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Profiles

Photo, caption below.

FROM THE COMMANDER — U.S. President George W. Bush vows to "do whatever it takes" to protect the American people. His remarks came during a presentation of the Commander in Chief's Trophy to the U.S. Air Force Academy Falcons football team. White House photo by Tina Hager

Bush: Long, Tough War Ahead

By Linda D. Kozaryn / American Forces Press Service

   WASHINGTON — The United States is in the midst of a war against a determined and fierce enemy, U.S. President George W. Bush said Friday at the White House.
   "Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful (Sept. 11) morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people," the president told U.S. Air Force Academy cadets and other guests gathered on the South Lawn.
   During a ceremony to present the Commander in Chief's Trophy to the Air Force Academy Falcons football team, Bush responded to reports that he'd received advance warning of a possible terrorist attack. "Second-guessing," he noted, seems to have become "second nature" in the nation's capital.
   The president said he wanted the troops to know that he takes his job as commander in chief seriously and that his most important job is to protect the American homeland. "I'll do whatever it takes - and I know you'll join me in doing whatever it takes - to prevent the enemy from attacking America again like they did and causing thousands to suffer and to mourn and to grieve," he vowed. "We will use the might of America to protect the American people."
   The nation is in for a long struggle, Bush said. "This is a tough war. This is an enemy that's not going to quit." The enemy thought America's people would "just roll over," or "file a couple of lawsuits." More

Coalition Forces Fight Terrorists
In Southeast Afghan Mountains

By Linda D. Kozaryn / American Forces Press Service

   WASHINGTON — British forces launched Operation Condor on Friday to support an Australian Special Air Service patrol engaged in combat with Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in the mountains of southeast Afghanistan.
   "I can confirm that the coalition has made contact with the enemy and that some have been killed," Royal Marines Brigadier R.G.T. Lane said at a press conference Friday morning. "A number of attacks by air have been conducted."
   Australian, British and American ground and air forces are involved in the operation, intended to destroy enemy forces in the area and eliminate any terrorist infrastructure that may be found, British defense officials said. More

Rumsfeld: 'Joint Operations Will Be Key' Story

. Sec. Def. Rumsfeld on NBC Today

. Crusader Not 'Truly Transformational,' Rumsfeld Says

. Rumsfeld Interview with Rush Limbaugh

Operation Snipe (5 photos)

Ordnance discovered during Operation Snipe is destroyed

. Desert Patrol Vehicles (5)	. Ordnance Disposal (4)
. Training an Army (9)	. Faces of the U.S. Military (9)
. A-10 Thunderbolt II (4)	. Near Bagram Air Base (7)
More photos

. Rumsfeld Testifies About Crusader

. DefendAmerica Reports on War

. Air Force Radio News

. Air Force Television News


	. Afghanistan	. Pentagon Reconstruction
	. Bin Laden and Al Qaeda	. Special Ops
	. Coalition Support	. Terrorist Groups
	. Commando Solo	. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
	. "Denial and Deception"	. U.S. Assistance to Afghans
	. Marine Expeditionary Units	. U.S. Policy On Africa
	. Operational Security	. Weather

Click here for more information about various military systems and equipment used in the war against terrorism.

May 17, 2002

May is National Military Appreciation Month in the United States. Send your thanks to the men and women of the U.S. military by signing this
online thank you note

Crusader Replacements
'Are Aimed at the Future'

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

   WASHINGTON — Killing the Crusader artillery system is the correct choice for the U.S. military to be prepared for the wars of the future, said U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
   "There is no question our proposals are aimed at the future," he told the American Forces Information Service on Friday. "We believe the approach we've taken better fits the world we live in and the world we're going to live in."
   Under the proposal, the Defense Department would kill the Army's Crusader program and speed up development of the Excalibur family of precision munitions and the Army's Future Combat System. The Army would also look at other indirect-fire systems such as the Guided Multiple-Launch Rocket System, the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Net Fires System.
   The Army has already spent $2 billion on Crusader research and development work and would need another $9 billion to complete the project. Rumsfeld said the money already spent on Crusader will not go to waste. He said the Army could "migrate" some of Crusader's technologies to refit its current M-109 Paladin 155 mm self-propelled howitzer. Similarly, the technologies can be migrated forward into the Future Combat System.   More

Profile

Senior Master Sgt. Michael Buckley

"I consider myself to be about the most lucky person in all of the Air Force," says Michael Buckley. "I've been to a lot of different countries and met a lot of wonderful people. If you were to ask me 19 years ago, would I have had the opportunity to have met a president or worked for a secretary of defense, I would have laughed." His story

More Profiles

A Choice to Transform

"Our enemies are transforming. Will we?" That's the question U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld asks in an article for the Washington Post where he explains the decision to terminate the Crusader artillery system. He writes: "We must forgo a system originally designed for a different strategic context to make room for more promising technologies that can accelerate the transformation of future warfare on terms the United States must dictate." Complete article

. Latest CENTCOM News

. Reports on Predator Crashes Released

. A Trophy from the President

. National Guard, Reserve Update

. Compensation Review Released

. Message from the Secretary

. Message From the Chairman

Michael Allen Noeth

Photo of Michael Allen Noeth.    U.S. Navy Petty Officer (2d class) Michael Allen Noeth, 30, was working in the Pentagon as a Navy illustrator and draftsman.
   He joined the Navy as a deck seaman in 1994. The next year he drew a cover for "All Hands," a Navy magazine where he worked. While stationed on the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, he had a showing of his paintings in New York. "I paint sailors to show the world that we don't just ride ships to see some really cool foreign countries," he told the Navy News Service. "I want people to realize that their freedom and protection comes from the sweat of the sailors on board."
   We will not forget him.