"When I look at the mission statement and the specific objectives, I think the Coast Guard's ability to contribute to the joint force and

deliver our unique competency and capability, in rounding out the combatant commander's tools that are available to him, to address his maritime security requirements is clear," Capt. Michael Giglio, Chief of Law Enforcement, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters told online journalists and bloggers in a Bloggers Roundtable, Feb. 17.

Giglio added that the Coast Guard's contributions is "one small example of the ways in which the Coast Guard, partnering with the U.S. Navy, can deliver a very broad mix of skills to address what is a pretty broad spectrum of threats in the maritime environment today."

Capt. Charles Michel, Chief of the Office of Maritime and International Law, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters also addressed bloggers and spoke about the Coast Guard's involvement in global anti-piracy efforts.

Participating in the roundtable were: Christian Lowe, www.defensetech.org; David Axe, www.warisboring.com; Jim Dolbow, www.cglog,org and/or http://blog.usni.org; Chuck Simmons, www.northshorejournal.org; Eagle1, www.eaglespeak.blogspot.com; Bruce McQuain, www.qando.net; Bill Nagle, http://smallwarsjournal.com/index.php.

“The war in Iraq began to make us understand better that there are a lot of targets that we need to go after ...

IEDs were just the tip of the iceberg,” explained U.S. Army Col. Laurie G. Moe Buckhout, Chief, Electronic Warfare Division, Army Operations, Readiness and Mobilization (HQDA G3/5/7) during a Army Bloggers Roundtable. “The new career field gives the army one of the largest professional electronic warfare cadre of all the services.”

Buckhout discussed the Army’s new Electronic Warfare (EW) 29-series career field for officers, warrant officers and enlisted personnel with bloggers and online journalists Tuesday 10 Feb.

Sergeant Major Addresses Body Armor Concerns

Sgt. Major Thomas Coleman, sergeant major of Program Executive Officer Soldier, joined bloggers and online journalists Feb. 6 to discuss the DoD IG's recommendation to return about 33,000 body armor ESAPI plates. Coleman emphasized the Army's confidence in the armor, stating that the DoD's own testing agency had concurred that Army tests on the armor were valid. The Army is moving forward with the return as a precautionary measure and looks forward to the resolution of this matter, which has been referred to the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Admiral discusses U.S. Coast Guard aquisition projects

U.S. Coast Guard Assistant Commandant for Acquisition Rear Adm. Gary Blore highlights six current acquisition projects to include the Sentinel patrol boats and the National Security Cutter programs on the DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Jim Dolbow, Chuck Simmins, Raymond Pritchett, Mandy Smithberger, and John Conrad.

U.S. Army Pacific Commander discusses exercise Cobra Gold

LTG Benjamin Mixon, Commanding General, U.S. Army Pacific joined bloggers and online journalists to discuss exercise Cobra Gold and the promotion of peace and security in the Pacific. This year the Royal Thai Army, Navy and Marines, as well as U.S. Army Pacific, with support from U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet, U.S. Marine Forces Pacific, U.S. Air Force Pacific, and contingencies from the militaries of Indonesia, Japan, and Singapore are all participating in the exercise, being held Feb. 4-17. "It's a multifaceted exercise which allows us to get some great training with our partners out here in the Pacific, and certainly shows the interest that we have in creating those partnerships with Thailand and also all the other countries," said LTG Mixon. For more information and photos from the exercise, visit http://www.usarpac.army.mil/cobragold.html.