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Dec 19, 2003

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LAYING WIRE — Senior Airman Robert Pash, a cable systems journeyman from the 379th Expeditionary Communications Squadron, digs a trench before laying down wire for a base computer network in Southwest Asia, Dec. 6, 2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Lynne Neveu

POPE, BRAGG VISIT

Rumsfeld Conveys Thanks of Nation to Terror War Veterans

By Gerry J. Gilmore / American Forces Press Service

     FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Dec. 19, 2003 — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld welcomed a new crop of Air Force combat controllers , watched an Army infantry training exercise and consoled family members Dec. 18 during a visit to Pope Air Force Base and Fort Bragg here.
     Arriving at Pope at around 1 p.m., Rumsfeld made his way to the base's community club to observe the graduation ceremony of 18 new combat controllers. A 13-week course trains and prepares airmen for parachuting into war zones to set up cargo drop areas and provide battlefield air traffic control. The controllers also are trained to coordinate air strikes.
     The Combat Control School at Pope, Rumsfeld noted during his graduation remarks, "produces some of the finest warriors in the Air Force and the armed services." More

Barno Addresses Challenges of Dual Missions in Afghanistan

By Jim Garamone / American Forces Press Service

     BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Dec. 19, 2003 - While coalition forces will do their utmost to kill or capture terrorist leaders here, the provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan are the wave of the future, said Army Lt. Gen. David Barno.
     Barno, commander of Combined Forces Command, Central Asia, also said operations in Afghanistan have not been limited by the war in Iraq. "We have a robust capability here that continues to do daily work against critical targets - Osama bin Laden, Al Zawahiri, Mullah Omar, Gullbaden Hekmatyar," he said. "Those are very important targets here in the theater, and we have assets going after them on a daily basis."
     But provincial reconstruction teams are becoming "pretty close" to the main effort in the country, the general said. More

AFGHANISTAN VISIT

Myers Highlights Progress in
Economic, Government Areas

By Jim Garamone / American Forces Press Service

     BAGRAM, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2003 — Afghanistan is advancing on the security front, but now there is visible proof of advances on the economic and governmental fronts, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said here today.
     The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Afghanistan and brought a USO Holiday Show for U.S. service members deployed in the theater. The trip also gave the chairman the chance to get briefings from commanders.
     Speaking at the American headquarters here, Myers said there is a lot of good news coming out of Afghanistan. More

Iraq Weekly Progress Update (Governance, Electricity, Education, Oil, Security, Economics, Health Care)

U.S. Defense Dept. slides with facts &
figures on reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

. Maps of Iraq

Natick To Field New Combat Ration for Troops on the Move

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2003 — "Ration stripping," they call it when forward- deployed combat troops jettison all but the most essential items from their Meals, Ready to Eat so they don't have so much to carry as they set out on a mission.
Troops in Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan reported sacrificing all but a few carefully chosen food items from their Meals, Ready to Eat pouches to lighten their pockets and rucksacks. More

Rumsfeld Approves
Brigade Deployment, Extension

     WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2003 — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has approved the 120-day deployment to Iraq of units of 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, senior military officials announced today.
      He also approved a 60-day extension for the division's 3rd Brigade. Officials said the 3,500-strong brigade deployed to Iraq six months ago.
      About 2,000 members of 1st Brigade's 3,500 soldiers will deploy the first week of January to provide essential capabilities during the transition between Operation Iraqi Freedom 1 and 2, officials said. The deployment is based on the combatant commander's assessment of what capabilities he needs during the transition.
      Officials said 3rd Brigade will remain in Iraq to provide continuity until the 81 st Infantry Brigade, an Army National Guard unit from Washington State, deploys in March. Originally, the 81 st was slated to deploy in January, but because of operational requirements, the unit needed additional training to attain a higher level of proficiency than what was initially required.
      Officials said it is likely there will be other adjustments in the rotation plan as the transition continues.

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Grant and Gill Honor Troops
During 'Simply Christmas' Tour

Amy Grant and Vince Gill pay tribute to deployed service members during their holiday tour. Courtesy photo

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2003 — Five-time Grammy-winning gospel and pop music star Amy Grant pays special tribute to U.S. service men and women deployed far from home through the holidays during her "Simply Christmas with Amy Grant and Vince Gill" tour. More

Radio

Television

Antiterrorism Training at Shaw More Photo Essays

Airmen 1st Class Jesse Killingsworth and Karen Santiago from the 20th Civil Engineering Squadron tow equipment needed to detect possible chemical contamination during a local antiterrorism exercise at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., Dec. 11, 2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Josef Cole 6 More Photos

Myers, USO Holiday Show
Tour Central Command Area

By Jim Garamone / American Forces Press Service

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2003 — Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers has not forgotten what it was like to be a junior officer assigned to a remote post. That's why he understands the importance of the USO Holiday Tour he has taken to the U.S. Central Command area.
"I saw USO shows when I was assigned in Taiwan, Okinawa and Korea early in my career," the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff said during an interview. "It's a taste of America, and it's important to have that taste." More

Iraqi Volunteering Increases
Following Capture of Saddam

By John D. Banusiewicz / American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2003 — Iraqi citizens are volunteering in record numbers to serve in the country's new security services since the Dec. 13 capture of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein, with the largest concentration of volunteers coming from the area around Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, coalition officials said today.
In a Baghdad, press conference, Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman Dan Senor – while cautioning that it's too early to label it as a steady trend – said a "record spike" in volunteers for service in the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps took place the day after Saddam's capture was announced. More Briefing

Iraqi Legal Profession Trains
To Prosecute Regime Crimes

By John D. Banusiewicz / American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2003 — Iraqi legal community members have completed training that will help them investigate and prosecute alleged crimes committed by Saddam Hussein's regime, the senior spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority said at a Baghdad press conference today.
Dan Senor said the authority's office of transitional justice and human rights organized and coordinated the program at the Iraqi Governing Council's request. The council selected the participants, which included judges, lawyers, prosecutors and legal professors, for the two-week advanced legal seminar in Baghdad. More

101st Airborne Passing Along Knowledge to Successors

By Jim Garamone / American Forces Press Service

MOSUL, Iraq, Dec. 18, 2003 — The soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division here are working to give their follow-on unit – a multinational division – a head start, division commander Army Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus said Dec. 17.
During combat operations in March and April against Saddam Hussein's regime, the 101st fought from Kuwait up through the west of Baghdad and into the north of Iraq. The unit is due to rotate back to Fort Campbell, Ky. in January and February. More

Iraqi Translators React to News Of Saddam Hussein's Capture

By U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Williams / 506th Air Expeditionary Group

KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) — “No more nightmares,” said Mohammed Taha. “A lot more good will happen in Iraq after 35 years of nightmares.”
Taha was just one of thousands of Iraqis who reacted with joy about the news that Saddam Hussein was captured Dec. 13 and is now in U.S. custody. What makes Taha unique is that he is one of a handful of Iraqi exiles working as a translator for the U.S. Air Force here. More

Project Good Will Donates Clothing To Iraqi Families and Orphanages

By U.S. Army Sgt. Mark S. Rickert / 372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) — Airmen here have found a way to become involved with the local Iraqi community through Project Good Will. A joint operation with the Army, the project collects unneeded clothing items from service members, then cleans and donates the clothing to orphanages, schools and local families.
As airmen leave the base after their tours of duty, many dispose of their civilian clothes. “There’s a lot of life left in those clothes,” said Chaplain (Maj.) Michael Warner, the point of contact for the program. “Our people want to do something to make a difference in the life of the Iraqis.” Story

Global War on Terrorism

. Wolfowitz Calls Spread of Mass Terror Weapons 'Urgent Threat'

On Iraq

. Capture of Saddam Not Luck, But Skill, Gen. Abizaid Says

. 4th Infantry Div. Follows Up Big Catch with Samarra Operation

. Terror War Continues, Rumsfeld Says, Despite Saddam's Capture

. Rumsfeld Asks CIA to Oversee Saddam Hussein Interrogations

Military News

. Defense Dept. Launches Transformation Web Site

. New Benefits Help Families Visit Injured Sailors, Marines

. National Guard Family Programs Offer Tips on Deployment Issues

. National Guard, Reserve Update

Pentagon Welcomes
Wounded Heroes of Terror War

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Heath Calhoun, who lost both legs in a rocket-propelled grenade attack Nov. 7 in Mosul, Iraq, signs a remembrance book in the Pentagon 9-11 Memorial as his wife Tiffany looks on. Calhoun was one of 50 soldiers getting treatment from Walter Reed Army Medical Center who visited the Pentagon Dec. 17. U.S. Army photo by Joe Burlas

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2003 — Greeted by a loud chorus of more than eight minutes of sustained cheers and applause, 50 soldiers recently wounded or injured in Iraq and Afghanistan visited the Pentagon Dec. 17. More

Racing Heroes
Visit Wounded Troops

WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 17, 2003 (Army News Service) – At 14, Reggie Showers lost both of his legs in an electrical accident. More than two decades later, he’s living his dream of being a professional stock bike rider. More

National Guard Chief Lauds
Troops During Bagram Visit

BAGRAM, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2003 — About 100 U.S. Army National Guard soldiers were given a brief insight as to the direction the National Guard is headed by Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, during a town hall meeting held here Wednesday.
In Afghanistan, “we are fighting war as well as rebuilding a nation,” but that will not ebb the progressive change needed within the National Guard system, said Blum. The National Guard is “essential (and) a national treasure” that needs to be taken care of, he added. More

	U.S. Views — Quotes by President Bush & other U.S. leaders
	Defense Views — Quotes by U.S. defense leaders
	Maps of Iraq — Maps of the nation of Iraq and the region

U.S. Army Gen. John Abizaid
Commander, U.S. Central Command

“There are people who don't want a new government to come forward (in Iraq). There are people who will fight to the death to prevent that from happening. And it's our job that a new Iraq emerges that Iraqis can be proud of, and allows them to live in a relative degree of freedom they've never had before.”

Remarks in Kirkuk, Iraq, Dec. 17, 2003

. Maps of Afghanistan

U.S. Army Sgt. Jason Harmon, deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, remembers his loved ones at home in the Lone Star State. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tyrone Walker

Profile

U.S. Army
Spc. Sami Semaan

HABBANIYAH, Iraq – Many soldiers deploying to Iraq come armed with an M-16 rifle, a stomach full of anxiety and a desire to fulfill their duty to their country. For U.S. Army Spc. Sami Semaan, a cook with 3rd Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, coming to Iraq was a little more personal.
Semaan was born in Lebanon in 1979 and lived there until he was 11 years old, when his family moved to Pasadena, Calif., to escape the violence and poverty that were rampant in their home country. More

More Profiles

In Djibouti

Hospital Renovation Work
Ends with Celebration

ALI SABIEH, Djibouti, Dec. 13, 2003 — Personnel from Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, along with Djiboutian Army officers, participated in a dedication ceremony to mark the final construction phase of a two month long remodeling project for a hospital here, Dec. 13. More

'On The Ground' Archive