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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• Transcript: DoD News Briefing - Mr. Di Rita and Mr. Slocombe 17 Sep 2003 -- Briefing on the status of the New Iraqi Army and Police Force. Participating was Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Lawrence Di Rita and Walter Slocombe, Coalition Provisional Authority Special Advisor on Security and Defense.
• Iraq: Four U.S. Soldiers Reported Wounded In Separate Attacks RFE/RL 17 Sep 2003 -- A report today says four U.S. soldiers were wounded in two separate attacks near Baghdad.
• PAKISTAN: Repatriations to Afghanistan this year top 300,000 IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- The repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, assisted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), passed the 300,000 mark on Wednesday, when a further 1,963 Afghans left the validation centres on the Pakistani side of the border for their homeland.
• KOSOVO/MYERS VOA 17 Sept 2003-- The top U-S military officer says the United States is reassessing its involvement in peacekeeping operations in the Balkans
• NATO/DRUGS VOA 17 Sept 2003-- The head of the U-N office on drugs and crime is urging NATO forces to cut drug trafficking routes in Afghanistan, in order to help President Hamid Karzai stabilize his country
• Myers Gets Upbeat Report on Kosovo AFPS 17 Sept 2003-- Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers had just finished answering a news conference question here on how long U.S. troops would be in Iraq when a Kosovar reporter piped up, "We want you to stay here for a hundred years," he said.
• National Guard Bureau Chief Visits Deployed Guardsmen AFPS 17 Sept 2003-- The chief of the National Guard Bureau visited National Guard troops on duty in Iraq and Afghanistan this month.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Transcript: Secretary Rumsfeld Remarks at the All-Volunteer Force Conference 17 Sep 2003 -- "The men and women in uniform today are as I'm sure the people in this room know without question is the finest military in the world and I would say probably the finest military the world has ever seen. This concept of an All-Volunteer Force has been a booming success, it works."
• Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group Returns Home Navy Newsstand 17 Sept 2003-- The USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Carrier Strike Group (CSG) returned home to the United States Sept. 15, following an eight-month deployment to the western Pacific.
• B-2 drops 80 test JDAMs AFPB 18 Sept 2003-- A B-2 Spirit bomber here released 80 inert joint direct attack munitions Sept. 10 for the first time, clearing the way for warfighters to attack that many individual targets on a single bomb run.
• Fuels branch airmen repair tanks, increase storage AFPB 18 Sept 2003-- With a little bit of ingenuity and hard work, airmen in the 506th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels branch here were able to salvage enemy assets and use them to their advantage.
• KC-135 brakes changing to carbon AFPB 18 Sept 2003-- Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker brake systems will go from metal to lighter, longer-lasting carbon now that service officials approved an initiative proposed here, that will save millions in tax payer dollars.

Defense Industry

• JSF Facility Opened At BAE SYSTEMS, Samlesbury BAE Systems 17 Sep 2003 -- A new, 11 million pound, state-of-the-art production facility, that will be used to produce major assemblies for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been officially opened at BAE Systems Samlesbury.
• BAE SYSTEMS, SBS Technologies Cooperate On Processing Solutions For Safety-Critical Applications BAE Systems 17 Sep 2003 -- BAE Systems, a leader in ARINC-653-compliant technology for real-time operating systems, and SBS Technologies Inc., a developer and producer of open-architecture embedded computer products, have joined forces to market systems for safety-critical use.
• U.S. Air Force B-2 Bomber Drops 80 JDAMS in Historic Test Boeing 17 Sep 2003 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and the U.S. Air Force successfully completed their first 80 guided weapon flight test demonstration of the MK-82 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). The drop took place from a B-2A bomber on September 10 at the Utah Test & Training Range, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
• Boeing Awarded Battle Management Command And Control Subsystem Contract Boeing 17 Sep 2003 -- The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing [NYSE:BA] an initial $4 million Phase 1 contract to define requirements for the Battle Management Command and Control (BMC2) subsystem of the Air Force Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A) program.
• EADS Commits more than € 80 Million in Company Funding to Develop Systems, Technology for U.S. Tanker Aircraft EADS 17 Sep 2003 -- EADS, one of the world’s largest defence and aerospace companies, is investing more than € 80 million of company funding in developing technology and systems to position it as a strong competitor for the U.S. Air Force’s future aerial tanker modernisation requirements.
• Northrop Grumman Selected as Aerial Sensor Integrator for U.S. Army's Future Combat System Effort Northrop Grumman 17 Sep 2003 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) California Microwave Systems (CMS) will serve as the aerial sensor integrator for the U.S. Army's Future Combat System (FCS) program.
• Northrop Grumman Software Controls Successful Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Flight Test Northrop Grumman 17 Sep 2003 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) provided ground command and launch equipment (CLE) software for a successful flight test of a prototype booster for the ground-based midcourse defense (GMD) program. The launch took place last month from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
• Northrop Grumman Selected to Develop Strategic Illuminator Laser for Missile Defense Agency Northrop Grumman 17 Sep 2003 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Space Technology sector will develop the Strategic Illuminator Laser (SILL) for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), providing a crucial component for systems such as the Airborne Laser (ABL) and future space-based programs.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT United Nations 17 Sep 2003
• DRC: Focus on the challenge UN troops face in Ituri District IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- Even though the new Bangladeshi troops of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) stepped onto Bunia's dusty airport in early September with apparent breezy confidence, they were under no illusion of the difficult task ahead.
• DRC: IRIN interview with Ituri administration leader Petronille Vaweka IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- Petronille Vaweka is the president of the interim administration of the embattled Ituri District, Orientale Province of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a natural resource-rich region that has been devastated by several years of economically driven ethnic strife that has resulted in the death of some 50,000 people and the displacement of another 500,000 since August 1998, when the latest war in the Congo erupted.
• DRC: NGO urges "political and military boldness" to sustain peace IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- Refugees International has called for "political and military boldness" in helping the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through its precarious transition from war to peace, with particular attention given to the role of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, known as MONUC.
• DRC: EU calls Artemis operation "a big success" IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- The recent EU-led multinational peace enforcement mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Operation Artemis, was a "big humanitarian, military and political success", Aldo Ajello, the EU special representative for Africa’s Great Lakes Region, said on Wednesday during a debriefing for the media in Brussels, Belgium.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: UN office gets one-year extension IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- The Security Council has approved a one-year extension of the United Nations Peace-building Support Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA), so that the office could help see the country through elections in 2004, UN News reported on Wednesday.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Ministers urge refugees to return home IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- Two Central African Republic (CAR) ministers have called upon some 41,000 refugees who have been living in southern Chad since early 2003 to return home, Radio Centrafrique reported on Tuesday.
• India begins peace talks to end violence in Northeast in Amsterdam IRNA 17 Sep 2003 -- Indian authorities and leaders of a front line tribal separatist group begins peace talks Wednesday in Amsterdam, aimed at ending more than 56-years of violent insurgency in the country`s northeast, officials said.
• SUDAN-CHAD: Thousands of Sudanese refugees in Chad in need of urgent assistance IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- Thousands of refugees who have fled insecurity in Darfur, western Sudan, and are currently scattered along the border with Chad, are in urgent need of assistance, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
• SUDAN: UN plans for post-conflict era IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- The UN has submitted a plan to the Sudanese government, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army rebel group and donors to spend over US $140 million on immediate assistance to the country in the event of a peace deal.
• SIERRA LEONE: Former junta member indicted for war crimes IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- Santigie Kanu, a non-commissioned officer who formed part of a military junta that ruled Sierra Leone from 1997 to 1998, was indicted for war crimes on Wednesday by the country's UN-backed Special Court.
• LIBERIA: Taylor meddling in Liberian politics, diplomats say IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- The government of Nigeria has warned exiled former Liberian president Charles Taylor to stop meddling in his country's political affairs if he wishes to remain in the country.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 17 Sep 2003 -- Defense chief sees no link between Iraq and al-Qaida's Sept. 11 attacks / Americans offering "simple, honourable" way out for fugitive defense minister / U.S. official says militants in Iraq are coming across Syrian border / Despite larger commitments, U.S. forces take medical aid to mission in Morocco
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 17 Sep 2003 -- U.S. envoy: Additional headquarters would duplicate NATO / Pentagon urged to divert troops from Balkans / Humanitarian agency calls for rapid expansion of ISAF's mandate / Spanish premier calls for NATO-style peace force in Iraq
• GUINEA BISSAU / COUP VOA 17 Sept 2003-- The ousted president of Guinea Bissau has formally resigned, after meeting with a West African delegation that is trying to mediate an end to the crisis sparked by Sunday's bloodless coup d'etat
• GUINEA-BISSAU: Kumba Yala supports formation of new government IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- Ousted president Kumba Yala urged the people of Guinea Bissau on Wednesday to support the formation of a government of national unity that would lead the small West African country to fresh elections "within a reasonable period."
• AFRICA: Former Malian president takes over as AU chair IRIN 17 Sep 2003 -- Former Malian president Alpha Oumar Konare spoke of the enormous task ahead on Tuesday as he took over the reins of power at the African Union (AU) for the next four years. The 57-year-old professor of history and archaeology admitted that financial backing and international support for the year-old AU were vital for its success.