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Military


27 March 2003 Military News

Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

  • Bomb Builders in Demand and on the Job Navy NewStand 27 Mar 2003 -- As the world's attention is on coalition strikes against Iraq, Sailors aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) are building bombs that may ultimately affect the outcome of the war.

  • PAK / AFGHAN / U-N VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the United Nations signed an agreement last week in Brussels to repatriate an estimated two-million Afghan refugees who remain in Pakistan. Most of them fled their homes because of 23-years of war and a prolonged drought in Afghanistan that began in 1998.
  • Security sector reform vital to rebuilding of Afghanistan, UN official says UN News Centre 27 Mar 2003 -- While Afghanistan had made definite gains over the past year and the Government was determined to take a lead role in rebuilding the country and economy, the persistent lack of security still threatened the peace process at all levels, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.
  • RFE/RL Afghanistan Report, Vol 2, Number 11 27 Mar 2003 -- AFGHANISTAN'S WOMEN: PROGRESS AND UNMET PROMISES / UN URGES AFGHANISTAN TO REPEAL SEXUALLY DISCRIMINATORY LAWS / AIHRC OPENS OFFICE IN HERAT... / ...BUT SAYS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSED IN MANY PROVINCES, NOT ONLY HERAT / RFE/RL REPORTER ASSAULTED IN HERAT... / ...AND IS ORDERED OUT OF HERAT... / ...AND AFGHAN JOURNALISTS' GROUP PROTESTS HIS BEATING / U.S. CONGRESSMAN WARNS OF POSSIBLE RETURN OF STONING / EASTERN AFGHAN WARLORD CLASHES WITH U.S., AFGHAN TROOPS... / ...AND VOWS TO KEEP CONTROL OF KHOST-GARDAYZ ROAD AND TO KEEP FIGHTING... / ...AS HIS SON IS KILLED IN CLASHES WITH U.S. FORCES / U.S. LAUNCHES MAJOR OPERATION IN KANDAHAR PROVINCE... / ...BUT DENIES ANY CONNECTION WITH THE STRIKES ON IRAQ / OPERATION VALIANT STRIKE CONTINUES IN KANDAHAR PROVINCE. / ...AS U.S. TAKES SIX INTO CUSTODY / AFGHAN KILLED, AMERICAN WOUNDED IN LANDMINE EXPLOSION / U.S. AND ITALIAN FORCES ATTACKED IN KHOST PROVINCE / ATTACKS ON U.S. FORCES ESCALATE / SIX DEAD IN U.S. CHOPPER CRASH / GERMANY SAYS NATO READY TO COMMAND ISAF... / ...AFTER BELGIUM SAYS OTHERWISE / AFGHANISTAN ANNOUNCES PLAN TO RELEASE REMAINING PAKISTANI POWS... / ...BUT DECIDES TO SLOW DOWN THE PROCESS / U.S. RELEASES AFGHANS IMPRISONED IN CUBA... / ...AS BRITISH MP COMPARES THEM TO U.S. POWS IN IRAQ... / ...AND AFGHAN GUANTANAMO INMATES TELL THEIR STORIES / OFFICIAL ACCUSES PAKISTAN OF INTERFERENCE IN AFGHAN AFFAIRS. / ...WHILE ANOTHER ACCUSES IRAN OF INTERFERENCE IN AFGHAN AFFAIRS / PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON FUTURE CONSTITUTION... / ...AS AFGHAN SHIA LEADER WANTS JA'FARI SCHOOL REPRESENTED IN FUTURE CONSTITUTION... / ...AND FIRST DRAFT IS READY / PRESIDENT POSTPONES TRIP TO PAKISTAN DUE TO IRAQ WAR / PAPER SAYS CONTRADICTORY MESSAGES ON IRAQ NOT BENEFICIAL TO AFGHANISTAN / FIRST ANTIWAR DEMONSTRATIONS REPORTED IN AFGHANISTAN... / ...FOLLOWED BY A SECOND DESPITE BAN / THREE PROVINCES PLACED ON HIGH ALERT DUE TO IRAQ WAR / PRESIDENT BLAMES HUSSEIN FOR BRINGING 'DISASTER ON IRAQI NATION.'... / ...AS MAJORITY OF AFGHANS SAID TO BELIEVE WAR WILL BRING DEMOCRACY TO IRAQ / COALITION COMMANDER COMPLAINS OF POSTWAR EFFORTS AND DRAWS LESSONS FOR IRAQ / THIS WEEK IN AFGHANISTAN'S HISTORY

Defense Policy / Programs

  • PERLE RESIGNS AS CHAIRMAN OF THE DEFENSE POLICY BOARD 27 Mar 2003 -- Below is the text of a letter received today by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld from Richard Perle, chairman of the Defense Policy Board
  • SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ACCEPTS PERLE'S RESIGNATION 27 Mar 2003 -- "I have accepted his resignation as chairman of the Defense Policy Board and asked that he remain as a member."
  • Pentagon and Homeland Security Chiefs Talk Money With Congress AFPS 27 Mar 2003 -- Justifying the president's request for $75 billion in emergency funding for the cost of war in Iraq and the global war on terrorism, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told House and Senate Appropriations Committees today that "whatever the cost, it is worth it."
  • ARMY BEGINS CERTIFICATION OF STRYKER BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM Army Release 27 Mar 2003 -- The Army is initiating the evaluation process to certify its first Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) for operational employment. The SBCT is a medium weight armored vehicle force that the Army began developing in 2000 to fill the current operational gap between its heavy and light forces.
  • 7th Fleet command ship Blue Ridge arrives in Singapore Seventh Fleet 27 Mar 2003 -- The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet command ship, USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), and the embarked Commander, 7th Fleet staff arrived in the "Lion City" March 27.
  • USS Key West Skipper Makes History Navy NewStand 27 Mar 2003 -- History is currently being made underwater, as for the first time since World War II, a submarine commanding officer is in the process of leading his crew through two consecutive combat deployments.
  • X-31 completes ESTOL up-and-away NAVAIR 27 Mar 2003 -- The VECTOR X-31 flight test program completed the final flight of its lengthy "up-and-away" test phase March 22, clearing the way for the final phase of flight test to begin in early April. By the end of April, the team hopes to have flown the world's first thrust-vectored, automated landings on the runway.
  • Navy Announces Final Decision in A-76 Cost Comparison NAVAIR 27 Mar 2003 -- The Navy announced today that it has reversed an earlier tentative decision to convert various materials services functions at the Naval Air Depot (NADEP), Cherry Point, N.C., to contractor performance.
  • Stop-Loss affects deployed airmen AFPN 27 Mar 2003 -- Even though Air Force officials have identified 99 career fields affected by Stop-Loss, all airmen currently deployed are affected as well.
  • Kearsarge, Fleet Surgical Team 8 Prepare for War Navy NewStand 27 Mar 2003 -- Recently, USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) conducted two back-to-back mass casualty drills to flex a capability that the ship has not fully implemented.
  • F-14 Tomcat's Glory Days Numbered Navy NewStand 27 Mar 2003 -- As supersonic engines roar to life and iron wings spread to their full extension, a great predator of the sky nears extinction.
  • Living on the Edge as a Top Gun Air Intercept Controller Navy NewStand 27 Mar 2003 -- There are times on a ship when things can feel commonplace. After all, the Navy trains like it fights. But when you walk into a ship's combat direction center, you are immediately aware that you're in the thick of things.
  • Rumsfeld Urges Congress to Support Supplemental Funding Request Washington File 28 Mar 2003 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said March 27 that the coalition's battle to disarm Iraq and end the regime of Saddam Hussein is still closer to the beginning than the end, but the outcome is assured.
  • Air Traffic Controllers keep watchful eye on skies USMC News 27 Mar 2003 -- During times of conflict the skies become filled with the constant roar of incoming and outgoing aircraft.
  • Snipers of sky stay on target USMC News 27 Mar 2003 -- The Marine Corps has many unique characteristics that set it apart from all other services, but within the Marine Corps, there are a breed of Marines who distinguish themselves in a particularly unique manner.
  • 2nd LAAD shows Royal Army ropes at Camp Lejeune USMC News 27 Mar 2003 -- The calm of a peaceful North Carolina beach scene is shattered by a deafening blast as three tungsten darts are propelled from the High Velocity Missile system, also known as the Starstreak, at more than three times the speed of sound, quickly finding their way to a small unmanned Banshee drone aircraft flying a mile off the coast.
  • Storm doesn't slow Marines' advancement USMC News 27 Mar 2003 -- A significant sandstorm helped warriors of I Marine Expeditionary Force mark the end of the first week of Operation Iraqi Freedom, March 25.

  • NATO Enlargement US Dept. of State 27 Mar 2003 -- Robert Bradtke, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Testimony Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • Grossman: NATO Importance Will Continue in Future Washington File 28 Mar 2003 -- In prepared testimony presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee March 27, the State Department's Marc Grossman reaffirmed NATO's "continuing importance to U.S. security" but also said the recent disagreement over defense support for Turkey "did damage the Alliance."

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

  • DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 27 Mar 2003

  • ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- Palestinian security sources say two policemen were killed and at least 16 other people injured during an Israeli military raid on a Palestinian town in the northern Gaza Strip. While the world's attention has been fixed on the war in Iraq, the low level conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has continued.
  • HUMAN RIGHTS / PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- A United Nations special investigator has accused Israel of using excessive force in responding to attacks by Palestinians. Israel says the investigator's report to the U-N Human Rights Commission in Geneva is unbalanced and fails to take the threats Israel faces into account.

  • LIBERIA / TAYLOR VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- Liberian President Charles Taylor is accusing the United States of providing indirect support for Guinean-based rebels who are trying to oust him.
  • LIBERIA: Government to screen male IDPs IRIN 27 Mar 2003 -- The Liberian government is to screen all able-bodied men in internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps and plans to move all IDP camps at least 100 kms away from the capital, Monrovia, to minimize exposure of IDPs to danger, Reginald Goodridge, minister of information told reporters on Wednesday.

  • Powell, Straw Condemn Massacre in Kashmir Washington File 28 Mar 2003 -- In a joint statement, the United States and the United Kingdom condemned the March 23 massacre of innocent civilians in Kashmir as a "vicious and cowardly act."
  • U-S / BRITAIN / KASHMIR VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, meeting on the sidelines of the summit between President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair at Camp David, have jointly condemned last Sunday's massacre of civilians in Kashmir. They appealed to Pakistan and India to try to reduce tensions in the region.

  • CHECHNYA / REFERENDUM VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin says Chechnya will receive what he calls the "broadest autonomy" -- following a referendum Sunday in which Moscow says Chechens nearly unanimously reaffirmed their desire to be part of Russia. But the real question is will this be enough to end years of bloody fighting that has claimed around 200-thousand lives?
  • IVORY COAST / GOVERNMENT VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- Rebels in Ivory Coast are protesting President Laurent Gbagbo's decision this week to name interim defense and interior ministers. The rebels' protests call into question whether a new reconciliation government will succeed in bringing peace to the country following a six-month civil war.
  • CONGO: Government, rebels exchange prisoners IRIN 27 Mar 2003 -- The government of the Republic of Congo (ROC) and Ninja rebels have held an exchange of prisoners as part of their agreement to restore peace in the crisis-torn Pool Region.
  • CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: CEMAC Equatorial Guinea contingent leaves IRIN 27 Mar 2003 -- The 31-member Equatorial Guinea contingent of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC) peacekeeping force left the Central African Republic (CAR) on Wednesday.
  • BURUNDI: 72 killed in Muramvya fighting IRIN 27 Mar 2003 -- A Burundi Ministry of Defence official said on Thursday that 68 rebels loyal to Pierre Nkurunziza and four government soldiers died during three days of intense fighting in the west-central province of Muramvya.
  • COTE D'IVOIRE: Detained fighters escape from detention, says French military IRIN 27 Mar 2003 -- A small group of alleged pro-government fighters, who had been in custody of French troops in western Cote d'Ivoire, escaped from detention during an anti-French rally by 5,000 to 6,000 members of the 'Young Patriot' movement in the western town of Daloa, the office of the French military contingent said on Wednesday.
  • NIGERIA: Ijaw militants say halting fighting IRIN 27 Mar 2003 -- Ijaw militants in Nigeria's Niger Delta, who have engaged troops and rival Itsekiris in two weeks of fighting in which up to 100 people died, said on Wednesday they had stopped fighting after the Delta State governor James Ibori promised to meet their demands.

News Reports

  • SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 27 Mar 2003
  • SHAPE News Summary Analysis SHAPE 27 Mar 2003
  • ZIMBABWE / POLITICS VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- Two crucial elections for parliamentary seats are taking place this weekend in Zimbabwe. Both seats were won with massive majorities by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in the 2000 elections. But the ruling party is determined to win the seats.
  • CHINA/PNEUMONIA VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- Months after a severe form of pnuemonia first appeared in southern China, officials in Beijing are just now beginning to admit how far the disease has spread. News media in the country have been quiet about the outbreak.
  • AFGHANISTAN POLICE VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- Afghanistan's new government says one of its top priorities is rebuilding the country's police force, which, like most institutions in Afghanistan, was largely destroyed by more than two decades of war and conflict. A recent study by the human rights organization Amnesty International, says the effort to rebuild the police force cannot come soon enough.
  • BURMA BLAST VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- An explosion outside a post and telecommunication office in Rangoon Thursday left several people injured. That explosion took place despite tight security in the city as it marked its national Armed Forces Day.
  • ASIA PNEUMONIA VOA 27 Mar 2003 -- Hong Kong has followed Singapore's example in invoking an old quarantine law not used in decades. The measure is aimed at stemming the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - an illness that has sickened about 14-hundred people worldwide.



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