DTN News - KARZAI AT PENTAGON: Panetta Hosts Arrival Ceremony, Meets With Afghan President At Pentagon

Asia News Report: DTN News - KARZAI AT PENTAGON: Panetta Hosts Arrival Ceremony, Meets With Afghan President At Pentagon

Source: DTN News 
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 12, 2013:  Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday met with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at the Pentagon to discuss the security transition in Afghanistan.

At a press conference after the meeting, Panetta said he had an hour-long, one-on-one meeting with Karzai to discuss "the ongoing transition to Afghan security lead, as well as the commitment of the United States to Afghanistan" after the completion of the transition by the end of 2014.

Panetta said both leaders believe the transition plan is " working, and we're fully committed to finishing the job," and they believed they are "moving in the right direction."

At a welcoming ceremony earlier in the day, Panetta assured Karzai of continued U.S. commitment as the last chapter of security transition has begun. According to U.S. President Barack Obama's withdrawal plan, U.S. combat forces will be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014, after transferring security lead to the Afghans.

Meanwhile, the two countries are negotiating a bilateral security agreement that would define the U.S. role in Afghanistan post-2014. Karzai, who will meet Obama on Friday, said at the Pentagon he believed the United States and Afghanistan can work out the way forward for a bilateral security agreement "that will ensure the interests of Afghanistan, and also the interests of the United States."

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith - DTN News 
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DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ryan Schulte On Security Alert In Farah City, Afghanistan

Asia News Report: DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ryan Schulte On Security Alert In Farah City, Afghanistan

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources U.S. Department Of Defense
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 10, 2013: U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ryan Schulte uses his advanced combat optical gunsight to scan for security threats during a key leader engagement in Farah City, Afghanistan, on Jan. 3, 2013. 

Schulte is the security force platoon leader for Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah. The team’s mission is to train, advise and assist Afghan government leaders at the municipal, district and provincial levels in Farah province of Afghanistan.   

DoD photo by Chief Petty Officer Josh Ives, U.S. Navy. (Released)

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources U.S. Department Of Defense
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DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Army Gun In The Deh Rawud District of Afghanistan

Asia News Report: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Army Gun In The Deh Rawud District of Afghanistan 

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources U.S. Department Of Defense
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 10, 2013: A U.S. Army gun crew uses a M777 A2 howitzer to fire illumination rounds from Forward Operating Base Hadrian in the Deh Rawud district of Afghanistan on Jan. 8, 2013. 

The crew from 1st Section Bravo Battery 1-9 Field Artillery of Fort Stewart, Ga., has been conducting intensive training and fire missions to support operations in Uruzgan province.   

DoD photo by Capt. Jesse Platz, U.S. Army. (Released)

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources U.S. Department Of Defense
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DTN News - AFGHANISTAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Troops, Train, Advise Afghans In Farah Province

Asia News Report: DTN News - AFGHANISTAN WAR NEWS:  U.S. Troops Train, Advise Afghans In Farah Province

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources U.S. Department Of Defense
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 3, 2013: Soldiers with Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah prepare for a morning mission to Bala Boluk, Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2013. 

The team's mission is to train, advise, and assist Afghan government leaders at the municipal, district and provincial levels in Farah province. The civil-military team is comprised of members of the U.S. Navy, Army, State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources U.S. Department Of Defense
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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Budget Proposal Aims to Support Troops, Families

Asia News Report: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Budget Proposal Aims to Support Troops, Families
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources American Forces Press Service
 (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 13, 2012: President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget proposal has several provisions for service members, veterans and their families.

According to an Office of Management and Budget fact sheet released today, the budget request includes:

-- $8.5 billion in Defense Department base funding to support military families, from child care and education for military children to counseling and employment programs for the entire family.

-- More than $1 billion through the Education Department’s Impact Aid program to local school districts where a military base may increase the number of students and decrease the property tax base that funds the local schools. Districts educating more than 368,000 children from military families receive these funds.

-- Funding for a 1.7 percent pay raise for service members -- the full amount authorized by law -- as well as a variety of monthly special skill-based payments, enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses, and other benefits.

-- About $2.4 billion for programs serving wounded, ill and injured service members, with $747 million of that total to address traumatic brain injury and psychological health needs, such as support for recovery care coordinators and enhanced access to care.

-- $465 million for medical research specifically focused on psychological health, TBI and post-traumatic stress disorder.

-- $259 million for the Labor Department’s Veterans Employment and Training Service, and $8 million for the department’s transition assistance program and grants for employment services to veterans. The budget request ends the Veterans Workforce Investment Program, supporting service delivery innovations through the Workforce Innovation Fund instead. The expanded transition assistance program makes employment workshops more accessible to retiring Reserve and National Guard members, as well as spouses of separating service members.

-- Continuing grants under the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program at a level of $38 million.

-- Expanding entrepreneurship training for veterans and military families through the Small Business Administration’s National Veterans Entrepreneurship Training, a new $7 million program that will train up to 260,000 veterans annually.

-- $278 million for implementation of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act. New caregiver benefits and services include training adapted to the veterans' individual care needs, a direct stipend payment and health care and mental health services.

-- Almost $1.4 billion to provide services through the Veterans Affairs Department for homeless and at-risk veterans. These funds will combat veteran homelessness through collaborative partnerships with local governments, nonprofit organizations, and the Housing and Urban Development, Justice and Labor departments.

Earlier today, officials said defense leaders are fully committed to assisting service members and their families.

The DOD budget request provides $1.3 billion in funding for child care space for more than 200,000 children, as well as $1.4 billion for family support centers and morale, welfare and recreation programs. It also commits $2.7 billion for the education of more than 61,000 students at DOD Education Activity schools in 12 countries and more than 33,000 students in seven states, Puerto Rico and Guam.

The request includes more than $50 million to improve public school facilities on military installations.

Military construction funding is set at $9.1 billion, and family housing at $1.7 billion.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources American Forces Press Service
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