National Defense articles from March 2005

National Defense archives from March 2005

The budget realities we must face.(President's Perspective)
March 1, 2005... As Congress deliberates at length on the fine points of the Bush administration's fiscal year 2006 budget request for the Defense Department, it may be an appropriate time to take a broader look at the potential implications of the Pentagon's...

Defense budget: pay now or pay later?(Washington Pulse)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The question that keeps defense insiders buzzing around these days is how much of the nation's ballooning deficit realistically can be trimmed even as Pentagon's budgets continue to rise. Although the Pentagon has been under pressure for...

Winning isn't everything, but 'metrics' help.(Washington Pulse)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld famously asked his senior advisors in October 2003 if they could come up with ways to measure the Defense Department's performance in the war on terrorism. Although it's a valid question, the answer is, it...

Officials advised to tone down 'joint' rhetoric.(Washington Pulse)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Pentagon officials like to drone on about the "jointness" of every aspect of military operations. That thinking is also becoming pervasive in the development and procurement of weapon systems. The emphasis on "joint," however, has gone too far...

Advantages of info-tech overestimated.(Washington Pulse)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... According to the thinking that prevails in the Defense Department today, information technology is more important than old-fashioned military hardware, such as fighter jets, observes Loren Thompson, of the Lexington Institute, a defense...

Defense review: beltway dogfighting at its best.(Defense Watch)
March 1, 2005... Military officials have, in recent weeks, been diligently articulating their thinking on how each service contributes to the overall national security strategy. This is the rhetorical drill that is expected during the preparation of the...

U.S.-Canadian border crossings to tighten security.(Homeland Defense Briefs)
March 1, 2005... The bridges and border control stations on the U.S.-Canada border are undergoing strategic overhauls, not only to increase security but also to ensure rapid throughput of commercial traffic, leaders from both nations recently announced. ...

Report warns of influence peddling over DHS.(Department of Homeland Security )
March 1, 2005... The jumble of congressional committees with oversight of the Department of Homeland Security is more than an inconvenience to those called to testify. It opens the door to undue influence from lobbyists and government contractors, according to...

Border patrol: biometric system nets criminals.(biometric identification technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents identified and arrested 23,502 individuals with criminal records nationwide with the aid of the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System from September 2004 to November 2004. IAFIS is...

Booming market for security-cleared employees.(Homeland Defense Briefs)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Workers with U.S. security clearances are in high demand, and a backlog in security clearance processing is making them even more valuable. Correspondingly, Internet-based job boards, which are tailored specifically for security...

Mexico prints guide for undocumented workers.(Homeland Defense Briefs)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The Mexican Foreign Ministry has published a guide to aid illegal border crossers, raising eyebrows among immigration officials and activists at a time immigration reform is gaining Beltway attention. The 32-page book, "The Guide for the...

Asa Hutchinson's departure blamed on 'burnout'.(Homeland Defense Briefs)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Department of Homeland Security staffers disputed news reports that Asa Hutchinson's decision to quit his post as DHS under-secretary as was based on being passed over for the top position at the agency. Rather, they maintained that the...

Marine Corps ponders options to expand armor forces in Iraq.(Up Front)
March 1, 2005... As the demand for armored scout units in Iraq soars, the Marine Corps is reviewing its entire array of combat vehicle programs and is considering revising procurement plans. Officials are debating, among other things, whether to shift funds...

Insurgents learn to exploit U.S. military's vulnerabilities.(Up Front)
March 1, 2005... As insurgents continue to develop more lethal means to attack U.S. forces and allies in Iraq, both military and private security officials have been conducting briefings on how to recognize and avoid the ubiquitous threats of suicide bombs,...

Stryker brigade in Iraq will protect bases with remote-controlled mines.(Up Front)
March 1, 2005... The Army Stryker brigade now fighting in Iraq will be first in line to receive a new radio-frequency kit that allows soldiers to detonate mines from several kilometers away. The technology, called "Matrix," essentially turns old-fashioned...

Researchers cast wary eye on atomic-level computing.(Up Front)
March 1, 2005... Government researchers have spent a decade investigating computers that use the principles of quantum mechanics to process information much faster than currently possible. The promise of quantum computers is enormous, but experts within the...

Common European Defense market still years away.(Up Front)
March 1, 2005... The newly created European Defense Agency is positioning itself to play a pivotal role in guiding European Union countries towards a common military equipment market. But the Union, which has hit a barren period in cooperative programs,...

Clarification.(Up Front)(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2005... The article "Ship Costs Could Sink Plans for Floating Military Bases," (January 2005, p 34) stated that the quad tilt-rotor heavy lift aircraft has a range of 110 miles. According to the QTR developer, Bell Helicopter, the aircraft is being...

Erratum.(Up Front)(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2005... The February 2005 stow "Retiring Kiowas Will Find Home in Law Enforcement," incorrectly reported that 20 GAU-19.50 caliber guns have been mounted on Kiowas. Congress provided funds for the weapons, but the Army has not yet purchased or fie tied...

Shrewd tactics underpin Navy strategy to defeat diesel submarines.(Up Front)
March 1, 2005... In preparation for future wars, U.S. ship commanders will be trained to employ unconventional tactics against enemies equipped with diesel submarines. Navy planners anticipate that adversaries will try to deny U.S. forces access to key...

Army halts multibillion-dollar radio program.(Up Front)
March 1, 2005... The Defense Department's ambitious program to equip the military services with a family of digital combat radios has run into significant roadblocks. Encryption problems and an array of other technical shortcomings are throwing the entire...

Strategy drills: Air Force maps out future, with an eye on the present.(Defense Review)
March 1, 2005... Air Force strategists preparing for an upcoming war game are setting their sights on 2025, mapping out scenarios for how the service will organize, equip and train its forces two decades from now. Current events, however, also will play a...

Efforts to reorganize U.S. Army tied to emergency war spending.(Defense Review)
March 1, 2005... As Iraq war costs approach the $300 billion mark, the Defense Department's increasing reliance on emergency appropriations to pay for military equipment is stirring controversy on Capitol Hill. Several lawmakers, in recent weeks, have...

Contractor security: Pentagon revisits rules for battlefield contractors.
March 1, 2005... The role of contractors in Iraq has driven them into the spotlight, but experts disagree over the level of regulation and oversight that these operations. The Defense Department is rewriting regulations under which such firms will operate....

Journalists taught how to survive kidnapping.
March 1, 2005... The gunfire began shortly after the bus forded the Shenandoah River in the backwoods of northwestern Virginia. As the bus came to a halt, five armed, black-masked gunmen swarmed aboard. Suddenly, the 15 passengers--journalists from the...

Homeland defense: military efforts target the protection of civilians.(Domestic Threats)
March 1, 2005... The Defense Department's agency in charge of developing chemical and biological defense technologies is shifting its focus from large-scale incidents on the battlefield to small-scale terrorist attacks against civilians. "It's been a...

Vendors vie for chem-bio defense dollars.(Hawk Long-Range Chemical Detector)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... A number of new technologies were on display in Tampa, Fla., at an industry iconference hosted by the U.S. Special Operations Command. Here is a sampling: The Hawk Long-Range Chemical Detector--made by Bruker Daltonics, of Billerica,...

Pentagon redirects priorities in chemical-biological defense.(Domestic Threats)
March 1, 2005... The Pentagon will broaden the scope of its chemical and biological defense programs, in an effort to prepare for future domestic emergencies, officials say. Major concerns are the Defense Department's inability to respond to a...

Cops protect Florida harbor from terrorists.(Domestic Threats)
March 1, 2005... The go-fast boat came roaring around the bend of the harbor in Tampa, Fla., followed quickly by a high-speed pursuit boat from the city police department's marine unit. Bullets were flying from both craft. A policeman fell into the cold...

Underway with the USCG Mellon: helicopter units team with cutters in pursuit of drug smugglers.(Maritime Security)(United States Coast Guard)(Cover Story)
March 1, 2005... A helicopter gunner is blasting the engines from a smuggler's speedboat, leaving it dead in the water for a small boat crew to board. Catching only the endgame of this airborne interdiction belies the complexity of the operation. It is as...

Small boats on the front lines of maritime security.
March 1, 2005... As the profile of the U.S. Coast Guard's homeland security mission rises, the role of small boat operations is becoming central to the effort. These missions vary from safety inspections of family sailboats to climbing onto smugglers'...

Firearms maker unveils line of tactical knives.(Tech Talk)
March 1, 2005... Gun maker Heckler & Koch, Sterling, Va., is introducing a new line of tactical folding blades and fixed blade knives. This product line will be available for purchase early this year. HK collaborated with custom knife designer Mike Snody to...

Military forces receive multi-language translator.(Tech Talk)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... An improved multilingual logistics tool that allows users to navigate among 12 different languages has been released on compact disk and on the worldwide web by the Defense Logistics Information Services, Battle Creek, Mich. Keyed to the...

QuickBird mapping the ecosystem.(Tech Talk)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The Nature Conservancy has turned to spacecraft to assess biological diversity and the environmental conservation around the world. The organization will rely on images provided by the OuickBird satellite, made by DigitalGlobe Inc. of Longmont,...

Tiny mic suits first responders.(Tech Talk)(voice audio system)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... First responders in protective suits now have an alternative to radios. Audiopack Technologies of Cleveland, Ohio, is offering a voice audio system that relies on a lightweight throat microphone to communicate in hospitals, triage areas and...

Gun sights improved for frontline marines.(Tech Talk)(Trijicon Inc)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The Marine Corps has entered into a multi-year contract for an advanced optical gun sight that allows troops to identify and kill targets up to 800 meters away. It has been adapted for the M16A2 and M16A4 rifles, and the M4A1 carbine. ...

Toxic gas monitor fits in pocket.(M40(bullet)M)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... A Pennsylvania-based company has developed an 8.6 ounce device that detects poisonous or explosive gasses inside mines and other enclosed areas. The M40(bullet)M, which is being produced by Industrial Scientific Corp., alerts users to hazardous...

Homeland defense vehicle unveiled.(Tech Talk)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... U.S. Army engineers spent five years working on a state-of-the-art homeland security vehicle that was designed for emergencies in the Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia and New York City corridor. The vehicle has a decontamination capability...

Supreme Court ruling will influence industry ethics programs.(Ethics Corner)
March 1, 2005... Corporate officers in the defense industry seeking to implement an effective ethics program may find a useful reference in the "Sentencing of Organizations" chapter of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, amended in November 2004, and in a recent...

Combat Survivability chief gets NDIA's Gold Medal.(NDIA News)(National Defense Industrial Association )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... NDIA's Combat Survivability Division presented its 2004 awards at a recent symposium in Monterey, Calif. NDIA President Lawrence P. Farrell Jr. handed the NDIA Gold Medal to the outgoing division chairman, retired Navy Rear Adm. Robert H....

Teamwork needed for Net Centric Ops, AFEI head says.(Association for Enterprise Integration)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Network centric operations are too big, too expensive and too urgent for any single group to have a chance to succeed on its own, David Chesebrough, president of the Association for Enterprise Integration, told the newly formed Network Centric...

NDIA events calendar.(National Defense Industrial Association)(Calendar)
March 1, 2005... MARCH 14-16 Non-Lethal Defense VI Reston, Va. POC: Simone Baldwin @ (703) 247-2596 21-24 Net Centric Operations, Interoperability & Systems Integration Conference Norfolk, Va. POC: Britt Bommelje @ (703) 247-2587 28-31 Spring...

Affiliate events.(NDIA Events Calendar)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
March 1, 2005... www.afei.org APRIL 12 OSD NII/AFEI Industry Day Conference Holiday Inn Rosslyn, Va. MAY 10-11 Net-Centric Operations 2005 Broadening the Base of Net-Centric Operations Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Washington,...

Chapter events.(NDIA Events Calendar)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
March 1, 2005... MARCH 15-17 Michigan ChapterTACOM/ Industry Logistics Symposium Dearborn, Mich. 28-30 Tennessee Valley Chapte South eastern Software Engineering Conference ...