The Mozart Group continues to make a difference on the ground in Ukraine.
The unit is assisting and enabling the Ukrainian military on several different levels, using the decades of hard-earned expertise of its special operations and conventional veterans to make be an asset in the fight against the Russian invasion.
Sandboxx News has partnered with the Mozart Group to bring you news, analysis, and updates from inside Ukraine’s fight for sovereignty. Led by a retired Marine Colonel, the primary mission of the Mozart Group is to increase the capability and sustainable capacity of the Ukrainian military consistent with U.S. foreign policy. In addition, the Mozart Group aims to protect vulnerable segments of the civilian population in Ukraine.
You can learn more about volunteering with the Mozart Group or about how to donate to them directly by visiting their website here.
The Mozart Group: Making a difference on the ground
The Mozart Group has deployed in Ukraine for mainly two objectives: First, to increase the Ukrainian military’s capability and sustainable capacity in a manner consistent with U.S. foreign policy; and second, to protect vulnerable segments of the civilian population.
The Mozart Group is led by retired Marine Corps Colonel Andy Milburn. A Marine Raider who finished his 31-year service as the served as the deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT), Milburn was the first Marine officer to lead a special operations task force in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Here it is important to note that the Mozart Group is in full compliance with the U.S. Neutrality Act and doesn’t employ foreign fighters. The U.S. Neutrality Act prohibits U.S. citizens from enlisting in foreign militaries or launching military operations against countries where the U.S. isn’t engaged in hostilities.
As Sandboxx News has already covered in a previous post on the Mozart Group, the unit is conducting six mission sets in Ukraine:
- Medical Evacuation and casualty care
- Humanitarian Extraction
- Train, Advise, Assist (TAA) and Equip the Ukrainian military
- Operations in the Information Environment
- Demining/Explosive Ordnance Disposal
- Logistics/In-extremis Resupply
What follows is a more thorough breakdown of those mission sets and how the Mozart Group is making a difference on the ground in Ukraine.
The Mozart Group: Mission sets
The first mission set that the Mozart Group is conducting in Ukraine is medical evacuation and casualty care.
The medical system of the Ukrainian military is operating at its limits and requires augmentation. The Mozart Group tries to provide medical evacuation from the point of injury to the nearest safe hospital.
To address this shortcoming of the Ukrainian military’s medical system, the Mozart Group has deployed former special operations and conventional medics to assist the Ukrainian emergency services with care in clinical settings and movement of patients to higher levels of care.
The second mission set that the Mozart Group is performing in Ukraine is humanitarian extraction. The fluid state of the battlefield, which is characterized by lots of back and forth between the Ukrainian and Russian forces, has left vulnerable individuals, such as elderly people or children, near the frontlines with limited ability to relocate to safer parts of Ukraine.
To solve the issue, the Mozart Group provides military-grade planning, escorts, and vehicles to move those in need to facilities or safe havens in Ukraine or adjacent countries. In this mission set, the Mozart Group has partnered with the Allied Extract non-profit group and represents the group in Ukraine for all operations.
The third mission set that the Mozart Group is conducting in Ukraine is training, advising, assisting (TAA), and equipping the Ukrainian military. The Ukrainian military’s unit-level training was immature even prior to the war and units are sustaining casualties with no training infrastructure to regenerate forces.
To address this problem, the Mozart Group trains, advises, and assists the Ukrainian military in building capability and developing life-saving practices. Training involves general military skills which prevent casualties and save lives and a dedicated combat medic program. In this effort, the Mozart Group has partnered with the Ukrainian Freedom Fund, a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit organization, to supply equipment.
The fourth mission set that the Mozart Group is performing in Ukraine is information operations. The Ukrainian military has proven that determination and grit are major force multipliers. On the other hand, the low morale of the Russian forces is limiting their effectiveness on the battlefield.
The Mozart Group helps document and disseminate Ukrainian military successes and Russian military failures and atrocities in order to influence Russian opinions and diminish the Russian military’s will to fight. To achieve that goal, the Mozart Group is using new hardware and software platforms to engage and influence Russian audiences. The primary target audience is Russian forces in the field; the objective is to push them to surrender.
The fifth mission set that the Mozart Group is conducting in Ukraine is demining and explosive ordnance disposal operations. Many parts of Ukraine are riddled with explosive remnants of war, both intentionally sown by Russian forces and in the aftermath of combat — for example, unexploded artillery shells and air-delivered bomblets.
To deal with this issue, the Mozart Group advises and assists Ukrainian technicians who will safely remove those unexploded munitions from their communities to make them safe for the population.
Finally, the sixth mission set that the Mozart Group is performing in Ukraine is logistics and in extremis resupply of Ukrainian forces.
The absence of modern systems and personnel at key nodes on the Ukrainian side of the supply chain limits providers’ ability to track and influence delivery. The presence of the Russian military demands unconventional approaches to get resources to the people who need them.
Through its direct coordination with frontline units and ability to ensure receipt, the Mozart Group can provide visibility and accountability and effect delivery of goods and services from the Polish-Ukrainian border to the front lines. The Mozart Group also performs high-value asset tracking and even has the potential to facilitate in-extremis re-supply of trapped forces (for example, in Mariupol).
Splendid write! Stavros… I have heard of the Mozart Group but never had any idea what they were involved in.
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