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Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF / OND / OEF / OIR / OFS Casualty Update 20 Mar 2018 [PDF]
• Department of Defense Press Briefing by Colonel Folsom via teleconference from Al Asad Airbase in Iraq DoD 20 Mar 2018 -- Presenter: Colonel Seth W.B. Folsom, commander, Task Force Lion, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve; Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, Pentagon Spokesman
• Task Force Lion Continues Partnership with Iraqi Forces Against ISIS AFPS 20 Mar 2018 -- A U.S.-led coalition task force named Task Force Lion, part of Operation Inherent Resolve, is continuing its efforts to support the Iraqi government in its fight against the remnant forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the task force's commander told reporters at the Pentagon today via satellite from Iraq.
• Officials Note Progress in Afghanistan, Difficulty for Taliban AFPS 20 Mar 2018 -- Noting "breathtaking" progress the Afghan government and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani have made, a senior officer in the Resolute Support mission said there is never going to be a better time for the Taliban to start talking with the Afghan government about peace.
• Taliban Invite Afghan Jihadi Leaders to Peace Talks VOA 20 Mar 2018 -- Afghanistan's Taliban says they are ready to discuss peace and reconciliation with the leaders of Afghan jihadi organizations opposed to the U.S.-led "foreign occupation" of the country.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Readout of Secretary Mattis' Meeting With Norwegian Minister of Defense Frank Bakke-Jensen DoD 20 Mar 2018
• Fort Indiantown Gap conserves land using the Army Compatible User Buffer Program Army News 20 Mar 2018 -- Officials with the installation, Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, The Nature Conservancy and Capitol Region Water attended a Feb. 28 meeting to approve the paperwork conserving more than 4,000 acres at the DeHart reservoir using the Army Compatible User Buffer Program. This transaction brings the total contiguous acreage placed in this conservation easement to more than 8,000 acres. An earlier transaction was completed in Sept. 2016.
• North Carolina Guard uses Heavy Equipment Transport for long-distance convoy Army News 20 Mar 2018 -- The North Carolina National Guard transported M1A1 Abrams Tanks and M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles with Heavy Equipment Transport (HET) vehicles to Fort Pickett, Virginia, via I-95, on Sunday, March 18, 2018. This is the first time the NC Guard is using HETs for a long-distance convoy.
• Navy Seeks Savings, Releases Two-Carrier RFP NNS 20 Mar 2018 -- The Navy released a CVN 80/81 two-ship buy Request for Proposal (RFP) to Huntington Ingalls Industries - Newport News Shipbuilding (HII-NNS) March 19 to further define the cost savings achievable with a two-ship buy.
• Navy Secretariat Restructures to Accelerate Business Operations Improvements NNS 20 Mar 2018 -- The Under Secretary of the Navy, Thomas Modly, released a memorandum March 16 announcing a significant restructuring of how the Secretary of the Navy staff is organized in order to accelerate the pace of change and improve enterprise alignment in the business operations of the Department.
• Navy Continues and Expands Aviation Bonus Program NNS 20 Mar 2018 -- The Navy announced March 20 the Active Component (AC) fiscal year 2018 Aviation Department Head Retention Bonus (ADHRB) and Aviation Command Retention Bonus (ACRB) and the expansion of Aviation Incentive Pay (AvIP) for both AC and the Reserve Component aviators in NAVADMIN 065/18.
• USNS Mercy Delivers Medical Supplies to Ulithi Atoll NNS 20 Mar 2018 -- Servicemembers assigned to Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) made a brief mission stop, March 20, near Ulithi Atoll, part of the Caroline Islands in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).
• Wasp ESG, Embarked 31st MEU Sails from Okinawa for Indo-Pacific Patrol NNS 20 Mar 2018 -- Ships of the Wasp Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) departed Okinawa, Japan, March 19, after embarking more than 2,300 Marines and equipment of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).
• US Army Close to Fielding Howitzers Firing Hypersonic, Precision-Strike Shells Sputnik 20 Mar 2018 -- The US Army is planning to demonstrate artillery technology capable of firing hypersonic projectiles sooner rather than later.
• US Air Force to Start Testing Jet-Mounted Laser Weapons This Summer Sputnik 20 Mar 2018 -- The United States Air Force's F-15 fighter jets are slated to start testing their high-energy laser weapons later this year, with an eye to eventually shooting down cruise missiles and drones from the sky, a Pentagon official told reporters Monday.
• US, South Korea to resume annual military drills Press TV 20 Mar 2018 -- The United States and South Korea say their annual joint military drills will resume next month, despite a diplomatic thaw with North Korea, a move that risks irking Pyongyang ahead of a planned summit with US President Donald Trump.
• Stratcom Chief Testifies on Command's Readiness to Deter, Respond AFPS 20 Mar 2018 -- U.S. Strategic Command forces are prepared to deter strategic attack and employ forces, as directed, to guarantee the security of the nation and its allies, the Stratcom commander told the Senate Armed Services Committee here today.
• U.S. Says Russia Increasing Deployment Of 'Banned' Cruise Missile RFE/RL 20 Mar 2018 -- The commander of U.S. nuclear forces says that Russia has increased its deployment of cruise missiles that Washington asserts are in violation of a key Cold War arms-control treaty, a signal that Moscow continues to be undeterred by U.S. warnings.
• Russian Army to Adopt Terminator-2 Tank Support Vehicle Sputnik 20 Mar 2018 -- The Russian army will soon adopt into service the latest version of BMPT-72 tank support combat vehicle, also known as Terminator 2, an informed source in the Rusian defense industry told Sputnik.
• Iraq Ready to Cooperate With Turkey on Securing Common Borders Sputnik 20 Mar 2018 -- The Iraqi government has expressed its readiness to cooperate with Turkey on ensuring security of the countries' shared borders, the Iraqi Justice Ministry said Tuesday in a press release received by Sputnik.
• Fighters Russia Donated To Serbia To Enter Service By Year-End RFE/RL 20 Mar 2018 -- Six MiG-29 fighter jets that Russia donated to Serbia will have their first test flights and enter service by the end of 2018, Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin has said.
• Department Press Briefing - March 20, 2018 US Dept. of State 20 Mar 2018
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders The White House 20 Mar 2018

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for March 20, 2018
• Trump to Announce New Trade Policy Encouraging Lethal Drone Proliferation Sputnik 20 Mar 2018 -- After months of internal discussions in the United States government about President Donald Trump's proposed easing of regulations limiting the export of deadly drones, the White House is ready to formalize the change soon, according to reports.

Other Conflicts

• 20 March 2018 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 20 Mar 2018
• Turkish president says army to extend offensive in northwestern Syria Press TV 20 Mar 2018 -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to extend the military operation further east of Syria's northwestern region, prompting fears of confrontation with US-led forces stationed in the area.
• Turkish Foreign Ministry Insists Afrin Invasion Targets Terrorists, Amid Censure Sputnik 20 Mar 2018 -- The Turkish Foreign Ministry underscored that the Turkish operation in Syria's Afrin was targeting terrorists, not civilians, in response to a statement by the US State Department.
• Kurds Vow to Halt 'Turkish Attempt to Establish Superiority Over Northern Syria' Sputnik 20 Mar 2018 -- With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claiming control of northern Syria's Afrin region, the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has promised to continue resisting "Turkish aggression."
• Syrian Army advances to Ein Tarma valley IRNA 20 Mar 2018 -- Syrian Arab Army units continued their operations to liberate Eastern Ghouta of the remaining Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists and the groups affiliated to them.
• Three chemical attacks thwarted in Syria's Ghouta: Russia defense chief Press TV 20 Mar 2018 -- Russia's defense minister says three attempts at staging chemical attacks in the Eastern Ghouta suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus, have been foiled over the past week.
• Displacement surges as twin military offensives drive thousands from Afrin and east Ghouta - UN UN News 20 Mar 2018 -- The humanitarian crisis in Syria is reaching new peaks as hundreds of thousands of people flee the escalating fighting in Eastern Ghouta and Afrin, the latest flashpoints in the long-running conflict, United Nations relief agencies said Tuesday.
• Fierce Fighting Displaces Tens of Thousands from Syria's Eastern Ghouta, Afrin VOA 20 Mar 2018 -- U.N. agencies are calling for the protection and safety of tens of thousands of Syrian civilians fleeing from fierce fighting in eastern Ghouta, a suburb of the capital Damascus, and Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria.
• Syria Army continues military operations to root out terrorists from Ghouta IRNA 20 Mar 2018 -- The Syrian Arab Army units started on Monday a precise military operation targeting the terrorist organizations' hideouts in Hazza town.
• Cameroonians pour into Nigeria, stretching scant resources - UN refugee agency UN News 20 Mar 2018 -- As more and more Anglophone Cameroonians flee a violent crackdown in the region and seek asylum in Nigeria, the United Nations refugee agency warned on Tuesday without more funding and assistance, their situation and that of the Nigerian communities hosting them, will become even more desperate.
• Dire Humanitarian Crisis Grips DRC's Kasai Region VOA 20 Mar 2018 -- Fourteen-month-old Georgette is one of the smallest victims of a massive, complicated crisis that has for two years enveloped a region the size of Germany in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

News Reports

• Senate Intel Committee's Initial Recommendations on Election Security for 2018 Election Cycle Senator Burr 20 Mar 2018 -- Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, in advance of today's press conference with Committee members, made available the Committee's initial recommendations on election security after investigating Russian attempts to target election infrastructure during the 2016 U.S. elections.
• U.S. Senators Warn Of More Russian Hacking Attempts Against Voting Systems RFE/RL 20 Mar 2018 -- Leading U.S. senators said Russian-linked hackers succeeded in penetrating the voting system in at least one U.S. state in 2016, as lawmakers called for new efforts to protect those U.S. election systems from hacking.
• Senate Intelligence Committee Launches Campaign to Prevent US Election Hacking VOA 20 Mar 2018 -- The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee recommended Tuesday that Congress "urgently pass" legislation to bolster federal help to states that are trying to prevent their election systems from being hacked as they were in 2016.
• Trump calls Putin to congratulate him on re-election victory Press TV 20 Mar 2018 -- US President Donald Trump has said he spoke to Vladimir Putin over the phone to congratulate the Russian president on his re-election victory, and they discussed the possibility of a meeting in the near future.
• Readout of President Donald J. Trump's Call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia The White House 20 Mar 2018
• Europeans show mixed reactions to Putin's win, US still silent Press TV 20 Mar 2018 -- The West has been sharply divided in its reaction to Vladimir Putin's decisive win in the Russian presidential election; while some European leaders have sent warm wishes to Putin in the hope of closer ties with Moscow, some others have taken advantage of the moment to say the strained relations would be irreversible under Putin.
• Seeing 'Churov's Saw': Russian Researcher Says Putin May Have Received 10 Million Fraudulent Votes RFE/RL 20 Mar 2018 -- Humans love round numbers, and Russian election officials appear to be no exception.
• Trump Congratulates Putin On Reelection, Hopes To Meet Soon RFE/RL 20 Mar 2018 -- U.S. President Donald Trump has congratulated Vladimir Putin two days after the Russian leader's landslide election victory, saying he hopes the two leaders will soon meet to discuss several crises around the world.
• Trump Congratulates Putin, Two Plan to Meet in 'Not-Too-Distant Future' VOA 20 Mar 2018 -- President Donald Trump congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election during a phone call on Tuesday and the two leaders agreed to hold talks soon.
• Putin's Pals, The Night Wolves, Troll Bosnia And The Region RFE/RL 20 Mar 2018 -- The motorcycle club whose members were at the vanguard of Russia's occupation of Crimea, nicknamed "Putin's Angels" by the media, is on the road again.
• Trump hails Saudi 'friendship' in meeting with bin Salman Press TV 20 Mar 2018 -- Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is in Washington for official talks at the White House on his first visit to the US, which observers say is mainly meant to consolidate his grip on power at home and push for an ambitious nuclear deal.
• Trump Praises Defense Sales To Saudis, Discusses Iran With Crown Prince RFE/RL 20 Mar 2018 -- President Donald Trump has praised U.S. defense sales to Saudi Arabia at a meeting with Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman at the White House, where the two discussed simmering tensions with Iran.
• Trump Touts Saudi Arms Deals in Oval Office Meeting With Crown Prince VOA 20 Mar 2018 -- Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday amid heightened tensions between Riyadh and Tehran.
• Remarks by President Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Before Luncheon The White House 20 Mar 2018
• Remarks by President Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Before Bilateral Meeting The White House 20 Mar 2018
• Britain, US Probing Use of Facebook Data by British Voter Profiling Company VOA 20 Mar 2018 -- Social media giant Facebook faced new investigations Tuesday in both Britain and the United States about the vast troves of information compiled by the company about their users and how that data has been deployed to influence elections by Cambridge Analytica, a British voter profiling business.
• Facebook Under Fire for Developer's Data Mining VOA 20 Mar 2018 -- The Facebook backlash is intensifying. Congressional leaders, regulators in the United States and Europe and state officials are putting pressure on Facebook to answer questions about fresh allegations over how the social networking giant was manipulated in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
• Facebook Official Who Pushed To Air Russian Election Posts Quits RFE/RL 20 Mar 2018 -- A Facebook executive who strongly pushed for investigation and disclosure of Russian activities on the site allegedly aimed at influencing elections will reportedly leave the company in August.
• Corbyn Reiterates Calls for UK to Investigate Skripal Poisoning With Russia Sputnik 20 Mar 2018 -- In the aftermath of the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal, the British government hastily opted to expel 23 Russian diplomats from their posts in the UK, leading to a package of retaliatory diplomatic sanctions by Russia against the UK.
• Merkel Claims Russia Must Prove Non-Involvement in Skripal Poisoning Case Sputnik 20 Mar 2018 -- Russia must prove that it has nothing with poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK city of Salisbury, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
• EU Leaders To Seek Better Communication On Threats After Nerve-Agent Attack RFE/RL 20 Mar 2018 -- EU leaders are set to ask foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to look into ways to improve the 28-member bloc's strategic communication, counterintelligence, and cyberdefense in the wake of the nerve-agent attack on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in England earlier this month.
• Expelled Russian Diplomats Head Home As U.K. Mulls Furthur Poisoning Response RFE/RL 20 Mar 2018 -- Twenty-three Russian diplomats who were ordered out of Britain in response to the poisoning of a former spy with a deadly nerve agent left the country on March 20, as London decided not to impose further sanctions on Moscow for now.
• Telegram App Under The Gun In Russia After Supreme Court Ruling RFE/RL 20 Mar 2018 -- Russia's media regulator ordered Telegram to give the Federal Security Service (FSB) access to users' messaging data within 15 days, prompting a defiant response from the popular app's co-founder.
• Japan Wants Abductees, Mid-Range Missiles on Table in US-North Korea Talks VOA 20 Mar 2018 -- Japanese leaders, while calling for a united front with the United States and South Korea ahead of proposed U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks, are seeking to thrust issues of their own onto the agenda.
• Xi looks ahead with the Chinese Dream and its worldwide impact as NPC session closes People's Daily 20 Mar 2018 -- Chinese president Xi Jinping called on all efforts to tackle the challenges and realize the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation as the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) closed on Tuesday in Beijing.
• Chinese Premier Li Keqiang talks about economy, reform and diplomacy People's Daily 20 Mar 2018 -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and newly-elected vice premiers attended a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday, following the closing meeting of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress.
• NPC endorses State Council lineup People's Daily 20 Mar 2018 -- The 13th National People's Congress, China's national legislature, decided on the new lineup of the State Council at the seventh plenary meeting of its first session on Monday morning.
• China builds world's fastest wind tunnel to spur spaceplane development People's Daily 20 Mar 2018 -- China is building the world's fastest hypersonic wind tunnel to help with the development of spaceplanes.
• Premier reaffirms government's stance on 1992 consensus CNA 20 Mar 2018 -- Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Tuesday reaffirmed the government's stance on the 1992 consensus, saying that if China sees the consensus as the only key able to open the door to the development of cross-strait relations, that will not be accepted in Taiwan.
• U.S. reaffirms one-China policy as China protests travel act CNA 20 Mar 2018 -- The United States on Monday reiterated its commitment to the one-China policy in response to Beijing's protest over the recent passing of a bill that encourages visits between government officials of the U.S. and Taiwan.
• Taiwan to face 'punishment of history' over any separatist move: Xi Press TV 20 Mar 2018 -- In his strongest warning yet to Taiwan, China's President Xi Jinping says the self-ruled island will face the "punishment of history" for any attempt to split the mainland.
• China's Xi Has Stern Warning for Taiwan VOA 20 Mar 2018 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has issued a stern warning to Taiwan as he begins his second term in office, telling the self-ruled island it would face the "punishment of history" if it made any attempt toward separatism.
• China to Apply 'Military Pressure' Against US for Signing of Taiwan Travel Act Sputnik 20 Mar 2018 -- An editorial in China's state-run Global Times has announced that Beijing "will and should" respond to US President Donald Trump's signing of the Taiwan Travel Act on Friday with "military pressure."
• India, EU to Have Free Access to Each Other's Earth Observation Satellite Data Sputnik 20 Mar 2018 -- As per the arrangement, while data gathered by India's Oceansat-2, Megha-Tropiques, Scatsat-1, SARAL, INSAT-3D, and INSAT-3DR will be made available for distribution on Europe's Copernicus hub, India will have free access to data from the EU's Copernicus family of satellites.
• Turkey's 18-month state of emergency has led to profound human rights violations - UN report UN News 20 Mar 2018 -- The United Nations on Tuesday called on Turkey to end its 18-month-old state of emergency, saying that the routine extension of emergency powers has resulted in "profound" human rights violations against hundreds of thousands of people and may have lasting impact on the country's socio-economic fabric.
• UN calls on Turkey to end state of emergency, halt rights violations Press TV 20 Mar 2018 -- The United Nations has called on Ankara to end a state of emergency in place in the country since 2016, saying it has led to "massive and serious" rights violations in the southeastern Kurdish-majority areas.