Air Force Academy basic cadet Sarah Bangley's first task during a two-week training exercise in Jacks Valley at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo., was to set up tents. Once the housekeeping chores are done, however, the real challenges begin. (U.S. Air Force photo/Joel Strayer)

Labels: Jacks Valley, photos, US Air Force Academy, USAF

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Generals: Troops need to stay in Iraq
U.S. general: Iraqi security needs years of U.S. help
Under pressure on Iraq, U.S. makes overtures to U.N.
Daily attacks in Iraq hit new high
Bush asks time for Iraq - Video
Iraq Official Casts Doubt on Takeover

Operation Enduring Freedom
18 Koreans kidnapped in Afghanistan
S. Korea to pull troops from Afghanistan

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Rocket Launcher Tube Found at a Home Near N.J.'s Newark Liberty International Airport - VIDEO
Israel hopes inmate release boosts Abbas
Report: Bin Laden Already Dead
Israel Releases 250 Palestinian Prisoners VIDEO
Guantanamo hunger strikers stay defiant
U.S. to lift ban on lighters on flights
U.S. court grants evidence to Guantanamo lawyers

Supporting Our Heroes
Proof America Supports You

Other Military News
Russia says has not "slammed the door" on arms pact
Army Acknowledges Health Care Mistakes
To Be a U.S. Army Ranger
12-Month Tours by Spring 2008

Politics / Government
Bush: Don't Be Cruel - Orders humane interrogation of terror suspects - VIDEO
Cheney to Become 'Acting President' Saturday
Report: Gore's Painkiller Plethora (That would be Al the lesser)
Michael Vick Dogfighting Case Makes Way to Floor of U.S. Senate
Rep. Shays Apologizes for Confronting Capitol Hill Cop
Bush: Dems debates delay key troop funds (Nice, huh? We didn't get our way with the troop withdrawal, so we'll just delay the equipment they need to do their jobs. After all, we can't have them actually succeeding, now, can we?)
Candidates' management styles vary
Clinton hits back at Pentagon official

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
'Person of Interest' Named in Missing 'Escort Mom' Case
Zina Linnik Suspect Faces Murder Charges
California Prisoner Says Cellmate Repeatedly Raped Her
Cleveland City Councilman's Letter Tells Teen 'Go to Jail or the Cemetery'
Lindsay Lohan Surrenders in Connection to May Crash
Man Arrested in Killing of Former Seattle Talk Show Host Mike Webb
Two Teenage Inmates Choke Driver, Escape During Transport To Detention Facility
Ex-Husband Says Missing Mom, Who Moonlighted as Escort, Planned on Meeting Clients the Night She Vanished
Ohio Detective: Drunk Mother Murdered Baby With Microwave
Source: Natalee Holloway Died of Drug Overdose
Veteran NBA Referee Whistled for Alleged Betting
Brazen Robbers Snatch Super Bowl Ring From Coach
5 indicted in prescription drug scheme
Ga. high court hears teen sex case
Drug officials note cocaine shortage
OxyContin maker, 3 execs fined $634.5M

Adventures in Political Correctness
Spain Censors Racy Royal Cartoon

U.N. News
Kosovo pushes independence after UN action fails
France, Britain push for quick U.N. move on Darfur

Science / Medicine / Technology
Jail Pulls Suspect Toothpaste 7 Weeks After Recall
China closes firms over tainted products
Japan quake not seen slowing U.S. nuclear revival
Ascent of dinosaurs more gradual than once thought
Huge dust storm threatens NASA rovers on Mars

Mother Nature
4.2-Magnitude Earthquake Hits San Francisco Area
Blaze Forces Airlift of Boy Scouts, Hikers
Tropical depression nears Hawaii
Utah wildfire burns campground, motel
Central and southern Europe sizzling
Smoking may bring on early menopause
Vitamin A protein may reveal hidden body fat

News from My Neck of the Woods
NYC blast could cost businesses millions

Oddities
Alabama Girl, 4, Dies After Swing Set Accident
Do fish suffer from exposure to Uriah Heep? - Video
Pupils browse porn on donated laptops - Video

Other News of Note
5-Year-Old Alerts Neighbors When Dad Suffers Brain Aneurysm
Rise in Anti-Semitic Violence Troubles Jews in U.K.

Fox News
Stocks Tumble on Disappointing Earnings Reports
Pakistani President Musharraf Overruled by Court
Garcia Leads at British Open, Tiger Takes Dip - PHOTOS
Former Pro Wrestler Found Dead in New Hampshire
Pop Tarts: Britney Spears Has Her Pants in a Bundle
'Funky Winkerbean' Character to Die of Cancer

Reuters: Top News
Pakistani judge becomes hero for defying general Video
Brazil Lula tries to blunt crash criticism Video
Peru's poor lose faith in market-friendly president
U.S. health insurers aim to shape reform process
PluggedIn: Vista's growing pains leave room for XP
Google to bid for U.S. airwaves if condition added
Chores outrank children in modern marriages: survey
Virtual networking overtakes real socializing for some
Jones moves into "24" Oval Office
Stock bull riders eye home sales, earnings - Video
Earnings misses, subprime woes punish Wall Street - Video
Dollar declines with stocks as subprime woes linger
Oil steadies near record on supply concerns
Schlumberger shares touch new high
Subprime stress seen skewing loan data
Column: Jim Saft
Shelter from the storm?
CAT execs say internal issues key in earnings miss
Bear Stearns to be sued over subprime funds: CNBC
Internet entrepreneur details Dow Jones proposal
U.S. home builder woes reach into other industries
Redstones take family squabble public
Shell ordered to suspend Arctic offshore drilling
The wait is over -- Harry Potter finale goes on sale Video

AP World News
Silva promises Brazil plane crash probe
Stocks fall after Dow, S&P 500 records
Sergio out front, Tiger limps at Open
Auto contract talks have begun
Fatal ambulance wreck kills 5 in Ohio
Mom accused of hitting kids on flight

Military.com
Poll: Grade the VA Director
Op-ed: Intel and Tax Dollars
DT: Russians Testing Brits?
Podcast: Get Fit with a SEAL
Daily Shock: Attack on the FOB

CENTCOM: News Releases

USJFCOM
Capability Portfolio Manager aids better decision-making process - podcast
Strategic Initiatives Forum - July 2007 - photos
Empire Challenge 07 exercise focuses on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance - podcast
USJFCOM leaders, others to speak at 2007 industry symposiumCommand seeks input from industry and academia to develop a force provider collaborative workflow staffing capability
Download the requirements (Adobe Acrobat reader required)

Multi-National Force-Iraq
Cyber Islamic State of Iraq foreign-led ruse
Falahat returning to normal as childrens' laughter fills air
Medical Clinic to Benefit Iraqis for Years to Come
Iraqi Army Troops Lead Joint Medical Effort in Hor Al Bosh
Iraqi National Police officers graduate from NCO Course
Central Baghdad car bomb blast kills four, wounds four

DefenseLink
Gates Asks Congress to Transfer Funds to MRAP - Video
Transcript from Pentagon Briefing on MRAP
War on Terror Will Require Decades of Effort - Video
Al Qaeda in Iraq Duped Into Following Foreigners - Video
Slides from Bergner Briefing
Transcript from Bergner Briefing
Civilian Casualty Reports Often Exaggerated
ISAF Chief Calls for NATO to Deliver on Promises
New Prosthesis Could Help Keep Troops Fighting

More Headline News
NORTHCOM, NORAD Work to Foil Terrorists
Pace Walks Ramadi’s Streets, Notes Progress
New Press Secretary Prepares to Take Podium

Military News
Program Helps Disabled Veterans Get Contracts
Marine Missing From Vietnam War Is Identified
Search Under Way for WWII Japanese MIAs in Alaska
Kadena Recovers From Typhoon Man-Yi

War on Terror
Coalition Forces Take Down Enemy 'Cell by Cell' in Iraq
Militia Leader Identified
Leaders Condemn Kirkuk Bombings
Citizens Foil Car Bomb Attack
‘Operation Ithaca’ Surprises, Pummels, al Qaeda Forces

Transformation
Cyber Command Online for Future
Symposium Keys on Future
Officials Realign Installations

Face of Defense
Sailor Re-enlists on Sunken Ship
Father, Daughter Serve
Peer Amputee Helps Veterans

America Supports You
Group Provides Link to Home
Golfers Tee Up for Troops
WNBA Salutes Troops, Families
‘Spirit of America Tour’ Honored
Jeep Puts Group in Driver’s Seat

DefendAmerica
BLOGGERS' ROUNDTABLE with U.S. NAVY Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox
Coalition Forces Taking Down Enemy - Story
Bloggers' Roundtable Web Site

NEWS UPDATES
Militia Leader Identified - Story

ON THE GROUND
Lifeblood Pumped into Iraqi Farming Community - Story
Marines Train Djiboutian Police on Firearms - Story
Offensive Moves into Iraq's Eastern Baqouba - Story
Sheiks Meet in Reconciliation Effort at Camp Taji - Story

IN IRAQ
Clinic Provides ‘More Than Standard’ Care
Navy Assisting Marines in Counterinsurgency
Hawaiian Soldiers Strengthen Ties with Project
Role-model Town Produces Positive Results

IN DJIBOUTI
Air Force Chaplain Visits Djibouti Orphanages
Volunteers Build Bookshelves for Youth Center
Civil Affairs Donates Supplies to African Hospital

IN AFGHANISTAN
Personnel Services Support Deployed Troops
Individuals Assist in Search for Criminals
Coalition, Afghan Workers Complete Projects

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
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
War on Terror Reconstruction Report
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
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

Today in History
1773 - Scottish settlers arrive at Pictou, Nova Scotia.
1864 - Battle of Peachtree Creek.
1868 - Tax stamps first appear on cigarettes.
1872 - Mahlon Loomis receives a patent for the wireless (radio).
1881 - Sioux leader Sitting Bull surrenders to Federal troops.
1894 - Federal troops are recalled from Chicago after ending the Pullman strike.
1917 - #258 is the first number drawn in the WW I draft.
1922 - Togo becomes a mandate of the League of Nations.
1942 - Congress authorizes the Legion of Merit Medal; the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps begins basic training at Fort Des Moines.
1944 - FDR is nominated for an unprecedented 4th term; The U.S. invades Japanese-occupied Guam; Von Stauffenberg fails in his attempt to assassinate Hitler.
1949 - Israel's 19-month war of independence ends.
1956 - France recognizes Tunisia's independence.
1960 - The USS George Washington becomes the first submerged submarine to fire a Polaris missile; the U.S.S.R. recovers two dogs - the first living creatures to return from space.
1969 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, from Apollo 11, take "one giant leap for mankind," and become the first men on the 1970 1st baby born on Alcatraz Island
1974 - Turkey invades Cyprus.
1976 - Viking 1 lands on Mars - the first Martian landing.
1982 - The IRA detonates two bombs in London parks.
1985 - Divers find the wreck of the Spanish galleon Atocha (I actually held a bar of gold from the Atocha...it was wild. A little unnerving, what with the two armed guards standing there, too, but wild nonetheless)
1988 - Michael Dukakis is selected the Democratic presidential nominee.
1990 - Justice William Brennan resigns from the Supreme Court after 36 years.

Birthdays
1785 - Mahmud II ,Ottoman sultan, reformer
1919 - Sir Edmund Hillary one of the first two men to scale Mt. Everest
1920 - Elliot L. Richardson, Attorney General / Secretary of Defense
1933 - Nelson Doubleday, publisher / NY Mets owner
1941 - Vladimir A. Lyakhov, cosmonaut (Soyuz 32, T-9)
1947 - Gerd Binnig Frankfurt, physicist, Nobel Prize winner

Passings
1951 - Abdullah Ibn Hussein, King of Jordan, assassinated
1983 - Frank Reynolds, news anchor (ABC)

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Barbay, Lawrence, USAF (LA); EB66C shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Dillon, David A., US Army (CA); UH1B shot down, KIA, body not recovered

Hubbard, Edward L., USAF (KS); EB66C shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Lewis, Merrill R., USAF (IA); F105D shot down, remains returned August, 1989

McDaniel, Norman A., USAF (NC); EB66C shot down, releasd by DRV February, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Means, William H., USAF (KS); EB66C shot down, released by DRV February, 1973 - deceased

Nelson, William Humphrey, USAF (MI); F105D shot down, remains returned by SRV September, 1997

Norbert, Craig R., USAF (CT); EB66C shot down, possibly Died in Captivity

Perkins, Glendon W., USAF (FL); EB66C shot down, released by DRV February, 1973 - alive and well in 1998

1969
Smiley, Stanley K., USN (NE); A4F shot down, KIA, body not recovered

Labels: Headlines, History