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Iraqi Air Base Renamed in Honor of Revered NCO TAJI, Iraq — The memory of a 1st Armored Division senior noncommissioned officer's service and sacrifice will live on at one of the U.S. Army’s base camps in Iraq. The former Iraqi Air Force base in Taji was officially renamed Camp Cooke March 23 during a dedication ceremony in honor of Command Sgt. Maj. Eric F. Cooke, 1st Brigade Combat Team command sergeant major. Cooke was killed Dec. 24 during a combat patrol in Baghdad when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.Camp Cooke is one of several Coalition forward...

Ready First’ Brigade Helping Iraq’s Heavy Liftersby Cpl. Benjamin Cossel, 122nd MPAD BAGHDAD, Iraq -- As part of an on-going effort to build a better Iraq, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, has given financial and engineering support to the renovation of the Iraqi Olympic Weightlifting Team’s training facility. Throughout Baghdad, brigade commanders have been tasked to identify projects within their operating areas that would benefit from American or nongovernmental agency financial and engineering support. The Iraqi Olympic Team’s training facilities fall within the “Ready First” Brigade’s purview of the Rusafa and Aadhamiya districts of Baghdad. “When...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 March 24, 2004Release Number: 04-03-47 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OPERATION IRON PROMISE DAY FIVE BAGHDAD, Iraq -Task Force 1st Armored Division soldiers captured 12 individuals suspected of planning attacks on Coalition forces March 22, day five of Operation Iron Promise. Iron Promise is a TF 1 AD operation targeting former regime elements andother extremists who pose a threat to the Iraqi people and stand in the way of a new Iraq. In addition, TF 1AD soldiers confiscated three AK-47s, 19 rocket-propelled...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 March 23, 2004Release Number: 04-03-46 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OPERATION IRON PROMISE DAY FOUR BAGHDAD, Iraq - IRON PROMISE is a Task Force 1st Armored Division operation targeting former regime elements and other extremists who pose a threat to the Iraqi people and stand in the way of a new Iraq. In addition to enemies captured, the Task Force seized 14 AK-47 assault rifles and a pistol, 20 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 30 mortar rounds, 100 mortar fuses and assorted small arms...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 March 21, 2004Release Number: 04-03-42 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Update on Operation Iron Promise, Day 3 BAGHDAD, Iraq - In day three of Operation Iron Promise, Task Force 1st Armored Division continues to target known enemy locations and aggressively carry out cordon and search operations looking for Former Regime Elements and other extremists who pose a threat to the Iraqi people and stand in the way of a new Iraq. The Task Force completed three offensive missions in support of Operation...

Sunday, March 21, 2004 For once, a quiet night in Baghdad for Company B By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Sunday, March 21, 2004 Michael Abrams / S&S A young Iraqi boy and girl along with their grandmother watch as their grandfather talks to a soldier while other soldiers of Company B, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Armored Division search their house during a night-time sweep through a Baghdad neighborhood during Operation Iron Promise. Michael Abrams / S&S Sgt. Will Byrne, right, Company B, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Armored Division and liason...

Operation Iron Promise Begins BAGHDAD, Iraq – Task Force 1st Armored Division and Iraqi Security Forces launched Operation Iron Promise early Wednesday to defeat domestic and international extremists. The operation supports the emerging Iraqi Government and demonstrates the Task Forces’ commitment to the people of Baghdad throughout the transfer of authority with the 1st Cavalry Division. Operation Iron Promise is a city-wide operation involving members of the Iraqi Police Service, the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, the Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces. “We will remain on the offensive against extremists, former regime members, terrorists and criminals who are operating against...

  Task Force 1 AD Finance Soldiers Train Iraqi Counterparts BAGHDAD, Iraq - Soldiers from 1st Armored Division's 8th Finance Battalion and the 1st Cavalry Division's 15th Finance Battalion conducted a three-day course to give Iraqi Civil Defense Corps members a lesson in "paying for freedom." The U.S. finance battalions trained dispersing agents, paymasters and fund certifiers. "We're training the ICDC on internal pay operations," said Lt. Col. Stan Brown, the 8th Finance Battalion commander. The ICDC is one facet of Iraq's defense services. It was built from scratch after the fall of the former regime to act as...

Soldier, Iraqi Team Gets 'Beans, Bullets' to the Troops BAGHDAD, Iraq -- American soldiers here of the 501st Forward Support Battalion and Iraqi civilians are working side by side completing missions that influence the readiness of every unit within the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. The 501st FSB's Supply Support Activity is responsible for receiving, processing, issuing and storing parts for the brigade's fleet of vehicles and providing food and water to the BCT's Soldiers. The SSA's wartime mission differs vastly from its garrison mission because it has the monumental and critical task of providing the "beans...

Class Work Complete, ICDC NCOs Ready to Lead BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi Civil Defense Corps officially welcomed its NCO "backbone" during graduation ceremonies for the first Primary Leadership Development Course Thursday. The NCOs completed the first class of the Primary Leadership Development Course conducted in Iraq by the United States Army. The ceremony was held at the Camp Muleskinner, which is home to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment's Support Squadron. The regiment is part of Task Force 1st Armored Division. One hundred sixteen ICDC soldiers participated in the historic ceremony. The program followed the U.S. Army's traditional ceremonial...

  1-94 FA Rocketeers Hone MLRS Skills on Butler Range BUTLER RANGE, Iraq - Butler Range near Baghdad had several loud visitors this week as the 1st Armored Division King of Battle flexed some of its biggest muscles during a three-day live-fire exercise. The 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery Regiment, which is assigned to the 1st Armored Division Artillery Combat Team, rolled its inventory of multiple-launch rocket systems out to the massive firing range north of Baghdad to finalize their months of training. The 1-94 FA is operating in southern Baghdad's Al Rashid district as a maneuver battalion patrolling...

Interrogator’s Goal: Save Lives, Prevent Attacks With Informationby Staff Sgt. Mark Bell, 372nd MPAD BAGHDAD, Iraq – Being able to gather information that helps prevent terrorist attacks against the Iraqi people or coalition forces provides a military intelligence Soldier with the motivation to continually improve. Working behind the scenes, Spc. Daemon Lowell, 22, who calls Virginia Beach home, is a human intelligence collector, more commonly known as an interrogator, assigned to the 1st Armored Division Artillery Combat Team. Lowell is one of several interrogators assisting Soldiers and paratroopers assigned to the DCT with information needed for their missions in...

FOX Teams Bring Versatility to 1st Armored Division’s DIVARTY Combat Teamby Staff Sgt. Mark Bell, 372nd MPAD BAGHDAD, Iraq – American dictionaries defines versatility as, “the ability to do many things.” The 69th Chemical Company’s Reconnaissance (RECON) Platoon exemplifies the word and more. Besides the unit’s doctrinal mission to seek out and detect nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) threats against coalition forces and Iraqi residents in and around Baghdad, the 13 Soldiers assigned to operate the Army’s M 93A1 NBC Reconnaissance System, commonly known as the Fox, have been busy supporting the 1st Armored Division Artillery Combat Team (DCT)...

1st Armored Division Medics Train ICDC Counterpartsby Staff Sgt. Mark Bell, 372nd MPAD BAGHDAD, Iraq – The Iraqi Civil Defense Corps took another step toward self-sufficiency when 66 guardsmen recently completed the first combat medic course offered in Iraq. Medics from the 1st Armored Division Artillery Combat Team’s ICDC unit in the Al Rashid district of southern Baghdad now have trained medical specialists. The class covered many of the same tasks found in the U.S. Army’s Combat Lifesaver’s Course. After graduating, 50 of the medics will serve in the individual platoons of the 304th ICDC Battalion, said 1st Lt....

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 February 29, 2004Release Number: 04-02-53 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Task Force 1st Armored Division teaches ICDC BAGHDAD, Iraq - Task Force 1st Armored Division soldiers from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment began the first Iraqi Civil Defense Corps Primary Leadership Development Course for approximately 100 ICDC noncommissioned officers at Camp Muleskinner here Saturday. The PLDC is designed to build a professional noncommissioned officer corps and follows the "be, know, do" principle. It will reinforce basic soldiering skills such as land navigation,...

Iraqi Citizens Keep Leading U.S. Forces to Weapons and Suspects American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2004 -- Iraqi citizens continue to point U.S. troops to sites where weapons and ammunitions are being found – even in some cases hand delivering turn-in of the deadly munitions. Over the past week there have been at least four incidents where Iraqi civilians have led U.S. troops to hidden stockpiles of weapons and ammunition, coalition officials report. In Mosul, a concerned group of citizens in northwestern Iraq, known as the Coalition of Iraqi Unity, led soldiers of the 1st Squadron, 14th...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 February 27, 2004Release Number: 04-02-49 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1AD SOLDIERS DISCOVER WEAPONS CACHE BAGHDAD, Iraq - Task Force 1st Armored Division soldiers discovered and seized a weapons cache in the Al Rashid district Feb. 24. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery Regiment, Division Artillery Combat Team were on a routine mounted patrol when they discovered the stockpile. The soldiers found and confiscated 50 122 mm artillery rounds, 36 125 mm artillery rounds, 200 14.5 mm rounds, 10 fuses and...

SECDEF Meets with Task Force 1st Armored Division Soldiers, Views ICDCby Capt. Sean P. Kirley, 2nd ACR Regimental PAO BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The Office of the Secretary of Defense sent word to the military leadership in Iraq earlier this month: The Hon. Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, was coming to Iraq, and he specifically wanted to see the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which is assigned to Task Force 1st Armored Division The communiqué continued: The Secretary of Defense, in addition to meeting with the Regiment’s troopers, was interested in seeing the Iraqi Civil Defense Academy at Camp Muleskinner....

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 February 25, 2004Release Number: 04-02-44 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TF 1AD CAPTURES THREE SUSPECTED ILLEGAL WEAPONS DEALERS BAGHDAD, Iraq - Task Force 1st Armored Division soldiers from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment conducted two cordon-and-search operations, capturing three suspected insurgents and several illegal weapons Feb. 20. Soldiers from 2nd Squadron, 2nd ACR conducted the operations in the northeast section of Baghdad. They apprehended the three suspects and seized five AK-47 assault rifles, two shotguns, a bandoleer filled with 7.62 mm ammunition...

Task Force 1st Armored Division Captures Two Suspected Illegal-Weapons Dealers BAGHDAD, Iraq - Task Force 1st Armored Division soldiers from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment apprehended two suspected arms dealers during a reconnaissance operation Thursday. Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 2nd ACR spotted the two suspects while observing a neighborhood market in the northeast section of Baghdad at about 4 p.m. The soldiers apprehended the two suspects and seized an AK-47 assault rifle, three pistols and a rocket-propelled-grenade round. The soldiers took the suspects to the unit's forward operating base for questioning. Release #040223a