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Getting Out the Vote

Oct-13-2005 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By Michael Hastings, Newsweek

Oct. 13, 2005 - Lt. Col. John Norris stands in front of a crowd of Iraqi police chiefs, Iraqi army generals and high-ranking American officers, all gathered under a massive tan tent on Forward Operating Base Courage in Mosul, Iraq. The tent is usually reserved for basketball games only—it covers a full-sized court with two hoops. But this particular Sunday, it's the briefing room to rehearse the city-wide plan for the Oct. 15 referendum on the Iraqi constitution.

Large satellite maps of Iraq's third-largest city cover the wall; another map of Ninewa province is laid out on floor. "Our mission," says the 42-year old Kentucky native, is to "support the Iraqi Security Forces in providing security for the Oct. 15 referendum, and to assist the IECI [Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq]." And with the typically dry words of a military brief, so begins the busiest week of the war for Norris and his soldiers in the 4-23 Battalion, aka the Tomahawks, part of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. [...]


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