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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 20 May 2008 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• Troops Kill One, Catch 26, Seize Scores of Weapons in Iraq AFPS 20 May 2008 -- Coalition and Iraqi forces killed one terrorist, captured 26 suspects and nabbed scores of weapons across Iraq over the past three days, military officials said.
• May 19 airpower summary: F-16s ready to go AFPN 20 May 2008
• NMCB 17 and 3 Join Forces to Complete Mission in Iraq Navy NewsStand 20 May 2008 -- Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalions (NMCB) 17 and 3 arrived in Iraq in March and April respectively to provide construction and security support to coalition forces throughout Iraq.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Gates Again Asks Congress to Pass Emergency Funding Act AFPS 20 May 2008 -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates asked Congress today to act quickly to approve the president's $102.5 billion fiscal 2008 supplemental war budget request.
• Gates Defends Defense Budget Request Before Senate Panel AFPS 20 May 2008 -- The United States needs a defense establishment that confronts the full range of threats in the world today, and the president's fiscal 2009 defense budget request would fund the military for that purpose, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today.
• Mullen Says Budget Will Fund Force of Future AFPS 20 May 2008 -- While the United States fields the best military in the world today, that power "is not assured tomorrow," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee today.
• Promotion, developmental education releases combined AFPN 20 May 2008 -- Air Force officials here recently announced they will begin combining the public releases for officer promotions and developmental education announcements as part of an ongoing effort to streamline personnel processes.
• Combat civilians: Writing history as it happens AFPN 20 May 2008 -- Most people think of 'history' as events that happened many years ago, written about by historians who were miles and years away from the action.
• Bushes Express Condolences to Chinese; Cargo Aircraft Delivers Aid Team AFPS 20 May 2008 -- President and Mrs. Bush went to the Chinese embassy here today to express their condolences to the Chinese people following the devastating May 12 earthquake in China's Sichuan province.
• Nations Discuss Maritime Security at Denmark Conference AFPS 20 May 2008 -- Terrorism, piracy and other transnational threats were among topics military planners from around the world discussed at a recent conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• AKO, DKO Approach 2 Million Users Army News 20 May 2008 -- Almost 2 million users are now registered with Army Knowledge Online and Defense Knowledge Online.
• Secretary of the Navy Visits Romania Navy NewsStand 20 May 2008 -- Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter visited with senior officials in Romania, May 13-15, to discuss U.S.-Romania military relations and visit the Romanian fleet. Navy NewsStand 20 May 2008 --
• FOL Comalapa Personnel Serve Salvadoran Community Navy NewsStand 20 May 2008 -- Service members and PAE contractors from Forward Operating Location (FOL) Comalapa, completed two community relations projects May 16-17, to build partner relations with their host country.
• Ships Head to New York for Fleet Week Navy NewsStand 20 May 2008 -- A flotilla of U.S. Navy ships and thousands of Sailors and Marines set sail May 19 from Norfolk, to participate in the 21st Fleet Week New York, which will take place May 21 - 28.
• Ships Head to New York for Fleet Week Navy NewsStand 20 May 2008 -- A flotilla of U.S. Navy ships and thousands of Sailors and Marines set sail May 19 from Norfolk, to participate in the 21st Fleet Week New York, which will take place May 21 - 28.
• USS Ronald Reagan Departs on Third Deployment Navy NewsStand 20 May 2008 -- USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and embarked staffs and squadrons departed from San Diego May 19, for a scheduled Western Pacific deployment, as hundreds of friends and family members gathered pierside, waving banners and shouting farewells.
• CNO Addresses Future Ensigns at Annapolis Navy NewsStand 20 May 2008 -- Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead addressed the Class of 2008's future ensigns at the U.S. Naval Academy, May 19.
• Commander Naval Surface Forces Visits USS Howard Navy NewsStand 20 May 2008 -- Vice Adm. D.C. Curtis, Commander, Naval Surface Forces, visited the guided-missile destroyer USS Howard (DDG 83) May 8, where he addressed the crew on the future of the surface Navy.
• U.S., Japan forces join together for bilateral exchange AFPN 20 May 2008 -- Members of the Japan Air Self Defense Force and U.S. Air Force members assigned to Misawa Air Base took part in a bilateral exchange May 15 here to help enhance relations between the two nations.
• HSL-43 Holds Change of Command Navy NewsStand 20 May 2008 -- Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 43 "Battlecats," recieved a new commanding officer May 15, during a change of command ceremony at Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI).
• SURFLANT Commander tells SNA Surface Forces are Taking Care of Business Navy NewsStand 20 May 2008 -- Commander, Naval Surface Force, Atlantic (CNSL), spoke at a luncheon held by the Hampton Roads Chapter of the Surface Naval Association (HR SNA) on May 14.
• Russia to build up naval presence in world's oceans in 2008 RIA Novosti 20 May 2008 -- Russia's Northern Fleet will dispatch ships and submarines on tours of duty to various regions of the world's oceans in 2008, the fleet's commander said on Tuesday.
• Russian warship to join international drills in August RIA Novosti 20 May 2008 -- A Russian battleship will participate in a multilateral exercise in the Sea of Japan including naval forces from France, the U.K. and the U.S. in August, a Russian Navy spokesman said on Tuesday.
• German elite military force eyes recruitment of women IRNA 20 May 2008 -- Germany's top-secret elite KSK military force has expressed readiness to recruit women, the daily Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reported in its Tuesday edition.
• Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 20 May 2008
• Press Briefing by Dana Perino The White House 20 May 2008

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for May 20, 2008
• Lockheed Martin Team Completes Calibration Of Key Component For MDA's Multiple Kill Vehicle-L Lockheed Martin 20 May 2008 -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) announced today that its team has completed an important milestone for a key element of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Multiple Kill Vehicle-L (MKV-L) payload by successfully calibrating an operational pathfinder seeker for the carrier vehicle at the Space Dynamics Laboratory in North Logan, Utah.
• BAE SYSTEMS WELCOMES THE MoD CARRIER ANNOUNCEMENT BAE Systems 20 May 2008 -- BAE Systems has today welcomed the announcement by the UK Ministry of Defence that it intends to proceed to the manufacturing stage in the project to build two new 65,000 tonne aircraft carriers (CVF) for the Royal Navy.
• Boeing Begins P-8A Moving Assembly Line Boeing 20 May 2008 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] last week began using a moving assembly line for final assembly of the P-8A Poseidon in Renton, Wash.
• Raytheon Awarded $76 Million Contract for Key Command and Control Solution Raytheon 20 May 2008 -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has been awarded a four-year, $76 million contract extension for a critical command and control solution currently deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Sikorsky Aircraft signs contract to develop enhanced rotor blades Sikorsky 20 May 2008 -- Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. today announced an agreement with the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate to develop a new, integrated solution for enhanced helicopter rotor durability and capability
• General Dynamics Awarded $26 Million Contract to Support the Army National Guard Distributed Learning Program General Dynamics 20 May 2008 -- General Dynamics Information Technology, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has been awarded a contract by the General Services Administration's Assisted Acquisitions Service to support the Army National Guard's distributed learning information technology (IT) program
• Pratt & Whitney F135 Team Receives STOVL Flight Qualification Pratt & Whitney 20 May 2008 -- Pratt & Whitney received a statement of qualification for the F135 short-takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) propulsion system from the F-35 Joint Program Office.
• SAIC Awarded $20 Million Contract to Support Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command SAIC 20 May 2008 -- Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE: SAI) today announced it won a contract from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, Program Executive Office for command and control, communications, computers and intelligence (PEO C4I) to provide specialized network infrastructure support for legacy systems
• Oshkosh Defense Announces Service Arrangements With U.S. Army and Marine Corps for the JLTV Program Oshkosh 20 May 2008 -- Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK), announced today the signing of two memorandums of understanding relating to aftermarket support of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program. Oshkosh signed a memorandum of understanding with the Red River Army Depot (RRAD) on March 25, and the Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB), Albany on April 1. Oshkosh Defense solidified the arrangements with the military at a ceremony on May 9 at the RRAD, near Texarkana, Texas.
• Thales UK welcomes announcement by government for new aircraft carriers Thales 20 May 2008 -- Industry is now expected to go ahead and form the joint venture company that will help build the carriers.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 20 May 2008
• PRESS CONFERENCE TO LAUNCH REPORT BY COALITION TO STOP CHILD SOLDIERS’ USE United Nations 20 May 2008
• Greater funding needed to improve peacebuilding process - Security Council UN News Centre 20 May 2008 -- Calling for the United Nations to play a lead role in coordinating international efforts to help countries recovering from conflict stabilize and eventually prosper, the Security Council stressed the need today for greater funding to assist in peacebuilding and to lay the groundwork for longer-term reconstruction and development.
• Secretary-General outlines path for peacebuilding in Security Council debate UN News Centre 20 May 2008 -- To help countries in their struggle to stabilize and prosper after years of conflict, the United Nations must become more coherent in coordinating its activities, increase its capacity on the ground and build up its civilian expertise, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council today.
• LEBANON: Rights group calls for law banning sectarian incitement IRIN 20 May 2008 -- Lebanon needs a new law banning sectarian prejudice and incitement, to help heal rifts that widened after last week's fighting between opposition and pro-government forces, the Beirut-based Khiam Rehabilitation Centre said.
• Situation in Burundi still very fragile, Secretary-General warns UN News Centre 20 May 2008 -- The fresh outbreak of fighting in Burundi could roll back valuable progress made since a peace agreement was reached in 2000, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon cautioned in a new report made public today.
• Ban Ki-moon 'deeply concerned' at fighting in disputed Sudanese town UN News Centre 20 May 2008 -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is deeply concerned about renewed fighting between the Sudanese Government and rebel forces in the area around the disputed town of Abyei, which lies in an oil-rich area near the boundary between north and south Sudan.
• Kosovo journalist facing contempt charges before UN war crimes tribunal UN News Centre 20 May 2008 -- A Kosovo Albanian journalist is being brought before the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up to deal with the war crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s on charges of contempt of court after he allegedly identified a secret witness in a trial.
• New Fighting Reported in Sudan's Abyei Region VOA 20 May 2008 -- Despite several attempts in the past week to end clashes in the bitterly contested Abyei region of Sudan, heavy fighting has broken out between Sudanese government forces and ex-rebel Sudanese People's Liberation Army fighters
• Palestinians Say Israeli Air Strikes Killed Two in Gaza Strip VOA 20 May 2008 -- Palestinian medical workers say two Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed a 13-year-old boy and a Palestinian man.
• Arab Mediators Set Deadline for Lebanese Crisis Talks VOA 20 May 2008 -- Arab mediators have set Wednesday as a deadline for Lebanon's rival factions to reach a deal to end months of political conflict.
• Analysis: No Easy Answers in Lebanon cfr.org 20 May 2008 -- Whether Lebanon veered close to "civil war" this month-a question broached by many newspapers-seems purely academic at this point, and perhaps irrelevant.

News Reports

• China Earthquake Survivors Still Being Found VOA 20 May 2008 -- Rescuers continue to pull people out of the rubble, alive, more than one week after a massive earthquake struck southwestern China's Sichuan Province
• Nuclear facilities reported safe after China quake RIA Novosti 20 May 2008 -- Nuclear facilities and radioactive sources in China's Sichuan Province have been declared safe following last week's earthquake, news agency Xinhua quoted the environment minister as saying on Tuesday.
• World Bank Says No Aid to Burma VOA 20 May 2008 -- The World Bank says it will not provide aid or loans to Burma in the wake of a deadly cyclone.
• MYANMAR: International access "inadequate" IRIN 20 May 2008 -- More than two weeks after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, only 500,000 of the estimated 2.4 million people affected have received some form of international assistance thus far, according to the UN.
• President Ma Ying-jeou's inaugural address CNA 20 May 2008 -- The following is the full text of President Ma Ying-jeou's inaugural address
• Ma Ying-jeou sworn in as president CNA 20 May 2008 -- Ma Ying-jeou was sworn in as the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s new president Tuesday, amid high hopes that he will improve the island's economy and relations with China.
• President calls for 'win-win' cross-strait relations CNA 20 May 2008 -- President Ma Ying-jeou extended an olive branch to China Tuesday, calling for cross-strait reconciliation after years of chilly relations to achieve a "win-win' situation for relations across the Taiwan Strait.
• Taiwan's New President Pledges Better Relations with China VOA 20 May 2008 -- Taiwan's newly-inaugurated president has called for a resumption of dialogue with China.
• Georgia-Russia Tensions Continue to Simmer VOA 20 May 2008 -- Tensions remain high between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia
• Georgia: Will Parliamentary Vote Bring An End To Polarized Politics? RFE/RL 20 May 2008 -- After surviving a close call in Georgia's snap presidential election four months ago, a chastened President Mikheil Saakashvili pledged to run a more open government, work more closely with the opposition, and pay greater attention to citizens' needs.
• Georgia: In Search Of A Constructive Opposition RFE/RL 20 May 2008 -- Speaking at a party congress earlier this month, the leader of Georgia's opposition Republican Party expressed a sentiment that reflects the views of many voters.
• Russia fulfilling promises to Georgia - FM Lavrov RIA Novosti 20 May 2008 -- Russia has fulfilled all the promises it has made to Georgia, and expects the ex-Soviet republic to respond accordingly, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in the lower house of parliament Tuesday.
• Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF Ruling Party Dismisses Opposition Charges of Assassination Plot VOA 20 May 2008 -- Zimbabwe's ruling party has dismissed charges by the opposition that the government is plotting to assassinate its leadership prior to next month's presidential run-off elections
• Iraqi Court Resumes Trial of Hussein's Former Deputy PM VOA 20 May 2008 -- An Iraqi court has resumed the trial of Saddam Hussein's former deputy prime minister, who is accused of ordering the executions of 42 businessmen in 1992.