Here is another story by Mathew Cox posted on the Army Times web site. I looked to see if it had been posted earlier and could not find a like story, so here it is. The story talks about the brigade's time in Iraq with snippets from earlier stories listed chronologically.
The Clinton Herald has been periodically printing messages as we receive them from our troops serving overseas. Here are two received this week.
These letters are from the signal battalion with the 3 - 2nd ID as published by a local paper.
I'd like to wish all of you a Happy New Year!
2003 has been an historic year for all of us, but creating this spot for you has been a positive highlight for me personally.
Best regards,
Todd
P.S. - Remember, you need to start writing "2004" on your checks...it usually takes me a couple months to figure that one out.
Lorraine forwarded a link to AUSA and its Army Magazine publication. I'm going to add this to the News Links page.
This is a good time to mention it - if you have a link that you'd like to share with everyone else that's not already listed here, please send it our way.
In an effort to clean up the sidebar a bit, I've moved all of the links to a separate page. All you need to do is click a link category on the right and it will take you to a full list on the links page. I have a problem with clutter, but if you prefer to have all the links listed on the main page let me know...we can negotiate.
Greetings everyone.
Annie has been gracious enough to offer some assistance to the members of our Stryker Brigade web site. If you are close to Fort Lewis and plan on sending a letter in the next few days, (January 3rd deadline) send her an email at:
wishlist772@msn.com
Annie can give you some of the particulars via email. No packages, just letters.
Greetings everyone.
Annie has been gracious enough to offer some assistance to the members of our Stryker Brigade web site. If you are close to Fort Lewis and plan on sending a letter in the next few days, (January 3rd deadline) send her an email at:
wishlist772@msn.com
Annie can give you some of the particulars via email. No packages, just letters.
The DOD website, Defend America (permanent link on sidebar), has a great photo gallery featuring the Stryker Brigade conducting raids in Samarra.
Thanks to Karen for the link.
Sara sent a good link to the USPS website that provides guidelines and answers questions about sending mail to the troops.
There's also an article in a local Indiana paper that describes what one Stryker mom is sending her son - baby wipes, lots of them.
CNN reports on another raid by the Stryker Brigade in Samarra Monday that netted al Qaeda literature and videotapes and a weapons cache.
Thanks to Chris for the link.
Here is the latest article from Michael Gilbert of the Tacoma Tribune. He is currently with the 2-3 SBCT. No injuries reported in this story with one picture of Maj. Larry Perino holding the remains of three mortar rounds. Only his hands are visible in the picture.
We've added a little guestmap to the site. The link will be permanently displayed on the sidebar. Let us know where you're visiting from.
Can you tell I'm trying to clear out a few of these admin items?
If you look over on the sidebar, you'll notice that I've added a few Google ads to the site. Google ads are randomly generated based on keywords found on the site, so I have no control over which ads appear (just in case you spot a weird one). They will be displayed on the home and archive pages.
The ads generate revenue for every click, so my hope is that this will offset the cost of maintaining the site and make it self-sustaining. Now, I am not allowed to solicit clicks, but if you happen to find one that's interesting, by all means check it out...once.
If this gets too irritating, or doesn't work, we'll move on to Plan B.
No pictures of the Stryker Brigade in today's Frontline Photos gallery, but this one made me pause. Read the caption.
Many thanks to Amber for posting this information in a comment.
Nightline Daily E-Mail
December 30, 2003
TONIGHT'S FOCUS: A plot to kill Saddam... a man in the wrong place at the wrong time... and inside a secret unit trying to track the insurgents in Iraq... war stories from Iraq tonight.
The TNT lists the deployment of the Stryker Brigade from Fort Lewis as one of its top news stories for the region in 2003.
Thanks to Sue for the link.
The article we decided to post yesterday regarding Samarra was one man's portrayal of life in Iraq right now. Eric Schmitt with the NYT has a great article in today's paper which offers a different perspective. Without help from organizations like the U.N., U.S. soldiers are being asked to wear many different hats, and doing the job exceptionally. Excerpt:
When First Lt. Ryan Peay reported for duty here in mid-October, his assignment was to call in 105-millimeter artillery strikes on the opposing forces' positions. With major combat in Iraq long over, that job lasted about two days.Instead, Lieutenant Peay, 24, was thrown into the breach as his battalion's civil affairs officer, responsible for hiring the unit's 20 Iraqi interpreters, employing hundreds of Iraqi guards and setting priorities for $1.5 million in requests from local leaders for new wells, schools, hospitals and Internet cafes...
With civilian aid experts still in short supply or scared off by the security threats, the story of Lieutenant Peay and others like him is told hundreds, if not thousands, of times over as the American military continues to shoulder the biggest effort to help a nation restore its civilian society since the end of World War II...
"It's the smile-and-wave campaign," said Maj. Shawn Phillips, 35, of Flemington, N.J., the operations officer for Second Battalion. "You have one hand on your machine gun and the other waving at kids, handing out soccer balls."
The following will serve as the site's official disclaimer regarding Military Operational Security ("OPSEC"). I found this at the Solo-Ops website (which is worth a visit) and thought it was very appropriate for this forum. Thanks to Cannoneer No. 4 for the link.
Would you like a bulletin board system on this site?
A bulletin board would be similar to the comments section, but it's more permanent and you get to choose the topic of conversation. Right now, when an entry is more than a week old it slides off the front page and into the archives. Often times people leave a comment to an old entry, but no one ever responds because the entry is out of sight. The bulletin board would help with that problem.
There are probably many other positive uses that I haven't even thought of. We could have sections for each of the units. We could have a section for care package questions. The possibilities for topics are pretty much endless.
The only downsides would be the increased cost of web server space and the need to monitor/administer the forum. Those obstacles can be taken care of if you guys want it. This is your site.
ADAM LYNN; The News Tribune Another Fort Lewis-based soldier has died in Iraq, the second member of the 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Group to die there since Friday.
Michael Gilbert has another article on TNT about a raid with soldiers from C Company of the Stryker brigade's 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry. A picture is posted with the article.
Just FYI - I successfully imported all of the "Stryker Brigade" entries from the other site. I still need to assign each entry to a category, but at least everythig is here for you to browse.
Doing a quick scan, I noticed that some entries do not have all of the comments included (the "Holiday Open Thread" had close to 100 comments, only 26 were imported). I'll take a look, but since they are all listed at my old site, I'm not going to kill myself trying to figure it out.
Whew, glad that worked.
UPDATE: Everything has been categorized.
Katy found a site, 4ArmedForces.com, that sells a few Stryker-related items that might be of interest. Here's the page with the Stryker gear.
ElectronicIraq news
This is an article by Dahr Jamail. (see extended entry) His article leans heavily toward the negative, but the photographs are excellent.
Seattle Times reporter Hal Bernton will be visiting the Stryker Brigade along with photographer Thomas James Hurst. His total time in Iraq will be one month, so I doubt this will be a long-term assignment for him. Still, more coverage is good.
Eric Schmitt of the NYT is obviously spending some time at the Stryker base. Here's his latest article. There's a good photo included.
Eric Schmitt of the NYT is obviously spending some time at the Stryker base. Here's his latest article. There's a good photo included.
Today's Frontline Photos gallery has one photo of the Stryker Brigade. The only way you can tell is the patch on the uniforms. Am I right?
Here are some of the links and articles included in the "Holiday Open Thread" in case you missed them.
The Arrowhead - FRG Newsletter, Vol. 3 (.pdf file, long download with slow connection)
Tacoma News Tribune
"As targets go, cavalry prefers to be moving"
"Informant leads troops to weapons cache"
"Mail system gets in gear just in time"
"Holiday means business as usual for troops"
"Soldiers would love late gifts of candy, coffee, Cottonelle"
"Fort Lewis soldier leaves son behind"
Frontline Photos (Army Times)
Other
"Quick-Hitting Brigade Test-Drives a New Army Vehicle in Iraq"
"Kamehameha graduate hurt in Stryker accident"
"A Virtual Christmas Card From The Stryker Brigade"
"Military wife gets $500 gift of kindness from stranger"
"Sniper's skills keep buddies alive"
Pics from C/52 in Kuwait
Five pictures from the FRG, Family Readiness Group, website at Fort Lewis.
Pics from C/52 in Kuwait
Five pictures from the FRG, Family Readiness Group, website at Fort Lewis.
Well, this is the new site. We're not done tinkering, but it's ready to use. We will be posting all new news here, so bookmark this site for future reference. Thanks for all of the encouragement.
We want this site to be as interactive and as user-friendly as possible, so if you have ideas or suggestions, please feel free to send us an email. In the near future we will be adding a number of features, such as a guest map and a bulletin board. We'll let you know as they come online.
I will continue to contribute to this site, but I have also enlisted a few others to help out. Mike, who covered the news while I was gone, will be a contributor. We'll be joined by two others as soon as we get them set up and comfortable with the software.
If you have something that you would like to share with others, we are open to guest submissions. Just send me a note to discuss.
Thanks for your patience as we continue working on the site in the background.
Todd
Well, I'll be gone for the rest of the week visiting family for the holidays. During that time I will have limited access to the internet, so I'm asking for your help in covering news. If you find a link of interest, please post the web address in the comments section.
In other news, we're still working hard on the new site. Hopefully by the first of the year we'll have a new spot to call home that will be 100% dedicated to the SBCT. Thanks for all the encouragement.
I'll leave you with two links for the holiday season:
As someone who has never served in the military, I think of myself as completely unqualified to comment on military affairs. I support what we're doing in the war on terror, but who am I to advocate a policy that puts people in harm's way? People other than me. It's uncomfortable. Lately I've decided to shut the heck up and just support those people - our troops, your loved ones - serving around the world. Robert Prather posted an essay last month titled, "Thanksgiving And Our Soldiers," that sums up most of my feelings. It's worth a read.
Finally, Marcel sent a poem to me today and I thought it was worth sharing with all of you. You may have read it before, it's called, "A Soldiers Poem..."
Happy Holidays to all of you. See you soon.
UPDATE: At the request of several visitors, I've gone through and deleted any reference to last names and locations of soldiers in the comments section. Additionally, if you used your last name when leaving a comment, I've deleted that as well. Just a reminder, you don't have to use your real name when you leave comments; you can make up a user name ("john's mom", "Cannoneer No. 4" for example). If I missed something let me know.
Mike let me know that FrontlinePhotos has a few pictures of the 5-20 in action at the end of today's gallery.
Katy thought you might like to learn more about Liz Jackson and Operation Heartstone. From Liz's website:
Operation HeartStone is a tradition that dates back to Desert Storm. This time around, there are over 10,000 HeartStones being carried by troops deployed around the world, as well as their families and friends. FRG's and FSG's have gotten them from me and distributed them to troops and families, chaplains have handed them out to deploying troops...people have given them to total strangers in uniform. Soldiers and sailors have given them to their wives and parents before shipping out.
Each and every HeartStone is handmade by a military mom, and every HeartStone is sent with a prayer from a military mom.
To participate take your HeartStone to your chaplain or family clergy to be blessed, once this is done, the HeartStone is carried in the breast pocket over your heart to remind you of hearts left behind during military deployment.
Whenever you think of home or have a quiet moment, hold the HeartStone and rub it on your uniform, this will cause it to shine.
Take care of your heart, make efforts to see that your heart comes home intact...but, be advised that once home you must hand over your HeartStone to the one whose heart held you closest during your deployment.
To learn more or place an order, visit Patriotic Pastime.
Operation Heartstone was recently featured in an article by the Seattle P-I.
The Army announced that future Stryker Brigades will receive enhanced capabilities, and current brigades will be retrofitted as equipment becomes available.
In related news, the GAO recently conducted a study that identified the Stryker vehicle as one of the best Defense Department programs. Read the full report here (it's very long, so I wouldn't recommend it if you have a slow connection).
VP Dick Cheney visited McChord Air Force Base yesterday to address soldiers from McChord and Ft. Lewis and to award medals to selected personnel.
Here is a full transcript of his remarks if you're interested. The Stryker Brigade was mentioned specifically.
VP Dick Cheney visited McChord Air Force Base yesterday to address soldiers from McChord and Ft. Lewis and to award medals to selected personnel.
Here is a full transcript of his remarks if you're interested. The Stryker Brigade was mentioned specifically.
Groveddy5 sent a link to KOMO's website where they have "Holiday Wishes From The Stryker Brigade", which includes six photos from the unit. See if you can spot a loved one.
Thanks for the link.
There still seems to be confusion about the zip code for sending mail. Some people have been told to use a different one, others have been told that the original is correct. My only advice is to use the one you were given until you've been told otherwise.
There are many pictures of the Stryker Brigade in today's FrontlinePhotos gallery. As you'll see in the first photo, the unit has a new mascot.
The guys over at Winds of Change publish a regular feature titled "Winds of War", which provides links to a number of recent developments in the war on terror. The Stryker Brigade is not mentioned specifically, but it's a great source of information on our wider efforts.
Army Times has now posted an article by embedded reporter Matthew Cox describing the rocket attack yesterday on the Stryker Brigade base.
Michael Gilbert has another article this morning describing the incident last week in which a Stryker vehicle was destroyed by an explosive device. The injured driver is also identified, as is the rest of the crew. Another vehicle ran over an IED Saturday, but was able to continue its mission. Overall, the brigade seems very pleased with the Stryker's performance so far.
My local Fox News station just reported that the Stryker Brigade base was attacked by missile fire rockets just after midnight Iraqi time. No one was injured. They got their news from the Tacoma News Tribune and cited an embedded reporter, presumably Michael Gilbert. I didn't see anything on the TNT website, so we'll probably have to wait until morning for more details.
UPDATE: It was KIRO (CBS), not Fox. Sorry, it was late.
As Mike pointed out in the comments, the TNT now has an article from Michael Gilbert online.
"Stryker base camp hit by rockets"
The TNT carries an article by the Associated Press describing U.S. military raids conducted over the weekend. The Stryker Brigade is not mentioned specifically, but Samarra was one of the cities targeted and 111 suspects were detained.
UPDATE: The WaPo also describes some of the recent activity in Samarra.
News has been light and I'll be out doing Christmas stuff most of the day, so I'll open this up to all of you. Have anything to share?
This is pretty amazing. Time magazine has named "The American Soldier" as its "Person of the Year". The TNT carries an Associated Press article describing the honor.
Michael Weisskopf, the journalist embedded with the unit profiled in Time, recently lost his hand when he threw a grenade out of the Humvee he was traveling in. He likely saved the lives of others in the vehicle, including soldiers. In an unique gesture of appreciation, the U.S. Army allowed Weisskopf to be treated at Walter Reed hospital even though he is a civilian.
His photographer, James Nachtwey, was also injured. Marcel was kind enough to forward a link to his online photo gallery if you'd like to see his work.
UPDATE: Here's the Time article.
I received an email from Margaret that I think is worth posting. Here's the part worth repeating (emphasis added):
Hey Todd -
We just received an email from unit people requesting that we be extra careful about anything the we post on the internet, especially rumors or things that we have heard from our loved ones that could be considered an operational security violation. I thought it might be a good idea to remind everyone about that. We don't want that info to get into the wrong hands. From what I've read so far on your website, I don't think I've noticed anything like that, but it's probably better to put that out there anyway. You may want to put that disclaimer in a very obvious place on the new website. We need to be careful that we don't get into any discussions about where the guys are or what they will be doing next, etc. Thanks!!
-Margaret
Just an FYI, I've made sure that everything I post here is already in the public domain (on the net).
I know a number of people are wondering what to send in care packages. A Gerber 600 tool and Coffeemate Dairy Creamer have been mentioned in the comments to other entries. Can any of you provide more information? You can pass along ideas, or perhaps the address of a website with more info in the comments.
Maybe we can catalogue the items on the new site for future reference.
Thanks.
UPDATE: There are many good suggestions in the comments section. Lynn Diaz also sent a list she compiled from a number of different websites. There may be a few repeat items, but I don't have the patience to scour the list. Just click below to read the expanded entry.
Curt Beck found a quote from his son, 1st Lt. Joel Beck, in this article. Anyone else spotted a loved one?
Well, here are the results as of 9:30 PST Friday night (the polls are now officially closed):
1. strykernews.com 50 votes - 54%
2. strykerweb.com 32 votes - 35%
3. strykerblog.com 9 votes - 10%
4. sbctnews.com 1 vote - 1%
5. sbctblog.com 0 votes - 0%
Consequently, www.strykernews.com will eventually be the new home to news about the Stryker Brigade. Don't go there now; there's nothing there. The next step for us (I've got help already, thanks!) is to get things set up.
Here's the deal. I'll be out of town Wednesday through Sunday of next week and will not be able to work on it during that time. Consequently, look for a switch around the first of the year. In the meantime I will still post news here at this site. I'm working on a solution for news updates while I'm gone. Stay tuned...
Mike sent me an email to let me know that 1-14 Cav has updated its website. There are two newsletters written while it was in Kuwait. The first is from the commander, the second is from B Troop. The B Troop newsletter also has a photo of 1st Platoon. Apparently pictures of other platoons will follow in subsequent newsletters. Enjoy!
The homepage for the entire brigade is located here, but I think they are doing some work on the site and I couldn't access the websites of the other units to see if they had any updated info. Let me know if you find better links so I can pass them on. Thanks.
In the comments to another post, Mike mentioned that Fox News just ran a segment on the Stryker Brigade activity in Samarra. Thanks for the heads-up. Since they tend to run these things throughout the day, tune in to catch a glimpse.
Michael Gilbert is reporting that another Stryker vehicle rolled over. The article mentions that no one was injured in the accident.
CLARIFICATION: This accident happened on Tuesday, but was not disclosed until today (Friday). There is also information in the article regarding the 44th Corps Support Battalion.
Read the full article here. Excerpts:
Family members wept and clutched on to each other as the body of Army Spc. Christopher Jude Rivera Wesley arrived on island last night...
There, dozens of family members, and military and local government officials had gathered to pay tribute to the first confirmed Chamorro casualty of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"He is home now," his mother, Rose Marie Wesley, said last night, as she dabbed away tears...
A member of Christopher Wesley's unit escorted the body back to Guam and presented the family with the silver dog tags that he had worn the day he died.
FrontlinePhotos at Army Times continues to provide the best collection of Stryker pictures, but there are a few other resources that you can check.
Army Media Center - Stryker photos here and here.
DOD News Photos - Haven't seen any Stryker photos yet.
FYI - I'll post a link to photos whenever I see them, but I thought you might like to explore these in the meantime.
UPDATE: I took out one link b/c a commenter pointed out that it wasn't a Stryker, but a Bradley photo. My bad.
Here the latest from embedded reporter Michael Gilbert. This is a great first-hand account of the recent activity in Samarra.
"Soldiers hunting insurgents walk fine line between firmness, fairness"
Here's a good article discussing troop rotation in Iraq. The Stryker Brigade and other units from Ft. Lewis are mentioned.
Last week I had an entry about the structure of the Army and what units are deployed with the Stryker Brigade. Ft. Lewis now has a new website devoted to all six Stryker Brigades. There's plenty of technical info to keep you busy, including this detailed presentation about the command structure of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry. The presentation is a .pdf file, so you need Adobe Acrobat reader to view it.
Good stuff.
Lately I have been awed by the amount of responses received from those who have a loved one serving in Iraq or the surrounding area. I just wanted to thank each of you for sharing your knowledge and feelings regarding those representing us abroad. I hope you know that you, your loved ones, and those we personally know serving in Iraq will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers until they return home.
Happy Holidays . . . I look forward to your future posts.
Julie (Todd's wife)
Ok, the general consensus seems to be that a dedicated site would be a good idea. The next step is to register a domain name, so I thought I'd ask for some help. I've listed a few web addresses that are available below. Vote for which one you like the best, or include your own idea in the comments section. I'll leave the poll up for a couple days then decide which one to use.
I chose each of these primarily because they are short and descriptive. I like the first one best (strykerblog.com), but I'm flexible.
UPDATE: Based on a comment, I've added strykerweb.com as an option (hhhmmm...catchy, I like it).
(Voting is now over, to view the results go here.)
There are a handful of Stryker photos towards the end of today's FrontlinePhotos gallery. I'm still hoping some of you spot a loved one.
CNN reports on the continuing activity in Samarra.
The Seattle Times also carries an article detailing the last few days.
Embedded journalist Michael Gilbert files a report on the Wednesday raids in Samarra. Approximately 2,000 SBCT soldiers were involved.
I have an idea I've been mulling over, which I think is a pretty good one, but I wanted to get some feedback. Stryker Brigade news has pretty much taken over this site. Don't get me wrong - that's a good thing in my opinion. I honestly had no idea so many people would find this site and visit regularly. The comments you have left and the emails you have written reinforce the notion that this news is important and demands attention. Consequently, I'm beginning to think that the topic deserves its own website - a blog.
Setting up a blog is pretty easy, and I'm more than happy to do it. There are a number of features that I don't use/need on this site that I think would be great to have on a site dedicated to the Strykers (email alerts, guestbook etc.). If I set one up I would aniticipate taking a break from this site and concentrating on the new one. Furthermore, I might see if there are one or two of you out there that are willing to contribute by posting new articles.
What are your thoughts?
Sgt. Jeremy Heckler, a journalist with the Stryker Brigade, files this report describing recent events in Samarra.
FrontlinePhotos has a number of pictures of the Stryker Brigade preparing for and executing "Operation Arrowhead Blizzard". BTW, I finally figured out how to link directly to the gallery, rather than the page with all the dates you have to choose from. It should make it a bit easier to access.
CNN reports that elements of the 4th Infantry Division conducted more raids in the town of Samarra Wednesday. Army Times also carries an AP article detailing the action. It was not clear from either whether the Stryker Brigade was involved.
I mentioned before that I read an article which said the Stryker Brigade was operating under the command of the 4th ID. I guess we'll just have to wait for Michael Gilbert and Matthew Cox to report whether it was involved in this raid.
UPDATE: Ask and you shall receive. In the comments Shannon confirms that the Stryker Brigade was involved. Here's the Matthew Cox article from the Army Times. Thanks.
Michael Gilbert reports on the raid in Samarra on Tuesday. Apparently the Stryker Brigade was involved in the operation, dubbed "Operation Arrowhead Blizzard".
Ft. Lewis held a memorial today for the three Stryker Brigade soldiers who died last week.
UPDATED: The Seattle P-I covers the memorial.
The TNT also has an article.
