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Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 12 Aug 2005 [PDF]
• TASK FORCE LIBERTY SOLDIER KILLED BY IED
• MARINE DIES OF WOUNDS SUFFERED NEAR AR RAMADI
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties

• Transcript: Special DoD Press Briefing 12 Aug 2005 -- Presenter: Brigadier General Yves J. Fontaine, USA, Commander, 1ST Corps Support Command, Multinational Corps-Iraq
• US General Says Bomb Attacks on Iraq Convoys Doubled in Last Year VOA 12 Aug 2005 -- A top U.S. general who oversees logistical support operations in Iraq says bomb attacks on supply convoys have doubled in the past year
• Successes this week in Iraq (5-11 Aug., 2005) MNF-I 12 Aug 2005 -- Reconstruction projects strengthened Iraq's infrastructure this week, while community leaders showed their commitment to rebuilding. Iraqi Security Forces continue to be an essential part in working to increase the country's security.
• 155th Brigade Combat Team Soldiers uncover weapons cache MNF-I 12 Aug 2005 -- Soldiers of the 150th Engineer Battalion, 155th Brigade Combat Team, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) recently discovered a weapons cache near Forward Operating Base Dogwood.
• U.S. Soldiers foil 7 bomb attacks, nab 8 suspects MNF-I 12 Aug 2005 -- A group of Iraqi citizens helped Task Force Baghdad Soldiers working in northwest Baghdad find two roadside bombs before terrorists could use them Aug. 10.
• Task Force Liberty helicopter accident MNF-I 12 Aug 2005 -- Two Task Force Liberty Soldiers were injured as a result of a helicopter accident near Kirkuk at about 10:00 a.m. August 12.
• Security forces guard gates, protect Air Force resources AFPN 12 Aug 2005 -- They stand beneath the blistering sun, ever-vigilant against the threat of someone trying to break through their barriers.
• Partnership Between U.S., Iraqi Logistics Forces Yielding Results, Commander Says AFPS 12 Aug 2005 -- As a result of a training partnership with U.S. logistics support groups, two Iraqi motorized transportation regiments are ready to operate independently, a U.S. commander said today.
• Iraqi, U.S. Soldiers keep Sadr streets safe Army News 12 Aug 2005 -- Patrols by U.S. and Iraqi Army Soldiers have resulted in safer streets for the citizens of Sadr City.

• Pakistan to beef up security along Afghanistan border: Army IRNA 12 Aug 2005 -- Pakistan will beef up security along the porous Pak-Afghan border in the run up to the upcoming polls in Afghanistan, said a local army official here Friday.
• Pakistan/Afghanistan: Islamist Opens Pandora's Box RFE/RL 12 Aug 2005 -- During a press conference on 7 August, one of Pakistan's most influential religious and political leaders claimed that while his country is telling the West that it's fighting terrorism, it is actually supporting the infiltration of militants into Afghanistan
• Afghanistan: Threats, Intimidation Reported Against Female Candidates RFE/RL 12 Aug 2005 -- Several of the women who have submitted their candidacy for September's parliamentary elections in Afghanistan say they have been threatened with personal harm.

Other Conflicts

• Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Assassinated VOA 13 Aug 2005 -- Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister has been shot and killed by an unidentified gunman in the capital, Colombo. No one has claimed responsibility for the shooting late Friday, but suspicion is likely to fall on the separatist Tamil Tiger guerrilla group
• Haiti's Security Situation Improving, Says United Nations Washington File 12 Aug 2005 -- For the first time since a United Nations multinational peacekeeping force began operations in Haiti in July 2004, a significant improvement has been made in the fight to increase security in the Caribbean nation, according to the world body’s senior official there.
• Bush Sees Gaza Withdrawal as Key to Israeli Security Washington File 12 Aug 2005 -- Israel’s disengagement from Gaza is a key to the future security of Israel and will create an opportunity for the Palestinians to begin laying the foundations of a peaceful, democratic state, according to President Bush.
• Grenade attack kills one, injures six in northeastern India IRNA 12 Aug 2005 -- At least one person was killed and six more seriously wounded in a powerful grenade blast in India's northeastern state of Assam, the latest in a series of attacks ahead of Independence Day on 15 August, officials Friday said.
• Uganda Closes Radio Station For Airing Conspiracy Theories On Sudan Rebel Leader's Death VOA 12 Aug 2005 -- The Ugandan government shut down a radio station in the capital, Kampala, a day after President Yoweri Museveni vowed to close any media outlet reporting conspiracy theories on the death of Sudan's former rebel leader, John Garang, who died in a July 30th helicopter crash.
• UN peacekeepers in Côte d'Ivoire meet hostility in government-controlled south UN News Centre 12 Aug 2005 -- Two unarmed military observers of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d'Ivoire received a hostile reception and had their vehicle ransacked in a town west of the commercial hub, Abidjan, in the second such incident in the town in two days as the country emerges from civil war, the mission said today.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Admiral Giambastiani Sworn in as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 13 Aug 2005 -- Today, Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr., has assumed the duties as vice chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• Air Force Chief of Staff Retires, New Chief of Staff Sworn In 12 Aug 2005 -- Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper will retire after 39 years of service at a ceremony at Andrews AFB Md. Sept. 2.
• Giambastiani Replaces Pace as Vice Chairman AFPS 12 Aug 2005 -- Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers swore in Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. as the nation's seventh vice chairman during a ceremony here today.

• Transcript: Latest Military Technologies Being Employed by U.S. Soldiers 13 Aug 2005 -- Presenter: Colonel Gregory Tubbs, Director, Rapid Equipping Force
• Rapid Equipping Force Speeds New Technology to Front Lines AFPS 12 Aug 2005 -- The Army's Rapid Equipping Force is revolutionizing the way the service gets new technology into the hands of warfighters, its director told Pentagon reporters here today.

• GW Upgrades Shipboard Computers Navy NewsStand 12 Aug 2005 -- Automated Data Processing (ADP) administrators aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73) (GW) began upgrading personal computers July 28 from Windows New Technology (NT) to Windows 2000.
• SHIPMAIN Keeping the Fleet ‘Fit to Fight’ Better Than Ever Navy NewsStand 12 Aug 2005 -- Pearl Harbor-homeported surface ships are in better material condition than in the past, due in large part to Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard's (PHNSY) recent advancement of SHIPMAIN tools and philosophies.
• Boxer Begins JASEX with Typical “Golden Gator” Flare Navy NewsStand 12 Aug 2005 -- USS Boxer (LHD 4) began the third annual Joint Air and Sea Exercise (JASEX) Aug. 7 with an armed flight deck of five AV-8B Harrier IIs and a team of 87 Marines from 1st Marine Air Wing.
• Advance Construction Begins for CVN 21 Navy NewsStand 12 Aug 2005 -- The beveling of a 15-ton metal plate kicked off advance construction of the newest class of aircraft carrier, the CVN 21 project, Aug. 11 at Northrop Grumman Newport News' shipyards in Virginia.
• BHR Completes Post-deployment Ammunition Transfer Navy NewsStand 12 Aug 2005 -- USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) (BHR) completed an ammunition transfer July 20 during a brief underway period off the coast of San Diego.
• NAVAIR Depot Cherry Point To Repair Helos From ‘Bone Yard’ For Fleet Navy NewsStand 12 Aug 2005 -- Three H-53 Sea Stallion helicopters were brought out of retirement and transported between Aug. 9-11 to Naval Air (NAVAIR) Depot (NADEP) Cherry Point, N.C., where they will be upgraded before being put back into active service.
• Boxer AIMD Teams With I MAW for JASEX Success Navy NewsStand 12 Aug 2005 -- USS Boxer’s (LHD 4) Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD) teamed up with 1st Marine Air Wing (I MAW) during Joint Air and Sea Exercise (JASEX), Aug. 7-13, to support the upkeep of the wing's AV-8B Harrier IIs.
• BRAC focus on right-sizing total force AFPN 12 Aug 2005 -- The co-chairman of the Air Force's base closure executive group recently discussed the views the Air Force took when considering the Base Realignment and Closure recommendations.
• Airmen partner with Soldiers to explode excess ordnance AFPN 12 Aug 2005 -- Anyone traversing the passenger terminal area at this forward-deployed location, regardless of length of stay, has a passing acquaintance with the amnesty box.
• Airmen test new small diameter bomb system AFPN 12 Aug 2005 -- Gunfighters with the 366th Maintenance Group here put their skills to use when they tested a new small diameter bomb system Aug. 3 to 5.
• Rhein-Main still ticking as closure looms nears AFPN 15 Aug 2005 -- Though this base’s mission ends Oct. 1, its people are still doing what made it the Air Force’s premier airlift hub in Europe -- airlift support.
• Medical Training Center Opens Up Opportunities AFPS 12 Aug 2005 -- The Afghan National Army's first military medical education center opened recently here with the help of the ANA Surgeon General's office and the Office of Security Cooperation Afghanistan.
• New Technologies, Teaching Approaches Boost Language Training AFPS 12 Aug 2005 -- New technologies and teaching approaches are improving the quality of instruction here at the Defense Language Institute as the school supports the Defense Department's effort to boost foreign-language capability within the ranks.
• U.S. Military Set to Take Part in Moscow Air Show AFPS 12 Aug 2005 -- Eight U.S. military aircraft and 100 personnel will be present at, and participate in, the Moscow International Air Show 2005, Aug. 16-21, at Ramenskoye Airfield, Zhukovsky, Russia.

• Russians Loading Equipment From Georgian Base RFE/RL 12 Aug 2005 -- Russian Army officials say the military pullout from Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi has started.

• Singapore Hosts Multinational Maritime Interdiction Exercise Washington File 12 Aug 2005 -- Singapore will host a multinational maritime training exercise August 15-19 to practice procedures designed to disrupt trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and associated technology to states and nonstate actors of proliferation concern.

Defense Industry

News Reports

• Experts wrap up Geneva session on inhumane weapons treaty UN News Centre 15 Aug 2005 -- An international meeting of government experts representing the parties to a United Nations-backed treaty prohibiting the use excessively cruel weapons has wrapped up its current session in Geneva having considered ways to lessen the humanitarian risks of unexploded ordinance and possible options for promoting wider compliance with the accord.
• Turkey's Prime Minister Pledges Further Reforms for Kurds, Admits Past Mistakes VOA 12 Aug 2005 -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan traveled to Turkey's troubled Kurdish region Friday where he pledged to address the Kurds' long running grievances through further democracy and social reforms.