Free Republic

An unscheduled meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security was held in New Delhi late on Thursday night to discuss the Left parties' decision to protest at Kalaikunda air base in West Bengal where air forces of India and the United States would hold joint military exercises. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Army and Air Force chiefs Gen J J Singh and Air Marshal S P Tyagi attended the meeting at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's official residence. Cabinet Secretary B K...

KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Donations of freezer pops from family and friends throughout the Midwest recently helped a noncommissioned officers’ organization here give security forces Airmen a refreshing break during their duty day. The organization, comprising E-5s and E-6s, wanted to do something special for security forces specialists guarding Kirkuk. Originally they considered handing out slushies or popsicles as a gesture of thanks to Kirkuk’s “frontline” troops. They eventually decided freezer pops would best survive the desert heat, but that presented a problem. The frozen treat seemed ideal because it is purchased in a liquid form packaged at...

DALLAS, Aug. 3, 2005 – Air Force personnel worldwide have been filling nontraditional roles to contribute to the fight against a multifaceted, adaptive insurgency, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said here Aug. 2. Addressing a meeting of the Air Force Sergeants Association, Rumsfeld highlighted the different jobs Air Force personnel have been doing in the war on terror. Airmen have been manning gun trucks, guarding supply convoys, and working on Army vehicles, among other things, he said. On a recent trip to Balad Air Base, Iraq, Rumsfeld said, he was impressed by the work of these airmen, especially the Air Force...

In battle, one of the hardest challenges is saving the wounded. Medical professionals encounter injuries not normally seen in peacetime, and many times see multiple life-threatening injures requiring immediate treatment on the battlefield. Another problem is moving patients across hot desert sands on bumpy roads in Iraq, which can be logistically challenging and uncomfortable for the patient. And there is always the danger of roadside bombs. To solve these problems, military aeromedical planners developed what is now an efficient medical evacuation system that moves patients from where they were injured to definitive care quickly and safely. Along the way, patients...

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Each MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle mission flown in the Iraqi sky begins and ends here. Predator operators deployed here put the aircraft in the air and make sure it lands safely. Sitting side by side in the “cockpit,” enlisted Airmen and officers work as a team providing top cover to Soldiers on the ground. Pilots and sensor operators with the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron here each play a key role in the successful Predator mission. While technology allows pilots to control the aircraft from the U.S., Predator takeoffs and landings must be controlled...

On July 20, Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Defense announced that U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to arrive on July 25. Rumsfeld will discuss the future of the U.S.-led air base Manas with the new Kyrgyz leadership, in the wake of Moscow- and Beijing-inspired demands to set a deadline on the presence of U.S.-led coalition forces in Central Asia. Meanwhile, French Defense Minister Michèle Aliot-Marie is arriving in Tajikistan on July 22 hoping to firm up the arrangements for French use of the Dushanbe and possibly also Kulob airports. For its part, on July 20 Moscow again urged the Central...

ANKARA, Turkey - After months of delay, Turkey's Cabinet on Monday approved a long-standing U.S. request to have increased access to a strategic air base for flying into Iraq and Afghanistan. The decision was another step toward improving relations with Washington that were strained when Turkey refused to allow U.S. troops to stage an invasion of Iraq from Turkish territory in March 2003. A Cabinet decree — allowing the United States to fly in more cargo planes into the southern Incirlik Air Base for one year beginning in June — was sent to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer for approval, the...

US scatters bases to control Eurasia By Ramtanu Maitra The United States is beefing up its military presence in Afghanistan, at the same time encircling Iran. Washington will set up nine new bases in Afghanistan in the provinces of Helmand, Herat, Nimrouz, Balkh, Khost and Paktia. Reports also make it clear that the decision to set up new US military bases was made during Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's visit to Kabul last December. Subsequently, Afghan President Hamid Karzai accepted the Pentagon diktat. Not that Karzai had a choice: US intelligence is of the view that he will not be...

Gentlemen, I just wanted to share with all of you my most recent Air Force Reserve trip. As most of you know, I have decided to go back into the Air Force Reserves as a part time reservist and after 6 months of training, I have recently been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and have been fully mission qualified as an Aircraft Commander of a KC-135R strato tanker aircraft. On Friday of last week, my crew and I were tasked with a mission to provide air refueling support in order to tanker 6 F-16's over to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey....

KYRGYZSTAN security forces have thwarted a plot by Islamic extremists to attack an airbase used by US-led troops fighting in Afghanistan, a security official said today. Three citizens of the central Asian ex-Soviet republic were detained when "homemade weapons, grenades, sub-machine gun cartridges, a plan of attack and bomb-making equipment were found in a Bishkek apartment," a national security service official said. The target of the plot was Manas airbase, which is close to the capital and is a launchpad for US-led operations in nearby Afghanistan, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The official described the three as...

A discrete ceremony marked Tuesday the departure of the last American quota of the air base of Prince Sultan with Al-Kharj, some 80 km in the south of Ryad, indicated Western military sources. Nearly 100 members of the American personnel, unit of genius, the civil ones but also of the soldiers, left the base of Prince Sultan, who accomodated the majority of the thousands of American soldiers and allied forces present in the kingdom, added these sources. The vice-commander of the US Air Force in the area, the General Robert Elder chaired the ceremony, specified a person in charge...

The US has stepped up plans to expand its military presence in the Gulf outside Saudi Arabia. In a statement posted on a federal business opportunities website, the US army announced plans to spend up to $25m (£15m) expanding its air base in the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi. It comes a week after the army said it was considering plans for a $100m expansion of its air base in Qatar. Last month the US said it was pulling its troops out of Saudi Arabia and moving its regional air command centre from there to Al Udeid air base in...

An influential Muslim politician voices strong opposition to anti-terror troops in the country. By Sultan Jumagulov in Bishkek (RCA No. 139, 20-Aug-02) Tursunbai Bakir uulu, Kyrgyz deputy and leader of the Erk (Free Kyrgyzstan) party, has hit out at the continued presence of United States-led anti-terror coalition forces in the country. His concern represents the highest-level criticism of the western bases to date. "A number of statements by President George W Bush regarding the USA's intention to undertake military campaigns against Iraq, Libya, Syria and other countries, are raising protests among my voters," said Bakir uulu. "As a Muslim state,...

By Kedar Sharma AL-UDEID, Qatar, Aug 11 (Reuters) - If the United States decides to attack Iraq, it is likely to do so from its fast-expanding military base deep within the desert of the tiny Gulf state of Qatar, diplomats and analysts said on Sunday. Faced with refusal from key Gulf Arab ally Saudi Arabia to be a launch pad for strikes on Baghdad, Washington has poured money and labour into expanding its $1.4 billion Al Udeid airbase which officials say will be finished by December. Qatar has publicly opposed any attack on Iraq but Gulf-based diplomats say Doha, widely...

Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar 25°06'57"N 51°18'55"E New imagery from Space Imaging's Ikonos and DigitalGlobe's Quick Bird reveal continued construction at Al Udeid Airbase. Credit: Space Imaging Middle East. Copyright (c) Space Imaging. All RIGHTS RESERVED. Online and news media distribution or publishing requires permission from Space Imaging. Contact Mark Brender for media permission at (703)558-0309 or mbrender@spaceimaging.com Credit: DigitalGlobe. Copyright (c) DigitalGlobe. All RIGHTS RESERVED. Contact Chuck Herring for media permission or purchase at 1-(800)496-1225 or cherring@digitalglobe.com Imagery of Al Udeid Air Base For more Public Eye satellite imagery, see the Picture of the Week Gallery of satellite...

Muscat | By A Correspondent | 25-04-2002 The Sultanate of Oman yesterday categorically denied a report by a British newspaper that a U.S. airbase was being constructed in the wilayat of Musannah in the north of the country. Calling the report, published by The Herald last Friday, baseless, an official source at the Ministry of Defence affirmed that the project being implemented there was in fact an airport planned by Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) 10 years ago. The planned project involved the transfer of RAFO airbase from Seeb Airport to a new site in the wilayat of Musannah....