Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• ELEMENTS OF THE CORPS RECEIVE DEPLOYMENT ORDERS XVIII Airborne Corps 10 Jan 2003-- Elements of the XVIII Airborne Corps stationed at Fort Bragg have received deployment orders to reposition forces as required to support the global war against terrorism. Other Corps elements at Fort Bragg have been directed to prepare to deploy in the event they are required.
• MARITIME DEPLOYMENT - AMPHIBIOUS TASK GROUP Royal Navy News 10 Jan 2003-- Over the coming weeks some 5000 personnel will be involved in a Maritime Deployment of UK Forces, the task group will include HMS Ark Royal, HMS Ocean along with a number of Destroyers, Frigates and a Submarine. They will be accompanied by vessels from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and a Mine Countermeasures Group they will make up the originally planned Naval Task Group 2003. In addition, an amphibious Group including Headquarters 3 Commando Brigade, 40 Commando Royal Marines and 42 Commando Royal Marines with supporting elements will be deployed.
• PENTAGON/HORN OF AFRICA VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- The U-S military task force hunting terrorists in the Horn of Africa has taken no action so far, but is keeping a close eye on Somalia, as it collects intelligence on suspicious activities.

Defense Policy / Programs

• White House Daily Briefing White House 10 Jan 2003
• NAVY ANNOUNCES FUTURE TRAINING STRATEGY FOR EAST COAST FORCES 10 Jan 2003 -- Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England today signed the letter of certification to Congress confirming that, as planned, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps will cease military training on the Vieques Inner Range by May 1, 2003. The Department of the Navy has identified training alternatives that will collectively provide equivalent or superior training to the options provided by the island of Vieques.
• AV-8B JSSA TEAM SOARS TO LEVEL 4 NAVAIR 13 Jan 2003-- After a 17-day Software Capability Maturity Model (CMM) assessment, NAVAIR's AV-8B Joint Systems Support Activity (JSSA) learned that their software capability has achieved a Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Level 4 rating, out of a possible five. The assessment took place September 2002 and was performed by an SEI-authorized lead appraiser.
• PENTAGON / BIO-WEAPONS VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- The Pentagon has issued a statement asserting the military is prepared to protect its personnel from possible biological weapons attack
• Navy Announces Future Training Strategy for East Coast Forces Navy Newsstand 10 Jan 2003-- Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England today signed the letter of certification to Congress confirming that as planned, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps will cease military training on the Vieques Inner Range by May 1, 2003. The Department of the Navy has identified training alternatives that will collectively provide equivalent or superior training to the options provided by the island of Vieques.
• World Trade Center Steel to be Used in USS New York NAVSEA 10 Jan 2003-- When USS New York (LPD 21) joins the Fleet in 2007, it will sail with a permanent memorial to those who lost their lives in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.
• Norfolk Naval Shipyard Prepares TR for At-Sea Training NAVSEA 10 Jan 2003-- While the majority of Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) employees were enjoying their facility's end-of-the-year work curtailment, about 80 craftsmen and engineers were assisting the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) prepare to leave Naval Station Norfolk for an accelerated training exercise to certify it for combat.
• 'Friendly fire' hearing to begin AFPN 10 Jan 2003-- An Article 32 hearing beginning Jan. 13 will investigate the charges against two F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots involved in a "friendly fire" incident in Afghanistan last year.
• Team erects B-2 shelters at deployed location AFPN 10 Jan 2003-- Twenty members of the 49th Materiel Maintenance Squadron here spent more than 70 days at a deployed location working 12-hour shifts to erect portable shelters for B-2 Spirit bombers.
• Polish Air Force to buy and operate NATO's newest F-16s USAFE 10 Jan 2003-- One of NATO's newer member nations will soon be operating one of the alliances most capable and numerous multi-role fighter aircraft.
• 607th Air and Space Communications joins Team Osan PACAF 10 Jan 2003-- The 51st Communications Group reorganized as the 607th Air and Space Communications Group in a short ceremony at the Osan Air Base theater Jan. 7.
• Transcript: Joint Task Force Horn of Africa Briefing 10 Jan 2003 -- About 30 days ago, the headquarters for Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa arrived on station to oversee operations in support of the global war on terrorism in the Horn of Africa region. Our mission is to detect, disrupt and defeat terrorists who pose an imminent threat to coalition partners in the region. We'll also work with host nations to deny the reemergence of terrorist cells and activities by supporting international agencies working to enhance long-term stability for the region
• Kinkaid Decommissions, Crew Stays Together as Part of Sea Swap Newsstand 10 Jan 2003-- USS Kinkaid (DD 965) decommissioned Jan. 7 in a ceremony on Pier 7 at Naval Station San Diego

Defense Industry

• ORBITAL RECEIVES $50 MILLION IN CONTRACT ADDITIONS FOR GROUND-BASED MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM Orbital Sciences Corp. 10 Jan 2003 -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) announced today that it has received approximately $50 million in incremental modifications to its contract from The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) to develop, test and produce interceptor boost vehicles for the U.S. Department of Defense/Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) System.
• General Dynamics Awarded $18.9 Million Contract for F-15 Gun Systems General Dynamics 10 Jan 2003 -- General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has been awarded an $18.9 million contract from McDonnell Douglas Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Boeing Company, for forty (40) M61A1 20mm Gatling Guns and ammunition feed systems for the F-15 aircraft program. Deliveries will begin in April 2004 and extend through November 2005. Work will be performed in General Dynamics’ Burlington, Vermont, and Saco, Maine, facilities.
• Oshkosh Truck Selected Preferred Bidder for United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Wheeled Tankers Program Oshkosh 10 Jan 2003 -- Oshkosh Truck Corporation [NYSE: OSK] announced today that it has been selected as the preferred bidder by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply approximately 350 Wheeled Tankers. Oshkosh will now enter into formal contract negotiations with the MoD to finalize contract details.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 10 Jan 2003
• PRESS BRIEFING BY DEPUTY RELIEF COORDINATOR United Nations 10 Jan 2003
• MIDEAST CONFLICT: BOMBINGS, RETALIATION CONFIRM 'DREADFUL IMPASSE' Foreign Media Reaction 10 Jan 2003-- Israeli outlets split on best policy as Arabs warn "violence breeds only violence." / London-Tel Aviv division grows following PM Sharon's "hasty decision" to prevent Palestinian attendance at London reform conference. / Many focus on attacks' effect on Israeli election.

• IVORY COAST / FIGHTING VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- Rebels in Ivory Coast are accusing the government of launching more attacks Friday on insurgent positions in the west of the country. The reported fighting comes as Ivorians await the start of next week's peace negotiations in France
• UNHCR / IVORY COAST VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, is calling on the Ivorian government to stop recruiting Liberian refugees into the army. The recruitment is just the latest in a series of problems the Ivorian civil war is causing for the country's Liberian residents
• IVORY COAST / FIGHTING VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- Rebels with one of three insurgent factions in Ivory Coast have announced they will not attend next week's scheduled peace negotiations in France. The move, a setback in efforts to end a nearly four-month old insurrection, came after rebels accused the government of attacking their positions for a second day
• COTE D'IVOIRE: UNHCR urges government to stop recruitment of refugees IRIN 10 Jan 2003 -- The UN Refugee agency (UNHCR) this week in a letter urged the Ivorian government, among other things, to stop recruiting refugees into the ranks of loyalist forces.
• DRC: France gives UNDP 1 million euro for disarmament IRIN 10 Jan 2003 -- France agreed on Thursday to give the UN Development Programme (UNDP) one million euros (US $1.05 million) towards the disarmament and demobilisation process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
• DRC: "No impunity for war crimes", Bemba says IRIN 10 Jan 2003 -- The leader of the Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba, has promised stiff penalties against any of his fighters discovered to have been involved in human rights abuses.
• DRC: Masire to prepare final session of inter-Congolese dialogue IRIN 10 Jan 2003 -- The facilitator for the inter-Congolese dialogue, Ketumile Masire, is due in Kinshasa on Sunday to begin preparations for the final session of national peace and reconciliation talks, his office reported on Friday.
• SRI LANKA / MISSING VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- The International Committee of the Red Cross says both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels have asked the organization for help in tracking down thousands of people who have disappeared during the country's civil war. The Geneva-based agency says both sides have asked it to set up a new independent tracing system
• ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Cash shortfall could delay border demarcation IRIN 10 Jan 2003 -- The UN’s peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea is facing a cash shortfall which may delay border demarcation, the mission said on Friday.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Defence minister denies rebel seizure of Damara IRIN 10 Jan 2003 -- Deputy Defence Minister Xavier Yangongo of the Central African Republic (CAR) denied on Thursday reports that rebels had captured the town Damara, 80 km northeast of the capital, Bangui capital.
• ANGOLA: Activists urge UN to act on allegations of abuse IRIN 10 Jan 2003 -- Allegations of human rights abuses in the northern enclave of Cabinda and the living conditions of some 80,000 demobilised soldiers should top the agenda during UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello's visit to Angola next week, rights activists said on Friday.

News Reports

• LIBERIA / DEMO VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- Hundreds of people in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, rallied against the United States government Friday
• TURKMENISTAN REPRESSION VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- In a dozen years of one-man rule, President Saparamurat Niyazov [sah-pah-MOOR-aht nee-ahz-ov] has made Turkmenistan the most repressive country in central Asia. Turkmenistan's economy has also spiraled downward, despite its large energy resources. Recently, there have been signs that the human rights situation is getting even worse
• ZIMBABWE JUDGE VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- High Court judge in Zimbabwe has moved onto land the government seized from a white commercial farmer last month, despite a legal order preventing him from doing so. This is the first time a judge of the higher courts has directly benefited from President Robert Mugabe's controversial land reform program
• Israel Politics VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- Israel's Central Elections Committee is to convene Saturday night to discuss the decision of the committee chairman to cut off the nationwide radio and TV broadcast of a news conference by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Thursday night. Mr. Sharon says the action prevented him from refuting allegations of financial improprieties, but the opposition charges the Israeli leader was electioneering, in violation of the law
• ANGOLA REBUILDING VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- Angola's civil war ended last year, but the devastation caused by a quarter-century of fighting between government forces and UNITA rebels is still very much in evidence. Four million people are displaced and the nation's agricultural land is littered with landmines. In addition, a drought has brought millions of Angolans to the brink of starvation
• INDONESIA / PROTESTS VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- In Indonesia, thousands of people have demonstrated for the fifth day against price hikes for fuel and utilities. Protesters say they will continue their demonstrations until the president resigns
• KENYA / FINANCE MINISTER VOA 10 Jan 2003 -- The finance minister in Kenya's new government is vowing to restore investor confidence in a country crippled by decades of corruption and government mismanagement
• CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap IRIN 10 Jan 2003 -- In a renewed effort to revive its long-standing relations with Turkish-speaking Central Asian republics, Turkey's new leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is on a five-day tour of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
• LIBERIA: About 1000 demonstrate against 'US policy' IRIN 10 Jan 2003 -- A Liberian government-backed demonstration against what it called 'United States government's policy towards Liberia' took place on Friday in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, by nearly 1000 loyalists from the war-ravaged Bomi county some 35 km west of the capital.
• Boeing Team Makes Just-in-Time Delivery to Columbia's SPACEHAB Laboratory Boeing 10 Jan 2003 -- Forty hours before Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off on Jan. 16, a Boeing [NYSE: BA] engineering team will power up the SPACEHAB Research Double Module, or RDM, in the orbiter's payload bay and perform the delicate pre-launch operation of stowing time-critical experiment hardware on board.