Senator Kit Bond (R-Mo.) says he doesn’t “think our European friends should be rewarded with U.S. contracts for products they illegally subsidized. It’s time the Pentagon starts looking out for maintaining our own defense industrial base.” (0:28)
At 1934 Zulu, there will be a moment of silence to reflect the carnage of the shootings at Ft. Hood. All military personnel will comply even those overseas.
The Army is sending support personnel to Ft. Hood. This includes 13 Ministry Teams, 35 Life Consultants, 13 Behavioral Therapists, 17 Critical Health Specialists and 5 Combat Control Teams. A muslim cleric is part of the Ministry Team.
A general biography on the shooter will be released later today.
The Army CID is currently heading the investigation but the FBI may take over the investigation.
Commanders of all military installations are looking at there Force Protection Procedures.
The shooter was not confirmed dead or alive for 4 hours yesterday. This was due to the fog and friction of the situation.
The Army will be releasing details of the investigation as they see fit to do so.The Army, Pentagon and other investigative bodies will not be releasing any information until they feel ready. Day to day details of the official investigation will not be given.
The shooter had never been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. He was in a deployment window.
An Army ballistics team is currently at Ft. Hood putting together a timeline of the type of weapons used as well as when and where.
By Meagan Wiseley – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
At a press conference Tuesday, delegates from Alabama led by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said they are disappointed with the Pentagon and U.S. Air Force’s Request For Proposal (RFP) for a next-generation aerial refueling tanker, the KC-X, arguing that the RFP is biased towards the manufacturer Boeing.
Also bidding for the KC-X is defense contractor Northrop Grumman, which if chosen by the Pentagon to carry out the project, plans to build a new assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama.
Rep. Jo Bonner, (R-Ala.), whose Congressional district includes Mobile, says the new plant would create nearly 48,000 new jobs in his state.
“We look forward to build the world’s best tanker…but that’s only if the Department of Defense is serious about giving us a fair shot and fair competition,” Bonner said.
Yesterday, every delegate from Alabama signed a letter that was sent to Defense Secretary Robert Gates requesting a new draft of the proposal. The letter argues that the RFP lacks an “assessment of risk associated with either schedule, past performance or price.”
The letter also states that the some of the RFP’s new requirements for the tanker could be satisfied by the KC-135 refueling tanker, which was designed over 50 years ago.
In February 2008, the U.S. Air Force chose Northrop Grumman’s bid for the KC-X project, but later that year the Department of Defense halted the project.
“This new request for proposal has changed…in so many ways. And in just about all those ways, it is tilting the process towards Boeing,” said Shelby.
Major General John Kelly, Head of Multinational Forces West talks about progress in Anbar.
General Kelly spoke about several updates that are significant to the citizens of Anbar province and to U.S. military personal. (more…)
UN Correspondent Tala Dowlatshahi will be at the UN for a briefing on
avian influenza with Dr. David Nabarro.
Pentagon Correspondent S. Dawn Casey will be at the Pentagon
The Washington bureau will be covering the House Financial Services
Committee hearing on “The future of financial services regulation”,
the U.S.-Afghan business matchmaking conference and informational
trade fair, a conference on the current situation in South America,
and a discussion on the 2008 campaign with Sen. Charles Schumer
(D-NY).
White House Correspondent Lovisa Frost will be covering the White House briefing.
Pentagon Correspondent Adrian Frost will be reporting from the Pentagon on U.S. Forces Korea issues and programs
Military Correspondent Cholene Espinoza is in Baghdad, Iraq.
The Washington Bureau will be covering the National Housing Summit by the Housing Urban Development Department, The New America Foundation’s forum on “What Comes Next? The Economic and Budgetary Consequences of the Financial Bailout”, the Heritage Foundation’s address on “US Success in Iraq”, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s roundtable discussion on ways to modernize its disclosure system to give investors more useful and timely information for investment decision-making, The Energy Department and the Commerce Department 2008 Nuclear Energy Summit, a pen and pad briefing on the Senate elections by Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and the Supreme Court case Winter v. Natural Resources.
The Washington Bureau will also be covering a National Press Club briefing on “current economic conditions, recent government actions, and positions of major-party presidential nominees”.
Bureau Chief Ellen Ratner and Legal Affairs Correspondent Jay Tamboli will be reporting on the Presidential Debate in Nashville, Tenn.
White House Correspondent Lovisa Frost will be covering the President’s remarks on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act in Chantilly, Va.
Pentagon Correspondent S. Dawn Casey will be reporting from the Pentagon.
The Washington Bureau will be covering the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the AIG bailout, remarks by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer on the release of National Biofuels Action Plan, a discussion on the function of the Electoral College at the National Archives, and the National Research Council’s briefing on protecting individual privacy in the struggle against terrorists.
The Washington Bureau will also be covering a National Press Club luncheon with artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude on the art project “The Mastaba” for the United Arab Emirates and the Energy Deparment’s 2008-2009 Winter Fuels Outlook Conference.
The commander of the International Assistance Force in Afghanistan wants it known– Afghanistan is not Iraq.
“I find it sometimes, not very helpful to compare Iraq and Afghanistan. I think they are two very different environments,” said Gen. David McKiernan during a press briefing at the Pentagon.
McKiernan has been the ISAF commander for four months at a time when political attention seems to be returning to Afghanistan. “The environment there is even more complex than I would have thought prior to my arrival. It’s complex in terms of geography, it’s complex in terms of demographics, of resources, or more specifically the lack of resources…the lack of the availability of people who can provide governance in Afghanistan…”
There is a growing acknowledgement in the U.S. government and the Department of Defense that there can not be a solution in Afghanistan without addressing growing problems with terrorism and unrestrained lawlessness in the tribal areas of Pakistan. McKiernan said that the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan is along the border regions with Pakistan, in Regional Commands East and South. “We’re at a higher level of violence this time this year than we were last year. In the east and south we are seeing a greater amount of insecurity in certain areas…The idea that it might get worse before it gets better is certainly a possibility in Afghanistan.”
In eastern Afghanistan, McKiernan reported violence is up and there has been an increase in foreign fighters. Because of this change, McKeirnan said, “the additional military capabilities that have been asked for are needed as quickly as possible.” McKiernan has asked for four brigade combat teams, including enabling parts such as helicopters and logistics support for Afghanistan, adding to the request made by his predecessor Gen. Daniel McNeil.
The Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee that three to four additional combat brigade teams may be deployed to Afghanistan in the summer of 2009.
McKeirnan said that because of the nature of the conflict in Afghanistan he can’t define what success should look like. “It’s important that winning is seen in Afghan terms,” he cautioned. “Winning in Afghanistan is about the future of the Afghan government and it’s about extending the authority of a legitimate Afghan government that meets the needs the meets of the people there. It’s not about the future of NATO. It’s not about any coalition success. It’s about Afghans.”
Pentagon Correspondent Dawn Casey will cover the Pentagon gaggle and press briefing.
News Director Lovisa Frost will be reporting the White House press briefing.
The Washington Bureau will be covering a discussion with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on his solutions for the financial crisis. They will also cover a forum at the Institute for Public Policy on “The Election and the Economics of Inequality”.
Since the transition to Iraqi control in the Anbar Province three weeks ago, they have been maintaining a low level of violence, said Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commander of the Multinational Corps-Iraq, during a live briefing from Iraq to the Pentagon. The United States and Iraqis remain focused on their goals of providing security for the Iraqi people and standing against Sunni and Shiite extremists.
A recently discovered cache of over four hundred pounds of C4 explosive and also penetrator components, are one of several taken that have been taken off the battlefield. The improving Iraqi security forces, Austin said, are getting more and more proficient, but they are not yet ready to take over. There needs to be more focus on their police force, which is not improving as much as their military.
A primary focus area is on the Sons of Iraq program, which “significantly contributed” to the success of the low levels of violence, and now the goal is a successful transition by the Iraqi government by creating full employment possibilities for the SOI. Beginning in October, the Iraqi government will begin paying their salaries, and the plan is that meaningful jobs will be created for them. Austin said he is confident it will go well, and the United States military intends to continue to watch and assist them. He said he is optimistic about the future.
