Contracting out support services in future expeditionary operations: Learning from the afghan experience

As with the US led Coalition war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan has seen an unprecedented number of private contractors being utilised in support of military operations in the country. In the case of the United States government for example, over half of its personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq are contract employees, while the same figure in the UK stands at 30 per cent and is set to increase in the coming years. This level of contractor involvement in the 'War on Terror' is not inconsequential. Indeed, their contribution to military operations is so large they are now able to influence NATO's counter-insurgency operations and thus its overall strategy for fighting the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Importantly, such involvement can be both beneficial and/or detrimental. This article first sets out to explore how NATO came to rely on so many contractors in Afghanistan and the risks this involves for the 'War on Terror'

Privatizing Military Logistics

This chapter sets out to explain why governments are privatizing military logistics, and what implications such a trend has for the supply of war into the future. It takes a broad approach, examining a variety of drivers behind military outsourcing and the problems that outsourcing creates politically and for military commanders who are responsible for utilizing force. Our main objective is to show that logistics outsourcing is possibly the most representative and important (yet neglected) aspect of the wider phenomenon of military outsourcing. It most comprehensively encapsulates the drivers of contracting in general, involves the largest number of the contractor workforce and expenditure, and is exemplary of the future of military outsourcing. Moreover, not only is it highly relevant to foreign and defence policy, but governments have also become heavily dependent on logistics contractors for the long term whereas they could – political will provided – always replace private security contractors with regular troops. This should cause us to reconsider the overwhelming focus the literature places on the outsourcing of various security functions to armed contractors. This chapter first defines logistics and underscores its relevance to foreign and defence policy. Next, after a brief historical account of logistics outsourcing, it gives a comprehensive explanation of why states today have chosen to outsource military logistics instead of doing it themselves. It then introduces three key debates around military outsourcing – whether it saves money, how decision-makers are affected by contractors, and the problem of the “revolving door”. The chapter concludes by considering the future of the outsourcing of military logistics, finding that outsourcing is not only here to stay because its driving forces persist, but that it is likely to accelerate and lead to the integration of public and private workforces in the defence 2 enterprise. The chapter draws primarily on evidence from the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) who have gone the furthest in outsourcing military logistics and have historically set standards that other countries eventually follow

Reliability Of A Novel Intracardiac Electrogram Method For AV And VV Delay Optimization And Comparability To Echocardiography Procedure For Determining Optimal Conduction Delays In CRT Patients

Background: Echocardiography is widely used to optimize CRT programming. A novel intracardiac electrogram method (IEGM) was recently developed as an automated programmer-based method, designed to calculate optimal atrioventricular (AV) and interventricular (VV) delays and provide optimized delay values as an alternative to standard echocardiographic assessment.Objective: This study was aimed at determining the reliability of this new method. Furthermore the comparability of IEGM to existing echocardiographic parameters for determining optimal conduction delays was verified.Methods: Eleven patients (age 62.9± 8.7; 81% male; 73% ischemic), previously implanted with a cardiac resynchronisation therapy defibrillator (CRT-D) underwent both echocardiographic and IEGM-based delay optimization.Results: Applying the IEGM method, concordance of three consecutively performed measurements was found in 3 (27%) patients for AV delay and in 5 (45%) patients for VV delay. Intra-individual variation between three measurements as assessed by the IEGM technique was up to 20 ms (AV: n=6; VV: n=4). E-wave, diastolic filling time and septal-to-lateral wall motion delay emerged as significantly different between the echo and IEGM optimization techniques (p < 0.05). The final AV delay setting was significantly different between both methods (echo: 126.4 ± 29.4 ms, IEGM: 183.6 ± 16.3 ms; p < 0.001; correlation: R = 0.573, p = 0.066). VV delay showed significant differences for optimized delays (echo: 46.4 ± 23.8 ms, IEGM: 10.9 ± 7.0 ms; p <0.01; correlation: R = -0.278, p = 0.407).Conclusion: The automated programmer-based IEGM-based method provides a simple and safe method to perform CRT optimization. However, the reliability of this method appears to be limited. Thus, it remains difficult for the examiner to determine the optimal hemodynamic settings. Additionally, as there was no correlation between the optimal AV- and VV-delays calculated by the IEGM method and the echo optimization, the use of the IEGM method and the comparability to the echo has not been definitely clarified

Fast Excitation and Photon Emission of a Single-Atom-Cavity System

We report on the fast excitation of a single atom coupled to an optical cavity using laser pulses that are much shorter than all other relevant processes. The cavity frequency constitutes a control parameter that allows the creation of single photons in a superposition of two tunable frequencies. Each photon emitted from the cavity thus exhibits a pronounced amplitude modulation determined by the oscillatory energy exchange between the atom and the cavity. Our technique constitutes a versatile tool for future quantum networking experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Varying sediment sources (Hudson Strait, Cumberland Sound, Baffin Bay) to the NW Labrador Sea slope between and during Heinrich events 0 to 4

Core HU97048-007PC was recovered from the continental Labrador Sea slope at a water depth of 945m, 250km seaward from the mouth of Cumberland Sound, and 400km north of Hudson Strait. Cumberland Sound is a structural trough partly floored by Cretaceous mudstones and Paleozoic carbonates. The record extends from ~ 10 to 58k cal a BP. On-board logging revealed a complex series of lithofacies, including buff-colored detrital carbonate-rich sediments [Heinrich (H)-events] frequently bracketed by black facies. We investigate the provenance of these facies using quantitative X-ray diffraction on drill-core samples from Paleozoic and Cretaceous bedrock from the SE Baffin Island Shelf, and on the \u3c 2-mm sediment fraction in a transect of five cores from Cumberland Sound to the NW Labrador Sea. A sediment unmixing program was used to discriminate between sediment sources, which included dolomite-rich sediments from Baffin Bay, calcite-rich sediments from Hudson Strait and discrete sources from Cumberland Sound. Results indicated that the bulk of the sediment was derived from Cumberland Sound, but Baffin Bay contributed to sediments coeval with H-0 (Younger Dryas), whereas Hudson Strait was the source during H-events 1–4. Contributions from the Cretaceous outcrops within Cumberland Sound bracket H-events, thus both leading and lagging Hudson Strait-sourced H-events

Varying sediment sources (Hudson Strait, Cumberland Sound, Baffin Bay) to the NW Labrador Sea slope between and during Heinrich events 0 to 4

Core HU97048-007PC was recovered from the continental Labrador Sea slope at a water depth of 945m, 250km seaward from the mouth of Cumberland Sound, and 400km north of Hudson Strait. Cumberland Sound is a structural trough partly floored by Cretaceous mudstones and Paleozoic carbonates. The record extends from ~ 10 to 58k cal a BP. On-board logging revealed a complex series of lithofacies, including buff-colored detrital carbonate-rich sediments [Heinrich (H)-events] frequently bracketed by black facies. We investigate the provenance of these facies using quantitative X-ray diffraction on drill-core samples from Paleozoic and Cretaceous bedrock from the SE Baffin Island Shelf, and on the \u3c 2-mm sediment fraction in a transect of five cores from Cumberland Sound to the NW Labrador Sea. A sediment unmixing program was used to discriminate between sediment sources, which included dolomite-rich sediments from Baffin Bay, calcite-rich sediments from Hudson Strait and discrete sources from Cumberland Sound. Results indicated that the bulk of the sediment was derived from Cumberland Sound, but Baffin Bay contributed to sediments coeval with H-0 (Younger Dryas), whereas Hudson Strait was the source during H-events 1–4. Contributions from the Cretaceous outcrops within Cumberland Sound bracket H-events, thus both leading and lagging Hudson Strait-sourced H-events

Percutaneous transluminal coronary rotary ablation with rotablator (European experience)

This study reports the results from 3 European centers using rotary ablation with Rotablator, a device that is inserted into the coronary artery and removes atheroma by grinding it into millions of tiny fragments. Rotary ablation was performed in 129 patients. Primary success (reduction in percent luminal narrowing greater than 20%, residual stenosis less than 50%, without complications) was achieved by rotary angioplasty alone in 73 patients (57%). An additional 38 patients (29%) had successful adjunctive balloon angioplasty. Thus primary success was achieved in 111 patients (86%) at the end of the procedure. Acute occlusion occurred in 10 patients (7.7%). Recanalization was achieved by balloon angioplasty in 7: urgent bypass grafting was undertaken in 2. Q-wave and non-Q-wave myocardial infarction occurred in 3 and 7 patients, respectively. No deaths occurred. Follow-up angiography was performed in 74 patients (60%). Restenosis, defined as the recurrence of significant luminal narrowing (greater than 50%) occurred in 17 of 37 patients (46%) who underwent rotary ablation alone, and 11 of 37 patients (30%) who had adjunctive balloon angioplasty. The overall angiographic restenosis rate was 37.8%. In conclusion, rotary ablation is technically feasible, and relatively safe i

Long-term air pollution and traffic noise exposures and mild cognitive impairment in older adults : a cross-sectional analysis of the Heinz Nixdorf recall study

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) describes the intermediate state between normal cognitive aging and dementia. Adverse effects of air pollution (AP) on cognitive functions have been proposed, but investigations of simultaneous exposure to noise are scarce. Objectives: We analyzed the cross-sectional associations of long-term exposure to AP and traffic noise with overall MCI and amnestic (aMCI) and nonamnestic (naMCI) MCI. Methods: At the second examination of the population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall study, cognitive assessment was completed in 4,086 participants who were 50–80 years old. Of these, 592 participants were diagnosed as having MCI (aMCI, n = 309; naMCI, n = 283) according to previously published criteria using five neuropsychological subtests. We assessed long-term residential concentrations for size-fractioned particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides with land use regression, and for traffic noise [weighted 24-hr (LDEN) and night-time (LNIGHT) means]. Logistic regression models adjusted for individual risk factors were calculated to estimate the association of environmental exposures with MCI in single- and two-exposure models. Results: Most air pollutants and traffic noise were associated with overall MCI and aMCI. For example, an interquartile range increase in PM2.5 and a 10 A-weighted decibel [dB(A)] increase in LDEN were associated with overall MCI as follows [odds ratio (95% confidence interval)]: 1.16 (1.05, 1.27) and 1.40 (1.03, 1.91), respectively, and with aMCI as follows: 1.22 (1.08, 1.38) and 1.53 (1.05, 2.24), respectively. In two-exposure models, AP and noise associations were attenuated [e.g., for aMCI, PM2.5 1.13 (0.98, 1.30) and LDEN 1.46 (1.11, 1.92)]. Conclusions: Long-term exposures to air pollution and traffic noise were positively associated with MCI, mainly with the amnestic subtype