More than 300 US and Iraqi servicemen and civilians gathered Jan. 1 at Camp Victory, Iraq, for the activation ceremony of US Forces-Iraq, the new single headquarters organization for all US military forces in Iraq. It replaces Multinational Force-Iraq, Multinational Corps-Iraq, Multinational Security and Transition Command-Iraq, and Task Force 134, all of which were inactivated at the same ceremony. Army Gen. Ray Odierno, who led MNF-I, now commands USF-I. Army Gen. David Petraeus, US Central Command boss, said at the ceremony the new command “represents another important milestone in the continued drawdown of American forces.” All US ground troops are expected to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011. Troops from 30 different nations served as part of MNF-I during its tenure, but the last coalition troops left Iraq in July 2009. (US Forces-Iraq report)
The Pentagon announced new long-term agreements with four defense companies May 13 to develop and produce large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles. And while the effort will focus mostly on the Army to start, it pairs with Air Force efforts to find more affordable munitions.