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Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
News Reports

Current Operations

• HELICOPTER CRASHES IN NORTHERN IRAQ CENTCOM 09 Jan 2006 -- A coalition helicopter crashed in a sparsely populated area 12 kilometers east of Tal Afar shortly before midnight killing the passengers and crew.
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties

• Australia's Downer Rules Out Early Exit From Iraq VOA 09 Jan 2006 -- Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in Washington Monday his government has no plans for an early troop withdrawal from Iraq despite mounting domestic criticism. Downer met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who expressed U.S. gratitude for the Australian role in the Iraq coalition.
• CENTAF releases combined daily air power summary AFPN 09 Jan 2006 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released today’s combined air power summary.
• Iraqi Police Find Explosive Device; Suspected Terrorists Detained AFPS 09 Jan 2006 -- U.S. military officials in Iraq say four civilians were killed in a Jan. 7 helicopter crash along with eight U.S. military members aboard, a senior official said here today.
• Artillery Soldiers Adapt to Infantry Role in Iraq AFPS 09 Jan 2006 -- Fighting the war in Iraq has transformed artillerymen into light infantrymen, a job filled with cordon-and-search operations, motorized convoys and dismounted patrols.
• Suicide Attack Foiled, Hostage Rescued, Weapons Seized AFPS 09 Jan 2006 -- Iraqi police pre-empted two suicide bombers today, a French hostage was rescued over the weekend, and an Iraqi citizen led soldiers to a weapons cache yesterday, military officials in Baghdad reported.
• Iraqi and Ironhorse Soldiers rescue French hostage Army News 09 Jan 2006 -- Soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and Task Force Ironhorse Soldiers liberated a French hostage Jan. 7 in the Abu Ghraib area of western Baghdad.
• Rakkasans take control in Tikrit Army News 09 Jan 2006 -- The 101st Airborne Division’s “Rakkasan” brigade assumed control of operations in the Salah Ad Din Province in a ceremony Jan. 5 at Forwarding Operating Base Speicher as Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division prepared to head home.
• ‘Ironhorse’ Division assumes responsibility for Baghdad Army News 09 Jan 2006 -- As Iraqi Army and coalition partners looked on, the 3rd Infantry Division transferred authority of Multi-National Division-Baghdad to the 4th Infantry Division in a ceremony Jan. 7.

• Afghan Soldiers Learn to Maintain Medium Tactical Vehicles AFPS 09 Jan 2006 -- The Afghan National Army met another milestone recently when 19 soldiers graduated from the medium tactical vehicle familiarization course held at the German maintenance facility.
• Pakistan protests coalition forces firing that killed eight people IRNA 09 Jan 2006 -- Pakistan has lodged a strong protest with coalition forces in Afghanistan over the killing of eight people in the country's tribal North Waziristan region in firing from Afghanistan.

Other Conflicts

• SUDAN: AU condemns killing of peacekeeper in West Darfur IRIN 09 Jan 2006 -- An African Union (AU) peacekeeper in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region has been killed, and ten others injured, the chairman of the 53-nation AU block said on Saturday.
• NIGERIA: Worsening security, lack of progress bog down Darfur talks IRIN 09 Jan 2006 -- Talks to end the bloody conflict in Darfur have been suspended for a week to respect a Muslim holiday, mediators said on Monday, but there is little sign of progress as the security situation in the western Sudan region worsens and the two sides fail to agree on key aspects of sharing power.
• NEPAL: Year in Review 2005 - Conflict grinds on IRIN 09 Jan 2006 -- The year in Nepal was marked by continued conflict and political deadlock with significant human costs.
• UN Sierra Leone peacekeepers protecting Special Court replaced by UN Liberia forces UN News Centre 09 Jan 2006 -- With the recent departure of United Nations forces serving in Sierra Leone, a contingent of Mongolian troops based in Liberia has been assigned to protect the Special Court in Freetown set up to try those guilty of war crimes in the country over the past decade.
• Top UN envoy for Sudan urges speedier progress in Darfur peace talks UN News Centre 09 Jan 2006 -- The top United Nations envoy to Sudan is on his way to New York after attending the peace talks on the country’s troubled Darfur region in Abuja, Nigeria, where he urged the Khartoum Government and rebel groups to speed up the pace of negotiations, a UN spokesman said today.
• UN Security Council carefully weighs next steps for mission in Ethiopia, Eritrea UN News Centre 09 Jan 2006 -- While concerned about border tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea as well as the latter’s ban on United Nations overflights, the world body is avoiding making hasty decisions on the future of its peacekeeping operation in the Horn of Africa countries, a senior UN official said today.
• Security situation in Central African Republic still ‘precarious,’ Annan says UN News Centre 09 Jan 2006 -- The security situation in the Central African Republic, which is rebuilding after a civil war, remains “precarious” and international support for the country is crucial to consolidating stability, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report to the Security Council released today.
• United States Sending Diplomatic Mission to Ethiopia, Eritrea Washington File 09 Jan 2006 -- The United States is sending a high-level delegation to the horn of Africa for a diplomatic initiative to defuse political tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea and get the border demarcation process back on track, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton announced January 9.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Thomas Betro Named Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service 09 Jan 2006 -- Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter today named Special Agent Thomas A. Betro as director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) succeeding former Director David L. Brant, who retired in December.
• Air mobility operations Airmen keep cargo aircraft moving AFPN 09 Jan 2006 -- Airmen deployed to the Detachment 5, 721st Air Mobility Operations Group, traveled thousands of miles to help the Air Force enable the global aspect of "global vigilance, reach and power."
• Air Force improving production with Smart Operations 21 AFPN 09 Jan 2006 -- The Air Force used the best parts of several civilian efficiency programs to develop an Air Force-unique process-improvement program called "Smart Operations 21," Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne said.
• Leaner processes working at Kirtland AFPN 09 Jan 2006 -- The Air Force is becoming leaner without the help of fad diets or abs-crunching exercise regiments.
• Top Commanders, Pentagon Chiefs Discuss QDR, Other Issues AFPS 09 Jan 2006 -- Senior U.S. military commanders from around the world are in Washington this week for meetings with Pentagon officials to discuss the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review and other issues, a senior Defense Department spokesman said here today.
• 2006 DoD Authorization Act Promotes Recruiting, Retention AFPS 09 Jan 2006 -- The 2006 National Defense Authorization Act signed into law Jan. 6 provides a variety of military pays, benefits and incentives designed to boost recruiting and retention in the military, including a new $40,000 ceiling for enlistment bonuses and a $90,000 ceiling for re-enlistment bonuses.
• 2006 Defense Budget Increases Military Pay, Benefits AFPS 09 Jan 2006 -- President Bush ushered in an across-the-board 3.1 percent military pay raise, effective Jan. 1, and a variety of other new or enhanced benefits for servicemembers and their families when he signed the 2006 National Defense Authorization Bill into law Jan. 6.
• Guard, Reserve Benefit From 2006 Defense Authorization AFPS 09 Jan 2006 -- The 2006 National Defense Authorization Act signed into law Jan. 6 provides new or enhanced benefits in addition to a 3.1 percent pay raise for National Guard and Reserve members, a senior defense official said.
• Military Commissions Proceedings to Resume This Week at Guantanamo Bay AFPS 09 Jan 2006 -- Military commissions proceedings resume this week as officials here hold preliminary hearings in the cases of two enemy combatants held here since 2002.
• Army to Initiate Separation Actions on IRR Soldiers Who Disobeyed Mobilization Orders Army News Release 09 Jan 2006 -- Today the Army announced that it will begin initiating separation proceedings for approximately 80 Soldiers in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) who failed to report for duty in accordance with their mobilization orders.

• White House Briefing, January 9 Washington File 09 Jan 2006 -- Iraq, Vice President Cheney, Supreme Court, Congressman DeLay, Puerto Rico, Israel, North Korea
• State Department Briefing, January 9 Washington File 09 Jan 2006 -- North Korea, Israel/Palestinian Authority, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Iran, Australia, Iraq, Switzerland, Nepal, Germany

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts 09 Jan 2006

News Reports

• WEST AFRICA: Year in Review 2005 - Stability see-saws in the world's poorest region IRIN 09 Jan 2006 -- West Africa, the world's poorest region, chalked up successes in 2005, with war-battered Liberia and Sierra Leone edging closer to lasting peace.
• KYRGYZSTAN: Year in Review 2005 -Test for democracy in the region IRIN 09 Jan 2006 -- Politics dominated 2005 in Kyrgyzstan with parliamentary polls held in the spring and a presidential election in the autumn.
• JORDAN: Amid protests, parliament exempts US nationals from International Criminal Court IRIN 09 Jan 2006 -- Jordan's parliament ratified a controversial accord with the United States on Sunday that prevents Amman from handing over Americans accused of violating international criminal law to the International Criminal Court (ICC).