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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Coalition troops keep pressure on al-Qaeda, Taliban in Afghanistan Army News 28 Mar 2003 -- As Operation Valiant Strike drew to a close in the Sami Ghar mountains about 130 kilometers east of Kandahar, Afghanistan, a new operation near Bagram started March 27.
• AFGHAN / U-S TROOPS VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- Coalition forces in Afghanistan have launched a second major offensive against remnants of the Taleban and al-Qaida. The military action comes as a foreign Red Cross worker was shot dead in the southern part of the country.
• AFGHAN / U-S TROOPS VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- Coalition forces in Afghanistan have launched a second major offensive against remnants of the Taleban and al-Qaida. The military action comes as a foreign Red Cross worker was shot dead in the southern part of the country.
• AFGHANISTAN: Swiss ICRC delegate murdered IRIN 28 Mar 2003 -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday condemned the killing of one its field delegates in the southern Afghan province of Oruzgan, temporarily freezing all field movements in the country. The murder, the first killing of an international ICRC staff member in the country since 1990, is a grim reminder of the problems facing aid workers on the ground.
• Security Council approves 1-year extension for UN mission in Afghanistan UN News Centre 28 Mar 2003 -- Recognizing that the United Nations must continue to play its central and impartial role in efforts to assist the Afghan people to consolidate peace and rebuild their country, the Security Council today decided to extend the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for another 12 months.

Defense Policy / Programs

• White House Press Briefing White House 28 Mar 2003
• America at War VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- After the terrorist attacks of September eleventh, two-thousand-one, something new appeared in America. Suddenly, people saw National Guard troops deployed at airports and other places. Many Americans commented on how unusual it was to see armed soldiers in public.
• JOINT AIR GROUND OPERATIONS Army Release 28 Mar 2003 -- The Air Force and Army Chiefs of Staff are leading a focused effort to examine air-ground operations in order to improve the two services' combat capability and make it more effective.
• FUTURE COMBAT SYSTEMS (FCS) COMPLETES CAPSTONE DEMONSTRATION Army Release 28 Mar 2003 -- Calling it the 'graduation event' in a series of demonstrations held during the course of the current phase of the Future Combat Systems program, The Army, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Lead Systems Integrator (LSI) today announced the successful completion of the program's Capstone Demonstration.
• HT-8 Reaches 900,000 Flight Hours Navy NewStand 28 Mar 2003 -- Helicopter Training Squadron (HT) 8, the U.S. Navy's oldest helicopter training squadron, recently achieved a major milestone March 11, when it attained 900,000 flight hours without a major flight or ground mishap - no loss of life or aircraft.
• Rhein-Main refuels at record-breaking rate USAFENS 28 Mar 2003 -- They pumped enough fuel in February to fill the tanks of more than 750,000 automobiles. In January their output would have satisfied another 725,000 motorists. Too bad cars don't run on jet fuel.
• F/A-22 resumes testing AFPN 28 Mar 2003 -- F/A-22 Raptor test and training flight operations resumed here March 22 after a brief delay following a nose-gear-retraction incident.
• Science, technology investment determines future AFPN 28 Mar 2003 -- Warfighting effects and what is needed to achieve them drive the Air Force's science and technology program, the deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for science, technology and engineering told members of Congress on March 27.
• Timeline for parts cut in half AFPN 28 Mar 2003 -- Airmen assigned to the 320th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron began getting parts March 22 in half the time it previously took.
• Controllers keep air traffic in sync AFPN 28 Mar 2003 -- Air traffic controllers have handled up to 1,600 sorties a day as the "shock and awe" air campaign continues and ground forces make a beeline for Baghdad.
• AMC takes steps to prevent battle fatigue AMCNS 28 Mar 2003 -- As coalition forces advanced toward Baghdad during the opening week of Operation Iraqi Freedom, some media outlets questioned: "Are they getting any sleep?"
• Marines fast rope during PIX 2003 USMC News 28 Mar 2003 -- Marines and their Philippine counterparts burst onto a CH-53D Sea Stallion as if their life depended on it during a recent fast roping exercise. For some Philippine Marines this would be their first time stepping foot on a helicopter, and now they were being trained in the proper way to effectively board and depart one while maintaining there combat readiness.
• Afloat prepositioning: Key to U.S. war fighters' rapid response Military Sealift Command 28 Mar 2003 -- Violence erupts thousands of miles away from the nearest U.S. military base, yet troops and equipment are called upon to keep the peace and restore order. When minutes can mean the difference between life and death, the U.S. armed forces must be able to respond swiftly when requested to do so. Military Sealift Command's afloat prepositioning ships are an essential element in the military's ability to respond.
• U.S. European Command Returns Land to Government of Iceland EUCOM 28 Mar 2003 -- The Iceland Defense Force will formally return a 355-acre unused portion of the Agreed Area and Hvalfjordur (Whale Bay) Fuel Depot to the Government of Iceland.

• NATO Invitees Ready to Help Defend Alliance, State Department Says Washington File 28 Mar 2003 -- The seven countries that were invited to join NATO at the Prague Summit in November 2002 "have made an enduring commitment to the core values of NATO and ... each is ready, both politically and militarily, to contribute to the defense of the NATO Alliance," the State Department's Robert Bradtke told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee March 27.

• TANZANIA: Army destroys 9,800 landmines IRIN 28 Mar 2003 -- Tanzanian army engineers destroyed 9,837 anti-personnel landmines on Thursday, in compliance with an international landmines treaty that the country signed in 1997, news organisations reported.

Defense Industry

• BAE SYSTEMS Completes Acquisition Of Advanced Power Technologies, Inc. BAE Systems 28 Mar 2003 -- BAE Systems North America today completed its acquisition of Washington, D.C.-based Advanced Power Technologies, Inc. (APTI), following receipt of regulatory approval. The $27 million cash transaction complements BAE Systems intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance exploitation and information processing for defense, civil and commercial uses.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 28 Mar 2003
• UGANDA / ABDUCTIONS VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- new report ("Stolen Children: Abduction and Recruitment in Northern Uganda") says record numbers of children are being abducted by rebels in northern Uganda.
• HUMAN RIGHTS/SUDAN VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- The United Nations special human rights investigator for Sudan says there has been little improvement in conduct either by the government or rebel forces since its civil war began more than 20 years ago.
• ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Border ruling stays as it is, commission says IRIN 28 Mar 2003 -- The independent Boundary Commission has rejected calls by Ethiopia for variations to the contested border with neighbouring Eritrea and called for moving ahead with demarcation.
• BURUNDI: Government, AU sign agreement on peacekeeping force IRIN 28 Mar 2003 -- The African Union (AU) and the government of Burundi signed an agreement on Wednesday on the statutes for the AU peacekeeping force due for deployed to Burundi, the country news agency, APB, reported.
• NIGERIA: Obasanjo orders immediate arrest of militants IRIN 28 Mar 2003 -- President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday ordered the immediate arrest of ethnic militants who unleashed two weeks of violence in Nigeria's volatile Niger Delta that caused scores of deaths and halted oil operations.
• LIBERIA: Humanitarian workers dispersed by fighting, nine reach Cote d'Ivoire IRIN 28 Mar 2003 -- Nine out of 87 humanitarian workers based in Zwedru, northeastern Liberia, who lost contact on Thursday with their colleagues in the capital, Monrovia, arrived on Friday morning in Guiglo, western Cote d'Ivoire. The workers had scattered as they sought cover during fighting on Wednesday night, allegedly between Liberian government forces and rebels coming from Cote d'Ivoire.
• SIERRA LEONE: IRIN interview on disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration IRIN 28 Mar 2003 -- Sierra Leone’s National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR) set up in July 1998, plans to complete its mandate on 31 December this year. In an interview with IRIN in Freetown in mid-March, NCDDR Executive Secretary Dr Francis Kai-Kai gave a synopsis of the programme, its achievements and the challenges ahead.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 28 Mar 2003
• SHAPE News Summary Analysis SHAPE 28 Mar 2003
• TURKEY HIJACKING VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- A Turkish airlines flight was hijacked late Friday some 20 minutes after it took off from Istanbul en route for the Turkish capital, Ankara
• NIGERIA / STRIKE VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- Nigeria's main labor union is calling for a general strike next week to demand better pay. The threat of a strike is adding to concerns about stability in Nigeria ahead of the April 19th presidential elections.
• ZIMBABWE / POWER VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- Zimbabwe's electrical authority says it has to reduce power transmissions because it no longer has enough foreign currency to pay for imported electricity. The power cuts are a further blow to Zimbabwe's struggling economy.
• Annan voices appreciation for UN staff's loyalty and devotion during 'trying times' UN News Centre 28 Mar 2003 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan today wrote to United Nations staff conveying his appreciation for the devotion and loyalty they continue to show during "trying times."
• U.S. SARS Patients Getting Better, CDC Reports Washington File 28 Mar 2003 -- Officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported March 27 that some 50 U.S. patients suspected of having severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are improving, and do not appear to be developing the serious pneumonia that has taken the lives of patients in Asia and elsewhere.
• IVORY COAST / SAUDI VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- Authorities in Ivory Coast are investigating what they say was the murder of Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the West African country.
• ASIA/PNEUMONIA VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- The World Health Organization is recommending that airline passengers from areas with deadly pneumonia outbreaks be screened.
• CHINA/PNEUMONIA VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- World Health Organization experts say the Chinese government has agreed to start giving regular updates on the spread of a deadly respiratory disease in the country. The number of reported cases in China is expected to rise, as local officials begin to be more open about the illness.
• JAPAN/FUJIMORI VOA 28 Mar 2003 -- Japan says it will not comply with a request from Interpol, the international police agency, to arrest former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who lives in exile in Japan.
• CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly News Wrap IRIN 28 Mar 2003 -- In Central Asia this week a new report from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) suggests a growing number of young Uzbek women in the central Samarkand region were abandoning their children. “In February alone, Samarkand police found nine children who were left by their parents in streets,” the report said.
• ZIMBABWE: MDC call to security forces IRIN 28 Mar 2003 -- Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has called on the country's security forces to decide whether they are "with the people or against them" and to dissociate themselves from "militias".
• COTE D'IVOIRE: Saudi ambassador found dead IRIN 28 Mar 2003 -- Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire, Mohammed Ahmad al-Rasheed, was found dead on Friday in the economic capital Abidjan. Sources told IRIN he was found lying in a pool of blood on the 15th floor of the building where he lived, two floors down from his apartment. The circumstances surrounding his death were not immediately clear.