Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 28 Mar 2005 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• Insurgents Attack Police In Baghdad RFE/RL 28 Mar 2005 -- Insurgents attacked Iraqi security forces in Baghdad today, gunning down a neighborhood police chief and hitting a patrol with a roadside bomb.
• Deployed Troops Getting Best Protection Available AFPS 28 Mar 2005 -- Senior enlisted leaders say they're confident all necessary measures are being taken to ensure servicemembers deployed throughout U.S. Central Command have the best protection possible.
• Multi-National Forces detain key terrorists MNF-I/MNC-I 28 Mar 2005 -- Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), detained ten suspected terrorists during operations in northern Iraq March 27.
• Truman Strike Group Heads Home, Vinson Strike Group Takes Watch Navy NewsStand 28 Mar 2005 -- The USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Carrier Strike Group concluded operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and maritime security operations (MSO) March 19, after being relieved by the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Carrier Strike Group in the Persian Gulf.
• MQ-1 Predator crashes in Iraq AFPN 28 Mar 2005 -- An Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle crashed about 10 p.m. EST on March 26 in the vicinity of Balad, Iraq.
• Iraqi Freedom deployments help Airmen understand war AFPN 28 Mar 2005 -- For Tech. Sgt. Aaron Otte and Staff Sgt. Ron Beard, both security forces Airmen assigned to the 416th Expeditionary Mission Support Squadron security forces flight and deployed here from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom on past deployments is something they said they will never forget.

• Afghan Military Academy Opens Gates to Future Leaders AFPS 28 Mar 2005 -- The new National Military Academy of Afghanistan celebrated its grand opening March 22.
• Afghan opium cultivation dropping, according to preliminary UN survey UN News Centre 28 Mar 2005 -- Farmers in Afghanistan, which accounts for 87 per cent of the world's opium and heroin products, are growing fewer opium poppies this year than last and overall output is expected to drop for the first time since 2001, according to the latest United Nations survey released ahead of a detailed annual report in the autumn.

Defense Policy / Programs

• DoD to Temporarily Oversee Selected Air Force Programs 28 Mar 2005 -- The Department of Defense announced today that to ensure continuity of program oversight during this time of transition with a new acting secretary of the Air Force, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Michael Wynne has designated all major defense acquisition programs managed by the Air Force and designated ACAT (acquisition category) 1C programs to temporarily be placed under his authority.
• Facing the Future: Transforming DoD Is 'Constant Process' AFPS 28 Mar 2005 -- Though he is charged with helping to lead the Defense Department's transformation efforts into the 21st century, the commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command believes the word "transformation" can be a misleading term.
• New Course Prepares NCOs for Joint Ops in Southwest Asia AFPS 28 Mar 2005 -- A new training course for senior enlisted leaders is giving them skills that are proving invaluable in Southwest Asia, the command chief master sergeant for U.S. Central Command told the American Forces Press Service at the command's forward headquarters here.
• Official: Airmen less blue-, more fight-oriented AFPN 28 Mar 2005 -- Airmen are contributing to the success of coalition operations in Iraq and Afghanistan by being less blue- and more fight-oriented, said U.S. Central Command's deputy director of operations.
• BHR Visits United Arab Emirates Navy NewsStand 28 Mar 2005 -- The San Diego-based USS Bonhomme Richard (BHR) (LHD 6) made a five-day port visit to Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, March 7-12.
  
  
• Pakistan may purchase 70 F-16 jets IRNA 28 Mar 2005 -- Pakistan Air force is likely to purchase about 70 F-16 jets of the latest Block 50/52 C and D type models costing about US dollars 2.4-2.8 billion.
• PAKISTAN / INDIA / ARMS SALES VOA 28 Mar 2005 -- The Bush administration announced last week it would sell F-16 warplanes to Pakistan. But often overlooked was the simultaneous announcement that the United States would also sell arms, including F-16s, to India. The United States is engaged in a delicate balancing act in South Asia.
• INDIA/U.S. MILITARY VOA 28 Mar 2005 -- India says it will consider buying military equipment from the United States. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, the comment comes days after New Delhi protested a U.S. decision to sell F-16 fighter jets to rival Pakistan.
  
  
• State Department Briefing, March 28 Washington File 28 Mar 2005 -- Indonesia/earthquake near northern Sumatra, tsunami monitoring/warning efforts, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, China/Taiwan, Syria, UN, Sudan

Defense Industry

• RAFAEL Supplies Armored Wolves to the IDF Rafael 28 Mar 2005 -- The Israel Ministry of Defense has confirmed it has placed an order for the WOLF, Light Armored Vehicle (LAV). RAFAEL Armament Development Authority Ltd, designer of the WOLF, will act as prime contractor with the "Hatehof" company serving as main subcontractor. The contract is valued at about $14M.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 28 Mar 2005
• UN peacekeeping capabilities stretched to capacity, Annan says UN News Centre 28 Mar 2005 -- The demands for multi-faceted United Nations peacekeeping today have stretched the world body's resources "to the limit of our capacity," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today in a renewed call for strategic reserves and on-call regional resources at a conference on peacekeeping and nation-building.
  
  
• Elections and governance now key issues in DR of Congo but security inadequate - Annan UN News Centre 28 Mar 2005 -- Pointing to upcoming elections and subsequent national stability as the key issues facing the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended extending the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission there for another year and has called for troop deployment in two more provinces.
• ISRAEL/SETTLEMENTS VOA 28 Mar 2005 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's controversial disengagement plan from settlements in Gaza and the West Bank cleared another hurdle in parliament Monday, after opponents failed to secure enough votes for a national referendum on the pullout.
• UGANDA/LRA VOA 28 Mar 2005 -- For almost two decades, the people of northern Uganda have been subjected to random, brutal attacks by a rebel group the United States calls a terrorist organization.

News Reports

• Annan calls for international probe into Lebanese ex-premier's assassination UN News Centre 28 Mar 2005 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on the Security Council to launch an independent international investigation into last month's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri after receiving the report of a mission he set up to probe the circumstances, causes and consequences of the murder.
• LEBANON POLITICAL STALEMATE VOA 28 Mar 2005 -- Since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, February 14th, Lebanon has been in political turmoil, with massive street protests, no working government and a series of bomb attacks in predominantly Christian neighborhoods. A lingering political stalemate could threaten general elections, due in May.
• LEBANON SECURITY VOA 28 Mar 2005 -- The United Nations is expected to hold discussions this week over a possible international inquiry into last month's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Mr. Hariri was killed in a massive bomb explosion in Beirut and his death sparked a political crisis in Lebanon and has put the government on the defensive,

• TOGO: Opposition calls for postponement of presidential election IRIN 28 Mar 2005 -- An alliance of six opposition parties in Togo has urged the government to postpone presidential elections due on 24 April, saying free and fair polls cannot be organised in such a short space of time.

• KYRGYZSTAN: Political disputes continue amid improving security IRIN 28 Mar 2005 -- Life began to return to normal in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on Monday, with all government offices and private businesses back at work following the unrest of the last week.
• Bakiev: Russia, Neighbors Support Government RFE/RL 28 Mar 2005 -- Kyrgyzstan's acting Prime Minister and President Kurmanbek Bakiev says his government has the support of the leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
• New Kyrgyz Parliament Confirms Bakiev As PM RFE/RL 28 Mar 2005 -- Kyrgyzstan's new parliament approved today Kurmanbek Bakiev as the nation's prime minister.

• PRESS BRIEFING ON INDONESIAN EARTHQUAKE BY UN EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR United Nations 28 Mar 2005
• Monitors Slam Macedonia Poll After 'Irregularities' RFE/RL 28 Mar 2005 -- International monitors are criticizing Macedonia's government for "widespread irregularities" in yesterday's municipal elections.

• Northrop Grumman's AstroMesh Reflector Successfully Deploys on Inmarsat 4 Satellite Northrop Grumman 28 Mar 2005 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) AstroMesh deployable reflector system successfully deployed aboard the Inmarsat Limited I-4 satellite launched March 11 from Cape Canaveral, Fla.