurgency is won on the ground
Okay, hopefully we learn lessons from this and it never happens again. The NAF have pounded these chaps relentlessly at Sambisa and at Bitta in the Gwoza Hills for a month now. Perhaps this was their attempt to see that the cutting edge is made blunt or it was an attempt at seeking outright vengeance for their ‘martyred’ colleagues.
The attack caught the NAF off guard in the clearest sense of the word. It is inexcusable and some chaps have serious questions to answer.
But I shall not forget that the NAF have done very well in that AOR since May when they began to undertake bombing missions. What has happened to the 79 Composite Group is very serious and smacks of complacency and negligence but it is by no means unheard of, even in more battle-savvy and powerful armies.
FLASHBACK
MILITANTS ATTACK “PNS MEHRAN” NAVAL AIR BASE IN BIN LADEN REVENGE ATTACK, DESTROY AIRCRAFT
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/23/militants-attack-pakistani-naval-base-karachi
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13495127
TALIBAN ATTACK PAKISTAN ARMY GENERAL HEADQUARTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/world/asia/11pstan.html?_r=0
OVER 200 MILITANTS OVERRUN PAKISTAN MILITARY BASE, 25 TROOPS MISSING..FEARED DEAD,WALLS SMASHED WITH ROCKET FIRE
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/militants-overrun-pakistan-army-base/
http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7191200.stm
U.S. MILITARY BASE ATTACKED IN AFGHANISTAN..MARINES KILLED, JETS DAMAGED OR DESTROYED
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/09/14/marine-base-attacked-in-afghanistan/
Hopefully, this sort of attack never, EVER happens again at ANY NAF base. Troops up there must be fully. alert at all times and the FG must provide for them optimally. The tendency to make available what amounts to the barest minimum requirement rather than in adequate quantities is highly offensive and is leading to unnecessary losses of lives. The lives of troops are not expendable items.
The US has multiple redundancies, thus they can afford such mistakes. Nigeria wants to make do with a handful of air assets, so we don’t have the luxuries of the americans nor the Pakistanis.
http://www.punchng.com/news/maiduguri-attacks-military-suspects-insider-collaboration/
oga tim I guess with stifled suppressed anger now . our great forward thinking govt will now release the funds thanks to boko haram . Since we have now lost two helios our great chief will now tell our president we need more helios since the boko haram people hate them so much (SIGH) SMH :(.
Sorry to be late,the 3 decommissioned aircrafts are MiG-21 fighters and the 2 choppers are the Mi-24/35 !
The main objective of BH insurgent attacking Maiduguri air force base was to destroy the Mi-24/35s and other air assets,they achieved their objective by 100 percent.If there were A-jets or F-7NI jets in the base on the day of that assault,they could have been destroyed as well.
Thank you sir !!
Great Gen Beegs, good 2 see that u’re back and in good health. However, sorry that this welcome party is short lived as we have a major debacle on our hands.
If I can remember, I’ve suggested the book ‘the fighting general’ its about gen walker and how he handled the indonesian-Malaysian confrontation in the early late 50s – early 60s. The lessons there are timeless.
I’ve read all manner of post and I’ve notice my oga stepping back (I salute the wisdom of letting people vent while searching out the facts). From classic oga Igbi ostrich approach to classic oga Doziex PMC response, the denials and afterwards the anger. I’ve see plain ludicrous accusation (u blame the CAS on where decom migs and mil 24/35 were packed!) and suggestions (pack service pistols and have a ‘talk’ with the POFRN) or that since the prime target was the airbase then the airforce alone doesn’t have it house in order (as if the reinforced BH coy now know how to teleport and didn’t pass through army areas of responsibility or that the DSS, DMI ought to have known).
Pls sirs permit me to point some little details out,
-BH is not capable or interested in capturing and holding territory, that’s why the tactics is called hit and run and boy it was a success and it doesn’t matter if they all died in the process, its if they can demonstrate an ability to dislocate our strategic arms at will and how much it cost us, eg amongst our casualties is/are pilots included?(Cheaper,easier and faster to replace platform than pilot)
– we have been here b4 and since b4 baga, we have refused to learn or apply lessons learned
– that our current strategies have failed
– that BH now has the initiative and we are responding
– our intl is messed up, no drones, recon planes, sat and we don’t have implants within enemy ranks while they have within ours
– and if u have and don’t use, it doesn’t count.
Airforce SF are for pilot rescue,recon/intel, laser designation etc and not perimeter security!
– I’m afraid that except we change (pessimistic in this regard), more of this will come and this Christmas could have a lot of red
In the past, I’ve refrained from judging command for reasons of our failure to equip them but I think that as commander, if I wasn’t being taken serious and I was losing men as a result, I would resign.
The media are only depending on eye witness account and those eye witness were only trying to recount a high frightening event that occurred @ nite.
As for the tank and APC, even till date, a lot of us on this blog still make mistakes so let’s cut them some slack (CNN is not exempt from it but I’m not defending them though). However, I’ll bet my old shoes that NA has lost some VBL or Cobra type. Is it so inconceivable? Haba, we all know that an ack ack will turn a VBL type into a convertible not to mention an RPG.
We are not babies so lies from defence will not solve anything neither will coups! If it could happen to the US and Pakistanis, why not us?
Painfully, while they can afford it, we can’t, another one like this in say Yola and its over (some one said…50 AVMs and 40 aircraft)
Gentlemen, we stand to risk all the gains made since the emergency began. My respect to the fallen and those they left behind, my regret is that it was needless
I think there shouldn’t be any place for speculation. There are ways of getting accurate information other than relying on eyewitnesses who might turn out to be boko haram itself or speculating: Just go to maiduguri,take a plane ticket and see for yourself, and bring pictures. I am not being an ostrich, I am only using logics to clear the way and distinguish fiction from reality (and they said maths weren’t useful in real life…).
Boy !! One day, you will realize that you are doing NA no favors.
Yes, after all what is the use of logical thinking when we could speculate the worse and pretend we actually know what we are talking about and then inspire panic. What first attracted me to this blog was the fact that I thought we were after accuracy and logical thinking. I thought we were supposed to analyze the flow of information and tel the difference between a fairy tale and reality.
At approximately 2.45am approximately 300-500 insurgents mounted in approximately 23 Hilux trucks and a stolen military vehicle (presumed to be a VBL) launched a coordinated attack on MAIDUGURI with small arms, RPGs and IEDS; attacking the 79 Composite Group NAF based in a portion of MAIDUGURI International Airport, 3 decommissioned MIG 21 aircraft, 2 operational Mi variant helicopters and several vehicles were reportedly destroyed.
333 Artillery Battalion was apparently attacked with a VBIED and vehicles with heavy weapons mounted on them several of which were destroyed.
The trailer park along DAMATURU-MAIDUGURI ROAD and military checkpoints such as PONPOMARI Outpost, NAF Headquarters Gate, Staff Quarters Outpost, 777 Estate in the vicinity of NJIMTILO.
DHQ report 24 insurgents killed and 2 NAF personnel wounded, unofficial sources put friendly casualties at approximately 20 killed
7 Division responded with air strikes in and around the NAF Base in MAIDUGURI and JERE with fixed wing and attack helicopters from NAF YOLA around 5.00am, with fighting continuing until 8.00am. 7 Div reports they are clearing the enemy towards the MAIDUGURI-BENISHEIK Road
A 24 hour curfew has been imposed as of 11.00am, with passage given only to emergency vehicles, normal flights to the Airport have resumed
Oga peccavi, I don’t know if you remember. About 2 years ago when I joined this blog, we had many a discussion/debate that a time would come when hordes of these bastards would come hailing from chad or niger mounted in hiluxes with AAAs (technical).
I said that they would overrun towns and bases and even hold some of them.
I said that NA in ecomog battles usually didn’t fair well, when they faced technicals.
I said our current airforce of trainers and a few attack choppers would not be up to the task
of stopping BH then.
Well gentlemen, I think that day is upon us.
Unfortunately, many of my predictions on this blog, disappears into a rat hole.
If you observe the perimeters of the air base,a determined attacker would come from the south,due to the nearness of packed aircrafts close to the high-way into maiduguri town,it is quick to destroy the air assets from that direction.
Intelligence failure from the NIA,DIA,Air Intelligence unit,NA 7 DIV Intelligent unit,and SSS Maiduguri branch.
From the Base Commander, to the NAF CAS, their time is up !
The issue of repelling the insurgent is rubbish and banza walai,my chest de pain me since yesterday,I could not even cry.
Royal Cambodian Air Force Receives 12 Z-9 Harbin
Twelve Harbin Z-9 Haitun helicopters, which Cambodia had purchased from China, were
delivered to the Royal Cambodian Air Force on November 25. The helicopter delivery was a new historic achievement in addition to numerous supports the Chinese government has given to Cambodia.
The Cambodian Z-9 helicopter fleet will be made of 4 assault variant, 6 utility variant and 2 VIP configured variant. These helicopters would also being used for training purposes, border protection as well as to support HADR operations.
Soeung Samnang, commander of the Royal Cambodian Air Force, said the Z-9 helicopters were purchased from the China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation through a USD 195 million loan approved by China in August 2011.
Cambodia is one of China close allies in ASEAN. Both countries have reached the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation ratified in 2010.
Beside the Royal Cambodian Air Force, other ASEAN operators of the Z-9 is Lao’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force with 4 currently operational.
7 hours after an armed ex-navy staff with a short gun raided the Washington navy base the washington chief of police gave out a statement detailing the attack,3 hours after his the President of the United states of America announced to his fellow country men that the hostile attacker was dead and assured them of their safety,Back to Nigeria 48hours after a critical Airforce base was hit,an Army base was destroyed,an international airport attacked,properties of citizens worth millions destroyed,fellow country men in their number killed……In all this the Govt choose to say nothing,are they telling us they own us no explanations? Yet no one is resigning neither is any one taking the blame or any one been fired. My God what country!, knowing all this happened in a state under emergency where alertness should be at it’s peak, Does the Govt even care? I don tire
The military has since put out a statement. Why do nigerians constantly like to compare nigeria to the united states?
Fellow Generals,please in respect to my above post,I humbly want Your opinion on this issue,I stayed glued to the internet,television and my radio set,patiently waiting for a press release on the outcome of their investigation and also into the insurgent chase,even an explanation,hmmmm! In all nothing, Don’t we deserve an explanation?
“an Army base was destroyed”: which one ?
Let us try to reason with logics and not sentiments, every time there is any breech you people are always quick to claim an army base was destroyed. Let us try logical thinking.
If an army base was destroyed then where are the photos of that base ? I hope you all know that the AFP has photographs in Maiduguri who have taken several pictures of damaged places, but none of a “destroyed army base”. So let us use logics, not emotion.
The military has since put out a statement. Why do nigerians constantly like to compare nigeria with the united states?
@ Oga Henry,”Constructive comparism” to a country that is ‘positive’ and would enhance your geopolitical,social,economic and security development and give you a cutting edge advantage over your rivals,enemies,friends and foes alike is very much a welcome avantange,if this are my benefits from “positive constructive criticisms” then I would not mind diving to Iraq just to get it.
As for the press release,no doubt the NA released one,what we need now is an appraisal of events so far! Because if the press release as given doesn’t satisfies the curiosity of millions of Nigerians out there then I humbly beg to differ. For a start so many question were thrown to the floor on this blog,how many the that press release answer? What’s the difference between a press release by the Nigerian Army and what I would have gotten from the streets of MDGR as of that morning? Since criticism hasn’t much appreciation from you then I won’t give instances,but hope you understand,thank you.
Fellow Generals,please in respect to my above post,I humbly want Your opinion on this issue,I stayed glued to the internet,television and my radio set,patiently waiting for a press release on the outcome of their investigation and also into the insurgent chase,even an explanation,hmmmm! In all nothing, Don’t we deserve an explanation? Why is no one talking to us?
Agreed.
We must end this culture of impunity in Nigeria.
Where politicians don’t give a shit about the electorate.
They think they are accountable to king makers, and not the electorate.
So explaining away such a major blunder doesn’t come natural to them.
Nigerians must forget money, forget tribal affiliations, and forget religious differences.
We must fight for the democracy/accountable governance we think we deserve.
Right now, president GEJ and others are jockeying for power come 2015.
Let’s not forget their RESUMES/CVs
GEJ and 30 or so governors have been demonstrating how to run a govt. GEJ has shown us what he can and can’t do as CIC.
The State governors have shown what they are capable of.
Let’s for once choose our leadership based on who did the best job.
I’m still trying to come to come to terms with how 300 or even 100 heavily armed thugs would would march to the Airforce base witout detection at 3 am, that’s a towwn that’s supposed to have restricted movement. There’s a lot of complacency being displayed by the military. They need to have a central information center, this would reduce misconceptions like I thought the army was moving, I thought the navy was moving.
And Oga Doziex we should explore options without PMC’s
Destroying those helix was the best thing to have happened to the air force. Why? Because they won’t learn except this happened. Bet on this – they will make purchases now and their inventory will improve. At least, we know that it is because the criminals were being harassed that they attacked ’em planes
My oga Doz, I think we should explore the origin and concept behind PMC. 1st of all, it was adopted by the US not because their military was incompetent but to get around US law and to give the gov denialbiility. We can’t commercialize everything especially security. We may have temporal gains but imagine the issues we’ll face say 10yrs down the line if somehow we have a spy resulting from that union has now become a formation commander! Then think of the concept, highest bidder (to ans ur money motivated issue) why the plausibility of the contractor being a servant of a foreign power and the nationality and interest!
The PMC could be Nigerian owned you know ?
@ peccavi with a company that has 20-30 of his ex-british army specialist buddies, is a PMC.
If they abuse their contract, they don’t get paid.
If they spy, Kiri Kiri (dungeon)awaits them. SSS would be watching them as a hawk.
This concept is simple, and the wave of the future.
It is why AMISOM is now looking good in somalia, on par with western armies, and Nigeria is fooling around in the dark.
You are not good at what you are not good at. No crime there. There crime is choosing not to learn or be taught because of national pride.
Now that’s some Bullshit.
But as a subject, study the concept and the results.
Iraq saw the most use to date of the use of PMCs.
IBB had introduced isreali PMC VIP protection services to Nigeria.
The American firm MPRI on a 10 million usd grant by the US govt. Did a limited job in Nigeria, when OBJ came to power.
Mainly replacing training aides, teaching officers how to serve under civilian rule, and accessing the serviceability of our sanctioned equipment.
They butted heads with Gen. Malu, the then CDS before OBJ fired him.
However, MPRI a US based PMC (Military Professionals Resources inc) Google it, has train armies from Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, south Africa, briefly in angola.
But most notably, is there involvement in Croatia ahead of their highly successful blitzkrieg operation to recapture the Krajina region from Serbia.
They trained the security forces of equatorial guinea that recently repulsed some niger delta based militants that launched an amphibious raid on Obiang’s palace. I wonder who hired them fcukers.
MPRI also helped to professionalize the current SANDF which absorbed thousands of ANC paramilitary fighters. I guess ex SADFs like Eeben couldn’t be trusted by the ANC govt.(LOL)
However, upon forming Executive outcomes, Col.Eeben and co. delivered astounishing successes in Angola and sierra leone. This drew the envy of the US and the UK, both of whom constantly use the UN to rain on EO’s parade.
A pity, the ANC govt eventually was pressured to disband EO. It’s a pity cause their are still too many African tragedies where EO can couple with a local govt or UN forces, and deliver a success story.
In Nigeria they could couple with the NA to solve the delta and BH insurgencies.
In CAR, where a genocide is about to happen, they can couple with the UN or AU.
By the way, SANDF did deliver in the DRC by strengthening the spine of the Congolese army to route the M23 rebels. Albeit after Rwanda was pressured to stand down.
Blackwater aka XE is another PMC. It’s actually the largest, however it’s reputation was unfairly sullied in Iraq.
Anyway, some nations have a knack for military affairs. Ethiopia, Eritrea, isreal , UK,US , France, Rwanda and south Africa comes to mind.
Nigeria is certainly not one of these countries. We are preoccupied by other things.
Even within a military of 150,000, we are searching for “RedNecks” with the killer instincts to wipe out BH.
Other than us on this blog clamoring for a military awakening in Nigeria, who else gives a shit or has a clue ?
That is precisely why we need PMC services, we would not rise to the occasion and do it ourselves, cause we are simply not interested in “military stuff”.
At this late stage, many of our politicians and portly generals, are still aloof.
Can we afford this ? I think not. If folks are not ready to do their jobs, they must be bypassed for the good of the nation.
When proper leadership is established in the NA, many young lions, capts, Majors and colonels would then be allowed to come into their own.
Let us not flatter ourselves, we are certainly far from being relevant compared to many groups of people within and outside the country. And your demand for PMC at all cost still puzzles me. What would you advocate if PMCs didn’t exist ? Or do you mean that every Nigerian soldier has no soldiering quality ? Is that a military strategy to always call for PMC ?
Please Look up the word “adjunct” in the dictionary.
How can you even think of placing Rwanda before Nigeria ?
Do you actually know Nigeria trained a bunch of their officers ?
Not the size of their military. But the commitment of their leaders and people to having a strong military institution . Inspite of the lack of funds.
NA also trained the ZDF but I will rank Zimbabwean leaders and govt ahead of Nigeria.
Just talk to your Nigerian neighbors in france there, and gauge their level of interest.
Visit a Pakistani military blog, and gauge the interest and the pride of their citizens in their military institutions and weapons acquisitions.
In Nigeria we have 400 plus representatives and senators, and only senator Anyanwu repeatly bemoans the woes of our navy.
The Nigerian press still cant differentiate between an ottokar and a main battle tank.
This is abnormal. In other nations, such details are a matter of national pride.
Ask @max if any Filipino journalist would mistake an F-16 for an F-5.
Two CNAFs have boasted of NAF’s prowess in the press. AVM UMAR, and the current boss.
Compared to who ? Are they even observing current trends in Africa ?
These weapon systems are so affordable to Nigeria, that our lack of them is unforgivable.
Thousands of NA soldiers were killed and maimed in LBR and SLR wars, because these motherfcukers (excuse my French) wouldn’t buy used Russian attack helicopters for 5 million usd.
And after the worldwide humiliation Nigeria got in 1999 when the rebels invaded and destroyed freetown, a city guarded by 19,000 NA troops. NAF only buys 11 ?
They think BH wouldn’t buy MANPADS or attack the damn airbases ?
Brother, I am not saying that Nigerians are an inferior people. Far from that.
I am saying we don’t have an inclination for military affairs, and thus are not good at it.
In 1999, first of all when the rebels infiltrated free town, our number of troops in Sierra Leone had not reached 19000, correct me if i’m wrong. And it was an infiltration, not a conventional invasion: The rebels hid among the flow of refugees and therefor were able to gain access to the town and they then wrecked havoc on soft targets, the NA declared a curfew and wiped the rebels out of the town. In that period, there were a lot of anti Nigerian army media coming from britain which had interests in replacing the Nigerian army by its own army.
My questions will forever remain,where were the base guards, then with the situation in such state does that mean no military checkpoints to pick up large movement of people? Whatever happened to intelligence gathering in these affected states?
Everybody is busy talking about acquisition of hardware, yes that cannot be over-emphasized but nobody is talking about Nigerian security outfits working on their intelligence gathering. I strongly believe they are lacking in this area given the rate of bold attacks in the NE & the large number of supposed BH always being reported as carrying out these daring attacks.
This recent attack shows maybe low level of preparedness or weariness amidst our fighting force. Needless to say I have always admired Hitler’s belief to conquer the world and his administrative skills (don’t judge me). Even as that era might have faded away but some of its harsh principle should be use to judge this case. Let the head of the base’s top commander roll and the top officers of any of the outfits responsible for the intelligence work..
..Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Really, Hitler ? That is the guy you admire ? Why not Jack the ripper, or any other psychopathic murderer ?
I just want to give an image I hope some of you would identify and understand why I am giving it: Let us say we put Mike Tyson in the ring with a twelve year old boy, and the twelve year old boy manages to pinch Mike Tyson (and there for cut him a little bit) but a blow from Mike Tyson beheads the boy. Well it seems many so called analyst would call this boy the victor.
I just dont get it. Nigeria currently has 5 satellites in Space if i am correct. That’s more than the rest of Africa combined. We spent millions of dollars to train Nigerian engineers in the UK on Space research. Nigerian satellites NG- Sat 2 and NG-Sat X are high resolution satellites capable of giving high quality images from space yet we could not detect the movement of not a dozen but hundreds of heavily armed Jihardist until they overan an airbase. I just dont get how things work in this country and to be frank i am pretty pissed off. We have the cash, we have the man power, we have drones, we have an ”INTELLIGENCE AGENCY” that receives billions of naira in funding, we have Recce aircraft’s, we have some of the most advanced satellites in the world in Space yet we cannot pin point where these BOKO YAYA people are and launch preemptive punitive strikes? Must the Nigerian military always be a reactionary force? only reacting to attacks.?
Oga Oje Na too much Egbedu. Too much womanizing. Commanders over-delegating their responsibilities to their subordinates.
Their focus is not on their men and their mission. And the list goes on.
If our officers had the discussions we have here on this blog, things would be different, but folks are preoccupied with God knows what.
I have observed this since the mid nineties, it’s only gotten worse.
seconded
True yarn
Guys these are sad times! its obvious our military tend to be very complacent hence the absence of any real effort to learn from mistakes. However, once the enemy force had massed, (and dont rule out the possibility that they were in maiduguri the whole time in mufti and only brought in their mechanized elements in once the fifth columnists had overwhelmed the check points) could the hapless defenders have stood any chance? They were outnumbered to start with (i doubt they could have had more than a platoon in ready positions) and in cases like this the attackers always have the advantages e.g. more ammo, element of surprise, benefit of diversionary tactics etc.
lets learn our lessons this time (hopefully) and go after them with a vengeance.
Oga Ozed, If NA routinely does aggressive day and night patrols as Oga Peccavi suggested, they would interrupt the attack probably in the formation stage.
Casualities may result. But the purpose of such forward patrols, is to prevent surprise attacks.
We should all study theory of surprise:
Theory of surprise;
Oga Igbi with NA facing such debacles on our own soil, I wouldn’t let you get away with such lies.
The RUF offensive began around October 1998.
First to fall was Koidu the diamond town in kono district. We lost men, artillery pieces and the carcases of our APCs still litter the area around the mines.
Then Makeni fell in a battle that claimed a colonel. With several NA troops killed and some captured.
This is before they came southwards to attack freetown.
So the airlift of 9000 troops from Nigeria to bring numbers to 19000, began way before the freetown invasion.
That is why the citizenry didn’t run. NA was flying in troops and reassured the populous to stay put.
So while the rebel used civillians to shield their advance in some sectors, in other sectors NA shelled, the guineans rocketed and NAF alphas bombed rebels who hid in caves and quarries and eventually descended to decimate the capital for 2 weeks.
Major Tanko led the “Death before dishonor” campaign that saved Nigeria’s face.
Immediately after Brig. general Max Khobe went to Nigeria to report and lambast all those responsible for this lapse.
While he was seconded to head the new SLR Army, Generals Kpamber and Abu Ahmadu . were put in charge to secure the city that Khobe liberated.
Unfortunately he died soon after a bitter man from a stroke, and complications of his injuries.
We need a report on Khobe’s last trip to DHQ in Nigeria.
Oga Igbi your ostrich mentality is convincing nor deceiving no one.
Too bad, that culture prevails in NA, where we bury the truth, instead of learn from it.
Look, I said “correct me if I’m wrong”. I think you should adress what I said and correct it if necessary instead of calling me names. Your tendency to exaggerate things is noted. Perhaps we already had 19000 soldiers in free town before the infiltration (not invasion), but how many troops were in that ISAF base before its infiltration ? That would be 38000.
On an other note, I posted two videos on the theory of surprise, can you please look at them ? They are from tUS homeland security studies.
Oga igbi, My apologies, I should have used a euphemism. Lets call it your version of the truth.
I have admitted that I was wrong about the number of troops in freetown in 1999. But then I recalled ISAF had 38000 troops in their base which was infiltrated. Or was I not clear ?
One thing we seem to forget in this SL war is Charles Taylor who sabotage the Nigerian Army any chance he had with that kind of man around any army including Us will be in trouble. A lot of rebel that took part in the rebellion in 98 were not even SL
Oga Beeg, pls is major Tanko still in service?
Lol…so you know that man, Major Kaya Tanko…a true ECOMOG hero alongside middle-level commanders such as Major Jalingo? Rugged, rugged men inimitable. They did wonders in Freetown…General Khobe’s lightning rods.
Easy guys, i think you both have valid points, but maybe you should just both agree to disagree so it doesn’t deteriortae any further. Respect.
An other study which would help us a lot:
http://rvzr-a.akamaihd.net/sd/wrap-0.01.html?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adcash.com%2Fscript%2Fpop_packcpm.php%3Fk%3D529f3b6288f0a292021.15667%26h%3D881c2d1c8eabb7a020dd8e90b61e4752e69bb9b9%26id%3D0%26ban%3D292021%26r%3D195299%26ref%3Dh%26data%3D%26subid%3D
This is the part one of the video, the remaining part is on youtube.
Sorry, there was a mistake, I hope someone can help me to take this post down.
Here is the video which could help us a lot.
Ogas Doziex and Igbi,
Abeg make una coolu temper. Things are hot enough as it is.
Oga Ozed, No worries I am cool. Oga Igbi is not my target audience.
He is disrupting my messaging, but I can live with that.
All I did was debate. I and many on this blog and in Nigeria do not see calling PMCs/mercenaries to our rescue as a security strategy. Unless we start using the word strategy loosely. It seems to me that I can resume what you are doing by this:
1) Build fear
2) defend the idea that the Nigerian armed forces are incredibly incompetent, and exploit every boko haram attack to do that, (including amplifying the result of the attack).
3) finally you hope that at the end you would have successfully destroyed the reputation of the NA and the confidence we have on it so that we would all be clamoring for PMCs.
It seems to me that your end game is for a PMC to be hired and that is the reason for the rest of your actions.
The only problem is that hiring a PMC/mercenaries doesn’t make sense in our case, unless we are interested in doing charity for mercenaries. An other problem is that the constant fear mongering and destruction of character of our officers can have only one result: destruction of moral within the armed forces and the prolongation of the war (which would be the profitable end game of PMCs/mercenaries). An other question arises when you ask yourself this question: what happens if the PMCs get thousand of our soldiers killed and make us actually do the unthinkable: lose ground !
Shall we then hire an other PMC/mercenary ? Ojuku also loved hiring PMCs/mercenaries, and at the end him and his mercenaries were beaten by the strategic work of Nigerian army officers, many of the PMCs/mercenaries were disgraced in the middle of the war and sent back home by Ojuku himself. The rest of the PMCs/mercenaries fled when the heat was too much for them. This is just an example, but we can keep one thing in mind: the PMCs/mercenaries gets to go back home with generous cash contributions no matter what: victory or defeat.
Hiring PMCs will also destroy moral among the ranks of the armed forces: indeed incompetent mercenaries will be payed ten times their salary and will be offered authority over things which could cost our soldiers lives.
Solution: we have to look for strategies and face the fact that we have no other choice but to do this ourselves. The Algerians had much less money and men and material and experience than us when they defeated the masters of boko haram (aqim).
I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE TO THE CHIEF OF AIR STAFF FOR WHAT I SAID ABOUT HIM. My comment on him was counter-productive. I support the efforts of our armed forces 100%. FG please give them better funds and better material, and stop being paranoid to the point of not equipping them.
Im not sure those saddled with the responsibility of protecting Nigeria’s territorial integrity have a clue on what a modern and effective military is all about. First we were bullied by France into ceding oil rich Bakasi to Cameroon, in Mali we lost a completely perfect opportunity to consolidate out power as regional hegemon by taking decisive military actions in Mali (which the world was expecting us to do), rather we allow ”Nostalgic glory hungry superpower wannabe and a staunch enemy of Nigeria France to control matters and take the shine right in our own backyard. In the space of 5 years we wowed the world and Africa in particular by launching into orbit 5 extremely advanced satellites and in a stroke positioned our self as Africa’s leading Space power yet we find it extremely difficult to friggin buy some 4th generation fighters. %99 of Nigerians do not even know the function of satellites we have in Space. Our military is without MLRS (Multiple launch rocket systems), our air defense is nothing but a coffin to whoever is manning it, you cannot shoot down an aircraft 20,000 feet in the air droping precision bombs with an air defense system that have bullets instead of missiles. The territorial intergrity of the country is being threatened by outside forces yet our leaders are facing this threat in a lackluster manner.Im not sure about you guys but i am livid with rage and pissed at our defense minister and the President.
I followed the Mali debacle very painfully. It seems our desire to become a UNSC permanent member was in conflict with our deployment to Mali. because we can all remember that the UN didn’t authorize the deployment of any force at all. France deployed anyway, while ignoring the UN. Nigeria which is weakened by all these political rubbish allowed the UN and France to decide for us. After France had deployed, instead of condemning France, the UN gave the green light. The problem in Nigeria is that the politicians play politics with everything even with our security and our lives. They would gladly reduce the countries to rubles if that means they would win political superiority.
They are seeing Nigeria like a business or a game, the aim being to get the power and then to secure the money for their pockets. ofcours this is a generalization, there are many good politicians in Nigeria. Because of this weakness, how is it possible to ignore stupid demands from the UN ? Once you do that, your opponents will call you a rascal and would call for your impeachment. So either you grab some courage and do what needs to be done, either you try to please everybody and end up doing nothing, which is what Jonathan did. I also agree with you when it comes to defense procurement and our strategy in security matters. Can you imagine Okonjo was recorded on a video joking with westerners that she managed to cut our defense budget by 25%, and she called that a victory ! People with no knowledge of how to secure the nation are being given powers to take decisions on defense as crucial as that one, and they are allowed to ignore the generals completely. This in turn will push the generals to lose interest in defending the nation. Yar’Adua didn’t stay long in power, but can you imagine the weapons he was trying to buy for Nigerian armed forces ? Yar’Adua was really interested in building the armed forces, whereas Jonathan is more interested in keeping the armed forces weak enough so that the generals will know that if they temper with democracy then the superior fire power of the US will descend on them. This level of reasoning was started by OBJ, now Jonathan is continuing it. They don’t want a powerful army !
Oga Oje Thank you sir .
My sentiments exactly.
In todays world, Might makes right.
If Nigerian had invested in the might, we would have come out right in Mali.
Cause whatever the UN and French motivation was, they would have thought different with a Nigerian armored or mechanized division on the scene.
If we possessed Algeria’s SU-30MKA’s and our pilots were roaring over Malian skies, the dozen or so French jets would have appeared insignificant.
http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/12/03/hello-maiduguri-phone-lines-buzzing-again/
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/World/2013/12/05/Nigerian-army–wants-500-suspects-tried-for-terrorism.aspx
@Cutevik’s quote ‘but I
guess the were blind,confused and
preplex at the sudden attack on their
base,this must not be allowed to happen
again….’. @cutevik you have exactly spoken my mind. We all here are all patriots, we laud our armed forces achievements but we shouldn’t hold the ‘koboko’ back when we criticise their faults. We all know that Nigerian Government are a bunch of terrible liars while the armed forces are masters of propaganda. they exaggerate minor achievements while they cover up their errors effectively. A military base is not a place to joke with, I’m not an expert but I have heard of base defence, defence condition(defcon), threat condition (threatcon), Intelligence surveillance reconnaissance (ISR). If all this basic things has been put in place previously the this attack should have be prevented or atleast easily repulsed. In Afghanistan Talibans usually use mortars or Grad rockets to hit military bases but they dare not come close enough to fire an RPG let alone rig IED ‘IN’ the base. I bet the authorities will never release info on the 2 helis destroyed NEVER! They’ll rather put it under wrap till it blows over. Despite the setback I still commend the NAFs effort for taking the fight to the enemy using other available helis (at least it shows that more than 2 helis is working and in flyable condition at any time). In the military you are as strong as your fighting equipment. We all here believe Nigeria armed force is strong but the reality is that we aren’t really…
I’d talked about who’s responsibility 2 fix BH, is it defence HQ, 7th div, JTF etc. There should be a command with a command centre with one person calling the shots kind of like ECOMOG with an operational commander or ISAF. That command should have assess to all recon assets and if our sats are not proficient (most are weather sats) but we can get commercial of the shelf solution, the UN is leasing drones from Italia, if we don’t want 2 buy though we can afford it!
As for PMC, it will not happen especially the domestic ones (PDP and enemies feud). We can’t always pass the buck when we can fix our troubles. Either we make it work or we don’t.
As for mali, a weak country has little or no option. If we had the might, then u can defy thumb ur nose @ someone but if u’re weak, u don’t dare. I thought we learned that in primary school. Consequently, we have 200 extra legionaires in CAR. The French under Allune reminds me of Mitterand! So brace urself for more French intervention in Africa and they are getting their former bases back and that’s because there’s the one to say it is weak and mute. The Americas and Brit support them as we led Africa to say no to African command (which the French happen to housing in Djibouti). Africa is a space they won’t abandon to the Chinese or the Arabs for obvious reasons. 2moro they go back to republic of Congo and cote d’ivoire.
Chain of command and unity of effort is obviously a massive issue, that should have been what Emergency Rule should address.
A senior General should be put in charge of the entire effort with all other agencies under his operational command until the end of the state of emergency.
Rather than turf battles let every one be given clear tasks and allowed to excel.
NigSat-1,NigSat-2 and NigSat-X are all remote-sensing satellites. They cannot give us real-time video feed. Instead, they can take the picture of a particular part of Nigeria if the coordinates of that place is transmitted to them.
What Nigeria needs now is a real spy satellite with SAR(synthetic aperture radar), live video-feed
and satellites with thermal imaging devices.
With these type of satellites, one each could have beed packed in orbit over the NE, ND, Gulf of Guinea and over Nigeria permanently, to be complemented by high-performance drones.
http://odili.net/news/source/2013/dec/4/525.html
is there away we can invite this lady molly kilete on to this blog now that it is functioning.?
New doctrines/strategies, tactics and then new war-fighting equipment!
No, Oga Doziex, you are wrong. The entire officers and men of the Nigerian Army (ECOMOG II) were less than a third of the figure you mentioned. Infact, numerical strength was so thin that as few as 3-5 soldiers where being deployed to protect an entire village!
RUF started their dry season offensive even before October. The entire Kono district was never completely liberated by ECOMOG. as such it was a disputed region. Unfortunately Koidu fell, its capture by the rebels was due to several reasons;
1. Lack of reinforcements – the troops where spread too thin.
2. Lack of All Terrain Vehicles to properly patrol the region.
3. The troops were poorly armed and ill equipped(the howitzers even lacked primer, making them vulnerable to infiltration and ambushes) to hold their already thin position.
4. Betrayal by the SLA and CDF, a lot of these so called allies led the rebels right to ECOMOG positions.
5. hunger and poverty. the boys were busy with shovel mining for diamonds than worry about reports of RUF assembly areas.
In all, SLR was a tragedy. Thank God NA did not fail in the end. They rolled back the rebel offensive and secured the peninsula.
As for your figure of 19000, troops reinforcement started trickling in December and it peaked to around 18000 in February. The number of troops in Freetown itself was really thin..a handful.
Like Oga Igbi said, the rebels used infiltration tactics and forced civilians to march in front, confusing gallant troops. These tactics were barbaric but ultimately successful as they were able to overwhelm most checkpoints and defensive positions.
Regarding the Makeni saga, blame that on the brigade commander. He is the colonel you referred to and no, he did not die. The rebels gave a tough chase and he was airlifted by an MI-17 at the last minute. He escaped by a whisker..lol. The senior officer that perished was his brigade intelligence officer. The brigade commander was informed about a huge rebel onslaught coming his way. He refused to believe the strength stated. Guess what, the RUF threw 4000 combatants into that battle, after 18-20 hours of fighting, ECOMOG lines gave way, several armoured vehicles were burnt, also a howitzer.
Mind you, the rebels captured an intact Guinean BM-21 multiple barrel rocket, and with it, a Guinean artillery officer to operate it!!
Same tactics was used when the RUF faced other ECOMOG units in Magburaka.Fortunately, ECOMOG lines held. Again they did same to 34 Battalion of ECOMOG NIG Contingent. These guys fought like lions. Things became so desperate that they were calling artillery fire so close that shells were landing few meters from their positions. Everything was thrown into that battle; howitzers, mortars, armoured cars, everything. The artillery crew were even firing line of sight. God bless those warriors, their steadfastness saved Freetown in the long run.
These were all in the past, when the govt was so paranoid and feared its own army that they refused to allow troops exercises or weapons acquisition. Despite these, ECOMOG kept their side of the bargain. They where not ejected from these hotspots in the end.
NPLF failed in LBR and RUF failed in SRL. Neither where able to achieve stated political goals via military conquest. The armed forces fought with one arm tied. Else, CIV and Burkina Faso would have been attacked or even invaded.
Generalissimo Freeegulf, what an ECOMOG veteran thou art :-). You just made my day, my Oga. Niiice..so NICE. We shall never forget those gallant ECOMOG warriors.
Guess what, gentlemen? The Armoured Corps officer, Lieutenant Alechenu, who we posted a GETTY IMAGES photo of during the Battle of Mammy Yoko Hotel in May 1997 – (never mind that another feel-good British talebearer lately published his tissue of lies in which he claimed that the ECOMOG troops were hiding in the basement) – has been promoted to ‘redneck Colonel’. He is now Colonel Mike Alechenu, a battalion CO and a worthy warrior of the Nigerian Army
Oga this needs to be properly written up, we never here the actual stories of the fighting from the Nigerian side, the Brits and South Africans have totally cornered that market
The latest tale emanating from the British side shall be posted here later today and then, we shall show GETTY IMAGES photos from the said Battle of Mammy Yoko, just so we see how desperate for unearned glory some of these chaps are.
Lieutenant (now Colonel) Alechenu was positioning himself for a firefight while one of his NCOs was already blazing away with his FN rifle. Those were the same ECOMOG troops about whom the Briton lied unashamedly, suggesting that they were ‘taking refuge’ in the basement.
The most desperate of beings typically assume that snuffing out another man’s candle would make theirs burn brighter. Such bare-faced lies so that the British myth about their SLR involvement can be made to sound credible.
Media tyranny is a dog for real.
Oga Peccavi, unfortunately NA’s policy has been to bury the whole episode, just to hide the Gaffes of certain commanders at HQ as well as on the battle field.
Remember the Jimmy carter saga ? when he learnt that brave NA soldiers he had observed wounded or killed in the battlefield,
where being flown back to Nigeria, and buried in secret graves or hidden away in oshodi without adequate treatment. The Man to his credit spazed, and demanded they let him see the wounded soldiers.
He then used his own funds to buy medicines to treat our own soldiers in our own country.
Remember the ecomog maimed heros, that staged a mutiny at the cairo airport. In an attempt to embarrass the Nigerian authorities for the substandard care they were receiving ?
They were court marshaled, then later on pardoned for protesting injustice.
The fact is that some army brass had murdered sleep, and betrayed their own men in this entire saga, and would go to any length to hide it.
Even, if it means suppressing NA’s glorious victories.
Of course the Brits and the EO have exploited this, but they never told us to bury our own stories.
As for the Colonel that may or may not have died in makeni, I have a name, which I would withhold for now.
The womanizing was said to be excessive. Some of the ladies served as spies for the combined AfRC/RUF forces.
The battles were fierce, but Mi-24s and Su-25s could have won the day.
Eventually, NA was surrounded and attempted a break out. Soldiers marched in 2 parallel lines with their backs to each other.
The break out succeeded, but a colonel was among the fallen.
When the town was taken initially, NA troops in a few pirahnas and sagaies marched in behind alpha jet bombardedment. The enemy withdrew intact, hardly a shot was fired.
So here, NA’s problems were as such.
(1) inadequate equipment and logistic. Non sanctioned T-55s and BMP-2s seen with the UPDF in Somalia coupled with Mi-24s would have sufficed.
(2) Troop discipline as to womanizing conduct and alertness.
If these bitter lessons were learned, and not buried by NA brass, we wouldn’t be seeing a repeat almost 15 years later in maidugri.
@Doziex, abeg this your mercenaries campaigning don do! Algeria with the second largest weapons arsenal in Africa fought Islamists for nearly a decade. Whether one likes it or not, an insurgency at home is extremely difficult to handle. Damned if you do, damned you dont.
BH is trying to mirror FIS and GIA in Algeria but they will ultimately fail. Like I have repeated times without number, the problem is LEADERSHIP, and not military incompetence. OR ARE YOU GOING TO GET MERCENARIES TO RUN THE FEDERAL AND STATE GOVT?
Mercs are good when you have mob for an army like FAPLA, FARDC or RSLMF. Their job will be to train, advice and take part in combat, depending on the contract. In our case, you are just indirectly inviting a coup. Abeg o, slowdown with this parade. You might as well disband the armed forces and ask your superman mercs to come fight and build another army. Nuff said.
The attack has happened, if the military fail to address the gaps and the politicians do not take the insurgency serious, then I feel sorry for this country, because 2015 is around the corner.
Don’t also forget that many top brass are benefiting economically from these present army jobs of peacekeeping at home.
Look for angles and forget about ludicrous ideas like hiring mercenaries to come ‘advice’ us
Truth be told and 21 years after it commenced, the Algerian Insurgency has not been conclusively quashed. Remember the recent invasion of Ein Amenas gas plant by multinational terrorists in the Sahara and I can show you a CASCADE of reports about gun battles in Algeria this year. Infact, a SF raid backed by helics and killed an AQIM cell leader, al Muritani, in the Far South near Tamanrasset, was the last thing I read yesterday before I slept off.
What we can say definitely is that the Algerian forces have now gained an unquestionable upper hand in the conflict and forced the insurgency into becoming a low intensity affair.
The Algerians have paid a very heavy price and should be proud of what they have achieved. Like us, they have had to contend with a hideous mix of insurgents, terrorists and suicide bombers simultaneously. Who can forget the horrendous 1996-99 epoch when the GIA would attack and slit the throats of every man, woman and child in a village of 600-800 persons? Well, look how comparatively secure Algeria now is.
For Nigerians who think hardware has less to do with it, Algeria have almost transformed their gendarmerie into a rural force to garrison villages across the country while the army attack the insurgents. And you might want to know that Algeria own 90 units of Mi-8/Mi-17
transport helicopters while Angola own 65 units of same. You want to know what that does for SF insertion+extraction, interdiction and the ability to move troops across vast frontlines?
It took Sri Lanka 26 years to defeat guerrillas of that special hue, it has taken 21 years for Algeria to come this far but I DOUBT that BH shall still be a fighting force worth its appellation, come Xmas 2015.
OGA FREEGULF
WOW ose o ( thank you) i have stated this in my previous comments even when i was ( yes angry). This is a Nigerian created problem and dammmit Nigerians no one else shall solve it !
i have faith that this problem will be solved and yes it was one of our sensitive air force bases being attacked and the ridiculous news that only two air force men were injured really got my goat. i am glad to finally read that all three service chiefs will visit the base.THIS IN MY OPINION MAKES ME BELIEVE THAT THEY REALLY UNDERSTAND THIS IS REALLY VERY SERIOUS.
oga jimmy thumbs up jare. leave oga doziex and his PMC campaign.advice ko, mentor ni.
even his beloved EO suffered this same setback from the hands of UNITA when the rebels invaded their base and destroyed parked air worthy assets.
oga doziex is now our resident AIPAC power lobbying group. well on this subject, it wouldn’t pass. why? because if he knows much about the army, then he should know such move its suicide for govt and the military.
what will these advisers/mentors do? what advisory role will they play? how to jump from helicopters? how to set booby traps? or to prepare an L shaped ambush?
whether you bring in gen McChristal or invite gen odeon, there’s really no added value been brought to the table.
this is a LEADERSHIP palava. these officers know about jumping from helos. DSS know about intercepting msgs, they know about freq hopping and freq jamming. they are not naive. at all.
these same officers doziex regard as below par where trained in good institutions. some where trained in the USA too.
doziex seem to lump the Nigerian armed forces together with other mob armies and rebel cum soldiers. the AMISOM he is referring to is a different pie entirely. the ugandans and burundians where being taught urban warfare and logistics. NA has its own COIN program, counter terrorist specialists and logistics college (first in africa i think) so they do have a leg to stand on.
@ doziex, except you want to describe these programs are sub par and incomplete, then there will be nothing of immense contribution when you bring in your superman mercs. the current COIN tactics did not originate from NA. they only designed it to fit this local environment. nothing new here, even gen peccavi’s excellent idea, is soundly grounded among the officer corp. there re no shortage of trained COIN specialists. gone are the days when a single officer goes to south east asia for specialist training with the entire army singing his name as Jungle Warrior. those where the bitter days of IBB. today, officers receive the appropriate and necessary training envisioned by the army high command. its not perfect, but they are improving and fine tuning the operational art.
although JAJI needs to instill more discipline into both academic and fieldwork, without officers taking a p**s concerning academic activities if you know what i mean.
the problem is a bit more complex than a lot of people understands.
first, the govt seeks to CONTAIN this problem. to them this insurgency is currently centered in one particular corner of the country, with little economic value. unlike the ND crisis, oil, the main source of revenue is still intact. so provided they can limit the conflict; that is; less bombings in kano, in kaduna, in zaria, and reign in on their expansion drive in other parts of the north, then the insurgency is of no existential threat. of course, there will be nothing revolutionary about the govt response its being contained, no need putting effort to annihilate them in a full fledged campaign.
second, the army too have their interest to protect. one of the lessons the top brass learnt from the ND crisis is that there is serious money to be made. and they are indeed milking the system. presently, they care less about foreign PSO. the real deal for them is currently ISOs. so there is really no rush to wipe or stamp out the insurgency for good.
@oga doziex, before you argue for PMCs again, please study the Algerian civil war (1992-2002) and digest the nuances and vagaries of that conflict.
my only concern is that the civilian JTF might become such a crucial force in combating BH terrs that the govt will have no choice than to arm them. and providing them with arms will be another headache also. either way, there is going to be a long drawn out conflict in the NE, except 2015 brings its own chaos
Methinks Oga beegeagle can settle this issue.
By posting a thread on Todays PMC’s not mercenaries of yester years.
Information is power.
There is a lot of ignorant or biased batter going on here.
I meant Ignorant or biased banter.
STOP PRESS: NOTICE TO PROSPECTIVE DONORS TO BEEGEAGLE’S BLOG
Dear esteemed Beegeagle’s Bloggers,
thank you for your interest in making your financial contributions towards the continued smooth operations of Beegeagle’s Blog. Grateful. It is all made even more fantastic by the fact that the idea of fundraising in support of the operations of this blog came from YOU, esteemed friends.
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It is expedient that we therefore make this point at this time before financial backers begin to send in their monies. Those for whom this state of affairs is okay can thereafter proceed with their planned financial support.
* Secondly and concerning the matter of how donors shall make the funds available, it was decided that since Beegeagle has everyone’s contact details but has since 2010 faithfully ensured that everyone’s identity is vouchsafed, Beegeagle should receive the funds. It is a guided process and close liaison with Beegeagle on this matter is essential. This will ensure that there are no hiccups along the way.
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Oga Beeg, I think a set frequency of making donations would help.
Say, a one time donation per year ? per month or per event.
Maybe, quarterly.
For Instance, I doziex alias PMC, pledges ***** per month.
good one marshal beegs. it is pertinent that the blog covers the big events and shows for 2014. thankfully, fellow bloggers are very committed in every way possible.
BATTLE OF MAMMY YOKO
Today’s Lt.Colonel Alechenu as a warrior Lieutenant in Sierra Leone, fifteen years ago
http://www.beegeagle.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/ecomog-operations-officer-alechenu-at-war-in-sierra-leone/
Rank and file soldiers also FOUGHT and BLED at Mammy Yoko
http://www.beegeagle.wordpress.com/2012/10/06/legend-of-the-unknown-soldier-nigerian-ecomog-soldiers-at-the-battle-of-mammy-yoko-hotelmay-1997/
COMPARE THE REALITY TO THIS MYTH
marshal beegs, mucho gracias. gallant warriors. even without officers leading them, they displayed immense courage and turn the tide in ’99 battle of Freetown.
might congrats to the new ‘redneck’
it was in SRL officers learnt to keep their service pistol at a distance and battle rifles very closed indeed.
Hehehe…….Oga freeegulf why are you guys so incensed by the idea of a PMC, when it is already taking root in Nigeria.
Isreali PMCs have been training our units both in the army and police special commandos.
Who do you think is training our K-9 units ?
All I am advocating for, is an added advisor/mentorship role especially in heliborne search and destroy operations.
If you guys don’t trust Caucasian men, we could may be call upon the ZDF. Who are of course patterned after the Rhodesians.
What is the difference between a US navy seal mentor paid by the US govt., and an ex us navy seal mentor ultimately paid by the Nigerian govt ?
You guys seem ok with one, and paranoid about the other.
Anywho, I believe PMCs have already come to Nigeria to stay.
When you guys discover this, I hope I wouldn’t become persona non grata. (LOL).
On the SLR rebel counter offensive in 1999, Our memories are not that different.
However, I was trying to point out to Oga Igbi, that what transpired was much more than a rebel infiltration.
It was a regionally hatched counteroffensive to humiliate Nigeria.
There are pictures that show an ex seatle super sonic ( an NBA Team) plane belonging to Ukrainian arms dealer Viktor Bout ferrying all manner of weapons to Burkinafaso.
These weapons were then trucked thru ivory coast and Liberia into sierra leone.
The CIA monitored all of this, but said nothing to Ecomog.
Recently, during Charles Taylor’s trial, the US govt released detailed sat phone intercepts that tracked this conspiracy in real time.
Ukrainian mercs and possibily others, ex Liberian fighters, Burkinabe soldiers (not as prevalent as they were in Liberia) and the combined forces of the rebel SLR Army(freshly trained by EO & NA) and the improved RUF.
All this forces married to their new heavy weaponry descended on NA troops in SLR.
NA troops were repeatedly shelled in the koidu, Makeni and Magburaka battles.
So given the magnitude of what I have just described, how could anyone call the freetown invasion a mere infiltration.
Granted the rebels used human shields on some fronts, there was a more sophisticated military operation at play.
But General’s Kpamber & Abu Ahmadu who would not listen to gen. Khobe’s many warnings have used this infiltration story to cover their major Gaffes.
A paranoid and probably sick Abacha couldn’t sniff out the regional and even global conspiracy to humiliate Nigeria.
Obasanjo eventually came in and sheltered Taylor his fellow Baptist. Allowing the americans that did nothing during the war, to accuse Nigeria of harbouring a war criminal. When it was only NA that tried to stop him.
Till this day, GEJ and others meet freely with Blaise Campaore , as if he did nothing to Nigeria.
As for Gaddaffi, well Karma is a Bitch.
By trying to hide or minimize our Gaffes of freetown 1999, we bury with it the truth of who our regional and extra regional enemies are, and the heroic efforts of NA to save Nigeria’s Face.
Those at DHQ that Khobe went to confront and chastise should be rightly exposed. For they were callously asleep at the wheel.
Major Tanko, Jalingo and many others chose to face Death rather than see Nigeria Dishonored.
I think it is time to put your PMC idea down. Nigeria has a professional army with 150 years of experience, Nigerian armed forces are not a rebel force which needs a PMC. Now I think you can bring other things than PMC mania to the table.
Thank you sir.
As I said, it’s here to stay mark my words.
It’s always nice chatting with you, what part of Nigeria are you from in Nigeria ?
I am from Ojukwu country. But I reserve my right to by land in Damaturu.(LoL)
I meant Buy land.
Nigerian warriors in training:
oga doziex, yea there where lots of gaffes in dec ’98 and jan ’99. Waterloo is a good case in point. ECOMOG was already on the defensive and missed the chance to bottle them up in Waterloo and annihilate the marauding bast**ds.
but you shouldnt forget that Gen Sani Abacha was long dead by then. his successor showed a disinterest in the war and left the force commander run the show as he, the FC, saw fit.
before the death of Sani Abacha, ECOMOG was still generally on an offensive posture. they where still pushing back the rebels and ex junta forces, albeit, blitzkrieg later became a crawl. there was a little drive. in fact, the junta forces where pretty shaken and many gave up. even the hardened RUF feared that they where going to be pushed into guinea, which ECOMOG failed to finish (NIG Contingent under the UN rhombus mandate will later complete this task in 2001, leading to the surrender of issa sessay and the remainder RUF rebels) the job.
gabriel Kpamber even tried, at least he jointly coordinated the push back counter offensive with maxwell Khobe. the two principal culprits who completely messed things up where brig gen ahmadu, like you correctly stated, and the force commander major gen tim shepildi. in my personal and professional opinion i think those two officers should have been court martial ed and dismissed. of course mago mago COAS, Bamaiyi quietly made things less straightforward.
Ahmadu’s predecessor. abu one mohammed did a far better job as chief of staff. shame he was replaced by a less prudent planner. kbamber and felix mujakpero did their best. the one shortcoming i can allude to these two was that they failed to continue the offensive. at least for the sake of national prestige and legacy, they should have pushed the RUF all the way back to kailahun. of course, back home the abdulsalam regime was preoccupied with the transition process and NAF was still taking forever to shop for Mi-24s.
the RUF did kickstart the battle of freetown by infiltrating ECOMOG lines. they buried weapons in several strategic locations in the city and mingled with fleeing civilians thereby overwhelming even the most alert ECOMOG positions. however, you are right also. it wasn’t simply infiltration, it was a bit sophisticated and caught the defenders quite nappy.
with the help of the south african and ukrainian mercs, their tactics became more refined in the coutryside. first they will infiltrate ECOMOG lines whether by day or night ( night was the preferred attack style due to the fear of the alpha jets, but towards the end they became bolder and started attacking late evenings just before the troops get fully set for combat mode) with little kids,girls and disguised fighters as civilians. by this time even the troops where so demoralized that they where not holding positions ‘do or die’ style anymore.
with the troops withdrawing along the primary road, the rebels with good knowledge of the terrain, would take to the secondary road (bush mostly) and ambush the withdrawing troops. classic flanking maneuver. this caused serious problems and casualties for the troops, but later even the leaderless troops learnt how to fight off ambushes. what you don’t learn with sweat, you will definitely learn with blood. unfortunately more expensive!
had abacha lived passed june ’98, the tragedy of late 98 would have been avoided. abdulsalam came to power and was rushing off to hand over admits the looting.
Abacha was a good soldier. That is why I find it hard to believe he looted.
of course even good soldiers do loot. khobe as CDS, spent more time on administrative chores and acted like a govt minister than an army chief. why do you think his seniors (lots of superiors that where shunned) at home, in LBR and SRL where having their bad belle.
Sani Abacha’s strength was his seriousness with security. he doesn’t joke with security and if he was alive today, bakassi peninsula would still be flying the green white green.
anyways, this isn’t a memorial thread for the late HOS, he had his strength and his flaws. but i will take him any day over the likes of IBB and the other gutless generals that where too scared to face the music when they where caught in the ’97 coup. IBB even before he became ‘military president’, was compromised both at home and abroad. he brought this country to its knees.
i do sometimes wish that dogonyara acted swiftly when he was CDS. as a tough leader, who knows, maybe he would have made C-In-C and an excellent one at that!
officers that seized power as puritans became just as dirty as the politicians they replaced. thank God coups are a thing of the past
Yeah Oga freeegulf, you are right oga sanni was dead. But a year earlier when then Col. Khobe (Late) stormed freetown from the NA base at Jui junction.
Oga Sanni flew in to reinstall president Tejan Kabba.
Why didn’t he give ecomog all they needed ? I heared he delegated a lot of authority to Major Mustapha effectively his deputy.
I heard that Al Mustapha (now in jail for Kudirat Abiola’s murder), was handling resupplies to ecomog.
Gen Khobe and the ecomog commanders were asking for Mi-24 hinds especially. But nothing happened.
So after the dec 98/jan 99 debacle, president Kabba just bought the damn attack helicopters himself.( They are that affordable )
NA troops had by then liberated all of freetown but the kissy east end area. They had to wait 2 weeks for T-55 Main Battle Tanks to be shipped in from Nigeria, so they could advance behind them.
See MBTs were needed, because mounted AAAs, RPGs and recoiles rifles were wrecking havoc. to APCs and VBLs.
Dem T-55s should have been in country from the start.
OGA DOZIEX
Let me tell two stories about SANNI ABACHA why he was regarded as a soldier’s soldier
1.When Sanni Abacha was the brigade commander in the area located towards the bakassi peninsula . When the first five soldiers including a lieutenant were killed during the shagari regime it was rumored unverified i state. that he was transferred out immediately because there was no telling what s.a would do.
2. i forget now but i know you guys doziex or freegulf will it was either the adversaries of Sierra lone or Liberia. They were called to ASO ROCK and S.A. tried in his own way to talk sense to I believe it was Charles Taylor who never met a Nigerian he liked. Since his words to C.T. fell on deaf ears, SA waited til they left NIGERIAN AIRSPACE and were about to land…… . Just in time for them to witness a full blown NAVAL BOMBARDMENT of their Presidential Palace L.O.L 🙂 .
Point of correction:
Major Al Mustapha has been released and he is back in the army. He was acquitted by an appeal court.
Thanks for the correction. I thought his goose was cooked.
You’re welcome.
Its Brigadier General Al Mustapha now…not Major Al Mustapha.
Nop, there was such a rumor, but the army denied (to the best of my recollection). They said he can’t be promoted before taking the tests.
The fact that what was then the much sought after Mi-24 Hind attack helics which the FMG could not be persuaded to provide for ECOMOG air operations were acquired by the Sierra Leoneans.
Indeed, they found two surplus units which they acquired for a mere US$2.4 million (i.e US$1.2 million for each one of the Mi-24V Hind E helics). They were acquired in such good condition that after 15+ years, at least one of them is still in service.
Na chop, chop dey kill we yone pipo 😦
Nelson Mandela dead. Now there goes a leader!
Heard that when the guy saddle with liquidating Abacha pulled him over, he furiously shouted for them to get out of his way and they chickened out and let him pass!
@ Igbi, how come u love Abacha and hate Hitler? Just kidding.
One was a soldier, the order was a psychopathic genocidal murderer who seeked to conquer the world for the arian race (which means to wipe out every non white skinned, blond haired, and blue eyed of the earth).
I meant “off the earth”.
ie, @ the 1990 0rkar coup.
funny thing: Lt Nickolas Odeh from the Orka coup was my dad’s best friend and course mate, and my dad was arrested after the coup had failed.
Long Live Madiba !!
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, A Man among Men.
RIP.
@spirit ‘Modern warfare is in the sky, Nigeria
does not have an Air force.
Period….’ @spirit I salute you
You’ve spoken like a true Nigerian (practical and realistic). Call a spade a spade and not a bowl… We do not have an ‘effective’ Airforce simple. 9 mig21 derived planes and few light attack/ trainer plus Attack/transport helis doesn’t mean shit in modern world. If the A jets were above the target area at around 3:00AM (night) what would it have done?
Without proper Night vision equipment its just a flying A jet, it will even pose more threat to our boys than the insurgents… And besides using ground attack planes isn’t ur best choice in close quarter warfare, the A jets has been over hyped, its like all our solution to BH is the A jets… A-jet here, A jet there. What of light attack helis like the Gazelle equiped with machine gun and rocket pods? Besides light attack hellis fly closer to the ground than any fixed wing airplane. And Naija doesn’t have precision kill capability, all they have is 250kg and 500kg freefall bomb (or I’m I incorrect?)
Our NAF doesn’t have any missile in the class of the Hellfire, maverick par L3 e.t.c
The FG knows nothing about modern warfare since CAS, CNS, MOD, SSS, IGP, DIA, DMi are all old cargos who still think war is won by charging men with bayonet chanting war song.
The media doesn’t even help matters since they to are ignorant and clueless, a pickup truck will be called an APC while an IFV will be called a tank, A GPMG an anti-aircraft e.t.c
Na wa oo I tire oo
UPDATE ON BEEGEAGLE’S BLOG FUNDRAISING
Gentlemen, the first two pledges which are open to being immediately redeemed have come in from Nigeria and the USA.
* First off the mark was Oga XNur44 from Nigeria who has pledged a five-figure naira-denominated sum and wants to pay up immediately
* Second was Oga Jimmy, a Nigerian in the USA who has pledged a dollar-denomintaed three-figure sum and also wants to transfer immediately
We are still doing the reckoning and like I said, working on the offer made by that one service alone, it is clear that the minimum sum which would fly is US$6,000. There is no arguing the fact that if we have to witness the twice yearly tours of formations and facilities of the service chief and his next-rung field commanders, that already exceeds TEN trips. Not to mention the exercises and training events.
Even so, it is clear that for a 3-day trip between Lagos and ABJ/KD/PHC/CAL for instance, would require return tickets, car hire services, hotel, local travel and upkeep. That is 90-100k naira (about US$600). For sure, it would be marginally more expensive if we need to get to far-flung MDGR, DMTR or YOLA. That was why I said, each outing would averagely cost US$600 just to cover a highly inadequate ten outings for one service alone.
Ideally, if we have to cover the Service Chief/regional commanders twice-yearly tours of formations under their command, we have exceeded ten trips. Assume five major exercises, not to mention the quarterly conferences and it is clear that this one willing service alone would have no less than 20 newsworthy events in 2014 alone. Multiply that by US$600 per outing and tell me how much that comes to. And that is for one service branch alone. So to put in a DECENT effort and cover about 50% of the newsworthy events of that one willing service, we would be requiring a minimum of US$6,000 (approx 1 million naira)
Assuming that all three services become interested, it is clear that we would require no less than US$25,000 (4 million naira) to MEANINGFULLY cover the activities of all the services in 2014. That is putting it in a very stark way. The bottomline is that there is no amount which cannot be put to good use to serve you better.
Steep as the game of numbers might be, we have very many powerful followers of this blog whose daily entertainment allowance at their lofty perches exceeds US$6,000 every single day. Not to mention imprests. The point is, there are people reading this who are able to push either 1 million naira or 4 million naira EN BLOC to us and we can say even today in December 2013, that we are absolutely going to smash the records and upset the form book…not to mention reaching you everyday of 2014. Those are the stakes which suffice and I trust that we shall dig very deep to make things happen.
So I am going wait a few more days to see if our targets are attainable. I do not want to receive any funds from anywhere IF it looks like our target cannot be met.
We are still taking your pledges at
beegeaglesblog@ovi.com
Bear with me for a while yet, Oga XNur and Egbon Jimmy. God bless you, sirs.
the regular army do not in any way or form appreciate the significance of night fighting and patrol. other than standto and defensive position at night, they re yet to develop an offensive mindset to exploit thermal imaging, infra red and forward looking infra red.
there should be NVGs and devices for every rifleman and night operations against BH stronghold should be greatly emphasized. now this is very different from nightly raids that where carried out by the JTF in urban areas. this should move beyond urban nightly raids, and develop into a doctrinal warfare skills for the fighting men
DICON can licence produce at least the 2nd and 3rd gen optronics devices.
True Talk.
Wow….breathtaking stuff coming through now.
Oga Doziex, a Nigerian based in the United States has pledged what amounts to a FOUR-FIGURE dollar-denominated sum in total..redeemable in four quarterly instalments – each in hundreds of dollars.
Oga Freeegulf has also pledged to do something substantial in naira.
Thank you..THANK YOU, gentlemen. This is after all looking like it is going to work out. 🙂 . More hands needed on deck.
Oga Asorock, waiting for your hefty hand to swing into action 🙂
oga beegeagle I made some clarification on my pledge it will be quarterly i.e three times a year.
Thanks, Oga Jimmy. It just got better.
It’s the least we can do Sir !!
The mission of beegeagle’s blog must continue.
It’s too important not to.
Instead, I go cut back on isi ewu and nkwobi (LOL)
Hmnnn.. 🙂
CHAI !! Oka general peccavi, I beg take some of your boys and go help.
Your Knowlegde and expertise especially on force protection and constructing defensive positions from a military engineers POV, will make all the difference.
We shouldn’t say they know these things already.
Cause if so, why haven’t such been applied.
Sometimes, what you show somebody, is better than what the text book says.
I know I have been shouting “HESCO” for 2 years now. And I am just a lay observer.
But you have designed and built the dang things yourself in the british army.
Somebody in NA should contact you based on this piece.
FORCE PROTECTION !!!
SBS should be posing like terrorists, and should continually test NA defenses.
Thanks Oga, Hesco should be used but in a place like Maiduguri sand is abundant, I would build a sand wall or in fact a series of sand walls and use Hesco around key assets like fuel and aircraft. Hint hint!
This is a detailed as you can get. thank you very much. One very important point that the maiduguri air force raid has pointed out is the importance of night patrols.
“Finance ministry starving us of fund – NSA”
http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/news/news-headlines/item/28009-finance-ministry-starving-us-of-fund-nsa-as-nlc-support-move-to-place-security-agencies-on-first-line-charge.html
Okonjo keeps doing her thing.
Starves foundational ministries (defence, education and housing) of funds, turns round mid year to accuse ministries she’s channelled money to of just 45 per cent budget performance. Meanwhile the country is bleeding $$$$s from niger delta oil theft forgetting that you need a well funded defence ministry to achieve the stamp it out.
The vicious cycle goes on.
It is clear to me that okonjo is either incompetent, either she is doing it on purpose. I think its time jonathan got rid of her.
Please everyone, read this article and especially the bit about the security that was in place at the airport, which explains everything really.
http://www.codewit.com/africa/14617-airforce-base-attack-military-probes-possible-moles-role
Oga pec, that’s so precise that I expect the airorce to lift, plagarise and implement starting yesterday.
@ igbi, bros who says that GEJ is not in the know?
QUOTE
Additionally, the Nigerian federal government has sought assistance from Israeli security experts and to acquire Israeli security technology.
The Israeli companies IAI and Elbit are reportedly negotiating deals with Nigeria to provide such technology, including electronic fences for border defense and drones.
END OF QUOTE
http://www.thetower.org/with-israeli-help-nigeria-uncovers-hezbollah-operations/
Great news.
Electric fences? Powered with what? Solar power.Or the recognised electric power of wishful thinking?
Ogas theres certain things you read and you realise that people are not yet serious.
We want to drink champagne with a tap water mentality. How about you get a fleet of buldozzers and teams of labourers and simply build a sand/ rock/ earth wall?
all the raw materials are there, you don’t need technology or anything, you will take thousands of unemployed al Majiri types and give them employment.
If the wall is breached you just go and rebuild rather than import expensive kit
And even better the enemy will be sure to try and attack the wall, workers and equipment so its a brilliant opportunity to bring them to battle
And an obstacle not covered by observation or fire is not an ostacle so how do we plan to address this?
I tire.
A wall a a ditch like the one the Benin empire built would be fine.
Have the NAF really replaced the Mil helicopters damaged in MDGR attack??? If they can achieve this with such rapidity, I hope they asked for 12 MORE Mi-24V/Mi-35P to be brought in rather than the usual token gesture – replace two damaged helics.
QUOTE
In an exclusive interview with THISDAY in Lagos, Badeh said:
1.
“I cannot rule out the incident being an insider job 100 per cent, but we are still looking at the situation. We have visited the area and seen and we have reassessed the situation.
2.
“We have put appropriate measures on
ground despite our losses. We are
government and its resources are more
than that of the bad men. So we have
replaced what was damaged and we have resumed work.”
end of quote
http://www.codewit.com/africa/14617-airforce-base-attack-military-probes-possible-moles-role
Replaced means, more mil’s were brought in from another base, to maiduguri!!!
‘Replaced’ could also indicate that an unspecified number of choppers have been in cold storage. Quick assembly, testing and fast deployment to MDGR.
He, the CAS is thoroughly not serious. they had just 20 men to guard and protect such a main base right in the middle of a war zone.
after the debacle in kenya, it was this same NAF brass that bragged about the coordinated defences all around their bases and installations. what happened to that wake up call? half a platoon strength for an air base…. SMH
its quite obvious that there was an insider. its left to be seen how they will handle this issue of traitors within the military. a good intelligence network would actually use these insiders as double agent in order to maul the terrorists. i guess ours would end up with tribal and religious mud slinging with no fruitful outcome.
france is hosting a 2- day summit on peace and security for Africa in Paris. we have dozens of African heads of states there. our own president is there also. when will Africa ever learn!
France and her neo colonial mentality, they will never let go of this continent. and shamefully, our leaders are sheepishly heading to Paris. peace summit for Africa in Paris!!
we have become so weak and inconsequential. when are we going to ever get a visionary strong Leader.
Did anyone stop us from hosting one in Abuja, Harare or Pretoria?
Who would come? What would we have 2 say? Etc
Whoever was invited would come.
I know what I would have to say, I can’t speak for the government.
CAR is almost as much of a nightmare for Nigeria as Mali, it is going to go big there and in a bad way. Yet our governments are speaking grammer.
Do not blame France for doing what we should have done in Mali and now in CAR
True Talk.
@ Oga Beeg
US Army Plans To Scrap Kiowa Helo Fleet
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20131208/DEFREG02/312080003/US-Army-Plans-Scrap-Kiowa-Helo-Fleet
WASHINGTON — US Army leaders are considering scrapping its entire fleet of Bell Helicopter OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters, while pulling the National Guard’s Boeing AH-64 Apaches into the active-duty force to fill the scout helicopter role as the Army seeks to fulfill its longer-term requirement of a newly developed armed aerial scout, according to several Army and defense industry sources.
The plan also calls for giving active Black Hawk helicopters to the Guard, while taking half of the Guard’s Lakota fleet, using them as active-duty trainers and scrapping its Jet Rangers.
While a final decision has yet to be made, the industry sources had the impression that the deal was all but done.
The deal would be done in the interest of cutting costs and reducing the number of different helicopter types in the Army, but questions remain about the affordability of using the Apache to fill the scout role. Army leadership had already rejected the idea in the early 1990s in favor of the now-canceled Comanche, and expressed doubts about it in a 2011 analysis of alternatives (AoA) document.
The December 2011 AoA for the Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) program — which until last year was envisioned as the eventual replacement for the Kiowa — concluded that fielding the AH-64D Block III to the service’s armed reconnaissance squadrons to replace the Kiowa would be “at least 50 percent more expensive than the currently programmed [recon squadrons].”
The Army also concluded that the AH-64 requires “significantly more maintenance personnel than the other mixes analyzed.”
What’s more, a study conducted by the Logistics Management Institute recently estimated that in recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, if the Army used an Apache in the Kiowa scout role, it would have cost an additional $4 billion in fuel, maintenance and operating costs.
Still, “the Army is in a difficult position,” one defense industry source said. The Armed Aerial Scout AoA “said that the most affordable and capable option was Kiowa linked with the Shadow UAV. But the AoA also said that the most capable immediate solution is an Apache, so there’s two sides of this argument. So the Army really is making decisions around cost.”
“This is a budget-driven plan,” said Col. Frank Tate, the Army’s chief of aviation force development. “We are in a fiscally constrained environment, which requires us to make hard choices, but we need to also make smart choices. In developing this plan, everything was on the table.”
Tate added that “if we go with the overall plan, it would save approximately $1 billion a year in direct operating and sustainment cost. However, that does not take into account the savings in the out-years by divesting the OH-58Ds, OH-58A/Cs and TH-67s [trainers] from the Army aviation fleet.”
Once the Army divests itself of its 338 active-duty and 30 National Guard Kiowas and pulls Apaches from the National Guard, the service will then provide the Guard with Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters in order to give the Guard more capability as it conducts its homeland defense and disaster response missions.
The Army has 570 Apaches, while the Guard has 192 and the Army Reserve has 48, according to information provided by the service.
The goal is to have a total of 690 AH-64E Apaches in the Army, officials said, while the Guard and reserve will have no Apaches of any model.
The Guard is also expected to gain 111 Black Hawks from the active duty, while the reserve will receive 48, and the end-state calls for 1,033 Black Hawk helicopters in the active Army, 960 in the Guard and 142 in the reserve.
But the plan isn’t sitting so well with everyone in the Guard.
Col. Tim Marsano, spokesman for the Idaho National Guard, wrote in an email that “losing the Apaches would entail a significant loss of manning, combat capability and a long tradition of combat aviation in the Idaho Army National Guard. We would like to keep this mission.”
Part of the plan also entails retiring the active-duty Bell TH-67 Jet Ranger training helicopters being used at Fort Rucker, Ala., and moving about 100 EADS UH-72 Lakotas from the active Army and 104 of the Guard’s 212 Lakotas to Alabama for this purpose.
The proposed plan gives the Army some flexibility in determining what it can cut and how it can maintain critical aviation capability, Tate said.
The plan “streamlines the fleet by divesting older model airframes,” he added. This will “result in substantial savings over time. Our other option is to just eliminate force structure, which would require us to divest some of our aircraft that we want to keep and result in reduced capability.”
Decades of Trying
The Army has been trying to build a new light reconnaissance helicopter since 1982, when it kicked off the Light Helicopter Experimental program to replace the Vietnam-era Kiowa.
Eventually christened the Comanche in the early 1990s, the program never really found its footing in the halls of the Pentagon, leading then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to finally kill it off in 2004 after it had burned through about $7 billion worth of investments.
Over the past several years it began to look hopeful that after 30 years of trying, the Army would be able to finally upgrade its aerial scout fleet. In 2010, the defense industry jumped at the chance to build a new bird, and AgustaWestland, Boeing, EADS and Bell Helicopter began readying designs for the new armed aerial scout.
During the spring and summer of 2012, the Army conducted a series of what it called “fly-offs,” where Army leaders visited all of the competitors interested in bidding on the work to check in on their progress and their designs.
Nothing much came from the meetings, and by May 2012, Lt. Gen. William Phillips, the top acquisition adviser to the Army secretary, claimed that the results of the industry visits were a disappointment.
“We didn’t find a single aircraft that was out there that could meet the Army’s requirements, so if we were to go forward with an armed aerial scout it would essentially be a development program,” he said.
Asked if the Army has communicated to industry its plans for future development of the AAS requirement, one industry source said that “to my knowledge, we’re nowhere close to that. Sequester hit and the budget drills hit, and there’s been no communication outside of the Army on what their plans for an armed aerial scout may be.”
After releasing its original request for information in 2010, the Army said it was looking at an average procurement unit cost of $13 million to $15 million for a new armed aerial scout. But developing a new helicopter with a fielding target of 2022 would cost about $12 million, contingent on requirements.
That investment spread out over several years “would at least get you to the point where you have actionable data” about what capabilities are viable, one industry source said.
“To move to the Apache in the absence of that information takes options away from the Army that they would ordinarily have,” the source added.
There remains the question of what the Army will do with the more than 300 Kiowa aircraft that it is divesting.
A priority will be put on any needs that the other services may have first, said Col. Jong Lee, of the service’s acquisition, logistics, and technology directorate, followed by the Civil Air Patrol, law enforcement, and then foreign military sales.
Although the Kiowa program kicked off in 1969, the Kiowa Warriors being used today were built from 1985 onward. The entire fleet has been completely reset and remachined over the past decade, with the upgrade program ending in 2011.
The cost of going to Iraq…and still counting.
One for the archives
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/12/boko_haram_overruns.php