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Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 04 May 2005 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• TWO TASK FORCE BAGHDAD SOLDIERS KILLED BY IEDS
• REMAINS OF SECOND PILOT FOUND FROM APPARENT F/A-18 CRASH

• Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 50 in Northern Iraq VOA 04 May 2005 -- A suicide bomber has killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 100 others at a police recruitment center in northern Iraq. The latest bloodshed brings to around 200 the toll from six days of insurgent attacks.
• Joint force eliminates lines at Iraq gas pumps Army News 04 May 2005 -- New gas pumps and gas stations, repairs and increased security have now eliminated long lines at Iraqi Government gas stations in Task Force Liberty's area of operations in central Iraq.
• MWCS-28 keeps transfer of information reliable USMC News 04 May 2005 -- Communications are vital for commanders to direct their subordinate units on the battlefield.
• Kilo, 3/2 armed, ready to protect USMC News 04 May 2005 -- A Marine's weapon is his most important asset in a combat zone. It protects him and his fellow service members from enemy threats.

• Coalition helps rebuild mosque hit by insurgent rocket Army News 04 May 2005 -- The Khost Provincial Reconstruction Team is providing $22,000 to help repair a mosque and adjacent buildings damaged by rockets fired by insurgents.
• Afghan Forces, U.S. Servicemembers Clash With Insurgents AFPS 04 May 2005 -- An Afghan National Police officer was killed and five other ANP officers and six U.S. servicemembers were wounded May 3 in what military officials called "an unprovoked attack from approximately 25 insurgents" in Afghanistan's Zabul province.

• U.S.: Top General Says Iraq, Afghan Wars Weaken Armed Forces RFE/RL 04 May 2005 -- Two years ago, U.S. President George W. Bush stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean and declared that "major combat" was over in Iraq.

• U.S. House Passes $82 Billion Supplemental Spending Bill Washington File 04 May 2005 -- The U.S. House of Representatives easily approved an $82 billion 2005 emergency supplemental spending bill that would provide critical funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, foreign aid programs and humanitarian tsunami relief.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Rumsfeld Pleased With Progress in Central, South America AFPS 04 May 2005 -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld praised leaders of Central and South America in his address to the Council of the Americas here May 3.
• IED Conference Looks for Solutions to Save Lives AFPS 04 May 2005 -- Powerful improvised explosive devices set off by cell phones, doorbells, toy remotes and tripwires are the leading cause of death among U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
• U.S. Military Can Meet Any Mission Worldwide, General Myers Says Washington File 04 May 2005 -- The U.S. military can carry out operations worldwide and prevail in anything it is asked to do, says the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• Munitions tracking going wireless AFPN 04 May 2005 -- Officials at the Operations and Sustainment Systems Group headquarters here said they soon will release a software update that will take the guesswork out of ordering munitions online.
• Air Force appoints task force to address religious climate at the United States Air Force Academy AFPN 04 May 2005 -- Acting Secretary of the Air Force, the Honorable Michael L. Dominguez, directed the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel, Lt. Gen. Roger A. Brady, to immediately stand up a cross-functional task force on the religious climate at the United States Air Force Academy May 3.
• Soto Cano getting permanent makeover AFPN 04 May 2005 -- After decades of living in wooden structures called "hooches," troops at this small "temporary" base soon will get new homes as part of a military construction project.
• Army Announces Combat Action Badge Army News Release 04 May 2005 -- In keeping with the spirit of the Warrior Ethos and based on input from leaders and Soldiers in the field to justly recognize the actions of deserving Soldiers in combat, the Army announced today the eligibility criteria for a new combat award with the introduction of the Combat Action Badge (CAB).
• Army announces Combat Action Badge Army News 04 May 2005 -- A Combat Action Badge will soon be available to all Soldiers who engage the enemy in battle.
• Saipan Trains with AAVs Navy NewsStand 04 May 2005 -- Personnel from USS Saipan (LHA 2) Deck Department and visiting Marines were trained in the launching of Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV) from the amphibious assault ship's well deck April 28 and 29 during a recent at-sea period.
• Naval Reserve Changes to Navy Reserve Navy NewsStand 04 May 2005 -- President George W. Bush signed a "Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense" April 29, approving the redesignation of the United States Naval Reserve to the United States Navy Reserve.
• Kitty Hawk Passes Through IA Microscope Navy NewsStand 04 May 2005 -- USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) began its latest preparations for an Underway Demonstration (UD) with the successful completion of its Initial Assessment (IA) April 2.
• Boxer: Fleet Response Plan in Action Navy NewsStand 04 May 2005 -- For the third time in three years, USS Boxer (LHD 4), commanded by Capt. Thomas J. Culora, left on deployment April 29 to support U.S. national security objectives overseas.
• Kitty Hawk - America's Oldest Active Warship - Turns 44 Navy NewsStand 04 May 2005 -- USS Kitty Hawk (the Battle Cat) (CV 63), the Navy's oldest active ship and only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, celebrated its 44th birthday with a cake-cutting ceremony on its forward mess decks April 29.
• Bataan Wraps Up Successful Fleet Week USA Visit Navy NewsStand 04 May 2005 -- USS Bataan (LHD 5) departed the South Florida region May 1 after participating in the 2005 Fleet Week USA festivities and the Air and Sea Show held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., April 25-May 1.

• State Department Briefing, May 4 Washington File 04 May 2005 -- Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon/Syria, Brazil, Italy, Department/Rewards for Justice Program, Iraq, China/Taiwan, Australia/Japan, North Korea

Defense Industry

• ATK Awarded $40 Million Bushmaster III Chain Gun Contract ATK 04 May 2005 -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) has received a $40 million order from BAE Systems for the Bushmaster III dual feed chain gun®. The Bushmaster III chain gun will be mounted on the Netherlands’ CV90 Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Deliveries will begin in May, 2006.
• Boeing First Defense Contractor Using Latest Tracking Technology Boeing 04 May 2005 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] has become the first defense contractor to support a Department of Defense initiative to use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to better manage its receipt of goods from the defense industry.
• GE to Supply IHI with LM2500 Gas Turbines to Power Japan's 16DDH Destroyer GE Marine 04 May 2005 -- GE Transportation's marine gas turbine business announced it will supply Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Co. Ltd. (IHI) with four GE LM2500 aeroderivative gas turbines. The engines will power the first of a new class of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's (JMSDF) helicopter-carrying destroyers.
• UNITED ARAB EMIRATES CELEBRATES ARRIVAL OF FIRST LOCKHEED MARTIN F-16E/Fs Lockheed Martin 04 May 2005 -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) celebrated arrival of its first Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-16E/F aircraft on May 3. The first “Desert Falcon” F-16s to be based in the UAE were received by the Crown Prince, His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
• F-35 Center Fuselage Arrives at Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin 04 May 2005 -- F-35 Center Fuselage Arrives at Lockheed Martin - Press Release PhotoTechnicians inspect the center fuselage for the first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which arrived on Tuesday afternoon, May 3, at Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] in Fort Worth, Texas. The completed midsection, built by Northrop Grumman in Palmdale, Calif.,was shipped on Saturday, April 30. It will be joined to the Lockheed Martin-built forward fuselage and wing in the coming weeks. BAE Systems will deliver the aft-fuselage in late May from its factory in Samlesbury, England.
• Lockheed Martin Conducts Successful Joint Common Missile Rocket Motor Tests Lockheed Martin 04 May 2005 -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and its Joint Common Missile (JCM) rocket motor supplier, Aerojet, a GenCorp Inc. company (NYSE: GY), recently completed a series of successful tests of the rocket motor for the JCM, paving the way for controlled flight tests later this spring.
• CACI Acts to Ensure Penguin Press Adheres to Commitments to Correct Error in Publisher's New Book About Guantanamo Bay CACI 04 May 2005 -- CACI International Inc (NYSE:CAI) announced today that it will closely monitor efforts by Penguin Press to correct a damaging misstatement about CACI in the just-released book, "Inside the Wire." Penguin Press, the book's publisher, has publicly acknowledged that the book includes an erroneous statement about CACI in connection with interrogation activities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
• Lockheed Martin Successfully Completes Major Risk-Reduction Test Of SBIRS High Satellite Lockheed Martin 04 May 2005 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has successfully completed a crucial "jitter" test of the Space-Based Infrared System High (SBIRS High) geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellite, an important step in meeting the critical performance requirements of the nation’s next-generation missile warning system.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 04 May 2005
• PRESS BRIEFING ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO United Nations 04 May 2005
• Nearly 12,000 ex-militiamen in DR of Congo disarmed, UN peacekeeping official says UN News Centre 04 May 2005 -- With the number of former combatants taking part in disarmament programmes almost doubling in the past few weeks, nearly 12,000 ex-fighters have disarmed and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) first national brigade incorporating former militiamen has been deployed, an official from the United Nations peacekeeping department said today.

• CHAD-SUDAN: Twelfth camp opened for Darfur refugees IRIN 04 May 2005 -- A first group of almost 200 refugees from the fighting in Sudan's Darfur region have been moved into a new twelfth camp that was opened on Tuesday in eastern Chad by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to decongest refugee camps nearby.
• NIGERIA: Oil giant admits aid policies helped fuel violence IRIN 04 May 2005 -- Oil giant ChevronTexaco is to rethink its community aid strategies after acknowledging that some of the policies implemented by its Nigerian subsidiary in the oil-rich Niger Delta have contributed in fuelling violence in the region.
• Mandate of UN peacekeepers in Côte d'Ivoire extended another month UN News Centre 04 May 2005 -- Welcoming the progress made by the leaders of Côte d'Ivoire in meeting the terms of the South African-brokered peace agreement, the latest in a series of accords, the United Nations Security Council today extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission there for another month, as it did in April.
• Security Council voices support for UN efforts in Georgian-Abkhaz conflict UN News Centre 04 May 2005 -- The members of the Security Council today voiced their continued support for United Nations efforts to build trust between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides for meaningful negotiations on a lasting political settlement to their conflict.
• Uganda Delays Peacekeeping Mission to Somalia VOA 04 May 2005 -- Uganda says it has delayed the deployment of about 800 peacekeepers to Somalia. The announcement comes one day after an explosion killed nearly a dozen people at a rally in Mogadishu for the visiting interim prime minister.

News Reports

• Kyrgyzstan: Follow The Money -- The Akaev Investigation RFE/RL 04 May 2005 -- Back in the 1970s, two young American journalists got a bit of simple advice from an inside source in the administration of President Richard Nixon: "Follow the money." They did, and the resulting scandal toppled the president. Thirty years later and a world away, Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev fled as a throng of enraged demonstrators ransacked his office.

• Thousands Demand the Release of Jailed Christian Leader In Beirut VOA 04 May 2005 -- Thousands of protesters marched in downtown Beirut to call on the government to release the former leader of the Lebanese Forces militia who has been in jail for more than a decade.
• Security Council welcomes 'significant progress' in compliance with Lebanon resolution UN News Centre 04 May 2005 -- The United Nations Security Council today welcomed that the concerned parties have made "significant progress" towards implementing some of the provisions of a resolution that calls for withdrawing all foreign forces from Lebanon but expressed concern that other requirements of the measure have not been met.
• UN Security Council Presses Lebanon VOA 04 May 2005 -- The U.N. Security Council has stepped up pressure on militia groups in Lebanon to disband and disarm. The 15-member council also stressed the importance of holding Lebanese elections on schedule beginning later this month.

• TOGO: Gnassingbe sworn in, opposition left with limited options IRIN 04 May 2005 -- As Faure Gnassingbe succeeded his father as president of Togo on Wednesday, a crushed opposition mulled its next move, with most observers predicting that eventually it would have to compromise and enter into some sort of unity government.
• Togo's President Takes Oath of Office Amid Tension VOA 04 May 2005 -- Faure Gnassingbe took the oath of office as president of Togo Wednesday, succeeding his father who had ruled the country for 38 years. He was elected in a controversial ballot mired by fraud and street violence.

• SOMALIA: Death toll in stadium explosion rises to 15 IRIN 04 May 2005 -- The number of people killed in Tuesday's blast at a stadium in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, has risen to 15, sources told IRIN on Wednesday.

• Boeing Announces New Launch Date for Delta IV, GOES-N Weather Satellite Boeing 04 May 2005 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] announced Monday that the launch of the first of three next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES-N) for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA aboard a Delta IV rocket has been rescheduled for June 23, with a launch window extending to June 25.