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Operations
Defense Policy
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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 20 Jan 2006 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• Transcript: News Briefing with Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner II 20 Jan 2006 -- Presenter: Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Turner, II, commander, Multinational Division North and 101st Airborne Division
• CENTAF releases airpower summary AFPN 20 Jan 2006 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces released today's airpower summary.
• Iraqi, U.S. Security Forces Repulse Insurgent Attacks AFPS 20 Jan 2006 -- Iraqi and U.S. security forces repulsed attacks on military bases in Ramadi, Iraq, today about 100 kilometers west of Baghdad, officials reported.
• General Predicts Fewer Sunni Ties to Terrorists AFPS 20 Jan 2006 -- Iraqi Sunnis who may have partnered with foreign terrorist groups in the past will abandon that practice because it's against their interests, the U.S. officer in charge of operations in northern Iraq predicted today.
• V Corps assumes command mission in Baghdad Army News 20 Jan 2006 -- Soldiers of V Corps headquarters, based in Heidelberg, Germany, officially assumed duties in Baghdad as the command staff for Multi-National Corps - Iraq, for the next 12 months.

• A-10 Pilots, supply personnel head to OEF AFPN 20 Jan 2006 -- More than 400 Airmen with the 355th Fighter Squadron and the 354th Maintenance Group and their A-10 Thunderbolt IIs recently left for a 120-day deployment.

• Pakistan Relief Effort Reaches Major Milestones AFPS 20 Jan 2006 -- U.S. helicopters supporting earthquake relief efforts in Pakistan set a new record yesterday, delivering 232 tons of humanitarian aid for earthquake victims in a single day, U.S. embassy officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, reported today.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Military Commission Charges Referred 20 Jan 2006 -- The Department of Defense announced today that charges were approved and referred to a military commission in the case of Abdul Zahir by the appointing authority, John D. Altenburg Jr., on Jan. 18, 2006.

• DoD Returns Oversight of Selected Air Force Programs 20 Jan 2006 -- The Department of Defense announced today the return of milestone decision authority to the Department of the Air Force for ten major programs.

• US Installation Realignment in Belgium Announced 20 Jan 2006 -- The Department of Defense announces today the decision to inactivate and return three microwave radio relay sites to Belgium.

• Navy Names New Combat Logistics Force Ship 20 Jan 2006 -- The Department of the Navy has announced the naming of the Navy's newest combat logistics force underway replenishment naval vessel, the USNS Alan Shepard, to honor the first American in space, Rear Adm. Alan B. Shepard Jr.

• Reagan Carrier Strike Group Wraps Up Successful ASW Exercise Navy NewsStand 20 Jan 2006 -- Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 7, comprised of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) , Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7, USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 14 completed a four-day Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) exercise Jan. 9-12 off the coast of Hawaii.
• USS Ford Rescues Two at Sea Navy NewsStand 20 Jan 2006 -- USS Ford (FFG 54) rescued two civilian sailors at sea in the early morning hours of Jan. 19 in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, off the west coast of Mexico.
• USS Helena Pulls into Floating Dry Dock Navy NewsStand 20 Jan 2006 -- The Navy’s only floating dry dock, Arco, moored the Los Angeles-class attack submarine, USS Helena (SSN 725), Jan. 10 for routine repairs.
• Keel Laying Ceremony Held for 2nd Littoral Combat Ship Navy NewsStand 20 Jan 2006 -- The second littoral combat ship’s (LCS 2) keel was laid during a ceremony Jan. 19, at the Austal USA Shipyards in Mobile, Ala.
• British Chief of Joint Operations Visits USS Cape St. George Navy NewsStand 20 Jan 2006 -- The United Kingdom’s Chief of Joint Operations (CJO), Air Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, met with the staff of Commander Task Force (CTF) 58, currently led by Royal Navy Commodore Bruce Williams, aboard USS Cape St. George (CG 71) Jan. 10 in the 5th Fleet Area of Operations.
• Commander U.K. Maritime Forces Visits USS Cape St. George Navy NewsStand 20 Jan 2006 -- British Rear Adm. Neil Morisetti, commander, United Kingdom Maritime Forces visited USS Cape St. George (CG 71), its crew and the staff of Commander Task Force (CTF) 58, commanded by British Commodore Bruce Williams, Jan. 14.
• Mountain Home maintainers keep Eagles, Falcons flying AFPN 20 Jan 2006 -- Behind every good jet is a good maintainer -- actually, make that several maintainers.
• Leasing option increases Air Force land value AFPN 20 Jan 2006 -- The Air Force Real Property Agency converts underutilized land and infrastructure into real value for the Air Force, installations and communities through the enhanced use leasing option, officials said.
• Total force meets at Fort Dix for conference AFPN 20 Jan 2006 -- More than 20 senior officers from the air mobility total force met to improve practices during a director of mobility forces conference at the Air Mobility Warfare Center here Jan. 18 to 19.
• Security forces transformation to affect total force AFPN 20 Jan 2006 -- As the Air Force continues to adapt for the future, changes to the security forces career field will affect the total force.
• Guam Guard works side-by-side with active-duty counterparts AFPN 20 Jan 2006 -- The Air National Guard's mission is to maintain well-trained and well-equipped units available for prompt mobilization during war and national emergencies.

• US Concerned About Proposed Brazilian Aircraft Sale to Venezuela VOA 20 Jan 2006 -- The Bush administration said Friday it has expressed concern to Brazil about a proposed sale of Brazilian military aircraft to Venezuela

• Plane Crash Claims Slovak Peacekeepers Returning from Kosovo Washington File 20 Jan 2006 -- An airplane crash in Hungary late on January 19 has claimed the lives of dozens of Slovak troops returning home from peacekeeper duty in Kosovo, U.S. and NATO authorities said.

• State Department Briefing, January 20 Washington File 20 Jan 2006 -- Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Japan, Sentencing of Larry Franklin, Bolivia, Brazil/Venezuela, Nigeria, Sudan, Tajikistan, North Korea

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts 20 Jan 2006
• MOWAG to Reconfigure 16 PIRANHA II 8x8 Combat Vehicles for Swiss Army General Dynamics 20 Jan 2006 -- On 21 December 2005, the Kreuzlingen-based armored vehicle technology enterprise MOWAG GmbH received an order from “armasuisse,” the procurement agency of the Swiss Army, to reconfigure 16 PIRANHA II 8x8 “Pal Pz 93” armoured personnel carrier (APC) variants to the “Kdo Pz 93+” command vehicle (CV) configuration.
• ATK and KEI Missile Defense Team Successfully Test Fire Second-stage Rocket Motor ATK 20 Jan 2006 -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) completed a successful test firing earlier today of a second-stage rocket motor for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI). This is the first in a series of static motor firings leading up to the program’s first booster flight in 2008. Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) is leading the industry team charged with developing and testing a KEI capability under contract to MDA. Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) is responsible for developing and integrating the KEI system’s interceptor.
• Kinetic Energy Interceptor Missile Defense Team Successfully Performs Static Test-Fire of Stage 2 Rocket Motor Northrop Grumman 20 Jan 2006 -- The Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) team for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program successfully completed the first in a series of static test firings of the missile's second-stage rocket motor on Jan. 17 at teammate Alliant Techsystem's (NYSE:ATK) facility in Elkton, Md. The event marked a critical knowledge point for the program that will lead up to the program's first booster flight test in 2008.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT United Nations 20 Jan 2006
• COTE D IVOIRE: Calm returns after four days of riots against UN, French peacekeepers IRIN 20 Jan 2006 -- Business resumed as usual with cars and taxis back on the streets of Cote d'Ivoire on Friday after protesters demanding the departure of UN and French peace troops called an end to four days of riots by lifting roadblocks and going home.
• Protests Stop in Ivory Coast But Militants Issue Warning VOA 20 Jan 2006 -- Protests against the international community have stopped in Ivory Coast after five days of violence.
• Côte d'Ivoire is calm but hate broadcasts still target peacekeeping forces, UN says UN News Centre 20 Jan 2006 -- Protesters left the streets outside United Nations and other international agency offices and calm was restored across Côte d'Ivoire after leaders inside and outside the West African country appealed for an end to four days of violence, which left western provincial UN offices looted and sometimes destroyed.

• 450 political activists in custody in Nepal IRNA 20 Jan 2006 -- Over 250 political activists were arrested from various places in Nepal today, bringing to more than 450 the total number of political activists in the custody since yesterday.
• Nepalese Government Enforces Curfew VOA 20 Jan 2006 -- The government of Nepal has imposed a dawn to dusk curfew across the capital and put opposition leaders under house arrest to stop an anti-government rally from taking place.

• PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT OF TIMOR-LESTE United Nations 20 Jan 2006
• DRC: Civilians displaced in renewed fighting in North Kivu IRIN 20 Jan 2006 -- Hundreds of civilians have been displaced in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the latest round of fighting between dissident soldiers and the army's fifth brigade, a humanitarian official has said.
• SUDAN: Darfur talks frustratingly slow, says UN official IRIN 20 Jan 2006 -- Too little progress is being made in the current round of Darfur peace talks yet violence against civilians, aid workers and African Union troops continues on the ground, a senior United Nations official has said.
• Sri Lankan parties ask President to resume talks with LTTE IRNA 20 Jan 2006 -- Sri Lankan political parties have urged President Mahinda Rajapakse to resume talks with the Tamil Tiger rebels using the good offices of the Norwegian facilitator.
• EU: War Crimes Issue Pushing Serbia To Crossroads RFE/RL 20 Jan 2006 -- The EU emerges from talks with the UN war crimes tribunal to tell Serbia its prospects of EU membership are at stake unless it cooperates in finding the war crimes suspects Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic.
• Former Israeli PM Proposes Peace Talks with Hamas VOA 20 Jan 2006 -- A former Israeli Prime Minister has proposed that Israel should open peace talks with the Islamic militant group Hamas, on certain conditions.

News Reports

• PRESS CONFERENCE BY MOROCCO ON HUMAN RIGHTS, RECONCILIATION, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT United Nations 20 Jan 2006
• PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRIME MINISTER OF PAKISTAN United Nations 20 Jan 2006
• Sea Launch Begins a Sold-Out Year Boeing 20 Jan 2006 -- Following a banner year in 2005 with four successful missions and nine new commercial launch contracts, Sea Launch is now preparing for the first of six missions in 2006, planned for February.
• Eutelsat's Hot Bird 7ATM satellite has arrived at Kourou from Alcatel Alenia Space facilities Thales 20 Jan 2006 -- The HOT BIRDTM 7A broadcasting satellite built by Alcatel Alenia Space for Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) arrived last night at the Kourou launch site in French Guiana. The satellite's scheduled launch date is 21 February 2006 on-board an Ariane 5 ECA rocket.