Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 21 Mar 2007 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• March 21 airpower: Rivet Joint provides eye in the sky AFPN 21 Mar 2007 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released the airpower summary for March 21.
• Iraqi, Coalition Forces Kill, Capture Terrorists AFPS 21 Mar 2007 -- Coalition and Iraqi forces killed 17 terrorists, detained about 90 suspected insurgents, and found several weapons caches in operations throughout Iraq in the past three days, military officials reported.
• US Military Says 13 Insurgents Killed in Raids in Iraq VOA 21 Mar 2007 -- The U.S. military says American and Iraqi forces killed 13 insurgents in raids Wednesday in Iraq.
• First Army's 189th Infantry Brigade Trains Provincial Construction Teams for Afghanistan Army News 21 Mar 2007 -- Stabilizing, securing, reconstructing and developing Afghanistan so it can sustain itself as a self-functioning democracy is the mission of the Provincial Reconstruction Team.
• Pakistan tribesmen clashes kill 46: reports IRNA 21 Mar 2007 -- Latest clashes between Pakistani tribesmen and foreign militants have killed at least 46 people, including 35 militants in Pakistan's tribal areas, it was reported on Wednesday.
• Dozens Dead In Clashes In Pakistan Tribal Region RFE/RL 21 Mar 2007 -- Reports say at least 50 people have been killed in continuing clashes between Al-Qaeda-linked militants -- most of them Uzbeks -- and tribesmen near the Pakistani border with Afghanistan.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Missile Defense Flight Test Successfully Completed MDA 21 Mar 2007 -- Lt. Gen. Henry "Trey" Obering, Missile Defense Agency director, today announced the successful execution of an important test involving the tracking of a long-range target missile by radars that are being incorporated into the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS).
• Airborne Laser fires tracking laser, hits target AFPN 21 Mar 2007 -- The YAL-1A Airborne Laser, a modified Boeing 747-400F, successfully test fired its target illuminator laser March 15 during a five-hour test flight.
• General Says US Missile Defense Much Improved Since North Korean Test in July VOA 21 Mar 2007 -- The commander of U.S. strategic forces says the United States has significantly improved its missile defense and deterrent capability since North Korea's series of missile tests last July
• C-17 missions play vital role in war on terrorism AFPN 21 Mar 2007 -- Large, grey, boxy, with expansive wings ending in a curved wingtip, this C-17 is one of eight aircraft jointly maintained and operated by both active duty and Hawaii Air National Guard Airmen at Hickam AFB, Hawaii
• AFSO21 team exchanges Lean practices with industry officials AFPN 21 Mar 2007 -- Air Force officials, looking to industry Lean experts for best practices and lessons learned to apply to Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century, got a first-hand look at Lean in action during a recent three-day industry exchange here.
• Royal Navy Submarine Incident Kills Two During Ice Exercise Navy NewsStand 22 Mar 2007 -- The Royal Navy submarine HMS Tireless, participating in the Joint U.S. Navy/Royal Navy Ice Exercise 2007 (ICEX-2007) in the Arctic Ocean, experienced an explosion of a self contained oxygen generation candle that killed two crew members and injured one.
• Cold Warfare: Future SEALs Get a Firsthand Lesson in Northern Exposure Navy NewsStand 22 Mar 2007 -- Navy SEAL Qualification Training (SQT) students pushed through frigid winds and strong snowstorms during cold weather survival training that ended March 9 on Kodiak Island.
• Two UK Sailors Killed, One Injured in Arctic Submarine Explosion VOA 21 Mar 2007 -- Two British sailors died Wednesday in an explosion aboard a British submarine under the Arctic ice cap
• Big E Underway to Continue Carrier Quals Navy NewsStand 21 Mar 2007 -- The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVN 65) (Big E), got underway March 19, after spending the weekend at its homeport in Norfolk, Va., offloading Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1 and onloading training squadrons from Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA), headquartered at Naval Air Station (NAS) Corpus Christi, Texas.
• Navy Transfers Two Coastal Mine Hunters to Greece Navy NewsStand 21 Mar 2007 -- Two Osprey-Class Coastal Mine Hunters, USS Heron (MHC 52) and USS Pelican (MHC 53), were decommissioned March 16, and transferred to the Hellenic Navy (HN) in the first official transfer of ships between nations at the South Texas base.
• Carl Vinson Visits Atlanta for Navy Week Navy NewsStand 21 Mar 2007 -- Sailors assigned to USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) visited Atlanta and surrounding areas to participate in the city's Navy Week that began on March 13.
• New GPS-guided air drops aid aircrew accuracy AFPN 21 Mar 2007 -- Mobility aircrews now have a new tool which uses Global Positioning System, or GPS, to help them deliver cargo more accurately and safely in deployed theaters of operation.
• Joint Chiefs Chairman Optimistic About Relations With China AFPS 21 Mar 2007 -- On the eve of his first trip to China, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today he is optimistic about relations with the world's largest communist nation.
• Official Defends BRAC Funding Request on Hill AFPS 21 Mar 2007 -- The latest round of the Base Realignment and Closure process is the most extensive, transformational round the nation has ever seen, and will require full funding to implement, a senior Defense Department official said here yesterday.
• STRATCOM Commander: Safe, Reliable Deterrence Critical to Defense AFPS 21 Mar 2007 -- As the United States works to reduce its nuclear weapons stockpile, it must ensure it has enough safe, reliable weapons -- both nuclear and conventional -- to deter against the threats it faces, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command told the House Armed Services Committee today.
• Pace Says Military Stretched but Able to Handle Any Threat AFPS 21 Mar 2007 -- The U.S. military is stretched, but it is able to do all missions the country asks of it, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.
• Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek Wants U.S. To Hand Over Airman RFE/RL 21 Mar 2007 -- Some Kyrgyz officials are accusing 20-year-old U.S. serviceman Zachary Hatfield of murder in the killing of an airport employee in Bishkek and want to put the American on trial.
• Kyrgyzstan demands handover of U.S. soldier who shot civilian RIA Novosti 21 Mar 2007 -- The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry has formally asked that a U.S. serviceman accused of killing a civilian be turned over to the Prosecutor's Office, the ministry said Wednesday.
• Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 21 Mar 2007
• Press Gaggle by Tony Snow The White House 21 Mar 2007

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for March 21, 2007
• Boeing work on Second C-130 AMP aircraft progressing on schedule, below cost Boeing 21 Mar 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE:BA] is progressing on schedule as the second C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) aircraft prepares for its first flight. Boeing began modifications on the C-130, an H2.5 model, in April 2005.
• Raytheon Successfully Completes Testing of Navy Multiband Terminal Satellite Communications System Ahead of Schedule Raytheon 21 Mar 2007 -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and the U.S. Navy have successfully completed all formal testing of the Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) satellite communication system--exceeding performance requirements and finishing nearly three weeks ahead of schedule.
• Boeing, Missile Defense Agency Complete Successful Test of Sea-Based Radar Boeing 21 Mar 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], working with industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, last night successfully completed a Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system test using a powerful new sea-based sensor that will play a key role in defending the nation against hostile ballistic missiles.
• Wedgetail Simulator leads the way in Accreditation Thales 21 Mar 2007 -- Recurring Fidelity Check Number Two has just been completed on the AEW&C Wedgetail Operational Flight Trainer (OFT) Simulator at Williamson RAAF base.
• Thales Australia bolsters Naval Support to Australian Defence Force Thales 21 Mar 2007 -- Thales Australia's Naval activities have seen a solid year of successes in 2006 focussing on the dual aims of delivering capability to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and securing new work to ensure continued growth of its extensive engineering, production and maintenance competencies.
• Thales Australia Supports Army's Tactical Communications Network Thales 21 Mar 2007 -- ADI Limited trading as Thales Australia is proud to announce that it is scheduled to take over the management of the Commonwealth's radio repair facility in NSW.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN COMPLETES WORK ON MODERNIZED GPS SATELLITES Lockheed Martin 21 Mar 2007 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] announced today the delivery of the eighth and final satellite in the modernized Global Positioning System Block IIR (GPS IIR-M) production program to the Air Force.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 21 Mar 2007
• At Least 11 Killed in Fighting Between Militants, Ethiopian Forces in Somalia VOA 21 Mar 2007 -- In Somalia, at least seven people were killed and dozens wounded when Somali and Ethiopian troops entered a section of the capital, Mogadishu
• SOMALIA: Fighting erupts in Mogadishu as gov't collects illegal guns IRIN 21 Mar 2007 -- Hundreds of families fled their homes in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, on Wednesday as fighting between Ethiopian-backed government troops and unidentified insurgents raged on, claiming the lives of at least 34 people, local sources told IRIN.
• SOMALIA: AU to support peace and reconciliation efforts IRIN 21 Mar 2007 -- The African Union will support a reconciliation conference being organised by Somalia's transitional government in an effort to build peace in the war-torn country, a top AU official said.
• U.S. Believes an Independent Kosovo Would Not Set Precedent Washignton File 21 Mar 2007 -- Potential separation from Serbia not a signal for other breakaway regions
• Rice Traveling to Middle East To Support Two-State Solution Washignton File 21 Mar 2007 -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, prior to traveling to the Middle East to advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, joined international diplomats in expressing hope that the newly formed Palestinian government will help ensure peace.
• UAE-OPT: Interview with Karen AbuZayd, Commissioner General of the UN Agency for Palestine refugees IRIN 21 Mar 2007 -- The decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies at the heart of 21st century world affairs, with numerous nations, international organisations and NGOs involved on both sides.
• Eritrea expels UN mine clearance chief, claiming violation of laws and regulations UN News Centre 21 Mar 2007 -- Eritrea has expelled the head of the United Nations mine clearance team in the east African country for what it called "repeated violations of Eritrean laws and regulations" in the latest action against the UN mission set up to monitor the ceasefire that ended a two-year border war with Ethiopia in 2000.
• US Cuts Aid Plan for Palestinian Security Forces VOA 21 Mar 2007 -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Congress Wednesday the Bush administration is reducing a proposed aid package for Palestinian security forces.
• World: Former U.S. Ambassador Discusses Georgia, Kosovo RFE/RL 21 Mar 2007 -- Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and chief architect of the Dayton peace accords that ended the Bosnian war, remains a leading commentator on foreign affairs in the United States

News Reports

• UN Probe Finds Hariri Murder Political VOA 21 Mar 2007 -- A United Nations-appointed investigator is reporting significant progress in his probe into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
• Russia Accuses U.S. Of 'Disrespecting' European Allies RFE/RL 21 Mar 2007 -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today accused the United States of disrespecting its European allies as Washington seeks to build a missile-defense shield.
• PRESS CONFERENCE BY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME United Nations 21 Mar 2007