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Russia Now Has More Than 6,000 Airborne, Naval Forces in Crimea, Official Says

KABUL, Afghanistan – Tony White, spokesman, NATO Senior Civilian Representative, and German Army Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz, spokesman, International Security Assistance Force, provided an update June 12 on recent partnering operations in Central Helmand River Valley and Kandahar. Blotz concentrated on operations in Kandahar. “In terms of the insurgency, the rural area of Zhari is at the moment contested space,” he said. “In much the same way as Marja was, you’ll find in Zhari, insurgents have freedom of movement and the ability to control, suppress and oppress the population. The same applies to the southwestern part of Panjawa’i.” “It is...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2007 – The most important component of President Bush’s strategy to stabilize Iraq is an expanded freedom of operations in Baghdad, the chief operations officer for the Joint Staff said here yesterday. Iraq’s government has renewed its commitment to prevent political constraints from impeding progress in the capital, Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute said in an interview. “The Iraqi government has committed to a no-holds-barred approach to operations inside Baghdad,” Lute said. “(This means) there’s no geographic constraint on military operations, and there’s no political or sectarian group constraint on military operations.” He noted these...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2006 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is now officially the commander in chief of his troops. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. sign documents to mark the hand-over of control of the Iraqi armed forces to Maliki. U.S. Army photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Coalition forces handed over operational control of Iraq’s navy, air force and the 8th Iraqi Army Division in a ceremony today at the Ministry of Defense in Baghdad’s International Zone. “It’s fitting I follow the commander in chief of the Iraqi forces,” said...

WASHINGTON, Sep. 1, 2006 – A test of the Ground-based Missile Defense System today was a total success, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, the director of the Missile Defense Agency. Obering called today’s test, the first operational one for the system, a huge step in fielding of the missile defense shield. He said he feels good about the capability for the United States to defend itself from an attack from a rogue nation. The test was the most realistic to date without a nation like North Korea launching the real thing, the general said. “The test...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has moved its ground-based interceptor missile defense system from test mode to operational amid concerns over an expected North Korean missile launch, a U.S. defense official said on Tuesday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed a Washington Times report that the Pentagon has activated the system, which has been in the developmental stage for years. "It's good to be ready," the official said. U.S. officials say evidence such as satellite pictures suggests Pyongyang may have finished fueling a Taepodong-2 missile, which some experts said could reach as far as Alaska. "There's real...

6/2/2006 - ALI BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- In a combat environment, knowing what the weather will be can be crucial to the success of operations. A team of Airmen here is dedicated to doing just that. “We provide accurate, mission-specific weather information and products to Ali Base warfighters and coalition forces,” said Master Sgt. Milton Threet, 407th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron chief of weather station operations. To do that, the four-person shop monitors local and theater weather conditions around the clock. They stay familiar with what’s going on not only at Ali Base, but also at destinations of the aircraft...

BAGHDAD, June 1, 2006 – The top coalition operational commander in Iraq has directed his subordinate commanders to conduct training in "core warrior values" for all coalition forces, highlighting the importance of adhering to legal, moral and ethical standards on the battlefield, military officials here announced today. Officials said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, Multinational Corps Iraq commander, ordered the training to reinforce and sustain training servicemembers received prior to their deployment to Iraq. The order comes as the military investigates allegations of servicemembers killing unarmed Iraqi civilians. "Of the nearly 150,000 coalition forces presently in Iraq, 99.9...

2/28/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- A couple of Airmen sat in the base food court chatting about their return to the United States the next day. Excited to be going home, they compared flight times. Meanwhile, 3 feet away, a third-country national took mental notes. He knew someone who would pay for flight information. The aircraft takeoff time happened to be the last piece of information that an Al Qaeda terrorist needed to coordinate a deadly attack, killing hundreds of servicemembers on a flight home. The scenario presented by Capt. David Quinlan, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing plans officer, isn’t...

2/22/2006 - TUZLA AIR BASE, Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFPN) -- There was a time in the late 1990s when Tuzla Air Base was crawling with hundreds of Airmen. As times changed, the duty of airfield maintenance has increasingly moved into the hands of contractors, but the Air Force still has a presence at the base. While the majority of the U.S. military presence at Tuzla is from the Army, the airfield is manned by three Airmen, supplemented by a team of more than 160 contractors. “Our primary job is to provide a safe and operable airfield for both NATO and...

The Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense commissioned this report. He did so at the recommendation of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense-level Information Operations Steering Committee. The Committee decided in its March 9, 2004, meeting that a review of psychological operations (PSYOP) lessons learned from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) was in order. ----

One of the reasons the North won the Civil War is that President Lincoln was willing to sack incompetent generals and President Davis was not. Some recent remarks by the American commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, suggest that it is time for President Bush to emulate Mr. Lincoln. According to the Sept. 7 Cleveland Plain Dealer, during Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's recent visit to Iraq, General Sanchez said, "There is no risk at the tactical, operational or strategic level... A platoon out of any one of my battalions could defeat the threat, readily." The first of these statements...

1999 Federal Laws Governing Weightlifting in Prisons by Strength Tech, Inc. The current laws governing weightlifting in federal prisons come from the large annual appropriations bill. The bill provides the Federal Prison system with its operational budget for Oct. 1, 1998 to Sept. 30, 1999 and lists certain things (including weight lifting equipment) that budget money can not be expended for. The restrictions are commonly referred to as the Zimmer Ammendment, and they have been added to the bill for the last several years. When the restrictions first occurred, the Federal Bureau of Prisons responded with a question and...