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Military


30 April 2003 Military News

Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

  • Center manages all OIF ground support AFPN 30 Apr 2003 -- Services. Logistics plans. Transportation. Ammo. Aircraft maintenance. Supply. Fuels. They are diverse, wide-ranging specialties, but they have one thing in common - they are tied together by the same nerve center bringing logistical support to Operation Iraqi Freedom's air warriors.
  • USNS Comfort Crew Comes Home Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- More than 400 Sailors regularly assigned at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda, Md., returned home today, after serving aboard hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) in the Arabian Gulf.
  • AFGHANISTAN: Mas'ud assassination probe welcomed IRIN 30 Apr 2003 -- Afghan and international human rights activists have welcomed the formation of a special commission by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to investigate the killing of the Afghan resistance leader, Ahmad Shah Mas'ud, in September 2001. However, they also called for broader investigations into past human rights abuses.

Defense Policy / Programs

  • USS Kitty Hawk celebrates 42 years of service 7th Fleet News 30 Apr 2003-- America's most seasoned aircraft carrier, USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), celebrated her 42nd birthday April 29.
  • Transcript: Secretary Rumsfeld Town Hall Meeting at Prince Sultan Air Base 30 Apr 2003 -- Town hall meeting at Prince Sultan Air Base, Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia
  • Transcript: Secretary Rumsfeld Town Hall Meeting in Baghdad 30 Apr 2003 -- Town hall meeting in Baghdad, Iraq

  • U.S. To Downscale Its Military Presence RFE/L 30 Apr 2003 -- U.S. and Saudi officials have agreed the United States will substantially cut the size of U.S. military forces in Saudi Arabia. The move could ease anti-U.S. sentiment in the kingdom, where the public has long been unhappy over the continuing presence of American troops since the 1991 Gulf War

  • DEPARTMENT OF NAVY TRANSFERS VIEQUES PROPERTY 30 Apr 2003 -- The Department of the Navy has transferred all real property on the eastern end of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico to the administrative jurisdiction of the Department of Interior as required under the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law 106-398), as amended by Section 1049 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107-107).
  • Department of Navy Transfers Vieques Property Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- The Department of the Navy (DoN) has transferred all real property on the eastern end of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, to the administrative jurisdiction of the Department of Interior (DoI) as required under the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law 106-398), as amended by Section 1049 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107-107).

  • DOD ANNOUNCES U.S. ARMY EUROPE FACILITIES RETURNED TO GERMANY 30 Apr 2003 -- The Department of Defense today announced that U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) will partially close the Giessen General Depot, Germany, and return its other facilities in Giessen, Friedberg, Butzbach, Wetzlar and Bad Nauheim in fiscal 2006-2008 as part of the U.S. Army's Efficient-Basing East project.

  • Air Force Realigns Combat Search and Rescue Operations USAF News Release 30 Apr 2003 -- Gen. John P. Jumper, United States Air Force Chief of Staff, directed the transfer of administrative control for select active duty Air Force combat search and rescue (CSAR) assets from Air Combat Command (ACC) to Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). PACAF/USAFE active duty units and PACAF gained Air Reserve Component units will remain separate from this action.

  • Kevlar-Clad Crowd Congratulated by Chief AFPS 30 Apr 2003 -- The crowd wore Kevlar as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld thanked the soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors of the coalition land forces during a town hall meeting at the international airport here today.
  • DoD Health Chief Lauds Wartime Military Medical Support AFPS 30 Apr 2003 -- The Pentagon's top civilian medical official praised military doctors, nurses, medics and other health care professionals for their "superb job" in Operation Iraqi Freedom during a roundtable with Pentagon reporters April 29.
  • Supporting 7th Fleet -- Kitty Hawk Celebrates More Than Four Decades of Service Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- On the back of an old Sunday newspaper insert, "Parade" in the San Diego Union, a record club advertises the albums of favorite recording stars like Chubby Checkers, Bobby Vinton and Johnny Mathis. An article inside offers insight on why teenage males in England are growing their hair long. Another informs the reader that the Beatles are becoming popular in the United States, with more than 50,000 fans enrolled in their fan club. On the cover, a picture of an A-3B Skywarrior heavy attack bomber as it lands on USS Kitty Hawk (CVA 63). The headline reads "America's First Line of Defense: The Seventh Fleet."
  • Crommelin Ends Successful 6 Month Deployment Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- April 22 marked the return of USS Crommelin (FFG 37) from a six-month deployment to the Southern Pacific, where it conducted counter-narcotics operations in support of Operation Caper Focus.
  • Test sets world land speed record AFPN 30 Apr 2003 -- A 192-pound, fully instrumented Missile Defense Agency payload traveled a little more than three miles in 6.04 seconds April 29, validating Holloman's high-speed test track hypersonic upgrades and setting a world land speed record.
  • Force development prepares airmen for success AFPN 30 Apr 2003 -- Force-development efforts are under way to ensure the Air Force's enlisted corps remains the best in the world, said the service's top enlisted leader.
  • AFSOC taking combat search, rescue AFPN 30 Apr 2003 -- The Air Force will turn over functional management of the combat search and rescue mission to Air Force Special Operations Command on Oct. 1.
  • Specialized Reservists change MSC ships Military Sealift Command 30 Apr 2003 -- More than 170 naval reservists specially trained in underway replenishment are working for the Navy's Military Sealift Command helping resupply combat ships supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  • Last flight of X-31 ends with 24-degree ESTOL NAVAIR 30 Apr 2003 -- Flight testing of the VECTOR X-31 ended April 29, following a week of successful demonstrations of the world's first fully automated, thrust vectored landings at up to 24 degrees angle of attack.
  • Space program pioneers meet AF leaders AFPN 30 Apr 2003 -- The father of the Air Force space program and a key leader in the development of weapons systems such as the Minuteman missile assembled former colleagues here April 23 to 27 for the annual meeting of the "Old Timers."
  • Human Performance Center: Maximizing Sailors Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- While not officially established, the Human Performance Center (HPC) is already changing the way the Navy does business. A key component of the Chief of Naval Operations' vision to revolutionize Navy training and education, this new command will be responsible for analyzing individual and organizational performance.
  • Airmen heard Japanese eagles PACAFNS 30 Apr 2003 -- When a KC-135 tanker and a fleet of F-15 Eagles took off from separate bases several hundred miles apart, airmen in the Airborne Warning and Control System showed them the way and ensured they had a safe contact at the same speed and altitude.

  • NATO Concludes Disaster Response Exercise in Uzbekistan Washington File 30 Apr 2003 -- During a NATO-led exercise held in the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan April 28-30, civil emergency teams from over 19 countries fought flooding and fires and sifted through rubble to rescue "victims."

  • U-S Policy Divide VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- The U-S State Department and the U-S Defense Department appear to differ on a broad range of issues from postwar Iraq to North Korea to the Middle East peace process. By and large, Defense takes a more hard-line, military approach, while State emphasizes negotiation and multilateral cooperation. This has led to some vigorous debate in the United States and some perplexity abroad. Foreign observers often say they are confronted with two sets of U-S policies.

Defense Industry

  • BAE SYSTEMS Awarded Contract For Facilities Management And Operation Of Holston Army Ammunition Plant BAE Systems 30 Apr 2003 -- ROCKVILLE, Maryland -- BAE Systems will continue to manage the U.S. Army's Holston Ammunition Plant in Kingsport, Tenn., under a $111 million contract modification. The new contract provides funding for the next five years of a 25-year contract originally awarded to BAE Systems in January 1999.
  • BAE SYSTEMS Awarded U.S. Army Explosives Contract BAE Systems 30 Apr 2003 -- ROCKVILLE, Maryland -- BAE Systems has been awarded a contract to supply explosives to the U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command (JMC), the Single Manager for Conventional Ammunition (SIMCA). The contract has a ceiling value of $141 million.
  • RAFAEL to show New HeliCOAT Simulator Rafael 30 Apr 2003 -- The HeliCOAT Simulator has been designed to demonstrate the advanced abilities of the HeliCOAT Weapon Suite for Combat Helicopters, which will be promoted at the Paris Air Show 2003 at RAFAEL's booth in the Israeli Pavilion. Visitors to the booth will be invited to step into the helicopter's "cockpit" and experience first-hand, the benefits of the HeliCOAT suite.

Other Conflicts

  • DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 30 Apr 2003

  • A Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Department of State 30 Apr 2003 -- The following is a performance-based and goal-driven roadmap, with clear phases, timelines, target dates, and benchmarks aiming at progress through reciprocal steps by the two parties in the political, security, economic, humanitarian, and institution-building fields, under the auspices of the Quartet [the United States, European Union, United Nations, and Russia]. The destination is a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict by 2005, as presented in President Bush's speech of 24 June, and welcomed by the EU, Russia and the UN in the 16 July and 17 September Quartet Ministerial statements.
  • Pledging UN support for Road Map, Annan appeals for all to 'stay the course' UN News 30 Apr 2003 -- Pledging total United Nations support to the Israelis and Palestinians in implementing the Road Map settlement for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appealed to both sides to "stay the course" on what may be a difficult path to peace.
  • Quartet releases Road Map to Middle East peace; Annan urges sides to embrace plan UN News 30 Apr 2003 -- The diplomatic Quartet - comprising the United Nations, United States, Russian Federation and European Union - released its Road Map for a permanent solution to the Middle East conflict today, a move immediately welcomed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who urged the two sides to embrace the plan.
  • CONGRESS/MIDEAST REACT VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- Some members of Congress are disappointed with President Bush's decision to move ahead with its roadmap for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
  • Bush Announces Formal Release of Roadmap for Mideast Peace Washington File 30 Apr 2003 -- Israel and the Palestinians April 30 were formally presented the "roadmap for peace" developed over the last few months by the United States in close cooperation with Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, President Bush announced in an April 30 statement.
  • Bush Says He Will Help Israelis, Palestinians Work Toward Peace Washington File 30 Apr 2003 -- Following the formal release to the Israelis and the Palestinians April 30 of the international "roadmap for peace" in the Middle East, President Bush urged both sides to end their violence and work with the United States, the international community "and directly with each other to immediately end the violence and return to a path of peace."
  • BRITAIN / MIDEAST VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- Britain is urging Israel and the Palestinians to work without delay to implement the new Middle East peace plan.
  • POWELL / MIDEAST VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- The Bush administration began a renewed push for Middle East peace Wednesday with release of the international "roadmap" that aims for an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord within three years. Secretary of State Colin Powell will spearhead the drive with two trips to the region in the next two weeks.
  • ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- The U-S Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Wednesday to officially deliver the long-awaited road map for Middle East Peace. Shortly afterwards, diplomats delivered the plan to the newly-installed Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
  • ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS VOA 30 Apr 2003-- A Palestinian suicide bomber killed three bystanders and injured at least 35 others when he blew himself up in front of a popular cafe in Tel Aviv. Among those claiming responsibility is a militant group linked to Fatah, the political faction of Yasser Arafat and his newly endorsed Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas
  • PALESTINIAN POLITICS VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- Mahmoud Abbas has been officially sworn in as the new Palestinian Prime Minister along with his Cabinet. The event is to trigger the release by Washington of a new blueprint for peace in the region later Wednesday. But the event was also marred by more violence - a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv early Wednesday that left four people dead and dozens injured.

  • SAF DIAMONDS VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- A three-day meeting designed to tighten controls on the trade in so-called "conflict diamonds" has ended in Johannesburg. Representatives from 70 countries focused on the implementation of what is known as the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, named for the South African mining city where it was launched.
  • AFRICA: Kimberley Process encounters rocky road IRIN 30 Apr 2003 -- Lobby groups on Wednesday said the failure of governments to agree to an independent monitoring system to prevent potential abuses of the Kimberley agreement on conflict diamonds could undermine the credibility of the scheme.

  • Burundi: as new President takes office, Annan laments unstable environment UN News 30 Apr 2003 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today cautioned that the second transition phase in Burundi, marked by the transfer of the Presidency from Tutsi minority to Hutu majority, was starting in an unstable environment as conflict persisted despite ceasefire agreements.
  • BURUNDI/TRANSITION VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- In Burundi, a new president has been sworn in as part of an ambitious peace plan that seeks to end a decade of civil war. Burundi's new leader pledged to fight ethnic conflict in the tiny central African country.

  • IVORY COAST/U-N VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- U-N aid agencies say the humanitarian situation in Ivory Coast is deteriorating and the ongoing conflict is increasing instability in the region. At a donors conference in Geneva, the aid agencies renewed their appeal for money to assist three-million vulnerable war-affected people in Ivory Coast and five neighboring countries until the end of the year.
  • IVORY COAST / TALKS VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- Army chiefs from Ivory Coast and Liberia met Wednesday in Abidjan to discuss deploying forces along their border, where rebel groups have recently been fighting against each other.
  • COTE D'IVOIRE: Annan appeals for financial support for peacekeepers IRIN 30 Apr 2003 -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed on Wednesday for 43 million euros (about US $48 million) to help sustain the West African peacekeeping force in Cote d'Ivoire for the next six months, expand its role and triple its size to 3,300 troops.

  • DR of Congo: UN envoy condemns violence in wake of historic meeting in capital UN News 30 Apr 2003 -- The head of the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has condemned the spate of violence in the country's volatile northeast, which threatened to eclipse an historic meeting between rebel leaders and Government officials in the capital, Kinshasa.
  • DRC: Deadline set for government candidate proposals IRIN 30 Apr 2003 -- The parties to a recent power-sharing accord in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have until 7 May to submit their lists of candidates for the national transitional government, the follow-up committee of the inter-Congolese dialogue said on Tuesday.
  • DRC: MONUC "deplores" resumption of fighting in east IRIN 30 Apr 2003 -- Amos Namanga Ngongi, the head of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), known as MONUC, said on Wednesday that he "deplored" the resumption of fighting in eastern regions of the country, particularly "at a time when we are talking about war ending".

  • UN force helping to facilitate movement of Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots UN News 30 Apr 2003 -- The United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus today said it was working with both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides to help people move to and from the northern and southern sides of the island.
  • International Community to Discuss Progress of Guatemalan Peace Accords Washington File 30 Apr 2003 -- Members of the Guatemalan government will meet with the international community to discuss how to accelerate progress of the 1996 peace accords for Guatemala and on strengthening efforts to reduce poverty in the Central American nation.
  • SRI LANKA/PEACE VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- Sri Lanka's Prime Minister has asked the rebel Tamil Tigers to reconsider their decision to suspend peace talks with the government. Efforts to revive the talks have raised hopes of ending the two-decade-long ethnic conflict on the island nation.
  • UGANDA: Fear for children as ceasefire collapses in north IRIN 30 Apr 2003 -- The head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Carol Bellamy, has expressed concern over the renewed abduction of children and women by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) following the recent collapse a ceasefire in northern Uganda.
  • SUDAN: Opposition groups call for widening peace process IRIN 30 Apr 2003 -- A meeting of Sudanese opposition groups, which ended this week in the Eritrean capital Asmara, has endorsed Sudan's ongoing peace process, but warned that lasting peace could not be achieved without a broad-based national consensus.
  • RWANDA: Ensure trial of released detainees, Amnesty urges Kigali IRIN 30 Apr 2003 -- Human rights NGO Amnesty International (AI) has urged the Rwandan government to establish a monitoring system to ensure the trial of more than 25,000 genocide suspects who have been granted provisional release.
  • GUINEA: Government relocates refugee camps IRIN 30 Apr 2003 -- The Guinean government is to relocate all refugees camps in the country to the Laine and Albaderia zones near the eastern border with Cote'dIvoire and Liberia, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Guinea, said.
  • CONGO: ICJ completes hearings on French prosecution of "Beach" case IRIN 30 Apr 2003 -- The International Court of Justice has completed public hearings on a petition filed by the Republic of Congo (ROC) seeking to prevent France from conducting trials against members of its government for alleged violations of human rights, the court reported from The Hague, Netherlands, on Tuesday.

News Reports

  • SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 30 Apr 2003
  • SHAPE News Summary Analysis SHAPE 30 Apr 2003

  • CDC Director Says Global Collaboration Needed to Deal with SARS Washington File 30 Apr 2003 -- A U.S. health official says severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) provides striking evidence that a disease that emerges or reemerges anywhere in the world can spread far and wide. Protecting the health of the U.S. population requires global awareness and collaboration, says Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  • SARS/MEXICO VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- Mexican authorities are taking special steps to prevent an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome -- coordinating health monitoring activities on its borders and carrying out special inspections at airports and seaports. Cooperation is seen as the key to managing any problem that might occur.
  • CHINA SARS VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- Beijing's new mayor says Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, is stretching the city's medical facilities and personnel to the limit. Drastic measures are being taken to deal with the disease.

  • U.S. Official Submits Plan to Strengthen Democracy in the Americas Washington File 30 Apr 2003 -- Member countries of the Organization of the American States (OAS) should consider making voluntary financial contributions to programs of the inter-American system that strengthen democracy in the Western Hemisphere, says Peter DeShazo, U.S. deputy permanent representative to the OAS.
  • Yemen, Qatar Praised for "Significant Milestones" Towards Democracy Washington File 30 Apr 2003 -- Secretary Powell congratulated the governments and citizens of Yemen and Qatar on behalf of the United States for "significant milestones" made in late April to advance democracy and representative governments in both countries.
  • CONGRESS/HUMAN RIGHTS VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- A senior U-S official says Washington's decision not to sponsor a resolution critical of China at this year's meeting of the U-N Human Rights Commission decision was aimed at winning increasing cooperation from Beijing on its human rights record. The comments came during a hearing of the House (of Representatives) terrorism subcommittee.
  • NIGERIA / OIL STAND-OFF VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- Negotiations to free 100 foreigners held captive for two weeks on oil rigs off Nigeria have broken down without progress.
  • ZIMBABWE/MAYOR VOA 30 Apr 2003 -- Zimbabwe's minister of local government says he has fired the mayor of Harare, who was elected a year ago on an opposition ticket. Many taxpayers have reacted angrily and said that if the mayor is forced to leave office, they will withhold payment of their monthly taxes.
  • THAILAND/CAMBODIA VOA 30 Apr 2003-- The prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia said Wednesday that ties between their two countries are back to normal following anti-Thai riots in Cambodia's capital last January
  • AUSTRALIA / U-S SUMMIT PREVIEW VOA 30 Apr 2003-- Australia's Prime Minister John Howard is on his way to the United States to visit President Bush at his ranch in Texas. Mr. Howard will discuss post-war reconstruction in Iraq and will lobby for a share of lucrative commercial contracts. Australia sent two-thousand troops to the campaign in Iraq - it's largest combat deployment since the war in Vietnam
  • THAILAND/DRUG WAR VOA 30 Apr 2003-- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says a controversial anti-drug campaign has eradicated 90 percent of Thailand's illegal drug trafficking
  • INDONESIA TERROR VOA 30 Apr 2003-- Indonesian prosecutors have formally charged the first man accused of involvement in last October's bomb attack on the island of Bali, in which more than 200 people died. The move comes as the trial of the alleged leader of Indonesia's main terrorist organization moves into its second day in Jakarta
  • BURUNDI: Interview with Ambassador Mamadou Bah, the African Union interim chairman's special envoy IRIN 30 Apr 2003 -- Burundi is due to experience a shift in the political balance of power on 1 May when President Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, hands over power to Domitien Ndayizeye, a Hutu.
  • JSAT Corporation Awards Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems Contract for Powerful A2100 Satellite Lockheed Martin 30 Apr 2003 -- Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) has been awarded a contract by JSAT Corporation of Japan to build its latest geostationary telecommunications satellite.



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