KEY MOMENT - Iraqi National Army Capt. Ali Abdual Zaharra Hussain raises the symbolic key to Joint Security Station Mutanabe during a transfer ceremony in Wasit province, Iraq, May 28, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Joe Thompson

Labels: Iraq, Iraqi National Army, Joint Security Station Mutanabe, photos, US Army, Wasit Province

LONG-RANGE TECHNIQUE - A U.S. Army soldier uses long-range marksmanship techniques to engage steel targets with an M-14 enhanced battle rifle during a four-day marksmanship course on Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, Iraq, April 13, 20009. The soldiers are assigned to 1st Cavalry Division's Company A, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Benjamin Fox

Labels: 1st Cavalry Division, FOB Marez, Iraq, M-14, Mosul, photos, US Army

AP
Sunday, February 22, 2009

FORT BLISS, Texas -- As soldiers stream home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the biggest charity inside the U.S. military has been stockpiling tens of millions of dollars meant to help put returning fighters back on their feet, an Associated Press investigation shows.

Between 2003 and 2007 -- as many military families dealt with long war deployments and increased numbers of home foreclosures -- Army Emergency Relief grew into a $345 million behemoth. During those years, the charity packed away $117 million into its own reserves while spending just $64 million on direct aid, according to an AP analysis of its tax records.

Tax-exempt and legally separate from the military, AER projects a facade of independence but really operates under close Army control. The massive nonprofit -- funded predominantly by troops -- allows superiors to squeeze soldiers for contributions; forces struggling soldiers to repay loans -- sometimes delaying transfers and promotions; and too often violates its own rules by rewarding donors, such as giving free passes from physical training, the AP found.

Full story here

Labels: (Not) Supporting the troops, AER, Army Emergency Relief, charities, US Army, Veterans

SUPER BOWL TOSS - U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander, U.S. Central Command, gets ready to toss the coin at Super Bowl XLIII here Feb 1, 2009, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Bradley Lail

Labels: CENTCOM, General David H. Petraeus, Super Bowl, US Army

Monday, January 12, 2009
AP

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — An Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed Monday in a field on the campus of Texas A&M University, killing one person and injuring four others aboard.

The Army UH-60 helicopter crashed Monday afternoon during training exercises near the Corps of Cadets field on the school's College Station campus, about 100 miles northwest of Houston. No one on the ground and no students were hurt.

A crew of four from the Army National Guard and an Army lieutenant assigned to the school's ROTC unit were the only ones aboard the Black Hawk, Texas A&M spokesman Lane Stephenson said.

Read More

Labels: accident, aircraft, Black Hawk, crash, Fallen Heroes, helicopter, US Army

From Army.mil:

1st Lt. Zachary Boes, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, speaks with a young resident of Musayyib during a patrol March 7. Photo by Sgt. Ben Brody


Dec 01, 2008
BY Sgt. David Turner

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKAN, Iraq (Army News Service, Dec. 1, 2008) -- The Soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment expected to spend a second consecutive Christmas in Iraq. This year they received an early Christmas present that changed their expectations.

The Soldiers recently learned their scheduled 15-month deployment would be cut short by several weeks, bringing them home to Fort Stewart, Ga., with the rest of the Vanguard Brigade, in time for the holidays.

"We were not home for Christmas last year," said Lt. Col. Timothy Newsome, 3-7th Infantry Regiment. commander. "But surprisingly, it didn't seem to affect anyone's morale. They are just about getting after the mission. Soldiers kept their chin up. We laugh whenever we greet one another and say, 'Hey, one more Christmas to go.'"

As the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division's mechanized infantry battalion, the "Cottonbalers" faced hardship with good humor and determination in their year-plus at Forward Operating Base Iskan. It contains some of the most dangerous areas in Babil Province, such as Seddah and Jurf as-Sakhr.

The Cottonbalers were charged with a counterinsurgency mission, as the other surge brigades were, aimed at stopping the flow of weapons into Baghdad and giving the new government room to operate.

The area of operations for Soldiers was home to both Sunni and Shia extremists. Even with the troop surge at its height, some villages and towns had seen little or no coalition presence since 2003.

"If I had to use one word to describe the security situation when we first moved in here, the word would be 'tenuous,'" said Newsome. "Folks just didn't go down to Seddah."

The last time the embedded provincial reconstruction team went into Seddah -- about three months before the Cottonbalers arrived in theater -- it had been hit with an explosively formed projectile, Newsome said.

"Seddah was left alone, and it was pretty much Jaysh al-Mahdi central -- it was a perfect staging location," Newsome said. "They were not used to seeing coalition Soldiers and didn't seem to be interested in seeing coalition Soldiers."

Musayyib, a town on the banks of the Euphrates River just south of FOB Iskan, had seen too much violence. A car bomb there killed eight Iraqis in April 2006. The town's central traffic circle turned into a dumping ground for garbage and scrap. Newsome knew that a successful counterinsurgency campaign would not only have to provide citizens with security, but give them confidence that peace and prosperity would return.

Citizens there might turn against the insurgency, Newsome thought, if the unit could get some baseline security requirements in place.

"If we can get those requirements in place, and if we can build upon that with projects and governance tie-ins and have people actually start to believe in the promise of a better tomorrow again - that was something that was sadly lacking in the area for such a long time," Newsome said. "They had not been embraced by us, by the government of Iraq, nor by the provincial government. They made perfect targets for the insurgents."

Recent reconstruction efforts showed citizens there that progress could be made. Today, the traffic circle is regularly patrolled by Iraqi Police, the streets are clean, new sidewalks are installed, and there is even a fenced-in park nearby.

"We're not the only ones who notice that," said Newsome. "The population looks at that."

Before Coalition-led reconstruction could begin, the Soldiers of 3-7 had to drive out insurgents who still held sway in areas south of Baghdad. Operation Marne Roundup was the first major combat operation for the 4th BCT, and the Cottonbalers played a large role. A kinetic operation aimed at clearing out al-Qaeda cells in key areas, Marne Roundup focused on areas in the town of Khidr.

Al-Qaeda gave citizens there a choice, said Newsome: "You can support us, either actively or passively, or we're going to blow your home up."

Khidr residents suffered heavily at the hands of the terrorists.

"There were multiple homes blown up; the entire area was leveled except for three or four homes," he said. "You can go through there and see which homes were rebuilt and which homes were left."

Gradually, residents began to return after the area was cleared. Soldiers helped bring construction materials so that people could repair their homes and return to a normal life.

"They have salvaged the bricks, knocked the mortar off of those bricks and rebuilt those homes. You have an entire population of that town, over 700 families who had been driven out by AQI, that came back in, and they have resettled the area now," said Newsome.

Newsome recalled a turning point in the struggle. About the second week in January 2008, just a month or so after the unit had finished ridding the area of Al-Qaeda, families began moving back into the city.

"They started holding classes in a bombed-out school while their parents were rebuilding their homes - it was pretty impressive," Newsome said.

Newsome is especially proud of schools his Soldiers helped to rebuild. He sees those projects as reinforcing the citizens' faith in their own country. As security returned, the government of Iraq began investing more of its own money into reconstruction.

"The populations here in Musayyib, Jurf as-Sakhr and Seddah -- they were sick and tired of the violence," Newsome said. "They want an opportunity to raise their families, work a normal job, bring their kids up in a safe environment, allow their kids to pursue an education, all in the name of getting after a better tomorrow. What we achieved by building those schools, it demonstrated our sincerity.

"In those situations where the Iraqi government was behind the effort or there were Iraqi funds that were involved in the effort, that is a great indicator for the population who want their government to be involved in their lives. They want to be part of the country of Iraq."

As operations in the area transitioned from kinetic to non-kinetic, Soldiers found themselves increasingly involved in combined operations with the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police. Babil Province officially took responsibility for its own security in October. Platoon sergeants now routinely patrol with their IP counterparts, introducing them to local citizens they have come to know well. Company commanders and platoon leaders attend town council meetings, helping to build the capacity of those local governments.

An essential part of successful counterinsurgency operations is working with the population to help meet their basic needs, Newsome said. After serving his first tour in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom I, Newsome helped implement some of the lessons he learned as an observer/controller at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, La. There, he said, he learned from the mistakes of others. It was an experience that served him well in OIF V. Getting the citizens of Iraq on the coalition's side, he said, meant forming relationships based on trust and respect.

"It's all about the relationship. You've got to go out there and shake hands," Newsome said. "You've got to convince people that we have their best interests in mind, and you have to work hand-in-glove with the Iraqi Security Forces that are there, no matter what condition they are in. If the population sees coalition forces and ISF together, there's a measure of trust that's there," he said.

As Iraqis found they could trust coalition forces in the area, support for insurgents began to erode, and citizens began reporting suspicious activity. That paid immediate dividends for the 3-7th Inf. Regt. Soldiers. To date, a total of 177 suspects have been detained, and the equivalent of 35,000 pounds of explosives have been found. Weapons caches discovered included more than 100,000 items. Without the help of informants, only two people were detained and only six weapons caches were found in a period of 14 months.

One reason citizens have come to trust Newsome's Soldiers is that they never rely on mass roundups to detain suspected insurgents.

"Iraqis are like Americans - we don't like being messed with," he said. "Our home is our refuge. Every time you do that, you sever ties; you sever relationships. We do something called precise targeting. When the people saw we were putting that much energy into making sure we only arrested the bad guys, and that when we arrested the bad guys, they went away for a long time, they started helping us out."

Newsome said he's learned some lessons in Iraq, especially about the value of building relationships.

"I would never have guessed that the value of forming relationships would be as extensive as it is," said Newsome, reflecting on the past year. "What I didn't understand was the value of those relationships when bad times come -- when there are small challenges or blips that may derail your progress. Because of these relationships, those folks reached back to us. We had reached out to them when we first got here to get the relationship started, then when something happens, when you lose a Soldier or when there is an accident, those relationships keep the train of progress on track. I would never have understood that."

Newsome admitted there were hard times along the way. Behind his desk are the pictures of eight of his Soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice. He credits the success of his mission to those Soldiers and the others who have kept the area safe from insurgents.

"They have been absolutely essential to the whole process. First of all, they had to believe in the philosophy that I was putting out; this idea of reaching out to citizens and co-opting spheres of influence. I couldn't do that without the company commanders and platoon leaders and the NCOs that we have going out there every day," he said.

(Sgt. David Turner writes for the 4th BCT 3rd Inf. Div)


Photo by Sgt. David Turner
Staff Sgt. Brian Massey, with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, climbs to the roof of a house near Musayyib during a patrol Oct. 5.


Photo by Sgt. Ben Brody
Sgt. Christopher Humes, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, pulls rooftop security during a meeting to discuss humanitarian and infrastructure projects in Musayyib March 9.

Labels: 3-7th Infantry, 3rd ID, FOB Iskan, Fort Stewart, Good News, Iraq, Khidr, Musayyib, photos, US Army

Labels: 18th Military Police Brigade Comabt Team, 230th Military Police Company, 793rd Military Police Battalion, children, Iraq, Jabella, Military Police, photos, US Army

From Multi-National Force - Iraq:

A father pushes his son on a swing as other children play at the grand opening of Dover Park in the Qahira neighborhood in the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad, Oct. 28, 2008. Photo by Sgt. Jerry Saslav, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.


Thursday, 30 October 2008

BAGHDAD — “As I drove by the Army canal every day, I saw this park, and I said this is something we can do to help the citizens,” said Col. John Hort, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Dover Park, as it is known by Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, sat abandoned for years; located in the Qahira neighborhood of the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad, its carnival rides were unusable and the land was overgrown with weeds.

“It was your typical abandoned park here in Iraq,” said 1st Lt. Rosita Rodriguez, a civil affairs team chief with Company C, 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, attached to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B.

Thus, the mission to rehabilitate the park became Rodriguez’s mission. Two months later, the refurbished park was completed and handed over to the local neighborhood council, Oct. 28, 2008.

“This is our first park in Qahira. We never had one before,” said Mohamed Madaloom, the Qahira Neighborhood Assistance Council chairman.

The park has a small pond with a generator-run fountain with a flock of geese as well as benches, solar lights, several swings, slides and seesaws. There is also a tiled path lined with flowers and new grass has been planted. A gardener and a security guard, he added, will be hired.

The park is intended to be self-sufficient, and seven small kiosks will be rented to vendors. The rent will provide an income stream to buy fuel for the generator, pay the salaries of the staff and any other expenses.

“Everybody admires the park. I know the families are so excited to get here,” said Madaloom, who, along with fellow local officials and Coalition leaders, gathered for the official hand over. Iraqi officials and Col. Hort raised the Iraqi flag to symbolize the opening of the park as doves were released. Some families and their children couldn’t wait – they were already on the rides.

“I’m so pleased; our kids aren’t able to go many places because of the security situation. I am so pleased that we have such a park in our neighborhood,” said Aum Achmed, who was there with her daughter and a niece. “It’s important for every kid to have a place to go to.”

“It’s good. It used to be awful before. I wouldn’t even look at it before,” said Mostfa, a 3-year-old Iraqi child, before running off to a nearby slide.

(By Sgt. Jerry Saslav, 4th Infantry Division)

Labels: 404th Civil Affairs Division, 4th Infantry Division, Adhamiyah District, Baghdad, children, Civil Affairs, Good News, Iraq, Multi-National Division-Baghdad, Public Affairs, Qahira, US Army

From DefenseLink:

Army Sgt. Gregory S. Ruske will become the fourth Army Reservist to receive the Silver Star for heroism demonstrated after he and his fellow soldiers were ambushed in Afghanistan’s Kapisa province April 21, 2008. U.S. Army photo


By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2008 – Army Sgt. Gregory S. Ruske is quick to call himself an ordinary soldier, but later this month the Army Reserve will single him out for extraordinary heroism in Afghanistan that earned him the Silver Star medal.

The 28-year-old Colorado Springs, Colo., native will become the fourth Army reservist to receive the prestigious award for heroism in the war on terror. Army Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve, will present Ruske the Silver Star during a ceremony in Orlando, Fla.
Ruske visited Washington yesterday to meet with Stultz and other Army Reserve officials and to attend the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting taking place here. He said he doesn’t see the actions he took when his platoon was attacked by a much larger Taliban force as anything exceptional.

“I don’t consider myself a hero,” he said. “I was just an ordinary guy put in an extraordinary situation. I reacted based on my upbringing, training and compassion, and thankfully, it worked out in the end.”

Ruske was assigned to Combined Joint Task Force 101, operating in Afghanistan’s Kapisa province, when the incident that led to his Silver Star award took place April 21. He and his fellow soldiers from 3rd Platoon, A Company, Task Force Gladiator, were on a patrol in a remote area not accessible by vehicle when Taliban operatives attacked them with heavy grenade, machine-gun and rifle fire.

“There was no way our gun truck support could get to us, so we were kind of out here by ourselves when all Hades broke loose,” he said.

Trapped with his unit in an exposed position, Ruske returned fire so most of the platoon could move to protective cover. Ruske then moved to a rooftop and continued laying fire even after taking a bullet to the hip.

At that point, Ruske realized that two Afghan National Police officers were still pinned down in the open, taking fire from their Taliban attackers. One ran for cover, but the other officer -- one Ruske had worked with at vehicle checkpoints and chatted with through an interpreter – had been shot and was trying to crawl to safety through a hail of bullets.

“Seeing that dirt kick up no more than six inches from his head, I said, ‘Man, this is jacked up,’” Ruske recalled thinking. “They are still shooting at this guy. He is still bleeding and shot. And I said, ‘We have to go get him.’”

Labels: Afghanistan, heroes, Sgt. Gregory S. Ruske, Silver Star, Task Force Gladiator, US Army, US Army Reserves

Army Master Sgt. Michael Molgaard helps to unload boxes of donated clothing and school supplies with an Afghan policeman at the Afshar School. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Robert Romano, Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix


From DefenseLink:


By Army Lt. Col. Paul Fanning
Special to American Forces Press Service

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 7, 2008 – Donations of school supplies and children’s clothing from military families and friends at home are helping deployed New York Army National Guard soldiers in their mission to mentor and train the Afghan national security forces and support the Afghan people.

Members of the Afghan National Police delivered hundreds of pounds of schools supplies, children’s clothing and shoes sent over from New York communities to boys and girls of the Afshar School in the suburbs of the Afghan capital of Kabul on Oct. 4.

Humanitarian assistance missions help Afghan families and build bonds of trust for the nation’s developing army and police forces. Trainers and mentors from Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix, part of Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, guide and support national police and army units as they conduct local efforts.

Nearly 1,700 members of the New York National Guard’s 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployed to Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix to serve on embedded training and police mentoring teams, security force units, logistics teams and for the task force headquarters.

Increasingly, military family members, friends, youth groups and civic organizations back in New York are taking an active role by sending donations to their deployed loved ones that are in turn used to help the Afghan people.

Clothing, footwear and school supplies are eagerly sought. Operations that bring police to schools and villages to deliver security messages as well as gifts encourage local support for the Afghan government and improve conditions for the people.

“The Afghan National Police is the face of the Afghan government at the local level,” said Army Col. Gary Yaple, deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix and the New York National Guard’s 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from Syracuse. “Our intent is to place the Afghans first and in the lead, and we support. This is their nation. These are their communities, families and children. The more support they provide, the more they build for their government. They still need our help, but much progress is being made.”

The three-hour mission on Oct. 4 included 23 U.S. personnel assigned to a police mentoring team with Afghan Regional Security Integration Command Kabul and logistics task force troops. The team moved to the headquarters of Police District 5, where 1st Lt. Faisal Reza from the Bronx, Master Sgt. Michael Molgaard from Ithaca, and Staff Sgt. Deanna Bizette from Florence, S.C., conferred with the local police chief on the operation plan. Then a dozen officers moved out with the Phoenix team for the school.

They set up a security perimeter, and U.S. troops and Afghan police unloaded three trailers of donations. These were placed in a faculty office, and teachers began to distribute to the neediest students.

“The donations came from various people in the Tompkins County area,” said Capt. Robert Romano from Ithaca, assigned to Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix headquarters.

“My mother organized the drive with support from several local church groups,” he said, adding that Linda Pasto, the mother of another deployed officer, and a local chapter of "The Red Hat Society," a woman's group, also made significant contributions.

“Clothing was collected, inspected, packed and shipped by my mother, Marie Romano, and my wife, Lana,” the captain said. “The first load amounted to about 650 pounds.”

Another shipment weighing in at 1,100 pounds already is on the way, he added. “The police chief and teachers seemed especially happy with a large box of children's shoes and another one that contained winter jackets and sweaters.”

Later, the local police chief personally handed out school supplies, clothing and shoes. He also talked to the children with a simple message: “People should not be afraid to come to the police to ask for help. The police are there for the people.”

(Army Lt. Col. Paul Fanning serves in the Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix Public Affairs Office.)


Related Sites:
Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan


Col. Zalmia, Police District 5 chief, speaks to students in a classroom of the Afshar School to let them know that his police officers are there to help. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Robert Romano, Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix



Afghan children show off donated supplies and clothing. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Robert Romano, Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix

Labels: 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Afghanistan, children, Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix, Good News, Humanitarian Aid, New York National Guard, photos, US Army