The Journalist's Toolbox: Military

Special Report: Terrorist Attacks: Bombing in Afghanistan has begun, and you can find several helpful resources backgrounding the attacks on this page or on Special Reports: Terrorist Attacks.

Recent Additions to This Section
(This section features sites added to the page in the last few weeks.
Each link is cross-referenced on the page in its proper category.)

U.S. Military?s DeploymentLink: Operation Enduring Freedom News
Military branches to post news, and each site contains some links to types of aircraft and equipment being used in the missions.

GlobalSecurity: Track Troops in Middle East

U.S. Military?s DeploymentLink: Iraq

American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services

Army Emergency Relief

Navy/Marine Relief Society

Air Force Aid Society

MILITARY WEAPONS

Costs of Past U.S. Wars
Lists World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf.

Background on the Tomahawk Missile

Background on the B-1 Bomber

Background on the B-2 Stealth Bomber

Background on the B-52 Bomber

Defend America
9-11 counterattack reports include bomb damage assessment images, updates on the humanitarian effort.

Operation Enduring Freedom and the Conflict in Afghanistan
From the UK House of Commons Library, an update on developments since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom. The entire document is 104 pages, .PDF format.

Defense Discovery
Lists illustrations of military weapons, aircrafts, ships etc.

U.S. Navy Ships and Weapons

Homeland Security newsletter
A military newsletter that circulates outside the military as well. Terrorism and other issues are grouped under the title "Homeland Defense." The company puts out a Homeland Defense e-newsletter. A recent issue has a great deal of information on the attacks and the background situation, including authoritative material on Osama bin Laden and geopolitical aspects of this crisis.

PBS: Frontline Documentary on the U.S. Military and War
Great resources for backgrounding stories on the military.

Global Security.org
This site has links devoted to military intelligence, including sections called Military Defense Flaws, Satellites of War, Espionage Targets and Military Space.

Globemaster U.S. Military Aviation Database
This information server contains all active aircraft operating units and air bases of the U.S. forces around the world, including tail codes, maps, ICAO/IATA codes and links to their official Web sites.

U.S. Department of Defense' s Quadrennial Defense Review Report
Gary Price of George Washington University supplies us this link to a 79-page document that went online 10-1-01.

Periscope
A commercial pay site deep with military and military equipment information. Rates are reasonable, though.

The Federation of American Scientists: U.S. Equipment and Vehicles

The Federation of American Scientists: The B-1 Bomber

Center for Defense Information
Military experts share thoughts on terrorism.

Defense Almanac
Helps explain the military hierarchy.

Special Forces Expert Jess Johnson
Journalists recommend this retired special forces veteran of 25 years as an expert on 9-11, Iraq and other military issues. He was a medic in Vietnam and was a weapons and intelligence expert while in special forces. He has been on most continents, inside Russia, etc.

Fortean Times: Sonic Weapons
This publication takes an extensive look at the history and breakthroughs in sonic warfare.

Centers for Disease Control Bioterrorism Page

Cyberjournalist.net 9/11 Attack Resources
Dozens of great resources.

NY Times Links to the Global Struggle
Links from the Times' Felicity Barringer.

U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century
Online reports on how to protect America.

MILITARY LINKS: STRUCTURE AND TRACKING PERSONNEL

Information Please Almanac: Military Hierarchy
Use information on this page to explain military structure (personnel hierarchy) for the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines. Also track how many from various states.

Directorate for Information Operations and Reports
A government site listing casualties in major wars, as well as the minor operations since 1979.

Defense Link Unified Combatant Commands (1999 Defense Almanac)
The names of commanders appears current, and links to each command Web site are there.

Defense Link Index
Information on organization, money, people, and forces and weapons.

MSNBC's Location Map of U.S. and Ally Forces

Locating Active Military in Your Area: Vetfriends.com
Librarians on NewsLib recommend this site for finding local members of an Air National Guard unit being called to active duty. Also helpful: Classmates.com.

Population Representation in the Military Services (1999)
Locate military (recruits) personnel by home state (look under Geography category). Includes several demographic breakdowns as well.

Population Representation in the Military Services (1998)
Similar to the previous file, only the 1998 stats are in a .pdf file format.

MILITARY LINKS: CHEMICAL WARFARE

Federal Trade Commission: Warnings on Bioterrorism Defense Products

Johns Hopkins University Biodefense Site

New England Journal of Medicine: Special Smallpox Report
The full report will be out Jan. 30.

State Department: Response to Terrorism
Background on U.S. policy.

Princeton University: Chemical Weapon Proliferation

PBS: Bioterror
The companion site to the PBS documentary. Includes the history of biowarfare, weapons and vaccines.

Dateline NBC: Sizing Up the Bio Threat
A summary of the magazine show's excellent report on bio-warfare.

Newstrove: Biological Weapons
Links to dozens of research and reports on chemical warfare.

Defense Against Toxin Weapons

Gary Price's Bioterrorism Links
Resources from George Washington University.

American Public Health Association's Control of Communicable Diseases Manual
Information on Anthrax.

Biological and Chemical Terrorism Defense: A View From the "Front Lines" of Public Health
.PDF files from the American Journal of Public Health.

Bioterrorism as a Public Health Threat
From Emerging Infectious Diseases in 1998.

Evidence for Safety and Efficacy Against Inhalational Anthrax
From the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Guidelines for the Surveillance and Control of Anthrax in Humans and Animals
From the World Health Organization (1998). Available in both HTML and .pdf.

Policy on Issue & Use of Cipro for the Post-Exposure Treatment of Anthrax
Graphic (.gif file) from the Secretary of the (U.S.) Navy.

Preemptive Biopreparedness: Can We Learn Anything From History?
From the American Journal of Public Health (Vol 91, 2001).

Provisional Guidelines for Action in the Event of a Deliberate Release
From the Public Health Laboratory Service (United Kingdom). 18 pages .pdf, Also contains some useful background.

Anthrax
An article from the Working Group on Civilian Biodefense.

USAMRIID's Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook

Treatment of Biological Warfare Agent Casualties

U.S. Army Medical Management of Chemical Casualties Handbook

Treatment of Chemical Agent Casualties and Conventional Military Chemical

RELATED MILITARY LINKS

Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illnesses

Homeland Security Page
Tom Ridge's page gives the Current Nationwide Threat Level.

PBS Frontline: Foreign Affairs and the Military

Dateline NBC 9/11 Coverage Archives

Dateline NBC War on Terrorism Archives

Afghan Recovery Report
Afghan journalists, working with support from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) and Media Action International (MAI) offer a free service aimed at providing local and international media outlets with "objective and reliable news from local sources.

U.S. Commission on National Security (Hart-Rudman Commission)

Homeland Security Monitor
A comprehensive Web-based tool providing critical information and insightful analysis on homeland security issues for state and local governments, law enforcement, emergency management and corporate executives at all levels. This is the link to the public site.

Center for Security Policy

Department of Defense

DefenseLink
Site from the U.S. Department of Defense. Releases, photos, transcripts, speeches, e-mail advisories and more.

Military.com
Latest headlines from U.S. military.

U.S. Navy X.500 Directory
A listing of enlistments who aren't based overseas.

The Office of Naval Research
This office manages the science and technology programs for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

U.S. Coast Guard

Coast Guard News
Designed to give journalists a one-stop resource for Coast Guard information.

National Guard

Air National Guard

U.S. Army Basic Training

Stratfor.com Defense Information
The site charges a fee, but you can still get a decent amount of stories for free, and sign up for a free e-mail.

Heritage Foundation's National Security Page

Inside Defense
Defense industry news.

America's New War
Track the Terrorism conflict for a "good news, bad news" perspective.

U.S. Military?s DeploymentLink: Operation Enduring Freedom News
Military branches to post news, and each site contains some links to types of aircraft and equipment being used in the missions.

GlobalSecurity: Track Troops in Middle East

U.S. Military?s DeploymentLink: Iraq

American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services

Army Emergency Relief

Navy/Marine Relief Society

Air Force Aid Society

Coast Guard Mutual Assistance

"Operation USO Care Package"

Cyberjournalist.net 9/11 Attack Resources
Dozens of great resources.

The War in Context
News and commentary from the global press and alternative media relating to the war on terrorism and the Middle East conflict.

PBS Frontline: Terror and Tehran

Military Bomb Disposal Techniques

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette War on Terror Resource Guide
A set of useful links on the war in Afghanistan.

Arizona Republic: Terrorism Guide
Another set of useful links on the war in Afghanistan.

War Casualties/Costs

Defenselink: Department of Defense Almanac
A breakdown of the departments, employment stats, budgets and more.

U.S. Army's America Attacked Page
Updates on casualties, photo gallery, information on the Pentagon.

CNN Fact Sheet: U.S. Attacks Terrorism
FAQ, bios of key players and background on the retaliatory attacks.

About.com's U.S. Military Page

About.com U.S. Newspapers Terrorist Links

MSNBC Interactive War Map
A great explanatory site that includes history, interpretations, etc. of the Islamic faith.

U.S. Use of Pre-emptive Military Force
A .PDF file.

Global Beat: NYU's Center for War, Peace and the News Media
This site is useful for anyone who is interested in international news. Each week, Global Beat runs stories and backgrounders on important areas of the world, such as Iraq, Chechnya, South Asia, etc.

Military Photojournalism Projects

U.S. Department of the Treasury: Terrorism List
A .PDF file.

Army Technology Sites
A .PDF file.

Terrorist Attacks: Regional Maps of Afghanistan
Several maps of Afghanistan, Kabul and several other places in the country and region. From the University of Texas at Austin.

CIA Maps

EarthExplorer Maps Via USGS

Global Security.org
The site includes links devoted to military intelligence, including: Military Defense Flaws, Satellites of War, Espionage Targets and Military Space.

Military History Encyclopedia
Reference for wars, individuals, weapons, concepts behind the wars, etc.

History of Guantanamo Bay Cuba
Background on the U.S. Naval Station.

List of POW/MIAS
The Library of Congress has a list of prisoners of war and MIAs.

Not Forgotten
Track the Pentagon's efforts to clear up uncertainties about POWs.

National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia
The site includes a state-by-state listing of the missing.

War Casualty Lists
The National Archives and Records Administration offers casualty lists for the Korean and Vietnam wars. A clickable map lets you select a state; names are sorted alphabetically.

Griefnet: Society of Military Widows

Military Family Support Center
Links to dozens of organizations.

Medals Of Honor
The U.S. Army Center of Military History has a database of more than 3,400 Medals of Honor that ave been awarded since the decoration's creation in 1861. Transcripts are categorized by war.

CyberSeals.org
This site "outs" people falsely claiming to be a part of the elite Navy unit.

Military Law and Justice

Military Press

Advanced Information Technology Branch
Site has a lot of non-classified war information.

Center for Defense Information

MilitaryCity.com (U.S.)
Links to all the official Armed Forces Web sites.

Department of Military Instruction

Inside Defense

Interagency Civil-Military

Pacific Stars & Stripes

Army Times

U.S. Army Association

U.S. European Command

U.S. Military Academy

Department of Veterans Affairs

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans burial sites
This site offers information about funerals, ceremonies and sites.

Veterans National Archives

Veteran's Day Home Page
The page includes a patriotic fact sheet, a listing of scheduled events in Washington DC, and links to other regional sites.

American Legion

Korean War 50th Anniversary
Great research on the "forgotten war."

Vietnam War History

Vietnam Vets

Vietnam Women's Memorial Project

The Virtual Wall
An interactive tour of the Vietnam Memorial.

Online Vietnam Memorial
Features a database of more than 58,000 names.

D-Day Memorial

Desert Storm

U.S. Naval Observatory
Sun and moon data by year (from 1700 to 2100).

Pearl Harbor Remembered

Pearl Harbor Map

Foreign Military Studies Office
Assesses "regional military and security issues through open-source media.

War Times Journal

Military: Surveying Engineering and Mapping Center of Expertise

Historic Government Publications from World War II [.pdf]
This new site from Southern Methodist University boasts more than 200 government documents from World War II.

Washington Post's Dot Mil Column
Written by William Arkin, a former military intelligence analyst.

Washington Post: Fog of War

Beliefnet.com: Memorial Day
Many features about Americans and the wars they fought.

DigitalJournalist.org: Bitter Passage: Kent State & the Fall of Saigon
A super multimedia package on the Vietnam War.

Sonshi.com: Sun--Tzu's "The Art of War"
Full translation of the 2,000-year-old Chinese book of strategy on and off the field of battle.

Photojournalism: A Record of War

Military Brats Registry
This site is a riot: An online community for military brats to get in touch with one another.

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