The Change Mariner: Category: Theme - 'Military Transformation'

May 11, 2004

U.S. Training African Forces to Uproot Terrorists

The New York Times: The American campaign against terrorism is opening a new front in a region that military officials fear could become the next base for Al Qaeda -- the largely ungoverned swath of territory stretching from the Horn...

Posted by Bob King at 10:41 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 14, 2004

Cracks In U.S. War Machine

Times Picayune: Since toppling Saddam Hussein last year, a number of cracks have developed in the U.S. war machine: -- The Iraq invasion caught the Pentagon so short of military cargo planes that it had to hire Russian aircraft to...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 7:19 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 18, 2004

"Smart Dust:" The Next Big Thing?

Mercury News: Imagine swarms of tiny sensors sitting in your office, seeing, listening and maybe even smelling everything that goes on around you. Such "smart dust'' sensors are under development by start-ups like Dust of Berkeley, to be used in...

Posted by Bob King at 9:46 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

January 27, 2004

Continued Defense Realignment

KRT Wire: The Pentagon is gearing up for a sweeping round of base closures that could shutter as many as one-fourth of the country's 425 military installations over the next few years. Defense officials and analysts say the move next...

Posted by Bob King at 5:26 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

January 12, 2004

Army War College Study Blasts U.S. War on Terrorism

Yahoo! News: The Iraq invasion was "an unnecessary preventive war of choice" that has robbed resources and attention from the more critical fight against al Qaeda in a hopeless U.S. quest for absolute security, according to a study recently published...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 6:50 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

November 29, 2003

Bush plans new nuclear weapons

TheGuardian: The United States is embarking on a multimillion-dollar expansion of its nuclear arsenal, prompting fears it may lead the world into a new arms race. The Bush administration is pushing ahead with the development of a new generation of...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 10:18 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

The New Military:Reserve troops face long hitch

TimesHerald: Though the 358th reservists are eligible for a 15-day rest and recreation break, they are required to spend at least a full year in Iraq. At least one 358th officer, who asked not to be identified, said a long...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 10:14 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

November 24, 2003

US president signs 401-billion-dollar defense authorization bill

Xinhuanet.com: US President George W. Bush signed a 401-billion-dollar defense authorization bill Monday for the 2004 fiscal year at the Pentagon, pledging to do whatever is necessary to keep the United States strong and safe. "America's military is standing between...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 8:08 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

November 21, 2003

Rumsfeld ready to restructure Defense workforce

GovExec.com: New personnel rules about to be developed and implemented at the Pentagon will give managers the flexibility to reorganize their offices and will help reduce the stress on uniformed and civilian forces, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday. During...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 6:40 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

November 7, 2003

Pentagon�s Plan to Eliminate US Army Division-Based Force Structure Unwise?

Intellectual Conservative: Following his unprecedented premature retirement of forty-seven US Army generals and with his installation of hand-picked replacements to lead the US Army nearly completed, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is on the verge of moving full bore to...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 5:38 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

October 23, 2003

Defense Department wants RFID tags on everything but sand

The Register: The US Department of Defense has announced a sweeping policy to slap an electronic tag on every item in its inventory - well, almost every item. By January 2005, the DoD will require all suppliers to place RFID...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 11:32 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

Russia opens air base to shore up Asia influence

Guardian Unlimited (UK): In an attempt to shore up influence in a region it once ruled, President Vladimir Putin yesterday opened Russia's first airbase in central Asia since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Mr Putin and the Kyrgyz president,...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 10:54 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

October 15, 2003

A Deadly Change In Irsaeli-Palestinian Tensions

Komo News BEIT LAHIYA, GAZA STRIP - A remote-controlled bomb exploded under a U.S. diplomatic convoy Wednesday, ripping apart an armored van and killing three Americans in an unprecedented attack on an official U.S. target. The bombing, which also wounded...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 9:43 PM | See the full story

September 11, 2003

America's Growing Network Of Bases

The Telegraph (UK): For a symbol of the way that America's overseas presence has changed since September 11, 2001, look no further than the Peter J Ganci air base. Named after a New York fire chief killed when the World...

Posted by Bob King at 5:47 AM | See the full story

September 7, 2003

SmarTruck: Future Army Wheels?

The Car Connection: When James Bond decides to upgrade from the slew of BMWs that he's been driving, instead of tapping Q for a new vehicle, he might consider placing an order with the U.S. Army's National Automotive Center...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 12:42 PM | See the full story

September 1, 2003

China to cut 200,000 troops by 2005

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting: China plans to cut 200,000 of its 2.5 million troops by 2005 in the next phase of its military modernization, military chief and former President Jiang Zemin announced on Monday. The move is part of...

Posted by Bob King at 8:26 AM | See the full story

August 26, 2003

Dow Corning helps Army develop high-tech battle suit

Detroit News: Call it Superman meets the Terminator meets Predator meets Universal Soldier. A futuristic battle suit being designed by the Dow Corning Co., the U.S. Army and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, would, among other advantages, give soldiers the...

Posted by Bob King at 10:27 AM | See the full story

July 29, 2003

Warner Says Pentagon To Scrap Terror-Futures Market Plan

Quicken News The Pentagon will abandon a plan to establish a futures market to help predict terrorist strikes, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Tuesday. Sen. John Warner (R., Va.) said he spoke by phone with the...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 12:10 PM | See the full story

Pentagon to start futures market for terror attacks

SF Chronicle It sounds jaw-droppingly callous, not to mention absurd: An Internet gambling parlor, sponsored by the U.S. government, on politics in the Middle East. Anyone, from Osama bin Laden to your grandmother, can bet over the Web on such...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 12:05 PM | See the full story

July 24, 2003

More Troops Or More Technology?

Yahoo News The strains on American ground forces as the Bush administration extends their global missions are prompting new debates on Capitol Hill and within the Pentagon (news - web sites) over the question of whether the military needs more...

Posted by Norm Wada at 7:46 PM | See the full story

Deconstructing Iraq into a Free Market

ElectronicIraq.net OP/ED ... Deconstruct Iraq into a "free market" The (current) U.S. viceroy of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, has stated his intentions very clearly: Iraq is "open for business" (May 26, 2003). A major goal of the country's reconstruction,...

Posted by Norm Wada at 7:34 PM | See the full story

Pentagon's Faulty Iraq Assumptions

CNN Back from a four-day whirlwind tour of Iraq, the Pentagon's number two civilian, Paul Wolfowitz, has admitted that many of the Bush administration's pre-war assumptions were wrong. ... Among the things Wolfowitz says the U.S. guessed incorrectly was the...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 9:06 AM | See the full story

July 21, 2003

US Navy dumps Microsoft, makes network the weapon

The Inquirer THE UNITED STATES Navy is quietly and aggressively touting its horn on adapting a Network-Centric philosophy, one that will win them brownie points with Donald Rumsfeld and the current wave of "transformational" thinking flowing through the Pentagon. To...

Posted by Norm Wada at 12:39 PM | See the full story

July 15, 2003

Public, Personalized, Open-ended Warfare

New York Times American intelligence organizations and military forces, once forbidden from attempts to assassinate foreign leaders by the executive orders of two recent presidents, have now embarked on an open, all-out effort to find and kill Saddam Hussein in...

Posted by Norm Wada at 9:40 AM | See the full story

July 11, 2003

Growth of L-3 and Military Transformation

Wired Magazine From Wired Magazine "The Wired 40" Terror-proof networks. Surgical-strike weaponry. Cockpit black boxes. Weapons detectors. Satellite surveillance. A boom in spookware is making L-3 the defense contractor of the 21st century. Created in 1997, when ex-Loral president Frank...

Posted by Norm Wada at 9:36 AM | See the full story

July 2, 2003

PsyOps Get New Base Of Operation

NBC 17: The military unit responsible for winning over the hearts of the country's foes has a new center of operations -- a windowless complex with state-of-the-art digital television and radio production rooms, studios and printing presses. The U.S. Army's...

Posted by Bob King at 7:46 AM | See the full story

June 26, 2003

Arrogance and Military Transformation

Washington Times Editorial In his farewell address, retiring Army chief of staff Gen. Eric Shinseki warned against "arrogance," seen as a code for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his supporters. Yet, arrogance has never been in short supply in...

Posted by Norm Wada at 11:02 AM | See the full story

June 13, 2003

Army Awards Contract for New Uniform

Washington Post: General Dynamics Corp. won an Army contract yesterday, potentially worth $3 billion, to outfit the soldier of the future with wired uniforms (see example) that monitor heart rates and respiration and with helmets that receive real-time video from...

Posted by Bob King at 6:00 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

U.S. Threatens NATO Funds

Military.com The United States threatened on Thursday to withhold money for a new NATO headquarters and ban Americans from attending alliance meetings unless Belgium changes a law under which Army commander Tommy Franks was charged with war crimes....

Posted by Bob King at 5:58 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

June 11, 2003

Pentagon gives backing to big Nato shake-up

Financial Times: The Pentagon will on Thursday throw its weight behind a radical shake-up of Nato's command structures that would make the military alliance more flexible as it prepares to take on new missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Despite last-minute...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 2:13 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

June 9, 2003

Rumsfeld plans major changes in U.S. Army

San Mateo County Times Online: Active-duty divisions would be reorganized into smaller groups that can be deployed more easily Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, buoyed by the war in Iraq, is preparing to launch another campaign to change the organization and...

Posted by Bob King at 5:33 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

June 7, 2003

Japan Adopts Laws Strengthening Military Powers

New York Times: Japan's Parliament today passed a series of war contingency bills that give the government significantly increased powers in military emergencies. After two years of debate, passage of the three contingency laws was driven by sharply heightened concern...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 9:37 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

June 4, 2003

Iraq War Boosts Space Spending

Wired.com: Satellites beaming weather, communications, and target info to the U.S. military proved crucial in the Iraq attack. Now the space industry expects to reap multibillion-dollar orders as the military upgrades its satellites....

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 10:08 PM | See the full story

U.S. looking to reposition forces in Asia

Mercury News: American troops in Asia should be repositioned so they can respond more quickly to unpredictable threats, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Tuesday as he wrapped up a six-day trip to the region to discuss defense policy....

Posted by Bob King at 9:12 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

June 3, 2003

Pentagon for close cooperation with India

Zee News (India) The US Defence Department has recommended viewing of India as a strategic partner of US and selling modern American technology and equipment to ensure interoperability between the two countries to meet any regional crisis or threats that...

Posted by Bob King at 9:50 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

June 2, 2003

Pentagon report outlines chemical, biological defense needs

Government Executive Magazine: A range of new vaccines, real-time multiagent detection systems, safer decontamination solutions and less burdensome protective clothing are among the numerous measures sought by the U.S. military to better protect U.S. forces against chemical and biological warfare...

Posted by Bob King at 1:39 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

May 22, 2003

"Defense for the 21st Century," by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

U.S. Department of State: Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) laid out a number of objections on this page yesterday to the president's proposed Defense Transformation Act for the 21st Century. I respect Mr. Skelton's long service, but I disagree with many...

Posted by Bob King at 12:25 PM | See the full story

May 17, 2003

National Guard Plans Major Restructuring

FOXNews.com The Air National Guard and Army National Guard will reduce the number of their headquarters in 54 states and territories by two-thirds, the chief of the National Guard system said Friday....

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 2:31 PM | See the full story

Japan's Landmark Military Move

BBC NEWS by Charles Scanlon: The move by Japan's parliament to pass bills which strengthen the military is considered controversial in a country that renounced the right to wage war more than half a century ago....

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 2:23 PM | See the full story

The Change Mariner Theme - 'Military Transformation'