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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Combined Force Arrests Weapons Broker in Kandahar AFPS 21 Mar 2013 -- A combined Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban weapons facilitator and detained another insurgent in the Arghandab district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, military officials reported.
• Afghan president welcomes NATO pullout plan Iran Press TV 21 Mar 2013 -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai has welcomed an announcement by US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) about the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan's Maidan Wardak Province.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Military Commissions Personnel Announcement DoD 21 Mar 2013 -- Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has designated Honorable Paul L. Oostburg Sanz to serve as the convening authority for military commissions.
• Statement from Pentagon Press Secretary George Little on Civilian Employee Furlough Notices DoD 21 Mar 2013 -- The Department of Defense has decided to delay the issuance of civilian employee furlough notices for approximately two weeks.
• Pentagon Delays Sending Furlough Notices to Civilian Workforce AFPS 21 Mar 2013 -- Pentagon officials have put off sending furlough notices to civilian employees until they've had a chance to analyze how pending legislation that would fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year will affect the Defense Department.
• Sikes Act Anchors DOD's Conservation Program, Official Says AFPS 21 Mar 2013 -- Military lands serve a critical role in protecting the nation and the nation's natural resources, the acting deputy undersecretary of defense for environment and installations said here today.
• Tuition Programs Demonstrate Hard Choices, Official Says AFPS 21 Mar 2013 -- Tuition assistance is an important program, but should be weighed against the military's imperative requirement to maintain readiness, a Defense Department spokeswoman said today.
• Dempsey Speaks on What Nation Expects From Marine Corps AFPS 21 Mar 2013 -- What does the United States expect from its Marine Corps?
• Carter Quantifies Shift of DOD Resources to Asia-Pacific AFPS 21 Mar 2013 -- The Defense Department has begun to shift its intellectual and physical weight to the Asia-Pacific to reinforce longstanding military commitments to the region, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter said here yesterday.
• Dempsey: Tuition Assistance Cuts Due to Readiness Shortfalls AFPS 21 Mar 2013 -- Tuition assistance was a hot-button issue during a town hall session between Marines and their families and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff here today.
• Operation Dynamo -- power forward Army News 21 Mar 2013 -- Operation Dynamo, a Project Manager Mobile Electric Power initiative, is designed to bring efficient and reliable power to Soldiers executing missions in some of the most remote areas in Afghanistan.
• Air defense Soldiers on guard in Turkey Army News 21 Mar 2013 -- Nestled within the hills of Turkey just outside Gaziantep, one of the country's largest cities, Patriot missile batteries and tan and green tents pepper a hillside, serving as watch guards over the Turkish-Syrian border.
• Mobile RPAT eases redeployment stresses for CTF 4-2 Army News 21 Mar 2013 -- As soldiers of 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, Combined Task Force 4-2 (4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division) reached the halfway point in their deployment, they realized they had equipment on their base that they were not using and could turn in.
• Army Reserve Theater Support Group-Pacific conducts first-ever annual training event Army News 21 Mar 2013 -- The U.S. Army Reserve's only Theater Support Group gathered its nearly 100 Soldiers from across the Pacific to conduct its first-ever consolidated annual training event, here and at Bellows Marine Corp Training Base, March 6-13.
• Marines, soldiers conduct static-line airborne training USMC News 21 Mar 2013 -- Marines with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 flew soldiers from the Army's 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), as they conducted static-line parachute operations into the Tsuken Jima water drop zone March 17 near White Beach Naval Facility.
• Combat Assault Battalion remains unique within Corps USMC News 21 Mar 2013 -- Marines take great pride in serving as America's force in readiness. For the members of Combat Assault Battalion, that pride stands a little stronger perhaps, as they are unique within the Marine Corps.
• NSWC Carderock Engineers Release New Software to Analyze Accelerations on High-Speed Boats NNS 21 Mar 2013 -- NORFOLK, Va. - Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock engineers released an innovative new software that provides the government, industry and academia a standardized method of analyzing data that is expected to improve high-speed craft design.
• International Leaders Observe Southern Patnership Station 2013 NNS 21 Mar 2013 -- Leaders from Guatemala, Mexico and Belize visited service members taking part in Southern Partnership Station 2013 (SPS), in Santo Tomas De Castilla, Guatemala, March 20.
• USS Anchorage Visits NSWC Port Hueneme NNS 21 Mar 2013 -- Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC)Port Hueneme recently completed a week-long combat system assessment and air defense rehearsal training for USS Anchorage (LPD 23), NAVSEA announced March 21.
• First Rapid Prototype Torpedo Warning System Testing On Board CVN NNS 21 Mar 2013 -- USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) and Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) PMS 415's Surface Ship Torpedo Defense (SSTD) team began at-sea testing and data collection of the Rapid Prototype Torpedo Warning System (TWS) and Countermeasure Anti-Torpedo (CAT) system, March 19.
• Navy Says Farewell to Under Secretary NNS 21 Mar 2013 -- Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus honored the service of Robert O. Work Thursday, March 21, during a 3 p.m. ceremony at the Pentagon.
• Officials Uphold Commitment to Suicide Prevention Solutions AFPS 21 Mar 2013 -- A panel of Defense Department and service officials told Congress their efforts to address military suicides will persist.
• Squadron, group command application process underway AFNS 21 Mar 2013 -- Development teams from various Air Force specialties will convene between May and September to consider eligible officers for 2014 squadron command, deputy maintenance and deputy mission support group commander positions, Air Force Personnel Center officials said.
• First international student pilot flies F-35 AFNS 21 Mar 2013 -- The first international student aviator at the 33rd Fighter Wing, training to be an F-35B Lightning II instructor pilot, completed his first sortie in the joint strike fighter here March 19.
• Barksdale AFB Reserve unit passes critical test AFNS 21 Mar 2013 -- The 307th Bomb Wing, an Air Force Reserve Command unit here, is now nuclear certified following an Initial Nuclear Surety Inspection March 14 - 18.
• VMFA-115 heads to Bahrain USMC News 21 Mar 2013 -- Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115, also known as the Silver Eagles, embarked on a deployment to the Kingdom of Bahrain, March 4.
• HMH-366 heavy helicopters lift M777 howitzers USMC News 21 Mar 2013 -- The steady beat of CH-53E Super Stallions in flight reverberated through the sky over Fort Bragg, N.C., during joint training missions here March 10 through 15.
• NAVSEA Assists with Removal, Dismantling of USS Guardian NNS 21 Mar 2013 -- Naval Sea System Command's (NAVSEA) Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) continues to support operations to remove and dismantle USS Guardian (MCM-5) from a reef in the Tubbataha Reef National Park, Philippines, March 21.
• US Cancels Part of Missile Defense System VOA 21 Mar 2013 -- The Obama administration recently announced plans to deploy ballistic-missile defenses in the state of Alaska. At the same time, though, it canceled a key component of its European-based missile-defense system.
• US Lawmakers: Cyber Attacks Will Have Consequences VOA 21 Mar 2013 -- Members of a U.S. congressional panel have expressed concern about the threat cyber attacks from other nations pose to U.S. national security.
• Caspian Flotilla to Get 2 Missile Corvettes in 2013 RIA Novosti 21 Mar 2013 -- Russia's Caspian Flotilla will this year be boosted by two rapid attack missile craft and a number of other auxiliary vessels, the Southern Military District said on Thursday.
• Russia Denies Plans to Abandon Syrian Resupply Base RIA Novosti 21 Mar 2013 -- The Russian Defense Ministry denied on Thursday media reports speculating that Russia will relocate its resupply base in the Syrian port of Tartus to Beirut due to the escalation of the Syrian conflict.
• HMS Defender joins the fleet UK MOD 21 Mar 2013 -- The Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender has been commissioned into the Royal Navy.
• Iran's 24th naval fleet berths in Sri Lankan port IRNA 21 Mar 2013 -- Iran's helicopter-carrier vessel and Sabalan destroyer berthed in Sri Lanka's Colombo port on Thursday.
• Iran's Navy 24th fleet docks at Sri Lankan port Iran Press TV 21 Mar 2013 -- The 24th fleet of Iran's Navy has docked at a port in Sri Lanka after patrolling Southeast Asia's Strait of Malacca and successfully conducting its mission in the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for March 21, 2013

Other Conflicts

• 21 March 2013 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 21 Mar 2013
• World's conflicts continue to push up asylum requests, UN refugee agency reports UN News Centre 21 Mar 2013 -- The number of people seeking asylum in industrialized countries increased eight per cent in 2012, the United Nations refugee agency reported, the largest jump in a decade with the most asylum applications originating from seekers in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Syria.
• Remarks of President Barack Obama To the People of Israel The White House 21 Mar 2013
• Remarks by President Obama and President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in Joint Press Conference The White House 21 Mar 2013
• Obama: Peace with Palestinians Crucial to Israel's Future VOA 21 Mar 2013 -- President Barack Obama leaves Israel on Friday, going to Jordan on the next stop of his Mideast trip. Obama told Israelis on Thursday that Palestinians deserve an independent state and Israel's future depends on forging a lasting peace.
• Obama Calls On Israel To Compromise For Peace RFE/RL 21 Mar 2013 -- U.S. President Barack Obama has called on Israelis to recognize that compromise will be necessary to secure peace and lasting security for the Jewish state.
• Obama to Israelis: 'You Are Not Alone' VOA 21 Mar 2013 -- U.S. President Barack Obama told an audience of young Israelis Thursday that they are 'not alone' in facing threats to Israel's security, while urging them to pursue peace with the Palestinians as the 'only path to true security.'
• Following rocket fire from Gaza, UN urges restraint and protection of civilians UN News Centre 21 Mar 2013 -- The United Nations today urged restraint by all parties following rocket fire from Gaze into civilian areas in southern Israel.
• Chemical Weapons Would be Syria 'Game Changer' – Obama RIA Novosti 21 Mar 2013 -- US President Barack Obama said Wednesday he was "deeply skeptical" of Syrian government claims that its opponents used chemical weapons in the civil conflict there, but warned any use of such arms would be a fundamental "game changer" in the world's action on the crisis.
• UN to Probe Alleged Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria RIA Novosti 21 Mar 2013 -- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that the United Nations will open an investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria as soon as possible.
• UN chief announces independent probe into allegations of chemical attack in Syria UN News Centre 21 Mar 2013 -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said that the United Nations will launch an independent investigation into allegations of the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria, after receiving a formal request from the country's Government.
• UN to Launch Syria Chemical Weapons Probe VOA 21 Mar 2013 -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon announced Thursday he will send a mission to Syria to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use.
• Turkey Cautiously Welcomes Kurdish Cease-Fire Call RFE/RL 21 Mar 2013 -- The Turkish government has cautiously welcomed a call for a cease-fire by jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.
• Jailed Kurdish Rebel Calls for Turkey Cease-fire VOA 21 Mar 2013 -- The imprisoned leader of the Kurdish rebel group the PKK has announced a cease-fire and withdrawal of its forces from Turkey. The announcement is part of ongoing efforts to end the nearly three decades conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state.
• Turkish Kurd Separatist Leader Makes Truce Call RIA Novosti 21 Mar 2013 -- Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who is serving a life sentence, urged the PKK on Thursday to end its confrontation with the Turkish authorities, withdraw its militants from the country and start peace negotiations to settle a 30-year conflict.
• Transition in South Sudan 'uneven,' UN envoy tells Security Council UN News Centre 21 Mar 2013 -- South Sudan's transition towards a stable, viable State continues at an uneven pace, the top United Nations official in the country today told the Security Council, cautioning that internal security challenges, in particular inter-communal violence in several areas and activities of armed groups, pose grave threats to civilians.
• Briefing: The risks and rewards of easing Somalia's arms embargo IRIN 21 Mar 2013 -- The UN Security Council earlier this month relaxed a long-standing arms embargo on Somalia, allowing the government to purchase light weapons for 12 months.
• Resettlement conflicts follow Mozambique's mining boom IRIN 21 Mar 2013 -- The coal boom in Mozambique's northwestern Tete Province is pitting disgruntled locals against international mining conglomerates as communities living in the new mining areas are forced to relocate.
• Boosting support for IDPs outside DRC's formal camps IRIN 21 Mar 2013 -- Humanitarian agencies in the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) North Kivu Province are working to increase their support for hundreds of thousands of displaced people living outside formal camps with little humanitarian support, often relying on the kindness of sometimes equally vulnerable host communities.
• Is international pressure failing in Sri Lanka? IRIN 21 Mar 2013 -- The UN Human Rights Council approved on 21 March a second resolution requesting the Sri Lankan government to do more to address alleged wartime rights violations, but observers question whether such resolutions can create meaningful change.
• Still No Deal Between Serbia And Kosovo RFE/RL 21 Mar 2013 -- The latest talks between the prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo ended late on March 20 in Brussels with no breakthrough after 12 hours of discussions.
• ECOWAS, AU to Meet Over Guinea Bissau VOA 21 Mar 2013 -- Officials of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) plan to meet representatives of the African Union's Peace and Security Council Friday to discuss efforts to restore constitutional order in Guinea Bissau.

News Reports

• Iran Vows To Destroy Israeli Cities If Attacked RFE/RL 21 Mar 2013 -- Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran will destroy the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa if it comes under attack by the Jewish state.
• North Korea issues new threat against US bases in Japan, Guam Iran Press TV 21 Mar 2013 -- North Korea has again threatened to attack US interests, saying that US bases in Japan and Guam will be targeted if Washington flies nuclear-capable bombers over the Korean Peninsula.
• N. Korea Issues New Military Threat Against US VOA 21 Mar 2013 -- North Korea has issued a new military threat against the United States. Also Thursday, Pyongyang's central broadcasting station sounded an air raid warning.
• UN to Investigate Rights Violations in North Korea VOA 21 Mar 2013 -- The United Nations has established a commission to investigate human rights violations in North Korea, saying some of them may amount to 'crimes against humanity.' The U.N. Human Rights Council unanimously passed a resolution Thursday to create the commission, which will probe 'systematic, widespread and grave' rights violations in North Korea. The resolution also condemns alleged torture and labor camps for political prisoners in North Korea.
• U.S. Nuclear Blackmail Will Be Foiled with Stronger Military Counteraction: Spokesman KCNA 21 Mar 2013 -- It is the unshakable will and resolute determination of the service personnel and people of the DPRK to frustrate hostile acts of the U.S. and its satellite forces against the DPRK and defend the sovereignty of the country.
• Nuclear War Provocateurs Are Bound to Meet Self-destruction: CPRK Spokesman KCNA 21 Mar 2013 -- A spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea issued the following statement on Wednesday:
• Answer Given by DPRK FM Spokesman Distributed as Official Document of UNSC KCNA 21 Mar 2013 -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave an answer to the question put by KCNA on March 14 as regards the assertion made by the U.S. and its satellite forces that the Korean Armistice Agreement can never be dissolved unilaterally. Copies of this answer were distributed as an official document of the UN Security Council S/2013/162 on March 18.
• No One Can Break DPRK's Will to Protect Its Sovereignty: Rodong Sinmun KCNA 21 Mar 2013 -- Unshakable are the stand and will of all service personnel and people of the DPRK to sweep away aggressors, provokers from this land and achieve a final victory in the sacred war for national reunification.
• Rodong Sinmun Calls for Learning from Kim Il Sung's and Kim Jong Il's Noble Outlook on People KCNA 21 Mar 2013 -- President Kim Il Sung's and leader Kim Jong Il's noble outlook on the people is an example to be followed by the officials, says Rodong Sinmun Thursday in a bylined article.
• Iraqi Government must listen to protesters' demands on human rights – UN envoy UN News Centre 21 Mar 2013 -- The demands from tens of thousands of Iraqi demonstrators on human rights issues and access to basic services must be urgently addressed by the Government, the top United Nations envoy in the country said today, warning that not doing so would increase volatility in the streets.
• Britain's rendition role to be examined Iran Press TV 21 Mar 2013 -- Britain's role in the so-called rendition of suspected terrorists to places where they even could not think of is to be partially unveiled, with UNHCR announcing plans to publish parts of a confidential report on the issue.