MISSION
STATEMENT
The Mine Warfare Association (MINWARA) was
formed in 1995 to create an awareness of mine warfare issues and to
assist government, industry, and academia in optimizing their combined
contributions to solving the challenges associated with military sea and
land mine warfare. The MINWARA believed that many of the solutions would
be found in emerging technologies. Accordingly, the MINWARA adopted a
program of conducting symposia to expose as many personnel and
organizations as possible to these emerging technologies and their
potential application to the mine problem. MINWARA remains the only
professional association which deals only with land and sea mine warfare
and its associated problems.
The symposia are an effort to cross - pollinate
knowledge about mine warfare among government, industry, and academia.
Symposia address military doctrine, policies, organization, concepts of
operations, ongoing and needed research and development, acquisition
programs, and logistics and training programs, for both overseas and
domestic current and potential threats.
It should be noted that mine warfare includes
both mining capabilities and mine countermeasures. Mine Countermeasures
includes the software, sensors, systems, tactics, techniques and
procedures required to address the traditional mine threat as well as
the potential threat from terrorist placed mines or Improvised Explosive
Devices, IED, to U.S. ports. The Mine Warfare Association is a strong
supporter of mining capabilities , based on the tenet that knowledge of
mine design and effects are critical to maintaining an effective mine
countermeasures capability. The Mine Warfare Association is also a firm
supporter of mine designs that have self-destruction capabilities after
an appropriate period, so as not to pose a threat to civilians after
cessation of hostilities.
The Mine Warfare Association has included the
associated issues of humanitarian demining and unexploded ordnance
challenges in our symposia at times, even though the present thrust of
our association is military sea and land mine warfare. These issues and
challenges have, and will be, included, based on the likelihood of
historical and emerging solutions in these areas having application to
military mine warfare. The subject of humanitarian demining is now a
primary thrust of the Society for Counterordnance Technology (SCOT), the
Wilson Institute and other NGOs.
Past symposia have complemented and drawn upon
the recurring symposia at the U. S. Naval Postgraduate School in
Monterey, CA held in 1995, 1996, 1998, and every even-numbered year
since. These symposia on “Technology and the Mine Problem” have
addressed all areas mentioned above, including military mine warfare.
Between Monterey symposia, the Mine Warfare Association has sponsored a
recurring series of regional symposia, which usually focus on sea or
land mine warfare depending on the host organization and its primary
expertise areas.
These regional symposia have been held at the
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City, FL (1999 and every
odd-numbered year since, to date) ; Sandia National Laboratory,
Albuquerque, NM, and U. S. Army and U. S. Marine Corps installations in
the Washington, DC area. Three international symposia on both land and
sea mine warfare were held in 1999, 2001, and 2004 in Australia, in co -
sponsorship with the Australian Defence Science and Technology Office (DSTO).
The Monterey symposia have previously attracted
up to 350 attendees. Regional conferences in Panama City FL have
attracted up to 250 attendees. Speakers have frequently included
military flag/general officers of all ranks and civilian government
employees of similar rank. Other speakers include experienced military
leaders, senior, experienced industry leaders, and senior, experienced
academic researchers.
The intent of symposia subject matter is to
have academia and industry become more familiar with the technical
challenges of the mine problem, have government and industry become
familiar with academic research efforts, and have government and
academia become familiar with industrial research and engineering
efforts.
The Mine Warfare Association understands the
increasing importance of commercial industry in developing technologies
which will benefit the Department of Defense. Accordingly, a major
activity of the association is to expand outreach of the mine problem to
the commercial sector. As always, the most useful exchanges between
these attendees occur between seminar sessions and during evenings. The
Mine Warfare Association looks forward to continuing this educational
effort in support of military mine warfare and the associated challenges
and problems.
Paul Ryan, RADM USN (Ret) President
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