U.S. Army soldiers with the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team secure a perimeter while assessments are being conducted on schools and medical facilities in Tagab, Afghanistan, Dec. 20, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marcus J. Quarterman


U.S. Army soldiers with the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team ask a man if he knows who has the keys to a school in Tagab, Afghanistan Dec. 20, 2006, so a civil affairs assessment can be performed on the school. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marcus J. Quarterman


U.S. Army 1st Lt. William Warner, from the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team, conducts rooftop security while civil affairs assessments are being performed on schools and medical facilities in Tagab, Afghanistan, Dec. 20, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marcus J. Quarterman


U.S. Army soldiers with the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team meet with Afghan National Army members at a school in Kora Valley, Afghanistan, to conduct a civil affairs assessment of the school Dec. 20, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marcus J. Quarterman


U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. Air Force technical sergeant, all with the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team, meet with Afghans to conduct service assessments of schools and medical facilities in Tagab, Afghanistan, Dec. 20, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marcus J. Quarterman


U.S. Army soldiers with the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team meet with Afghan National Army members at a school in Kora Valley, Afghanistan, to conduct a civil affairs assessment of the school, Dec. 20, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marcus J. Quarterman


A U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. Air Force technical sergeant, all with the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team, conduct a rooftop service assessment of a school being occupied by members of the Afghan National Police to keep attackers out Kora Valley, Afghanistan, Dec. 20, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marcus J. Quarterman


U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. Air Force technical sergeant, all with the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team, conduct a rooftop service assessment of a school being occupied by members of the Afghan National Police to keep attackers out of Kora Valley, Afghanistan, Dec. 20, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marcus J. Quarterman



More photo essays at DefendAmerica

82nd AIRBORNE DEPLOYS — Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel, Deputy Commanding General, 82nd Airborne Division, shakes the hands of Paratroopers who are preparing to deploy to Kuwait on stand-by status, ready to immediately deploy into Iraq to support coalition operations. The Paratroopers are from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. U.S Army photo by SPC Jaime Avila

Story

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Pelosi, Reid Warn Bush on Iraq
Bush picks new commanders for Iraq
U.S. news agency says photographer killed in Iraq
Bush overhauls Iraq team before policy shift - Video
Democrats mull trying to cap Iraq troops levels
Critics slam possible Iraq troop boost
Baghdad initiative to go door to door
Oldest Aircraft Get High Marks in Iraq
Military.com Podcast: Saddam's Death and the Surge
Coalition Forces Treat Injured Iraqi Children

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
U.S. Gives Boot to Terror Imam
Al Qaeda's Zawahiri Calls for Jihad in Somalia
Cleric gunned down in Gaza after plea for calm - Video
The State of the Jihad

Troops on Trial
New Guantanamo charges seen by February

Other Military News
Army: Recruiting Letters Sent to Dead GIs

Religion of Peace??
Peace force proposed for Somalia as Qaeda threatens - Video
Somalia's Islamists vow to heed al-Qaida

Worldwide Wackos
Iran says no truth to rumor of Khamenei death
U.S. warns North Korea against another nuclear test

Politics / Government
FDA Gives Thumbs Up to Doggie Diet Pills
House approves changes to budget rules
La. mayor's death sparks controversy

Immigration / Border Control
Gunmen Attack Border Patrol in Arizona

U.N. News
U.N. Troops Reprimanded Over Sex Charges
Renewed U.N.-African push for peace pact in Darfur

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
US Central Command Launches New Podcast on Website

Science / Nature
Experiencing the Many Moods of Mother Nature...
Powerful Thunderstorms, Tornadoes Kill Two Across South
VIDEO: Weird Winter Weather
2 killed by reported tornado in La.
Third snowstorm blows into Colo., Plains

Oddities
'Snowzilla' Causing Controversy in Alaska
Man Tries to Exorcise Devil Out of Soap Star
Toddler Survives 4-Story Fall - VIDEO
Meteorite Crashes Into New Jersey Home
Virginia Calf Born With Two Faces
Police hunt pub urinal thief
Adding tax on for taking it off...
Keep people out of wash, label warns

Other News of Note
Girls, Dad Vanish in Plane Mystery

Fox News
Ex-Penthouse Pet in Suburb Brothel Bust
Pop Tarts Kept Adrift Sailor Alive - PHOTOS
Woman to Plead Not Guilty to Castrating Man
Natalee Holloway's Stepfather Seeks Divorce

Reuters: Top News
Mexican navy patrols off Tijuana in drugs swoop
U.S. team to help probe missing Indonesian plane
More coup rumors rattle Bangkok - Video
New Orleans police plead not guilty to shootings
Many expect iPod phone at next week's Macworld
Online mystery games are back from the dead
Slovak PM riding high on popular measures
Colorado firm recalls 15,000 lbs. of sausage: USDA
Some doctors trim use of anemia drugs: surveys
Oscar watchers narrow list of top film nominees
Britney Spears says coming back "better than ever"
Shares off on rate worry
Oil rises, ends steepest slide in 2 years - Video
Jobs data help extend dollar rally to third day
Global Payments shares fall on lowered view
Doral cut by S&P, Moody's; sinks to 1996 level
Playing catch-up
On the radar: Honda
Motorola warning signals tough 2007 for industry
Big Oil profits in danger as price of crude slides
New year, old inflation threat for Fed officials
Job growth, hourly earnings jump in December
Adelphia says reorganization may take effect January 17
Appeals court overturns ex-Westar CEO conviction

AP World News
Rescued sailor tells family: 'I'm ok'
`Officer' Estrada trades obscenities
Singh takes 1-shot lead at Mercedes-Benz
Cops charged in La. shooting can work
Coyotes rally to beat Thrashers in OT
Stocks fall on robust job growth report
Barrymore wants everybody to lighten up
Hiring, wages up strongly in December
XM's subscriber total tops 7.6 million
`SNL' alum Chris Kattan engaged to model
Mediacom to stop carrying Sinclair
Obituaries in the News

Military.com
COLA Rates Updated
Advisors: SEAL Secrets to Breathing
DT: Our New Man in Iraq
Op-ed: Another Flight From Reality

CENTCOM: News Releases
VBIED TARGETS IA SOLDIERS IN KHALIS

DEFENSE SECRETARY GATES ANNOUNCES RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PRESIDENT ON KEY LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

COALITION FORCES ATTACKED IN FALLUJAH

JOINT AIR ASSAULT MISSION TARGETS TERRORISTS IN TURKI VILLAGE

IRAQI ARMY CAPTURES 4 MURDER AND KIDNAPPING CELL LEADERS DURING RAID IN SADR CITY

IRAQI ARMY CAPTURES INSURGENT CELL LEADER, WEAPONS TRAFFICKERS IN RAMADI

IRAQI ARMY RESCUES HOSTAGES, SEIZES MUNITIONS

IRAQI ARMY, POLICE TEAM UP IN JOINT OPERATION ON HAIFA STREET

IRAQI ARMY FORCES GAIN MAINTENANCE, UPKEEP KNOWLEDGE

USJFCOM
U.S. Joint Forces Command bringing together military, interagency for Multinational Experiment 5 - podcast
2006 -- The Year in Review
USJFCOM gets approval to connect U.S., Australian networks - podcast

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
Gates Recommends Key Positions - Story
82nd Airborne Arrives in Kuwait - Story
Stability & Security in Iraq Report (pdf)
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Team Assists Iraqis With Reconstruction Projects - Story
Building Becomes ‘Shining Light’ for Tal Afar - Story
Iraqi Trainers Graduate 120 From Police Academy - Story
Paratroopers Seek to Build Trust in Samarra - Story
Servicemembers Unite to Save Iraqi Girl's Life - Story

IN IRAQ
Task Force Maintains Presence Off Africa
Warrior Brigade Re-enlists More Than 120
Infantry Soldiers Help Injured Iraqi Children
U.S. Army Veterinarian Tends to Iraqi Animals
Stateside Communities Rally Support for Marines

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Officials, U.S. Troops Open Runway
Chief of Chaplains Brings Support to Region
Buccaneers Return from Afghanistan Tour

BACKGROUND
IRAQ
Renewal In Iraq
Iraq: Security, Stability
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (PDF)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Weekly Reconstruction Report (PDF)
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

Weather
Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Germany
Ansbach Aschaffenburg Berlin Berlin-Tempelhof Berlin/Schonefeld Bremerhaven
Darmstadt Frankfurt Frankfurt/Main Freiburg/Breisgau Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Geilenkirchen Gelnhausen Giessen Kitzingen
Hanau Am Main Heidelberg Mainz Mannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier
Wiesbaden Wurzburg

Gitmo

Guam
Agana Agana Heights Agat Andersen AFB Asan Barrigada

Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut
An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Japan
Kadena Air Base Okinawa Tokyo Yokohama

Philippines
Baler Radar Site Catanduanes Radar Site Manila

South Korea
Cheju Upper/Radar Chonju Chunchon Inch'on Kunsan Masan Mokp'o
Osan Pusan Seoul Suwon Taegu Taejon Tonghae Radar Site Ulsan Yosu

* If you're deployed, and want to see your location's weather listed here, please email me! *

Today in History
1066 - King Harald of England crowned
1099 - Henry V crowned German king
1227 - Ferrand of Portugal freed from the Louvre
1352 - French king Jean II introduces Order of the Star
1453 - Emperor Frederik III becomes archduke of Austria
1496 - Moorish fortress Alhambra, near Grenada, surrenders to the Christi
1497 - Jews are expelled from Graz (Syria)
1535 - City of Lima Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro
1540 - King Henry VIII of England married his 4th wife, Anne of Cleves
1579 - Artois/Hainault/Dowaai sign pro-Spanish Union of Arras
1622 - Pope Gregory XV forms Congregatio the Propagande Fide
1639 - Virginia is 1st colony to order surplus crops (tobacco) destroyed
1663 - Great earthquake in New England
1681 - 1st recorded boxing match (Duke of Albemarle's butler vs his butcher)
1690 - Emperor Leopold's son Jozef chosen Roman Catholic king
1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlie's army draws to Glasgow
1759 - George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Curtis
1773 - Massachusetts slaves petition legislature for freedom
1781 - Battle of Jersey (Island in the UK)
1784 - Turkey & Russia sign treaty in Constantinople
1832 - New England Anti-Slavery Society organizes (Boston)
1838 - Samuel Morse made 1st public demonstration of telegraph
1839 - 2 day storm off Irish & English coast immortalized as "The Big Wind"
1842 - 4,500 British & Indian troops leave Kabul, massacred before India
1857 - Patent for reducing zinc ore granted to Samuel Wetherill, Pennsylvania
1861 - New York City NY mayor proposes New York become a free city, trading with N & S; Florida troops seize Federal arsenal at Apalachicola
1873 - US Congress begins investigating Crédit Mobilier scandal
1893 - Great Northern Railway connects Seattle with east coast
1896 - Cecil Rhodes resigns as premier of Cape colony
1898 - 1st telephone message from a submerged submarine, by Simon Lake
1900 - Boers attack at Ladysmith, about 1,000 killed or injured
1907 - Maria Montessori opens her 1st (Montessori) school (Rome)
1912 - New Mexico becomes 47th US state
1914 - Stock brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch founded
1922 - Conference of Cannes concerning German retribution payments
1927 - US marines sent to Nicaragua
1929 - Alexander I establishes a royal dictatorship in Yugoslavia
1930 - 1st diesel engine automobile trip (in a Packard sedan) completed
1936 - Barbara Hanley became Canada's 1st woman mayor (Webbwood, Ontario)
1938 - Bronze memorial statue of Henry Hudson erected in the Bronx
1941 - FDR's "4 Freedoms" speech (speech, worship, from want & from fear)
1942 - 1st around world flight (Pan Am "Pacific Clipper"); Bob Feller enlists in Navy & reports for duty to Norfolk Virginia
1945 - Future President George Bush marries Barbara Pierce in Rye NY
1950 - Britain recognizes Communist government of China
1957 - Elvis Presley makes his 7th & final appearance on Ed Sullivan Show
1958 - Gibson patents the Flying V Guitar
1964 - Rolling Stones' 1st tour as headline act (with Ronettes)
1967 - 2 homemade buses collided on a mountain road in Terpate, Philippines plunging off a cliff, killing 84, injuring 140
1967 - "Milton Berle Show" last airs on ABC-TV
1968 - Surveyor 7 (last of series) launched by US for soft-landing on Moon; Dr. N.E. Shumway performs 1st US adult cardiac transplant operation
1971 - Cecil Partee elected president pro tem of Illinois state senate; Berkeley chemists announces 1st synthetic growth hormones
1972 - Vladimir Bukovski is exiled from USSR
1973 - "Schoolhouse Rock" premieres on ABC-TV with Multiplication Rock
1978 - 1st postage stamp copyrighted by US (Carl Sandburg stamp); US hand over St Stephan crown to Hungary
1980 - Indira Gandhi's Congress Party wins elections in India
1986 - British Defense Secretary Michael Heseltine resigns; STS 61-C scrubbed at T-31 seconds because of liquid oxygen valve problem
1987 - 100th US Congress convenes; Astronomers at University of California see 1st sight of birth of a galaxy
1991 - Jorge Serrano Elías elected President of Guatemala
1993 - Bill Wyman announces he will leave Rolling Stones; Jean Mueller discovers comet Mueller/1993a
1994 - Ice skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked by Tonya Harding's bodyguard
1998 - Don Sutton selected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Birthdays
1367 - Richard II Bordeaux, King of England (1377-99)
1412 - Joan of Arc, martyr
1587 - Gaspar de Guzmán, Count of Olivares, Premier of Spain (1621-43)
1602 - Karl Rabenhaupt, German/Dutch baron of Sucha/army leader
1745 - Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, aeronaut (1st pioneer balloonist/brother of Joseph-Michel/co-inventor of calorimeter, hydraulic ram, process for producing vellum)
1776 - Ferdinand von Schill, Prussian officer/rebel
1799 - Jedediah Strong Smith, US fur trader/explorer
1800 - Willem A. Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, Dutch politician
1807 - Joseph Holt, Union Brevet Major General
1811 - Charles Sumner, leading Reconstruction senator
1827 - John Calvin Brown, Confederate Major General; John Wesley Frazer, Confederate Brigadier General
1854 - Sherlock Holmes Mycroft, fictional detective (via Arthur Conan Doyle)
1882 - Samuel Rayburn (Representative-TX), Speaker of the House (1940-57)
1896 - Freerk Siemon Wolters, notary/resistance fighter
1897 - Péter Veres, literary/Hungarian minister of defense
1911 - Eduardo Frei Montalva, President of Chile (1964-70)
1913 - Edward Gierek, party leader (Polish CP)
1914 - Danny Thomas, comedian (Danny Thomas Show)
1915 - Don Edwards (Representative-CA, 1963-1992)
1925 - John Z. DeLorean, former automaker (DeLorean)
1931 - Gerard van Muiden, Dutch MP (CDA)
1936 - Julio María Sanguinetti Cairolo, President of Uruguay (1985-90, 1995-2000)
1940 - Ed Zschau (Representative-CA, 1983-1987)
1948 - Guy Spencer Gardner, Lieutenant-Colonel USAF/astronaut (STS-27, STS-35); Robert E. (Bob) Wise, Jr. (Representative-WV, 1983-2001, WV Governor, 2001- )
1955 - Rowan Atkinson, British comedian/actor (Mr Bean, Blackadder, Never Say Never Again)
1957 - C. Michael Foale, astronaut (STS 45, 56, 63, 84/86)
1963 - Philippe Perrin, Lieutenant-Colonel FAF/astronaut
1968 - John Singleton, director/screenwriter (Boyz in the Hood)

Passings
1425 - Jan of Bavaria, liege of Holland/bishop/duke
1448 - Christopher III, King of Denmark/Norway/Sweden
1693 - Mehmed IV sultan (Turkey), dies at 51
1694 - Francesco Morosini Italian army General
1702 - Thomas Franklin, English smith/uncle of Benjamin Franklin
1785 - Haym Salomon dies in Philadelphia, PA at 44, helped finance the revolution
1799 - W.G. Frederik, prince of Orange/General, dies at 25
1884 - Gregor Mendel Augustine, monk/heredity pioneer, dies at 61
1919 - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (1901-09), dies at his home in Oyster Bay NY at 60
1929 - Nicolas Nikolayevitch, grand-duke of Russia, dies at 72
1958 - Josephine, princess of Belgium/nun, dies at 85
1985 - Robert H.W. Welch, Jr., US founder/leader John Birch Society, dies at 85
1993 - Elisabeth arch duch of Austria/princess of Liechtenstein, dies at 70; Rudolph Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer (Kirov), dies of AIDS at 54
1994 - "Iron" Adriaan van Es Dutch undersecretary of Navy (1963-72), dies at 80; Morty the Moose (Northern Exposure), dies at 6; Virginia Kelley Clinton Mother of President Clinton, dies at 70
1995 - Edward Sutcliffe judge (British Central Criminal Court), dies at 77; Joe Slovo, Latvian/South African attorney/Secretary-General (SACR), dies at 68
1996 - Henry Lennox d'Aubigny Hopkinson, diplomat/politician, dies at 94; Robert Russell "Chubby" Wise musician, dies at 80
1997 - Ian Peter Leslie Smith, journalist

Reported Missing in Action
1967
Mullen, Richard D., USN (IL); F8E shot down, released by DRV - retired as a Captain - alive and well as of 1998

1971
Miller, Carlton P., Jr., USNR (MA); F4J went overboard afer a landing incident (RIO) - Killed, body not recovered

1973
Lindahl, John C., USN (KS); A7B crashed into the water shortly after takeoff, body not recovered