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Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 18 Dec 2006 [PDF]
• One Marine dies in Al Anbar
• Soldier killed in Al Anbar
• CENTAF releases airpower summary for Dec. 18 AFPN 18 Dec 2006 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released the airpower summary for Dec. 18.
• Weapons Caches Found in Iraq; 27 Suspected Insurgents Detained AFPS 18 Dec 2006 -- Iraqi soldiers with coalition forces discovered weapons caches and detained 27 suspects around Iraq over the past two days.
• ‘Big Red One’ Takes on Iraq Military Advisor Training Mission AFPS 18 Dec 2006 -- An entire Army combat division has been given the mission of training U.S. military advisors for duty within Iraqi army and police units, a senior U.S. military officer in Baghdad said yesterday.
• NAVELSG Deployed Units Continue Support to OIF Navy NewsStand 18 Dec 2006 -- Navy cargo handlers successfully completed an on-load-off-load evolution in Kuwait Dec. 16 aboard USNS Shugart (T-AKR 295) with the help of Navy customs inspectors.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Gates Sworn In as Defense Secretary AFPS 18 Dec 2006 -- Robert M. Gates was sworn in as the nation’s 22nd secretary of defense in a ceremony at the Pentagon here today.
• Robert Gates Takes Oath as US Defense Secretary VOA 18 Dec 2006 -- The new U.S. Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, took office Monday, with a private swearing-in at the White House and a public ceremony later at the Pentagon.
• President Bush Attends Ceremonial Swearing-In for the Secretary of Defense The White House 18 Dec 2006
• Analysis: How to Fight an Insurgency cfr.org 19 Dec 2006 -- Though President Bush delayed announcement of his new approach to Iraq until after the New Year, the Army and Marines Corps unveiled their long-awaited Counterinsurgency Manual just in time for Christmas.
• Army, Marines Release New Counterinsurgency Manual AFPS 18 Dec 2006 -- “Learn” and “adapt” are the key messages of the new Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, which just hit the streets.
• Pentagon May Inquire into Evangelical Video VOA 18 Dec 2006 -- Separation of religion and state is one of the founding principles of American democracy.
• Safeguarding Information Technology Vital to DoD AFPS 18 Dec 2006 -- Safeguarding and protecting vital computer-accessed information is the job of everyone working at the Defense Department, a senior DoD official said.
• 6th SOPS delivers critical weather data to warfighters AFPN 18 Dec 2006 -- The motto, "Get data or die" holds special significance for the 6th Space Operations Squadron, an Air Force Reserve Command unit here whose Airmen must deliver data to their customers within 10 minutes of downloading it from their satellites.
• New antenna begins testing AFPN 18 Dec 2006 -- The 23rd Space Operations Squadron here began operations confidence testing of its newest Air Force Satellite Control Network antenna Dec. 14.
• Juneau Concludes Fall Patrol Navy NewsStand 18 Dec 2006 -- USS Juneau (LPD 10) wrapped up its fall patrol Nov. 25, returning to Sasebo after making a port visit to Zhanjiang, People’s Republic of China and completing Talon Vision and Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) FY 07 in the Republic of Philippines just before that.
• Reservists add major adjustment to T-1 training AFPN 18 Dec 2006 -- Four or five months after graduating from Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance AFB, students from the T-1A Jayhawk tanker and airlift track may very well find themselves flying over the not-so-friendly sky in support of the war on terrorism.
• Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate The White House 18 Dec 2006
• Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 18 Dec 2006

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for December 18, 2006
• General Dynamics Awarded $10 Million to Continue Producing Submarine Multi-Purpose Processors and Monitoring Systems General Dynamics 18 Dec 2006 -- The U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), a $10 million contract modification to continue producing multi-purpose processor systems and total ship monitoring system kits as part of the Acoustic Rapid Commercial Off-The-Shelf Insertion (A-RCI) program for submarines.
• SUCCESSFUL FIRST FLIGHT FOR F-35 LIGHTNING II BAE Systems 18 Dec 2006 -- Employees at BAE Systems’ Samlesbury, Warton, Woodford and Brough sites are celebrating their part in an historic occasion – successful completion of the first flight of the F-35 Lightning II, parts of which are designed and manufactured by BAE Systems.
• Deputy PM: Defense industry must integrate in civilian sector RIA Novosti 18 Dec 2006 -- Russia's defense industry must increase its integration in the civilian sector of the economy, the defense minister said Monday.

Other Conflicts

• UN launches new standards for disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating ex-fighters UN News Centre 18 Dec 2006 -- With decades of experience in disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating (DDR) ex-combatants, including some 400,000 over the past five years alone, the United Nations today launched a new set of standards aimed at improving the process, which is considered essential to restoring stability to war-ravaged countries.
• Annan sends UN envoy to Sudanese capital to clarify details of Darfur agreements UN News Centre 18 Dec 2006 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan is dispatching a senior envoy to Khartoum for talks with Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir about the details of recent agreements on ending the widespread killing and displacement in the war-torn Darfur region, including the role of the United Nations, a spokesman for the world body announced today.
• Abbas Vows to Hold Early Elections Despite Violence VOA 18 Dec 2006 -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he is pressing on with plans for early elections, despite a weekend of fierce factional fighting.
• No change in Pakistan's stand on Kashmir, says PM IRNA 18 Dec 2006 -- Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Monday that Pakistan stands by its principled stance that the Kashmir issue should be resolved according to the wishes of Kashmiri people which is also acceptable to Pakistan and India as all these three are stakeholders on the issue.
• NEPAL: UN arms monitors and electoral advisors to be deployed IRIN 18 Dec 2006 -- The United Nations (UN) will deploy 35 monitors of arms and armies in the Himalayan nation in 10 days’ time to support the process of managing former Maoist rebel soldiers and weapons, Ian Martin, personal representative to the UN Secretary-General in Nepal, said on Sunday.
• UGANDA: Truce extension to encourage Juba peace process IRIN 18 Dec 2006 -- The two-month extension of the truce between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) should spur the on-off process to settle the conflict that has displaced nearly two million people in the north, spokesmen for both sides said on Monday.

News Reports