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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Nov. 6, 2008 – Soldiers with the 1st Infantry Division’s Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, make sure Task Force Duke has all appropriate lines of communication up and running so the mission can move forward. “We maintain the phone and Internet connections for Jalalabad Airfield, which is the central hub for the brigade,” said Army Sgt. Alexander Englehart from Temecula, Calif. “We control all of the phones here in Jalalabad as far as programming them, making sure the phone book is up-to-date and things like that. We pretty much do everything related to the phones,...

Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1 3rd Infantry’s 1st BCT trains for a new dwell-time mission. Helping ‘people at home’ may become a permanent part of the active Army By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer Posted : Monday Sep 8, 2008 6:15:06 EDT The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys. Now they’re training for the same mission — with a twist — at home. Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under...

The last of the five Army brigades to deploy with the “troop surge” in Iraq will return in July after a 13-month deployment, during which soldiers detained more than 800 terrorist suspects and helped foster Iraqi self-governance. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team has operated in the Arab Jabour area of southeastern Baghdad, where the number of attacks plummeted from about 30 a week when they arrived in May 2007 to about one a week now. “All in all, it's been a very successful operation for us,” Army Col. Terry Ferrell, 2nd Brigade Combat Team commander, told reporters...

BESMAYA — A graduation ceremony filled with music, marching and speeches marked a tremendous step for Iraq when the Iraqi Army’s 3rd Brigade, 14th Division graduated here, Feb 13. The brigade is fully equipped and trained to battle enemies of Iraq because of ‘Unit Set Fielding’, a process that takes an entire Army brigade and gives the Soldiers the equipment and training they will need to fight. Iraqi Army Gen. Babakir, commanding general and chief of staff, Iraqi Joint Forces, attended the event and delivered a compelling speech to the graduates of the brigade. “I am proud to stand before...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Dec. 27, 2007 – When the senior leadership and soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team arrived in Iraq nearly 15 months ago, the security situation here was quite different from the one they now experience as they patrol the streets throughout their area of operations. Keeping his eyes peeled for anything suspicious, Katy, Texas, native Army Spc. Frank Maier, a scout for Troop A, 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, pulls security in Ath Alba, Iraq, a village north of Baghdad, in mid-March 2007...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Dec. 19, 2007) - Secretary of the Army Pete Geren and Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody today announced plans to activate three new units in 2008, and other unit-stationing decisions to support the Army's growth by up to 74,200 Soldiers, including 65,000 active-duty Soldiers, by 2010. The stationing plans announced during a Pentagon press conference this afternoon include six infantry brigade combat teams, eight active-component support brigades and various-sized combat-support and combat-service-support units. "The Army is undergoing the largest transformational change since 1942," said Gen. Cody. "We've changed our doctrine. We've changed our...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2007 – Though the surge has worked, that doesn’t mean that extremists – especially Shiia special squads – have been overcome, the commander of the first surge brigade into Iraq said today. Army Col. B. Don Farris, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division, said that when the soldiers first arrived in Baghdad in January, sectarian violence was at an unprecedented level. “Whole-scale murder and displacement of families from both sects was alarming,” Farris said during a briefing with Pentagon reporters from Baghdad. “Al Qaeda remained organized, determined and extremely lethal, and...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2007 – The return of 1st Cavalry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team to Fort Hood, Texas, proves the surge of American troops into Iraq is working, a coalition commander said today. Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, take a break during a cordon-and-search operation in the Rashid district of Baghdad on April 14, 2007. Photo by Sgt. Tierney Nowland, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “(That unit) is about to depart, and there is not another surge brigade coming in behind it,” Army Col. John Lehr...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2007 – Defense Department officials announced today that 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, will deploy to Iraq in summer 2008. The deployment of the Fort Hood, Texas, unit is part of the normal rotation of forces, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. There are about 3,500 soldiers in the brigade. Before deploying to Iraq, the unit will re-flag and become 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. “This could cause some confusion, because the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry, is already in Iraq,” Whitman said. That unit, based at Fort Bliss, Texas, is due to redeploy back to the United States...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2007 – New York National Guardsmen will start deploying to Afghanistan late this year, Defense Department officials said today. About 1,700 Guardsmen of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will relieve South Carolina National Guardsmen of the 218th Brigade Combat Team as the primary trainers of the Afghan National Army. The New York brigade is based in Syracuse. “Thousands of New York Guardsmen have answered the call from serving at Ground Zero when the Twin Towers fell to commanding combat troops in Central Iraq and now to the mountains of Afghanistan,” said Army Lt. Col. Paul Fanning,...

Elite brigade is his to rev up By Tom Infield Inquirer Staff Writer CLEM MURRAY / Inquirer Staff Photographer Pa. National Guard brigade gets a new Fighting Machine Map: Stryker Brigade Combat Team Locations Lt. Col. Marc Ferraro was 6,000 miles from Iraq when six national guardsmen from Pennsylvania were killed by bomb blasts during a four-day period in August 2005. It fell to him, as commander of their home battalion, to notify most of the soldiers' families. He recalls it as the most trying period of his life, except for the two times his younger son had to undergo...

At the end of a challenging tour of duty in southern Iraq, the personnel of 19 Light Brigade have received high praise from their Commander, Brigadier Tim Evans MBE. 19 Light Brigade, replaced in Iraq by 1 Mechanised Brigade today, Friday 1 June 2007, now returns to the UK, with most of its units already back. Brigadier Evans, said: "19 Light Brigade had a very challenging and dynamic tour but maintained an impressive momentum. The Brigade had to fight hard to retain the initiative and keep on the front foot against a professional and well motivated enemy who were determined...

WASHINGTON, May 30, 2007 – The fifth and final brigade of the troop surge has arrived in Baghdad and should be fully operational by mid-July, the deputy director for operations on the Joint Staff said here today. “We are starting to see a shift in momentum that comes with having additional forces on the ground,” Army Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins told Pentagon reporters in a news conference. Troops will clamp down on Baghdad’s northern and southern belts -- areas where insurgents “have had the opportunity to sit back and plan some of these attacks,” Wiggins said. “What we’re trying...

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2007 – Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffery Hartless, an airborne ranger and master parachutist, served nearly his entire 24-year career jumping out of planes. He earned parachute badges from Italy, Jordan, Norway, Korea, Germany and Honduras. His airborne career ended, though, when he was crushed under a 10-ton front loader in Afghanistan in 2005. Once stable, Hartless was taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center here. He has since recovered, but in an ironic and unlikely career twist for an infantryman, Hartless’ injuries have brought him back again to Walter Reed -- this time to apply...

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska, Feb. 23, 2007 – The 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team here is the first unit to employ the Army’s new “reset” process to rapidly refurbish everything from M-16 rifles to state-of-the-art Stryker combat vehicles. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is briefed about the reset of the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team -- formerly the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team -- at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, Feb. 22. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Marine Gen. Peter Pace,...

PHOENIX -- A National Guard Brigade from Arizona is headed for its first combat tour since World War II. More than 600 members of the Arizona National Guard's 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment left their families Saturday. They will train at Fort Bragg, N.C. before shipping off for more than a year in Afghanistan, where insurgents continue to battle with U.S. and NATO forces. "I expect the worst and hope for the best," said Pvt. Jose Flores, a Glendale resident who looked both exhausted and excited as he shared some final moments with his wife and three sons Saturday. Flores...

BAGHDAD, Jan 2, 2007 — The 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division headquarters, and two of its battalions, trekked from Mosul to Baghdad over a two-day period recently, performing combat operations along the way. Other elements of the brigade had made the trek earlier. The arrival of the Stryker brigade headquarters in Baghdad marks a reunion for 3-2 SBCT. Two battalions, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment and 1st Squadron, 14th Calvary Regiment, had been detached from the brigade since its initial deployment, in late July and early August. They have been operating in the Baghdad area while there...

Camp Striker, Iraq – Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), detained nine suspected terrorists in three separate incidents, Dec. 14 - 15. Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment detained five men near al Taqa, west of Yusufiyah, Iraq Dec. 14. The Soldiers observed three men near a blue flat bed pick-up truck congregating around a pot hole in the side of the road. The men fled on foot into a house as the Soldiers approached to investigate. The Soldiers entered and cleared the house, detaining the three. As the Soldiers searched the outlying area,...

FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Dec. 15, 2006 -- Army leaders praised military families here during ceremonies this week for standing solidly behind the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team during its 16-month deployment to Iraq. Ashley McCulloh and her son, Brooke, welcome home their husband and father, Army Capt. Timothy McCulloh, at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, after his 16-month deployment to Iraq with the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. Courtesy photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Secretary Francis Harvey told families of brigade members during the “Arctic Wolves’” redeployment ceremony here Dec. 12 that the Army recognizes their sacrifices and will...

FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Dec. 13, 2006 – Some 4,000 members of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team gathered here yesterday to celebrate their accomplishments during 16 months in Iraq and mourn their losses as they uncased the unit’s colors during a stirring redeployment ceremony. Servicemembers of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team salute the colors during a redeployment ceremony near Fort Wainwright, Alaska, Dec. 12. Photo by William D. Moss  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The soldiers assembled at the Carlson Community Center, just down the road from Fort Wainwright here, to reflect on their deployment and receive a...

FORT HUACHUCA — The Thunderbirds were treated to more than a turkey dinner Wednesday as part of a Thanksgiving event. The Thunderbird Dining Facility was deck out with the sounds, smells and sights of the holiday. Solider cooks of the 11th Signal Brigade, the unit usually referred to as the Thunderbirds, went all out in preparing food for the feast. The rations noncommissioned-officer-in-charge of the military eatery listed the amount of meat, fowl and seafood the cooks prepared for the meal. The list from Sgt. Brisher McGrath included 330 pounds of prime rib, 150 pounds of turkey, 108 pounds of...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2006 – The decision to pull an Iraqi police brigade off the streets for intensive retraining is part of the Iraqi government’s overall reform plan and will improve the professionalism and confidence within the national police, the U.S. general in charge of training Iraqi police said today. The Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced Oct. 3 that the 8th Brigade, 2nd National Police, was being recalled to go through intensive training in anti-militia and anti-sectarian violence operations, due to poor performance and possible complicity with sectarian violence. “I really believe that the decision to withdraw the 8th Brigade...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (NNS) -- The 354th Civil Affairs Brigade (CAB), the first civil affairs brigade in Iraq made up primarily of Sailors, completed its first four months here, Aug. 16, as the primary administrative controlling manager for civil affairs units throughout Iraq. During the first months of its year-long deployment to Baghdad, the 354 CAB coordinated and ensured the successful completion of numerous community-oriented projects. Among the active-duty individual augmentees and Reservists called upon to deploy with the unit, more than 75 percent of the brigade headquarters is Navy. Army Col. Vernon Harris, 354th CAB's commander, said working in a...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2006 – The Army has authorized award of the Bronze Star Medal for Service to the living Canadian veterans of the 1st Special Services Force for their service to the U.S. Army during World War II. The unit was known as “the Devil’s Brigade” during the war and was one of the first U.S. special operations forces units in the war. The unit included U.S. Army soldiers and soldiers of the 2nd Canadian Parachute Battalion and 2nd Canadian Special Service Battalion of the Special Operations Group. From 1942 to 1944, about 2,500 soldiers served in the unit...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2006 – The most important thing military leaders can offer their people is an up-front assessment of what they’re facing, as exemplified by the way the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s leaders informed the troops about their extension in Iraq, DoD’s top enlisted adviser told American Forces Press Service. Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shared his thoughts after returning from Alaska, home of the “Arctic Wolves.” The Defense Department announced July 27 that the brigade, which was in the midst of wrapping up...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq, Aug. 17, 2006 – The 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, officially assumed responsibility for security in parts of Mahmudiyah, Yusufiyah and Lutufiyah, Iraq, earlier this week. Iraqi army soldiers from 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, stand with the colors of their country held high during a transfer of authority ceremony in Mahmudiyah on Aug. 14. Photo by Spc. George Welcome, USA  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. During the Aug. 14 transfer of authority ceremony at the Iraqi army compound in Mahmudiyah, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, transferred to...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2006 – Three hundred one soldiers with an Alaska-based unit extended in Iraq will return to the combat zone to serve with their comrades in arms, Army officials announced yesterday. A total of 378 soldiers with the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team had returned to Alaska in June and July at the end of their scheduled 12-month tour in Iraq. But before the rest of the 4,000-soldier unit could redeploy, officials halted their return to bolster Iraqi and coalition forces in Baghdad. Now, 301 of those soldiers who made it back to Alaska will return to their...

Soldiers from the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division capture insurgents during a demonstration of military ability that took place at Forward Operating Base Mahmudiah South Monday. Story and photos by Sgt. Trevor Snyder124th Mobile Public  Affairs Detachment BAGHDAD -- Iraqi forces took control of another area of Baghdad on Monday after the latest in a series of transfer of authority ceremonies near the capital. Army Col. Claude Ebel, commander of the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division said responsibility for Forward Operating Base Mahmudiyah South, a base of operations for security forces south of the capital, was transferred to...

WASHINGTON, August 6, 2006 – The 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team handed over operations in Mosul, Iraq, and other surrounding areas in the Ninewa province to the 3rd SBCT, 2nd Infantry Division, in a transfer-of-authority ceremony at Forward Operating Base Marez today. The 172nd SBCT soldiers were deployed in August 2005 and since have conducted more than 15,000 missions, including cordon and searches, combat patrols, counter-mortar and rocket missions, raids, escort missions and humanitarian aid throughout Dohuk, Ninewa and Irbil provinces. “The accomplishments of the 172nd SBCT have been truly remarkable,” said Army Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner, commanding general of...

U.S. Army Capt. Randal D. Wright of Ore, Texas, gives his 3-year-old daugher, Aspen, a drink of water after the official sendoff ceremony for the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade at the Leo Buckley Stadium in Killeen, Texas, July 30, 2006. He is a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2/135 General Support Aviation Battalion, Colorado Army National Guard. U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Lek Mateo | More Photos | First Army Guard Aviation Brigade Called to Duty Family, friends bid farewell to soldiers as they leave for 12-month tour in Iraq. By U.S. Army Master Sgt. Lek Mateo...

WASHINGTON, August 2, 2006 – The Army is taking significant steps to ensure soldiers and families of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team are taken care of now that the unit’s deployment to Iraq has been extended four months. U.S. Army, Alaska leaders are working with higher headquarters to ensure support programs, including financial compensation and personnel support, are available to the soldiers, Army and Defense Department officials said. “We are responding rapidly to provide all the appropriate support and services to these outstanding patriotic professionals and their families, who continue to inspire us all with their unwavering commitment to...

U.S. Army Spc. Alejandro Perez, a Longbow Apache armament specialist assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, and Sgt. Kris Woodburn, a Longbow Apache helicopter mechanic assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, remove a Hellfire missile from a Longbow Apache helicopter as Spc. Eben Gonzales, an Apache mechanic assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, observes. Ammunition that is maintained at the Combat Aviation Brigade’s Ammo Transfer Holding Point eventually finds it way onto the brigade’s attack helicopters. U.S. Army...

CBS) NEW YORK They're back. Those opinionated octogenarians who made headlines last fall by trying to enlist in the military to stop the War in Iraq. Now, they're heading to Washington D.C. for the Fourth of July. With wheelchairs, walkers, canes and pictures of their grandchildren on their backs, the Granny Brigade was back in Times Square, the scene of their arrest last fall for blocking the entrance to the Military Recruitment Center to stop the war. This time, they're kicking off a 10-day trek to the nation's capital. "We want to wake up an apathetic American public," Joan Wile,...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, May 15, 2006 – As the new Iraqi army attains capability, more units are taking over security responsibility within their country. The latest example is the Iraqi 2nd Brigade of the 9th Mechanized Division, which assumed responsibility for security in the Taji area during a ceremony here today. Soldiers hold the flag of the Iraqi 2nd Brigade, 9th Mechanized Division, during an assumption of responsibility ceremony May 15. The brigade will have responsibility for 150 square kilometers around Camp Taji. Photo by Jim Garamone  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The brigade will be "in the...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, May 12, 2006 – An Iraqi armored brigade is ready to take its place on the battlefield, military transition team officials said yesterday. The 2nd Brigade of the 9th Iraqi Division will assume responsibility for battle space in this region north of Baghdad May 15. The unit's soldiers will join fellow tankers of the 1st Brigade, who assumed responsibility for defending Iraqi territory in December. The brigade has four battalions, three combat and one maintenance and supply. It is equipped with T-72 tanks from Hungary and BMP armored fighting vehicles from Greece. The unit will take over...

All the major training is done. The vehicles will be loaded onto ships later this month at the Port of Olympia, and by the end of next month, the Army’s first Stryker brigade will be on its way back to Iraq. Nearly half the 4,000 soldiers in the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division were with the unit the first time it went over in November 2003. Their experience, and that of the two Stryker brigades that succeeded them, have informed preparations different from the last time, the Fort Lewis-based soldiers say. “Before, we went over thinking we knew what was...

U.S. soldiers at Camp Taji, Iraq, move excess vehicles, or stay-behinds, to a commercial transportation company, which will transport them to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. The vehicles will be repaired, refitted and redistributed to Reserve and National Guard units in the United States. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brent Hunt Raider Brigade Turns In Excess Equipment Because the equipment is no longer used, maintaining the equipment toArmy standards requires valuable resources that could be used in the fight. By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brent Hunt 1st Brigade Combat Team 4th Infantry Division CAMP TAJI, Iraq, April 4, 2006 —...

RAMADI, Iraq, March 28, 2006 – “We are the soldiers of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division Iraqi Army. Our mission is to save the innocent citizens of Ramadi from the black hands of the insurgents that are shedding their blood,” said the 1st Brigade, 1st Division commander. ”We promise the innocent Iraqi citizens that we will be the sons who will be responsible to protect the families that live in the Al Anbar Province.” "The addition of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division Iraqi Army is a huge combat multiplier. Their ability to gain factual information is paramount to fighting the...

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2006 – An Iraqi unit took control of battlespace north of Baghdad March 20, military officials in Iraq reported. The 1st Mechanized Battalion, 1st Mechanized Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division, assumed control of battlespace north of Baghdad from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division's Special Troops Battalion, during a ceremony March 20. The battlespace assumption increases the area of responsibility for the Iraqi division by about 18-square kilometers. "The Iraqi Army is getting better every day," said U.S. Army Col. James Pasquarette, 1st BCT commander. "They are a capable security force. They impress me because they...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (March 7, 2006) -- A partnership between Regimental Combat Team 5 and the Iraqi Army here was cemented when commanders from the coalition shook hands yesterday. Col. Larry D. Nicholson, RCT-5 commander met with Iraqi Brig. Gen. Abdulla Abdulkareem Abdul Satter, commanding officer of 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division for the first time. Nicholson recently assumed control of the region from North Carolina-based Regimental Combat Team 8. The Marine regiment and the Iraqi 4th Brigade are partnered in security operations for the greater Fallujah area. “One of my first priorities is to meet with each unit...

Iraqi Brigade Assumes Responsibility for Central Baghdad By Pfc. Jason Dangel, USASpecial to American Forces Press Service BAGHDAD, Feb. 21, 2006 – The 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, assumed responsibility from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, for areas in central and southern Baghdad yesterday during a battlespace transfer-of-authority ceremony at Forward Operating Base Honor. Soldiers from the 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, march during the Feb. 20 battlespace transfer-of-authority ceremony between their brigade and the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Photo by Pfc. Jason Dangel, USA   The ceremony took place after many months...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Feb. 18, 2006 – For soldiers and aviators of the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade's Task Force Falcon, the return here is like a scene from the movie "Groundhog Day." Although it's been two years since the Fort Drum, N.Y., unit's 2004 redeployment from here, for many it seemed like only yesterday when they stood on the same flight line to accept authority of the aviation mission for Operation Enduring Freedom as part of Combined Joint Task Force 76. That authority was handed over yesterday as Army Col. Michael Rose, Task Force Falcon commander, accepted the OEF...

Here we are again with this week’s successes with respect to finding, identifying, and neutralizing a threat the media likes to categorize as a hopeless cause. The area of IEDs is just another example of the successes we’re having in the war in Iraq against terrorism. Here we go: For those that don’t know, 1st Brigade Combat Team soldiers are training an Iraqi Combat Engineer unit to be IED hunters. These soldiers are highly motivated to fight IEDs and insurgents and love working with Coalition Forces to learn how to combat this menace. One [Iraqi] soldier was on his day...

Iraqi Army Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division pull security while the rest of their company conducts a cordon and search for a suspected insurgent as part of a Brigade-size raid in their area of operations. The battalion was responsible for the city of Kirkuk. Spc. Barbara Ospina • Printer-friendly version • E-mail this article • Iraqi brigade destroys terrorist hideouts near Kirkuk February 3, 2006 TIKRIT, Iraq (Army News Service, Feb. 3, 2006) – Soldiers of 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division took another step toward independent operations Wednesday, as they conducted a brigade-level...

BAGHGDAD (Army News Service, Jan. 13, 2006) – With the quiet uncasing of their colors Jan. 8, Soldiers in the Fires Brigade marked a new day in the role of division and corps-level fire support. Part of the 4th Infantry Division, the Fires Brigade now flies its colors outside its Camp Liberty headquarters. “This was a historic occasion, signifying the first deployment of a fires brigade into the combat theater,” said Col. Allen Batschelet, brigade commander. The Fires Brigade formerly held all of the 4th Inf. Div.’s artillery assets and was known as the Division Artillery. When the division modularized...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The fate of the four Westerners held hostage is Iraq is still unknown. Today marks the deadline set by the hostage takers to kill the men, who were kidnapped two weeks ago. The hostages include two Canadians, an American and a British citizen. Iraqi authorities say they haven't had any contact with the group known as the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. The hostage takers want U.S. and Iraqi authorities to release all prisoners being held in Iraq. A television station in Iraq says about 240 detainees held by multinational forces have been released today. But such...

(Video at link) The Baghdad by Swords of Righteousness Brigade released a second video of hostages Auckland University student, Canadian and New Zealand resident, Harmeet Sooden (32); Canadian James Loney (41); American Tom Fox (54); and Briton Norman Kember (74). The men were seized on November 26 2005. This video was released December 5-6 2005.

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.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2005 – U.S. forces need to remain in Iraq until their job is finished, particularly in light of progress already made, the commander of a Texas Army National Guard brigade that's wrapping up its deployment there told Pentagon reporters today. Army Col. James "Red" Brown, commander of the 56th Brigade Combat Team, spoke by videoconference from Logistics Support Area Anaconda, near Balad. Brown said he's seen steady signs of progress during his brigade's 11 months in Iraq. During that time, 3,500 members of the "Thunderbolt Brigade" have conducted 7,000 combat logistics patrols, escorting more than 150,000 logistics...

U.S. Army Col. Bryan Ellis (left), commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. James R. Jordan, sergeant major, 35th Signal Brigade, 18th Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C., case their brigade's colors at a transfer of authority ceremony at Camp Victory, Iraq, Nov. 9, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Joshua R. Ford Brigade Transfers Authority at Camp Victory More than 100 troops stand at attention as the 35th Signal Brigade hands over command responsibility to the 22nd Signal Brigade. By U.S. Army Pfc. Matthew Clifton Multinational Corps-Iraq CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Nov. 9, 2005 — The 35th Signal Brigade, 18th Airborne Corps,...