Staff Sgt. Geoffrey McCurdy of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment entertains his 20-month-old daughter Emma before he leaves with his unit on a seven-month deployment to Iraq at Camp Pendleton Calif., Jan. 7. This will be his and his unit's third tour to Iraq. During the battalions's first deployment to Iraq, the unit participated in several combat engagements and conducted stability operations in southern Iraq. During November 2004, while deployed the second time, the battalion was one of the lead assault units during Operation Al Fajr, the joint operation that wrested the city of Fallujah from insurgent control.Photo by: Lance Cpl. Ray Lewis

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