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Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Carrier USS Nimitz Back in Middle East After Exercising in Indian Ocean

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats National Preparedness

Comments: 0

This story has been updated to clarify USS Nimitz’s (CVN-68) deployment to U.S. 5th Fleet.

Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is now back in the Middle East after conducting an exercise series with the Indian Navy, a spokesperson with U.S. 5th Fleet told USNI News on Monday.

A spokeswoman for 5th Fleet confirmed that Nimitz entered the area of operations on Nov. 25 but denied speculation that the carrier moved into the waters as a result of any regional threats. The Pentagon pointed to an upcoming troop withdrawal as a reason for wanting a carrier presence in the region.

“There were no specific threats that triggered the return of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group,” Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich said in a statement. “The return of Nimitz is centered on maintaining [U.S. Central Command]’s ability to remain postured and prepared to help preserve regional stability and security.”

The carrier moved back to 5th Fleet just days before reports emerged that an Iranian scientist was killed inside Iran. On Nov. 27, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated near Tehran, according to a report in The Associated Press.

In a tweet, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused Israel of taking part in the assassination.

“This cowardice—with serious indications of Israeli role—shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators Iran calls on int’l community—and especially E.U.—to end their shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror,” Zarif wrote in the tweet.

The Pentagon in a statement explaining Nimitz’s move to 5th Fleet cited President Donald Trump’s push to decrease troop numbers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“During the change in force posture, the DoD felt it was prudent to have additional defensive capabilities in the region to meet any contingency. Therefore the USS Nimitz has been redeployed to the CENTCOM AOR,” the Defense Department said in a statement. “The USS Nimitz had been in the CENTCOM are of responsibility earlier this fall but had transitioned to the [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command] AOR. This action ensures we have sufficient capability available to respond to any threat and to deter any adversary from acting against our troops during the force reduction.”

Nimitz had been operating in the Persian Gulf for nearly two months, but left earlier this month to drill with an Indian aircraft carrier for the annual Malabar exercise. The carrier had been operating in 5th Fleet since the end of July.

The U.S. had consistently maintained a carrier presence in 5th Fleet since May 2019. Carrier operations in the Middle East increased 20 percent this year compared to last year, according to USNI News carrier deployment data.

Photo: An MH-60S KNight Hawk helicopter, from the ‘Screamin’ Indians’ of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 6, conducts flight control checks on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). U.S. Navy Photo

Link: https://news.usni.org/2020/11/30/carrier-uss-nimitz-back-in-middle-east-after-exercising-in-indian-ocean?utm_source=USNI+News&utm_campaign=51e8ae0d55-USNI_NEWS_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0dd4a1450b-51e8ae0d55-234691293&ct=t(USNI_NEWS_DAILY)&mc_cid=51e8ae0d55

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