Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF/OND Casualty Update 13 Dec 2012 [PDF]
• Remarks by Secretary Panetta in Kandahar, Afghanistan DoD 13 Dec 2012 -- Presenter: Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta
• Panetta Meets with U.S., Afghan Leaders AFPS 13 Dec 2012 -- Over two days in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has met with U.S. and Afghan leaders here and in Kandahar, gathering information he says will help inform the decision President Barack Obama will soon make on troop levels there after 2014.
• Joint Press Conference by Secretary Panetta and President Karzai in Kabul, Afghanistan DoD 13 Dec 2012 -- Presenter: Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, Afghan President Hamid Karzai
• Obama, Karzai to Discuss U.S. Future in Afghanistan AFPS 13 Dec 2012 -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accepted an invitation from President Barack Obama to visit Washington in January, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told reporters.
• Pentagon Warns US Troops Could Face More IEDs During Withdrawal VOA 13 Dec 2012 -- A Pentagon official said U.S. and allied forces will face a higher threat from improvised explosive devices, IED's, as they draw down in Afghanistan.
• Grossman Pledges Continued US Support to Afghanistan, Pakistan VOA 13 Dec 2012 -- U.S. President Barack Obama's special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan has pledged Washington's continued support for the region as the three countries work together toward peace in Afghanistan.
• Insurgents Attack Near Kandahar Airfield AFPS 13 Dec 2012 -- Insurgents detonated a vehicle bomb today near Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Intelligence Council Poses Four Worlds of the Future AFPS 13 Dec 2012 -- Prediction is an inexact science.
• Lajes Field drawdown as part of force structuring announced AFNS 13 Dec 2012 -- Department of Defense officials announced today that Lajes Field will transition from an air base wing to an air base group with a reduction of more than 400 military personnel and 500 family members by the end of fiscal year 2014.
• U.S. Reduces Staffing, Operations at Lajes Field AFPS 13 Dec 2012 -- The United States is reducing staff and operations at Lajes Field, Portugal, officials said today.
• Army Releases November Suicide Data DoD 13 Dec 2012 -- The Army released suicide data for the month of November. During November, among active-duty soldiers, there were 12 potential suicides: one has been confirmed as a suicide and 11 remain under investigation.
• Close U.S.-Philippine Ties Aid Typhoon Relief Efforts AFPS 13 Dec 2012 -- Praising the Philippine government for its "tremendous efforts" after Typhoon Pablo, internationally known as Typhoon Bopha, dealt a devastating blow there last week, the top U.S. commander in the Asia-Pacific region credited the close alliance between the U.S. and the Philippines for paving the way for U.S. forces to quickly provide assistance.
• Eurasia Partnership Exercise Improves Maritime Skills NNS 13 Dec 2012 -- Multinational service members participated in boarding training aboard the Hellenic navy training ship Aris at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Center during Eurasia Partnership Capstone 2012 (EPC 12), Dec. 12.
• Exercise Lucky Mariner Concludes in 5th Fleet AOR NNS 13 Dec 2012 -- Ships from the U.S. and United Kingdom navies and the commercial shipping industry coordinated maneuvers during exercise Lucky Mariner 13, held Dec. 7-11.
• US 4th Fleet Hosts Planners for Continuing Promise 2013 NNS 13 Dec 2012 -- Military, non-government agency planners and prospective participants in the upcoming Continuing Promise 2013 humanitarian assistance deployment worked on the details of the operation during a mission planning conference Dec. 11-13 by Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/4th Fleet.
• Top Officials Meet at ONR as Arctic Changes Quicken NNS 13 Dec 2012 -- The Navy's Chief of Naval Research, Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, met this week with leaders from U.S. and Canadian government agencies to address research efforts in the Arctic, in response to dramatic and accelerating changes in summer sea ice coverage.
• USS Emory S. Land Continues Voyage to Repair in Subic Bay NNS 13 Dec 2012 -- Submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) arrived in Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines Dec. 12 as part of the U.S. Navy's ongoing commitment to theater security cooperation and friendship with local allied navies.
• Employment Website Teams With Joining Forces AFPS 13 Dec 2012 -- Employment website Monster.com is collaborating with the White House's Joining Forces campaign and will contribute to the initiative's goal of hiring or training an additional 250,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2014, Acting Commerce Department Secretary Rebecca M. Blank announced here yesterday at the National Veteran Employment Summit hosted by Monster and Military.com.
• Marines Aid Philippine Typhoon Relief Efforts AFPS 13 Dec 2012 -- Personnel and aircraft with III Marine Expeditionary Force are providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief support at the request of the Philippine government in the wake of Typhoon Pablo which struck Dec. 4.
• Army uses battlefield forensics to trace explosives Army News 13 Dec 2012 -- A scene decimated by a suicide bomber or an improvised explosive device leaves little evidence of what life was like before its destruction. It does, however, leave traces of life in fingerprints that can be collected by weapons intelligence personnel and analyzed at forensic laboratories to identify the enemy behind the explosion.
• Conference of American Armies closes commanders' meeting, plans to gather again in Mexico City next Army News 13 Dec 2012 -- The Conference of American Armies closed the first year of its 30th cycle with the gathering of chiefs of armies from the Caribbean, Central, North and South American countries in a military ceremony hosted by the Mexican army at the Campo Militar #1 in Mexico City Dec. 13.
• VMA-542 returns from Asia-Pacific deployment USMC News 13 Dec 2012 -- A detachment of 122 Marines from Marine Attack Squadron 542 returned to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., Sunday from a deployment with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which patrols the Asia-Pacific region.
• MH-60R Helicopter Suffers Hard Landing, No Loss of Life NNS 13 Dec 2012 -- A Navy MH-60R helicopter assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 75 suffered a hard landing while conducting routine training on board Naval Air Station North Island, Dec. 12 at approximately 11 p.m. local time.
• NSWC Carderock Aerospace Engineers Complete Surface Ship Model Testing NNS 13 Dec 2012 -- Aerospace engineers at Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock completed surface ship testing in the subsonic wind tunnel Nov. 29, collecting data to improve the aerodynamics of current and future ship designs.
• Submarine Group 9 Holds Change of Command Ceremony NNS 13 Dec 2012 -- Commander, Submarine Group 9 conducted a change of command ceremony Dec. 12 at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor.
• Smart Defense Team Helps NATO Face Lean Times AFPS 13 Dec 2012 -- As the cost of militaries increase, NATO allies can benefit from an efficiencies-driven Smart Defense program, Allied Command Transformation officials said yesterday.
• NATO Secretary General thanks Dutch Prime Minister for commitment to Alliance NATO 13 Dec 2012 -- NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen thanked the Netherlands for its commitment to the Alliance, and in particular its contribution of two Patriot batteries to augment Turkey's air defences, after talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, on Thursday (13 December).
• Commander Describes NATO Transformation Efforts AFPS 14 Dec 2012 -- Partnerships, education and training are indispensable for NATO, the organization's supreme allied commander for transformation said here today.
• Training, Resource Sharing Boost NATO Transformation Initiatives AFPS 13 Dec 2012 -- To more coherently realize the alliance's strategic vision and future interoperability, NATO's Allied Command Transformation must champion training, capability development and education, the command's chief of staff said here yesterday.
• China Calls for 'Moderate' Response to North Korean Rocket Launch VOA 13 Dec 2012 -- China has reiterated that any U.N. response to North Korea's rocket launch should be 'prudent and moderate,' after the U.S. urged Beijing to pressure Pyongyang to adhere to its international obligations.
• N. Korean Missiles Don't Threaten US Yet, Analysts Say VOA 13 Dec 2012 -- Analysts say North Korea's successful launch of a long-range rocket is a major achievement for a country that has long wanted to obtain the capability to strike North America with nuclear weapons. But they say Pyongyang must still make several major technological advances before that threat becomes a reality.
• Russia Plans to Raise Lost Submarine RIA Novosti 13 Dec 2012 -- Russia's Emergencies Ministry plans to carry out a study in 2013 to see if the sunken Soviet nuclear submarine K-27 can be recovered from its resting place on the seabed in Russia's Arctic waters, a ministry representative said.
• December 13, 2012 - U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 13 Dec 2012
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 12/13/2012 The White House 13 Dec 2012

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for December 13, 2012

Other Conflicts

• 13 December 2012 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 13 Dec 2012
• SYRIA: Bread shortages rising IRIN 13 Dec 2012 -- When Bashar Akkad recently visited Syria's northern, government-controlled town of al-Raqqah, hotel staff did not serve him breakfast.
• Russian Official Acknowledges Syria's Assad Losing Control RFE/RL 13 Dec 2012 -- A senior Russian official has acknowledged for the first time that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is losing control over his country and may be toppled by rebels.
• US Stops Short of Legal Recognition of Syrian Rebels RIA Novosti 13 Dec 2012 -- US President Barack Obama's decision to recognize a Syrian rebel coalition constitutes a political move and does not legally designate the group as Syria's legitimate government, the US State Department said Wednesday.
• At Least Seven Killed, Some 50 Wounded in Damascus Blasts RIA Novosti 13 Dec 2012 -- At least seven people were killed and some 50 wounded after a series of explosions outside the building of the Interior Ministry in Syria's capital of Damascus on Wednesday, Al Arabiya reported.
• Moscow 'Concerned' Over Syria Chemical Weapons RIA Novosti 13 Dec 2012 -- Russia is concerned by the prospect of Syrian chemical weapons falling into terrorist hands, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Thursday.
• Moscow: Syria Opposition Victory 'Possible' RIA Novosti 13 Dec 2012 -- Moscow admitted on Thursday the possibility of the Syrian opposition winning the ongoing civil war against government forces.
• Opposition Victory in Syria Possible, Russia Says VOA 13 Dec 2012 -- A senior Russian diplomat says Syria's opposition may win its battle against President Bashar al-Assad, marking the first time the powerful Syrian ally has acknowledged the Syrian government is crumbling due to internal and external pressure from the nearly two-year uprising.
• 16 Killed in Damascus Car Bombing VOA 13 Dec 2012 -- A car bomb has killed 16 people in a suburb outside the Syrian capital, Damascus, while a senior Russian diplomat says Syria's opposition may win in its battle against President Bashar al-Assad.
• ICC indictees remain at large and Darfur crimes continue, Security Council told UN News Centre 13 Dec 2012 -- Crimes are still being committed against civilians in Sudan's Darfur region, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the United Nations Security Council, while noting a continued lack of progress towards arresting those already indicted for alleged atrocities.
• Guinea-Bissau: Security Council seriously concerned over lack of progress on return to constitutional order UN News Centre 13 Dec 2012 -- The United Nations Security Council has expressed "serious concern" over the lack of progress in the restoration of constitutional order in Guinea-Bissau.
• Taiwan tells China passport issue could hurt cross-strait ties CNA 13 Dec 2012 -- Taiwan has taken a firm stance on a controversial passport issue, making it clear to China that the matter could harm cross-strait relations, the head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Wang Yu-chi said Friday.
• Taiwan again urges China, Japan to show restraint in Diaoyutais row CNA 13 Dec 2012 -- Taiwan repeated Thursday its call for all parties involved in the Diaoyutai Islands dispute to show restraint, in response to reports of a Chinese aircraft entering the islands' airspace and causing an emergency response from Japan.
• ZAMBIA: Housing the DRC refugees IRIN 13 Dec 2012 -- Over the past five weeks, almost 1,000 people have fled into Zambia to escape fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), forcing the Zambian government to consider re-opening a refugee camp it closed two years ago.
• UN urges restraint by South Sudanese security forces after recent deadly incidents UN News Centre 13 Dec 2012 -- The United Nations is calling on South Sudan's security forces to exercise maximum restraint after nine civilians were killed and many more injured in incidents involving protestors and police last weekend in the city of Wau.

News Reports

• IAEA senior official in Tehran IRNA 13 Dec 2012 -- Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Head of the Safeguards Department Herman Nackaerts arrived in Tehran early Thursday and was welcomed by a number of Iranian officials.
• IAEA Team Holds Talks In Tehran RFE/RL 13 Dec 2012 -- involving Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia, and China -- produced no breakthrough.
• China Bolsters Corruption Crackdown VOA 13 Dec 2012 -- When Xi Jinping visited the southern city of Shenzhen last week, his first regional inspection since he was appointed as Communist Party's chief, Chinese media highlighted Xi's explicit orders not to lay down red carpets or prepare lavish banquets.
• Report Exposes 'Legal Wilderness' In Pakistani Tribal Areas RFE/RL 13 Dec 2012 -- Amnesty International says Pakistan's government is failing to respond to complaints of thousands of human rights abuses in its semiautonomous tribal regions.
• Putin Calls for 'Adequate' Response to Magnitsky Act RIA Novosti 13 Dec 2012 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin blasted a US bill targeting alleged Russian human rights violators as an "unfriendly act," but said Russia's response should be "adequate and not excessive.'
• Report Finds Tymoshenko Trial 'Compromised' RFE/RL 13 Dec 2012 -- A top U.S. law firm's analysis of the trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has found that her defense was 'compromised to a degree that is troubling under Western standards of due process.'