Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Office of the Secretary Defense has released its new "Unmanned Systems Roadmap, 2007-2023." This is the first integrated report and includes Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Unmanned Ground Systems and Unmanned Maritime Systems.
The report is available directly at
http://www.acq.osd.mil/usd/Unmanned%20Systems%20Roadmap.2007-2032.pdf
Some highlights from the executive summary:
As of October 2006, coalition Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs), exclusive of hand-launched systems, had flown almost 400,000 flight hours in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) had responded to over 11,000 Improvised Explosive Device (IED) situations, and Unmanned Maritime Systems (UMSs) had provided security to ports. As a result of these successes, the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) emphasized the importance of unmanned systems in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).
Unmanned systems are highly desired by combatant commanders (COCOMs) for the many roles these systems can fulfill. Tasks such as mine detection; signals intelligence; precision target designation; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosive (CBRNE) reconnaissance; and communications and data relay rank high among the COCOMs' interests.
These unmanned capabilities have helped reduce the complexity and time lag in the "sensor" component of the sensor-to-shooter chain for prosecuting "actionable intelligence." Unmanned systems are changing the conduct of military operations in the GWOT by providing unrelenting pursuit combined with the elimination of threats to friendly forces; including injury, capture, or death.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Current U.S. National Strategies
from http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/archive.html
National Strategy for Homeland Security July 2002 White House Office of Homeland Security http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/book/index.html
National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace February 2003 White House http://www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb/cyberspace_strategy.pdf
National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets February 2003 White House http://www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb/physical_strategy.pdf
National Military Strategy February 2004 (March 2005?) Joint Chiefs of Staff http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2005/d20050318nms.pdf
National Defense Strategy March 2005 (April 2005?) Office of the Secretary of Defense http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2005/d20050408strategy.pdf
National Intelligence Strategy October 2005 Office of the Director of National Intelligence http://www.dni.gov/publications/NISOctober2005.pdf
National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza November 2005 Homeland Security Council http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/nspi.pdf
National Strategy for Victory in Iraq November 2005 National Security Council http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/iraq_national_strategy_20051130.p
df
National Military Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction February 2006 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff http://www.defenselink.mil/pdf/NMS-CWMD2006.pdf
National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism February 2006 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/2006-01-25-Strategic-Plan.pdf
National Strategy for Combating Terrorism September 2006 National Security Council http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/counter_terrorism/counte
r_terrorism_strategy.pdf
The National Security Strategy
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss/2006/nss2006.pdf
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.pdf
National Counterintelligence Strategy March 2007 Office of the Director of National Intelligence http://www.ncix.gov/publications/policy/FinalCIStrategyforWebMarch21.pdf

Monday, December 03, 2007

FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES OFFER FREE ACCESS TO COURT E-RECORDS
The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) have entered into a two-year pilot project with the Administrative Office of the U. S. Courts (AOUSC) to provide access to its PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) service.
The PACER system can provide remote access to case and docket information from the Federal Courts via the Internet. Records include information from the Appellate, District and Bankruptcy Courts. Users of PACER are able to access information about a case including the names of all the parties, judges and attorneys involved in the case, case history and status as well as many of the documents submitted by the parties to the court.
Seventeen depositories, representing diverse types and sizes of libraries as well as different geographic locations, were selected to take part in the PACER pilot. With these libraries promoting the PACER service to the public, we anticipate the pilot will determine that Federal depository library access to PACER expands usage to those who currently do not have it available to them or would be inhibited by going to a court house to use the service.
The Federal depository libraries participating in the PACER pilot are:
* Alaska State Court Law Library (Alaska)
* Sacramento County Public Law Library, (California)
* San Bernardino County Law Library (California)
* Library of Congress/Law Library of Congress (District of
Columbia)
* Nova Southeastern University Law Library (Florida)
* 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Library (Illinois)
* Northern Kentucky University Steely Library/Chase Law Library
(Kentucky)
* Portland Public Library (Maine)
* University of Michigan Law School Library (Michigan)
* Wayne State University Arthur Neef Law Library, (Michigan)
* Rutgers University, Newark Law Library (New Jersey)
* New Mexico Supreme Court Law Library (New Mexico)
* Fordham University School of Law Leo T. Kissam Memorial Library (New York)
* State Library of Ohio (Ohio)
* Rogers State University Stratton Taylor Library (Oklahoma)
* University of Tennessee College of Law Joel A. Katz Law Library (Tennessee)
* Lee College Library (Texas)
The Government Printing Office thanks these libraries, and the other Federal depository libraries that volunteered for the pilot project, for their enthusiasm to provide PACER to their users. For more information about the project please contact Cindy Etkin at cetkin@gpo.gov.