Stryker Brigade News

According to Wertman, their week-long training starts out with basic individual Soldiering skills aimed at improving leadership by building better leaders.

Blackanthem Military News, BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces working closely with Multi-National Division – Baghdad continued Operation Together Forward Monday with Operation South Sword Search in the Baghdad neighborhood of Bakriya.

“We are capitalizing on successes of Operation Together Forward by denying terrorists the means to hide weapons,” added Capt. Miller of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Bn., 23rd Inf. Regt.

As well as securing the neighborhood, Lt. Col. Avanulas Smiley, commander, 1st Bn., 23rd Inf., Regt., took advantage of an opportunity to talk to residents about services offered in the neighborhood.

“With the Iraqi battalion we are working with, we are going to continue on the path to reduce violence and crime. One of the ways to do that is by cleaning up the neighborhood.” said Lt. Col. Smiley.

MOSUL, Iraq (28 August, 2006) - - Soldiers, civilians and distinguished visitors gathered in the Community Affairs Center theater at Forward Operating Base Marez, Mosul, Iraq, to honor the memory of a fallen Soldier, Sgt. Gabriel DeRoo.

DeRoo’s friend and squad leader, Staff Sgt. Nicholas Crosby, Co. A, 2nd Bn., 3rd Inf. Regt., 3rd SBCT ‘Legionnaires’, recalled DeRoo’s affection for the Army-issued black fleece cold weather jacket and pull-over watch cap.

“I know that if it was up to him, we would all be in our black fleeces and beanies right now. He once said that was the best thing the Army ever gave him,” said Crosby.

“If he had his black fleece jacket and his black fleece cap, he was good and everyone around him was good.”

Chaplain (Capt.) Tim McCort, 2nd Bn, 3rd Inf. Rgt., closed out the memorial service eulogy with a Bible passage from the 23rd Psalm.

“The 23rd Psalm was written during a time of intense pain and crisis in David’s life, when his life and kingdom were at risk. The psalm tells us that God provides all in life that we really need,” said McCort. “The journey is over for Sgt. DeRoo but it is the beginning of his eternal rest. Even though Sgt. DeRoo has passed out of our sight, he has not passed out of the Shepard’s hands. In fact, the Shepard now carries him in his arms and close to his heart.”

MOSUL, Iraq (August 28, 2006) –Soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division in conjunction with Soldiers of Co. C, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division conducted a joint raid in the villages of Al Mochat and Sayid Hamid, Mosul, Iraq. The search was named Operation Scorpion Hunt.

According to Ferrera, the IA planned and executed the operation with support from U.S. forces. The IA found one person that was wanted in the Sayid Hamid neighborhood.

“The insurgent was recognized by an IA Soldier,” said Ferrera. “They did an excellent job preparing for and executing this mission.”

MOSUL, Iraq (29 August 2006) – In order for Soldiers to do their jobs on a daily basis, they need supplies. They need to be close, readily accessible and someone must be accountable for them.

One unit does just that, the 296th Brigade Supply Battalion is responsible for logistical support to units in Iraq so they can complete their jobs efficiently.

All supplies the BSB deals with, enables Coalition Soldiers to perform their duties daily. One supply that the BSB always tries to have more of is water.

“What we do have on hand is class I water,” said Brown. “That is one supply class we never try to be short of for the troops; so they can survive in this heat.”

In order for a unit to request supplies they have to be enrolled in the Department of Defense Activity Address Code, without it they cannot get any supplies from the BSB warehouse. Once a DODAAC is established, the unit Supply Sgt. will go to the BSB and hand in a request form for what the unit needs.

“We use the Standard Army Retail Supply System for units to order supplies,” said Brown. “The Supply Sgt. will hand in a request form depending on the class; if we have the part, we will give it to them right away; if not, we process the order. Some parts such as from having to obtain the parts form United States.

The BSB has one Sgt. working with the Iraqi Army, trying to establish their own supply unit so their units they can supply their own Soldiers.

The daily inventory at the BSB runs about four million dollars. They are also responsible for retrograde, redistribution of serviceable and non-serviceable supply. They are responsible to keep track of files, and records of everything on their main computer system.

Mosul, Iraq (30 August, 2006) - - When military vehicles breakdown, need maintenance or an engine overhaul, who does the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team turn to? The Brigade Support Battalion motor pool.

According to Garcia, after deploying to Iraq last July, Co. B was able to bring the overall operational rate of brigade assigned equipment from 64 percent to a current operational rate of 92 percent.

“This reflects on the hard work and dedication of the Soldiers that work here,” said Garcia who is a resident of Chicago, Ill. “What’s more amazing is that the unit is currently at 45 percent strength.”

Having an under-manned unit does not seem to deter Garcia and his crew. In addition to working six and one-half days a week, they also perform guard duty at FOB Marez’s front gate, instruct Iraqi Soldiers on vehicle maintenance, and will go as far as Fort Tal Afar to retrieve broken-down military vehicles.

“One of the biggest obstacles is going out to do recovery of vehicles and other equipment because it takes at least four or five Soldiers from the motor pool,” said Garcia.

A note of importance that helps the 296th run like a well oiled motor pool is the fact that Garcia and four non-commissioned officers and six lower enlisted Soldiers have been deployed to FOB Marez before.

The bond between Cpl. Kenneth Cross and Pfc. Daniel Dolan was obvious even when the two weren’t in uniform, their fellow soldiers say.
They were once roommates. They attended each other’s parties. Friends often saw them joking together in the barracks.

The two men also died together Aug. 27, when a roadside bomb hit their Stryker vehicle in Baghdad.

“They lived together and died together,” Cieply said.

Cross and Dolan were the first Stryker troops from Fort Lewis to be killed in Baghdad. About 1,400 Fort Lewis soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division are part of a beefed-up U.S. and Iraqi force that’s trying to put down sectarian fighting and violent crime in the capital.

The explosion that struck a 21-ton armored Stryker on Aug. 27 instantly killed Cross and wounded Dolan, who died hours later at a Baghdad military hospital, according to the Stars and Stripes newspaper.

The attack wounded seven soldiers, the newspaper reported. It included two roadside bombs, gunfire and a mortar attack.

The brigade has lost four soldiers since returning to Iraq in July. Sgt. Gabriel G. DeRoo, 25, was killed Aug. 20 by gunfire in Mosul, the northern city where the brigade is headquartered.

MOSUL, Iraq (August 28, 2006) –During a combat patch ceremony held at Forward Operating Base Marez, Mosul, Iraq, Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment received the 3rd Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Inf. Division combat patch.

The evolution of the insignia began in March 1918, during WWI when vehicle markings were requested for division vehicles to identify themselves from French traffic in the Verdun sector of the front. An Indian head, painted red, and a war bonnet, painted blue, were stenciled on all 2nd division vehicles.

Maj. Gen John Lejeune, USMC, commander of the unit until 1918 proposed an Indian head embodied on a white star.

The Indian head would then be copied from that of the head of a five dollar coin. Lejeune justified the insignia by stating that the design had been used in the division for some time and had already been painted on all the transportation in the division. In November 1918, the division was given approval to wear the Indian head patch.

Most of the insignia used by the U.S. Army is based on historic facts or on some attribute of the organization concerned. All symbols, whether animals, birds or inanimate objects must face the honorable side or appear in full face. This is a carry over from the Middle Ages, when a Knight defended with his sword in his right hand.

After WWII, wearing of a unit patch on the right shoulder was approved to denote service in combat with that unit.

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — Spc. Kenneth Cross was a tall, lanky 21-year-old soldier who dreamed of getting out of the Army and starting a family with his young bride.

Pfc. Daniel Dolan, 19, loved apple-flavored chewing tobacco and talked incessantly of his snowboarding exploits and what he described as “the only girlfriend I need”: his Subaru STi sports car.

Both were posthumously promoted — Cross to corporal, Dolan to specialist. They were the first casualties for the battalion since it arrived in Iraq in early August to participate in Operation Together Forward, a mission to reduce sectarian violence in Baghdad.

For soldiers in Cross and Dolan’s platoon, the pain was still fresh Wednesday as they spoke of their friends. For some, the pain was more than emotional: seven soldiers were wounded in Sunday’s attack, which included two roadside bombs, several incidences of gunfire, and a mortar attack.

Cross and Dolan’s Stryker vehicle was destroyed by the first roadside bomb. The explosion killed Cross instantly and wounded Dolan, who died hours later at a military hospital in Baghdad.

Sgt. Joseph J. Antole of Lockport wanted to teach his son about the importance of life and its choices.

That's one of the reasons he joined the U.S. Army, to make something out of his life and lead by example, doing something positive with his life.

Antole was deployed to Mosul from November 2003 to October 2004 as a fire support specialist. He served as a forward observer and fire chief with distinction.

His job was to report back to higher command for fire support when it was needed against the insurgents.

Antole's unit was the first Stryker unit to be deployed to Iraq. During this deployment, he drove a "fast assault unit" as a fire support team driver. From what I'm told, this is one of the fastest moving vehicles the military has.

On one mission, Antole engaged the enemy during both direct fire and mortar attacks at a place called Forward Operation Base Marez. For his skill under fire, he was awarded a Combat Action Badge.

It was harder for Army Sgt. Gabriel G. DeRoo to go to Iraq this time. He had a wife now, and a new son.

DeRoo, 25, was killed Aug. 20 when he was struck by small-arms fire in Mosul, the Defense Department said. He was the first soldier from the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division to be killed since its return last month for a second tour in Iraq.

An overflow crowd of some 500 people gathered for a memorial ceremony Monday at the Fort Lewis Main Post Chapel.

Commanders, chaplains, soldiers and family members told of a man who lived by his principles, and above all was dedicated to his religious faith.

“He would kid … about having to do things the hard way, whether it was hoeing on his hands and knees in the garden, whatever it might be,” said his father, David, an eighth-grade teacher from Decatur, Mich.

“I said, ‘The Army is a pretty hard choice,’” he recalled. “He says, ‘Dad, I’m healthy. I’m a young man. And I owe it to my country, truly the best country on the face of the earth.’

“How could I argue with that?”

U.S. soldiers in Iraq have to operate in a culture where it’s legal and routine to own an AK-47, family honor is restored through revenge, and showing a boot sole could start a riot.

One of them, Pvt. Scott Miller, said cultural training was among the most useful classes they were getting before leaving for the Middle East.

“It’s a lot different than here,” the 24-year-old from Tennessee said after the training. “A lot different.”

The success of U.S. operations in Iraq could hinge on how these young soldiers interact with the locals. It can be harder in a place where the OK sign is obscene, pointing with a finger is a sign of contempt, and people don’t share the Western concept of personal space.

Iraqi Police and Task Force Band of Brothers' Soldiers thwarted a terrorist attack against a Mosul police station Wednesday.

The attack began with a terrorist, dressed as a police officer, approached the gate to the police station and detonated his suicide vest, killing himself and wounding six police officers.

Immediately following the explosion, two other masked terrorists attempted to attack the station with small arms fire. Soldiers from the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division quickly identified and engaged the gunmen, killing both.

MOSUL, Iraq (18 August, 2006) -Less than a month after the 101st Airborne Division assisted with the turn-over of Forward Operating Base Courage to the newly elected government of Iraq, the 101st authorized removal of cement barriers that closed off a portion of access roadway to the former coalition forces operating base.

The closed portion ran approximately two and one-half miles north to south, parallel to the former FOB.

Because there is a no-vehicles curfew between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., the 18th was able to quickly remove barriers using two U.S. Army front-end loaders to load the massive barriers and stock-pile them in a designated area close to the former FOB.

When not doing barrier removal, the 18th is engaged in other missions.

According to Beaty, horizontal engineers clear roads of Improvised Explosive Devices and construct new roads. They also maintain roads and install and maintain basic services like electrical and plumbing needs.

MOSUL, Iraq (August 18, 2006) – The Downed Aircraft Recovery Team rehearsed and synchronized procedures to recover critically damaged aircrafts at Forward Operating Base Diamondback, Mosul, Iraq.

“The goal is to synchronize every body’s efforts,” said Emig. “There are a lot of moving pieces, and we’re aiming for the best training value.”

In the event that an aircraft really does go down, the team needs to get to the crash site as soon as possible due to the value of the crew and the aircraft.

Stryker soldiers from Fort Lewis are patrolling new territory in some of Baghdad's toughest neighborhoods, but they're also running down Iraqi insurgents in some old familiar places in Mosul.

It's the same territory the Arrowhead brigade troops covered on their first deployment, from November 2003 to October 2004.

Lt. Joshua Johnson, a platoon leader in the 18th Engineer Company in Mosul, is on his first trip but said most of his men are making a return engagement.

QARA QOSH, Iraq -- The women’s center in Qara Qosh is a positive sign-post along the road of Iraq’s emerging democratic government.

“The Qara Qosh center is a great place for women of this community to instruct themselves to be more knowledgeable citizens of Iraq,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Candace Eckert, human rights leader for Mosul’s Provincial Reconstruction Team, 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion. “Their efforts here are commendable.” Eckert is a resident of Phoenix, Ariz.

The hair-styling and cutting class caters to 20 women in the morning class and 25 in the evening.

According to Eckert, operating expenses are all self-funded. Fees are charged for taking a class and the center’s large conference room is rented for weddings and other social gatherings. The women that work for the center are volunteers.

The women who constitute the groups leadership are Kurdish Christians. Their elected leader is Taghreed Wahdee.

“She is very effective,” said Eckert. “She uses the centers rental and class fees to pay for operational expenses. They are the first women’s center that I know of that is self-funding.”

A matter of contention that Eckert is working to bridg,e falls on the altar of religious differences.

Kawther Mustafa is an Iraqi, Kurdish Muslim. She is also the provincial council chairperson for the human rights committee for the Ninewa district.

“Today’s meeting turned out to be a very powerful one. We invited Kawther and her people and other women from centers in her district,” said Eckert. “I didn’t know if she would attend, when she showed up it was a good surprise. She is the elected human rights official for this area and I am her link, so if I’m going to visit a women’s center, I’m going to invite her to join us.”

According to Eckert, the district needs to put aside their religious differences and open lines of communication. There should not be any reason for not disclosing information that effects the centers operations.

One example is a legal matter that involves the Qara Qosh center.

The original landowner has filed to sue for more money on his original lease. His first attempt failed and he currently is awaiting a second appeal to a higher court in Baghdad.

Although the U.S. Army can not get involved, Eckert requested the services of Capt. Jason Del Los Santos, Judge Advocate General officer, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Fort Lewis, Wash. for legal advice.

MOSUL, Iraq – Iraqi Army Soldiers, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, lead the way during a medical screening that took place in the Asad neighborhood in Mosul, Iraq Aug. 15.

From the beginning of the year there was little support from IA. IA medics were not interested in helping out during medical screenings, because of safety concerns. They did not want to leave the IA compounds. Early on, medical screenings were primarily provided by U.S. Forces.

After several months IA medics started becoming more involved during medical screenings.

According to 1st Lt. Brett Phillips, platoon leader, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, Brigade Medical Support Company, the IA medics get involved more and more with each screening. It is important that the local populace see that involvement, because it instills confidence in there security forces.

All IA medics go through a base combat life saver course which is taught by U.S. Forces. Most medics have gone through the basic nursing school and have advanced to a more intensive medical schooling. The IA medics have the knowledge base of a state-side physician’s assistant.

The medical supplies that are administered during the screening are purchased from the local Iraqi economy, and are bought by U.S. Forces.

“Right now we are working with the IA logistical support to try to get them to purchase the medical supplies,” said Sgt 1st Class Namond Travis, medical platoon sergeant, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd SBCT, 2nd Infantry Division. “It is a slow road to travel, but the more we get the Iraqis involved the more independent they become. It allows the citizens to see the faces of the IA.”

MOSUL, Iraq – Iraqi Army Soldiers with the assistance of 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, conducted a joint raid in Hamam Al Alil, Iraq looking for known insurgents, hoping to catch them when they are tucked into their beds, fast asleep.

The main objective was an electronic store where documents were found that showed the owner was an insurgent financier. Along with the documents, an Ak-47 and money was also found. Two Iraqi civilians were held for questioning.

“A lot of stuff that links the financier were found on our objective,” said Captain Joe Kocer, scout platoon leader, 5-20th, 3rd SBCT, and a native of Anchorage, Alaska. “We were most focused on the document exportation in this side of the town.”

The teams on this raid did not find the person they were looking for. Another team on the other side of town were able to catch the insurgent while he was fast asleep.

According to Goodine, the mission went very well, it was a high value target and they got documentation that will incriminate the financier.

FORT LEWIS, Wash. -- Thousands of miles from the roadside bombs of Iraq, small groups of soldiers hunker down in cream-colored cubicles as instructors guide them through nuances of Arabic and the dos and don'ts of Iraqi culture.

Soldiers also welcome the additional training, both as an opportunity for new experiences and as a necessary tool for their safety.

"It will help stop a lot of conflicts by breaking the language barrier," said Pfc. Cassandra Demerest, 21, of Newberry Springs, Calif., who will complete her language training at Fort Lewis in March.

Hundreds like Demerest have already participated in various stages of the training before deploying to Iraq.

The 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry division, which has left for a second mission to Iraq, went through a weeklong course, said Yvonne M. Pawelek, director of Foreign Language Training Center at Fort Lewis. About 150 unit leaders also trained full time, three days a week for 11 weeks.

Before the brigade's first deployment in 2003, soldiers received just a few hours of language and culture training.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops are patrolling the streets in some Baghdad neighbourhoods on foot in a new bid to win the trust of Iraqis, an unusual sight for many residents more used to seeing them travel in armoured vehicle convoys.

Taking a more personal approach to Iraqis long critical of heavy handed tactics is part of the strategy aimed at reclaiming Baghdad's most dangerous neighbourhoods from insurgents and easing communal strife.

"I want to get this job done so I can go home and live with my family and you can live with your family," Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Peterson, commander of the First Squadron, 14th U.S. Cavalry, told one man through his interpreter in al-Hadar, an area of the notoriously violent southern Dora district.

Peterson, whose unit usually travels in Stryker armoured vehicles, had dismounted to talk to residents while his men and Iraqi police swept the neighbourhood for illegal weapons.

"Certainly there is a renewed emphasis on troops interacting with the people," he said when asked whether the U.S. military was adopting a new tactic with the foot patrols.

MOSUL, Iraq - The 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team continues where 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team left off by driving in Mosul on a community engagement patrol.

Second platoon entered the grain plant unannounced, using the element of surprise. The plant manager escorted Cromer and members of the unit up and down several floors of the grain plant to check for ammunition caches and weapons. When none were found, they passed out flyers to the workers.

From the grain plant, Cromer sited a bridge overpass approximately a half-mile away and sent a squad to check for improvised explosive devices and other suspicious items.

After clearing the bridge of any potential threat, the 20th moved out to the surrounding neighborhood to distribute more flyers.

MOSUL, Iraq - Leadership from the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division met to discuss the areas of operations with the commander of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army (IA) Division, Aug. 11, in Mosul, Iraq.

Aldeen relies on his most experienced Soldiers. Those are the Soldiers that were trained back in 2000, and have the experience to fight the insurgency in the Ninevah Province.

According to Aldeen, the new Soldiers coming into the brigade are not well trained in basic Soldiering skills. They are not reliable enough to even follow basic rules.

“The new Soldiers only have two months of training and it is very hard to depend on them,” said Aldeen. “They are not disciplined enough, and with the amount of Soldiers we are losing the more we need to depend on our experienced Soldiers.”

Aldeen concluded that he needed a lot more Soldiers quickly. The reason was that they have lost so many that the work load on the remaining Soldiers will begin to intensify and could cause them to quit as well.

Aldeen also brought up the fact that the Humvees that were donated by the U.S. were not getting the proper maintenance required to keep them running. Al Kisik is the Headquarters for the maintenance department, and they are receiving replacement parts for the Humvees, but the brigade is having a hard time getting the damaged Humvees to Al Kisik to be repaired.

“I have hired great mechanics from the local area to come and work for our battalions,” said Aldeen. “They do a great job repairing the Humvees, but when it comes to special things; it then requires us to take them to Al Kisik. We get more work done on the battalion level.”

According to Townsend, 4th Brigade is due to receive 15 new Humvees by the middle of August. Aldeen is looking forward to getting the new equipment.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - "Take cover!" yelled Captain Ryan Nystrom as gunshots rang out.

Nystrom and his platoon are just one of the American units involved in a crackdown by U.S. and Iraqi forces on the Shi'ite-Sunni sectarian violence ravaging the capital that has pushed the country toward all-out civil war.

First Squadron of the 14th Cavalry, equipped with the U.S. military's latest armored vehicle, the eight-wheeled Stryker, was diverted from its deployment to Anbar province two weeks ago in preparation for the operation in Baghdad.

Army chiefs have also ordered other Stryker units to the capital, the vehicle's maneuverability, ability to deploy infantry squads quickly, and ability to survive against roadside bombs seen as ideal for the streets of Baghdad.

Nystrom and his men had been patrolling Abu-Disheer, a largely Shi'ite area, and al-Hadar, a mixed neighborhood, for two weeks without incident, although one night the platoon medic did help save the life of a baby who had swallowed oil.

The Stryker brigade from Fort Lewis assumed responsibility for military operations in Mosul on Saturday, just hours after joining in fierce fighting in the northern Iraqi city.

Mosul is more stable than the capital, which is 225 miles to the south. But it’s still dangerous.

Fighting raged in eastern Mosul on Friday. Iraqi security forces, with backup from Fort Lewis Stryker troops, repulsed an insurgent attack that included a suicide car bomber, several roadside bombs and small arms fire.

“I think the terrorists wanted very badly to make a huge statement when the (Alaskan Stryker brigade) left the area,” Maj. Robbie Parke, the brigade public affairs officer said in a Monday e-mail from Mosul.

“Unfortunately for them, Mosul police and Iraqi Army had a different idea, and they defeated the attack within a matter of hours,” Parke wrote.

“In the Ninewa province they successfully served during the Constitutional Referendum and the National Elections which brought democracy to more than 3.8 million people. They have worked to help restore the damaged infrastructure of Iraq due to years of plight and trained and equipped seven Iraqi Army brigades that are now better prepared to serve the Iraqi people and citizens of Ninewa province.”

For the 3rd SBCT, this is their second tour in the Ninewa Province in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“For the last year the ‘Artic Wolves’ (172nd SBCT) have shed blood, sweat and tears to free the people of Ninewa from the terrorist’s grip and help the Iraqi people have a better life. I can only promise we will work hard to fill the boots of the 172nd,” said incoming commander, Col. Steven Townsend, commander, 3rd SBCT as he shook hands with outgoing 172nd SBCT Commander Col. Michael Shields.

The ceremony was marked by the traditional uncasing of the colors by the 3rd SBCT.

MOSUL, Iraq – Stryker brigade combat teams and civil affairs teams are conducting medical screenings in Mosul, Iraq.

The medical screening took place at the Al Shoda School for Boys in a suburb of Mosul. Medical screenings originated as a Coalition Forces civil affairs mission during Operation Iraqi Freedom III, but presently, are transitioning over to the control of the Iraqi Army.

The intent of medical screenings is two-fold; to provide basic examinations of Iraqi citizens of all ages and to encourage them to use the emerging Iraqi health care system.

Commanders in Iraq recently ordered about 1,400 Stryker soldiers to deploy from their base in Mosul to Baghdad as part of an effort to quell violence in the Iraqi capital.

Fort Lewis, Wash., spokesman Joe Hitt confirmed today that the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment and the 1st Squadron, 14 Cavalry Regiment are currently in the Baghdad area.

About 1,400 Fort Lewis soldiers have been moved to the Baghdad area as part of U.S. plans to bolster forces in the Iraqi capital.
The soldiers make up about a third of the Fort Lewis-based Stryker brigade, which recently began a yearlong deployment in Mosul, the largest city in northern Iraq.

The 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment and the 1st Battalion, 14th Cavalry Regiment “are currently positioned in the vicinity of Baghdad,” brigade commander Col. Steve Townsend wrote Friday night in an e-mail to The News Tribune.

The rest of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division will remain in Mosul, he said.

The battalions will be in Baghdad “as long as they are needed,” said Fort Lewis spokesman Lt. Col. Dan Williams, who on Saturday confirmed the information in Townsend’s e-mail.

It was unclear if the Fort Lewis soldiers were included in that figure.

The Fort Lewis Stryker brigade is replacing the Alaska-based 172nd Stryker brigade in Mosul. The Alaska Stryker soldiers had been scheduled to return home after a year in Iraq when their deployment was extended by four months as part of President Bush’s plan to increase security in Baghdad.

The Strykers will bring quick-moving, light-armored vehicles to patrol the sprawling city of 6 million people. The U.S. military hopes more armor will intimidate gunmen, whose attacks in recent weeks have become more brazen.

“This will place our most experienced unit with our most mobile and agile systems in support of our main effort,” said Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. “This gives us a potentially decisive capability to affect security in Baghdad.”

They’ve stocked up on small boxes and U.S. Customs forms, the essential items for sending care packages overseas.

They’ve made video recordings of their soldiers reading their kids’ favorite bedtime stories.

They leave their computer speakers turned up as high as they’ll go, in case they’re down in the laundry room, or fast asleep, when their soldier comes online.

Home-front veterans say they learned a lot about coping with the worry and stress the last time their soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, were in Iraq.

About half of the Fort Lewis-based brigade’s 4,000 soldiers are veterans of the first trip, when the Army’s original Stryker brigade was deployed from November 2003 to October 2004.

The last batch of troops left for trip No. 2 over the past weekend. They’re expected to replace an Alaska-based Stryker brigade in Mosul –their main location last time – and in western Iraq over the next several weeks.

Back home, they’re supported by a cast of thousands of family members across the country. About three dozen responded to a News Tribune inquiry via e-mail.

Many, like Shepherd, said they feel better prepared this time, but that just knowing what they’ll have to go through doesn’t make it easier.

Several thousand people gathered on the tarmac of Gray Army Airfield at Fort Lewis on Friday to watch soldiers of 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division pack their battle standards for the unit’s second trip to Iraq in three years.

The ceremony was mostly symbolic. The brigade’s nearly 4,000 troops don’t begin leaving for their yearlong stay in northern Iraq for a couple more weeks.

“We’re sending off thousands of people to war,” Dubik, the commander of Fort Lewis, told reporters after the pageantry ended. “It should be an emotional event.”

About half of the soldiers will serve their second tour in Iraq. Current plans call for the 3rd Brigade to relieve the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Fort Wainwright, Alaska. The 172nd is headquartered in Mosul.

Many of the soldiers honored Friday were with the 3-2 – the Army’s first Stryker brigade – during its first deployment from November 2003 to October 2004. Others previously went to Iraq with different units.

“It has to be done, and we’ve got to do it,” said Sgt. James Smiley, who served near Baghdad with the 1st Cavalry Division in 2004.

The soldiers’ loved ones said Friday they were sad to see them return to battle so soon, but many said they took comfort that this time they have some idea what to expect.

"Daddy's coming mommy. Daddy's coming," the 4-year-old said, unable to identify her father, Sgt. Edwin Collazo, among the brigade's seven battalions that will soon leave for their second tour in Iraq.

The brigade's gear, including the eight-wheeled armored vehicles for which it is named, was loaded onto a cargo ship this week at the Port of Olympia and shipped to Iraq ahead of soldiers.

The shipment drew days of protests from demonstrators opposing the war.

During Friday morning's ceremony at the post's Gray Army Airfield, thousands of family and friends turned out for the casing of flags, signifying the brigade had finished training at this post south of Tacoma.

The crowd heard from 3rd Brigade commander Col. Stephen Townsend, who touted the soldiers' readiness.

"I see a Stryker brigade that's an aggressive team," said Townsend, who took command after the brigade returned in late 2004. "A family of skilled, tough, alert and adaptable warriors ... but who also treat the Iraqi people with dignity and respect."

During the past 19 months, 3rd Brigade has been training to replace the 172nd Stryker Brigade of Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Training included simulations of roadside bombs and ambushes, hidden weapons caches and kidnappings by insurgents.

"Less than 1 percent of the nation is carrying 100 percent of the burden of this war," Fort Lewis commander Lt. Gen. James Dubik said, his voice wavering as he spoke of the roughly 2.3 million people in the military.

"God bless you all. Good luck to each and every one of you," he said.

The brigade returned home October 2004 from its first yearlong deployment in Iraq, where it conducted combat missions in several cities, including Samarra, Tal Afar and Mosul. During the mission, 19 soldiers with the brigade died.

About half of the soldiers on hand Friday had previously served in Iraq, said Maj. Rob Parke, a spokesman for the brigade.

"The hardest part is leaving my family behind," Sgt. Collazo said after the ceremony as he held his youngest son, Noel, 2, born during the brigade's first deployment.

Raised in the military, Collazo, 26, said he sees the Army as "just another job."

"I can support my family a lot better going over there," he said, glancing at his wife.

"It's a little more bittersweet because I know what to expect when he's gone. Both the bad and the good," said Julie Collazo, 40.

This time, she said she plans to keep a busy schedule for the couple's three children — Grace, Noel and 10-year-old Christian. "Keep their minds off him being gone. They're so close to him," she said, watching as Christian hung back behind his father while the two youngest clamored for dad's attention.

"It does get lonely," she added.

Also making a return to Iraq, Sgt. Joseph Sloop said he feels better prepared for the stress of war. It's also his second separation from his wife of a year, Brandi, who was in college in Wilmington, N.C., during his last deployment.

While she, too, dreads being apart, Brandi Sloop said it's the unknown that upsets her most.

The scene is the urban training center at Fort Lewis, but it could be Mosul or Balad or Samarra.

A squad bursts through the door and up the stairs in search of a “high-value target.”

The woman won’t shut up. She says the man is her father, that he’s very sick and needs medicine. He says he doesn’t know her.

Further questioning is no use. He’s mum. She rants. The soldiers’ Iraqi interpreter is frustratingly slow.

The man doesn’t look like the guy they’re after, but descriptions can be off. They take him away in flex-cuffs, despite more pleading from the woman.

This recent exercise was a textbook example of the gap that U.S. troops are still struggling to overcome in Iraq, three years into the occupation.

“Exactly what we’ll see in Iraq,” said Capt. Reed Burggrabe, part of a brigade headed back there soon.

By the end of today, as many as 300 Stryker vehicles will have arrived at the port, said Fort Lewis spokesman Joe Hitt. A total of 20 convoys of trucks and Stryker vehicles are expected to make the trip from Fort Lewis.

The 3rd Brigade is the Army’s initial Stryker Brigade Combat Team and was the first of the Stryker brigades to be sent to Iraq in late 2003.

Hitt offered little in the way of detail regarding the convoys. “Basically, all we have to say is what’s on the (news) release,” he said.

A key element will be the presentation of the specially created Gold Medal of Remembrance to children of military men and women killed in action in Afghanistan and Iraq. The medals will be presented by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and R. James "Jim" Nicholson, secretary of Veterans Affairs.

"This tribute is intended to show families that their fellow Americans care about their loss," said Carmella LaSpada, commission director. [...]

Sgt. Robbins, 27, a 1994 graduate of Bethlehem High School, was killed when explosives accidentally detonated while being moved to a demolition point in Sinjar, Iraq, on Feb. 9, 2004.

Army Spc. Colby Buzzell returned from a firefight in Mosul, Iraq, on Aug. 4, 2004, and collapsed on his bed, drained from the most intense combat of his tour.

Buzzell had posted entries anonymously up until the Mosul battle. But The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., published an article about the skirmish and quoted extensively from Buzzell’s blog.

That drew attention from the Pentagon’s internal clip service. Eventually, the article made its way to Buzzell’s commanders.

Buzzell’s battalion commander, Lt. Col. Buck James, lectured him on the inappropriateness of revealing operational details — how he loaded weapons, what kind of weapons his Stryker brigade used and specific combat locations. From now on, Buzzell’s platoon sergeant would read his entries before they were posted.

After another troublesome post, a different commander confined Buzzell to the base and for a time he was forbidden to go on missions.

Buzzell, who is now 29 and lives in Los Angeles, is known among military bloggers as the “Blogfather,” one of the first soldiers to write a candid, regularly updated Web log from a combat zone. Such online journals, or blogs, began as unfiltered portals into the day-to-day travails of American troops, a 21st-century version of a soldier’s letter home.

But as the visibility and popularity of the blogs have increased, so, too, has the watchful eye of military officials. The Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force have all recently issued directives related to blogs, reminding soldiers and their commanders what information is unsuitable for posting.

In the last year, for example, the Army released specific blogging guidelines, requiring soldiers to register their online journals with commanders and establishing units to monitor Web sites for information that might violate Army policy.

All the major training is done. The vehicles will be loaded onto ships later this month at the Port of Olympia, and by the end of next month, the Army’s first Stryker brigade will be on its way back to Iraq.

“Before, we went over thinking we knew what was going on over there,” said Staff Sgt. Scott Muetz, a Stryker infantryman preparing for his second trip. “Of course, it was a rude awakening.”

Before their first deployment, the soldiers prepared mainly for the big fight: traditional force-on-force confrontations like they might have encountered if they had been part of the initial invasion.

This time they’ve focused on fresh lessons from the counterinsurgency, with a heavy emphasis on understanding the Iraqi culture.

Training also has focused more on documenting evidence against insurgents who are captured, as if soldiers were police investigators.

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Soldiers from the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team are in the midst of their last major training exercise as they prepare for a second tour in Iraq.

The 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based in Fort Lewis, Wash., began a yearlong combat mission in Iraq in late 2003. They're preparing to replace the 172nd Stryker Brigade of Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

A lot has changed since the the Stryker Brigade last visited the 1,100-square-mile training center before its first stint in Iraq.

FORT IRWIN, Calif. — The dusty streets of Medina Jabal again set the stage Sunday for another round of intense training for soldiers with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Company of the Army’s first Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

Unlike the first time the Stryker unit was here in 2003, when it focused much more on combat maneuvers and firepower, the week’s exercises have centered on interactions with Iraqi civilians, a vital element to the mission in Iraq.

And just like in the communities beset by an insurgency in Iraq, Medina Jabal’s residents grow frustrated when soldiers don’t maintain order or are perceived as not doing enough to fix the town’s infrastructure.

FORT IRWIN, Calif. — Soldiers call it “The Box” or the “Dust Bowl.”

The Army National Training Center’s 1,100 square miles in the Mojave Desert is the closest thing to Iraq that soldiers will see before deploying to the Middle East.

The 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was the first Stryker Brigade to be tested in combat during a yearlong deployment that began in late 2003.

The brigade’s 4,800 soldiers, who arrived at Fort Irwin earlier this month, will spend two weeks in The Box as the last major training exercise before they replace their counterparts, the 172nd Stryker Brigade of Fort Wainwright, Alaska, now serving in Iraq.

On Lt. Damon Armeni’s last trip to Iraq, they weren’t sure he’d survive the medical evacuation flight home.

Shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade had ripped into his abdomen. He lost his spleen and sections of his colon and intestines.

He wants to do it. Ever since he was a little kid, he’s dreamed of being an Army officer, a battalion commander.

“I have a hard time accepting that our enemies could stop me from achieving that,” the 27-year-old Tacoma native said in an interview at his home at Fort Lewis. “As long as my family is supporting me, I’m going to keep trying.”

Armeni is one of more than 250 soldiers from the Army’s first Stryker brigade – the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis – to be wounded during the brigade’s year in Iraq in 2003-04. The 4,000-soldier force is due to return for another year in June or July.

Amid a rush of Iraq war soldier memoirs making their way into print, Brian Turner’s new book stands out.

“I’ve read a lot of novels about war and seen a lot of movies about war, and they all work on this larger narrative,” Turner said Thursday during a break from the drive north from his home in Fresno.

“In Iraq, I didn’t find that at all. When I was there, it was like a never-ending series of disconnected events, and it was hard to see what they all meant,” he said.

“Poetry seemed like the perfect vehicle to capture those moments.”

“Here, Bullet” published in November, has received favorable reviews from The New York Times Review of Books – it’s an “Editor’s Choice” selection – and other literary publications. It recently was featured on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.”

Morning Edition, January 6, 2006 · Brian Turner is a soldier-poet who served for seven years in the U.S. Army. Beginning in November 2003, he was an infantry team leader in Iraq with the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

FORT LEWIS — Fort Lewis grew by nearly 5,500 soldiers in 2005, and it will continue to grow in coming years, with an additional 3,300 soldiers expected by the end of 2007.

The active-duty population at Fort Lewis is projected to top 30,000 in the next several years.

They became the first Stryker Brigade Combat Team sent into combat when they were deployed in late 2003. They'll ship out again in the middle of the year.

The brigade is named after the eight-wheeled armored vehicles that fill a gap between light infantry and heavy forces. The vehicles are back at Fort Lewis being overhauled and upgraded. [...]

Fort Lewis will see big changes for its three Stryker brigades. In addition to the deployment of the 3rd Brigade, many of the soldiers with the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division will move to Germany. Those soldiers will form the core of a new Stryker brigade, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment.

Three Stryker brigades will remain at Fort Lewis, all under the command of the 2nd Infantry Division. The new unit to succeed the 1st Brigade will be activated at Fort Lewis sometime late this year or next year. It will be called the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

ROY — A group of Fort Lewis soldiers trained at a most unusual range Thursday.

“It helps me keep money in my pockets,” said Jones, 20, “so I can buy more stuff for the wife and the baby.”

As the tree nearly topped his 5-foot-9-inch frame, Jones explained that his wife, Rami, is seven months pregnant.

The Army is set to employ the services of a new ally in its efforts to train troops headed to Iraq.

Although civilians, these friends of the military are certain not to spill the beans about their mission, unless, of course, you happen to be a sheep whisperer.

But Ewe-topia has something Leschi Town doesn't: more than 70 live sheep.

For soldiers who have never been around farm animals, the Dec. 1 training exercise offers a chance to improve their husbandry skills, the Army told Leeman.

"With the new leaders we now have in the company and the fact that we will imminently return to Iraq, it is essential that we conduct this training in an environment [that] accurately reflects the complexity of the terrain in Iraq," Capt. Theodore Kleisner wrote in a letter to Leeman.

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