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Military


20 May 2003 Military News

Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

Defense Policy / Programs

  • Transcript: DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers 20 May 2003 -- "The only thing we've done that I know of is that we have proposed that the absolute ban on the study of a deep-earth penetrator has been removed from the bill at our instance, because we do intend to study a variety of types of deep earth penetrators, for very good reason. (...) That's why we want to study it. And we're kind of inclined to think that the idea that we should not be allowed to study such a weapon is not a good idea. We think it -- for one thing, I -- and then I'll ask Dick to comment on the possible use against, for example, chemical or biological storage areas, where a conventional weapon could have a disastrous effect and a low-yield nuclear weapon conceivably could have an effect that would be -- that would mitigate some of the problems with a conventional weapon. But the -- it's important to appreciate that to the extent the United States is prohibited from studying the use of such weapons -- for example, for a deep earth penetrator -- the effect in the world is that it tells the world that they're wise to invest in going underground. And that's not a good thing, from our standpoint"

  • Wing, Group Marines go airborne Marine Corps News 20 May 2003-- -- Marines here were not surprised when they looked up and saw stinger missiles raining down on them. It was all part of a master plan...to re-supply them from the air.
  • OIF vets from Hawaii return home Marine Corps News 20 May 2003-- Thirty-nine Marines from 1st Radio Battalion received a warm welcome home at the Honolulu International Airport late Monday evening as they returned from a three-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  • CJTF-HOA helps mend rift between U.S. and Sudan Marine Corps News 20 May 2003-- A Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa United States military aircraft, on a logistics support mission, landed in Sudan May 17. It was the first time an American aircraft has landed in Sudan in ten years, according to Army Col. Dennis Giddens, a U.S. Defense Liaison Officer (DLO) in Sudan.
  • ACU 5: An Exciting Alternative To Shipboard Life Navy Newsstand 20 May 2003-- "I love life at sea." Those words can be heard every day aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4) by Sailors who venture into the ship's well deck and onto Landing Craft (LC) 52, one of three Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCACs) embarked aboard Boxer in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  • USS Peleliu Celebrates 23rd Birthday Navy Newsstand 20 May 2003-- Amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) celebrated its 23rd birthday May 3.
  • Air Wing Training Resumes at Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center Navy Newsstand 20 May 2003-- For months, the skies over Fallon have been relatively quiet. But, that has recently changed.
  • Sailors and Marines Descend on Baumholder, Germany for Combined Endeavor 2003 Navy Newsstand 20 May 2003-- The home of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, landlocked Baumholder, Germany, has become the Navy's and Marine Corps' newest port. Sailors and Marines have converged on the town as Combined Endeavor (CE) 2003 is in full swing. A yearly U.S. European Command sponsored exercise, CE-03 involves more than 1,000 military and civilian personnel from almost 40 NATO and Partnership for Peace nations.
  • KC-135 receiving communications relay ability AFPN 20 May 2003-- The KC-135 Stratotanker will soon add a communications capability to its mission.
  • Bandwidth increasing for some bases AFPN 20 May 2003-- The Department of Defense is planning to beef up Internet access at 92 military installations by the end of fiscal 2004 as part of the global information grid bandwidth expansion project.
  • New bearing system could cut costs AFPN 20 May 2003-- Advances in bearing systems for engines powering target drones and cruise missiles could cut costs by 20 percent and increase fuel efficiency.
  • Tanker Airlift Control Center opens new ops center Air Mobility Command 20 May 2003-- After a year of planning and six months of renovation, the Air Force's newest air operations center opened for business here May 8.
  • Gold Eagle to nest in Guam for flight-deck resurfacing 7th Fleet News 20 May 2003-- USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) returned to Guam May 19 to resurface the carrier's 4 ½-acre flight deck.
  • New Office to Help Set DoD Intelligence Priorities AFPS 20 May 2003 -- Looking to the future and setting the defense priorities for the intelligence community will be the focus of the new Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence in the Pentagon.
  • Helo detachment provides valuable service for 7th Fleet staff 7th Fleet News 20 May 2003-- As the sole method of transportation off ship while underway, the Sailors of Helicopter Squadron Light (HSL) 51 Detachment 11 are tasked with a demanding, and often self-sufficient, workload.

  • EU: Official Declares Rapid Reaction Force Operational, If Not Rapid RFE/L 20 May 2003 -- The European Union yesterday declared its 60,000-strong Rapid Reaction Force operational, although acknowledging that shortcomings remain. The EU's foreign policy and security chief, Javier Solana, said last night that the EU's military capability could soon be tested in peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Defense Industry

  • BAE SYSTEMS MIDASS Security Management Suite Certified BAE Systems 20 May 2003 -- BAE Systems C4ISR's Management In Domain-based Secure Systems (MIDASS) computer security management firewall has been certified by the UK government's national technical authority for Information assurance, the Communications Electronic Security Group (CESG).
  • Lockheed Martin Awarded Strategic War Planning Contract Lockheed Martin 20 May 2003 -- Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $1.1 million Phase 1 contract to for the U.S. Strategic Command's (USSTRATCOM) Strategic War Planning System Modernization (SWPS-M). SWPS-M is a broad effort to enhance strategic warfighting from operational concept development through planning and execution.
  • General Dynamics Receives $10.2 Million Contract for F/A-18E/F Gun Systems General Dynamics 20 May 2003 -- General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has received a $10.2 million contract option from the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., for an additional production run of 45 F/A-18 E/F 20mm M61A2 gun systems.
  • Starstreak Missile Export Success Thales 20 May 2003 -- Thales Air Defence Limited today announced their first multi-million pound export order for their Starstreak missile sytem. The order is to satisfy the Republic of South Africa's first phase of their Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) programme - Local Warning Segment (LWS).

Other Conflicts

  • Bush Talks with Palestinian and Israeli Prime Ministers Washington File 20 May 2003 -- President Bush began his day May 20 by placing a phone call to new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas -- the first time he has spoken to him, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters.
  • Recent developments give 'glimmer of hope' to Middle East peace process - UN envoy UN News Centre 20 May 2003 -- Although living conditions in both Israel and the Palestinian areas were worsening, there has been significant and historic political developments in the Middle East peace process, providing a "ray of light and a glimmer of hope," the senior United Nations envoy for that region, Terje Roed-Larsen, said today.
  • BUSH / PALESTINIANS VOA 20 May 2003 -- President Bush Tuesday spoke for the first time with the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. They discussed efforts to fight terrorism in the Middle East and the president repeated that he is committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
  • BUSH / PALESTINIANS VOA 20 May 2003 -- President Bush Tuesday spoke for the first time with the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Mr. Bush also telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss a Middle East peace plan threatened by renewed violence.
  • ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS VOA 20 May 2003 -- Israeli forces have withdrawn from a town in the northern Gaza Strip that they seized in a raid last week to try to halt Palestinian rocket attacks.
  • JAPAN MIDEAST PEACE VOA 20 May 2003 -- Israeli and Palestinian delegates at unofficial and low-key talks in Japan are calling for their governments to implement the so-called road map for peace.

  • UN helps Timor-Leste celebrate first anniversary of independence UN News Centre 20 May 2003 -- The United Nations mission in Timor-Leste helped the fledgling nation celebrate its first anniversary of independence today by opening a photo exhibition with some 80 photos, slide shows and videos highlighting the partnership between the UN and the Timorese people.
  • DR of Congo: UN mission patrols Bunia, reassures local population UN News Centre 20 May 2003 -- With the relative calm holding in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations mission in the country continues to patrol the town of Bunia, trying to ease ethnic tensions and reassure the terrified local population.
  • CONGO FIGHTING VOA 20 May 2003 -- A French military team is assessing the possibility of deploying a major U-N force in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Local people in the town of Bunia are eager for foreign intervention to bring an end to ethnic fighting.
  • LIBERIA / REFUGEES VOA 20 May 2003 -- Thousands of Liberians are streaming into Ivory Coast as the civil war in Liberia escalates in the border region. The exodus comes as Liberian rebels have taken over a key timber port town.
  • INDONESIA / ACEH VOA 20 May 2003 -- The international community is calling on the Indonesian government and Acehnese rebels to return to peace talks, after Jakarta launched a military assault on the province. But there is no sign that talks are likely to take place soon.
  • LIBERIA: Over 10,000 refugees flee to Cote d'Ivoire to escape fighting IRIN 20 May 2003 -- At least 10,000 people have fled into Cote d'Ivoire to escape fighting around the Liberian port town of Harper, Maryland County, which fell to rebels at the weekend, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.
  • RWANDA: UN Security Council extends terms for tribunal judges IRIN 20 May 2003 -- The UN Security Council extended on Monday the terms of office for four judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, allowing them to complete the genocide trials that they are involved in, UN News reported.
  • DRC-UGANDA: More refugees enter Uganda as army completes pullout IRIN 20 May 2003 -- A further 5,000 refugees from the troubled Ituri region of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) walked into Uganda's Nebbi District between Sunday night and Monday, government sources and international observers told IRIN.
  • COTE D'IVOIRE: Agencies say food situation getting worse in the north IRIN 20 May 2003 -- A relief agency said on Tuesday that the precarious food supply situation in the rebel-held north of Cote d'Ivoire was getting worse and many cotton farmers there had been unable to sell enough of their crop to buy food.
  • AFRICA: Multi-million dollar project to tackle conflict IRIN 20 May 2003 -- The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is backing a multi-million dollar project to combat “the scourge of violent conflicts” in Africa.

News Reports

  • Int'l Meeting on Nuclear Imports Opens in Busan Korea-net 20 May 2003 -- Nuclear supplier nations on Monday (May 19) started a meeting in Busan to agree on intensified monitoring measures to prevent North Korea from obtaining nuclear equipment and materials, officials said.

  • SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 20 May 2003
  • SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 20 May 2003
  • ASIA SARS VOA 20 May 2003 -- The Philippines says it is free of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and the World Health Organization says it is safe to visit the country. A top Chinese official expressed disappointment that the U-N agency has not removed travel advisories on parts of southern China and Hong Kong.
  • ASIA / SARS VOA 20 May 2003 -- As new infections of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome continue to decline in China, officials say their containment measures are working. But the World Health Organization still has reservations about Beijing's reporting methods. Meanwhile, Taiwan continues to grapple with the world's fastest growing SARS outbreak.
  • BUSH / CUBA VOA 20 May 2003 -- President Bush marked Cuban Independence Day (Tuesday) with a broadcast message to the Cuban people and a meeting at the White House with Cuban dissidents who now live in the United States.
  • U-S/CANADA/MAD COW VOA 20 May 2003 -- The United States has banned shipments of cattle and livestock products from its largest trading partner, Canada, after the discovery of a case of mad cow disease there.
  • EAST TIMOR ANNIVERSARY VOA 20 May 2003 -- East Timor is celebrating its first year as an independent nation. But its leaders are struggling to use the benefits of freedom to improve life in the impoverished country.
  • ETHIOPIA: Federalism has prevented "disintegration", gov't says IRIN 20 May 2003 -- Ethiopia’s federal political structure has prevented the “national disintegration” of the country, the government said on Tuesday.
  • CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Kolingba regains army rank IRIN 20 May 2003 -- Former Central African Republic (CAR) President Andre Kolingba, who was sentenced to death in absentia in August 2002 for involvement in a coup attempt, has had his army rank of lieutenant general restored to him, under a presidential decree.
  • NIGERIA: Police alleges plot to scuttle Obasanjo's swearing-in IRIN 20 May 2003 -- A plot by some unnamed groups to mar the inauguration of President Olusegun Obasanjo for a second four-year term on 29 May has been unearthed, Nigerian police reported on Tuesday. The plot involved mass demonstrations and planting explosives around Nigeria, they said.
  • Boeing EDD Completes Delivery of Linearized C-Band Amplifiers to Orbital Boeing 20 May 2003 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] has completed the delivery of the third flight set of Linearized Channel-Amplified Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers to Orbital Sciences Corporation [NYSE: ORB]. The C-Band payload hardware will be integrated into three Galaxy satellites for the PanAmSat Corporation.



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