Members of ISG recently met with Slovakian Ministry of Defence (MoD), General Staff, and HQ Air Force personnel to learn about air operations related to the arrival of new F-16 aircraft. Collaboration with Slovakian Partners was invaluable to developing an integrated, long-term institutional capacity building (ICB) program related to Slovakian F-16 air operations in support of national and regional defense efforts.

ISG Africa Regional Program Lead Dr. Whitney Grespin’s recently published an article titled, “Things Fall Apart: Soviet Assistance to the Somali Armed Forces, 1960–1977” in the latest issue of The Journal of African Military History. In this piece, Dr. Grespin and co-author Mr. Matthew Marchese noted, “As Cold War tensions rose, Soviet aid was offered to the nascent Somali government in pursuit of broader geopolitical machinations that were seen to supersede Somali interests, laying the groundwork for a decades-long mismatch between local intentions and Cold War superpower objectives in the Horn of Africa.” The result of this mismatch, they argue, “left Somalia with an unsustainable, corrupt, and repressive security structure as a direct result of high levels of foreign assistance that were not well coordinated with host nation sustainment capabilities.”

The Institute for Security Governance (ISG) recently conducted a “Strategies and Capabilities for Cyber Challenges” Resident Course at ISG headquarters in Monterey, California. This four-week course – offered annually – equips participants with the knowledge and skills to understand cyber threats and vulnerabilities, and their consequences for national security and military operations. The course explores strategies and capabilities to maintain an advantage over actors who seek to exploit, disrupt, or damage the critical networks, systems, and services upon which our societies and militaries depend.

A DIILS team, which included legal colleagues from U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Naval Forces Africa, traveled to Mombasa, Kenya in September to meet with members of the Kenyan Navy as part of an ongoing security cooperation effort.
WPS PROFESSIONAL MILITA

In this issue of The ISG Heron, the Institute reflects on the DSCA Director’s fruitful visit to ISG, applauds ISG's Resident Advisor to Lithuania for receiving the Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service, welcomes new colleagues, marks the successful conclusion of the two-year educating-the-educators mobile seminar series in Ghana, offers a standing ovation to Emergency Management & Resilience colleagues, highlights Resident Education in Logistics Capacity Building, spotlights ICB Advising achievements in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and many more newsworthy developments.

DSCU led a Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Professional Military Education Academic workshop on 26 and 27 September, 2022.