DefendAmerica - Home Page 01/23/2004

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Jan 23, 2004

Jan. 20, 2004

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ARMOR REINFORCEMENTS — U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Batres, a vehicle mechanic for the 447th Expeditionary Logistical Readiness Squadron, measures a steel plate to be fitted to a 5-ton truck for armor protection at Baghdad International Airport, Jan. 16, 2004. Batres is deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Verlin Levi Collins

Bush to Request $401.7 Billion
For Fiscal 2005 DoD Budget

By Jim Garamone / American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2004 — In a break from past practices, the Defense Department announced that President Bush will request $401.7 billion as the Fiscal 2005 Defense Budget Request. Officials said the number represents about a 7 percent increase from fiscal 2004.
The budget request will not fund the ongoing war on terror. DoD will request supplemental budget requests for those funds. DoD Comptroller Dov Zakheim said during a Defense Writers’ Group briefing that he does not expect to request a supplemental in fiscal 2004. Story

Officials Anticipate No Mass National Guard Troop Exodus

By Jim Garamone / American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2004 — Though the Army National Guard and Army Reserve specifically and the reserve components in general have been meeting their recruiting and retention goals, Defense Department officials still are concerned and are looking for ways to address retention.
But officials do not expect an exodus of Guard soldiers after they return from duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, contrary to news reports today. More

Enemy ‘Still Lurks Out’ There,
Nation Must Remain Vigiliant

By Gerry J. Gilmore / American Forces Press Service

     WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2004 — Americans must remain watchful against another terrorist attack on the homeland, President Bush reminded the nation's mayors here today.
     "There's an enemy that still lurks out there," he said. "The most solemn duty of government is to protect the American people."
     The commander in chief also saluted the efforts of U.S. service members deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and other lands in the fight against terrorism. More     Remarks

Bush Says Nation Will Prevail, ‘Bring the Terrorists to Justice’

By Gerry J. Gilmore / American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2004 — Although significant victories have been achieved against global terrorists and their enablers in Afghanistan and Iraq, the war isn't over, the commander in chief noted today.
President Bush told New Mexico Military Institute cadets and emergency first responders in Roswell, N.M., that he remains committed to defend the American homeland from attack. Terrorists, he pointed out, "still plot against us." More Remarks

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.

. White House Fact Sheet: Progress in Iraq

. Iraq Update . Maps of Iraq

. Iraq's 55 Most Wanted

. Saddam's Iraq - Reign of Terror

California Resident Shows Support for Troops

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2004 — Last year, when the prospect of war was taking heat from critics, June Downum was concerned about the men and women in uniform about to risk their lives for America.
Her response to the criticism was, “No matter what your opinion of the war, these are our best and bravest, and we need to do something to let them know that we are behind them 100 percent.” More

Hockey Fans to Show
Support for Troops

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2004 — National Hockey League fans will have a chance to show their support for the troops during an NHL matchup Jan. 25. The RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C., will host Military Appreciation Night Jan. 25 as the Carolina Hurricanes take on the Buffalo Sabres 1:30 p.m. More

Former Marine Helps
Military Wife Visit Family

ABOARD USS PELELIU, Jan. 20, 2004 — The biggest sacrifices made in the current war against terror are not only made by the men and women currently serving in operations around the world, but also by the families they leave behind. Story

Send your 'Best Wishes' to the
troops waging the global war on terror.

Send your message Read others

Sign an On-line Thank You Note

4th Infantry Div., Iraqi
Police Conduct Patrols, Raids

TIKRIT, Iraq, Jan. 23, 2004 — Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division and Task Force Ironhorse have, over the past 24 hours, conducted 184 patrols, eight raids and captured 31 individuals. More

Defense Officials
Identify Army Casualties

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2004 — Defense Department officials announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 4th Infantry Division soldiers were killed in a mortar attack on a forward operating base near Ba'qubah the evening of Jan. 21. Killed were: Spc. Gabriel T. Palacios, 22, of Lynn, Mass. and Pfc. James D. Parker, 20, of Bryan, Texas.
Both soldiers were assigned to the 588th Engineer Battalion (Heavy), 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. This incident is under investigation.

Radio

Television

Building Up Comanche Firebase More Photo Essays

U.S. Army soldiers from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, work together to build up their new home, Comanche Firebase, in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. The company arrived in Ghanzi Province Jan. 6, 2004, to support battalion operations in the province. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Greg Heath 4 More Photos

Terrorism Challenges Freedom

By Rudi Williams / American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2004 — Terrorism is a "truly deadly" challenge to freedom, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today. Speaking at a Pentagon breakfast honoring the late Martin Luther King, Rumsfeld said the terrorist threat is more deadly than any that could be imagined during King's era.
"It's a challenge – not only to the freedom that we enjoy, but also to the very idea of living free. It's a challenge to being able to say what you wish, go where you wish and behave as you wish. We're fighting it by setting in motion the forces of freedom and trying to help make that freedom real to others," Rumsfeld said. More

101st Airborne Division Troops
Head Home to Fort Campbell

By U.S. Army Pfc. Thomas Day / 40th Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP WOLVERINE, Kuwait, Jan. 22, 2004 — The floodgates have opened as the first flights of 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) soldiers left Wednesday and Thursday from the Kuwait City Airport for Fort Campbell, Ky.
101st Airborne Division soldiers began arriving at Fort Campbell directly from Mosul earlier this month. Those fortunate soldiers were not necessary for the three-day convoys necessary to move their unit’s equipment back to Kuwait for shipping home. More

USS George Washington Rejoins War on Terror

By Journalist 3rd Class Elizabeth Enockson / USS George Washington

Friends and family members gathered to say goodbye to sailors embarked aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington as they depart on a regularly scheduled deployment in support of the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Todd Reeves

USS GEORGE WASHINGTON, At Sea, Jan. 23, 2004 (NNS) — More than 5,000 sailors said goodbye to their families and friends as USS George Washington, the embarked Carrier Air Wing 7, Commander Carrier Group 8 and Destroyer Squadron 28 departed Norfolk Jan. 20, 2004, for a scheduled deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and possibly the Persian Gulf.
This is George Washington’s first opportunity to rejoin the global war on terrorism since she returned from her last deployment, Dec. 20, 2002. More

International Partners

Republic of Korea Soldiers Ring in Lunar New Year

BAGRAM, Afghanistan, Jan. 23, 2004 — Even though most of the western world partied in the New Year more than a month ago, the Korean soldiers here at Bagram Airbase yesterday rang in Sol-nal, or the Republic of Korea’s celebration of the lunar New Year – the country’s biggest holiday.
Sol-nal is a Korean celebration of family and good friends and is also a day when they take time to honor family elders and their ancestors. More

Iraqi Police Provide Secure
Border for Pilgrims During Hajj

An Iraqi Border Police officer confirms the identity of an Iraqi citizen as she travels to Mecca, Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage. More than 3,000 Iraqis participated in the pilgrimage thru the border town of Ar Ar. Two hundred Iraqi Border Police secured the area, stamped passports and performed security checks. U.S. Army photo

AR AR, Iraq, Jan. 23, 2004 – More than 200 Iraqi Border Police safely transferred thousands of Iraqi citizens through the Iraqi-Saudi Arabian border headed to Mecca on their Hajj, a religious pilgrimage conducted after Ramadan and lasting 10 days.
Iraqi Border Police spearheaded the complex security arrangement at their base in the remote town of Ar Ar, located on the Iraqi-Saudi Arabian border. More

Task Force All American Troops
Renovate Rural Dental Clinic

Dr. Khamese, director general for health in the Al Anbar region of Iraq, cuts the ribbon to celebrate the reopening of the Specialty Dental Clinic in Ar Ramadi. Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Frank Christopher (near right), division surgeon for 82nd Airborne Division, and Capt. Tom Schumacher (far right), senior physician assistant for the division, look on. U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Dave Johnson

AR RAMADI, Iraq – Task Force All American soldiers celebrated yet another important medical clinic being reopened to treat patients in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. The Al Assan Specialty Dental Clinic, a subsidiary of Ar Ramdi General Hospital, has been refurbished and reopened during a huge ceremony on Jan. 13.
“It’s more than a dental clinic,” said Dr. Weedat, director of the clinic. “We also teach here. We have 11 interns.” More

California Reservists Train Iraqis
For Embassy Security Duties

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Soldiers from the 382nd Military Police Detachment, an Army Reserve unit from San Diego, Calif., have been training Iraqi security officers for the several foreign embassies across Baghdad to ensure the safety of the diplomats visiting and working there.
The security officers, known as diplomatic protective services, are receiving training from U.S. Soldiers and Iraqi experts in everything from marksmanship to first aid. More

War on Terrorism

. Officials Explain Commissions That Will Try Terror Detainees

. Nation Strong, Americans Are 'Rising to the Tasks of History'

Iraq

. 101st Brigade Transfers Authority to Strykers

. Coalition Officials: Iraqi Army First Brigade Nearly Complete

Military News

. Bush Praises Nation's Military

. Guard-Staffed Civil Support Teams Slated to Increase

. National Guard, Reserve Update

Transformation

War on Terror Spurs New
Era of Submarine Warfare

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii, Jan. 23, 2004 (NNS) — U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Paul F Sullivan, commander, Submarine Force Pacific, U.S. Pacific Fleet, said his submariners are ready for 2004. The attack submarines stationed in Pearl Harbor, San Diego and Guam, as well as the "boomers" homeported in Bangor, Wash., are ready to play their part in the war on terrorism. Story

More Transformation News

Exercise Desert Talon
Prepares Marines for Iraq

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz., Jan. 23, 2004 — Marines from aviation units throughout the United States checked in here Jan. 17 for exercise Desert Talon 1-04.
Desert Talon will prepare the air combat element of the Marine Air Ground Task Force going to Iraq, said Maj. James T. Jenkins, special projects officer, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1. More than 1,100 Marine students, 1,000 support personnel and 50 aircraft are participating in the exercise. Story

Marine Expeditionary Commander
Visits Deploying Marines, Sailors

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., Jan. 22, 2003 — U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton Calif., took time Jan. 21 to speak to hundreds of Marines and sailors preparing to deploy to Iraq this year.
"Our mission is to assume responsibility in the (north western portion) of Iraq and to provide stability and security in the region to return Iraq to the Iraqis," said Conway, who led I Marine Expeditionary Force troops during the intense fight to Baghdad last year. Story

	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

President George W. Bush

"We're on an international manhunt. We have to find [the terrorists] before they come and get us... Slowly but surely, we are dismantling the al Qaeda network that caused such great harm to America, and still continues to plot...We're, slowly but surely, demolishing them."

Remarks to the Nation's Mayors, Jan. 23, 2004

Profile

U.S. Marine Corps
Recruit Billy Joe McCulloch

SAN ANTONIO — While most 18 year olds are preparing for college, a high school age Texan has already graduated from one.
Billy Joe McCulloch received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Texas Lutheran University in December. Now what? Grad school? No. Civilian job market? No. McCulloch decided to enlist in the Marine Corps. More

More Profiles

. Maps of Afghanistan

In Iraq

Air Traffic Controllers Own Iraqi Sky

Senior Airman Caryn Baksis informs Senior Airman Jesse Fox of an aircraft entering the Tallil airspace that is being controlled by the Kuwaiti Center. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Chris Stagner

TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq, Jan. 22, 2004 (AFPN) — From American and coalition aircraft to civilian airliners now traveling through the Iraqi airspace, the number of aircraft coming and going over Iraq has increased exponentially in the last year. More

Vietnam Veteran Brings
Message of Hope to Soldiers

Motivational speaker and Vietnam veteran Dave Roever talks with 3rd Brigade Combat Team soldiers during a recent visit to their forward operating bases. U.S. Army photo

BAGHDAD, IRAQ, Jan. 23, 2004 — Sometimes, when you’re having a bad day, it helps to talk to someone who’s had a worse day and made it through. For the soldiers of the Bulldog Brigade, hearing Dave Roever talk was the shot in the arm that most of 3rd Brigade’s soldiers needed. Story

'On The Ground' Archive