1. National Press Compiled by Kristi Kendall, Community Relations Specialist, 907-552-1038 Email kristi.kendall@elmendorf.af.mil to Subscribe Fairbanks Daily News-Miner School Access Concerns Parents School Access Concerns Parents Alaska Press Alaska Missile Defense Weekly May 19-23 2003, Edition 64 Command Representative for Missile Defense 492 Days to IDO International Press Alaska Press National Press National Press Alaska Press Alaska Press International Press International Press Click on headlines to read the full story Pressing the ESC key on your keyboard ends PowerPoint show at any time ESC Associated Press Putin: Russia Eyes Cooperation with U.S. Putin: Russia Eyes Cooperation with U.S. Democrats Push to Retain Ban on Low-Yield Nuclear Weapons Democrats Push to Retain Ban on Low-Yield Nuclear Weapons Bush, Koizumi Warn North Korea on Nuclear Weapons Bush, Koizumi Warn North Korea on Nuclear Weapons

2. School Access Concerns Parents Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, May 19, 2003 Despite some disgruntled Delta parents, military and school officials are going ahead with plans to develop a master list of parents and others who will be allowed visitor access to Fort Greely School in the fall. Under the plan, staff and regular volunteers will receive Space and Missile Defense Command photo ID badges with the word "school" across the bottom. Others, whose names will be on a list, will be signed in as visitors. Delta Junction area parents made it clear to Lt. Col. Lance Wilson, site leader for SMDC, that full access should mean all parents receive identification badges and vehicle stickers for access to Fort Greely. Wilson and school Superintendent Dan Beck assured parents at the May 6 meeting they will have ready access to their children. The access system developed by the school and military would have the names of all parents, guardians and parent-designated persons to whom each student may be released on a list kept at the gate and updated at least weekly. Anyone on that list could access the school with proper ID, subject to vehicle search. Emergency changes to the list would be handled by Fort Greely School, which is less than a mile from the Ground-based Midcourse Defense missile site under construction at Fort Greely. "I think every parent should have a daily access pass," said Eileen Herman. Her son Charlie will be a sixth-grader at Fort Greely School in the fall. Other parents agreed with Herman, chafing under restrictions that would compel students to ride the buses to school and require most parents to provide their driver license, registration and proof of insurance each time they came on post to see or collect their child. "I think we're looking at it from the military standpoint instead of the community standpoint," said Roy Gilbertson, whose youngest son, Trevor, will be a seventh-grader at the school. More HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

3. School Access Cont. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, May 19, 2003 Wilson disagreed, saying the military had worked with the school district to come up with the plan, which he said is not significantly different than access to Delta School, where all visitors are required to sign in at the office. Wilson said there may be some confusion and delays when school first opens, but there will be a workable system to provide adequate safety and security for the military post and access to students. Wilson conceded that if another Sept. 11-type attack occurs, the school will be locked down. In high-alert situations, all vehicles and students' backpacks will be checked while they remain on the bus. "Under an extreme circumstance, we have to account for everyone," he said. "You may have a delay. Almost under every other circumstance, you'll have access." The Delta/Greely School Board voted earlier this year to reopen the school, based on projections of increased enrollment. The Delta School is already crowded and modulars on that campus would put too much of a strain on support facilities and overcrowd the hallways, the board determined. Beck estimates 216 students grades six through eight will attend Fort Greely School in the fall. The board is moving ahead with plans to phase in a new school in Delta, but has yet to secure enough funds to complete the first phase. Carpenter asked for assurances the students will be housed at Fort Greely School for only the 2003-04 school year, but Beck could offer no guarantee. "As soon as we get a replacement facility, we'll be moving downtown," Beck said. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

4. Putin: Russia Eyes Cooperation with U.S. Associated Press, May 22, 2003 In a sign that Moscow wants to set the stage for a summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a note to President Bush saying that Russia is interesting in expanding cooperation with the United States in all directions, the Kremlin said Thursday. There is “much more substance uniting us than issues over which disagreements remain,” Putin wrote in the letter, which was delivered to Bush by visiting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. The note emphasized that “the Russian-American strategic partnership meets the interests of the entire international community, because it works for the benefit of global stability and security,” the Kremlin press service said. The two nations’ relations soured over Iraq, but Russia has shown increasing signs of trying to mend ties, particularly ahead of the Putin-hosted presidential summit in St. Petersburg on June 1…Also this week, Defense Minister Ivanov signaled that Russia was ready to start talking with the United States about cooperation on missile defense, a key military aim of the Bush administration. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

5. Democrats Push to Retain Ban on Low-Yield Nuclear Weapons Associated Press, May 19, 2003. The development of low-yield nuclear weapons could precipitate a new arms race, Senate Democrats said Monday, working to keep the Bush administration from lifting a decade-old ban. Low-yield weapons were one of the few contentious issues as the Senate began debate on a bill authorizing $400.5 billion in 2004 defense programs, about 4.7 percent more than the current spending and roughly what the Pentagon had requested. The bill would meet or exceed spending requests by the Bush administration for many sophisticated defense programs, such as unmanned planes and missile defense. But it excludes most of a Pentagon proposal that would give Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld greater control over civilian employees and high-ranking military personnel and reduce congressional oversight. The changes to civilian personnel rules are included in the House version of the bill to be considered this week. Republicans said they may try include some similar changes in the Senate version so it will be easier for House-Senate negotiators to reconcile the two bills. Both the House and Senate bills would end the ban on research and development of low-yield nuclear weapons. These are warheads of less than five kilotons, or about a third of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in World War II. The weapons could cause less damage than existing nuclear weapons and may be useful in destroying biological and chemical weapons. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said he would offer an amendment to preserve the ban. Lifting it would "break down the firewall that we have always maintained between nuclear weapons and other weapons, and that has succeeded so well for so long in preventing nuclear war.“ He said ending the ban "would encourage other nations to develop nuclear deterrents of their own. The entire world will be at greater risk that these weapons will be used, and used against us," he said. More HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

6. Democrats Push Cont. Associated Press, May 19, 2003 Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the Armed Services' Committee's top Democrat, said the United States shouldn't lift its ban while "we're telling others not to go down the road to nuclear weapons." "Instead of being a leader in the effort to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, we are recklessly driving down the same road," he said. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the committee's chairman, and other opponents of the ban say it hasn't stopped other nations from developing nuclear weapons. Lifting it would boost U.S. security, they say. Another nuclear issue dividing Democrats and Republicans is the authorization of $15 million to continue studying a nuclear earth penetrator. The weapon would burrow into the earth and detonate, making it potentially useful against deep underground bunkers. Also, many Democrats oppose parts of the bill partly exempting the military from the Endangered Species Act. Defense officials say environmental laws have impeded military training exercises. Senate leaders hope to complete the bill by midweek. The bill is S. 1050. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

7. Bush, Koizumi Warn North Korea on Nuclear Weapons Associated Press, May 23, 2003. President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday that "tougher measures" will be warranted against North Korea if it escalates nuclear tensions while asserting confidence that diplomatic tactics will prevail. Bush said he and the Japanese leader view the nuclear crisis in "exactly the same way" - an absolute unwillingness to see Pyongyang become a nuclear-armed power. "We will not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea," Bush said in a joint appearance with the Japanese leader after a summit at the president's Texas ranch. "We will not give in to blackmail," Bush said. "We will not settle for anything less than the complete, verifiable and irreversible elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons program." "We are confident that our diplomatic approach will bring a peaceful solution," Bush said. "Yet we agreed that further escalation of the situation by North Korea will require tougher measures from the international community." Koizumi echoed Bush's demands - in some instances using precisely the same language. "North Korea will have to understand that threats and intimations have no meaning whatsoever," the Japanese leader said. In a summit that stretched from Thursday afternoon and an intimate dinner, to a ranch tour and business meetings on Friday, the two leaders also discussed the two countries' ailing economies, rebuilding Iraq and postwar Afghanistan along with the United States' development of ballistic missile defense systems. More HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

8. Bush, Koizumi Warn Cont. Associated Press, May 23, 2003 North Korea has withdrawn from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and taken steps to restart nuclear facilities it had agreed to freeze under a 1994 agreement. The White House has been working methodically to line up tough statements from North Korea's neighbors - and got just that from Koizumi. The tough line was similar to that taken earlier this month when Bush met at the White House with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun. But neither Bush nor Koizumi elaborated on the "tougher measures" both promised. The United States has repeatedly refused to rule out military strikes on North Korea and, short of that, has considered strengthening U.S. military forces in the area. As a country listed by the State Department as a state sponsor of terrorism, North Korea is barred from receiving U.S. arms-related exports, economic assistance and U.S. support for loans by the World Bank and other international financial institutions. The administration has said it has no plans to provide economic benefits to North Korea until the country dismantles its nuclear weapons programs. The United States has provided hundreds of thousands of tons of food aid to North Korea since the mid- 1990s. The Bush administration has said that assistance will continue, given the gravity of the food shortage there. Koizumi, meanwhile, said his country "will crack down more vigorously on illegal activities" by North Korea, an apparent reference to Pyongyang's suspected drug trade and illegal missile exports. The two leaders also agreed that future talks should include Japan and South Korea and, Bush said, "at some time later perhaps others." "Coordination among Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea is crucial" to a peaceful solution, Koizumi said. More HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

9. Bush, Koizumi Warn Cont. Associated Press, May 23, 2003 At talks in Beijing, North Korea said it would give up its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for economic aid and security guarantees. Before they spoke, the foreign ministers of Group of Eight countries meeting in Paris issued a statement urging North Korea to begin the "full, prompt, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement" of its nuclear program, and suggested that the talks started in Beijing in April also include South Korea, Japan and Russia. Koizumi got what he wanted out of the meeting as well, obtaining Bush's backing in accounting for Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Japan has said that ties with North Korea can never be normalized without that issue being settled. "I assured the prime minister that the United States will stand squarely with Japan until all Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea are fully accounted for," Bush said. "I strongly condemn the kidnapping of Japanese citizens by the North Koreans." Koizumi was the latest foreign ally to get the Bush Treatment - in this case, a trip to the president's ranch. Bush saluted Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with an official state dinner earlier this week. Koizumi worked the phones to try to persuade wavering U.N. Security Council members to support Bush on his Iraq war resolution, even though Japan isn't a Security Council member. Koizumi's loyalty won effusive praise from Bush. "Japan and the United States have a global alliance, a partnership based on shared interests and a shared belief in the cause of freedom," the U.S. president said. "We discussed all sorts of issue very candidly and in depth," Koizumi said. "I learned from the president that the word Texas also means friend." HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

10. National Press National Press Compiled by Kristi Kendall, Community Relations Specialist, 907-552-1038 Email kristi.kendall@elmendorf.af.mil to Subscribe Aerospace Daily MDA May Conduct Night Test of GMD Before Deployment MDA May Conduct Night Test of GMD Before Deployment Baltimore Sun Lease Dispute Threatens Future of Islands Lease Dispute Threatens Future of Islands Defense Daily MDA Reports Tight Schedule for New Booster Development and Test MDA Reports Tight Schedule for New Booster Development and Test HASC Increases Some Missile Defense System Tests, Upgrade Plans HASC Increases Some Missile Defense System Tests, Upgrade Plans Senate Limits Pace of Nuke Weapons Research, Requires More Reporting on MDA Senate Limits Pace of Nuke Weapons Research, Requires More Reporting on MDA Defense News Patriot Missile Can Also Deter Patriot Missile Can Also Deter Inside the Army THAAD Missile Defense System to Begin New Flight Test Program THAAD Missile Defense System to Begin New Flight Test Program Honolulu Star-Bulletin Navy Chief and Gov Visit Isle Troops Navy Chief and Gov Visit Isle Troops Rocky Mountain News Share Missile Defense Carefully Share Missile Defense Carefully Space & Missile GAO: Airborne Laser has Big Weight Problems GAO: Airborne Laser has Big Weight Problems Space News Pentagon drops Missile Defense waiver request Pentagon drops Missile Defense waiver request Washington Post White House Eases Rules on Sharing Missile Defense Technology White House Eases Rules on Sharing Missile Defense Technology 3 Nuns, Prairie Protest & Price to Pay 3 Nuns, Prairie Protest & Price to Pay Washington Times Missile Shield Gains Support Across Globe Missile Shield Gains Support Across Globe Alaska Press Alaska Press Alaska Missile Defense Weekly 19-23 May 03, Issue 64 Command Representative for Missile Defense National Press 492 Days to IDO International Press International Press

11. MDA May Conduct Night Test of GMD Before Deployment Aerospace Daily, May 19, 2003 The Missile Defense Agency is considering conducting another nighttime intercept test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system before the anti- missile system is fielded, according to an agency spokesman. MDA spokesman Rick Lehner said May 15 that the agency plans to test GMD at night in the future. With two intercept tests slated to occur before GMD’s initial deployment in September 2004, one possibility under consideration is to conduct one of them at night, he said. Although MDA does not believe that conducting an exo-atmospheric intercept test without daylight would add significant complications, the only way to know for sure would be to try it, agency officials have said… At a May 15 missile defense briefing sponsored by the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the Center for Defense Information and the Union of Concerned Scientists, Phil Coyle, the Pentagon’s former director of operational test and evaluation, told reporters that he believes another nighttime intercept test should be conducted before GMD is deployed… Meanwhile, MDA has narrowed the timeframes for testing the two proposed designs for GMD’s new interceptor booster, Lehner said. At Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Orbital Sciences Corp. will launch its booster near the end of July and Lockheed Martin Corp. will follow in late August. Full-scale flight tests of the two boosters, which will involve an array of sensors, will take place sometime from September to November from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. If both designs perform well, both companies probably will be asked to supply the program to ensure GMD has an adequate number of boosters, Lehner said. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

12. Lease Dispute Threatens Future of Islands Baltimore Sun, May 17, 2003 A dispute over a lease extension on Kwajalein Atoll - the site of a major U.S. missile testing range in the middle of the Pacific Ocean - is threatening the financial lifeblood of two island countries. An agreement expected to be submitted soon for Congressional approval calls for the United States to make annual payments starting at $15 million a year, up from $11.3 million, to the group that owns the atoll, led by a small band of traditional tribal chiefs in the Marshall Islands. But the landowners say the amount is far too low and complain that they’ve been shut out of the negotiations, which call for a 63-year lease. They want at least $19.1 million annually… A State Department spokesman said the lease agreement was negotiated with authorized representatives of the Marshall Islands government. He said it would be up to the island government to resolve differences with the landowners. He expressed optimism that an agreement would be reached. Marshall Islands government officials did not respond to a request for comment. Without the continued aid, all parties agree, the two countries would likely shut down. In 1998, the most recent year for which complete figures are available, U.S. aid accounted for 54 percent of government revenue in Micronesia and 68 percent in the Marshall Islands… The new anti-ballistic missile system the Bush administration hopes to bring on line next year is being tested at the atoll, the home of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site. The Defense Department says the site “serves a vital role in research, development, test and evaluation for America’s... defense and space programs.” HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

13. MDA Reports Tight Schedule for New Booster Development and Test Defense Daily, May 19, 2003. Senior Missile Defense Agency (MDA) officials said the development and test schedule for two new boosters for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program will be challenging over the course of the next year. “We brought two boosters into the program to reduce risk,” said Arm Maj. Gen. Peter Franklin, deputy director of MDA, told reporters last week. “The schedule is very tight for those boosters and it’s being very intensely managed.” Nonetheless, Franklin and other MDA officials said they have confidence in the new booster development and test plan and reported it is currently on track and proceeding well to upcoming tests and deployment milestones. Orbital Sciences and Lockheed Martin each have designed the boosters for the program, with both slated to make flights under the GMD program this summer… Franklin said the overall booster effort continues to face some hurdles, but overall MDA is optimistic for the upcoming flight tests involving both booster options. “We have some booster challenges, but we are working through those right now,” he said. Franklin said MDA is managing the booster effort rigorously and having meetings weekly with the contractors to stay on top of the program. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

14. MDA Reports Tight Schedule for New Booster Development and Test Defense Daily, May 19, 2003. Senior Missile Defense Agency (MDA) officials said the development and test schedule for two new boosters for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program will be challenging over the course of the next year. “We brought two boosters into the program to reduce risk,” said Arm Maj. Gen. Peter Franklin, deputy director of MDA, told reporters last week. “The schedule is very tight for those boosters and it’s being very intensely managed.” Nonetheless, Franklin and other MDA officials said they have confidence in the new booster development and test plan and reported it is currently on track and proceeding well to upcoming tests and deployment milestones. Orbital Sciences and Lockheed Martin each have designed the boosters for the program, with both slated to make flights under the GMD program this summer… Franklin said the overall booster effort continues to face some hurdles, but overall MDA is optimistic for the upcoming flight tests involving both booster options. “We have some booster challenges, but we are working through those right now,” he said. Franklin said MDA is managing the booster effort rigorously and having meetings weekly with the contractors to stay on top of the program. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

15. HASC Increases Some Missile Defense System Tests, Upgrade Plans Defense Daily, May 20, 2003 The House Armed Services Committee (HASC), in its version of the FY ‘04 Defense Authorization Bill, boosted the $810 million request for the ballistic missile defense terminal segment, recommending shifts in some key test and development programs. HASC recommended $1.1 billion for the terminal programs, an increase of $276.3 million as a result of transferring the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program from the Army to the Missile Defense Agency… The committee also added $37 million to accelerate testing of the Lockheed Martin Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system… Also, the budget request contained $174.5 million for Lockheed Martin’s Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3). The committee added $79 million to that request, including $10 million for improving the system’s identification friend-or-foe (IFF) capability… In another missile defense, the budget request contained $3.3 billion for the ballistic missile defense midcourse defense segment… Specifically, the committee added $7 million for Aegis to complete the four-panel SPAAS array and four-corner distributed controller installation on Lake Erie, and an increase of $23 million for ground based missile defense SBX… In another area, from within funds available for command and control, battle management and communications (BMC3), the committee recommended $9.5 million for wide bandwidth technology for development and demonstration of secure, high bandwidth satellite communications in support of the Pacific ballistic missile defense test bed. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

16. Senate Limits Pace of Nuclear Weapons Research, Requires More Reporting on MDA Defense Daily, May 22, 2003 The Senate yesterday adopted an amendment to the FY ‘04 Defense Authorization Bill… The Senate adopted a compromise reached between Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman John Warner (R-Va.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), also a SASC member, who wanted more restrictive language included in the bill…During debate of the bill on Tuesday night, the Senate also adopted another compromise amendment requiring the Pentagon to provide more comprehensive status reports on its missile defense system development, testing and fielding. The provision requires DoD to develop measurable performance criteria for missile defense systems, an operational test plan for those systems and an estimate of when operational testing would be done to verify the performance criteria are met. The initial amendment was offered by Reed and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), ranking member of SASC. “I believe Congress should know the capabilities of any missile defense system that is deployed and that these capabilities should be subject to rigorous testing,” Reed said during floor debate. “I understand this information may very well be classified and we would receive it on a classified basis, but it is essential for us, as we make decisions about a huge program, not only in terms of dollars, but in terms of consequences to our security, that we know how capable this program is.” Reed said that his proposal would allow DoD to revise missile defense system performance criteria as necessary, but at the same time ensure Congress has an idea at least of the capabilities of these systems and the capabilities must be established using operational testing. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

17. Patriot Missile Can Also Deter Defense News, May 19, 2003 In the 1991 Gulf War, coalition aircraft swept the skies clean of Iraqi aircraft in two days… This year, despite a coalition assault by hundreds of aircraft, no Iraqi planes took to the air against them. Air supremacy was a deterrent. The same thing happened with ballistic missiles. Before the fighting even began, Saddam Hussein agreed to a U.N. demand to destroy his al-Samoud missiles, which had been modified to give them more range than U.N. sanctions allowed. Like the supremacy of coalition airpower, the ring of missile defenses around Iraq, including 10 batteries of Patriots protecting the main coalition force in Kuwait, had a deterrent effect. The 72 al-Samouds that were destroyed could have been used against coalition forces massed in Kuwait. But surrounded by missile defenses that were greatly improved since 1991, Saddam knew his missiles had little value and chose to destroy them himself…. While Iraq destroyed most of its al-Samoud missiles, some Ababil-100 missiles remained. Fifteen were fired against coalition forces in Kuwait, including one aimed at V Corps headquarters. Patriots were launched against nine and shot down nine. The others were not fired at because they were going to land harmlessly in the desert or at sea. Saddam was right. The Patriots were highly effective. But if both PAC-2 GEMs and PAC-3s hit their targets, why deploy more PAC-3s? The only photographs of an intercepted Iraqi missile give the answer. They show an Ababil shot down by a PAC-2 GEM. The missile is largely intact. If it had been carrying chemical or biological weapons, they could have been disbursed despite the interception. There are no photographs of missiles intercepted by PAC-3s, probably because there was nothing left to photograph. The explosion caused by a high-speed body-to-body impact leaves only small particles, often carried away by high altitude winds… As production [of PAC-3 interceptors] increases the unit cost will fall, giving other countries with PAC-2s a chance to upgrade their defenses to include PAC-3 interceptors. Iraq has shown that Patriot can be an effective deterrent. Jim Hackett was a U.S. national security official in the Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan administrations and is now a defense consultant and writer based in San Diego. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

18. THAAD Missile Defense System to Begin New Flight Test Program Inside the Army, May 19, 2003 After facing near-termination in the late 1990s, the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense program appears now to be gaining momentous support from members of Congress, who have expressed an interest in pushing forward system development. In its fiscal year 2004 defense authorization bill, the House Armed Services Committee added $37 million to the Pentagon’s $730 million budget request for THAAD, looking to get the program started on a rigorous new test schedule starting that year… The Senate bill did not contain similar provisions. Senior Army leaders in recent weeks have also indicated an interest in accelerating development of THAAD and other TMD systems based on threats encountered during recent operations in Iraq… THAAD has undergone a rigorous four-year redesign phase that program officials say has fixed many of the problems… The redesigned system will ensure robust components and will be ready soon to embark on an aggressive new test program from FY-04 to FY-09… The first two tests will be missile-only flights, with the first intercept test to occur near the end of FY-05… In addition, a May 15 “program status report” from the General Accounting Office, however, deems the program mature enough to move forward. “It appears that the THAAD program has mostly recovered from initial problems driven by an early fielding requirement and poor quality control,” the report states. “The current program strategy appears geared to obtaining the necessary knowledge by providing more time for maturing the technology before flight test and placing greater emphasis on risk reduction efforts.” Based on GAO’s recent assessment, the THAAD project office is accelerating some risk reduction activities in response to prior program setbacks. The system now has before it an aggressive intercept test program slated to begin in FY-04. The missiles will be tested in a less stressful intercept environment outside the atmosphere and a more stressing flight environment inside the atmosphere in preparation for initial operational test and evaluation. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

19. Navy Chief and Gov Visit Isle Troops Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Hawaii), May 21, 2003 [Hansford Johnson, acting secretary of the Navy], a retired Air Force general, spent a day visiting sailors and Marines at Pearl Harbor and Marine Corps Base Hawaii before returning to the mainland … Johnson toured the cruiser USS Lake Erie with Gov. Linda Lingle and had lunch with some of its 400 sailors. At Lake Erie’s combat information center, Johnson and Lingle were briefed on the cruiser’s latest mission, which is to be a test platform in the Navy’s ballistic missile defense program. Capt. Scott Anhalt, the Lake Erie’s commanding officer, said the cruiser is the only vessel in the Navy capable of intercepting missiles. Anhalt said the Lake Erie completed three successful intercepts during tests at Kauai’s Pacific Missile Range Facility. On five wall-size monitors in the warship’s combat center, Anhalt replayed the late November tests where the Lake Erie tracked and destroyed an Aries ballistic missile fired from Barking Sands on Kauai and an experimental SM-3 missile launched from the deck of the cruiser. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

20. Share Missile Defense Carefully Rocky Mountain News, Colo., May 22, 2003 On the eve of summits with Russia and key U.S. allies, the Bush administration has floated the idea of deploying missile-defense systems to protect our friends and even sharing technology for joint missile defense development. In a policy directive this week, the White House indicated the principal threat was possible attack by chemical, biological or nuclear weapons from hostile states or terrorists. The administration plans to deploy an embryonic missile-defense system beginning with 10 ground-based interceptors next year and 10 more the following year. Because of the huge cost, some critics feared the Pentagon would marry the country to a still- unproven system, but the administration insists it is not looking at a “final, fixed missile-defense architecture” but will consider and develop multiple systems. So we welcome the release of “National Policy on Ballistic Missile Defense” because it provides a more formal, comprehensive explanation for a set of weapons programs that consumes more than $8 billion a year and will likely top $9 billion in fiscal 2004. The plan to protect our friends and allies isn’t only altruism; it is good policy. Joint missile defense is better suited to international realities of the threat environment we’ve faced since Sept. 11, 2001. Cooperative development with nations such as Russia and Japan makes sense because they already have considerable capabilities. But a broad sharing of anti-missile technology should only be done with the greatest care and safeguards because having that technology is a vital step in being able to overcome it. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

21. GAO: Airborne Laser has Big Weight Problems Space & Missile, May 19, 2003 Equipment weight problems aboard the Airborne Laser aircraft may call for a different aircraft configuration requiring major design changes, according to a report released last week by the General Accounting Office (GAO) in Washington. In the first issue of a new annual GAO report titled, “Assessments of Major Weapon Programs,” the agency reviewed 26 defense programs from September 2002 through May… The first [ABL] aircraft, designated Block 2004, is already under construction with a second aircraft, Block 2008, starting development this year. But MDA has run into a weight problems with the first aircraft, Block 2004. The 2004 configuration will have a six-module laser, rather than the 14 modules planned for the production system. According to the GAO report, the optical components used in the laser can withstand the heat produced by a six-module laser, but the agency would have to redesign optical components for the system to withstand the heat associated with an increase in laser power using 14 modules. In addition, the Block 2004 aircraft configuration is far too heavy to allow the addition of laser modules what will likely be needed in an operational system. To accommodate more modules, a weight reduction program has begun that includes redesigning many components and increased use of composite materials, the GAO report says. The COIL laser and its chemical plant are so large and heavy that the floor underneath the system had to be strengthened to support the weight of the modules and accommodate the laser exhaust, according to ABL program officials. The program is considering whether to use a different aircraft configuration that would allow the system’s weight be moved forward to relieve stress on the airframe. However, its use would require additional design changes. This may hamper the program, GAO said. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

22. Pentagon Drops Missile Defense Test Waiver Request Space News, 18 March 2003 WASHINGTON — Senior Pentagon officials on March 18 dropped an earlier request to exempt the planned U.S. missile defense system from operational testing prior to deployment. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Edward "Pete" Aldridge, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, said controversial language included in the Pentagon’s 2004 budget request to Congress was not a bid to avoid the final testing phase of a missile defense system being built in Fort Greely, Alaska. "It was not our intent to waive operational testing," Aldridge said. But Sen. Carl Levin (Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, saw the language differently: "The effect of that legislation [would be] to exempt that system." At issue is Section 2399 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which requires all weapon systems to undergo operational testing to prove they work before being fielded. Levin and other missile defense critics say the Pentagon tried to make an end run around the law by burying contradictory language in President George W. Bush’s 2004 budget request. Levin pointedly asked the other witnesses at the hearing — U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish, director of the Missile Defense Agency; J.D. Crouch, assistant secretary of defense for international security; and Thomas Christie, director of the Pentagon’s operational test and evaluation office — where the waiver request language came from. All said they did not know. Kadish said the real intent of the language was to ensure that research, development, testing and evaluation funds could be used for all phases of the missile defense program in 2004. "It was a funding issue, not an operational issue," Kadish said. More HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

23. Pentagon Drops Cont. Space News, May 18, 2003. Still not satisfied, Levin asked all of the Pentagon witnesses to revise the language to drop any implication of a testing waiver and they agreed to do so. In related questioning, Aldridge projected that the Fort Greely missile defense site would have a "90 percent" effectiveness rate against enemy ballistic missiles when it starts limited operations in 2004. Leven immediately questioned the figure as too high: "I know the classified number and I’d go back and check it and correct the record." Aldridge said he would "go back and take a look.“ Kadish tried to play down Aldridge’s projection, "There are a lot of different things that go into [determining] effectiveness. Everybody can be right," he told Space News. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

24. White House Eases Rules on Sharing Missile Defense Technology Washington Post, May 20, 2003 The Bush administration presented its rationale yesterday for pursuing a network of new antimissile systems, releasing a White House policy paper that says the defenses are necessary to guard against possible attack by chemical, biological or nuclear weapons from hostile states or terrorists. The rationale was a familiar one, articulated by President Bush and senior aides frequently over the past two years as the administration has boosted spending on missile defenses and embarked on an aggressive plan to combat all kinds of missiles in all phases of flight. But several administration officials said release of the 41/2-page statement, titled "National Policy on Ballistic Missile Defense," was intended to provide a more formal, comprehensive explanation for a set of weapons programs that consumes more than $8 billion a year and will likely top $9 billion in fiscal 2004. The statement is essentially the directive Bush signed last year before announcing in December that he had ordered the deployment of an initial set of long-range missile interceptors in Alaska and California by September 2004. Known as National Security Presidential Directive 23, the text has been kept confidential for months as administration officials weighed when and how to release it. Most presidential directives remain secret. But the missile defense paper was drafted as an unclassified document with the intention of offering it eventually as a public policy statement, officials said. Its release coincides with congressional debate of the administration's 2004 military spending plan, including complaints from some Democrats that the deployment plan is too rushed and short on specific performance criteria. It also comes amid heightened U.S. concern about North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons. Among the chief reasons administration officials cite for stationing the first interceptors in the western United States and getting them in place is to counter a potential attack by North Korea. More HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

25. White House Eases Cont. Washington Post, May 20, 2003 But officials suggested yesterday that the timing of the release was largely because there was no other major news. In outlining the need for antimissile systems, the White House paper asserts that a growing missile threat from "hostile states" represents a "fundamentally different" set of circumstances than the United States faced during the Cold War standoff with the Soviet Union and "requires a different approach to deterrence and new tools for defense." It describes missile defenses not as "a replacement for an offensive response capability" but as "an added and critical dimension of contemporary deterrence." The statement stresses that the national system set for deployment next year is only "a starting point" of what will be "an evolutionary approach" to better defenses over time. "The United States will not have a final, fixed missile defense architecture," the paper says. It also puts special emphasis on using antimissile systems to defend "allies and friends" and includes a section promoting cooperation with Russia and other countries in developing and fielding missile defenses. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

26. For 3 Nuns, A Prairie Protest And a Price to Pay Sisters Reconciled to Prison for Actions at Missile Site Washington Post, May 22, 2003 After seven months in a dank basement jail, the three nuns, now convicted felons awaiting sentencing, were taking in the welcoming sun of the prairie for the first time. At the same time, there they were, during this precious stint of freedom before their July sentencing date, visiting the nuclear missile site in northeastern Colorado where they got into trouble in the first place. "Here's where we cut the link," said Sister Ardeth Platte, holding the chain that had been locked onto the first of two fences surrounding a Minuteman III missile silo buried in the dry, brittle ground. "Then we did the same thing to the other fence.“ Then, on the morning of Oct. 6, 2002 -- in an act that the federal government, and the Denver jury that convicted them last month, called a crime worthy of as much as 30 years in prison -- the Roman Catholic nuns entered the inner enclosure around the missile silo and stayed a while. Using ball- peen hammers, they tapped on the silo's 110-ton concrete lid and on the rusty tracks on which the lid would slide open for a launch. They poured their blood in the shape of crosses from plastic baby bottles onto the silo walls and the tracks. They sang a song ("Sacred our land, sacred our water, sacred the sky, holy and true..."). And they prayed for world peace. The Dominican sisters call what they did a symbolic act of disarmament against a weapon of mass extinction. The government called it injury to, interference with and obstruction of the national defense, along with damage of more than $1,000 to government property. Prosecutors said they will ask U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn to sentence the nuns to five to eight years in federal prison and tens of thousands of dollars in fines. Although not the maximum, those sentences, the nuns' lawyers say, would constitute one of the harshest punishments ever handed down for what amounts to a trespassing case in which the gravest damage done was to a piece of chain-link fence. More HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

27. 3 Nuns Cont. Washington Post, May 22, 2003 Washington Post, May 22, 2003 Defense lawyers say there are ample grounds for appeal, including the testimony of two Air Force colonels -- both prosecution witnesses -- who said the women had never interfered with or obstructed national defense. The prosecution had argued that it was the nuns' intent that made them guilty. But the nuns, who asked God to bless the jury after the verdict, say they are prepared to accept their prison terms, however much they disagree that they committed a major crime. "We had no criminal intent at any level," said Platte, a member, with Gilbert, of Jonah House, a faith-based activist commune in Baltimore. "When we went to this site," added Sister Jackie Hudson, a tiny woman with large, round glasses and a crew cut, "we went to symbolically stop a crime from happening and to uphold international law.“ John Suthers, the U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado, said the nuns had other, legal ways to register their dissent. "The defendants in this case have demonstrated a blatant disregard for the laws of the United States," he said in a statement to The Washington Post. "No other country on Earth provides as many avenues for peaceful and lawful protest as does the United States. But the defendants insist on unlawfully entering onto highly sensitive government installations, damaging government property, and interfering with government operations.“ Hudson, who is 68, Platte, who is 66, and Sister Carole Gilbert, 55, are still stunned that they were found guilty of sabotage. So are thousands of people who have written to them in the past several weeks. Jurors in the case have said it was clear the nuns were guilty, but the sisters and their supporters view their convictions as part of the nationalistic fervor that swept the United States during the Iraq war, when dissenters were ridiculed, threatened and attacked. Their trial, during the first week of April, coincided with the peak of the war. To the nuns, who consider it their mission to fight against war at all costs, this Minuteman missile silo, named N8, was the scene of a government crime: harboring weapons of annihilation poised for a first strike. It was their duty to expose it. More HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

28. 3 Nuns Cont. Washington Post, May 22, 2003 Washington Post, May 22, 2003 "It feels very powerful to be back here today," Platte said, gesturing toward the missile site during a visit earlier this month. "It feels like we're rejecting it again, and we will continue to reject it again and again and again.“ Had they made a move beyond that first fence encircling the missile silo, they would have faced 10 consecutive years added to the sentences they will formally receive on July 25. Two soldiers in an SUV watched them from a rise in the road a quarter-mile away, and ranchers from nearby farms stopped their pickup trucks to watch the nuns and warn them not to trespass. The sisters sang and prayed outside the site. This time, they had no intention of getting arrested. They left jail on April 30 on personal-recognizance bonds they had refused to sign in October because they would not agree to stay out of trouble during wartime. Now, they said, they needed their freedom to say goodbye to friends and family, give away their possessions and strengthen themselves spiritually for their first long stays in prison. "Jackie and I are looking at this as possible life sentences," Platte said. "We have to attend to medical needs and say goodbyes. We lost five good friends while we were in prison these months, including one person I consider a mother to me.“ After two weeks in Colorado, where they spoke to church, school and peace groups, the nuns, all former teachers who studied with the Grand Rapids., Mich., Dominican sisters, returned home last week. For Hudson, a well-known peace activist in the Northwest, that means the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Wash., and a home in Bremerton, Wash. In 2000, they had done their first Plowshares action, at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. With two other nuns, they struck a grounded Marine fighter jet with a hammer and threw a bottle of their blood on the aircraft's landing gear. All charges in that case were eventually dropped. More HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

29. 3 Nuns Cont. Washington Post, May 22, 2003 Washington Post, May 22, 2003 For Platte, a former city council member and mayor pro tem of Saginaw, Mich., and Gilbert, also from Michigan, home is now Jonah House, which sits in one of Baltimore's poorest neighborhoods. Co-founded in 1973 by the former Roman Catholic priest Philip Berrigan and his wife, Elizabeth McAlister, Jonah House, with about eight to 12 residents, is best known for feeding poor people and committing ongoing acts of civil disobedience -- or, as the participants call it, civil resistance, because they consider their actions legal under international law. Berrigan, who spent a total of 11 years in prison since his first actions during the Vietnam War, died in December of cancer, while the nuns were in prison. While there, they befriended and ministered to their fellow inmates. Many of the women, they said, had been charged with far lesser crimes than theirs and had not been offered personal-recognizance bonds. "We stayed," said Gilbert, "in part out of solidarity with these women.“ All three have served time in prison before, a few months here and there, on misdemeanor charges. They belong to the Plowshares Movement, an international disarmament movement that Berrigan, inspired by Isaiah 2:4 to "beat swords into plowshares," began two decades ago. Theirs was a classic Plowshares action. The actions are characterized by the use of hammers to symbolically -- or actually -- disarm parts of U.S. first-strike nuclear weapons systems, and blood to represent the deaths such weapons can cause. Plowshares actions are also long-planned and public. The nuns spent nine months plotting their action, scouting several missile sites before settling on N8 because it is near a main road. Walter L. Gerash, a veteran Denver lawyer who has helped defend many such cases pro bono, is still fuming that he lost the nuns' case. "One of the first casualties of war is the truth," said Gerash, who has three motions pending before the court. Two argue for a dismissal of the case on the grounds of numerous trial errors and a lack of evidence. The third asks for a mistrial because a juror was seen outside the deliberations room during deliberations. More HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

30. 3 Nuns Cont. Washington Post, May 22, 2003 Washington Post, May 22, 2003 The nuns plan on making the most of their freedom. Before visiting the missile silo, they were the star attraction at a peace rally in Greeley's Lincoln Park. Fewer than two dozen people were there, including the nuns. Across the park, half a dozen people holding four-foot-long U.S. flags and signs that read, "Pacifists create Terrorists," shouted, "Down with Communism" and "Go back with the Communists" as people spoke. But the nuns were thrilled to hear that 50 high school students here had walked out of classes to protest the war, despite strong pressure from their peers and teachers. "What wonderful courage these young people have," Gilbert said, beaming. Later, at the missile site, the sisters ended up in a debate with a 73-year-old rancher, Doris Williams, who takes care of the property that holds N8. "Look," Williams said. "This is not worth going to jail for. You should be protesting all the treaties that the government has broken with the Indians.“ "Oh, we have!" Platte said. "And you should be worrying about all the terrorists around the world," Williams said. "We do!" Gilbert said. After a half-hour's discussion, Williams and the nuns hugged and wished each other well. "You girls stay out of trouble!" Williams called out. A Weld County deputy sheriff who stopped by said the same. "I really wish you the best of luck," said the deputy, who did not want his name used. The nuns shook his hand and asked him to say hello to "Monty," a deputy who had guarded them at the Weld County jail for two weeks before the federal government took over the case and transferred them to another jail. Afterward, on the drive back to Denver, where they are staying at a convent, the nuns talked about all the wonderful people they had met. What a great day, they said. Platte, with a wry grin, said it left her in "shock and awe." HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

31. Missile Shield Gains Support Across Globe The Washington Times, May 21, 2003 The White House yesterday announced that global opposition to President Bush’s missile- defense plan largely has collapsed in the wake of the war against terrorism, causing a “sea change” of views even in nations such as Russia, which once opposed the plan… To mark the milestone, the White House last night formally codified its quest for a global missile-defense system in a document known as National Security Policy Directive 23, releasing an unclassified version that spells out the president’s vision… “We’ve seen a real change with regard to Russia,” said [an] administration official. “You can see in Russia now a desire to cooperate in the missile-defense area. They want to cooperate, and so there’s been a fundamental shift now.”… Canada, which opposed the war in Iraq, also has signaled interest in the missile shield. Poland’s largest military contractor has pledged its technology, and Japan has demonstrated a desire to beef up research and development… Officials revealed late yesterday that the administration is close to reaching agreements for use of radar facilities in Britain and Greenland that would provide early warnings of missiles fired at the United States or its allies… Other nations also are pouring billions into research and development. Although the White House could not provide a comprehensive list of nations being considered for inclusion in the missile-defense system, officials left open the door to former foes such as Russia. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

32. Compiled by Kristi Kendall, Community Relations Specialist, 907-552-1038 Email kristi.kendall@elmendorf.af.mil to Subscribe Europe BBC Monitoring International Reports Australia Continuing to Discuss Missile Defence System with U.S. Australia Continuing to Discuss Missile Defence System with U.S. Iran: Analyst Views U.S. Anti-Missile Defence Shield as Psych. War Iran: Analyst Views U.S. Anti-Missile Defence Shield as Psych. War ITAR-TASS Russia-U.S.A. Dialogue on Missile Defense Possible - Minister Russia-U.S.A. Dialogue on Missile Defense Possible - MinisterJapan Japan Economic Newswire Taiwan Negotiating with U.S. to Purchase Patriot Missiles Taiwan Negotiating with U.S. to Purchase Patriot Missiles Daily Yomiuri Japan Must Start Building Missile Defense System Japan Must Start Building Missile Defense SystemReuters Pentagon Studies Ways to Centralize Weapons Buying Pentagon Studies Ways to Centralize Weapons Buying Alaska Missile Defense Weekly 19-23 May 03, Issue 64 Command Representative for Missile Defense 492 Days to IDO National Press National Press Alaska Press Alaska Press International Press International Press International Press

33. Australia Continuing to Discuss Missile Defence System with U.S. BBC Monitoring International Reports, May 18, 2003 Australia’s defence minister, Robert Hill, says the government is continuing to talk to the United States about Australia developing a missile defence system. Earlier this year the government revealed it was considering whether a shield could be put in place to protect Australia against possible missile attacks from countries such as North Korea. Senator Hill has told Channel Seven commercial TV there have been ongoing discussions with Washington, but he says a missile defence shield could not protect the entire nation. “And in terms of our forces operating offshore in a particular theatre, there are ways now that they can be protected from incoming missiles, even long-range ballistic missiles. It’s more money, it’s an upgraded capability, but we’ll be looking at that not only in this review but in the years ahead,” [Hill said]. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

34. Iran: Analyst Views U.S. Anti-Missile Defence Shield as Psychological War BBC Monitoring International Reports, May 22, 2003 President George W. Bush of America issued an order yesterday to create a new network of anti-missile defence shield. Mr. Kheradmand, an analyst at the radio news research and commentary unit, comments on the objectives and consequences of setting up such a system: “In my opinion, the creation of the anti-missile defence shield, instead of truly seeking to confront the missile threats, intends to wage psychological war against those states which plan to invest in their own missile projects. In other words, by advancing its missile technology, America wishes to pass a message to the rest of the world that any investment by them in missile manufacturing industries would be irrational and futile. I also believe that America’s fundamental objective in pursuing the anti-missile defence network is to enable itself to threaten any country in the world, while remaining immune to retaliatory measures. And this is tantamount to disturbing the power balance in the world, which brought international peace and stability over the past 60 years,” [Kheradmand said]. Text of commentary by Iranian radio, Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran, May 22, 2003. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

35. Russia – U.S.A. Dialogue on Missile Defense Possible - Minister ITAR-TASS, May 21, 2003 Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Wednesday that Russia was ready for a dialogue with the U.S.A. on missile defense if certain conditions were met… He said cooperation between the two countries should be not aimed against each other and intellectual property of each of the sides should be preserved. “Non- militarization of outer space and full transparency in the sphere of missile defense between our countries” were listed among other conditions. The defense minister emphasized that Russia was not particularly concerned about work on missile defense systems carried out by other countries but the U.S.A.. “Other countries do not concern us in that issue,” he said. Ivanov differentiated cooperation between Russia and NATO in the sphere of tactical missile defense and Russian-U. S. cooperation in strategic missile defense. “Our bilateral cooperation with the U.S.A. in missile defense and theatre missile defense are absolutely different things,” he emphasized. The minister also noted a lack of visible progress from both sides in missile defense cooperation. “We can see no major progress in cooperation in that field either on the American or on the Russian side.“ He believes the process will “take no less than decades” as “one cannot expect visible result in one or two years in such issues.” He stressed that long-term character of cooperation with the U.S.A. on missile defense was one of Russia’s main criteria. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

36. Taiwan Negotiating with U.S. to Purchase Patriot Missiles Japan Economic Newswire, May 17, 2003. Taiwan has been negotiating with the United States to purchase state-of-the-art missiles to enhance its defense capability in light of China’s growing deployment of ballistic missiles, a U.S. defense official said Saturday. Taipei and Washington entered negotiations this year on the purchase of the surface-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles, the official said. China is certain to protest if both Taiwan and Japan were to deploy the PAC-3 missile, which is part of the envisioned U.S. missile defense scheme…Japan is also said to be considering purchasing the PAC-3 system… to counter threats of a ballistic missile attack by North Korea… But the U.S. official emphasized that the talks with Taiwan are limited to transactions involving PAC-3 missiles and do not encompass the kind of multilayered missile defense system being discussed between Tokyo and Washington. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

37. Japan Must Start Building Missile Defense System Daily Yomiuri, May 21, 2003 The upcoming Crawford talks between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and U.S. President George W. Bush will be an important prelude to this year’s Group of Eight summit in Evian, France, in June. The Texas ranch meetings will allow Bush and Koizumi to compare notes on a variety of issues, including Iraq, North Korea, the outbreak of SARS, the global economic situation and the international war on terrorism… These meetings would be an excellent opportunity for the two nations to commit to initiation of a missile defense program for Japan as well as a review of the need for Japan to develop other protective measures against North Korea. If the United States wants Japan to play a greater role in Asian security issues, it must help Japan equip itself for such a mission… Japan needs to fully engage in a real start to a national missile defense. There have been enough studies and research panels examining every nuance of how a missile defense may be impacted by the Japanese Constitution. It is time to put the papers aside and “cut metal”--Japan must begin building a missile defense system today. Koizumi should communicate this to Bush and request U.S. support and help in this endeavor. Thomas H. Snitch HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational

38. Pentagon Studies Ways to Centralize Weapons Buying Reuters, May 19, 2003 After he retires this week, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer will head a new panel studying ways to centralize how the U.S. military develops and purchases new weapons, Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin said on Monday. Irwin said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had asked retiring Undersecretary Edward “Pete” Aldridge to head up a Pentagon initiative to improve the current procurement process, under which each service identifies and pursues its own military equipment needs… The panel, to include representatives from each branch of the military, is due to give Rumsfeld an initial report by mid-June, and formal recommendations by Nov. 1, Irwin said. The initiative should identify solutions for military needs before individual services spend hundreds of millions of dollars developing a weapon system that could duplicate efforts by another service, or turn out to be unnecessary…After his retirement, Aldridge would serve as a special adviser to Rumsfeld for the “DOD Organization Study,” although he did not expect it to be a full-time job, Irwin said. HomeNext AlaskaNationalInternational