For Army historians, the Iraq war can't be documented from a safe distance
Assigned to the 45th Military History Detachment, Sgt. 1st Class Scoot Fisk is one of seven Army historians documenting the war in Iraq. The seven travel the country capturing whatever information and insights they can from the soldiers who make up Operation Iraqi Freedom III. “Most of the documents we collect will not be viewed in the immediate future,” Fisk said. “But it’s important because if we don’t, they will vanish. They will be thrown away, and they will disappear. In my eyes, this is extremely important work.” It also puts them in harm’s way. At least seven Army historians died on the battlefield in World War II. Since then, Army historians have roamed between front-line and rear-echelon units in every major conflict to capture “the good, the bad and the ugly."(Full story)

Iraqis taking control of Baghdad road
Nearly two weeks ago, a special force of Iraqi soldiers took up their new post along Baghdad's infamous Airport Road, the link between Baghdad International Airport and the center of Iraq’s newly forming government. “It was a rough first night” for the new battalion of 261 soldiers, according to Capt. Richard Dunbar, one of eight Americans assigned to assist the Iraqis. In the first 48 hours, one soldier was killed and another seven were hurt. Since then the gunfire has calmed down, Dunbar said, and the battalion has begun to gather helpful information from the neighbors.(Full story)

Troops half a world away watch children graduate
Senior Master Sgt. Bobby Booten is deployed to Afghanistan with other members of the 603rd Air Control Squadron. But he got to watch has daughter Sade graduate from Aviano High, thanks to signal units across Europe putting in extra hours over an extended weekend to broadcast ceremonies live to servicemembers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.(Full story)