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Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 12 Apr 2005 [PDF]

• Task Force Baghdad nabs four terror suspects MNF-I/MC-I 12 Apr 2005 -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers captured four suspects specifically targeted for their involvement in terrorist cells in four separate operations.
• Smuggling ring raided near Syrian border MNF-I/MC-I 12 Apr 2005 -- Multi-national forces conducted a raid April 12 on a known foreign-fighter and weapons-smuggling ring located near the Iraqi border town of Al Qaim, five miles east of the Syrian border.
• VBIED in Samarra kills 3 Iraqis, injures 26 MNF-I/MC-I 12 Apr 2005 -- A vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated in Samarra about 8 p.m. April 11.
• Search operation in Multinational Division Central-South MNF-I/MC-I 12 Apr 2005 -- From April 2 to April 11, operation Fontana was carried out throughout Babil and Wasit provinces, which are included in Multinational Division Central-South's (MND CS) area of responsibility.
• Task Force Baghdad Soldiers react to IEDs, shootings MNF-I/MC-I 12 Apr 2005 -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers patrolling neighborhoods here responded to numerous reports of small-arms fire and improvised explosive devices April 11 as they continue security operations with the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police.
• Iraq Announces Capture Of Former Saddam Regime Member RFE/RL 12 Apr 2005 -- Iraq's government says it captured a former high-ranking member of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party today.
• EMF Dallas Cares for U.S., Coalition Troops in Kuwait Navy NewsStand 12 Apr 2005 -- Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) Dallas is bringing state-of-the-art medical care to military members serving on the front lines of Operation Iraqi Freedom from a tent city in Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. The Reserve unit, comprised of more than 300 doctors, nurses and support staff deployed to Kuwait earlier this year.
• Iraq Joins Arabian Gauntlet 2005 Navy NewsStand 12 Apr 2005 -- For the first time in its country's history, the Iraqi Navy has joined with coalition forces to participate as observers during exercise Arabian Gauntlet 2005 in the Persian Gulf March 22-30.
• Lejeune-based Intel Marines return from Iraq USMC News 12 Apr 2005 -- Cpl. Charles W. Ehm, an analyst assigned to 2nd Intelligence Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force, was happy to see his family and fiancé upon returning from deployment to Iraq.
• Marines on towers keep a keen eye on the desert plain USMC News 12 Apr 2005 -- For all service members, and civilians' here, their first line of defense for approaching enemy is the tower Marines on duty 24-hours a day.

• Afghan, U.S. Forces Kill 12 Suspected Taliban RFE/RL 12 Apr 2005 -- Afghan police said today that Afghan troops and U.S. warplanes killed 12 suspected Taliban guerrillas who failed in an attempt to kill a former Afghan army commander.
• U.S. Troops Battle Insurgents in Afghanistan, Four Weapons Caches Found AFPS 12 Apr 2005 -- Two American troops were wounded during a firefight between coalition and insurgent forces April 11 near Khwost, Afghanistan.

Defense Policy / Programs

• VR-55 Supports Fleet, Maritime Security Operations in Persian Gulf Navy NewsStand 12 Apr 2005 -- Sailors from Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VR) 55 arrived in Manama, Bahrain, March 18 for a four-month deployment as part of their annual detachment cycle.
• Grone: BRAC 2005 Important for Many Reasons AFPS 12 Apr 2005 -- Base Realignment and Closure 2005 is in full swing and this round is important for many reasons, according to Philip Grone, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment.
• Sustainability of Installations, Environment Key to Readiness AFPS 12 Apr 2005 -- The best way to ensure that today's warfighters have what they need to fight and win in the post-9/11 world is to sustain the viability of both military installations and their surrounding environments, a defense official said today.
• Installations Transforming to Support Joint Warfighting Needs AFPS 12 Apr 2005 -- The Department of Defense is transforming its installation assets to meet the emerging needs of today's joint warfighters, a defense official said today.
• DoD Reports to Congress on Environmental Progress 12 Apr 2005 -- The Department of Defense today reported to Congress the progress it continues to make on the environmental stewardship of military lands and their assets.
• US army to cut 38,000 troops in Germany - daily IRNA 12 Apr 2005 -- The United States army is to reduce its troop size from 62,000 to 24,000 over the next five to ten years, the daily Stuttgarter Zeitung quoted US army spokeswoman Elke Herberger as saying on Tuesday.
• Stockpile of 600,000 Tons of War Supplies in S. Korea by U.S. Disclosed KCNA 12 Apr 2005 -- The stockpile of a huge amount of war supplies in south Korea by the United States for "an event of contingency" on the Korean Peninsula has been newly disclosed to the public, according to south Korean KBS on April 8.
• Airmen keep B-2 Spirits safe AFPN 12 Apr 2005 -- The B-2 Spirit bomber's capabilities to penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defenses and threaten its most heavily defended targets depend on Airmen who help maintain the aircraft's stealth characteristic.
• Airman finds, destroys UXO AFPN 12 Apr 2005 -- An Airman assigned to watch over foreign workers working at a construction site near the flightline at a forward-deployed location spied something peculiar poking out of the ground recently.
• NMCB 28 Reservists Attend Military Year Training in Gulfport Navy NewsStand 12 Apr 2005 -- Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 28 gathered at Construction Battalion Center (CBC) Gulfport to participate in two weeks of Military Year Annual Training (M-year) in March.
• Marines return from Foal Eagle USMC News 12 Apr 2005 -- Marines, sailors and airmen recently returned from participating in Exercise Foal Eagle in Cheongju, Korea.
• Class prepares Marines for dangers of IEDs USMC News 12 Apr 2005 -- Improvised explosive devises are nothing new to the Marine Corps. They are one of the biggest dangers to Marines serving in Iraq.
• Explosive detector tested at Quantico USMC News 12 Apr 2005 -- A new system designed by Hi Energy Technologies Inc. to detect explosive material was tested at Quantico's C-demolition range March 30 before an audience of military and civilian agencies.

• U.S., Colombia Will Continue Pressure on Narcoterrorists AFPS 12 Apr 2005 -- The United States will continue to stand by Colombia as it battles the forces of terrorism and extremism, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here April 11.
• Cooperation a Must to Counter Narcoterrorist Threat AFPS 12 Apr 2005 -- At every stop in South America, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has stressed the need for regional and global cooperation in the war on terror.

• IVANOV: RUSSIA WILL NOT PREVENT CIS COUNTRIES FROM JOINING NATO RIA Novosti 12 Apr 2005 -- Russia will not put stumbling blocks for CIS counties trying to join NATO, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said in his exclusive interview with the Itogi magazine.

• NATO's Allied Command Transformation holds official signing ceremonies for new Centre of Excellence and Joint Forces Training Centre NATO-IMS 12 Apr 2005 -- Allied Command Transformation (ACT), one of NATO's two strategic commands, will conduct two official signing ceremonies at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 April.

• EAST AFRICA/SECURITY VOA 12 Apr 2005 -- Seven African countries have agreed to contribute personnel to an East African brigade that is to be part of a larger African Union peacekeeping force.

• Bolton: Terror, WMDs Key Focuses If Confirmed for U.N. Duty AFPS 12 Apr 2005 -- Stemming the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and supporting the global war on terror will be two key priorities if he is confirmed as the U.S. representative to the United Nations, John Bolton said April 11 during the first day of his confirmation hearings.
• State Department Briefing, April 12 Washington File 12 Apr 2005 -- Sudan, Lebanon, India/China, India, Iraq, China, Japan, Cuba, Macedonia, Israel/Palestinian Authority
• White House Press Briefing, April 12 Wasghington File 12 Apr 2005 -- President's visit with military families at Fort Hood, United Kingdom, War on Terror

Defense Industry

• ATK Reaches Production Milestone in Small-Caliber Ammunition ATK 12 Apr 2005 -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) achieved a significant production milestone in small-caliber ammunition by delivering 1.2 billion rounds to the U.S. Army in its Fiscal Year 2005, which ended on March 31. ATK operates the U.S. Army’s Lake City small-caliber ammunition plant in Independence, Mo., where it produces a mix of 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 50-caliber and various other small-caliber rounds.
• BAE SYSTEMS Delivers First Fully Functonal Helmet - Mounted Display System For Gripen BAE Systems 12 Apr 2005 -- ROCHESTER, U.K. -- BAE Systems has delivered to Saab AB the first fully functional Gripen helmet-mounted display system, including a high-speed optical head tracker. This event follows the May 2004 first flight of the mechanical Gripen helmet.
• Oshkosh Truck's Self-Navigating Robotic Truck Advances in Qualifying for Department Of Defense's DARPA Grand Challenge Oshkosh 12 Apr 2005 -- Oshkosh Truck Corporation [NYSE: OSK] announced today that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has chosen the company’s TerraMaxTM robotic vehicle for evaluation for the DARPA Grand Challenge 2005 -- a 175-mile, off-road race in the Mojave Desert for completely autonomous vehicles. Of 195 teams originally submitting race entries, DARPA, a part of the Department of Defense, chose 118 for further review based on vehicle designs and capabilities.
• Orbital Successfully Launches Minotaur Rocket Carrying U.S. Air Force's XSS-11 Satellite Orbital Sciences Corp. 12 Apr 2005 -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) announced that it successfully launched the U.S. Air Force's Experimental Small Satellite Number 11 (XSS-11) satellite aboard a company-built Minotaur I rocket. The mission originated on Monday, April 11, 2005, at 9:35 a.m. (EDT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA (VAFB) when the Minotaur rocket ignited its first stage motor and lifted-off from its West Coast launch site. Approximately 12 minutes after launch, the XSS-11 satellite was inserted into its targeted orbit of approximately 850 kilometers above the Earth. Yesterday's mission was the third flight the Minotaur I space launch vehicle, all of which have been successful.
• Orbital Successfully Launches New Medium Range Target For U.S. Missile Defense Agency Orbital Sciences Corp. 12 Apr 2005 -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) announced today that it successfully launched a new Medium Range Target (MRT) vehicle for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The mission served as a risk reduction flight demonstration for the new target vehicle and collected critical data for a number of missile defense-related sensors that were activated for the test.
• Canadian Maritime Helicopter Project Office Inaugurated at Sikorsky Aircraft Sikorsky 12 Apr 2005 -- Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and Canadian government officials today formally inaugurated a new Canadian Maritime Helicopter Project (MHP) office located here in the company's main manufacturing facility.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 12 Apr 2005
• Reformed UN could be even more effective in preventing global threats - Fréchette UN News Centre 12 Apr 2005 -- The United Nations is a more effective prevention instrument than many realize, but with reform, it can be far more useful in fighting poverty, promoting human rights, stopping the spread of illicit weapons and keeping violence in check, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette said today in Stockholm.
  
  
• KAMIKAZE TERRORIST INVOLVED IN HOSTAGE-TAKING IN BESLAN IDENTIFIED RIA Novosti 12 Apr 2005 -- A kamikaze terrorist was identified as a result of the molecular-genetic examination during the investigation of the terrorist attack on Beslan, Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel said.
• Chechen Government Says 1,700 People Missing in Republic RFE/RL 12 Apr 2005 -- The pro-Russian Chechen government constitutional rights committee said today that nearly 1,700 people have been abducted in Chechnya and are still missing.
  
  
• State Official Outlines U.S. Financial Commitment to Peace in Sudan Wasghington File 12 Apr 2005 -- In morning remarks April 12 at the Oslo Donors' Conference on Sudan in Norway, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick outlined the U.S. financial commitment to achieving and maintaining peace in Sudan
• SUDAN: Attack on Darfur village condemned, donors meet in Oslo IRIN 12 Apr 2005 -- The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and the African Union (AU) have strongly condemned the recent destruction of a village in the western Sudanese state of South Darfur by armed militias.
  
  
• AFRICA: Regional emergency force set up IRIN 12 Apr 2005 -- A 5,500-strong rapid-reaction force of East African peacekeepers has been established, leaders from the region announced at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, on Monday.
  
  
• PRESS CONFERENCE BY CÔTE D’IVOIRE United Nations 12 Apr 2005
• PRESS BRIEFING ON SECURITY COUNCIL MISSION TO HAITI United Nations 12 Apr 2005
• UN envoy calls for calm along Lebanese-Israeli separation line after overflights UN News Centre 12 Apr 2005 -- A day after arriving to take up his new post, the United Nations envoy for southern Lebanon called on all parties today to maintain "total calm" along the Blue Line separating Israel and Lebanon, citing a Hezbollah drone that breached Israeli airspace yesterday and the most recent Israeli overflights of Lebanese territory.
• Rebel renunciation of force against Rwanda welcomed by Security Council UN News Centre 12 Apr 2005 -- The recent peace-making statement from a major Rwandan rebel militia based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) provides a significant opportunity to move toward peace in the DRC, national reconciliation in Rwanda and normalization of relations between the two countries, the United Nations Security Council said today.
• RICE / MIDDLE EAST VOA 12 Apr 2005 -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Arab and European officials Tuesday, seeking diplomatic support for a successful Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Ms. Rice's contacts were a follow-up to Monday's meeting in Texas between President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
• NEPAL/GOVERNMENT VOA 12 Apr 2005 -- Nepal's political opposition has criticized King Gyanendra for consolidating his power by appointing regional administrators. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, the king tossed out the government and assumed absolute authority more than two months ago.
• INDONESIA/ACEH TALKS VOA 12 Apr 2005 -- Negotiators from the Indonesian government and the rebel Free Aceh Movement have arrived for a third round of peace talks in Finland. But the rebels demanded that a cease-fire be called before discussions turn to more substantive issues.
• DRC: Ituri militia leader arrested IRIN 12 Apr 2005 -- In line with new efforts by the UN mission and the government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to dismantle militias in the troubled northeastern district of Ituri, local authorities announced on Monday the arrest of Kahwa Panga Mandro.
• UGANDA-SUDAN: Sudanese government troops attack LRA in the south IRIN 12 Apr 2005 -- Sudanese government forces have recently attacked the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) - a Ugandan rebel group - in Mangala, south Sudan, Maj Shaban Bantariza, a Ugandan army spokesman, told IRIN on Monday.
• BURUNDI-TANZANIA: We are ready for peace talks, FNL rebels say IRIN 12 Apr 2005 -- Burundi's remaining rebel group, the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) led by Agathon Rwasa, said on Tuesday it was willing to stop fighting government troops.
• YEMEN: Mine clearance graduates begin field work IRIN 12 Apr 2005 -- The training phase of Yemen's Mine Action Programme (MAP) finished last week, with the last group of trainees graduating from the three-month programme.

News Reports

• PRESS BRIEFING ON NUCLEAR TERRORISM CONVENTION United Nations 12 Apr 2005
• RUSSIA SET TO RENDER ASSISTANCE TO KYRGYZSTAN RIA Novosti 12 Apr 2005 -- Kyrgyzstan has confirmed its commitment to its obligations within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Community (Eurasec), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a consultation between the president and the Cabinet.
• KYRGYZSTAN TO FACE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ACID TEST RIA Novosti 12 Apr 2005 -- Kyrgyzstan is feeling like taking an exam before the international community, Kyrgyz acting foreign minister Roza Otunbaeva told the press conference in Moscow.
• OSCE IN KYRGYZSTAN: ASSISTANCE OR THE LIMITATION OF SOVEREIGNTY? RIA Novosti 12 Apr 2005 -- An article entitled "The Shoots of the Revolution Already Cannot be Stopped" by Dmitrij Rupel, OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Slovenian foreign minister (Nezavisimaya Gazeta 05.04.2005), is an amazing piece.

• U.S. / Guyana / Cabinet VOA 12 Apr 2005 -- The State Department Tuesday raised the prospect of a cut in U.S. aid to Guyana after the president of the South American country moved to reinstate a cabinet official allegedly tied to extra-judicial killings.

• BALKANS / EU VOA 12 Apr 2005 -- An international panel made of experts on the Balkans and senior European political figures says the European Union should convene a special summit next year to map out a path for the countries of the western Balkans to join the 25-member nation European Union. The recommendations of the International Commission on the Balkans were released simultaneously Tuesday in Brussels and Washington.

• AUSTRALIA EAST ASIA SUMMIT VOA 12 Apr 2005 -- Officials in Canberra have given a cautious welcome to a decision by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to let Australia join a regional summit. The invitation, however, would require Australia to sign a regional non-aggression pact - something Canberra says would conflict with its 54-year-old defense treaty with the United States.

• EADS Astrium Spain presented the Earth observation instrument of ESA’s SMOS satellite, led by the Spanish Industry. EADS 12 Apr 2005 -- The Secretary General of Industry, Mr. Joan Trullén, the Director of CDTI (Centro para el desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial) Mr. Maurici Lucena, the Presidente of EADS CASA Mr. Francisco Fernández Sáinz, as well as the Managing Director of EADS Astrium Spain Mr. Pedro Méndez, chaired this event, presenting the structural and electrical models of the sole instrument on board the satellite.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN RESUMES NORMAL SPACE SHUTTLE EXTERNAL TANK PRODUCTION Lockheed Martin 12 Apr 2005 -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) marked a successful return to Space Shuttle External Tank (ET) production activities by welding two quarter domes into a half dome tank segment on March 17.
• Successful launch of Alcatel Apstar VI communications satellite from China Thales 12 Apr 2005 -- The Apstar VI communications satellite, built by prime contractor Alcatel Space, a subsidiary of Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA), was successfully boosted into orbit today by a Long March 3B launcher from Xichang satellite launch center in China. Apstar VI offers APT Satellite Holdings Limited (APT), a leading satellite operator in the Asia Pacific region, the capability to provide advanced broadband multimedia, new digital television services and traditional telecommunications services to telecom and television operators in the Asia Pacific region.