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 ONE STATION UNIT TRAINING GRADUATION A CO 2-58 and C CO 2-19 INFANTRY 21 APR 2006 FORT BENNING , GA GOOD MORNING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THAT WAS PRETTY WEAK LET'S TRY IT AGAIN..... GOOD MORNING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! ~ MUCH BETTER! THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING THE GRADUATION CEREMONY FOR ALPHA COMPANY, 2 ND BATTALION 58 TH INFANTRY REGIMENT; AND CHARLIE COMPANY, 2 ND BATTALION 19 TH INFANTRY ON BEHALF OF MG WALTER WATCH-A-COW-SKI, COMMANDER OF FT BENNING, COL SCOTT HENRY, THE COMMANDER OF THE INFANTRY TRAINING BRIGADE, AND LTC RICK MITCHELL, COMMANDER OF 2-19 INFANTRY; I'D LIKE TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY...

CAMP SHELBY, Miss. (NNS) -- About 200 active and Reserve Sailors undergoing predeployment training at Camp Shelby, Miss., reached the midway point of 60 days of Army combat survival training April 14. They received orders directing them to the Navy Mobilization Processing Site in Norfolk with follow-on training at Camp Shelby, near Hattiesburg, Miss. Their mission is to work with joint U.S. forces in small teams called Embedded Training Teams, or ETTs, teaching military doctrine to the Afghanistan National Army (ANA). “Our training here and subsequent mission in Afghanistan is a prime example of how the role of the military...

Sorry it has been five months since my last update, but then, we have been busy. Let me give you the bottom-line up front (BLUF), and then catch you up on things. Feel free to forward this to whomever, since we still can’t seem to get the press to tell folks what is going on. This is how the fight is going from my foxhole, and it is much more than the bombings, US casualties, and rumors of civil war the press seems to be focused on.

And as far as the U.S. effort is concerned, it seems there is almost nothing the White House, the Pentagon, or for that matter any American rifleman on the ground can do that is good enough to garner so much as a one-line "attaboy" from many of our country’s largest newspapers and television news networks. Let’s look at last Thursday, March 16, the day the Iraqi National Assembly opened in Baghdad and a high-profile "air assault" northeast of Samarra, as an example:

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HIT, Iraq (Jan. 17, 2006) -- In the middle of a relaxed game of soccer, the frantic call for counter-fire brings the fun to an abrupt end. While the ball continues to roll, Marines of the 81mm mortar platoon race to their guns and scramble into Kevlar helmets and dusty flak jackets. “We [the 81mm mortar platoon] can do all types of missions,” said Lance Cpl. Jesse L. Evans, of Clifton Springs, N.Y., a mortarman with Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines. “We fire counter-fire missions against insurgent mortar teams, fire illumination missions, or even mark...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Jan. 13, 2006) — While conducting an air-insertion mission into the village of Shakaria, Iraq, Task Force Ironhorse Soldiers killed several insurgents, detained one and discovered a significant weapons cache Jan. 11. As part of Operation Falcon Sweep, Black Hawk helicopters landed near Shakaria Wednesday morning and Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment swept the village to identify terrorists. The 2-502nd Soldiers received small arms and indirect fire from insurgent forces at approximately 10:45 a.m. The Soldiers returned fire, killing six terrorists and wounding one other. Following the firefight, Soldiers discovered two dead insurgents...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Jan. 9, 2006 – Fighting the war in Iraq has transformed artillerymen into light infantrymen, a job filled with cordon-and-search operations, motorized convoys and dismounted patrols. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, have accepted and excelled in their nontraditional role. The field artillery soldiers have dominated a large area throughout the city and rich farmland of Taji, performing in the role of the light infantryman and securing peace for the people of the region. "We've captured 109 insurgents; 41 have gone to Abu Ghraib," said Lt. Col. Rafael Torres, the battalion's commander. "We've discovered 15...

U.S. Army soldiers from B Company 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, make their way down a steep mountainside while on a patrol during Operation Pizmah in Dey Chopan District, Zabul Province, Afghanistan, Dec. 11, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Vincent Fusco U.S. Paratroopers Complete Operation Pizmah U.S. paratroopers in Afghanistan hunted for Taliban, as well as worked to reestablish a coalition presence in the districts of Dey Chopan, Argandab and Khaki-Afghan. By U.S. Army Pfc. Vincent Fusco 20th Public Affairs Detachment DEY CHOPAN, Afghanistan, Jan. 5, 2006 — As Operation Pizmah drew to a close Dec. 15,...

AR Freepers: I know this is late notice (I just got my drill letter..sigh) and am back from Operation Katrina duties (yes thats right, AR 39th BCT guys are still in Nuevo Orleans). We are having our annual "Family Day" event at 39th BCT HHC (HQ) at Rick's Armory. The Armory is located at 4700 West 8th Street in Little Rock, AR. (Large Dome building just east of Travellers Baseball field and 50 meters north of I-630).Anyways, its a great time to stop by for a little BBQ and say hello (or thank you) to your AR National Guard members....

WACO, Texas (Army News Service, Nov. 28, 2005) — A day after Thanksgiving, more than 1,500 Soldiers bound for a 14-month deployment to Kosovo and Bosnia were honored in a ceremony Nov. 25 at Baylor University’s Ferrell Center. A circular sea of green seats was filled by excited and emotional family members and friends at Baylor’s indoor arena in Waco, Texas. They were there to say goodbye to their Soldiers one last time before they departed for the Balkans. It was the first time 36th Infantry Division Soldiers were deploying to Europe since World War II. During the ceremony, guest...

Insurgencies are not put down in a fortnight. But considering the successes in the recent counter-insurgency sweep in Iraq's Al Anbar Province, one fact becomes obvious to anyone with so much as a sliver of an understanding of ground combat operations: Eliminating the insurgency in Iraq is best left to those who best know how to do it.

The older I get, the more I realize what an emotional and powerful experience it is to have served my country. And how incredibly strong the bond becomes between other men and women who have served.

TIKRIT, Iraq, Nov. 2, 2005 – Task Force Band of Brothers and the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) officially took command of military operations in north-central Iraq in a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Danger here Nov. 1. The ceremony marked the transfer of authority from Task Force Liberty and the 42nd Infantry Division, a National Guard unit from New York that has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom for a year, to TF Band of Brothers. TF Band of Brothers is composed of two brigade combat teams and a combat aviation brigade of the 101st Airborne Division,...

TAJI, Iraq – Task Force Baghdad Soldiers found bomb-making materials and mortar aiming stakes in a house they searched northwest of Baghdad on Sept. 8. The Soldiers from the Rhode Island National Guard’s D Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, detained three male suspects at the house and confiscated terrorist propaganda, two expended rocket casings, two timers and the aiming stakes. "We did a three-patrol raid on a suspected Anti-Iraqi Forces meeting location and it was a complete success," said Capt. William H. Tuttle IV, D Company commander from Warwick, R.I. "Speed and surprise were our best attributes." Tuttle said...

On August 23, 2005, the Secretary of Defense approved a request by the commander of Multi-National Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) to deploy two additional infantry battalions to Iraq. Two battalions from the 82nd Airborne Division will deploy to Iraq for an anticipated duration of approximately 120 days to support security efforts during the election period. Adjustments to troop levels in Iraq occurred prior to the transfer to Iraqi sovereignty in June 2004 and during the January Iraqi elections. These troops will join 180,000 Iraqi security forces and 138,000 coalition forces in helping set the security conditions for successful elections. Gen. Casey’s request...

AN NUMANIYAH, Iraq (Aug. 12, 2005) -- On June 9, 2005, the forward deployed 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing sent an 11-man Military Transition Team (MiTT), to An Numaniyah, Iraq, a training base in southeastern Iraq. The team’s mission is to stand up the 2nd Brigade of the 7th Iraqi Army Division and serve as advisory staff in the training of the 1st Battalion. The MiTT concept is modeled after the combined arms platoons that were employed in Vietnam from 1967 to 1974. Using this model, Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq formed three specialized teams to embed with the New Iraqi Army...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (July, 21, 2005) -- “Don’t you dare touch that remote control, ‘cause you’re watching ‘Mail Call,’” barked Gunnery Sgt. R. Lee Ermey, actor and former Marine. The History Channel’s No. 1-rated show visited Camp Pendleton early this week to shoot for an upcoming episode featuring the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program and the MK-19 grenade launcher. The production crew first made its way to the School of Infantry’s green belt instructor course to drop in on training. They videotaped students sparring and grappling while instructors supervised. Then, the crew turned its cameras on advanced...

Army Reservists assigned to the 101st Cavalry, 42nd Infantry Division were tasked with clean-up and security details at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001; they now serve in Iraq. FORWARD OPERATING BASE BERNSTEIN, Iraq, July 5, 2005 — He bounced out of the gunner’s hatch of his armored humvee, removed his helmet to assess the desert landscape of Forward Operating Base Bernstein, Iraq, and made his observation. “Man, I would love to plant some tomatoes out here,” said U.S. Army Spc. James Letohic, scout, 42nd Infantry Division command group personal security detail. “They’d get as big as basketballs!”...

“Memory n. 1. The mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experience; the ability to remember. 2. An act or instance of remembrance; a recollection… see smer in Appendix.” “smer – to remember. In Germanic murnon, to remember sorrowfully, in Old English murnan, to mourn.” I remember Chuck Meerholz and the day I was supposed to drive. After four months with B Company, 1st Battalion, 69th Armor; four months of on-the-job-training for a guy trained as an infantrymen, I was being taught to drive our tank. B Company was to participate in a big operation centered on the village of...

"The Army has to understand the regulation that says women can't be placed in direct-fire situations is archaic and not attainable," said Lt. Col. Cheri Provancha, commander of a Stryker Brigade support battalion in Mosul, who decided to bend Army rules and allow Guay to serve as a medic for an infantry company of the 82nd Airborne. [. . .] "This war has proven that we need to revisit the policy, because they are out there doing it," said Provancha, a 21-year Army veteran from San Diego. Dozens of soldiers interviewed across Iraq — male and female, from lower enlisted...