(Army News Service Press Release)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, Jan. 31, 2005) — Despite several attacks on polling sites Jan. 30, Iraqis voted in large numbers and stood up to terrorist threats.
U.S. and Coalition Soldiers stepped up presence patrols around Iraq for the election and were on hand to back up Iraqi security forces. The direct security of the poll sites, however, was left primarily to the Iraqi police and military forces.
Yahoo! News has 8 pages of photos taken in Mosul between Jan. 28-31, 2005. Several of these depict soldiers from the 1-25 SBCT.
Link to Full Article
MICHAEL GILBERT AND ADAM LYNN; The News Tribune
Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, was admittedly pessimistic about what Sunday might bring in embattled Mosul. A few days before the election, he said he feared suicide bombers would strike early and discourage voters from turning out.
But the bombs didn’t come, and Iraqi voters turned out in higher than expected numbers, Ham said.
Soldiers from the 1-24 INF and 3-21 INF are pictured in this ten slide photo essay, posted on the Defend America web site.
Photos by Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson
Link to Full Article
BY DIONNE SEARCEY, STAFF CORRESPONDENT
January 31, 2005
MOSUL, Iraq - The metal gates were just clanking shut at the elementary school serving as a polling place, and the U.S. military commander was congratulating election workers for a job well done, when a boom rang out a short distance away.
Insurgents had lobbed a grenade at U.S. snipers perched on the roof of a building overlooking another schoolyard and wounded seven - leaving some howling in pain, the others just dazed.
Link to Full Article
By Steve Walsh, Post-Tribune
MOSUL, IRAQ —Sporadic violence in Mosul hampered the historic Iraqi elections in this northern city.
Voters lined up outside polling places in Western Mosul, where the Indiana Guard 113th Engineer Battalion had laid fortifications for the past three days.
The local guard unit stayed on base during the day. They were charged with reopening the barriers to the city, after night fell and the polls closed.
(TFF Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 31, 2005) – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) detained five individuals in northern Iraq yesterday. Soldiers of the 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment detained three individuals suspected of anti-Iraqi activities south of Mosul. Suspects are in custody with no MNF injuries reported.
Link to Full Article
By Louise Roug, LA Times
MOSUL, Iraq — On a last-minute vote drive Sunday in northwest Mosul, Army Lt. Brock Hershberger approached a man wearing an olive-colored suit and brown leather shoes. "Have you voted yet?" Hershberger asked through a translator. The man responded that he'd heard the lines were long.
Link to Full Article
By Heidi E. Ruckno, Citizens' Voice
A Pittston soldier on a two-week leave from his service in Iraq was shocked to see so many loved ones waiting for him Sunday at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
"Oh my God," said U.S. Army Sgt. Paul Lavelle with a smile as he walked into the terminal.
Lavelle, 22, is an intelligence officer stationed in Mosul. He is based out of Fort Lewis in Washington State.
"It feels great. I can't even explain how good it feels right now," Lavelle said.
This is a summary of those who gave their lives in service to our country in January.
Link to Full Article
By GREGORY ROBERTS, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
RENTON -- Driving home to Auburn from church yesterday afternoon, Bess Owens detoured off the Maple Valley Highway to check out the hundreds of white crosses arrayed in a green field by the road.
"I think it's important that all of us stop and think about the cost of the war," she said, gazing at the 1,433 poster-board crosses and tombstone silhouettes set in the grass by local peace organizations to mark the deaths of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.
"These crosses are not just the soldiers, they're also families -- they're Jewish families, they're Christian families, they're Muslim families," Owens said. [...]
Link to Full Article
By CHRISTINE HAUSER
MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 30 - The men were dressed in black. They stood on the side of the road in a group, intently watching the street. The deputy governor of Mosul sped by them in a convoy with bodyguards in police vehicles, their lights flashing.
Seconds later, a roadside bomb exploded with a deafening crack, hitting a police vehicle and claiming another victim in the kind of attack that has made Mosul one of the most notoriously dangerous cities in Iraq.
Reporter Steve Fainaru spent election day with C Company, 3-21 INF.
Link to Full Article
By Steve Fainaru, Washington Post
MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 30 -- Around 10 a.m. Sunday, U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Phil Fassieux resolved to address the anemic voter turnout in southeast Mosul. He grabbed a clipboard inside his Stryker attack vehicle and quickly jotted down several entreaties that he wanted an Iraqi interpreter to make from the gunner's hatch:
"Secure your future!"
NPR offers this audio report from Saturday discussing the preparations for today's elections in Mosul. Follow the link above and click the "Listen" icon. Summary:
Time magazine reporter Charlie Crain is embedded with U.S. Army troops in Mosul, an ethnically mixed city in Iraq's north. He describes the very visible presence of American and Iraqi security forces around polling places there.
BG Carter Ham is quoted regarding elections in Northern Iraq.
Link to Full Article
By DEXTER FILKINS
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 30 - After a slow start, voters turned out in very large numbers in Baghdad today, packing polling places and creating a party atmosphere in the streets as Iraqis here and nationwide turned out to cast ballots in the country's first free elections in 50 years. [...]
Link to Full Article
By Louise Roug, Times Staff Writer
MOSUL, Iraq — It's long after midnight when paratroopers from Alpha Company enter the house and start moving room to room.
In the kitchen, decorated with plastic flowers and lace curtains, they ransack drawers and cupboards. In the bedroom, they find a small bottle of I Love New York eau de toilette standing half-empty, as if recently used. But the food in the fridge has spoiled. The soldiers' target is long gone.
Link to Full Article
BY DIONNE SEARCEY
MOSUL, Iraq -- The paunchy caretaker paced nervously along the rooftop of the elementary school as U.S. soldiers dropped to their knees and waved their rifles out over the balconies of the homes below.
Two officers pointed to intersections that would be closed and medians that would be lined with concrete barricades as Iraqi officials convert the schoolhouse into a polling place on election day.
(TFF Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 30, 2005) – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) continued operations to ensure security for the elections, detaining 13 individuals in northern Iraq yesterday.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 30, 2005) – Initial indications look good for voter turnout in northern Iraq today.
Within hours of the polls opening long lines of voters had formed outside polling stations across Mosul and the Ninewah Province. Increased Iraqi Security Force and Multi-National Force operations to include detentions and confiscation of weapons over the time leading up to the elections have helped ensure the security for Election Day.
Officials are very hopeful that election turnout will continue to be high.
Soldiers relied on each other in deadly ambush in Mosul and face more struggles in its aftermath
BY SAMUEL BRUCHEY
As he watched his blood drip through the floor panels of the Army Stryker vehicle racing him to a hospital in Mosul, Spc. William Duran thought about his buddies.
That morning, he and six other soldiers - his closest friends - had decided to stop for a smoke along a narrow street. Their routine foot patrol was nearly over.
Then a car rolled up and blocked the entrance to the street behind them. Several gunmen opened fire.
One of the seven Americans was killed. Two others were paralyzed. A bullet shattered Duran's arm "like a potato chip." Only one avoided injury.
"Your brain doesn't let you think," said Duran, 25, of New Mexico. "It's all training, instinct, reaction. Then you snap to and realize what you've been through ... how important your friends are."[...]
Associated Press
ASKAN, Iraq — Some couldn't read, but knew their party's identification number on the ballot. Others couldn't see, but were led to the polls by police.
Across wide swathes of Iraq, especially in the southern Shiite and northern Kurdish areas, Iraqis went to the polls today, expressing fierce determination and pride, together with hope that the election will improve their hard lives.
"I don't have a job. I hope the new government will give me a job," said one voter, Rashi Ayash, 50, a former Iraqi lieutenant colonel.
From the early hours of this morning, Iraqis stood in long lines that wrapped around street corners, defying militant threats of violence to cast their votes for the 275-member National Assembly. Dozens were killed as militants fired mortars, and in one town, a suicide bomber mingled with voters waiting outside a polling booth.[...]
By Steve Walsh / Post-Tribune staff writer
MOSUL, Iraq — For the last three days, Iraqis in Mosul have woken up in a city fortified in large part by local Indiana National Guard troops.
Beginning Thursday, the Indiana National Guard 113th Engineer Battalion worked long nights to secure the west side of this ancient city.
The concrete barriers are intended to keep polling places safe for the historic election. Patrols of local soldiers put the last few fortifications in place just hours before the polls were to open at 7 this morning. [...]
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some smile, some are stoic and others hide their faces as Iraqis go to the polls, braving anti-U.S. insurgents determined to drown the historic vote in blood.
Suicide bombs and mortar fire marked the event, the first multi-party poll in 50 years, killing at least 22 people countrywide. But still thousands dared to cast their votes.
In Falluja, the devastated Sunni city west of Baghdad that was an insurgent stronghold until a U.S. assault in November, a thin stream of people turned out, defying expectations.
"We want to be like other Iraqis, we don't want to always be in opposition," said Ahmed Jassim, smiling after voting.[...]
Link to Full Article
By Steve Fainaru, Washington Post
MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 28 -- The U.S. military moved Iraqi security forces and voting materials to polling sites throughout Iraq, ramping up preparations for Sunday's parliamentary elections in the face of insurgent violence that left five American soldiers and 10 Iraqis dead on Friday.
Quotes from a number of 1-24 INF soldiers are included in the following article.
Link to Full Article
By THOM SHANKER
[...] For an American military that already has lost more than 1,000 lives to hostile action in Iraq, guaranteeing the election on Sunday offers the clearest, most precise mission since President Bush commanded the military to drive straight for Baghdad almost two years ago. Since then, American forces have executed a complex set of orders to battle home-grown insurgents and shadowy attackers, help rebuild Iraq's economy and train a new army, all incremental projects that will continue beyond the 12-month tour of any soldier here.
Link to Full Article
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT LEWIS, Wash. -- About 400 soldiers at this Army base were on lockdown Friday after a pair of night-vision goggles disappeared.
The lockdown affects about 400 members of the 296th Brigade Support Battalion. It is part of the first Stryker brigade, and returned in October after a year in Iraq, base spokesman Jeff Young said.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 29, 2005) – Military officials in northern Iraq have announced the launch of J-LENS.
The Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensors System, J-LENS, has made its much anticipated debut in northern Iraq. The system will help Multi-National Forces in the Ninewah Province determine where anti-Iraqi insurgent attacks originate from, thus enabling them to more easily track down the insurgents.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 29, 2005) – Iraqi Security Forces were able to thwart an anti-Iraqi insurgent attack on a power station in northern Iraq today.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 29, 2005) – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) were able to defuse a roadside bomb following a tip received through the Joint Coordination Center in northern Iraq yesterday.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 29, 2005) – Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) continued operations to ensure security for the elections, detaining ten individuals in northern Iraq today.
Multi-National Force soldiers detained eight individuals suspected of anti-Iraqi activity while conducting a raid south of Mosul. Suspects are in custody with no MNF injuries reported.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 29, 2005) – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) continued operations to ensure security for the elections, detaining six individuals in northern Iraq yesterday.
Soldiers of the 2nd Squadron, 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment were patrolling in Tal Afar when their unit was shot at by anti-Iraqi insurgents. The 2-14th tracked down and detained six individuals suspected to be involved in the attack. They also confiscated weapons and documents. Suspects are in custody with no MNF injuries reported.
HUNDREDS of Iraqi election workers along with voting material were transported overnight by US soldiers to polling sites around Mosul amid intense security measures in the northern city.
With the milestone vote only hours away, the election workers were all given about two hours of training and promised the equivalent of $US500 ($645) for their effort.
Umm Alaa, 40, is the only woman inside a huge tented gym and recreation facility at a US base swarming with nearly 500 rowdy male election workers, most of them flown in early today, hours before from Baghdad or southern Shiite areas.[...]
Here are two recent photos (one, two) of the 3-21 in Mosul that were posted on Army Images.
Photos by Pfc. Adam Sanders
Fred Nelson with the DCMA sent the following article, which describes the efforts of DCMA and GDLS employees to supply the Stryker Brigade with the equipment they need in theater. Thank you.
Submitted by: Terry Baggs, DCMA-Detroit BCT-IAV
We see them everyday, those yellow ribbons that say Support Our Troops. Most people put them on their cars and that is the extent of their actions. There is one group of people however who recently put their words into action.
Around 4:00pm on December 28, 2004 the call came from Stryker Program Office that Iraq needed the balance of the Mortar Carrier, Infantry Carrier, and Commander’s Vehicle Slat Armor Kits in storage at Joint Systems Manufacturing Center-Lima.
This story includes an interview with COL Robert Brown, Commander of the 1-25 Stryker Brigade.
Link to Full Article
ADAM LYNN AND MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
In his normal life, Leigh McCombs works as a roofer in Spokane.
On Monday, the Army National Guardsman helped raid what U.S. forces believe to be a car bomb factory in Mosul, Iraq. The mission netted explosives, weapons and a handful of suspected insurgents, McCombs said by telephone this week.
“I feel good about being able to bring a little bit of democracy up here to Iraq,” said Spc. McComb, a member of the 81st Brigade Combat Team.
He is one of nearly 10,000 soldiers with Washington state ties who are trying to provide a safe environment in which Iraqis can cast ballots in the nation’s parliamentary elections Sunday.
Link to Full Article
By CHRISTINE HAUSER and THOM SHANKER, NY Times
MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 27 - Snipers are taking up positions across Mosul. The concrete barriers around the voting sites are up. The actual polling stations are being opened, replacing the decoys set up to deceive the insurgents.
An election will be held Sunday in this violence-racked city of 1.6 million, but it remains an open question here - as in so many other Sunni Arab cities where the insurgent presence is strong - whether enough people will brave the dangers to vote in significant numbers. [...]
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 28, 2005) – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) secured a weapons cache in northern Iraq yesterday.
Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment located a weapons cache while reducing an explosive devise. The weapons cache included propellant sticks, mortar rounds, mortar fuses, one bag of grenades, ammunition, and other weapons. All of the armament was reduced in the cache without incident.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 28, 2005) – Iraqi Regular Army soldiers and Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) continued operations to ensure security for the elections, detaining seven individuals in northern Iraq yesterday.
Iraqi Regular Army soldiers from the 101st Infantry Battalion detained two individuals suspected of attacking the Al Kindi Main Gate in eastern Mosul. Suspects are in custody.
Steve Fainaru has written a front page article profiling 2nd Platoon, C Company, 3rd Battalion of the 21st Infantry Regiment on the fateful day 1LT Hoe was killed. While difficult to read, this is one of the longest (5 online pages), most detailed articles about the 1/25 SBCT I've seen. The Washington Post site requires registration to view the article, but it's well worth it.
Link to Full Article
By Steve Fainaru, Washington Post
MOSUL, Iraq -- The 21-ton Stryker attack vehicles pulled into the neighborhood of al-Whada just after noon. Their rear ramps dropped simultaneously, disgorging dozens of American infantrymen into the cold rain.
The soldiers had multiple tasks on this day. In addition to hunting insurgents and searching houses, they were to help get out the vote for Sunday's national elections. For the next three hours, soldiers armed with assault rifles and election fliers moved warily through al-Whada's muddy streets, trying to get Iraqis to embrace democracy.
The Christian Science Monitor has an excellent outline of the election process and related issues.
Yahoo! News has a number of recent photos of 1-24 INF conducting operations in Mosul.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the 31 Marines killed in the Super Stallion crash yesterday in Iraq. 27 of the Marines were from the Kaneohe base in Hawaii, while the helicopter's crew was from Miramar in San Diego, CA.
The following is a poem written by a soldier for his wife, along with an accompanying photo. This was originally posted on our bulletin board, and they have both agreed to let us post it here as well. Thank you.
Q&A with embedded reporter.
Dear Steve,
Do the soldiers have a work schedule everyday? What do they do afterward for entertainment? Do they have to wake up early?
Link to Full Article
Oakland Raiders Football
The Oakland Raiders are proud to support United States service men and women stationed in Iraq and around the world. When you are a member of the U.S. military stationed overseas, a care package from mom, a letter from your sweetheart, or even the ability to take in a football game on television become tremendously significant.
(TFO Press Release)
Military officials have said the Mosul area is becoming safer with each seizure and removal of dangerous weapons and detention of anti-Iraqi insurgents. Since January 5 Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces have detained 318 individuals and confiscated numerous weapons and munitions. The operations will continue to increase as elections near to ensure the safety of Iraqi citizens wishing to vote.
The following is an article about the Hero to Hero project and the recovery of Larry Kaibetoney, who was seriously injured in the mess hall explosion. Thanks to Dawn for the link.
Link to Full Article
by Shanon Burke, The Herald
Sometimes the reasons for a project are stationed far away — in Iraq — and organizers can hear stories told through e-mails, phone calls and letters.
On Jan. 15, however, Hero to Hero organizers and Central Pierce firefighters got to hear a first-hand account of life in Iraq, and be reminded of the importance of the part they play.
Provided below are a handful of interesting, non-Stryker related stories that I've been meaning to post. Let us know if you find these kinds of items worthwhile.
(DoD Press Release)
Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, announced Monday the implementation of a new clinical program to assess the health of service members three to six months after redeployment, focusing on support to those needing assistance with post traumatic stress disorder, psychological and social readjustment issues.
Link to Full Article
BY JERRY DAVICH
While his teenage friends play shoot 'em up video games in their bedrooms, Michael Brunsman dodges insurgent gunfire in Iraq.
The 2004 Portage High School graduate left his family late last year to serve Uncle Sam in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Link to Full Article
By Steve Walsh, Post-Tribune
Heavy rains give need for Engineers’ mobile bridge-building equipment.
The rainy season poses a threat to American troops stationed in Mosul. Steady rain over the last 72 hours has turned some of the makeshift desert roads into rivers of mud. Soldiers with the Indiana National Guard 113th Engineer Battalion have had to find ways to fix some of the worst problems before some of the routes in outlying areas become impassable.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 26, 2005) – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) continued operations to ensure security for the elections, detaining seven individuals in northern Iraq today. Multi-National Force soldiers detained four individuals suspected of being involved with a anti-Iraqi insurgent cell while conducting a raid south of Mosul. Suspects are in custody with no MNF injuries reported.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 26, 2005) – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) continued operations to ensure security for the elections, detaining four individuals in northern Iraq yesterday. Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment detained four individuals suspected of anti-Iraqi activity while conducting cordon and search operations in Gabr Abd. Suspects are in custody with no MNF injuries reported.
Family members have confirmed that 1LT Nainoa Hoe was the soldier killed in Mosul on Saturday. 1LT Hoe was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1/25 SBCT. According to his wife Emily, a memorial service will be held this Wednesday at the Main Chapel, Ft. Lewis at 1:30 PM. If you cannot attend, she asks that you light a candle in his honor. You can view photos of 1LT Hoe in Emily's album.
We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Emily, their families, and the many friends and comrades he leaves behind. We will add any articles we find to this entry.
UPDATE 1/25: The time and location of the memorial at Ft. Lewis have changed again - see above.
Richmond Times-Dispatch photographer Dean Hoffmeyer, who recently returned from assignment in Mosul, offers this slideshow of images from his time there.
Winds of Change has published its latest Iraq Report, with links to news and analysis of recent events.
One-year tours appear to be the norm through 2006
Link to Full Article
By ERIC SCHMITT, New York Times
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 - The Army's current plan is to keep about 120,000 soldiers in Iraq through 2006, roughly the same number that are fighting there now, a senior operations officer said Monday.
His projection comes as members of Congress are pressing the administration for a more detailed explanation of its plan for an eventual withdrawal, and as the administration is about to seek approximately $80 billion in additional military spending for operations in Iraq and, to a lesser extent, in Afghanistan.
Link to Full Article
BY DIONNE SEARCEY, Newsday
MOSUL, Iraq - Iraqi election officials kicked off a media blitz yesterday in this terror-gripped city aimed at hiring nearly 1,000 election workers in the next six days to help set up and monitor Sunday's landmark vote.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 25, 2005) – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) confiscate weapons and ammunition, and detained four individuals during operations in northern Iraq yesterday. Multi-National Force soldiers confiscated weapons and ammunition, and detain three individuals suspected of anti-Iraqi activity in eastern Mosul. Suspects are in custody with no MNF injuries reported.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 25, 2005) – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) continued operations to ensure security for the elections, detaining 28 individuals in northern Iraq today. Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment detained 20 individuals suspected of anti-Iraqi activity while conducting cordon and search operations in Wanah. Suspects are in custody with no MNF injuries reported.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 25, 2005) – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) were able to defuse a roadside bomb following a tip received through the Joint Coordination Center in northern Iraq yesterday. An Iraqi citizen called the Joint Coordination Center to inform them of a roadside bomb planted in northeastern Mosul. Multi-National Forces were called to the scene and were able to defuse the bomb. The citizen was given a reward for the tip. These types of courageous acts are often rewarded.
(TFO Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (January 25, 2005) – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) detained six individuals during operations in northern Iraq January 23. Quick Response Forces from Task Force Olympia detained five individuals suspected of planting a roadside bomb. Suspects are in custody.
This article contains a quote from a 1/25 commander.