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By William Cole, Honolulu Advertiser
POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA — Three years ago this month, the "Golden Dragons" of the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry conducted a near-battalion-sized raid in northern Iraq — swarming 500 soldiers into the village of Amadiyah from Humvees, open-backed trucks and helicopters in search of insurgents.
At the 133,000-acre Big Island training range on Saturday, the Schofield Barracks unit was preparing for an expected return to Iraq, this time protected by a whole lot more armor.
Update 5/1: You can also read a complete transcript of the briefing.
By Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 30, 2007 – A major clearing operation that wrapped up last week in Baghdad succeeded in preventing 3,200 roadside bombs, jailing 42 terrorists, and seizing enough weapons and explosives to outfit an enemy infantry battalion, the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division’s 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team reported today.
Army Col. Steven Townsend described sweeping success in Operation Arrowhead Strike 9, which kicked off March 20 to clear west-central Baghdad’s Mansour security district.
The unit’s ninth brigade-level operation since arriving in Baghdad in December “significantly reduced insurgent activity” in the region in support of the Task Force Dagger ground forces operating there, Townsend told Pentagon reporters via videoconference from Camp Liberty.
DVIDS has a number of new albums featuring Stryker Brigade soldiers.
The 1-23 INF, 3/2 SBCT is mentioned in the following article.
By Spc. Jeffrey Ledesma, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
BAGHDAD – It has been about 40 days since they stood up the first of the concrete barriers that surround Joint Security Station Thrasher. Since then, much has changed.
Soldiers with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, out of Fort Bliss, Texas, and currently attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division here, have watched the dissolution of violent activities since they began maintaining a continuous presence in Iraqi capital’s once-hostile neighborhood of southern Ghazaliya.
Commander of the Multinational Force in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has been stateside this week briefing folks in Washington regarding the situation in Iraq. He also sat down for an hour long interview with Charlie Rose, which you can view courtesy of Google Video.
Lt. Gen. Steven Blum wants more Stryker brigades for the U.S. National Guard he commands, adding a powerful voice to the chorus of states — including Alabama, California, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada and Oregon — that want more of the 20-ton, eight-wheeled armored combat vehicles.
“If the Army would identify a requirement for additional Stryker units in the Army National Guard, we would welcome that dramatically,” Blum told members of Congress on April 20. “It offers protection and see-more, know-more and act-faster kind of capabilities. I would love to have had a Stryker brigade in Katrina,” referring to the disaster response in the U.S. Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
A great story sent to us by Daniel L.
By Manny Gonzales, Denver Post
Between coordinating air and ground attacks on enemy insurgents in Iraq, Army Capt. Joel Parker sets aside time for rest. And homework.
On May 5, his father, Leedell, will don his son's graduation cap and gown at Regis University's commencement, where he will accept Joel's master of business administration degree.
Joel, who is stationed in Baghdad with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team, earned his degree through online courses and hopes to be able to watch the ceremony through an online link-up.
Seattle-based KING 5 News put together the following segment for its newscast last night. The video was provided by the DoD and features the 1-23 INF and 2-3 INF, 3/2 SBCT.
Fort Lewis troops on a dangerous mission in Iraq
We go on patrol with Fort Lewis troops in Iraq. It has been a few tough weeks after three soldiers have been killed in action. But the mission presses on. Jim Forman has newly released video from the Department of Defense.
Blog-Ah! has published its latest column from David Hardt, a soldier serving with the 5-20 INF, 3/2 SBCT in Iraq.
Follow the link for audio, video or a transcript of this segment from PBS.
Iraq's Diyala Province One of Deadliest for Troops
Since November, dozens of U.S. service members have been killed in Diyala, making it one of Iraq's deadliest provinces. Iraqis have not escaped the violence either. Military analysts discuss the persistent insurgency.
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
After Staff Sgt. Chess Johnson was wounded in Iraq, he was flown to Germany and then to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He spent about a month recovering from a gunshot wound to the head before being shipped home to Fort Lewis.
His departure was probably a relief to Walter Reed nurses. He admits he was not a model patient.
Despite devastating injuries – a bullet tore through the right side of his face, destroying his eye and his cheekbone – Johnson was a handful. He removed those little sticky monitors, and one time he took out a catheter because he insisted on standing up and going to the bathroom. He’d sneak himself up and into the shower.
DVIDS has added a few new albums featuring the Stryker Brigade.
By Pfc. Benjamin Gable, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
CAMP STYKER, Iraq – U.S. and Iraqi army troops moved in to the eastern part of Baghdad’s Mansour District to provide security for locals and to search for illegal weapons.
Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Ft. Lewis, Wash., were tasked with the deliberate clearance of homes in this area, the neutralizing weapons caches and the performing of targeted raids.
With the IA in the lead, April 14, the coalition forces moved into the city.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
CPL Michael M. Rojas, 21, of Fresno, Calif., died Apr. 18 in Taji, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones CPL Rojas leaves behind.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
CPL Wade J. Oglesby, 27, of Grand Junction, Colo., died Apr. 18 in Taji, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and fellow soldiers of CPL Oglesby.
1-37 FA, 3/2 SBCT featured in the following article.
By Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
BOOB AL SHAM — Coalition forces assisted the city council here with the re-opening of the Boob Al Sham Girls Secondary School April 18 after a $100,000 renovation on the school building.
On the first day of school nearly 600 students from ages 12 to 17 came back to the facility that now has freshly painted walls, ceilings, new light fixtures, new restrooms, fans, water fountains and repaired roofs.
By Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico, 5th MPAD
BAQOUBA, Iraq — Soldiers with 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment continued their systematic attack on terrorist forces in Baqouba with another clearing operation in the city, April 10.
In this latest effort, Soldiers of 5-20 Inf. Regt., 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., spent three days clearing the neighborhood of Buhriz, described by Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Bruce Antonia as “al-Qaida’s battleground.”
When the Stryker battalion first arrived in Baqouba in March, it encountered resistance from the neighborhood’s insurgents in the form of roadside bombs, rocket propelled grenade fire and small arms fire.
According to the following analysis, although the Land Warrior program has effectively been ended, elements of the system have been adopted by Stryker Brigades.
April 22, 2007: The U.S. Army is still trying to figure out what to do with a lot of new technologies developed for its Land Warrior program. That was an effort to enhance infantry performance with a lot of technology that was never ready for prime time (like wearable computers). Although the Land Warrior program is dead, the general concept lives on with new stuff the combat troops are using. The problem with Land Warrior was that is tried to be revolutionary, while the troops really wanted evolutionary items. Although the army has halted work on Land Warrior, it is sending some of the equipment to Iraq, to see how well it performs in combat. The current Land Warrior gear includes a wearable computer/GPS/radio combination, plus improvements in body armor and uniform design. Troops who tested Land Warrior in the U.S. found it too much hassle, and not enough benefit. [...]
Stryker troops are mentioned in the following article.
By Joshua Partlow, Washington Post
BAQUBAH, Iraq -- The pale blue light inside the Chinook helicopter cast a faint glow on the young soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, tensed for battle. They crossed themselves and bowed their heads.
The battalion was flying in the middle of the night toward an Iraqi village, one unexplored by American troops and believed to be dominated by Sunni insurgents. The troops had heard the stories -- militant camps hidden in palm groves, underground torture prisons, sniper teams on rooftops -- and were ready for a fight. As a lone soldier had roared on the tarmac amid the thudding rotors: "Battle hard!"
Earl Corp, The Meadville Tribune
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS — Usually when talking to a soldier about a piece of Army equipment, there will be a list of ways to improve it as far as “the boots on the ground” are concerned.
But when Spec. Kirk Hinz of Erie was asked to comment on the Stryker Fighting Vehicle on Friday afternoon at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Cambridge Springs Readiness Center and Field Maintenance Shop, he had nothing but praise.
“It’s held up to what’s expected so far — and it’s getting better,” he said.
By William Cole, Honolulu Advertiser
A return to company-size live-fire training at Makua Valley — prohibited by court order for the past three years — is "absolutely critical" to the Army's training strategy and requirements in Hawai'i, the service said in a new report to Congress.
The only theoretically possible alternative would be to spend up to $600 million to build up similar training capabilities at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island, an effort that would take seven to 12 years, the Army said.
By Sgt. Robert Yde, 2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE ECHO, Iraq – For many months, coalition Soldiers based here had been the recipients of nearly nightly mortar attacks originating from the nearby town of Diwaniyah.
As the security situation in Diwaniyah continued to deteriorate, the Baghdad-based, Stryker unit, 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, was sent here to help out.
After arriving to the FOB, putting a stop to the constant mortar and rocket attacks was a top priority.
By Spc. Jeffrey Ledesma, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Transitioning from fighting on the battlefields of the war-torn Iraqi capital to reading the pages of heavy textbooks in a college classroom is a change of scenery one Soldier is about to make.
As Pfc. Joshua Ruth, an infantryman with 2nd Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, nears the end of his first deployment, he gets ready to go back to school through the Army’s “Green to Gold” program.
Blog-Ah! has published its latest column from David Hardt, a soldier serving with the 3/2 SBCT in Iraq.
One of the teams competing is from the former 172nd SBCT, now the 1/25 SBCT.
When the 24th annual Best Ranger Competition begins Friday at Fort Benning, Ga., 78 two-man teams will hit the dirt and start pumping out push-ups, embarking on a 60-hour odyssey that one organizer called the “endurathon.”
The mental and physical contest is one of the Army’s toughest. More soldiers are competing this year than in the past five. [...]
DVIDS has a few recent photo albums featuring Stryker soldiers.
Bill Roggio at The Fourth Rail examines the recent spate of suicide bombings in Baghdad and offers his analysis of what this could mean for coalition operations in the Diyala Province.
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA, American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 18, 2007 – The Defense Department today unveiled a program that will reward administrative leave to servicemembers whose service in combat does not meet the department’s goal for the time at home station between deployments.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates directed the development of this program Jan. 19, when he implemented a force management policy stating that DoD’s goal was to give active-duty troops two years at home station for every year deployed, and reserve component troops five years at home station for every year deployed. At the time, Gates recognized that national security concerns would require servicemembers to be deployed more frequently than this goal, so he announced a compensation plan to make up for frequent deployments.
The 4/2 SBCT is featured in the following article, which appears in the May 2007 edition of Popular Mechanics.
By Noah Shachtman, Popular Mechanics
There's a half-billion dollars invested in the gear hanging off the heads, chests and backs of the soldiers of Alpha company. Digital maps displayed on helmet-mounted eyepieces show the position of all the men in the unit as they surround a block of concrete buildings and launch their attacks. Instead of relying on the hand signals and shouted orders that most infantrymen use, Alpha company communicates via advanced, encrypted radio transmissions with a range of up to a kilometer. It's more information than any soldiers have ever had about their comrades and their surroundings.
But as Alpha kicks in doors, rounds up terror suspects and peals off automatic fire in deafening six-shot bursts, not one of the soldiers bothers to check his radio or look into the eyepiece to find his buddies on the electronic maps. "It's just a bunch of stuff we don't use, taking the place of useful stuff like guns," says Sgt. James Young, who leads a team of four M-240 machine-gunners perched on a balcony during this training exercise at Fort Lewis, Wash. "It makes you a slower, heavier target."
By Sgt. Robert Yde, 2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE ECHO — After a little more than a week of operations in city of Diwaniyah, Soldiers with Task Force 1-14th Cavalry, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, continue to make strides toward restoring security in an area that has seen an increase in militia activity after a couple of years with no steady coalition presence.
“We came here to do a mission, and we came here to accomplish handing over security to a follow on unit, whether that’s IA (Iraqi army) or IP (Iraqi police),” Troop A commander, Capt. Gerald Resmondo said April 15. “I think we’ve just about completed the mission.”
Nearly 4,000 soldiers assigned to a Stryker combat brigade in transit to Iraq are the first from Fort Lewis to receive a controversial anthrax vaccine since the shots again became mandatory for select U.S. service members.
On Feb. 8, the Army and the other service branches resumed mandatory inoculations for U.S. service members deploying to the Middle East and South Korea for more than 15 days, as well as those responsible for homeland bioterrorism defense.
Stryker drivers of all experience levels are using advanced simulators at Fort Lewis to hone their skills operating the 19-ton armored vehicles.
The $800,000 simulators allow new drivers to become acquainted with the vehicle’s handling and maneuverability and enable experienced drivers to fine-tune their skills without risking injury to soldiers or damage to the $4 million vehicles, Army officials said.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say this training capability is going to save lives in combat, and it’s going to give us a more capable force than we’ve had before,” said Brig Gen. William Troy, deputy commander of Fort Lewis and I Corps, during a short ribbon-cutting ceremony for the simulators Tuesday.
By Spc. Jeffrey Ledesma, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
BAGHDAD – One undeniable commonality in every battle fought is the memories of war that burn into the minds of the Soldiers who fight in it and the small pieces that remind them to never forget.
Three infantrymen with Company C, 1st “Tomahawk” Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, experienced three different attacks, on three separate occasions and each came away with different stories to tell and some proof that fit into the palm of their hand.
By Sgt. Robert Yde, 2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE ECHO, Iraq – After several days of continuous combat operations in Diwaniyah, Soldiers from Task Force 1st Battalion, 14th Cavalry, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, are now focusing their efforts on locating specific targets and performing clearing operations in different areas of the city while forming working relationships with the local population.
Every day the Soldiers are in different neighborhoods searching for weapon caches and talking with the residents about the problems in the area.
“We just picked this up,” Sgt. Michael Gibson, a native of Angles Camp, Calif. said explaining his troop’s new mission. “We were doing continuous combat operations out here when we first got here.”
By Sharon Behn, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BAGHDAD - U.S. troops said yesterday that they had found two large caches of nitric acid a highly corrosive substance with chemical weapons potential in abandoned houses used by Sunni insurgents in western Baghdad.
Other chemically laced bombs used in terrorist attacks recently have been spiked with chlorine.
Acting on a tip from neighbors, members of the Stryker Brigade's Alpha Company found 31 barrels of nitric acid Saturday in the walled-off front yard of a house that had been raided less than two weeks earlier.
PBS is currently airing a ten-part documentary titled "America at a Crossroads" that
explores the challenges confronting the post-9/11 world — including the war on terrorism; the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan; the experience of American troops serving abroad; the struggle for balance within the Muslim world; and global perspectives on America's role overseas.
The episode airing tonight is called "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience," and features two former 3/2 SBCT soldiers - Colby Buzzell and Brian Turner. Follow the link to learn more and to check local listings for air times.
UPDATE: A third Stryker soldier, SSG Jack Lewis, was also featured in the documentary.
By Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
BAQUBAH — Coalition forces launched an operation April 2 to clear and secure the market area in Baqubah, Iraq, in order to reestablish the city’s economic center.
Soldiers of 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., maintained a continuous 24-hour presence in the area, called Old Baqubah, during the first four days of the operation while they searched for terrorists and weapon caches.
They plan to remain in the neighborhood to assist Iraqi security forces as they establish and man permanent checkpoints to provide security for vendors and shoppers at the marketplace.
By Joshua Partlow, Washington Post
BAQUBAH, Iraq, April 15 -- The first thing Spec. Edward Lyall heard was the thin, high pop of the AK-47.
From the gunner hatch of the Stryker combat vehicle, he saw the muzzle flashes from a shed on the roof of a brown brick building across a canal. With bullets hissing over his head, he fired his machine gun back at the house until a bolt popped out of the gun's handle and wedged into a crack in the floor.
"I need a weapon!" he screamed, his face red and his hands shaking.
Army officials credit their effort to install reactive armor on more armored vehicles with cutting the number of casualties from rocket-propelled grenades in Iraq. They also said the armor, which triggers a small explosion to fend off a larger one, has reduced the Army’s immediate need for active protection systems, which are intended to shoot down incoming weapons.
“The reactive armor and slat armor protection systems currently deployed contribute to the effectiveness of our current combat systems to defeat the RPG threat without the use of an active protection system,” Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, the acquisition and systems management deputy to the assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, told lawmakers in September.
The Iraq Slogger blog features a number of new photos of Stryker soldiers taken by Getty Images' Joe Raedle. The group is referred to throughout as 2/3 SBCT Strykers, so I'm not really sure if these are 2-3 INF, 3/2 SBCT soldiers, or other 3/2 SBCT soldiers. Regardless, they are good shots.
By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 13, 2007 – Leaks to the media forced Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to speed up releasing his decision to increase tour lengths for soldiers assigned to U.S. Central Command from a year to 15 months.
The notification of the decision to soldiers and their families was made simultaneous with the news briefing. Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, today apologized to the families -- many of whom heard about the decision on television.
“I know the announcement the other day was probably one that surprised them,” Odierno told Pentagon reporters via teleconference from Baghdad. “I just want to comment to them that we appreciate everything that they're sacrificing, everything that they're doing. They are the strength behind all these great soldiers that are over here today.”
Army Public Affairs has a new album of photos featuring the 5-20 INF, 3/2 SBCT. Description:
Photos By Air Force Staff Sgt. Stacy L. Pearsall - Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment conduct a joint operation with Iraqi police, aimed at clearing anti-Iraqi forces from Baqubah in Diyala Province, March 31.
If you recently registered for our forum, but have yet to receive the activation email, please try logging in now with the username/password you selected. We require an administrator to approve all registrations (to prevent spammers), but for some reason all of the recent notifications we get were sent to my spam folder and some were permanently lost. I manually activated all recent user accounts, but I'm not sure if the system sent out the "You have been approved" emails to people.
Additionally, some of you may have been experiencing extremely slow load times for our site recently. We discovered a bug in some code that was causing the problem and have removed it. Things seem quicker now. My apologies on both counts.
Todd
Site Admin
The DoD conducted a press briefing regarding deployment extensions today at the Pentagon - a complete transcript is available online. The presentation might answer some basic questions families have about what the extension means for them, such as reimbursements, future assignments etc. The Army is drawing heavily on its experiences with the 172nd SBCT in Alaska.
By Pfc. William Hatton, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq - In the Al Mansour neighborhood of Baghdad, Soldiers went door-to-door, visiting with locals to not only search for weapons caches, but also to build relationships and gain a better understanding of the resident’s needs.
As most of the troops moved through the alleyways and down the streets, three Soldiers sat on a rooftop guarding the streets below.
For Sgt. Chris Bryant, an infantryman with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, sitting on the rooftop was more than a good opportunity to get a sun tan – it provided the much-needed security for his comrades on the ground.
By Pfc. William Hatton, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – During an early morning in Baghdad’s Al Mansour neighborhood, the streets were quiet and vacant as Spc. Michael Royster, along with his squad from 4th Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, made their way from building to building in search of insurgents.
With their night vision devices aiding the search, Royster and his buddies moved through the alleyways with absolute precision. After their leadership received reports of potential insurgents responsible for various attacks, a target was given and orders were received to bring in those connected to the violence.
By Sgt. Robert Yde, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Calvary Division
FORWARD OPERATING BASE ECHO, Iraq, April 11, 2007 — With coalition forces focusing much of their efforts on Baghdad, many anti-Iraqi forces have fled the capital city and moved their operations to smaller towns around Iraq.
Diwaniyah, located in southern Iraq, is one of these towns that has seen a spike in violence and anti-Iraqi force activity, and coalition forces have recently turned their attention toward restoring peace in the area.
We anticipate a large volume of articles related to the extension of the 3/2 SBCT and 4/2 SBCT. We'll post them in this entry to keep them all together for the time being.
That speculation didn't last long.
Update: We've added some related articles and transcripts to the end of this entry.
By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 11, 2007 – All soldiers in the U.S. Central Command area of operations will serve 15-month tours in the region beginning immediately, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced today.
“Effective immediately, active Army units now in the Central Command area of responsibility and those headed there will deploy for not more than 15 months and return home for not less than 12 months,” Gates said, during a Pentagon news conference.
The following article is one of many recently speculating on the possibility of an extension of the 3/2 SBCT's deployment. If that happens I hope the Pentagon handles the situation much differently than it did with the 172nd SBCT.
By Sharon Behn, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BAGHDAD -- As heavy rain turned the paths of their Baghdad base to inch-thick mud yesterday, soldiers of the Stryker Brigade waited for the bad news.
For weeks now, all they have thought about is whether they will have to stay in Iraq an extra three or four months, stretching their deployment into almost 16 months of nonstop combat.
"The big worry is not knowing when we are going back home," said Capt. Tom Rychecky. Like the rest of his unit, Capt. Rychecky has worked in Baghdad since the military surge began last month.
By Thelma Grimes/Arizona Range News
As coalition forces work to stop the violence and bring peace to Iraq, U.S. Army Capt. and St. David High School graduate Brendon Dever said that in Southern Baghdad the trials and tribulations of war persist.
"The murders continue. The number of bodies we have discovered in our portion of the city is more than 200," he said in an email to the Range News reporter.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Jesse L. Williams, 25, of Santa Rosa, Calif., died April 8 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from small arms fire while conducting combat operations in Baqubah, Iraq. Williams was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the friends and family of SSG Williams. We will continue to add articles to this entry as we find them.
By Spc. Jeffrey Ledesma, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
BAGHDAD – Twisted razor wire, the curls high above the fortified walls of the base camp, the Soldiers’ home away from home, is the obscure line that separates the feeling of security and the one of danger.
Spc. Andrew James Lynn, an infantryman with Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, made it through a major clearing operation, “Arrowhead Strike 9,” days before leaving for home on environmental morale leave.
But he is a little nervous, because there is always a lingering sense of danger in a combat zone.
1-23 INF, 3/2 SBCT mentioned in the following article.
By Spc. Jeffrey Ledesma, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Sewing the torn pieces of a violent neighborhood seems challenging, because it is.
But with the help of his Iraqi and coalition counterparts, Lt. Col. Jabar, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 10th Iraqi Army Division, makes a promise to do exactly that when he took over half of the operational area from Lt. Col. Sabah, the commander of the 4th Battalion, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, the final week of March during operation “Arrowhead Strike 9.”
BY Sgt. 1st Class Rhonda M. Lawson, 2ID Public Affairs Office
RODRIGUEZ LIVE FIRE COMPLEX, KOREA--Why would anyone trade in the warm, tropical air of Hawaii for the cool winds of Korea?
For Soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division, leaving Hawaii, if only briefly, made perfect sense.
The Schofield Barracks-based 2nd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, the Army's fifth Stryker Brigade Combat Team, conducted a two-week gunnery exercise at Rodriguez Live-fire Complex as part of Korea's annual Reception, Staging, Onward movement and Integration exercise.
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
The top Army general in Alaska, a paratrooper with combat experience in Afghanistan and Grenada, has been named to become the next commander at Fort Lewis, the Army announced Friday.
Maj. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby, Jr., 52, is a Michigan native and West Point graduate who for two years has led the Army’s buildup in the 49th state and managed the flow of thousands of troops from posts there to Iraq and back again.
President Bush nominated the commander of U.S. Army Alaska on Friday for a third star and assignment as commanding general at Fort Lewis and I Corps, the Army announced.
DVIDS has a new video featuring the 2-3 INF, 3/2 SBCT. Description:
B-roll of Soldiers conducting a house-to-house search in the Al Mansour neighborhood of Baghdad as part of Operation Arrowhead Strike 9. Scenes include Iraqi children singing and playing, Soldiers talking to citizens in their homes during the search and interviews with Soldiers about what they are looking for in the house searches.
Bill Roggio at The Fourth Rail has compiled a nice summary of recent operations in Diyala, which involves the 5-20 INF, 3/2 SBCT.
Army Public Affairs has a photo album featuring the 1-23 INF, 3/2 SBCT. Description:
Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, participate in a cordon and search operation with Iraqi Soldiers and police in Ghazaliya, March 21 to 31.
The following article appears today on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and features the 1-14 CAV, 3/2 SBCT. The link will only remain active for 7 days, so be sure to copy/paste the text if you want to keep a copy. Thanks to Jim for the heads-up.
By GREG JAFFE, Wall Street Journal
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The lower-middle-class neighborhoods that Lt. Col. Jeff Peterson's troops patrol have been the epicenter of Iraq's civil war for most of the past year. "Every issue facing Baghdad writ large is in our area," he says.
In recent weeks, Col. Peterson has tried a controversial approach to calming his sector. As Sunnis and Shiites have separated into their own neighborhoods, he has resisted the urge to encourage reconciliation or even dialogue. Instead, he has erected massive concrete barriers between the sects.
Army Public Affairs has a new photo gallery featuring images from the recent training exercise in S. Korea that included troops from the 2/25 SBCT (Hawaii).
By Sharon Behn, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BAGHDAD -- American and Iraqi soldiers yesterday killed six terrorists and captured another 41 insurgents and death-squad suspects in operations in Baghdad and outside Fallujah, military officials said.
The raids were part of the ongoing enormous effort by U.S. and Iraqi security forces to break the backs of the various armed groups warring in Iraq. The Iraqi government cited the success of that operation yesterday in announcing that the nightly curfew will be pushed back by two hours.
In Baghdad, a U.S. Stryker battalion and an Iraqi battalion fanned out in east Mansour, an area of the city where Shi'ite death squads have been forcing Sunni families out of their homes and replacing them with followers of Muqtada al-Sadr's radical militia.
The first Army stryker vehicles to ever be deployed from Hawaii returned to the islands safely Monday morning. They did not come back from Iraq or Afghanistan. They were flown back from South Korea where about 50 soldiers from Schofield Barracks and four strykers spent a week and a half training.
The troops love the strykers, but the battle over whether or not the belong in Hawaii rages on.
Two of the four stryker vehicles and about half of the roughly 50 soldiers who deployed on the training mission touched down at Hickam Air Force base on Air Force C-17 transport planes. While in Korea, they put the strykers to the test.
The 1st Stryker Brigade, 25th Infantry Division at Fort Wainwright continues to refit from its 16-month Iraq tour and isn’t slated to be considered for another deployment until at least October.
Until then, the brigade will continue its “reset,” or overhaul, of about 10,500 pieces of equipment used by the unit in Iraq when the unit was known as the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. The reset is expected to be completed by mid-June. More soldiers will continue to arrive at Fort Wainwright, replacing the more than half of the 172nd soldiers who rotated out after their return from Iraq in December.
Maj. Michael Blankartz said the brigade isn’t expected to be ready to deploy until the first quarter of the fiscal year, which for the Army and other federal entities runs from October through the end of December. At that time, he said, the unit will be placed in a pool of eligible units available to deploy.
Via Blackfive we learn that military public affairs now has a YouTube account where they have been uploading various combat videos. At least two feature soldiers from the 3/2 SBCT (one, two). From what I can tell all of these videos are also available at DVIDS, so this simply represents another venue to view this footage.
The Fourth Rail has an updated version of their Order of Battle for coalition forces in and around Baghdad. It provides a good summary of recent operations in Iraq.
The following article does not specifically mention the Stryker Brigade soldiers operating in Diyala, but it does describe in some detail the current situation in the region.
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr., The New York Times
BAQUBA, Iraq, March 31 — In the last moments of his life, Sgt. First Class Benjamin L. Sebban saw the flatbed truck speed into the concertina wire guarding his small Army patrol base near Baquba.
“Everybody get down! Get down!” he screamed. Soldiers dropped to the ground.
A combination of the strong wire and muddy gravel stopped the bomber, who then detonated explosives packed into the truck bed. A 50-foot-wide fireball enveloped the base, an L-shaped school that weeks earlier had served as an insurgent hide-out. Soldiers were slammed into walls and windows, they later recalled, battered by pieces of brick and glass turned into shrapnel.
The 1-23 INF, 3/2 SBCT is mentioned in the following story.
By Sgt. Lance Wail, 2nd BCT, 1st Inf. Div. Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A joint operations meeting between U.S. and Iraqi security forces officials took place in western Baghdad to help make the Monsour and Ghazaliyah neighborhoods better to live in.
Col. J. B. Burton, commander of 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, and Maj. Gen. Abdillameer, deputy commander of Iraqi Army in the Kahdra area of Baghdad, headed the March 27 meeting to work out issues and improve engineering operations and discuss insurgent activity during current operations. After light conversation and laughter, the leaders went to the table to begin coordination.