Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 03 Mar 2006 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• Transcript: News Briefing with Gen. Casey 03 Mar 2006 -- Presenter: Commander, Multinational Forces Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey
• Gunmen Attack Small Town East of Baghdad, Killing at Least 18 VOA 03 Mar 2006 -- Unidentified gunmen in Iraq have killed at least 18 Shi'ite workers in an attack on a small town near Baghdad.
• CENTAF releases daily airpower summary AFPN 03 Mar 2006 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials released today's airpower summary.
• Iraqi Air Force takes giant step forward AFPN 03 Mar 2006 -- Since November 2005, the Air Force has taken on the mission of standing up the Iraqi Air Force, allowing Iraqis to gradually take over operations and help secure their nation's future.
• Separate Iraq Operations Net 62 Terrorism Suspects AFPS 03 Mar 2006 -- Coalition and Iraqi forces operations in Iraq northeast of Fallujah and in Anbar province recently resulted in the detention of 62 suspects, military officials reported.
• Multinational Division Baghdad Transfers Battle Space to Iraqi Army AFPS 03 Mar 2006 -- U.S. and coalition troops in the Baghdad area handed control of operations in western Baghdad and eastern Abu Ghraib to Iraqi soldiers in a ceremony yesterday.
• Bastogne Soldiers foil rocket attack Army News 03 Mar 2006 -- Soldiers from the Bastogne Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division foiled an attempted rocket attack March 1 on their forward operating base near the village of Hawijah, Iraq, after they spotted insurgents setting up rockets.
• Five Coalition Servicemembers Injured in Suspected IED Attack AFPS 03 Mar 2006 -- Five coalition servicemembers were injured today in a suspected improvised explosive device attack east of here.

Defense Policy / Programs

• DoN Budget Supports GWOT and QDR, Leaders Tell Congress Navy NewsStand 03 Mar 2006 -- The nation’s top Navy and Marine Corps leaders told members of Congress March 1 that the Navy Department’s proposed $127.3 billion budget request for fiscal year 2007 (FY07) fully supports the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and will help win the global war on terrorism.
• Naval Aviation Conducts Stand Down to Focus on Safety Navy NewsStand 03 Mar 2006 -- Commander, Naval Air Forces Vice Adm. Jim Zortman directed a Navywide aviation safety stand down March 3, to be conducted by all non-deployed squadrons no later than March 10. Deployed squadrons will conduct the stand down as operations permit.
• Service Training Chiefs Explore Joint Initiatives Navy NewsStand 03 Mar 2006 -- Education and training leaders from all four branches of the U.S military and the U.S. Coast Guard met at Naval Air Station Pensacola Feb. 8-9 to participate in the 2006 Interservice Training Summit.
• Pearl Harbor Ships Deploy with ESG 3 Navy NewsStand 03 Mar 2006 -- Friends and family members gathered at Pearl Harbor Feb. 27 to say goodbye to more than 700 Sailors of Pearl Harbor-based ships, USS Port Royal (CG 73) and USS Rueben James (FFG 57).
• Steel Hammer Sailors Lend a Hand in Leyte Navy NewsStand 03 Mar 2006 -- Five USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) Sailors got the unique opportunity to join 91 Sailors from USS Essex (LHD 2) and USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) in a community service project Feb. 25 at St. Bernard Elementary School in southern Leyte.
• Langley unit receive its first Raptors AFPN 03 Mar 2006 -- After two-and-a-half months of waiting, an aircraft with a 94th Fighter Squadron emblem has once again landed at Langley Air Force Base.
• Air Force seeks new tanker AFPN 03 Mar 2006 -- The Air Force wants a new refueler aircraft, something commercially available now, which can be modified to replace the existing KC-135 Stratotanker fleet.
• Air Force leaders testify on processes used to combat costs AFPN 03 Mar 2006 -- The Air Force has seen a rise in the cost of doing business, Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne told members of the House Armed Services Committee during testimony March 1.
• Kunsan units deploy to Singapore AFPN 03 Mar 2006 -- More than 70 Airmen from the 80th Fighter Squadron and 80th Aircraft Maintenance Unit deployed from Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, March 2 for Operation Commando Sling.
• Spiral 3 underway for JEFX '06 AFPN 03 Mar 2006 -- Spiral 3 of the Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment '06 kicked off March 2 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
• Virginia Guard unit begins integrating with fighter wing AFPN 03 Mar 2006 -- The 1st Fighter Wing and the 192nd Fighter Wing are integrating as an associate wing where both maintain separate administrative command but share aircraft and equipment
• Five wings compete in 'Tanker Winter Games' AFPN 03 Mar 2006 -- Five 18th Air Force KC-135 wings came together for the first "Tanker Winter Games" here Feb. 23 through 26.
• DoD Needs More Flexible Civilian Workforce, Official Says AFPS 03 Mar 2006 -- One day senior defense civilians could perform jobs now only filled by generals or admirals, and rank-and-file civilians could be deployed overseas to free up military members for combat-related duties, a senior DoD civilian said here today.
• European Command, Logistics Agency Sign Agreement AFPS 03 Mar 2006 -- A new agreement between U.S. European Command and the Defense Logistics Agency spells out the level of service that EUCOM expects and that DLA agrees to provide in support of the theater mission.
• Army writing new Counterinsurgency Field Manual Army News 03 Mar 2006 -- The Combined Arms Center hosted experts from the CIA, State Department and academia last week during a two-day workshop aimed at providing input to authors rewriting the Counterinsurgency, or COIN, Field Manual, FM 3-24.
• Review of European Security Issues Washington File 03 Mar 2006 -- Possible May 21 independence ballot for Montenegro; Kosovo status talks and KFOR restructuring; NATO "can deliver solutions" to global challenges; Caribbean is transit point for Europe-bound drugs; U.N. court to hear Bosnian genocide case; upcoming webchats on Southeast Europe and U.S. strategy in Europe
• State Department Briefing, March 3 Washington File 03 Mar 2006 -- Pakistan, Philippines, Palestinian Authority, Iran, Kenya, Belarus, China, North Korea, Russia, China/Taiwan, Kosovo, Department Focus on Asia Region

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for March 3, 2006
• Boeing Teams with Harvard Custom Manufacturing in Competition for Air Force Combat Search and Rescue Helicopter Boeing 03 Mar 2006 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] has announced a teaming agreement with Harvard Custom Manufacturing (HCM), Inc., to support the proposed HH-47 Combat Search and Rescue helicopter program for the U.S. Air Force.
• Future Combat System Team Selects Active Protection System Provider for Manned Ground Vehicles Boeing 03 Mar 2006 -- Following an extensive evaluation process, Boeing (NYSE: BA) and partner Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), operating as the Lead Systems Integrator for the U.S. Army's Future Combat System (FCS) program, today announced the selection of Raytheon Company's Network Centric Systems division in Plano, Texas, to develop Active Protection System (APS) technologies that will be applicable to current force and FCS manned ground vehicles. The FCS APS is a countermeasure capability that is designed to dramatically increase vehicle survivability against a full spectrum of threats.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN DELIVERS F-22 RAPTOR TO SECOND OPERATIONAL SQUADRON Lockheed Martin 03 Mar 2006 -- The 94th Fighter Squadron, famous for its historic “Hat in the Ring” insignia and legendary aviator Eddy Rickenbacker, began receiving F-22 Raptors from Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] today. The two 5TH Generation stealthy, air dominance fighters are assigned to the second operational squadron in the U.S. Air Force.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 03 Mar 2006
• Israel Objects to Russia-Hamas Talks VOA 03 Mar 2006 -- Israel has expressed regret over talks in Moscow between Russian officials and the Islamic militant group Hamas, which swept to power in Palestinian parliamentary elections five weeks ago
• Hamas contemplating government without Fatah IRNA 03 Mar 2006 -- Hamas, which Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas last week asked to form the next government, has finalized plans to form an alternative government in case current efforts to include Fatah reaches a dead-end.
• Hamas Says No Peace Until Israel Leaves Occupied Territories RFE/RL 03 Mar 2006 -- The political leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas today said that Israel must withdraw from territories it occupied in 1967 and allow the return of Palestinian refugees if it wants peace.
• Russia: Hamas Retains Hard Line During Moscow Visit RFE/RL 03 Mar 2006 -- Russian officials and leaders of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas held talks in Moscow on March 3, marking the militant group's highest-level foreign visit yet
• Hamas Takes Tough Line on Israel During Moscow Talks VOA 03 Mar 2006 -- The Islamic militant group Hamas maintained its hard-line stance against Israel, heading into its first talks with a Mideast Quartet member Friday in Moscow
• Armenia/Azerbaijan: Tensions Rise Over Nagorno-Karabakh RFE/RL 03 Mar 2006 -- Earlier this year, with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan meeting in the Paris suburb of Rambouillet, hopes were high that they could break the impasse over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh
• UN envoy urges Serbia, Kosovo leaders to stay engaged in status talks UN News Centre 03 Mar 2006 -- A United Nations special envoy today completed a five-day visit to Serbia and Kosovo following last month's first round of direct talks between the two sides on the final status of the Albanian-majority Serbian province, which the UN has run ever since Yugoslav troops were driven out in 1999 amid grave rights abuses in ethnic fighting.
• Security Council demands Eritrea lift restrictions on UN after peacekeeper's death UN News Centre 03 Mar 2006 -- The Security Council today reiterated its demand that Eritrea lift all restrictions on the operations of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), in the wake of a peacekeeper's death after a medical evacuation that took much longer than necessary due to the ban on UN helicopter flights.
• DR Congo: UN-backed military action halted after army troops protest conditions UN News Centre 03 Mar 2006 -- One of two operations in which hundreds of helicopter-backed United Nations peacekeepers were helping the army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) dislodge militia has been called off so that the Congolese soldiers involved can receive better training and preparation, a spokesman said today.
• NEPAL: UN condemns bomb attack on WFP office IRIN 03 Mar 2006 -- The United Nations in Nepal expressed serious concern on Friday over the attack a day earlier on the World Food Programme (WFP) office in the town of Damak, nearly 700 km east of the capital, Kathmandu.
• ERITREA: Lift restrictions on UN peacekeepers, Annan urges IRIN 03 Mar 2006 -- The United Nations Secretary-General has strongly urged Eritrea to lift restrictions it imposed on UN peacekeepers patrolling its disputed border with Ethiopia, saying the measures placed the lives of the blue berets at risk.
• Analysis: Chechen Strongman Poised To Become Prime Minister RFE/RL 03 Mar 2006 -- Chechnya's new parliament is scheduled to vote on March 4 on the nomination of First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov as prime minister

News Reports

• Bush Wraps Up India Visit After Landmark Civilian Nuclear Agreement VOA 03 Mar 2006 -- After finalizing a landmark nuclear deal with India, President Bush is wrapping up his trip with a stop in the city of Hyderabad and a speech in New Delhi.
• Philippine President Lifts State of Emergency VOA 03 Mar 2006 -- Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has lifted a week-old state of emergency imposed in response to an alleged plot but criticized as illegal and a threat to freedom of expression.