Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 17 Mar 2006 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• TASK FORCE BAND OF BROTHERS SOLDIER KILLED
• Transcript: DoD News Briefing with Lt. Gen. Chiarelli 17 Mar 2006 -- Presenter: Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, commander, Multinational Corps Iraq
• Operation Swarmer Continues with Little Resistance in Iraq VOA 17 Mar 2006 -- The number two U.S. commander in Iraq says the counter-insurgency operation north of Samarra is continuing with virtually no resistance, and will go on until the area is clear of insurgents and their weapons caches
• Airfield managers keep runways ready AFPN 17 Mar 2006 -- The 379th Expeditionary Operational Support Squadron is tasked with the demanding job of managing an entire airfield.
• US, Iraqi Forces Continue Anti-Rebel Sweep in Northern Iraq VOA 17 Mar 2006 -- U.S. and Iraqi forces are continuing for a second day a sweep in northern Iraq to hunt for weapons and suspected insurgents.
• IED Components Moving Across Iraq-Iran Border, General Says AFPS 17 Mar 2006 -- U.S. officials are sure Iran is conducting intelligence operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the commander of U.S. Central Command told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday.
• Afghan, Coalition Troops Detain Suspects, Seize Weapons AFPS 17 Mar 2006 -- Afghan and coalition troops detained several suspects and seized weapons during two March 15 operations in Afghanistan, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan officials reported.
• General Sees 'Significant Accomplishments' in Afghanistan AFPS 17 Mar 2006 -- There's more to do, but U.S. and coalition efforts in Afghanistan have achieved considerable progress in helping that nation to become a stable member of the world community, a senior U.S. military officer told Pentagon reporters yesterday.

Defense Policy / Programs

• EUCOM Leaders to Meet With African Nations to Discuss Security, Safety Navy NewsStand 17 Mar 2006 -- The Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the U.S. European Command and Commander, Naval Forces Europe (CNE) will jointly host a workshop entitled “Maritime Safety and Security in the Gulf of Guinea” in Accra, Ghana, March 19–22.
• Lincoln Carrier Strike Group Conducts Undersea Warfare Training Navy NewsStand 17 Mar 2006 -- At the kickoff of its latest Western Pacific deployment, the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) Carrier Strike Group gathered in Hawaiian waters in mid-March to hone its ability to detect, track and counter a threat from beneath the sea.
• Safeguard Setting PACE On Afloat Education Navy NewsStand 17 Mar 2006 -- USS Safeguard (ARS 50), along with other Commander, Task Force (CTF) 76 ships, is encouraging its Sailors to participate in the Navy College Program for Afloat College Education (NCPACE) as Safeguard reached the seventh week of its first 12-week NCPACE term, March 14.
• Force Reduction in Iceland Reflects Focus on New Global Threats Navy NewsStand 17 Mar 2006 -- The U. S. government has announced plans to remove its forces from Naval Air Station Keflavik, in Iceland, this fall, but reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to the island nation's security.
• Navy/British Hydrographic Survey Exchange Adds Value Navy NewsStand 17 Mar 2006 -- The British Royal Navy now has the capability to speed up production of oceanographic charts, following an exchange program visit by an officer from the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Survey Team (FST) at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
• DoD Announces Installation Realignment in Luxembourg 17 Mar 2006 -- The Department of Defense announced today that the United States will cease operations at the Army Prepositioned Site (APS) at Bettembourg, Luxembourg.
• National Intelligence Changing to Meet 21st Century Needs AFPS 17 Mar 2006 -- Morphing threats have created the need for change in the U.S. intelligence community, a top Defense Department intelligence official said here March 14.
• Commander shares vision for future force AFPN 17 Mar 2006 -- Lt. Gen. Gary L. North, 9th Air Force and U.S. Central Command Air Forces commander, shared his insight and vision for the future at the Combined Air Operations Center March 10.
• KC-135 aircrews 'fuel the fight' for B-52s AFPN 17 Mar 2006 -- In six short weeks, deployed KC-135 Stratotankers have delivered more than 11 million pounds of fuel to B-52 Stratofortresses that have flown forward into Afghan airspace to provide close air support for U.S. and coalition forces on the ground.
• F-16 Fighting Falcon covers multiple missions AFPN 17 Mar 2006 -- Hundreds of physical and mental training hours go into being a part of one of the most advanced careers in the world -- an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot.
• Combat-ready for 50 years: B-52s fly past another milestone AFPN 17 Mar 2006 -- The B-52 Stratofortress reached a milestone March 12 with the 50th anniversary of the first B-52 wing being declared combat-ready.
• Missouri Guard unit first ever selected for B-2 mission AFPN 17 Mar 2006 -- Air Force officials announced March 16 that the 131st Fighter Wing at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis will join the elite B-2 mission at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.
• JDAM continues to be warfighter's weapon of choice AFPN 17 Mar 2006 -- To call yourself the Airman warfighter's weapon of choice is one thing, but it's quite another to go out and back it up.
• Andersen host unit undergoes name change AFPN 17 Mar 2006 -- An official name change has been granted to Andersen's host unit. Andersen is now home of the 36th Wing -- a designation that was announced March 16 to better reflect the growing mission.
• QDR Important for Many Reasons, Vice Chairman Says AFPS 17 Mar 2006 -- The Quadrennial Defense Review is not a glossy book that will gather dust on a bookshelf, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.
• U.S. Not Fighting Alone Against Global Terrorists AFPS 17 Mar 2006 -- More than a half million U.S. and coalition forces are now engaged in the fight against global terrorism in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East, a senior U.S. general said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday.
• Balance Critical to U.S.-China Relationship, Officials Say AFPS 17 Mar 2006 -- The relationship between the United States and China has been improving, but the U.S. must balance this constructive relationship with the need to hedge against possible threats, two Defense Department officials said here yesterday.
• DoD Announces Four New Dacowits Members 17 Mar 2006 -- The Department of Defense announced today the selection of a new chairperson and three 2006 appointees to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS).
• Blue Roof program for damaged Katrina homes ends Army News 17 Mar 2006 -- Another chapter in what has become one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history came to a close as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency closed its Blue Roof program for victims of the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
• Responsive, affordable satellite enhances support to warfighter AFPN 17 Mar 2006 -- In the battle environment, every second counts, and accelerated (within 10 minutes) information downloaded to the joint warfighter, to be demonstrated in the upcoming TacSat-3 mission, could result in victory, but more importantly, in lives saved.
• QDR Heavily Influenced by 9/11, England Says AFPS 17 Mar 2006 -- Had the terrorists possessed the means and the know-how, they would have killed 3 million people instead of 3,000 on Sept. 11, 2001, the deputy defense secretary said here yesterday.
• U.S. Forces Leaving Iceland, Army Closing Luxembourg Site Washington File 17 Mar 2006 -- The United States has notified Iceland of plans to remove U.S. forces from the North Atlantic island nation by the end of September, and the Defense Department announced its departure from a storage site in Luxembourg.
• Rice Participates in Security Dialogue with Japanese, Australian Counterparts VOA 17 Mar 2006 -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is ending a three-day Australia visit Saturday, with a trilateral security dialogue with her Australian and Japanese counterparts.
• Watchdog Panel Questions US Export Controls on China VOA 17 Mar 2006 -- A panel commissioned by the U.S. Congress to monitor national security implications of trade between the United States and China is questioning U.S. export control policy toward Beijing.
• White House Briefing, March 17 Washington File 17 Mar 2006 -- Iraq, Iran, Belarus, Balkans, Pandemic influenza, Immigration, Port Security, Iceland, Ireland
• State Department Briefing, March 17 Washington File 17 Mar 2006 -- Iran, Liberia, Belarus, North Korea

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for March 17, 2006
• New HMMWV model on the way to U.S. Troops AM General 17 Mar 2006 -- The first 500 M1151P1 armored HMMWVs are en-route to Southwest Asia. The M1151P1 is the newest HMMWV variant to be delivered to U.S. troops serving in the Middle East. The M1151P1 incorporates the latest in removable armor protection providing U.S. war fighters a tactical advantage.
• Boeing Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System Wins $96 Million Contract Boeing 17 Mar 2006 -- Boeing [NYSE:BA] received a $96 million contract Feb. 17 for its third full-rate production order of more than 400 Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS), expanding production capacity for the second consecutive year.
• Eurocopter confirms its Leadership in the Law Enforcement Market – Spanish Ministry of Interior selects the EC135 for its Police Forces EADS 17 Mar 2006 -- The Spanish Government has announced today the launch of the acquisition programme for the modernisation of the security forces. The Spanish Ministry of Interior will acquire 51 EC135 helicopters in order to modernize the existing helicopter fleets of the Guardia Civil and Cuerpo Nacional de Policía within the next eight years.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 17 Mar 2006
• PRESS CONFERENCE BY LIBERIA’S PRESIDENT United Nations 17 Mar 2006
• LIBERIA-NIGERIA: "Time to bring Taylor issue to closure," says Sirleaf IRIN 17 Mar 2006 -- Liberia has requested the extradition from Nigeria of former Liberian head of state Charles Taylor, the Nigerian presidency said on Friday.
• GUINEA-BISSAU-SENEGAL: Fighting continues along shared border IRIN 17 Mar 2006 -- Clashes involving Senegalese separatists and Guinea Bissau troops entered a fourth day on Friday, forcing over a thousand people from their homes in the border region.
• Kosovo, Serbian delegations hold new status talks under UN chairmanship UN News Centre 17 Mar 2006 -- Delegations from Kosovo and Serbia today held their second round of direct talks on decentralization in the Albanian-majority Serbian province, which the United Nations has administered ever since the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid grave rights abuses in ethnic fighting.
• Guinea-Bissau Gets Involved in Casamance Rebellion VOA 17 Mar 2006 -- Guinea-Bissau is getting involved in fighting among rival factions of Senegal's Casamance rebellion, leading to fears the long simmering, low-level conflict, could ignite on a new front.
• Senior US Congresswoman Calls for End to Darfur Genocide VOA 17 Mar 2006 -- U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who recently returned from a fact-finding mission to Sudan's conflict-ridden Darfur region, has made a strong appeal for an end to what she called the "genocide" in Darfur
• Liberia Wants African Decision on Taylor VOA 17 Mar 2006 -- Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is asking African leaders to decide whether to bring former President Charles Taylor to trial on war crimes charges.
• LIBERIA-NIGERIA: Taylor's extradition requested IRIN 17 Mar 2006 -- Liberia has requested the extradition from Nigeria of former Liberian head of state Charles Taylor, the Nigerian presidency said on Friday.
• UGANDA: Gov't, aid agencies urged to do more for war-ravaged north IRIN 17 Mar 2006 -- The Uganda government and international aid agencies should increase their efforts to protect and respond to the needs of internally displaced people in the war-ravaged north, a senior United Nations official has said.
• Georgia: Tsalka District Again Wracked By Ethnic Violence RFE/RL 17 Mar 2006 -- Gevork Gevorkyan, an ethnic Armenian, was stabbed to death by a Georgian in a fight outside a local restaurant

News Reports

• UN: Tribunal Says No Evidence Milosevic Was Poisoned RFE/RL 17 Mar 2006 -- The president of The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) says there is no sign that Slobodan Milosevic was poisoned.
• Alcatel Alenia Space wins a major contract in North America for Ciel-2 satellite with Ciel Satellite Thales 17 Mar 2006 -- Alcatel Alenia Space today announced that it will deliver the high-powered Ciel-2 telecommunication satellite to Ciel Satellite of Canada, the newest member of the SES family. The new spacecraft, expected to launch by late 2008, will be the largest Spacebus class satellite ever built by Alcatel Alenia Space.