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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Rumsfeld announces move to stability Army News 02 May 2003 -- The emphasis of Operation Enduring Freedom is moving toward stability and security operations, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced during his visit to Afghanistan.
• AFGHANISTAN: NGOs say security still critical in the wake of Rumsfeld visit IRIN 02 May 2003 -- Following US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's statement in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday that the bulk of the country was now secure, and formal combat operations would cease, the aid community countered that Afghanistan was still dangerously insecure, and called on Washington to improve security as part of its contribution towards reconstruction.
• Home again -- 86th CRG returns to Ramstein USAFE 02 May 2003 -- The 86th Contingency Response Group returned to Ramstein with fanfare, flags and cheering crowds of loved ones April 27, after its deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• USS Grasp Returns to Little Creek Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- The Little Creek,Va.-based Rescue and Salvage ship USS Grasp (ARS 51) returned home May 2 after a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean.
• NAS Pensacola Salutes the Returning Home Team of VF-31 Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- Ten F-14D Tomcats, from Navy Fighter Squadron (VF) 31 Tomcatters, landed aboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola May 1, just minutes after the U.S. President George W. Bush landed aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), to declare an end to major military operations in Iraq.
• 401st AEW vital to Operation Iraqi Freedom USAFE 02 May 2003 -- The flight line is busy once again after being quiet for several days, but this time it's a different kind of 'busy'. This time it's busy with maintenance crews getting aircraft, cargo and passengers ready to fly home.
• Groton-Based Submarines Return to SUBASE After Deployments, Combat Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- Less than two weeks after USS Toledo (SSN 769) returned to SUBASE (Naval Submarine Base) from a rapid response wartime patrol, USS San Juan (SSN 751) and USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720) returned home from extended deployments to the accolades and embraces of their loved ones.
• Jamming squadron accomplishes mission, heads home ACCNS 02 May 2003 -- After more than 220 sorties, almost 2000 combat flying hours and more than 6000 jammed enemy signals in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the airmen of the 41st Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron can call it a day.
• Army completes Team Ellsworth ACCNS 02 May 2003 -- For the past two and a half months, Army National Guard soldiers from the 665th Maintenance Company have worked side by side with the 28th Security Forces Squadron, and according to the Guard's top enlisted man and Ellsworth's "top cop," the venture has been successful.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Americans Have Security Commitment to Future Generations AFPS 02 May 2003 -- Americans have a commitment to future generations to keep this country secure, President Bush said at a defense plant in California today.
• Lakenheath fighters intercept Russian aircraft USAFE 02 May 2003 -- Planning, training, and teamwork are three essential components in completing any successful mission. Friday morning, these elements were put to the test as a calm day suddenly became an active air defense mission.
• Fleet Hospital Reservists Train for Forward Deployment and Survival Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- There is nothing easy about treating a critically injured patient in a combat zone. It is always harder than you expect.
• NAVSUP Transfers Navy FMTs To FISCs Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- The Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) and the six Fleet and Industrial Supply Centers (FISC), located in Bremerton, Wash.; San Diego; Norfolk, Va.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Yokosuka, Japan, signed memorandums of agreement earlier this month to organizationally transfer the Navy Food Management Team (NFMT) function to the FISCs.
• Comfort Faces Different War Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- Since March 20, Comfort has performed more than 590 surgical procedures during Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom.
• South Florida Welcomes Ships of Fleet Week U.S.A. Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- Fleet Week U.S.A. kicked off April 28 in South Florida, as part of what organizers are calling a National Salute to the U.S. Military.
• Specialized Reservists Add Capability to Military Sealift Command Ships Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- More than 170 Naval Reservists specially trained in underway replenishment are working for the Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC), helping resupply combat ships supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Reserve Seabees Take Advantage of Rare Opportunity Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- Reservists with 1st Naval Construction Division took advantage of Marine support and several tactical landing zones to hone their battle skills.
• TR Completes 100,000 Successful Catapult Launches Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- The slam of a catapult slinging a naval aircraft from the flight deck into the air was heard for the 100,000th time aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) April 30.
• American Troops Withdraw from Saudi Arabia VOA 02 May 2003 -- The United States says it will withdraw all combat forces from Saudi Arabia by the end of August. American officials will move the troops and military aircraft from Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Air Base to nearby Qatar.
• USTRANSCOM supports Army's Stryker certification TRANSCOM 02 May 2003 -- The U.S. Transportation Command is working closely with the U.S. Army on its certification exercise for the Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

• U.S. Joins Albania, Croatia, Macedonia in Adriatic Charter Washington File 02 May 2003 -- Following is a State Department press release on the Adriatic Charter signed by the United States, Albania, Croatia and Macedonia May 2, 2003, in Tirana
• Bush Welcomes Albania, Croatia, Macedonia into Adriatic Partnership Washington File 02 May 2003 -- President Bush has welcomed the signing on May 2 of the Adriatic Charter of Partnership, which underscores U.S. support for the "shared aspirations of Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia to full integration into the Euro-Atlantic community," including membership in NATO.
• Bush to Host Foreign Ministers of NATO Candidates Washington File 02 May 2003 -- President Bush will preside at a White House ceremony May 8 for the foreign ministers of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia -- the seven nations invited to join NATO at the November 2002 summit in Prague.
• Robertson to Meet Bush, Attend Meeting on NATO-Ukraine Relations Washington File 02 May 2003 -- NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson will visit Washington May 4-5 where he will address the Conference on NATO-Ukraine Relations and also meet with President Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and members of Congress.

• CONCLUSION OF OPERATION DISPLAY DETERRENCE NATO AFSOUTH 02 May 2003 -- The last main elements of the forces deployed to participate in operation Display Deterrence will depart from Turkey on 3 May, 65 days after the deployment began on 26 February.

• Army's first space brigade stands up Army News 02 May 2003 -- Army Space Command activated the service's first and only space brigade April 11 with formation of the 1st Space Brigade (Provisional) in a ceremony held at the command headquarters, Peterson Air Force Base.

• CHINA SUBMARINE VOA 02 May 2003 -- Chinese state media say at least 70 sailors have been killed in an accident on board a submarine.

Defense Industry

• Lockheed Martin Receives $53M Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Contract from U.S. Navy Lockheed Martin 02 May 2003 -- Lockheed Martin received a $53 million, 5-year contract from the U.S. Navy for integration of its Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) on the Navy's F/A-18E/F aircraft. The JASSM program is currently in Low Rate Initial Production of Lots 1 and 2, which began in late 2001, for the U.S. Air Force.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 02 May 2003
• PRESS BRIEFING BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT United Nations 02 May 2003
• Senator Hagel Urges "Focused Leadership" on Roadmap to Mideast Peace Washington File 02 May 2003 -- Senator Chuck Hagel (Republican of Nebraska) says U.S. efforts in Iraq will impact the entire Middle East, and he urges "the same focused leadership" in pursuing the newly released "roadmap" to resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as that applied to Iraq.
• MIDEAST PEACE PROSPECTS VOA 02 May 2003 -- U-S officials and some Middle East analysts are expressing cautious hope that the new international peace plan called the roadmap could end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to travel to Israel and the West Bank next week to launch the detailed plan, which offers a step-by-step approach to end more than two-and-a-half years of violence and eventually lead to a Palestinian state by 2005.
• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS / ROADMAP VOA 02 May 2003 -- After months of delay, the Roadmap for Middle East peace has finally been unveiled, even though most of what it contains has been known and talked about for months. It was drafted by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, and envisions a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state by 2005. The question now is can it be implemented.
• ISRAEL/ACTIVISTS BAN VOA 02 May 2003 -- Israel plans to arrest and deport any international peace activists who illegally enter closed military areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

• DRC: Interview with Azarias Ruberwa, secretary general of RCD-Goma IRIN 02 May 2003 -- Azarias Ruberwa is the secretary-general and second-in-command to Adolphe Onusumba of the Rwandan-backed rebel movement, Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma). Ruberwa is leading RCD-Goma's delegation in the national follow-up committee for the inter-Congolese dialogue, responsible for establishing a two-year transitional national government to be headed by current DRC President Joseph Kabila.
• DRC: Advance team prepares arrival of 2,000 Bangladeshi troops IRIN 02 May 2003 -- An advance military team from Bangladesh arrived in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on Wednesday ahead of the deployment of some 2,000 Bangladeshi peacekeepers, Gen Mountaga Diallo, the force commander of the UN operation, told IRIN.
• Annan appoints four experts to investigate violations of Somali arms ban UN News Centre 02 May 2003 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed a four-person expert panel to investigate violations of the arms embargo against Somalia.
• U.S. Involvement in Sudan Peace Process Keeps Both Sides at Table Washington File 02 May 2003 -- Last July, the main adversaries in Sudan's brutal 20-year civil war took the first purposeful steps toward peace and gave a desperate Sudanese populace cause for hope. The United States government, among all international donors, has been integral in this push for an end to the fighting that has claimed over two million lives and destabilized the northeastern region of Africa, according to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
• Security Council hails 'milestone' political handover in Burundi UN News Centre 02 May 2003 -- Hailing the peaceful transfer of the Presidency in Burundi from the Tutsi minority to Hutu majority as a "major milestone" towards full implementation of the 2000 Arusha Agreement, the United Nations Security Council today urged all the parties to keep working together to successfully resolve other "pressing" transitional issues.
• RWANDA-ZAMBIA: Refugees repatriated from Zambia IRIN 02 May 2003 -- The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has begun repatriating more than 5,000 Rwandans living in Zambia as refugees, the UN agency reported on Thursday. The first 16 of the refugees arrived in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, aboard a Kenya Airways flight.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: UN in US $9.1-million appeal for war victims IRIN 02 May 2003 -- The UN system in the Central African Republic (CAR) appealed to donors on Wednesday for US $9.1 million to help two-thirds of the country's 3.7 million people directly affected by war.
• SIERRA LEONE: Liberia urged to hand over key fugitives IRIN 02 May 2003 -- The prosecutor of Sierra Leone's UN-backed Special Court, set up to try serious crimes committed during a decade of civil war, urged Liberian President Charles Taylor on Friday to hand over two key figures who are due to face trial.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Summary Analysis SHAPE 02 May 2003
• FRANCE / U-S VOA 02 May 2003 -- Amid reports the Bush administration is looking for ways to punish France for vigorously opposing the U-S-led war on Iraq, the French government appears to be responding with a two-part strategy. Officials are rushing to mend fences with the United States. But France also continues to back foreign policy initiatives not always in line with American ones.

• Plan for Khmer Rouge tribunal advances through UN committee UN News Centre 02 May 2003 -- A key United Nations committee today approved draft plans paving the way for the world body and the Cambodian Government to set up a war crimes court to try the former leaders of the Khmer Rouge.
• Haiti Must Act to End Political Crisis, U.S. OAS Official Says Washington File 02 May 2003 -- A recent discouraging report from members of the Organization of American States (OAS) and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) joint delegation to Haiti makes it abundantly clear that "it is time for Haiti to end the political crisis that has hindered the social and economic development of the Haitian people since the flawed elections of May 2000," says Ambassador Peter DeShazo, U.S. deputy permanent representative to the OAS.
• Rights Groups Criticize Kabul For Attacks, Threats On Journalists RFE/L 02 May 2003 -- International human rights and press freedom groups have reported a growing number of attacks and death threats against journalists in Afghanistan by security officials from the Defense Ministry, Interior Ministry, and intelligence service.
• TOGO ELECTION VOA 02 May 2003 -- With one month to go before presidential elections in Togo, the country's national electoral board today (Friday) declared the candidacy of popular opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio invalid. But President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who has been in power since 1967, is expected to win the vote whether or not he faces Mr. Olympio.
• SARS/WRAP VOA 02 May 2003 -- In Beijing, a medical expert says Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome will continue to spread for some time. But in Hong Kong, health officials are cautiously optimistic because the daily number of new SARS cases is consistently lower than it was.
• IVORY COAST/MEDIA VOA 02 May 2003 -- As the world marks Press Freedom Day Saturday, journalists in Ivory Coast are looking back on the challenges they have faced during seven months of civil war.
• KENYA / FLOODS VOA 02 May 2003 -- Kenya, days of torrential rains have caused flash floods that have killed 28 people and displaced over 10-thousand. And more rain is expected.
• ZIMBABWE / ARMY VOA 02 May 2003 -- Documents prepared by the opposition for submission to the Zimbabwe High Court indicate that the country's army ran the nerve center of last year's disputed presidential election, in violation of the constitution. The information is contained in an exchange of letters between the head of the Zimbabwe National Army and the head of the Zimbabwe Defense forces.
• W-H-O /SARS VOA 02 May 2003 -- The World Health Organization has removed the United States and Britain from the list of countries affected by the pneumonia-like disease SARS. It says China remains the major area where the disease must come under control.
• NIGERIA / OIL STANDOFF VOA 02 May 2003 -- Union leaders in Nigeria say they have secured the release of hundreds of oil workers, including about 100 foreigners, held captive by their Nigerian colleagues for two weeks on oil rigs in the Gulf of Guinea.
• CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap IRIN 02 May 2003 -- The United States on Wednesday lauded Central Asian countries for supporting its global anti-terrorism campaign. "Central Asia, which for years had suffered from Afghanistan-based extremism, saw no significant terrorist activity in 2002," the State Department said in its annual Patterns of Global Terrorism Report.
• ZIMBABWE: MDC calls for talks on transitional govt IRIN 02 May 2003 -- Zimbabwe's main opposition party this week responded to media speculation surrounding alleged talks on an "exit strategy" for President Robert Mugabe, by saying it would drop a legal challenge to last year's presidential poll if Mugabe agreed a retirement plan.
• NIGERIA: Fresh talks aim to end oil rig hostage crisis IRIN 02 May 2003 -- Fresh talks opened in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Friday to end an industrial dispute which has trapped hundreds of locals and foreigners aboard four offshore rigs in the Gulf of Guinea for nearly two weeks.
• NIGERIA: Oil workers evacuated as hostage crisis ends IRIN 02 May 2003 -- Helicopters on Friday night began evacuating nearly 300 oil workers whom striking colleagues had held hostage for 13 days on four oil rigs off the coast of Nigeria.