Soldier's combat death in Iraq the first in 43 days - USATODAY.com

Soldier's combat death in Iraq the first in 43 days - USATODAY.com: "The combat death of a U.S. soldier Tuesday in Iraq was the first in 43 days, the longest stretch since the war began.
The soldier's death comes as American forces begin to intensify efforts to withdraw from Iraq. President Obama has said the combat mission in Iraq will cease for U.S. troops at the end of 2010, and all American forces will be withdrawn by the end of 2011. There are 112,000 U.S. troops there now.
Insurgent attacks and U.S. combat fatalities have fallen since mid-2007 after Gen. David Petraeus launched a counterinsurgency strategy backed by tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops."

BATS helps ID insurgents, hostages

BATS helps ID insurgents, hostages: "Like technology from the latest spy movie, a system using finger prints and retina scans helps Soldiers tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys in Iraq.

The Biometrics Automated Toolset System, otherwise known as BATS, is a database which assists in finding insurgents and other wanted individuals.

The system takes finger prints and retina scans and stores them with information like names, pictures and background information to form an individual profile. The profile provides information about an individual's past records, if the person has been previously detained, where they've worked or whether or not they are wanted for illegal activity.

BATS also can be used to help identify friendly forces."

Army to increase medevac support, add new CAB, more UAVs

Army to increase medevac support, add new CAB, more UAVs: "The Army's top operations officer said yesterday that not only will the Army add a new combat aviation brigade to the warfight, it will also increase the number of aircraft in medical evacuation companies.

Speaking at the annual Association of the U.S. Army Aviation Symposium and Exhibition here, Lt. Gen. James D. Thurman, G-3/5/7, told members and contractors that no force-wide transformational change to the aviation force was more important or consequential than the decision to increase aircraft in medevac companies from 12 to 15."

Air Force holds off on retiring famed reconnaissance plane | Stars and Stripes

Air Force holds off on retiring famed reconnaissance plane Stars and Stripes: "the high-altitude U-2 reconnaissance plane is so valued for its intelligence-gathering capabilities that, even in an age of high-tech unmanned drones, the old spy plane has found a whole new mission over the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq.
The U-2 reconnaissance plane’s mission is changing. The new mission amounts to a landmark shift in how the venerable aircraft can be used: The U-2 now gives direct support to ground operations, including assisting troops in firefights.
Unmanned drones can “look” — get pictures of the battlefield. But so far, they can’t “listen” — eavesdrop electronically.
The U-2 does both."

Suicide Bombing Puts a Rare Face on C.I.A.’s Work - NYTimes.com

Suicide Bombing Puts a Rare Face on C.I.A.’s Work - NYTimes.com: "suicide bombing at a C.I.A. base in the remote mountains of Afghanistan.
In the days since the attack, details of the lives of the victims — five men and two women, including two C.I.A. contractors from the firm formerly known as Blackwater — have begun to trickle out, despite the secretive nature of their work. What emerges is a rare public glimpse of a closed society, a peek into one sliver of the spy agency as it operates more than eight years after the C.I.A. was pushed to the front lines of war.
Their deaths were a significant blow to the agency, crippling a team responsible for collecting information about militant networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan and plotting missions to kill the networks’ top leaders. And in one sign of how the once male-dominated bastion of the C.I.A. has changed in recent years, the suicide bombing revealed that a woman had been in charge of the base that was attacked, Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost Province."

US tactics ill-suited for Afghan troops - The Boston Globe

US tactics ill-suited for Afghan troops - The Boston Globe: "I visited a camp for training a new Afghan National Army, which then numbered some 10,000 strong. The goal was to mold Pashtuns, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Tajiks, and the rest into a truly national force, even though Tajiks of the Northern Alliance dominated the government then as now. There was worry that the Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group and the backbone of the Taliban, felt underrepresented in Kabul.
Talking to American officers involved in building a modern army out of the ashes of a long civil war, I remembered a scene in a camp along the Pakistani border nearly 20 years before. Then Americans were supporting the resistance to the Soviet occupation, but the training of the “holy warriors’’ was very different. I was shown how an innocent-looking piece of pipe could be smuggled into Soviet-occupied Kabul and be fitted to another innocent-looking pipe, smuggled in separately, and then filled with explosives."

U.S. Forces-Iraq stands up in Baghdad

U.S. Forces-Iraq stands up in Baghdad: "A New Year's Day ceremony here marked another evolution of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as several major command groups merged into a single headquarters command, U.S. Forces-Iraq.

'This ceremony marks another significant transition here in Iraq,' said Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command. 'It represents another important milestone in the continued drawdown of American forces.'"

Lynn says fight against IEDs remains priority

Lynn says fight against IEDs remains priority: "Defeating the terrorists' weapon of choice is and will remain a priority for the Defense Department, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III said here Dec. 30.

Mr. Lynn spoke during a Pentagon ceremony where Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz stepped down as director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization and Army Lt. Gen. Michael Oates took up the charge.

The organization looks for ways to defeat terrorists using car bombs, roadside bombs, as well as suicide vests, all examples of improvised explosive devices. The bombs are the biggest killers of American servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan."

MC-12 arrives, heralds activation of 4th ERS

MC-12 arrives, heralds activation of 4th ERS: "The newest aircraft to the Air Force's inventory arrived Dec. 27, 2009, to Bagram Airfield. The MC-12 aircraft, tail number 090623, was the first of an undisclosed number of aircraft for the new 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron here.

Following the MC-12's arrival, the 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron was activated to carry out MC-12 operations in the Afghan theater of operations."

DOD leaders look at long-term effects of burn pits

DOD leaders look at long-term effects of burn pits: "Defense Department leaders have launched a study on the possible long-term effects of the smoke emitted from burn pits used in overseas locations such as Iraq.

Armed services medical officials are conducting studies on the health outcomes of individuals that have been deployed to identify any health conditions associated with smoke exposure.

Burn pit smoke can cause some acute health effects in some people, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Dec. 28. These can include eye irritation, upper respiratory ailments and coughing.

'To date, we don't have any information on any longer-term health risks that may be associated with burn pit smoke inhalation,' Mr. Whitman said.

This is the second study of the effects inhaling burn pit smoke may have."

U.S. wants Pakistan to pursue Taliban-allied group -- latimes.com

U.S. wants Pakistan to pursue Taliban-allied group -- latimes.com: "As Pakistan forges ahead with its bid to uproot Taliban fighters from tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan, its troops are bypassing an enemy that the Obama administration desperately wants confronted.

Rather than expand on its gains in South Waziristan and drive into North Waziristan to tackle the Haqqani network -- a wing of the Taliban that views U.S. and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan as its principal target -- the Pakistani military is now focusing its attention on driving Taliban militants from their strongholds in the surrounding tribal regions of Kurram, Orakzai and Khyber."

Logistics planners converge on Kuwait to coordinate next phase of Iraq drawdown

Logistics planners converge on Kuwait to coordinate next phase of Iraq drawdown: "Logistics planners laid out their December 2009 to August 2010 drawdown strategies to senior Department of Defense officials during the Third Army and 1st Theater Sustainment Command co-hosted a 'rehearsal of concept,' or ROC drill. The lengthy process included briefings and discussions on a variety of topics ranging from weather predictions, threat trends, and customs operations, to the withdrawal timelines of specific units, classified plans for ammunition, and Army and Air Force Exchange Service store closures in Iraq."

U.S. troops testing British-style camo | Stars and Stripes

U.S. troops testing British-style camo Stars and Stripes: "British and American soldiers soon could be hard to tell apart if the U.S. Army adopts a camouflage pattern similar to one that the British have already picked out to conceal their troops in Afghanistan.
U.S. soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment in eastern Afghanistan are wearing new uniforms featuring the 'MultiCam' camouflage pattern"

Additional Seabee Battalions Deploying to Afghanistan

Additional Seabee Battalions Deploying to Afghanistan: "Two battalions of Navy Seabees will deploy to Afghanistan in coming months as part of the 30,000 additional U.S. forces deploying to the region.

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 4 will deploy from Port Hueneme, Calif., and NMCB 133 will deploy from Gulfport, Miss. Each NMCB contains about 580 Seabees.

Seabees are a vital enabler required for the buildup of additional troops in support of President Barack Obama's strategy in Afghanistan. The Seabees' mission is to help provide infrastructure such as bases, berthing facilities, roads and airfields for the increasing number of U.S. forces in country."

Stryker soldiers say commanders failed them - Army News, news from Iraq, - Army Times

Stryker soldiers say commanders failed them - Army News, news from Iraq, - Army Times: "Once known as the breadbasket of Afghanistan, the Arghandab has become a killing field.
Battle has been joined in the valley because of its proximity to Kandahar city, a rich prize two miles to the east across a razor-backed ridgeline. Until this summer, insurgent control of the valley was unchallenged. Then 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, moved in, and the fight was on.
The vicious struggle in and around the Arghandab since the battalion’s arrival has killed 21 1/17 soldiers and more than 50 insurgents, led to a popular company commander’s controversial replacement and raised questions about the best role for Stryker units in Afghanistan."

Look east for lessons in US Afghan surge

Look east for lessons in US Afghan surge: "an insurgent-infested valley near the Pakistan border.
'Yesterday we were under attack all morning. They shot at us with machine guns and (Russian) dashakas,' said the sergeant, decked out in new camouflage uniform and cradling an M-16, the US rifle slowly replacing the Kalashnikov.
US soldiers from the 1st battalion, 32nd infantry regiment climb to Outpost Tango to take pictures and coordinates so that next time the Afghans can call in US artillery or air strikes."

Iran helping the Taliban, US ambassador claims - Telegraph

Iran helping the Taliban, US ambassador claims - Telegraph: "Karl Eikenberry, a former commanding general in Afghanistan, said parts of the regime had transcended sectarian divisions within Islam to provide support for fundamentalist groups fighting Western forces in Afghanistan.
'Iran or elements within Iran have provided training assistance and some weapons to the Taliban,' said Mr Eikenberry."

Shooter-detection 'Boomerangs' helping in Iraq

Shooter-detection 'Boomerangs' helping in Iraq: "A new acoustic shooter-detection system called 'Boomerang' detects incoming gunfire in Iraq and alerts Soldiers to the shooter's location, allowing them to immediately return fire.

'It's an anti-sniper detection system,' said Pierre Jackson, an installer of Boomerang systems for the firm D3M.

'Basically, if someone is firing at you, it picks up exactly where they're firing from,' he said.

When a Soldier is on patrol, the device is passive. It signals Soldiers with an audible and a visual warning if it detects an incoming, supersonic round.

It relays the direction, distance, and azimuth to the shooter.

Training only takes a half-hour."

US fixed problem with drones hacked by insurgents: Pentagon

US fixed problem with drones hacked by insurgents: Pentagon: "The US military has fixed a problem that allowed Iraqi militants to use cheap software to intercept the video feeds of US-operated drones, a defense official said on Thursday.
'This is an old issue that's been addressed,' the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters. The problem has been 'taken care of,' he said.
Pentagon officials sought to play down security concerns with US drones after the Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian-backed Shiite insurgents had used software programs such as SkyGrabber -- available online for 25.95 dollars (18 euros) -- to capture live video footage from the unmanned aircraft."

Multinational wing completes first mission into Iraq

Multinational wing completes first mission into Iraq: "A recent flight into Iraq marks another unit milestone for the multinational Heavy Airlift Wing based at Pápa Air Base, Hungary.

The airlift mission into Iraq was the first by the wing, which comprises 12 member nations, and facilitated the deployment for members of the NATO Training Mission-Iraq.

'Each time we fly a mission into a different area of responsibility, it confirms the 12-nation commitment to support each other's national requirements without regard to whether an individual nation has troops involved in that area,' Col. John Zazworsky, HAW commander, said. 'Like each of our other missions to date, we flew this mission with multinational crew members in all crew positions.'"