Equipment Transfer: Fill & Download for Free

COMCASA- Communication Compatibility and Security Arrangements. It is one of the three foundational defence pacts that is required to be signed by a country willing to acquire high tech military hardware from USA. (Other being LEMOA and BECA)COMCASA is essentially a legal framework that facilitates transfer of encrypted communication system that enhances interoperability between the forces and military hardware of two countries.Simply put, Soldiers or millitary officials operating a weapon system communicate with each other and with their central command through sophisticated encrypted technology(COMSEC) as the conversation and directions have to be confidential owning to security risks. It is essentially in the form of “codes” and “keys”.COMCASA lays down the terms and conditions for switching to USA based security communication platform to be used with US defence equipments transferred to other countries.It has been in NEWS in India recently as India is considering signing COMCASA with USA. At present, India uses a locally sourced platform for secured communications between different weapons systems including the ones acquired from USA. It is like using a windows software in a Macbook.By signing COMCASA it will have to switch to USA provided platform for confidential communication which is supposedly more secure than the current system in use and better suited to US millitary hardware. However, there are various apprehensions from Indian side regarding the terms and conditions of the agreement.

The police are definitely armed with military-grade equipment, such as the M577 Armored Command Post seeing service in the Tampa Police Department.M2 BradleyM577 Armored Command Post Tampa Police DepartmentThis militarization of the police may be seen as a recent thing due to the 1033 program, which allows for military assets to be transferred to the hands of law enforcement agencies.M113 aquired under 1033 programHowever, the police had always received military equipment transferred to them, beginning with the Surplus Property Act of 1943.One example of a military equipment being transferred to law enforcement agencies under this act is the M50 Reising, a USMC sub-machine gun that was later issued to police officers.M50 ReisingA police officer with an M50 ReisingThen there was Section 1208 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 1990, which allowed military hardware to be transferred to the police, which was known as the 1208 program.This goes to show that the police had been amassing military equipment for quite some time now.There are several reasons why the police require all these military equipment.The first reason is to allow the police force to be able to respond to a greater variety of threats well.ThreatWhile armored vehicles may seem to be overkill for a mere police force, there is a reason why the police armored vehicles.And that day was February 28th 1997, the day where two robbers with automatic rifles opened fire on responding police officers.RobbersThe automatic rifle used that dayThe police outside the shootout zone had no way to rescue the trapped officers and civilians as none of their vehicles could withstand these rifles long enough to rescue them.North Hollywood shootout police outsideUntil the armored truck that was carrying the money to the bank arrived on scene.Armoured truckThe police commandeered the truck and managed to save a portion of the people trapped within the shootout zone before the robbers fled in their white Chevrolet.Robbers fleeHence, the police use armored vehicles should a similar situation arise again.This event was also the spark for the militarization of the police today as police officers were outgunned during the shootout, resulting in some police officers being allowed to keep a rifle in the cruiser.A police officer with a rifleAlso, there’s the fact that the police are the primary agency that guards important government buildings that are otherwise prone to attacks, which is why the police guarding these areas are well-armed.Police guarding white houseAnd finally, the police are also the first to respond to any domestic attacks, including shootouts and other situations that are similar to those experienced by combat troops.San Bernardino shootoutCombat troopBy outfitting our police force with the same equipment as the military, we create a task force that can deploy in a moment’s notice to any threat, even severe ones, without costing an extra dime to the taxpayer.TaxpayerAnd finally, why not?These programs transfer excess military equipment to the police, which allows us to reduce the cost of outfitting the police as we do not have to buy new weapons for the police.Plus, Its a waste of money to have perfectly good weapons pulled from military service only to have them sit in a warehouse somewhere being unused.WarehouseHence, this is why the police is militarised.That’s all folks!

I spent 6 weeks attached to a RAAF detachment at a US Naval base (for equipment transfer).I found that they had peculiar sense of humor, “funny” accents and words but I also found them to be very professional. I would rate them equal to any US soldiers and airmen.