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CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq (March 15, 2006) -- Iraqi soldiers are right on schedule with training requirements that will allow them to eventually relieve U.S. military forces in western Al Anbar Province, according to Marine officials here. Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division - one of two Iraqi Army brigades in western Al Anbar Province - have spent months now learning the administrative and decision-making processes they’ll need to function as a military headquarters element to the three Iraqi infantry battalions which will eventually be under their charge. Partnered with a Military Transition Team - groups of...

3/3/2006 - WESTHAMPTON BEACH, N.Y. (AFPN) -- Amid the quiet picturesque towns sprinkled across Long Island, N.Y., are more than 800 Airmen who are a part of history. They are the men and women of the 106th Rescue Wing -- a unit that battled the “Perfect Storm,” witnessed the TWA Flight 800 disaster, supported response efforts after the Challenger explosion and saved countless lives in and out of combat. It is also the oldest Air National Guard unit in America. And with each passing day, these guardsmen remain flexible to meet the needs of any mission. “What is really amazing...

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Feb. 14, 2006) -- The patrol almost screams to a stop, with humvees speeding past the targeted vehicle only to turn suddenly and cordon off the traffic while Marines and Iraqi soldiers quickly climb out and secure the area. While the selected vehicle is rapidly emptied and searched thoroughly, another squad searches the occupants for anything that might link them to the insurgency and asks them if they have information that could prove helpful. It’s called a snap vehicle checkpoint and it has become a successful deterrent against an enemy that blends into the local populace and...

GREEN VALLEY — Speaking in Green Valley Thursday, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, commander of the U.S. Army’s intelligence center at Fort Huachuca., said that troops on the ground in Iraq “believe they are making a difference.” Members of the Iraqi security forces are due to arrive at Fort Huachuca for training in late February, she said. Fast served for a year in Iraq, most notably as senior intelligence officer for the coalition ground forces. The major general spoke during a lunch meeting of the Green Valley Lion’s Club to a crowd, the majority of which had served in the military....

Iran plant 'has restarted its nuclear bomb-making equipment' By Con Coughlin, Defence and Security Editor, in Washington (Filed: 11/02/2006) Iran's controversial Natanz uranium processing plant has successfully restarted the sophisticated equipment that could enable it to produce material for nuclear warheads, according to reports received by Western intelligence. An aerial view of the Natanz plant In the past few days Iranian nuclear scientists have reportedly restarted four of the centrifuges required to produce weapons-grade uranium, and have begun feeding them with uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas, a key component in the production of nuclear bombs. This crucial development follows Iran's decision...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Jan. 18, 2006) -- Marines assigned to the 6th Civil Affairs Group, 2nd Marine Division, prove there is another side of the story to tell as they continue to carry out their missions to provide guidance within Al Anbar province, the largest province in Iraq. “The stories that we don’t hear enough about – the good news stories about making lives better and a nation stronger – that’s what the civil affairs Marines do every day in Iraq,” said Col. Paul Brier, commanding officer, 6th CAG. The group arrived in September to help rebuild the infrastructure and...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2005 – A program designed to help wounded veterans find meaningful civilian jobs is paying off by enabling some to use their military expertise to ensure their former comrades are getting the quality weaponry they need in combat. Since becoming a partner in the Defense Department's "Hire a Hero" program last summer, the Defense Contract Management Agency has hired five permanent employees as well as two volunteers who lend their talents while undergoing rehabilitation, Nancy Adams, the agency's program director, told the American Forces Press Service. DoD established the program last December to encourage agencies to develop...

11/23/2005 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- The U.S. Central Command Air Forces aerial port control center here makes it easier to move troops and cargo through this region each day. That includes tons of cargo and thousands of troops and is a process that takes a lot planning and coordination, officials said. The center cuts a step out of the process. The center, located in the air mobility division of the combined air operations center here, eliminates the need for theater aerial ports to coordinate travel with ports in the United States. Instead, aerial ports, terminal units and customers in...

Illegal aliens charged with making fake IDs Monday, November 21, 2005 RANDLEMAN — Two men authorities said are illegal aliens were charged with making fake IDs, the Randolph County Sheriff's Office reported today. On Friday, sheriff's investigators searched a home at 380 Kings Ridge Road in Randleman. They found fraudulent IDs including Social Security cards, alien resident cards, Hispanic marriage certificates, passports, tax identification cards, fictitious drivers license and a forged inspection sticker, according to the sheriff's office. Also seized was computer equipment including printers and scanners, laptop computers, a typewriter, Polaroid camera, a heating machine, laminator, adhesive and several...

TOKYO - A Japanese space probe is heading back toward an asteroid for a second landing attempt after failing to touch down over the weekend, space agency officials said Monday. Communications between the Hayabusa probe and Japan's space agency, JAXA, have returned to normal after the vessel inexplicably stopped just yards from the asteroid Itokawa on Sunday. The probe, which also botched a rehearsal earlier this month, is on a mission to briefly land on the asteroid, collect material, then bring it back to Earth. Officials will analyze data from the probe Tuesday to find out what went wrong in...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Nov. 14, 2005) — Operation National Unity, an ongoing mission which began Sept. 29, continues to produce results in rooting out terrorist activity in and around Baghdad, said military officials. The statistics from Task Force Baghdad include: 25,401 patrols, 14,895 traffic control points, and 1,082 raids and cordon-and-searches by Iraqi and U.S. forces. Add to those figures the rates of success: 36 percent fewer detonated car bombs, a 50 percent increase in improvised explosive devices found before they could explode, and a 67 percent increase in weapons caches discovered and, in most cases, destroyed. Amid the...

Camp Blue Diamond, Ar Ramadi, Iraq (Nov. 2, 2005) -- The 2nd Marine Division is progressively receiving the additional combat power that its commanders have requested to conduct the counter-insurgency operations in the Al Anbar province. The new battalion-sized units flowing into the Western Euphrates River Valley are from the newly trained Iraqi Army. This is a significant change compared to the number of available Iraqi Army units when the 2nd Marine Division took over from 1st Marine Division in March of this year. At that time, only Fallujah and Ramadi had any Iraqi Army or Public Order Brigade presence....

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2005 – Iraqi officials estimate 93 to 96 percent of eligible Iraqis have registered to vote in the country's constitutional referendum and national elections, a U.S. general in Iraq announced. In a news conference from Baghdad Sept. 22, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, talked about "amazing results" in a recent voter-registration drive. He noted that only 72 percent of eligible Americans are registered to vote. "So the people of Iraq, like the people of Afghanistan, are moving towards democracy," he said. Afghanistan held successful provincial elections Sept. 18. "Democracy in action,"...

NEW ORLEANS (NNS) -- USS Iwo Jima’s (LHD 7) Damage Control (DC) team has joined relief and recovery efforts in New Orleans, providing much-needed dewatering capabilities to the city’s medical facilities. Armed with two of the ship’s P-100 and four electric submersible pumps, Iwo’s DCs have already removed 40,000 gallons of water from the flooded basement of the Medical Center of Louisiana’s Charity Hospital downtown. “The waterline was almost at the top of the basement when they began dewatering,” said Charity Hospital Staff Member Dr. Jeff Johnson. “I am amazed at how fast they’ve been able to remove so much...

Is global warming making hurricanes more ferocious? New research suggests the answer is yes. Scientists call the findings both surprising and "alarming" because they suggest global warming is influencing storms now — rather than in the distant future. However, the research doesn't suggest global warming is generating more hurricanes and typhoons. The analysis by climatologist Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows for the first time that major storms spinning in both the Atlantic and the Pacific since the 1970s have increased in duration and intensity by about 50 percent. These trends are closely linked to increases in...

CAFTA deal-making infuriates opponents Sunday, July 31, 2005 By Warren Vieth, Los Angeles Times Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., left, listens to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., right, during their press conference on the steps of the Capital Building Friday, July 29, 2005 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) WASHINGTON -- Rep. Robert B. Aderholt's cell phone rang Wednesday as the Alabama Republican was standing in the House gallery with some constituents. It was President Bush. **SNIP** As expected, the House had divided largely along partisan lines. But 27 Republicans bucked their party and president by casting...

SAN DIEGO - A chemistry graduate student allegedly used a research lab at San Diego State University to manufacture methamphetamine, Ecstasy and an anesthetic 80 times more potent than morphine, authorities said. Matthew Finley, 26, was arrested at his home in Ocean Beach on Wednesday on drug charges and the Chemical Sciences Laboratory was shut down as investigators removed the drugs, said Misha Piastro, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration. "He felt he could get away with it. To his disappointment today, he did not," Piastro said. "His disregard for the safety of the rest of the student body is...

LOS ANGELES - Sen. John Kerry hasn't been on the campaign trail this spring with his friend Antonio Villaraigosa, but their relationship is paying off for the city's front-running mayoral candidate. Activists and major donors with ties to the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee have been making calls around the country to raise money for Villaraigosa, tapping into the senator's extensive national fundraising network. Their involvement is another sign that the Massachusetts senator could soon get personally involved in the race. He is expected to endorse Villaraigosa, one of his national campaign co-chairs in last year's presidential campaign, possibly as soon...

Well, Oscar Night is upon us again. And if Chris Rock is nearly right, I might be the only straight white man who watches the Oscars for both the pretty women almost dressed plus the primetime fun of making rude comments as the awards are handed out. I think I seen about every Academy Awards when I've been able to since my folks got a television set in 1955. It was always in the back of my mind to one night walk up and accept one of those small golden guys. I tried the acting route, even obtaining a SAG...

WASHINGTON (AP) - When House Democrats needed just one senator to sign a challenge to Ohio's electoral votes, they knew who to ask - California's Barbara Boxer, among the fieriest liberals in a state full of them. More than a decade after she led fellow congresswomen up the steps of the Senate to demand hearings into Anita Hill's sexual harassment claims against Clarence Thomas, Boxer staged her latest - and perhaps most dramatic - rebellion Thursday. By joining Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, in lodging a formal protest against how Ohio's electoral votes were tallied, Boxer provided the needed Senate...