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FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – Christian Stephenson has bided his time as a finance noncommissioned officer. Stephenson, who has been in the Army for eight years, was promoted to sergeant four years ago and became promotable to staff sergeant three years ago. “I’ve had 720 (promotion) points for a long time, in five years (the points to staff sergeant) have never gone below 775,” said Stephenson, from Emerald Isle, N.C. “It was frustrating working so hard to get those points but never making the cutoff. It had been at least six months since I’d even checked the scores when...

An explosive ordnance disposal team conducts a controlled detonation on munitions recovered by Soldiers of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division and 5th Battalion, 25th Brigade, 6th IA Division, April 2, in Kutimiyah, Iraq. Photo by Sgt. Luis Delgadillo, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs. FOB KALSU — In the early morning of April 2, Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers with 5th Battalion, 25th Brigade, 6th IA Division, questioned a suspected insurgent who said he knew the location of buried weapons. "For the past couple of weeks the IA had...

Excerpt - FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, Aug 16 (Reuters) - U.S. forces launched an airborne assault on a desert compound south of Baghdad on Thursday, the first air strike in a major new offensive. A company of airborne infantry struck villas in search of Sunni Arab militants. The assault was a first part of operation Marne Husky, itself part of a countrywide push announced this week against both Sunni Arab and Shi'ite militants. Major-General Rick Lynch, commander of U.S. forces south of Baghdad, told Reuters on Wednesday that about 4,000 of his men would be involved in the operation...

FOB KALSU, Iraq (Army News Service, July 17, 2006) – Living conditions at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, continue to improve with the work of Soldiers from Company C, 62nd Engineer Battalion and 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Under construction are a brigade tactical operations center, two battalion headquarters and four additional buildings capable of holding up to 16 companies. The structures will provide workspace for more than 2,500 Soldiers moving to the FOB from Najaf’s Forward Operating Base Duke this fall. “These new work spaces are cost efficient compared to the tents and old buildings we have...

Iraqi Security Forces, Marines capture 72 Suspected Militants Forward Operating Base, Kalsu, Iraq -- Iraqi police and national guardsmen beat back an insurgent attack on a police station just south of Baghdad on Dec. 12, fueling optimism that the fledgling security forces are growing more confident and capable even in the face of a concerted campaign of intimidation and terror. The early-morning assault on the Rasheed station north of Mahmudiyah by an estimated 10 militants using mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and small-arms posed the biggest test yet for the 507th ING Battalion, which has been operating alongside the 24th...

November 25, 2004 Release Number: 04-11-88 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Hunt for insurgents continues south of BaghdadFORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq -- Iraqi, U.S. and British forces rounded up 81 suspected insurgents near Yusufiyah Nov. 25, continuing a three-day-old offensive aimed at restoring security and stability to northern Babil province. In a carefully coordinated series of early-morning thrusts, the Iraqi SWAT team, elements of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and the 1st Battalion of Britain's Black Watch Regiment descended on a number of targets in a restive area southwest of Baghdad. The Black Watch detained 26 suspects, while Iraqi security forces...

CLEVELAND (AP) - The Browns will pay tribute Sunday to a former player who died in the Vietnam War and has gone unrecognized by the NFL for decades. It has long been reported that Bob Kalsu, a Buffalo Bills lineman, was the only former NFL player killed while serving in Vietnam. But it recently came to the attention of the Pro Football Hall of Fame that Air Force Maj. Don Steinbrunner, a rookie offensive tackle with the Browns in 1953, died in Vietnam in 1967. Steinbrunner, who joined the Air Force ROTC while at Washington State University, was called to...

Former Sooner, war hero, being honored by Army (Norman-AP) -- An Army post in Kentucky is honoring a former Sooner who became the only professional football player killed in the Vietnam War. The Fort Campbell Replacement Company has been renamed the First Lieutenant James Robert Kalsu Replacement Company. Every soldier assigned to the 101st Airborne Division will pass through the building and see a display that features Kalsu's Oklahoma jersey. Kalsu was an offensive tackle for the Sooners before going on to play a season for the Buffalo Bills. Kalsu grew up in Del City and was an All-American in...