Official Dismisses Comparison of Kabul Attacks, Tet Offensive

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2012 – A few terrorist attacks does not make yesterday’s combat in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul the “Taliban Tet Offensive,” the Pentagon’s top public affairs official said here today.

The Tet Offensive in 1968 involved tens of thousands of North Vietnamese regulars and thousands of Viet Cong irregulars. They attacked the length and breadth of South Vietnam from Hue in the north to the Mekong Delta to the American Embassy in Saigon.

Yesterday’s attacks, by contrast, involved tens of terrorists armed with suicide vests and car bombs and some rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, George Little, acting assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, told reporters.

“Initial indications are that the Haqqani network was involved in the attacks in Kabul,” Little said. “This was a well-coordinated set of attacks. I’m unaware of any U.S. casualties.”

The Afghan national security forces responded to the attacks and handled matters by themselves, Little said. “They had the lead role in many instances and successfully repelled the enemy,” he said.

The attacks mark the beginning of the “fighting season” in Afghanistan, when enemy fighters typically have become active after the harsh Afghanistan winter.

“We thought something like this could very well happen, and it did,” Little said. “These were attacks that we believe show the Haqqanis and other insurgents are concerned about the progress being made in Afghanistan. And the fact that certain institutions of governance in Afghanistan were targeted … suggests they feel the need to attack those institutions and what those institutions stand for: a brighter Afghanistan.”

Little flatly rejected any analogy between yesterday’s events in Afghanistan and the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. “This was a coordinated set of attacks,” he said. “We are looking at suicide bombers, RPG, mortar fire etc. This was not a large-scale offensive sweeping into Kabul or other parts of the country.”

The actions were multiple terrorist attacks, he noted. “I’m not minimizing the seriousness of this, but this was in no way akin to the Tet Offensive or other enemy offensives that I’m aware of,” he said.

While Little didn’t speak directly to intelligence on the attacks, he did say chatter had indicated something like this might occur. “I don’t believe this was an intelligence failure,” he said. “We had some sense that something like this might happen. We know from past history that this is something they might do. This is the start of the spring fighting season, and the response was very effective.

“If we’re going to be held to the standard that we have to know precisely when and where each insurgent attack is going to occur,” he continued, “then that’s an unfair standard.”

Face of Defense: Vietnam Vet Still in the Fight

Get the real story of what happens on the front lines in afghanistan from the heroes who fought there.

By Army Spc. Jennifer Andersson

159th Combat Aviation Brigade

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Sept. 20, 2011 – Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Roy Brown proved his mettle as a combat pilot in Vietnam. Now, 41 years later, he’s proving his stamina and love of the military with service in Afghanistan.

Brown, who also served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, began his career with the 101st Airborne Division, and is serving with the Screaming Eagles again as his career draws to a close. As the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade’s liaison officer to the Air Force’s 702nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, which supports Regional Command – South here, Brown is in no hurry to retire.

“Call it patriotism or call it my admiration of the Army’s principles -- its organizational objectives and goals, its performance over the decades in areas not only of military success, but what I think of as social equity,” he said. “But your life’s works need to have a higher purpose.”

Explaining how his career began, the Oklahoma native said it was a $5 bill that transformed his boyhood dream into reality in 1971.

“My mother asked me how I knew I wanted to be a pilot if I’d never flown, so I went to the local airport, paid $5 and rode in a Piper 140 airplane for about 20 minutes,” he said. “Then I walked right into the Army recruiting office and said, ‘Send me to flight school.’”

The recruiter told then-19-year-old Brown about a program called “High School to Flight School.” Still in his first semester of college, he knew flight school was a good opportunity, so he took it. His mother had reservations about him going to war, but knew that flight school was something her son would never be afforded any other way.

“He always wanted to be a pilot, even when he was a little boy, playing with [toy] airplanes,” his mother, Betty S. Terry-Schmidt, said. “It did not surprise me that he chose to be a pilot.”

Following basic training at Fort Polk, La., Brown went on to primary flight school at Fort Walters, Texas, and advanced flight school at Fort Rucker, Ala. Even then, Brown was a force to be reckoned with. As the custom held on the day of a pilot’s first solo flight, fellow students would throw the pilot into the local swimming pool.

“I evaded them successfully for about two hours, which, at that time, I think was a record,” Brown said. “Then, of course, I was finally caught and thrown into the pool.”

Brown proved to be an exceptional beginner pilot and graduated at the top of his class. This distinction earned him the privilege of choosing which air frame he would fly.

“I knew Vietnam was a hot and muggy place,” he said. “There was one aircraft with air conditioning, so I went with the [AH-1] Cobra. Besides that, I knew if somebody shot at me, I could shoot back.”

And choosing the Cobra guaranteed Brown would get shot at. “The question was not ‘Who’s going to Vietnam?’” he said. “If there was one or two not going to Vietnam, that was the unusual part. Everyone was going to Vietnam -- me, especially, when I chose the Cobra. That was 100 percent assurance you were going.”

While Brown embraced the adventure on which he was about to embark, his mother struggled to temper her fears with the support she knew her son needed.

“As a mother, I was anxious. Not about him leaving, but about him going into war,” Terry-Schmidt said. “I could understand his feelings, though. He was very determined, so I could only back him.”

Rather than feeling fear or anxiety about heading to war, Brown chose to think positively. “We were apprehensive about what could happen in Vietnam,” he said. “At the same time, we were young and bold, and we would be the ones to beat the odds.”

While Brown beat the odds, not all of his buddies did, nor did the enemy. But despite the casualties he saw in Vietnam, he said he never experienced post-traumatic stress the way some veterans have. “I was young and naive enough that it didn’t faze me,” he said.

His job as a gun pilot was to take down the enemy by any means necessary, and he did his job. “Nonmilitary people don’t understand, especially back in the days of Vietnam,” he said, “and if you can’t deal with that part of it, the military may not be a career path you should take.”

“He was always a strong young man, and he knew what he had to do,” Terry-Schmidt said.

Back at home, Terry-Schmidt had to endure long gaps in communication from Brown, with only the news to keep her informed. Sometimes it would be three weeks or longer before she’d hear from him.

“It would seem like forever,” she said. “I was always anxious for his safety.”

To keep her mind off the periods of no news from her son, she kept herself occupied.

“At that time, I was working, and I had younger children still at home, so in the daytime, I was busy,” she said. “At night time, I would think of him, and of course, I did a lot of praying, trusting that God would take care of him and my prayers were answered.”

Communication then was not like it is today, where soldiers can have contact with family and friends at most any time of the day, Terry-Schmidt said. This time around, she hears from her son a few times a week.

Improvements in communication have improved not only soldiers’ morale, it also has improved how they fight wars, Brown said.

Throughout his career, he has become qualified on 11 types of aircraft -- both rotary and fixed wing -- some with multiple models, like the UH-1 Huey models B, C, D and H. He has deployed five times.

“I feel more confident with him being in Afghanistan than I did with him in Vietnam because of the experience he has now,” Terry-Schmidt said. “I know he is a very careful pilot. He knows his abilities. I know he wishes he was not in Afghanistan, but that’s where his duty has led him, and I respect him for that.”

Face of Defense: Wounded Veteran Inspires Service Members

By Air Force Maj. Brian Bowman

332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq, Feb. 10, 2011 – Navy veteran, author and inspirational speaker Dave Roever knows a thing or two about scars.

"Everybody has scars," Roever told a group of more than 150 service members gathered here in an event sponsored by the base chaplain. "Mine just happen to be on the outside.”

"Everybody gets hurt," he added. "That's not the question. The question is how [does one] react to getting hurt?"

The veteran’s physical scars stem from severe wounds he’d suffered in 1969 during a tour in Vietnam.

Roever said an enemy sniper's bullet had detonated a white phosphorus grenade that he was holding. The subsequent explosion and intense heat nearly eviscerated him. After his medical evacuation to Japan, Roever said doctors didn’t expect that he’d survive.

Fourteen months and countless surgeries later, Roever did survive -- and eventually would thrive. Where many would have been consumed by bitterness, Roever said he found relief and gratitude in just being alive, and pledged that he’d help other wounded veterans for the rest of his days.

"I don't intend to go out quietly," the 64-year-old veteran said. "I want to make a difference in people's lives."

In 2007, with his wife Brenda, Roever co-founded Eagles Summit Ranch in Colorado, which focuses on helping wounded veterans, both spiritually and by teaching business and life skills.

"It's a beautiful facility up in the mountains," he said. "We're teaching them how to start a business or a [non-profit venture] ... and help[ing] them with the emotional part of recovery."

To hear Roever speak is to follow a winding path of emotionally wrenching stories. Eventually, the listener finds that the stories interlock to focus on the theme of resiliency.

Roever told service members here about a previous time in Iraq when he was asked to say a prayer for a fallen soldier. He said he prayed for God to send someone to comfort the soldier's best friend who lived stateside.

A few days later, Roever said, in the middle of the night at an empty Atlanta airport terminal, a young man sat down next to him even though there were hundreds of empty seats nearby.

Roever learned the man was the best friend of the fallen soldier. The young man, who was returning from his friend's funeral, couldn't understand how Roever knew so much about the situation.

The fallen soldier’s friend asked, 'Who are you?'" Roever recalled.

"And I told him, 'I'm the answer to my own prayer,'" Roever said.

Roever urged married members of his audience to ensure their marriages were strong and to communicate regularly with their loved ones back home.

He also praised his wife of 43 years, for standing by him and caring for him after his horrendous injuries.

"Our marriage [endures] because it is built on desire, not need," he said. "We don't need each other; we want each other. It is a choice.”

Face of Defense: Vietnam Vet Trains for Final Iraq Tour

By Army Spc. Carl Havlik

166th Aviation Brigade, Division West

FORT HOOD, Texas, Nov. 8, 2010 – Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Stephen Sanderson flew helicopters in Vietnam and still is flying today as a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot for the Vermont Army National Guard’s Company C, 3rd Battalion, 126th Medical Evacuation Regiment.

Sanderson’s unit is receiving training here from 1st Army Division West’s 166th Aviation Brigade, preparing for a mission in Iraq that will be his final tour.

“I’ve done the jungle, not the desert,” he said. After enlisting in the Army in June 1969, Sanderson flew UH-1 Huey helicopters for an assault company in Vietnam during his first tour. He said he believes one of the biggest differences between the Vietnam War and current overseas contingency operations is that the draft filled the U.S. military’s ranks in the Vietnam era. In today’s Army, he noted, every soldier is a volunteer.

“This is the best-educated and motivated Army we have sent downrange,” Sanderson said. “These soldiers want to be here.”

Army aviation has also changed a lot since the Vietnam War, he said.

“There are a lot of preflight checks that have to be done now,” he explained. “Back then, we got our mission, drew up a plan right there and that was it.”

The equipment also has changed. Black Hawk helicopters are a lot tougher and more technologically advanced than the Vietnam-era Huey, Sanderson said. For example, new Black Hawks are equipped with digitized control panels and gauges, unlike the Huey and older Black Hawk models.

Sanderson, who recently celebrated both his 60th birthday and 40th anniversary of graduating from flight school, had a simple explanation for why he continues to fly. “It’s a privilege and an honor,” he said.

Deployed Soldier Shares Holiday Heirloom in Afghanistan

By Army 1st Lt. Lory Stevens
Special to American Forces Press Service

Dec. 10, 2008 - A deployed soldier here is getting a taste of home for the holidays, just as his father did 40 years earlier. The small, artificial Christmas tree on Army Col. Roger Nell's desk is the same one his father displayed on his desk in 1967. Since then, the tree has served alongside father or son on three wartime missions and six Christmas deployments.

"My wife has sent me the tree this year, as is tradition," Nell, command judge advocate with Task Force Warrior, said.

Nell's mother, Ramona, bought the tree in 1967 at the Panama Canal Zone post exchange for her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Nell, who was serving in the Vietnam War. In early November, Ramona sent the tree, decorated with hard candies, to her husband at the public information office in Saigon, where the sergeant handled the credentialing of news media.

"Our little tree has been a source of joy for our family and a way to be together when [we're] so many miles apart," Robert Nell said.

In 1969, Ramona sent the tree on its second deployment to a hostile zone; her husband was assigned to the Military Assistance Advisory Group Thailand in Bangkok. Robert Nell worked in the protocol office, coordinating visits with elected officials, including then-President Richard M. Nixon.

"At the time, I never knew how many lives would be touched by the joy this little tree radiated over the next few decades," Robert said.

The tree stayed stateside until 1992, when Ramona sent it to her son, who was deployed to South Camp, Sinai, Egypt. The next year, Nell's mother again sent her son the tree, this time to Camp Howze, South Korea, while he served with the U.S. Army Trial Defense Service and the 2nd Infantry Division.

The tree deployed for its second wartime mission in 2003. Nell's wife, Rhonda, sent the tree to Qayarah Airfield, Iraq, where Nell was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

This year marks the third wartime deployment for the tree.

A pair of scissors sits beneath the tree in Nell's office. He welcomes all visitors to his office to cut off a piece of the tree as a holiday souvenir and a symbol of a shared experience with the Nell family.

"My prayer for the tree is for it to be allowed permanent retirement after this Christmas mission so that neither of my children will receive this tree in a foreign land from their mother," Nell said.

(Army 1st Lt. Lory Stevens serves in the Task Force Warrior public affairs office.)

Fort Sam Assists With Reintegration of Freed Hostages

By Minnie Jones
Special to American Forces Press Service

July 11, 2008 - Years of preparation by U.S. Army South, Brooke Army Medical Center, Northrop Grumman Corp. and family members finally came to fruition on the night of July 2 when three American civilian contractors set foot in San Antonio. Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, who were held captive for five and half years in a Colombian jungle, were escorted to Brooke Army Medical Center here to begin their recovery through a process known as reintegration.

"The purpose [of reintegration] is to provide a transition back to normal life after the strains of captivity," Army Maj. Gen. Keith Huber, commander of U.S. Army South, said. "U.S. Army South is honored to be the Department of Defense's designated agent on behalf of the U.S. Southern Command to conduct this process -- a process that we have trained, that we have rehearsed, and prepared to perform."

Gonsalves, Howes and Stansell worked as government contractors for Northrop Grumman, and while conducting a counternarcotics mission over a southern Colombian jungle in February 2003, their drug surveillance aircraft crashed. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a guerrilla group known by its Spanish acronym FARC, captured the crew, killing two and taking the three contractors hostage.

The three Americans, Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 11 Colombian national police and military members also held hostage by the FARC were flown to safety after being rescued in a Colombian military operation.

In a written public message issued July 3 by the three contractors, they specifically thanked "General Huber of United States Army South, General (James) Gilman of the Brooke Army Medical Center, Colonel (Wendy) Martinson of Garrison Fort Sam Houston and their staffs for the warm hospitality they've provided us and our families."

The contractors went on to affirm that the reintegration process that Army South and BAMC are conducting on their behalf is "worthwhile and important."

Reintegration has been around since the Vietnam War era and is designed to help returnees resume normal, professional, family and community activities with minimal physical and emotional complications. At BAMC, the former hostages were treated in much the same way as returned prisoners of war.

The process is broken down into three phases. Phase 1, "Initial Recovery," begins when personnel are retuned to U.S. control and individuals are given a medical examination and a psychological assessment.

Phase 2, "Transition Location," took place at BAMC, where the hostages received a more thorough medical examination. This phase of the process also involves formal debriefings and psychological decompression, depending on particular circumstances.

A Yellow Ribbon Ceremony in BAMC's auditorium July 7 marked the beginning of Phase 3, "Home Base," the last step of the reintegration process. During this step, the returnees meet with their families and address significant closure issues that may have arisen from their captivity.

"In the process of reintegration, our job is to try to facilitate that transition back to their previous situation in terms of family, work, etc.," Army Col. Carl Dickens, a BAMC psychologist, said. "The way we go about doing that is by helping them gradually reestablish some predictability and control over their experience. We help them identify some potential challenges that they may encounter as they make that transition, and then finally give them some action plans that they can use to help them as they go through that transition process."

July 7 was the first time the returnees spoke publicly since their rescue. This occasion marked the returnees' success in the reintegration process and provided a way to help them prepare for an "attempt at a normal life," Huber said.

The three returnees, along with their families, entered the auditorium to cheers and a standing ovation from Army officials, well-wishers, soldiers and members of the media. Howes, the first contractor to speak, compared his experience to falling off the edge of the Earth. He went on to thank Northrop Grumman for taking "extraordinary" care of his family while he was away.

"I thank my companions who helped me cope with difficult conditions during these years, ... the team of caring professionals at Brooke Army Medical Center for guiding us through the reintegration process, and my heartfelt thanks to all those people," Howes said. "We are doing well, but we can't forget those we left behind in captivity."

Gonsalves was the next to speak. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak out to the world," he said. "There was a time that when I slept, that I would dream that I was free; that time was only a few days ago. It feels so good to be free, to be here now, with all of you.

"To the American people," he continued, "thank you for remembering us there in the jungle, and I want to ask you to never forget that there are others still there."

When it was his turn to speak, Stansell walked up on stage carrying his twin 5-year-old sons, who were born while he was in captivity.

"It is my privilege to stand here before you with my family," he said. "My family, whose love and support sustained me through my most difficult ordeal of my life. They are the reason I am alive and standing with all of you today; their enthusiasm, dedication and unwavering love kept me alive."

All three contractors thanked the Colombian government for their dramatic rescue, Northrop Grumman for taking care of their families while they were held in captivity, and Fort Sam Houston and BAMC for the help in their transition to freedom.

"Although their time in captivity has been extremely difficult and at times traumatic, they have in general fared very well," said Army Col. (Dr.) Jackie Hayes, a BAMC physician. "They've shown themselves to be strong and adaptive."

(Minnie Jones works in the Fort Sam Houston Public Information Office.)

Mullen Meets With Enlisted Troops in Mosul

By Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service

July 8, 2008 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff met with more than 200 soldiers and airmen in the lower enlisted ranks here today to thank them for their service and to give them the opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns. The troops, ranging from pay grades E-2 to E-5, serve at Forward Operating Base Marez here and were part of Navy Adm. Mike Mullen's second "all-hands call" in two days.

As he did yesterday with troops deployed to Camp Victory in Baghdad, Mullen shared his thoughts on family, deployments, retention, the importance of leadership, and simply his admiration for today's force.

"We have the greatest military the country has ever had," said the 40-year veteran who began his career during the Vietnam War. "Thank you for all your service during this critical time in our nation's history."

Young servicemembers today are challenged with serving in one of the busiest periods of the U.S. military's history. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, more than 180,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them for multiple tours. Because of the high deployment tempo, it is important for troops to focus on leadership, mentoring and sharing their experience with new recruits, the chairman said. Even with the latest technology and an ever-evolving arsenal, he noted, the individual servicemember still is the military's No. 1 asset.

"People are our most important resource," he said. "It is no truer in any situation anywhere than it is in combat."

Mullen also expressed his appreciation for military recruiters and the significant role they play in a challenging environment to allow the services to maintain demanding deployment cycles. Only 30 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 are eligible for military service, the admiral said.

"We're in a time of a very unpopular war where the potential to serve is going down," he said. "But I've seen tremendous success in recruiting all across the services. My hats go off to those who recruit as they continue to make their numbers from month to month."

But as new recruits continue volunteering for the armed forces and troops continue to serve in such a fast-paced environment, families are affected, Mullen said, noting that families always have been a deciding factor on whether or not troops continue their service.

"Deployments are a lot to ask of the families, and they deserve our gratitude and thanks," he said. "The families' sacrifice is the troops' sacrifice, and we recognize that. The families are a big part of why we're such a successful military."

At Camp Victory yesterday and here today, Mullen concluded his all-hands call by reiterating the importance of leadership and passing on experiences troops gain as they advance through the ranks.

"Leadership -- learn it and teach it," he said. "Leadership is the core of what we are as servicemembers."

Terrorists Use Roadside Bombs as Strategic Weapon, General Says

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

June 18, 2008 - Terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq employ improvised explosive devices as a weapon of choice to sap the willpower of the American people, a senior U.S. officer said here today. Terrorists use IEDs "as a strategic weapon to wear our will down, because our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines can whip this thing, tactically," Army Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, told attendees at the 2008 Joint Warfighting Conference.

Metz compared the enemy's strategy today in Afghanistan and Iraq to what occurred more than 30 years ago in Southeast Asia, when North Vietnamese leaders also employed irregular warfare to grind down the U.S. public's desire to continue the Vietnam War. The United States and its allies now are involved in a global, irregular war against terrorism that's likely to last 20 to 30 years, Metz said.

"And the enemy in that warfare will use asymmetric weapons against us; he will try to figure out where we don't want to fight," he added.

Metz, a past commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, said his organization has scored many successes in its battle against roadside bombs. Various jamming devices, he said, have proved capable of thwarting many terrorist attempts to detonate IEDs by radio signal.

However, the terrorists are a wily enemy that change IED-detonation procedures in reaction to U.S. countermeasures, Metz said. For example, he said, the terrorists often alternate between using wireless and hard-wired detonation methods to set off their roadside bombs.

The enemy also employs mentally challenged people as suicide bombers, Metz said. In these instances, he noted, the charges often are detonated by a remote device when the bombers reach their targets.

"We're fighting in an irregular way because the enemy doesn't want to mess with us in a conventional way," Metz said. The terrorists, he said, realize they can't compete with the U.S. military on a conventional battlefield. However, al-Qaida, the Taliban and other terrorists are relentless foes who telegraph their plans in their writings and messages to the world, Metz pointed out.

"Make no mistake about it – these thugs write what they're going to do, just as clearly as Adolf Hitler wrote "Mein Kampf," Metz said. "Mein Kampf," meaning "My Struggle" in English, was written a decade before Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933. The book clearly outlined Hitler's plans for world domination and destruction of the Jewish people.

Terrorists use IEDs as a strategic tool to "get us to quit, so that the caliphate can rise up and the thugs can take over," Metz said. It's therefore paramount, Metz emphasized, that using the IED as a strategic weapon doesn't lead terrorists to decide to use it to attack Americans in the homeland.

Meanwhile, U.S. forces "are absolutely confident they can win" in Afghanistan and Iraq, Metz said, adding that American servicemembers "are a super-quality bunch of men and women." U.S. servicemembers can win the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq if they're supported properly, Metz emphasized.

"And that is what I want to do with the Joint IED Defeat Organization," he said.

CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- June 4, 2008

Military hosts training exercise today in Juneau [Wisconsin]
“A clandestine operation for manufacture of weapons of mass destruction in Juneau? That’s the impression some Dodge County residents may have while watching the Wisconsin National Guard and the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office storm the vacant high school on the south side of Juneau this morning during a training exercise. ‘The unit being evaluated is the 54th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team (WMD CST),’ said Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls, who also holds the rank of colonel in the Wisconsin National Guard. ‘This is a highly specialized 22-person unit that is available to first responders to handle nuclear, chemical and biological hazards that are outside the capabilities of the local communities. The vehicles and equipment are very impressive.’” (FDL Reporter; 03June08)
http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080603/FON0101/80603088/1985

UB [University of Buffalo, New York] art professor Kurtz plans exhibit on terror raid at his home
“After beating federal prosecutors and agents in the courtroom, Buffalo art professor Steven J. Kurtz is about to take them to task in an art exhibit. An exhibit focusing on a 2004 raid by an anti-terrorism task force on Kurtz’s home will debut Saturday in the Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center, 341 Delaware Ave. […] Kurtz, 49, is an artist and University at Buffalo professor who was indicted on mail fraud and wire fraud charges after the Western New York Joint Terrorism Task Force accused him of illegally obtaining bacteria. The bacteria were found in a laboratory in Kurtz’s Allentown home after police were called to investigate the death of Kurtz’s wife, Hope, in May 2004.” (The Buffalo News; 03June08; Dan Herbeck)
http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/story/361272.html

HHS [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] announces preparedness grants for public health, hospitals
“The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced that it is allocating states and major metropolitan areas $1.1 billion to strengthen public health preparedness and help healthcare facilities respond to emergency events such as an influenza pandemic or terrorist attack. […] HHS earmarked $1.1 billion for two related cooperative agreement programs: Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP), administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP), managed by the HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR).” (CIDRAP; 03June08; Lisa Schnirring)
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/panflu/news/jun0308funding-jw.html

Police Raid Ishihara Sangyo Over Toxic Gas Production [Tsu, Mie Prefecture]
“Police on Monday raided Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha Ltd. on suspicion that the Japanese chemical maker violated a law banning chemical weapons by making a toxic gas without taking legally required steps. In response to a criminal complaint filed Friday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Mie Prefecture's police searched the firm's Yokkaichi plant in the western Japan prefecture and head office in the western Japan city of Osaka. The Yokkaichi plant produced 170 tons of phosgene, a toxic gas which can be used to make chemical weapons, between February 2005 and October 2006 without making necessary reports to the authorities.” (Red Orbit; 02June08; Jiji Press English News Service) http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1413361/police_raid_ishihara_sangyo_over_toxic_gas_production/

Russia Destroys 10,500 Tonnes of Chemical Weapons
“During the third stage of the chemical weapons destruction programme, Russia has destroyed 10,500 tonnes of toxic substances, the head of the federal directorate for safe storage and destruction of chemical weapons, Valeriy Kapashin, has told journalists on Tuesday [3 June]. ‘As of now, we have destroyed 10,500 tonnes of toxic substances,’ he said. By the end of2009 Russia should recycle and destroy 18,000 tonnes of toxic substances, or more than 40 per cent of its stock of chemical weapons.” (Red Orbit; 04June08; Interfax-AVN) http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1416012/russia_destroys_10500_tonnes_of_chemical_weapons/

Wildlife refuge at [Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Colorado] to reopen to public June 14
“A wildlife refuge at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal will reopen to the public on June 14 after a cleanup at a spot where a chemical weapon was detected last year. Health and environment officials said Monday that excavation work has been completed and groundwater monitoring wells have been installed in a restricted part of the arsenal once used to dispose of chemical agents. That area will remain closed to the public. The Army started manufacturing chemical weapons in 1942 at the 27-square-mile arsenal 11 miles northeast of downtown Denver.” (Examiner; 02June08) http://www.examiner.com/a-1420793~Wildlife_refuge_at_arsenal_to_reopen_to_public_June_14.html

Army: US chemical weapons incineration on track in [Anniston, Alabama]
“The Army says it's about halfway done destroying tons of deadly chemical weapons in east Alabama. And so far, so good. A huge incinerator at the Anniston Army Depot is nearly half finished burning nerve agents that have been stored in dirt-covered bunkers since the Cold War. And incinerator officials say the most dangerous agents were destroyed first and most of the risk to the community has been eliminated.” (WRCB TV; 04June08; Associated Press)
http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8429402

Some [Air Force chemical] mobility bag gear expired, missing
“The next time someone hands you a deployment mobility bag filled with chemical warfare protection gear, check the expiration dates. The Air Force Audit Agency found that more than half the mobility bags opened by an inspection team were not correctly stocked. The same investigation found that many bags were missing items such as gas mask canisters and chemical protection suits or had gear stored beyond expiration dates.”
(Air Force Times; 04June08; Bruce Rolfsen) http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/06/airforce_mobility_bags_060308w/

Ahura Scientific's FirstDefender Now Available Through 2008 CEDAP
“Ahura Scientific, Inc., a leader in rugged, ultra-compact handheld instruments for chemical identification, announced today that it has been selected for the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Commercial Equipment Direct Assistant Program (CEDAP) for the second year in a row. Designed to complement other DHS grant programs, CEDAP enables acquisition of critical terrorism response equipment by smaller jurisdictions nationwide.” (Ahura Scientific; 02June08)
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=863306

Pool [University of Leeds] professor honoured for work on chemical weapons ban
“A peace protesting [sic] professor from Pool-in-Wharfedale has been honoured for helping to achieve an international ban on chemical weapons. Professor Alastair Hay, whose political activity stretches back to demonstrating against the Vietnam War, has been campaigning for the end of the use of chemical agents in weapons for 17 years.” (Wharfedale & Airedale Observer; 03June08; Jim Jack) http://www.wharfedaleobserver.co.uk/news/newsroundup/display.var.2316535.0.pool_professor_honoured_for_work_on_chemical_weapons_ban.php

Pentagon charges [Binyam Mohamed] 'dirty bomb' conspirator
“Pentagon prosecutors have charged an Ethiopian-born prisoner with conspiring to commit terrorist attacks in the United States, including planning to use a radioactive ‘dirty bomb,’ according to documents released on Tuesday. The charges against Guantanamo prisoner Binyam Mohamed, who had been a legal resident of Britain since 1994, were filed last week and made public on Tuesday.” (Reuters; 03June08; Paul Eckert)
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN03387564

U.S. Official Says World Needs Tools to Fight Spread of Weapons
“The Bush administration is committed to upholding arms-control treaties while also pursuing counterproliferation tools to prevent the illicit spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Acting Under Secretary of State John Rood said this administration signed the 2002 Moscow Treaty to further reduce U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapons and proposed a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty in the Conference on Disarmament in 2006. But it also sees great value, he said, in finding ways for compatible countries to deter proliferation by other means.” (News Blaze; 04June08; Jacquelyn S. Porth) http://newsblaze.com/story/20080604075639tsop.nb/newsblaze/WORLDNEW/World-News.html

CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD terrorism.

CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- May 19, 2008

Anthrax scare forces evacuation of FBI building
“About 9:45 a.m., an employee was opening mail in a contained area. […] Inside [one] envelope, the employee noticed a white powder. […] All 120 employees of the FBI plus all the other businesses in the 13-story building at 257 E. 200 South were evacuated. Hazmat crews from the Salt Lake Fire Department collected the powdery substance into a sealed container and took it away for testing. […] The area where the mail was sorted was then sterilized before employees were allowed to return. The FBI was allowed back into the building about 12:35 p.m.” (Deseret News; 17May08)
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700226699,00.html

Asleep at the Switch: It's an Emergency. We're Not Prepared.
“Even after Sept. 11, 2001, even after Hurricane Katrina, a Red Cross survey last year found that 93 percent of Americans aren't prepared for a major calamity -- a natural disaster, a pandemic or a terrorist attack. […] Readying the public for the likely emergencies of the 21st century may be one of the most complex social-education challenges the nation has faced. Americans have to prepare for a range of threats, many of which the government can neither describe nor predict.” (Washington Post; 18May08; John D. Solomon) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/16/AR2008051603735.html

County officials and volunteers drill with emergency equipment [Sierra Vista, Arizona]
“About 20 local volunteers learned how to turn 700 pounds of canvas, metal and plastic into an emergency shelter Saturday. […] County workers also practiced using new radio and other communications equipment while volunteers learned how to set up and take down the Base-X tent at the Fry Fire District on Saturday. […] A group of six volunteers, along with two Base-X trainers from Tucson, completed the full tent setup and breakdown in about one and a half hours. With enough practice, a well coordinated group could set it up in about 6 minutes, Myers said.” (The Sierra Vista Herald; 18May08; Laura Ory) http://www.svherald.com/articles/2008/05/18/news/doc482fcaab4a89f827217395.txt

Bioterror in Context
“William R. Clark, professor and chair emeritus of immunology at the University of California, Los Angeles, has been a research scientist for 30 years and has written a string of books for the general public. His latest, Bracing for Armageddon?, published by Oxford University Press in May, examines the science and politics of bioterrorism in the United States. […] His conclusion: We shouldn't be so worried. Although the United States will have spent $50 billion on defense against a bioterrorism attack by the end of 2008, Clark argues that we have much more to fear from natural pandemic outbreaks, such as the viruses causing SARS and H5N1 avian flu.” (Miller-McCune Magazine; 19May08; Matt Palmquist)
http://www.miller-mccune.com/article/355

Agent Orange town in QLD [Innisfail, Queensland]
“The Australian Army tested chemical weapons on a town which now has deaths from cancer 10 times the state average. […] Agent Orange was sprayed extensively in Vietnam to defoliate the jungle and remove cover for North Vietnamese troops. It contains chemicals including the dioxin TCDD, which causes forms of cancer, birth defects and other health problems. Researcher Jean Williams found details of the secret Innisfail tests in the Australian War Memorial archives. […] Val Robertson, 74, said a high number of local people aged in their 40s were dying from cancer, about one a month for the last 12 months.” (Brisbane Times; 18May08; Matthew Benns & Frank Walker)
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/agent-orange-town-in-qld/2008/05/18/1211049013324.html?page=3

Australian state government to probe Agent Orange claims [Innisfail, Queensland]
“The government of Australia's Queensland state on Sunday said it will investigate claims that chemical weapons such as Agent Orange were tested there in the 1960s. Reports said that forest near Innisfail, a town on the country's far northeastern coastline, had been a testing ground for the defoliant at the start of the Vietnam War. […] The Sun-Herald reported that Australian defence scientists sprayed the toxic defoliant in rainforest near Innisfail in 1966. Foliage in the area, which is about 100 metres from the town's water supply, has never properly regrown, the paper said.” (Associated Foreign Press; 19May08) http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gStD_z96nL1krIceavbbOB3qkzqQ

Seeing Molecules Change Shape
“A faster, more powerful way to observe molecular shape changes over time has been developed by a team of spectroscopists. The microwave spectroscopy technique, devised by Brooks H. Pate and coworkers at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and reported in Science (2008, 320, 924), should be applicable to studies of reaction dynamics in ‘radical intermediates, molecular complexes, and conformationally flexible molecules of biological interest,’ the researchers note. Such reactions are currently difficult or impossible to observe experimentally by any other way. […] Pate now hopes to develop CP-FTMW for other applications, such as detecting low-level chemical warfare agents in air. His group is also working on a version of a CP-FTMW instrument ‘that is less expensive, more compact, and doesn't require vacuum pumps,’ he says.” (Chemical & Engineering News; 19May08; Stu Borman) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/86/i20/8620notw1.html

South Oldham [Kentucky] Fire Department gets new equipment
“The South Oldham Fire Department has new equipment to help quickly identify chemicals including explosives, narcotics and chemical warfare agents. The department received the handheld instrument as part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program […].” (Courier Journal; 19May08)
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080519/ZONE09/80519014

China steps up battle against epidemics in quake zone: official
“The fight against contagious diseases is now a top priority after China's massive earthquake, with the rotting carcasses of millions of dead animals adding to the dangers, officials said Saturday. ‘Combating epidemics is the most urgent and the biggest task facing us right now,’ Wei Chao'an, vice minister of agriculture, told a press conference. […] China's top veterinarian, Li Jingxing […] said contaminated carcasses could trigger the spread of diseases like avian influenza, encephalitis B and rabies, while the earthquake may also heighten the risk of infection of anthrax or tetanus.” (France 24; 17May08; Charles Whelan) http://www.france24.com/en/20080517-china-steps-battle-against-epidemics-quake-zone-official

US unveils deals with Saudi on nuclear power, oil protection
“The White House announced major new co-operation agreements with Saudi Arabia yesterday as US President George W Bush made his second visit to the oil superpower this year. […] The White House said Saudi Arabia had also agreed to two global initiatives, one to combat nuclear terrorism and another to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction.” (Gulf Times; 17May08)
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=218874&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17

New [Congressional] commission to study WMDs announced
“Over the next six months, a congressionally mandated commission will look at the government's myriad WMD programs to counter nuclear, biological and chemical arms capable of killing great numbers of people and make recommendations on how to coordinate them. The commission was created by a 2007 law in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.” (Arizona Daily Star; 17May08; Associated Press)
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/239447

Navy's Monterey [California] school is lab for terror war
“One of the school's joint projects with Lawrence Livermore lab involves work on establishing a wireless network around San Francisco Bay, enabling Coast Guard boarding teams to transmit sensor data to scientists at the lab who can analyze spectrographs to determine whether ship cargo poses a threat. They are also experimenting with ‘drive-by detection’ methods to determine from a distance whether a vessel is carrying a nuclear device. Similar work is being done to deploy radiation detectors on the U.S.-Mexico border.” (San Francisco Chronicle; 18May08; Jim Doyle) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/18/MN5K10HEKM.DTL

Guard team responds to mock emergency [Midwest City, Oklahoma]
“Men in Level A hazmat suits entered the former Target building on Midwest Boulevard and Reno on Thursday. They were accompanied by a machine courtesy of the Norman bomb squad that took X-rays, specifically to examine a backpack lying in one area of the former department store. But the men, members of a Norman-based Oklahoma National Guard unit, were not wearing the suits for their protection. They were training under the watch of United States Army North employees to prepare for an evaluation in June.” (The Sun, Oklahoma; 17May08; Eric Bradshaw) http://www.mwcsun.com/local/local_story_138230337.html

CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD terrorism.

CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- February 22, 2008

Biolab officials face skeptics
“Four officials of the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S.Department of Agriculture faced a demonstrative crowd of about 250 people Thursday night, many of whom waved signs protesting the proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. The officials had come to Creedmoor [North Carolina] to answer local questions about the facility, intended to study and develop countermeasures for foreign diseases such as hoof-and-mouth or swine fever that could enter the U.S. and infect agricultural animals.”
(The News & Observer, 22Feb08, Jim Wise) http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/959021.html

Texas A&M to pay $1 million fine to end ban on biodefense research
“Texas A&M University will pay a $1 million fine to resume biodefense research on campus – the long-awaited federal penalty for failing to report illnesses and infection in its labs last year. In a conference call Wednesday, top university officials said the payment, which is 100 times larger than the fine A&M originally proposed, should put an end to nine months of uncertainty around the research program. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suspended biodefense research at A&M in June.”
(Dallas Morning News, 21Feb08, Emily Ramshaw) http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-biodefense_21tex.ART.State.Edition1.45e1a02.html

[Washington] State preparing for the worst as 2010 Winter Olympics approach
“With the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., just around the corner, Washington state is using its partnership with British Columbia to prepare for bio terrorist attacks and other public-health emergencies. That cross-country partnership, which has already led to sharing of information on severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and a salmonella pet-food problem, was noted in a new federal report on health-emergency preparedness. [….] State Secretary of Health Mary Selecky said Washington and Canadian labs and epidemiologists are in constant contact.” (The Seattle Times; 21Feb08; Rachel La Corte, AP) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004193011_emergency21m.html

Amtrak contracts for explosives detection
“New Jersey-based Smiths Detection has been contracted by Amtrak for the recently announced planned upgrade of passenger screening procedures. Under the contract Smiths Detection will supply Amtrak the company's Sabre 4000 detection systems for the quick detection of explosives, narcotics, chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals among other threats.” (UPI, 21Feb08) http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Industry/Briefing/2008/02/21/amtrak_contracts_for_explosives_detection/1496/

Federal Funding Helps Prepare Students For BRAC [Base Realignment and Closure]
“Maryland will need space for new students under the military's Base Realignment and Closure [BRAC] program, but there's also a need for more specialized educational programs. Sen[ator] Barbara Mikulski announced Wednesday that schools will get more than $300,000 in federal dollars to develop programs to help prepare for BRAC. At Aberdeen High School's Science and Mathematics Academy, students work alongside mentors from the Department of Defense at Aberdeen Proving Ground […] Some of Aberdeen's 12th graders shared with Mikulski parts of their projects that were made possible with the federal dollars secured by the senator. ‘What I'm looking at is the decontamination of chemical warfare against warfare agents,’ said student Jacob Burlin. ‘We are studying levels of ketamines and how it affects the heart when you are exposed to a nerve agent,’ said student Ashley Larsen.” (WBAL TV, 20Feb08) http://www.wbaltv.com/news/15358983/detail.html

Salt Plains [Oklahoma] digging area remains closed to the public
“The crystal site at Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge will not open for its usual digging period until more than 400 sites within the area can be searched for chemicals, officials said. Last April, about 134 vials of blistering solutions used in military chemical warfare training kits were unearthed about a mile from the public entrance to the crystal digging site after a Bartlesville Boy Scout found a vial on April 21. The crystal digging area has been closed to the public since.” (Enid News, 20Feb08, Cass Rains) http://www.enidnews.com/localnews/local_story_051003224.html

Court upholds dismissal of ‘agent orange’ suit
“A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court ruling dismissing a civil lawsuit against major U.S. chemical companies brought by Vietnamese plaintiffs over the use of dioxin, or ‘agent orange,’ during the Vietnam War. The decision was handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York involving a suit brought against Dow Chemical Co, Monsanto Co and nearly 30 other companies that had earlier been dismissed by a U.S. district court.” (Reuters, 22Feb08, Martha
Graybow)
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2257383520080222

Canadian firm cited as potential source for dirty bomb material
“Canada's leading nuclear medicine company has been identified by a U.S. scientific panel as a major source of potential ‘dirty bomb’ materials at American hospitals and research labs, prompting a call to end the use of devices requiring radioactive cesium-137 as soon as possible. The U.S. National Research Council, commissioned by Congress to assess the terrorism risks posed by radioactive substances used for medical and scientific purposes, released a report Wednesday in Washington that highlighted blood irradiators and other machines - hundreds of them supplied to U.S. institutions by Ottawa-based MDS Nordion - as vulnerable to terrorists.” (Canada.com; 21Feb08; Randy Boswell, Canwest News Service)
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=3a0f27ab-8fc0-426c-8ff3-7ba93c60b5a1&k=86298

CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD terrorism.

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