Photos: Jungle Patrol
Army Public Affairs has a new gallery featuring photos of the 5-20 INF, 3/2 SBCT in Diyala. Description:
Think Iraq, think desert. But the country also is situated in the so-called "fertile crescent." In some areas, the vegetation is luxuriant, which also makes it a good hiding place for weapons and terrorists. Stopping this from happening are Soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division's 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, in Diyala Province, March 20.
Local soldier hurt in Iraq
Let's all pray for a speedy recovery for Spc. Jon Harris.
Mar 30, 2007 — Lindsay Harris said her brother's voice alarmed her when he called Saturday from Iraq.
"He sounded horrible," Harris said. "'Jon, what's wrong? Are you OK?'"
He said no, but he would be OK, please let him speak with Aunt Christy.
Only hours earlier, an improvised explosive device, or IED, in Baqubah, Iraq, had rocked the Stryker that Spc. Jon Harris was riding in. The explosion cost him his left foot.
The Small-Town War
The following article from Time magazine focuses on recent operations in the Diyala province. The Strykers are only mentioned briefly.
The insurgents took control of the Diyala River Valley outside Baqubah almost as soon as the Americans deployed elsewhere in Iraq. That was back in November 2006. The streets of Diyala province then became deadlier than ever, as the string of placid farming hamlets nestled among dense palm groves shuddered with violence. The province and its capital, Baqubah, which lies 30 miles north of Baghdad, unraveled. The once mixed villages have become sectarian enclaves; banks, stores and markets have shut down for fear of murder and bloodshed. But at the end of February, the U.S. began patrolling the valley again, and on March 24 America struck back with force. The first target: the insurgents' safe haven of Qubah, a village on the edge of the river valley.
Stryker Brigade Arrives For RSOI Support
BY PV2 Dana Pugh, Army Public Affairs
DAEGU, KOREA - 2nd Platoon, A Company, 1-27th Infantry Regiment from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii arrived at Daegu Air Base March 18 to participate in the Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration exercise held annually by United States Forces Korea.
The Stryker Brigade then moved to Rodriguez Range, where they will conduct platoon training until March 31, said William E. Hanlin, 19th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) exercise plans specialist.
David Hardt Column
Blog-Ah! has published its latest column from David Hardt, a soldier serving with the 5-20 INF, 3/2 SBCT in Iraq.
Focus: Through the Lens of a Soldier
Former 1/25 SBCT soldier Walt Gaya has a new book of photos for sale called Focus: Through the Lens of a Soldier. Gaya has been mentioned many times previously on this site.
(via Blog-Ah!)
Mobilization put to the test
By William Cole, Honolulu Advertiser
Hawai'i Stryker vehicles made a bit of history this month, deploying for the first time out of the state for war games in South Korea.
Also tested for the first time was their ability to be transported on C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes that were brought to Hickam Air Force Base in part to rapidly transport the fast-strike Stryker brigade.
The four 19-ton Stryker vehicles and about 50 soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Wolfhounds are due to return Monday morning on two Hawai'i-based C-17s, the Army said.
Wounded in Iraq - local couple worries about their son
BY LORY POUNDER, Summit Daily News
FRISCO - A rocket-propelled grenade landed within feet of Army Staff Sgt. Rich Watson on the streets in the Diyala Province of Iraq, throwing him into the ground.
"When he woke up from the initial blast he was face down on the pavement," said his mom, Sharon Jones-Bird, of Frisco, who talked to her son while he laid in an Iraqi hospital bed this week.
She and her husband, Jerry Bird, worry everyday about their son, who is in the ninth month of his second tour of Iraq. The call that came in this week only intensified their concerns.
Fort Lewis soldiers test latest Army concept vehicles
SEATTLE - Taking a page from auto manufacturers, the Army has rolled out several concept vehicles it hopes will help spawn new technologies for the next generation.
The two utility trucks and two maneuver sustainment vehicles are part of a $60 million Army program to modernize military tactical vehicles like the Humvee and the Hemmet, the Army’s large transport truck. They are to be used strictly for demonstration and aren’t likely to go into production, Army officials said.
The trucks, which arrived at Fort Lewis earlier this month, were tested Wednesday by soldiers with the 14th Battalion and the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.
Stryker Battalion Enters Fight in Baqubah
The information in this article is a bit dated, but it was only released by Public Affairs yesterday. There is an album of photos that accompanies the article.
By Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico, 5th MPAD
BAQUBAH, Iraq— Soldiers who arrived in Baqubah to bolster the effort to root out terrorists in the Diyala province, wound up in several battles against insurgents on their first day in the city, March 14.
Those Soldiers, who are members of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., arrived the day before from Taji, which is located on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Classroom theory springs to life in Diyala
By Lauren Frayer - The Associated Press
BAQUBAH, Iraq — Cigar smoke curled around Col. David Sutherland’s face as he sat at his weekly campfire, just miles from the enemy, recalling the days when he paced the front of a classroom, lecturing Army officers on how to capture a town and not destroy it.
Now, those theories are getting a test in the brutal reality of Baqubah, rubbing up against a tough Sunni insurgency and al-Qaida in Iraq.
The 45-year-old Sutherland runs the U.S. military show in troubled Diyala province, a place where Iraqi police are beheaded in public parks.
Mansour Security District Clearing Continues
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO
BAGHDAD – In a sixth day of clearing operations in the Iraqi capital’s Al Mansour
security district, Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Soldiers detained a total of eight
suspected terrorists and discovered four weapons caches. Five of the eight people
detained came as a result from tips provided by local citizens.
On the evening of March 25, a local Iraqi woman provided a tip to Soldiers from
2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment and they conducted an early morning raid March 26
that led to the arrest of five suspected terrorists. A second tip provided by an Iraqi
citizen led to the discovery of an 82mm mortar tube in an abandoned house. Two other
weapons caches found today included two AK-47 assault rifles, one shotgun, two 9mm
pistols, two black ski masks, and electronic components used for making improvised
explosive devices.
Sgt. Freeman L. Gardner Jr.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. Freeman L. Gardner Jr., 26, of Little Rock, Ark., died Mar. 22 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit while on combat patrol. He was assigned to the 18th Engineer Company, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry
Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and fellow soldiers. We will add any future articles we find to this entry.
Photos: Stryker Soldiers Clear Baqubah Palm Groves
DVIDS also has a new album featuring the 3/2 SBCT. Description:
Soldiers with Company B, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, pull security in a palm grove in Baqubah, Iraq, March 16. Soldiers of the unit, part of 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., spent three days clearing the palm groves in the neighborhood of Buhriz to deny insurgents access to the terrain, which can be used to hide weapons and to launch attacks on coalition forces.
Video: Strykers Come to Diyala
DVIDS has a new video featuring the 3-2 SBCT in Diyala. Decription:
B-roll of Soldiers moving to Forward Operating Base Warhorse to help secure Baqubah and the Diyala province. Two Soldiers are briefly interviewed at the end.
Soldiers test new terrain
By T.D. Flack, Stars and Stripes
RODRIGUEZ RANGE, South Korea — While a group of Hawaii-based soldiers may have left the sun and surf back in Honolulu for the frosty mountains of South Korea, they said they were thrilled with the training ranges they found just south of the Demilitarized Zone separating the Koreas.
About 50 soldiers — and four of their Stryker armored vehicles — from the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division arrived in South Korea on March 18 for the annual Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration/Foal Eagle exercises.
David Hardt Column
Blog-Ah! has published its latest column from David Hardt, a soldier serving with the 3/2 SBCT in Baghdad. In this dispatch he recounts how his Stryker was destroyed by an IED.
SSG Darrell R. Griffin Jr.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Darrell R. Griffin Jr., 36, of Alhambra, Calif., died Mar. 21 in Balad, Iraq, from wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with small arms fire during combat operations. Griffin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones SSG Griffin leaves behind. Please check this entry for additional articles we find.
Stryker Force
We missed this article when it was originally published almost two weeks ago. SSG Griffin is quoted, which is how we found it today.
By Alex Kingsbury, US News & World Report
SKANDARIYAH, IRAQ-The moon is nearly full as the American soldiers clamber into their rugged Stryker armored vehicles and head out to catch a suspected al Qaeda cell leader. He's wanted for setting up false highway checkpoints in order to abduct and kill traveling Shiites, and the Army thinks he's holed up in a farmhouse outside of town.
The Stryker unit rolls through an area of isolated huts and lonely roads south of Baghdad where troops know all too well to expect enemy ambushes and roadside bombs. What they don't expect is to take small-arms fire-from an Iraqi Army patrol. "Every night is something different," says Staff Sgt. Darrell Griffin, sitting in the back of his eight-wheel Stryker vehicle. "The uncertainty is one of the hardest things to deal with."
Riding On The Most Dangerous Iraqi Roads
"This is the most dangerous road in Iraq," Sgt. Robby Taylor tells me, as our Stryker rolls toward one of the nastiest neighborhoods in Baqubah, already one of the most dangerous cities in Iraq.
I swallow nervously. Five minutes ago, the soldiers gave me a tourniquet and some bandages and asked me if I had ever treated a gunshot wound. I could feel my blood pumping faster and my stomach was in knots.
‘It’s scary, it’s exhilarating’
Smiley was an officer with the 1/25 SBCT when he was injured in Mosul, Iraq in 2005.
VAIL — Skiing with your eyes closed is very dangerous, but if you’re Scott Smiley you have no choice.
It has been just over one year since Scott Smiley has skied Vail, and almost two years since he was blinded by shrapnel from a suicide bomb in Iraq.
On April 6, 2005, Smiley and his squad received intelligence of enemy activity in Mosul. Smiley and his squad were checking for car bombs when something went wrong.
Each Picture in Iraq Is a Piece of the Landscape of War
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK By MIKE GUDGELL
Mar. 22, 2007 — Each time I come to Iraq it's different. This time I spent several weeks with soldiers at Camp Victory near Baghdad. The first time was with the newly minted Stryker Brigade, back in 2003. The battalion I was with then was new, nervous and uncertain. They are back. I bunked next to them at Victory. They are part of the "senior" brigade in Iraq, one of the most respected units here and at the pointy end of the spear in the fight for Baghdad.
The last time I was in Baghdad I was in the middle of an almost unimaginable orgy of violence.
Every experience is a mere snapshot in time — a single picture in the life of a war. No one is an expert on Iraq. Everyone looks at a broad landscape through a keyhole. Each look gives us a piece of a complicated mosaic. No one can see the whole picture, and many of the pieces are missing.
Iraqi and Coalition Soldiers begin clearing operations in the Mansour Security District
By Major Rob Parke, 3-2 SBCT Public Affairs Officer
BAGHDAD - Approximately 1,600 Iraqi security forces and coalition force Soldiers began clearing operations in Baghdad’s Mansour Security District March 21 to rid the area of Al Qaeda terrorists and illegal militias. The clearing operations began in southern Ghazaliya and Ameriya neighborhoods.
Iraqi security forces partnered with coalition Soldiers conducted precision raids this morning against multiple known terrorist targets and then quickly transitioned to clearing neighborhoods house by house looking for terrorist support zones and illegal weapons caches. They spoke with the local citizens to hear their concerns and gather information to better support the continuing Baghdad Security Operation known as Operation Fardh Al Qanoon.
Over the course of the operation, Iraqi security forces detained 20 individuals for further questioning and coalition forces detained 11 individuals. Two weapons caches were discovered with containers of nitric acid and chlorine.
The operation coined as Arrowhead Strike Nine included approximately 500 Iraqi security forces from 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division; 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division; 4th Brigade, 10th Iraqi Army Division; and 5th Battalion, 2nd National Police Brigade. Nearly 1,100 U.S Army Soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division and 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division were also involved in the operation.
Fort Lewis troops now front and center
FORT LEWIS, Pierce County -- When the war in Iraq began in 2003, soldiers on the biggest army post in the western United States remained largely on the sidelines.
As the fighting enters a fifth year, Fort Lewis troops are now in the thick of American efforts to improve security in an Iraq shattered by sectarian and insurgent violence.
More than 6,000 Fort Lewis-based soldiers are serving overseas, with the vast majority of them in Iraq. During the next three months, more than 4,900 additional troops will be headed to Iraq -- mostly members of a Stryker brigade -- as part of President Bush's troop buildup.
US News Reports
Alex Kingsbury of US News & World Report recently spent some time with the 2-3 INF, 3/2 SBCT in Baghdad. Their website has a special section featuring video and dispatches from his time with the battalion.
Strykers discover cache in Diyala palm groves
Multi-National Division – North PAO
BAQUBAH, Iraq – Soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, uncovered an anti-Iraqi forces’ operating cell with large quantities of weapons Sunday, while conducting combat patrols throughout the palm groves in Buhriz, an area within Baqubah, Iraq.
As Soldiers conducted operations, they initially discovered weapons and munitions in a one-room concrete building. After securing the site and conducting a more detailed search, the Soldiers discovered more munitions throughout the area, mainly in an underground chamber created by a septic tank.
“This success highlights the added benefit of the Stryker battalion working in Baqubah,” said Col. David W. Sutherland, 3-1 Cav. commander. “The discovery demonstrates the unique capabilities of this battalion, while simultaneously building the Iraqi Army with a different type of force structure, all the while securing the population.”
Photos: Gunbattle in Diyala
Army Public Affairs has created a new slide show of photos from operations in Diyala featuring soldiers from the 5-20 INF, 3/2 SBCT.
Iraq effort manned by new wave of faces
By LAUREN FRAYER, The Associated Press
BAGHDAD -- Many of those serving in the Iraq war as it enters a fifth year were in high school when it began.
The Pentagon estimates more than 875,000 U.S. troops have rotated through Iraq since March 20, 2003. It was not clear how many of that number were individuals counted twice because many troops are on a second tour. About one in eight of those are under the age of 20, and more than half are under 24.
When about 120,000 American troops entered Iraq in March 2003, they did not know what they would face. But the latest waves of troops, translators and journalists here are armed with four years of knowledge - of TV images, of war stories and of deaths.
Videos: 5-20 INF in Diyala
Via Mike Gilbert's FOB Tacoma blog we find two new videos from Army Public Affairs featuring the 5-20 INF in the Diyala Province. Links and descriptions:
Video: Soldiers Clear Palm Groves in Baqubah
B-roll of U.S. Soldiers clearing a large palm grove on the outskirts of Baqubah. Scenes include Soldiers firing weapons from buildings, moving into a palm grove area and securing the grove area.
Video: Heavy Fire at Buhriz Station
B-roll of U.S. Soldiers returning fire from anti-Iraqi forces. Scenes include Soldiers arriving at Buhriz Station, finding a defensive high ground and returning fire on the anti-Iraqi forces.
Army Launches Wounded Warrior, Family Hotline
WASHINGTON, March 19, 2007 – Army officials this morning launched a new hotline to help wounded warriors and their family members to get information or assistance with medical or other issues.
The “Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline,” 1-800-984-8523, also will help Army leaders improve services to wounded soldiers and their families, officials said.
"We have designed this call center to be able to collectively hear what the soldiers say about their health care issues, so as issues are raised, we can identify systemic faults or problematic areas and senior leaders can better allocate resources," said Maj. Gen. Sean J. Byrne, commander of U.S. Army Human Resources Command.
Baghdad Order of Battle
Bill Roggio has an updated version of his analysis of coalition forces operating in and around Baghdad. The recent move of the 5-20 INF, 3/2 SBCT into Diyala is discussed as well.
Recovering from the wounds of war
John P. Kaiser lost his right eye, five lower teeth and a piece of his lower left jaw when a mortar shell ripped into his Stryker armored vehicle five months ago in Iraq. He also took a bullet through his upper right arm.
When a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee 17 months ago in Iraq, Brian Radke lost most of the use of his hands, suffered major brain and leg injuries, and lost part of his sense of taste and feeling in his jaw.
Yet both of the young Clark County soldiers -- wounded warriors who came home hurt -- say their medical treatment has been good to excellent at controversial Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis. [...]
Book: The Long Road Home
A number of people have emailed us to suggest we link to recent interviews with Martha Raddatz, the Chief White House correspondent for ABC News. She recently released a book titled, "The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family", and has been featured on programs such as Charlie Rose (interview begins at the 31:30 minute mark) and Good Morning America. I haven't read the book or watched the full interview, but those who have appreciate that she focuses so much time on the soldiers' families back home. J.M. Simpson at Blog-Ah! has a more detailed book review if you'd like to read that as well.
CPL Brian L. Chevalier
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Cpl. Brian L. Chevalier, 21, of Athens, Ga., died Mar. 14 in Mufrek, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near him. Chevalier was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
Out thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and fellow soldiers. We will add any future articles we find to this entry.
Tribal Leaders Helping to Stem Violence in Diyala Province
By Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2007 – Tribal leaders are cooperating with U.S. and Iraqi security forces to reduce terrorist-staged violence in Diyala province, senior U.S. and Iraqi military officials said today.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have urged prominent sheikhs in Diyala province “to work with their people to become part of the security process and part of the political process (to) drive a wedge (between) the terrorists and any auxiliary support or direct support that they may receive from the people,” Army Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, said from his headquarters in Baqubah during a teleconference with reporters.
Baqubah is the capital city of Diyala and is located about 125 miles northeast of Baghdad.
Stryker soldier dies in attack
Stryker troops in Iraq had been riding a wave of good fortune until Wednesday's fighting in Baqouba.
The soldier who died was the first from Fort Lewis to be killed in Iraq in seven weeks. That's despite the fact that the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division since December has been working in Baghdad as the U.S. military's main strike force against insurgent and militia fighters.
Fort Lewis officials said Thursday that they could offer no information until the Department of Defense identified the soldier.
The soldier and two others who were killed were part of a 700-troop Stryker task force, led by the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, sent this week to quell insurgency fighters thought to have fled the security crackdown in the capital. [...]
Video: Diyala Operations
Via FOB Tacoma we found a video from Wednesday of the Strykers operating in Diyala. Description:
B-Roll of Soldiers engaging insurgent forces in the streets of Baqubah. Scenes include Soldiers exiting vehicle, Soldiers running in streets, aiming weapons, and traveling in Stryker vehicles.
David Hardt Column
Blog-Ah! has published its latest column from David Hardt, a soldier serving with the 3/2 SBCT in Baghdad.
Strykers face Diyala barrage
The following Associated Press article is being carried by a number of news outlets. We haven't seen a press release from the Army Public Affairs regarding these incidents.
Update: Bill Roggio at The Fourth Rail has a more in depth report of the fighting in Diyala.
By Lauren Frayer, Associated Press
BAQOUBA, Iraq — Dozens of U.S. Stryker combat vehicles roared into Baqouba at sunrise. The enemy was ready. As the dawn call-to-prayer fell silent, the streets blazed with insurgent fire.
Within minutes of the start of their first mission in volatile Diyala province Wednesday a voice crackled across the radio: "Catastrophic kill, with casualties."
Inside the rear of one Stryker, soldiers shushed one another and leaned closer to the radio. They all knew what it meant. A U.S. vehicle had been lost to enemy fire.
Teachers' Institute Opens in Rasheed
By Pfc. Nathaniel Smith
4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, March 14, 2007 — The Iraqi National Police and Multi-National Division-Baghdad Forces opened the Mutanabi Teachers' Institute in the Rasheed district of the Iraqi capital, March 13.
The institute was opened at the Netaaken School, a school for girls, ages 12 through 19, in the southern district.
Sabeeh Al Ka'abi, the head of the Al Rasheed District Action Council, said this project, which took about three weeks to complete, would help teachers do their job of educating young Iraqis.
Staff Sgt. Bryan Stone, a squad leader with Troop C, 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, whose unit was instrumental in opening the school, said the mission went smoothly while providing a facility for the all-important business of education.
Photos: Strykers in Diyala
DVIDS has added five photos of the 5-20 INF, 3/2 SBCT as it arrives in the Diyala province.
Coalition Forces continue to pressure Baghdad VBIED network
The 3/2 SBCT was involved in this operation according to the following press release.
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Soldiers from eight brigade combat teams completed a nine-day sweep throughout Baghdad to disrupt the Baghdad vehicle borne improvised explosive device network on March 10. The operation was designed to attack the terrorist command and control structure organizing and financing the deadly car bomb attacks.
Over the course of the operation which began March 2 Coalition forces and Iraqi security forces struck 82 precision targets. As a result, 24 terrorists were killed; four wounded and 90 suspected terrorists were detained. Several of those detained were members of Al-Qaeda. Coalition Forces also found or captured many weapons caches to include two aircraft bombs, one 500-lb MK-82 bomb, 50 155mm artillery shells, one complete 82mm mortar system with over 100 rounds, four 122mm rockets, one DSHKA heavy machine gun, six rocket propelled grenades, two RPK light machine guns, 27 AK-47 assault rifles, five bolt action rifles, two shotguns, six pistols and numerous ammunition and other bomb making materials.
The operation coined as Arrowhead Strike 8 included Soldiers from 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division; 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division; 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division; 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division; 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division; 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division; 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division; and other Special Operations Forces.
“We wanted to put pressure on the entire network at one time” said Colonel Steve Townsend, Commander of 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. “We think the number of detainees we have should shake things up a bit. Although car bombing has continued in recent days, their effectiveness against civilians has significantly decreased,” said Colonel Townsend.
Stryker Battalion arrives in Diyala province
Multi-National Division – North PAO
DIYALA PROVINCE, Iraq – A Stryker battalion arrived in Diyala province today, to
capitalize on the recent successful operations by the Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition
Forces in Diyala and Baghdad.
The 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, which has a proven history in Mosul
and Baghdad, will conduct deliberate operations throughout Diyala, committing
themselves to the security of the people of the province.
700 more soldiers arrive in Diyala
By Lauren Frayer - The Associated Press
BAQUBAH, Iraq — More than 700 additional U.S. troops arrived in Iraq’s increasingly volatile Diyala province Tuesday to try to quell burgeoning violence northeast of Baghdad during a security crackdown in the capital.
The Army’s 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division moved from northern Baghdad into Baqubah early Tuesday to supplement about 3,500 American soldiers already stationed there.
Newest Stryker brigade gets official send-off to Iraq
By Keith Eldridge, KOMO 4 News (Includes Video)
FORT LEWIS - The newest Stryker brigade is heading to Iraq a month earlier than expected at the request of the president. Monday was the official send-off for the troops.
It's a brand new unit and they're going to handling a lot of firsts: first to field the new Stryker mobile gun system and first to use the high-tech Land Warrior system.
Some of these Stryker soldiers are veterans, having been to Iraq several times. Others will be seeing their first action. But now they're all melded into one unit, the 4th Stryker Brigade.
4th Stryker troops ready for ‘turn to write history’
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
The Army’s latest Stryker brigade checked off the last big item on its to-do list Monday as a few thousand family and friends gathered at Fort Lewis to wish soldiers well before their scheduled year in Iraq.
Now, for the 4,000 or so soldiers of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, it’s mostly a matter of waiting a few weeks for flights to the Middle East.
The brigade is only two years old, having been created at Fort Lewis, but some of its subordinate battalions trace their lineage back to the Civil War, the Fort Lewis commanding general, Lt. Gen. James Dubik, reminded the troops at the deployment ceremony.
Ritual unites Stryker soldiers, families
FORT LEWIS — After a ritual “casing of the colors” for the Army’s fourth Stryker Brigade at Fort Lewis on Monday afternoon, Clarissa Gonzalez of Lakewood said it’s finally sunk in that her husband, Sgt. Armando Gonzalez, will go to Iraq next month.
“I think it just hit me,” she said, as she stood on the Fort Lewis parade ground with her husband and their daughter, Victoria.
“I think he’s prepared to go, because of his job. Yes, I’m prepared, but I don’t think you can ever really be prepared,” she said. “I take comfort in family and knowing he knows his job. And I just pray. God is what gets me through.”
Tomahawk Troops Trade Strykers for Marching Boots
By Pfc. William Hatton
7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq – In the marsh farmlands south of Baghdad, coalition forces aren’t a typical presence from day to day. Most Iraqis in this area work hard farming the land and trying to make a decent living; others have more malicious intentions.
When information came in that insurgents are possibly running training camps in this rural area, Tomahawk Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, along with Iraqi soldiers didn’t hesitate making their presence known as they searched the farmland for potential threats, March 9.
Hopeful sign: Iraqi kids back at school Fort Lewis soldiers working all the angles
RACHAEL VAN HORN; For The News Tribune For the News Tribune
Al Intasar, Iraq – Nearly 300 Shiite and Sunni children scampered into their bullet-riddled school building this week, their first day of class in more than six months since their families had to abandon it and their homes in this Baghdad suburb.
Stryker brigade soldiers from Fort Lewis were there to observe and rejoice in the homecoming.
“We were just spectators to this,” said Capt. Evan Gotkin of the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery. “About two weeks ago, Shia and Sunni of our area gathered for a reconciliatory meeting of all the sheiks and councilmen – all the head leaders – and said, ‘Enough is enough. We are all Iraqi. We are all Muslim. Everyone come back home to Al Intasar.’”
The most amazing thing happened, Gotkin said: “Many did come back.”
David Hardt Column
Blog-Ah! has published the latest column from David Hardt, a soldier serving with the 3/2 SBCT in Baghdad.
U.S. Troops Enter Sadr City for 'Soft Knock' Op
NPR has an audio report featuring the Strykers in Sadr City. Follow the link and click the "Listen" icon. Description:
All Things Considered, March 8, 2007 · U.S. forces push into volatile Sadr City as the Baghdad "surge" expands. U.S. forces are busy setting up a checkpoint and going on what they call a "soft knock" house-by-house search of one neighborhood.
Unlike previous U.S. forays into the mostly Shiite area, this mission is more about courtesy than combat.
The mission's leaders admit the soft approach isn't likely to net many bad guys or weapons caches. But earning the residents' trust is paramount.
Deployment ceremony Monday
FORT LEWIS, Wash. Fort Lewis is holding a deployment ceremony Monday for the Stryker brigade that is leaving early for Iraq.
The brigade, the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, has been forming at the Army base and was scheduled to go to Iraq in May. That was moved up to April as part of the president's troop surge, forcing the brigade to cancel desert training in California.
The Army says this is the first Stryker brigade with all ten versions of the Stryker vehicle, including one armed with a cannon. Soldiers also are equipped with the new electronic "Land Warrior" system.
(Monday 2 p.m. -- Deployment Ceremony for 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team, on Watkins Field, Fort Lewis.)
Strykers capture 22, secure ammunition and explosives
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO
4th BCT (Abn.), 25th Inf. Div. Public Affairs KALSU, Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained 22 insurgent suspects and secured weapon and ammunition caches south of Baghdad March 6. Soldiers of 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division conducted targeted raids to capture known terrorists and secure weapons and ammunition near Jabella, Iraq.
Besides the 22 detainees taken into custody, several caches were found. The caches consisted of one 60mm mortar round, two sticks of dynamite, nine feet of detonation cord, three blasting caps, one set of desert camouflage uniform, three AK-47 ammunition magazines, three passports, one machine gun barrel, one AK-47 butt stock, two empty ammunition boxes, one box of primers, two AK-47s, six 7.62mm ammunition magazines, one 8mm round, two 8mm mortar fuses, five blasting caps and one rocket-propelled grenade booster.
The suspects are being detained for further questioning.
Baghdad a Block at a Time
The Army website has a new photo slide show called Baghdad a Block at a Time featuring the 1-23 INF, 3/2 SBCT. Description:
Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division and Iraqi police conduct a cordon and search operation in the Shaab/Ur area of Baghdad, Feb. 17.
Security operations continue in Sadr City
By Master Sgt. Dave Larsen, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
CAMP LIBERTY — A combined force of Iraqi Police and Multi-National Division–Baghdad troops completed a second day of security operations at the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City Monday.
Members of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team and the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division conducted security operations with their Iraqi counterparts and reported no hostile contact for a second day in an area known to be a stronghold of Muqtada al-Sadr, the extremist leader of rogue elements known for extra-judicial killings and attacks against Coalition forces. Some residents seemed genuinely pleased to see the troops arrive, as small children were seen smiling and waving to Coalition troops.
Construction begins on Sadr City's New Joint Security Station
By Sgt. Mike Pryor, 2nd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Faded graffiti on the rooftop of the Al Jezaaer Police Station in Sadr City is one of the only reminders that three years ago, coalition forces occupied the building and stood poised to take the entire area by force.
Now they are back. But this time, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C. come at the invitation of the mayor and other key leaders of the densely-packed Shiite district, and with the full backing of the Iraqi government. They come in partnership with the Iraqi Army and Iraqi police.
This time, they have come to stay.
Former Best Ranger Takes Benning's Top NCO Spot
BY Rachel Houston, The Bayonet
Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Ulibarri assumed responsibility as Fort Benning's senior NCO Friday in a ceremony in front of Infantry Hall. Ulibarri, who won the Best Ranger competition in the 80s, recently returned from a deployment to Iraq with the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
This is not his first assignment to Fort Benning - he was a Ranger instructor with the 4th Ranger Training Battalion from 1987 to 89.
Video: SFC Peter Lara
The following is an in depth interview with SFC Peter Lara of the 172nd SBCT. Lara was awarded the Silver Star for his actions during a firefight in Mosul in November 2005. SFC Lara has been featured previously on this site.
Video link courtesy of SSG Ray Flores, Soldiers Radio and Television.
Combat veterans describe Iraq stories they lived
By KATE WILTROUT, The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK - Colby Buzzell started writing because it seemed no one else was getting it right.
The Defense Department sent out brief news releases that seemed to sanitize the experience of soldiers in Iraq. The media mostly reported measly pickings served up by top brass.
So during his yearlong tour in Mosul, Iraq, Buzzell started posting his experiences to a blog. For a brief six or eight weeks, until his bosses persuaded him not to, it was a way to counter the boredom and capture the bravado that he saw with the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.
Stryker Photos
DVIDS has a number of new photos featuring Stryker Brigade soldiers, including the one below.
Caption: Spc. Brian Helms, a native of Satellite Beach, Fla., and an infantryman with Company B, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, shares a smile with an Iraqi child while on a break from providing security on the roof of the child’s home. Helms and his unit performed security sweeps of the Shaab neighborhood in Baghdad Feb. 16. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Holly Jensen, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
Update: Order of Battle
The Fourth Rail has an updated version of its Baghdad Order of Battle. It consists of a map indicating where certain coalition units are operating in and around the city, including elements of the 3/2 SBCT.
Welcome home to a pair of Iraq war veterans
By DOMINIKA MASLIKOWSKI/The Daily News
BULLHEAD CITY - Gen Biletski stood waiting in her driveway on a cul-de-sac off the Bullhead Parkway on Friday afternoon, occasionally ducking into her garage to answer her cell phone.
When her son called to say he could see the casinos, she knew he was close. She told her husband the Iraqi soldier they hadn't seen in nine months was minutes away.
The group who'd gathered to welcome Sgt. Marc Biletski began to take their places. There were a few neighbors and friends, and a white furry dog.
Soldiers talk about life after Iraq
Anchorage, Alaska - They spent 16 months in Iraq enduring a last minute four month extension, just days away from coming home.
Before these five soldiers walked into the room, the men, all from different companies, had a lot more in common than just being volunteered for this interview. All served in Iraq with the Stryker Brigade.
"The brigade needs these soldiers back to be the whole and very capable force that has been over the last year," said Major Gen. Charles Jacoby, commander, U.S. Army Alaska.
Coalition, Iraqi Troops Start Clearing Sadr City
WASHINGTON, March 4, 2007 – More than 600 Multi-National Division Baghdad soldiers and 550 Iraqi security forces began a clearing operation in the eastern Baghdad district known as Sadr City today, military officials reported.
Meanwhile, operations in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq over the last few days have resulted in numerous terrorists being killed or detained and the discovery of large weapons caches.
In Sadr City, soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, with two Stryker companies from 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, began their combined clearing operation early this morning, teaming up with the 8th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, and the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 10th Iraqi Army Division.
Joint Operations in Sadr City
Joint Operations in Sadr City B-Roll Mar. 4 Operation Tomahawk Strike 12 footage available on DVIDS
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO
BAGHDAD — ‘B-Roll’ of U.S. and Iraqi forces conducting joint operations in Baghdad’s Sadr City March 4 is available upon request from the Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS) by calling (678) 421-6604 or by accessing the DVIDS Web site at www.dvidshub.net.
The footage consists of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, a Stryker unit from Fort Lewis, Wash., conducting “soft knock” search operations alongside Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police, and Iraqi National Police in the Shi’ite enclave as part of Operation Tomahawk Strike 12, which is part of Operation Fardh Al-Qanoon, or “enforcing the
law.”
This operation is designed to conduct a combined clearance of Sadr City to set secure conditions and identify and destroy militant threats and safe houses in the area in preparation of the establishment of a District Joint Security Station.
Operation Fardh Al-Qanoon began Feb. 14, resulting in a marked decline inviolence across Baghdad since that time.
U.S. forces extend Baghdad push to militia haven
By Dean Yates and Claudia Parsons
BAGHDAD, March 4 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops met no resistance on Sunday when they searched homes for illegal weapons and carried out patrols in a Shi'ite militia bastion in Baghdad.
The operations in Sadr City, stronghold of the Mehdi Army of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, could test Iraqi and U.S. determination to enforce a security crackdown regarded as a last attempt to stop Iraq sliding into all-out sectarian civil war.
"Deliberate clearing operations have begun in Sadr City," said U.S. military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver. More raids will follow in the coming days, he said.
A U.S. military statement said 600 American and 550 Iraqi security forces backed by American Stryker armoured vehicles took part in the operation. It said no one was detained nor any weapons caches found. There was no violence.
Students support wounded soldier
The middle school soldier Adam Poppenhouse attended in Cuyahoga Falls has come to his aid.
A fundraiser at Roberts Middle School has collected more than $3,301 for the Adam P. Poppenhouse Benevolent Fund. Poppenhouse was wounded in Iraq in December.
The drive was led by the Roberts Builders Club, a Kiwanis-sponsored organization.
Everyone who gave $2 or more received Harry London Buckeyes.
Poppenhouse, a 2004 Cuyahoga Falls High School graduate, lost part of a leg as the result of a roadside bombing Dec. 3.
Before word arrived that the 21-year-old soldier had been injured, the school had planned to send him a Christmas package, said Stephen Anderson, a sixth-grade teacher at the school and adviser to the Builders Club.
When the club learned he was hurt, it sent the Christmas package to the soldier credited with saving Poppenhouse, Anderson said.
A not-so-lean, mean fighting machine
Brian Albrecht, Plain Dealer Reporter
Chances are there's one vehicle you will never drive, much less be able to afford, among the rolling ranks of gleaming chrome and supple leather at the Cleveland Auto Show.
As part of recruiting efforts at the show, which runs through Sunday at the International Exposition Center, the Army brought in a Stryker - an armored troop transport first introduced for the war in Iraq.
This million-dollar mountain of metal, looming within crushing distance of a $50,000 Porsche Boxster, is an obvious attention-getter. But the Stryker's presence is also intended to show civilians that the military is more than just grunts and guns, said Sgt. 1st Class Philip Cianchetti at the Army's exhibit.
General gets look at Stryker overhaul
By Mary Beth Smetzer, Daily News-Miner
Hunkered inside a Stryker vehicle with a half dozen soldiers and Army staff, retired four-star Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey seemed right at home Thursday afternoon.
In Alaska for a Society of American Military Engineers meeting, McCaffrey broke away to stroll through the newly built Vehicle Maintenance Facility on Fort Wainwright to view the overhauling of the Stryker vehicles and talk to soldiers who became intimately familiar with them during 16 months in Iraq.
Soldiers talk about life after Iraq
Anchorage, Alaska - They spent 16 months in Iraq enduring a last minute four month extension, just days away from coming home.
Before these five soldiers walked into the room, the men, all from different companies, had a lot more in common than just being volunteered for this interview. All served in Iraq with the Stryker Brigade.
"The brigade needs these soldiers back to be the whole and very capable force that has been over the last year," said Major Gen. Charles Jacoby, commander, U.S. Army Alaska.
And all endured a four month extension to Baghdad just days away from coming home.
"It was a surprise. We thought we'd be going home within a week," said Capt. Robert Dapice.
Capt. Robert Dapice says while still in Mosul and after talking to his wife in Anchorage, he worked hard to find out what was happening in Baghdad.
Ft. Lewis Stryker unit delayed by troop boost
MELANTHIA MITCHELL, The Associated Press
FORT LEWIS - President Bush's decision to send more troops to Iraq has slowed the establishment of the Army's seventh Stryker brigade, to be based at Fort Lewis.
The bulk of the newly named 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division had been expected to arrive at Fort Lewis by the end of March, but that has since been postponed until May and June, base spokesman Joseph Piek said Wednesday.
America Supports You: Presidential Meeting Inspires Groups
Cindy McGrew of Operation Second Chance was one of those invited to the White House. It's great to see her organization being recognized for its efforts.
By Samantha L. Quigley, American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 1, 2007 – Leaders of 10 America Supports You homefront support groups from around the country, and a National Guard family program, accepted President Bush’s invitation to meet with him at the White House yesterday.
America Supports You is a Defense Department program highlighting the ways Americans and the corporate sector support the nation’s servicemembers.
“Whether it be helping the chaplains help kids, or whether it be … helping a family of the injured, whether it be working at Walter Reed or supporting troops getting ready to go into combat, these good men and women really represent the very best of America,” Bush said after yesterday’s meeting.
Fort Lewis soldiers set up clinic in Iraq
RACHAEL VAN HORN; For The News Tribune
AL QUDAS, Iraq – After driving through some of the most treacherous roads in Iraq, soldiers from a Fort-Lewis-based unit set up the clinic Wednesday in empty classrooms of the school building in Al Qudas.
Three weeks ago, the village north of Baghdad was a growing Sunni support zone for al-Qaida in Iraq. Thanks to small detachment of soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, the village has become a place for residents to seek medical help from the Americans.
The Fort Lewis unit is part of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – the Army’s first Stryker brigade. It arrived in Iraq in July for its second deployment of the war.
Mess Hall Bombing Special on CNN
Tonight (3/1/07) CNN will broadcast a special on the Anderson Cooper 360 show regarding the soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 25th ID (SBCT) who died in the Mess Hall bombing in December 2004. According to one family member interviewed, CNN spent time with each of the six families that lost loved ones. The show airs at 10 PM EST, 7 PM PST, although I'm not sure when during the 2 hour show this piece will air.
