DefendAmerica 02/09/2004

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Feb 09, 2004

Saddam's Capture - A Video from Golf Troops' Perspective

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HAWKEYE LAUNCHES — An E-2C Hawkeye assigned to the "Seahawks" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 126 launches from a steam-powered catapult aboard USS Harry S. Truman. Truman and Carrier Air Wing 3 are on a six-month deployment in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Danny Ewing Jr

Explosion Kills Two Soldiers, Injures Five in Mosul Region

MOSUL, Iraq, Feb. 9, 2004 — An explosion killed two soldiers and injured five others Feb. 9 in the Mosul region when unexploded ordnance that was being moved to a demolition point detonated, according to Combined Joint Task Force 7 officials in Baghdad.
The ordnance, a large collection of rocket propelled grenades and mortar rounds that had been found or turned in, was being moved from a storage bunker to a demolition point. Officials said the explosion occurred at 12:45 p.m. as the ordnance was being offloaded for demolition. More

General Says Letter Reflects
Terrorists' Desperation in Iraq

By Gerry J. Gilmore / American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2004 — A suspected al Qaeda operative's urging of starting a religious civil war in Iraq indicates that terrorists are increasingly uneasy over pro-coalition developments in that country, senior U.S. officials said in Baghdad today.
Commenting on an article that appeared in today's New York Times, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations director for Combined Joint Task Force 7, acknowledged to reporters that coalition forces had intercepted a courier and confiscated a letter written by Abu Musab al Zarquwi, a known terrorist with suspected links to al Qaeda. More

Rumsfeld Supports Preemption To Confront Terrorist Threats

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2004 — Maintaining that the best defense against threats is a strong offense, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told attendees at an international security conference in Munich Germany, on Feb. 7 that the United States has no option but to maintain its policy of preemption—particularly when confronted with terrorism.
During a joint press conference Feb. 8 in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader expressed his agreement with the concept of "preventive action" and promised to give "serious consideration" to sending military support to Iraq.

Rumsfeld Staunchly Defends Preemption to European Officials

Croatian PM Voices Support for U.S. Policy of Preemption

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

. Mass Graves

More 'Big Red One'
Troops Head to Iraq

NAPLES, Italy, Feb. 6, 2004 — Last February, soldiers from the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division, were busy packing. Their orders: Link up with the Army's 4th Infantry Division to form an invasion force from Turkey into northern Iraq. But, after weeks of debate, the Turkish parliament declined to allow U.S. forces to invade from its shared border with Iraq. Meanwhile, the 4th Infantry Division's equipment remained off the Turkish coast-aboard a fleet of Military Sealift Command cargo vessels--and the 1st Infantry Division stayed at home at their bases in Germany.
But, now, the unit will replace the 4th Infantry Division as part of a scheduled rotation of forces announced last summer. More

Retiree Donates Wooden Nickels
To Show Support for Troops

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2004 - As a show of support for the men and women in uniform, a San Antonio businessman is giving away free wooden nickels imprinted with the words, "Support Our Troops" and "The Price of Freedom is NOT Free!" More

Send your Valentines Day message to the troops waging war on terrorism.

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DoD Identifies
Army Casualty

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2004 — The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
U.S. Army Spc. Joshua L. Knowles, 23, of Sheffield, Iowa, died Feb. 5 in Baghdad, Iraq, when he was hit by a mortar round at a Baghdad International Airport checkpoint. Knowles was assigned to the 1133rd Transportation Company, Army National Guard, Mason City, Iowa.

Radio

Television

Rumsfeld Visits Germany 7 More Photos

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld answers questions from the press at the 40th Munich Conference on Security Policy. The secretary as well as other Ministers of Defense met to discuss mutual defense policies abroad. Defense Department photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jerry Morrison Jr. Photo Essay Archive

Contractors Arrive in Baghdad
To Process U.S. Military Mail

American Forces Press Service

Contractor employees working at the Joint Military Mail Terminal in Baghdad process mail for over 100,000 soldiers stationed in Iraq. U.S. Army photo

BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Iraq, Feb. 9, 2004 — After enduring months of intense heat, long hours, dust and Spartan living conditions since their arrival in May, Army postal units have nearly completed turnover of military postal operations to contractors.
The turnover began in October, when the first KBR postal workers began to arrive, said Lt. Col. Steven Heggen, commander of the 461st Personnel Services Battalion, an Army Reserve unit from Decatur, Ga. More

Soldier, Worker Cooperation
Pays off at Phosphate Plant

Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack, commanding general of 82nd Airborne Division, and Col. David A. Teeples, regimental commander of 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, stand with managers of the Super Phosphate Plant behind a super-sized check for $2.5 million. The check, from the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, was presented to plant management at a ceremony Jan. 31. U.S. Army photo

AL QA'IM, Iraq, Feb. 7, 2004 - The economy in the Al Qa'im area got a big boost Jan. 31 when the management of the Super Phosphate Plant received a check for $2.5 million from the Ministry of Industry and Minerals.
Plant managers say the money will enable the plant to start partial operations in one month. Civil affairs personnel in 1 st Squadron, 3 rd Armored Cavalry Regiment have been working for months to get the plant - considered to be full of economic potential - up and running. The plant would employ 5,500 workers and produce several products that are currently in demand on the world market, like zeolite and sulphuric acid. More

Afghanistan Mission Nets 'Big Fish'

By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jeff Troth / Task Force 1-501 Airborne

AFGHANISTAN, Feb. 6, 2004 — Soldiers of Task Force 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment recently captured weapons caches and an al-Qaeda member who's been called "a big fish" by one noncomissioned officer.
The "Geronimos" spent the two weeks of Operation Blizzard doing cordon and searches of villages in the mountains along the Khowst-Gardez Highway where coalition forces' convoys and contracted trucks had been attacked. Operation Blizzard was also successful in gathering intelligence. More

Jenny Prokop wipes away tears of joy as she greets her husband, U.S. Army Spc. Michael Prokop of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 18th Military Police Brigade, in Mannheim, Germany. The unit returned to Mannheim Feb. 3 with the 76th Army Band. During her husband's deployment, Jenny served as the co-leader of his unit's family support group. U.S. Army photo by Arthur McQueen

Medics Train Using Lessons from Iraq

By U.S. Army Spc. Kristopher Joseph / V Corps Public Affairs

LANDSTUHL, Germany, Feb. 9, 2004 — Fresh from their successful real-world experience in Operation Iraq Freedom, the soldiers of the 212th Mobile Surgical Hospital are home at Landstuhl, Germany, now, but they’re not resting on their laurels. To keep their skills fresh and current and ready for whatever the next contingency might be, the MASH team came home and went right back to training. But walking through the sterilized maze of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, one would never suspect that this forward-ready, battle-hardened unit is here conducting a three-week exercise.
The 212th calls it a “hospital in hospital” exercise, and it gives the MASH’s field medical experts an opportunity to leave their hospital tents stowed away and train inside Europe’s largest military medical center. Story

War on Terrorism

. Army Meeting Requirements for 'Up-armored' Humvees in Iraq

. 'Robust' Special Operations Critical to Terror War

. Coast Guard Faces Increasing Security Challenges

Iraq

. Bush Defends Iraq Decision, Says Saddam Threatened U.S.

. Rumsfeld, Conference Attendees Discuss Security Improvements

. Mortar Attack Kills U.S. Soldier

. Olympic Hopefuls Will Train in U.S. for Summer Competition

Military News

. U.S. and European Officials Work to Strengthen Bridges

. Troops Continue Forward Steps In Taking Iraqi War to Enemy

. New Tax Laws Address Guard, Reserve Duty

. Pentagon Decides Against Internet Voting This Year

. National Guard, Reserve Update

V Corps Rear Detachment
Commander Says Farewell

HEIDELBERG, Germany, Feb. 5, 2005 — With the headquarters staff of the Army’s V Corps now returning home bit by bit from its year-long deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom, Brig. Gen. Donald L. Jacka Jr., an Army reservist who commanded the corps’ rear element here during that deployment, said farewell in a ceremony at Campbell Barracks.
Shortly after the ceremony, Jacka passed the title he held during that year - Commanding General, V Corps Rear (Provisional) — to Brig. Gen. Daniel J. Keefe. More

Massive Navy Cargo Ship
Destined for Middle East

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 6, 2004 —The 950-foot USNS Seay, one of 19 new additions to the U.S. Navy's fleet of cargo ships, is destined for the Middle East with 253,000 square feet of U.S. Army equipment.
The noncombatant ship, part of a 10-year ship-expansion program the Navy's Military Sealift Command completed last year, has been a prime mover for combat-essential cargo needed by deployed U.S. forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The ship has sailed between the United States and the Middle East four times during the past year, single-handedly transporting more than 1.5 million square feet of cargo for U.S. troops ashore. More

More Afghanistan Update Details

. Maps of Afghanistan

Defense Leaders Speak

Secretary of Defense
Donald H. Rumsfeld

"On September 11th, we saw the willingness of freedom’s adversaries to kill on a massive scale. In the months since, the killing has continued: in Bali, Baghdad, Jakarta, Jerusalem, Casablanca, Riyadh, Istanbul, Mombasa and this weekend, Moscow. Unless the spread of terrorism is stopped attacks will grow bolder and still more deadly."

Remarks in Munich, Feb. 7, 2004

Defense Views
Quotes by U.S. defense leaders

Profile

U.S. Marine Corps
Sgt. Major Juan D. Williams

U.S. Air Force Capt. John Childs, a Wilford Hall Medical Center physical therapist, demonstrates a spinal manipulation technique on Air Force Capt. Benjamin Hando. Childs is leading a study designed to determine what techniques work most effectively in treating lower back pain. U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Mike Chillstrom

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas — U.S. Air Force Capt. John Childs, a physical therapist, is literally taking on a pain in the backside. By studying how patients respond to certain treatments, Childs is aiming to reduce lower back pain, a condition that afflicts millions of Americans.
Childs has spent the past year at Wilford Hall Medical Center here working on the first of two studies designed to reduce or eliminate lower back pain. More

More Profiles

In Iraq

Bus Delivers
'Medical Care on Wheels'

Maj. Dan Barnes, a surgeon with the 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (far left), looks on as an Iraqi physician treats a man with chest pains inside a CAROLE bus at a village 30 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. Carden

YUSUFIYAH, Iraq - During the past 11 months, coalition forces have spent thousands of dollars improving healthcare services to the people of Iraq.
With funding from the Coalition Provisional Authority and several Commander's Emergency Relief Programs, newly renovated and supplied medical facilities all across the country are available for the Iraqi people. More

Soldiers Screen Potential
Iraqi Police Academy Applicants

Spc. Kevin Johnson, 24, from Medesto, Calif., of Comanche Troop, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, Task Force 1st Armored Division, based from Bodingen, Germany, checks the blood pressure of an Iraqi Police applicant during a two-day screening process at a local Iraqi Civil Defense Corps compound in southern Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Mark Bell

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 6, 2004 - By 4 a.m. on Jan. 25, more than 600 Al Rashid residents arrived to begin what could be a new career as an Iraqi Police Service officer.
Residents spent hours waiting patiently in line during an initial application process at an Iraqi Civil Defense Corps camp in Southern Baghdad. More

In Afghanistan

Airmen Carry Old Glory
During Combat Missions

MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan, Feb. 9, 2004 — The spirit of Sept. 11, 2001, is still evident in the sky above Afghanistan as airmen here do their part to support a long-standing tradition of carrying U.S. flags onboard aircraft flying combat missions.
Crewmembers from the 777th Expeditionary Airlift Support Squadron and the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron have flown more 600 flags since December during combat missions over Afghanistan. More

'On The Ground' Archive