Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 30 Jan 2008 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• PRESS CONFERENCE: Maj. Gen. Bergner, Iraqi Maj. Gen. al-Askari: Jan. 30, 2008 MNF-I 30 Jan 2008
• Iraqi, US Troops to Join Forces in Fighting Insurgents in Mosul VOA 30 Jan 2008 -- An Iraqi defense spokesman says Iraqi and U.S. forces will fight together against al-Qaida and other insurgents in Mosul
• TF-Rogue troops capture AQI cell member as part of Phantom Phoenix MNF-I 30 Jan 2008 -- Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers arrested a terrorist suspect during a raid in the Andalus neighborhood of Baghdad Jan. 29.
• Troops Kill Four Suspected Terrorists, Capture 22, Destroy Weapons AFPS 30 Jan 2008 -- Coalition and Iraqi forces killed four suspected terrorists and detained 22 others in Iraq over the past three days, military officials reported.
• Operation Iron Boston targets al-Qaeda hideout (Sa'id Abdullah) MNF-I 30 Jan 2008 -- Iraqi Army Soldiers detained 24 individuals Jan. 27 during the joint air assault operation, 'Iron Boston', with Coalition Forces in the Sa'id Abdullah Corridor.
• USS Ponce Returns from Gulf Navy NewsStand 30 Jan 2008 -- USS Ponce (LPD-15) returned from a six-month Persian Gulf deployment, Jan. 27.
• NATO requests more German combat troops for Afghanistan IRNA 30 Jan 2008 -- NATO has made an official request to the German Defense Ministry to send extra combat troops to Afghanistan as part of a Quick Reaction Force, Der Spiegel reported.
• Kidnapped Pakistani Soldiers Found Dead in Volatile Northwest VOA 30 Jan 2008 -- The Pakistani army says it has recovered the bodies of 13 paramilitary soldiers who were kidnapped by militants near the northwestern city of Peshawar.
• Afghanistan: New U.S. Report Warns Of Deteriorating International Support RFE/RL 30 Jan 2008 -- An independent study to be released in Washington later today warns that Afghanistan is at risk of becoming a failed state because of deteriorating international support and growing militant violence there.
• Pakistan: Shari'a Courts Spark Fears Of 'Taliban-Like State' On Afghan Border RFE/RL 30 Jan 2008 -- Fearing the creation of a Taliban-like state near the Afghan border, Pakistani rights activists are up in arms over plans to set up a hard-line Islamist judicial system in Pashtun-populated parts of the country's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP).

Defense Policy / Programs

• Navy Secretary Names Three New Virginia Class Attack Submarines 30 Jan 2008 -- Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter announced today the names of three Virginia class submarines -- the Missouri, California and Mississippi.
• U.S. Commander in South Korea Wants to Examine Tour Lengths AFPS 30 Jan 2008 -- The U.S. commander in South Korea wants to re-examine the tour length for personnel assigned to the peninsula.
• Defense Department Seeks Civilian Language Corps Volunteers AFPS 30 Jan 2008
• DoD Begins Recruiting for National Language Service Corps Pilot 30 Jan 2008 -- The Department of Defense (DoD) announced today that is has begun recruiting for the National Language Service Corps (NLSC) Pilot, a public civilian organization composed of volunteers engaged on-call to provide diverse language services across a broad range of local, state and federal government departments and agencies.
• McChord Airmen provide lifeline in Pacific AFPN 30 Jan 2008 -- More than 140 Airmen from 446th Airlift Wing here are participating in the Pacific Lifeline exercise Jan. 26 through Feb. 9 in Hawaii.
• Hondurans, Americans team for combined jump AFPN 30 Jan 2008 -- More than 250 Honduran soldiers took their first step toward Airborne readiness when they leaped from the back of a U.S. Army helicopter Jan. 24 in a combined training jump with U.S. Soldiers here.
• U.S. Army South Team Responds to Flooding in Bolivia Army News 30 Jan 2008 -- U.S. Army South sent a Humanitarian Assistance Survey Team to Bolivia this week to survey the damage caused by recent flooding there.
• Rear Adm. Drennan Takes Helm of NMAWC Navy NewsStand 30 Jan 2008 -- Command of Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command (NMAWC) passed from Rear Adm. John J. Waickwicz to Rear Adm. Frank M. Drennan, Jan. 25, aboard Naval Base Point Loma Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Annex.
• Miami Returns From Deployment Navy NewsStand 30 Jan 2008 -- USS Miami (SSN 755) returned to Naval Submarine Base New London, Jan. 29, after completing a six-month deployment.
• USS Connecticut Arrives Home to Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton Navy NewsStand 30 Jan 2008 -- USS Connecticut (SSN 22) arrived at Naval Base (NB) Kitsap Bremerton Jan. 29, officially changing its home port from Groton, Conn., after a six-month deployment.
• Navy Engineers Search for Water in the Horn of Africa Navy NewsStand 30 Jan 2008 -- Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center (NAVFAC ESC) personnel are lending their technical expertise to the Joint Forces Command and the U.S. Hydrogeologic Team as they identify and develop new water sources for drought-stricken residents in the Horn of Africa.
• Oceanography Commander Reaffirms Commitment to Meteorology Navy NewsStand 30 Jan 2008 -- Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC), told the members of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) that NMOC remains committed to meteorology, improving Navy weather forecasting with advancing technology and partnerships.
• OTS starts unarmed combat training AFPN 30 Jan 2008 -- Officer Training School trainees completed the school's first combat skills training class Jan. 29 as part of the effort to expand the expeditionary officer training curriculum here.
• Press Gaggle by Tony Fratto The White House 30 Jan 2008
• Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 30 Jan 2008

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for January 30, 2008
• General Dynamics Awarded $349 Million for Abrams Tank-Related Work General Dynamics 30 Jan 2008 -- The U.S. TACOM Lifecycle Management Command has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), a contract for the Egyptian tank co-production program.
• ATK Receives $52.2 Million to Modernize the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant ATK 30 Jan 2008 -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK), the largest supplier of small-caliber ammunition to the United States military, has received an additional $52.2 million in funding to modernize and enhance manufacturing capability for the production of ammunition.
• Boeing Awarded $116 Million JDAM Production Contract Boeing 30 Jan 2008 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has been awarded a $116 million U.S. Air Force contract for more than 4,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kits.
• Lockheed Martin Receives $512 Million Contract for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System Lockheed Martin 30 Jan 2008 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has received a $512 million contract to provide the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) to the U.S. Army and to the U.S. Marine Corps.
• Congressman Donnelly Visits HMMWV Plant; Announces Funding and Compliments Workers AM General 30 Jan 2008 -- Congressman Joe Donnelly (D-Ind) visited the AM General HMMWV Assembly Plant on January 24 to recognize the importance of the Humvee and to announce funding for two defense projects in the Second Congressional District that he and other members of Indiana’s delegation secured through the congressional appropriations process.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 30 Jan 2008
• PRESS CONFERENCE BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT United Nations 30 Jan 2008
• UN Estimates There are More Than 250,000 Child Soldiers Worldwide VOA 30 Jan 2008 -- The United Nations estimates there are more than a quarter million children worldwide who are being drawn into armed conflict as child soldiers. Internally displaced children living in camps are at special risk
• Fatah, Hamas in Cairo for Gaza Border Talks VOA 30 Jan 2008 -- The leaders of the two main rival Palestinian factions are in Cairo for talks on the crisis at the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip
• Israeli War Commission Finds 2006 Lebanon War Marked by Failure VOA 30 Jan 2008 -- A government-appointed commission in Israel says there were grave failings by Israel's leaders during the 2006 war in Lebanon, but the commission avoided direct criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
• ISRAEL-OPT: Snow further complicates relief supplies to Gaza IRIN 30 Jan 2008 -- Vulnerable refugees in the Gaza Strip could soon be without an important source of protein, as canned meat has not been imported into the enclave in recent days and supplies from the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) are about to run out, a UN official who requested anonymity said on 30 January.
• Palestinian leader rules out dialogue with 'illegitimate' Hamas RIA Novosti 30 Jan 2008 -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that he will not hold talks with Hamas until the Islamist group cedes control of the Gaza Strip, including border checkpoints.
• Hamas demands key role on Gaza-Egypt border RIA Novosti 30 Jan 2008 -- The Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip is opposed to the involvement of third parties in running the Palestinian-Egyptian border, a top leader said on Wednesday.
• Israeli to Release Report on War With Hezbollah VOA 30 Jan 2008 -- An Israeli commission is set to release its final report Wednesday about Israel's conduct during the 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
• Analysts Question Benefits of EU Deployment in Chad and CAR VOA 30 Jan 2008 -- As European forces begin to deploy in Chad and the Central African Republic, analysts say they are worried about the logistics of the peacekeeping operation.
• Ugandan Government, Rebels Extend Cease Fire VOA 30 Jan 2008 -- The Ugandan government and rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army have agreed to extend a cease-fire for one month so that peace talks can continue.
• Kosovo Faces Post-Independence Uncertainties VOA 30 Jan 2008 -- As ethnic Albanian leaders in the southern Serbian province of Kosovo prepare to declare independence, observers say work on a constitution is not expected to be finished in time for the declaration.
• Sri Lanka military destroys 35 LTTE bunkers IRNA 30 Jan 2008 -- Sri Lankan military says advancing troops have a major breakthrough against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Wednesday as the first bunker lines of Tamil Tiger defence at Muhamalai and Nagarkovil in Jaffna were destroyed in a surprise attack during the wee hours today.

News Reports

• Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi Frustrated With Government Talks VOA 30 Jan 2008 -- Members of detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party say she is frustrated with ongoing political reform talks with Burma's military-led government.