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ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY PLANE, Dec. 20, 2009 – Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said his trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq has given him an opportunity to assess changes in strategy and meet the men and women who will carry out that strategy. Security specialists accompany U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as he tours the market place in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2009. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Overall, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said...

BAGHDAD — Iraq “is not going to be pushed around” by Iran, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, said here yesterday. Hill and Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq, spoke to reporters traveling with Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Iranians moved onto a disputed oil well in southern Iraq and placed an Iranian flag on the facility. They have since left the facility, which is clearly in Iraqi territory. “It’s like a game of capture the flag,” said an American spokesman in southern Iraq Friday. “It has been...

This building in Basrah, once used by Saddam Hussein as an interrogation facility, is being demolished to make way for a new Iraqi Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) facility. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. BASRAH — A building once used by Saddam Hussein as an interrogation facility is being demolished to make way for a new Iraqi Explosive Ordnance Disposal office. According to Ken Bright, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region South project engineer, the community as a whole is happy about the demolition and new construction because the facility held bad memories. “To quote the...

Ozark, Ala. native, Lt. Col. Eric Schwegler, commander of 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, speaks to Siham Nadeem, a leader of a nongovernmental organization for widows in Taji, during a holiday social on Camp Taji, Dec. 15. Photo by Pfc. Adam Halleck, 1st Cavalry Division. CAMP TAJI — American military and civilian leaders here returned a favor by inviting their Iraqi counterparts from the area to a holiday social and celebration on the Camp, Dec. 15. "The local leaders have been more than hospitable toward us when it comes to celebrating and...

12/18/2009 - JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (AFNS) -- Seventeen Iraqi medical care providers recently attended the December installment of the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group's Iraqi Nursing Partnership Program here. As the responsible drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq continues, the program is intended to further the medical capabilities of local care providers. "I really believe this program will improve the nursing care in Iraq," said Col. Vennessa Hagan, 332nd EMDG chief nurse. "Some of the nurses who have attended told me they've benefited from the program and have been sharing the knowledge with other nurses in their community." The nursing...

TALIL, Iraq, Dec. 18, 2009 – Iraq has made remarkable progress in a short while, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said during a news conference here today. U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks with U.S. Navy sailors assigned to Riverine Squadron Three after an all hands call, Basra, Iraq, Dec. 18, 2009. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen praised Iraqi citizens and American civilian and military personnel for their hard work and sacrifice. The...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 18, 2009 – The “advise and assist brigade” concept is a hit with leaders of the provincial reconstruction teams in southern Iraq. The 1st Armored Division’s 4th Brigade, based at Talil Air Base, is the model of how U.S. forces will be configured when the American combat mission ends Aug. 31. The unit came in for unqualified praise from Iraqi security forces leaders, judges and provincial reconstruction team leaders who met with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff here today. John Kuschner, the head of the Muthanna provincial reconstruction team, told Navy Adm. Mike Mullen that...

ABOARD AN AIR FORCE C-17, Dec. 18, 2009 – Results, not talk, are what’s important in Afghanistan now, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today while en route to Iraq after visiting Afghanistan. U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, greets villagers on a market walk in Mata Khan in Afghanistan's Paktika province, Dec. 15, 2009. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Mullen spoke to reporters traveling with him soon after leaving Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. He had spent...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FRONTENAC, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2009 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff praised the soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry, for their service in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province here yesterday, saying the unit has made a difference. U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, re-enlists 10 soldiers stationed on Forward Operating Base Frontenac in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, 2009. The soldiers are assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division's 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image...

NAWA, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2009 – An irrigation ditch bisects the main thoroughfare of this town in Helmand province, and shops line each side of the street. U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks to villagers during a market walk in Nawa, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, 2009. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The shops sell everything from fresh vegetables to livestock to snack foods and transistor radios. The town looks like nothing special, but it is. The chairman of the Joint...

KABUL, Dec. 18, 2009 – The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force is sending a team to work with Afghan officials in assessing reports of civilian casualties as a result of an operation in the Shah Wali Kot district of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province yesterday. Initial operational reports indicate that men were planting a bomb next to the road. After firing on the men from a helicopter, ISAF forces discovered civilians in a car adjacent to the site, officials said. In a written statement, ISAF officials said the command goes to great lengths to avoid, and deeply regrets, any harm to civilians....

BAGHDAD, Dec. 18, 2009 – Iraqi security forces arrested two suspected members of an al-Qaida in Iraq cell responsible for making bombs and attacking government officials during a combined security operation today in western Baghdad. Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors searched a building for a suspected terrorist who allegedly is part of a cell that manufactures magnetic bombs and attaches them to vehicles to kill government officials and those who oppose al-Qaida in Iraq. The security team found a fully assembled bomb, several bomb components and a weapon equipped with a suppressor. Following a preliminary examination of the evidence at...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Dec. 18, 2009 – Soldiers who haven’t deployed before or who only recently arrived here may not give much thought to the constant electricity, hot showers and well-lit avenues. Ismael Shaker, owner and founder of Al Harith, a contracting company in Iraq’s Basra province, stops for a moment of contemplation at the power station his company operates for the Army on Contingency Operating Base Basra. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Benjamin R. Kibbey   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But that kind of thing doesn’t happen easily, and it is thanks in no small...

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2009 – Getting through downtown Asadabad, Afghanistan, has become easier for hundreds of Afghan families, thanks to two and a half miles of new roads that were completed Dec. 13. Local workers cleaning the streets in Asadabad, Afghanistan, watch a provincial reconstruction team patrol conduct a final quality-assurance check on a new road through the provincial capital of Kunar province prior to a dedication ceremony, Dec. 13, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Brian Boisvert  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Provincial reconstruction team engineers completed their final quality-assurance check just before a...

BASRA, Iraq, Dec. 18, 2009 – Discussions about upcoming elections and the withdrawal of American troops are highlighting Navy Adm. Mike Mullen’s visit to Iraq today. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke to reporters traveling with him aboard a C-17 Globemaster III transport. He said he looks forward to discussions with Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Multinational Force Iraq commander, and meeting with troops in here and in Talil and Baghdad. The chairman arrived in Iraq after a four-day trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan. A USO troupe is traveling with him. Singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus,...

Four T6-A training aircraft recently arrived in Tikrit for Iraqi Air Force student pilots to use to as a stepping-stone platform toward advanced multi-role fighters the IqAF will use in the future to protect its airspace. The IqAF will have a full complement of (15) T6-As by the end of 2010, purchased by the Government of Iraq and the United States. Photo by Senior Airman AJ Hyatt, Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq. TIKRIT — The Iraqi Air Force celebrated the arrival of four training aircraft, the groundbreaking of a new air traffic control tower and the receipt of facilities...

Sgt. 1st Class Rex, a patrol explosive detector dog with the 178th Military Police Detachment, is presented to the audience as a new member of the Corps of Non-commissioned Officers at an NCO induction ceremony in the Morale, Welfare and Recreation tent on COL Q-West, Dec. 12. Photo by Sgt. Matthew Cooley, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). COL Q-WEST — Sgt. 1st Class Rex, a working dog with the 178th Military Police Detachment, was inducted into the Corps of Non-commissioned Officers here, Dec. 12. The ceremony, normally for newly-promoted NCOs, inducted 32 human Soldiers and Airmen along with Rex, who was...

12/17/2009 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Hundreds of Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines gathered here Dec. 15, to enjoy a United Service Organizations' Holiday Troop Visit tour featuring country singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus, tennis pro Anna Kournikova, acclaimed comedian Dave Attell and legendary tennis coach and inspirational speaker Nick Bollettieri. The celebrities are joining The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen and his wife, Deborah Mullen, for an USO-sponsored holiday troop visit as part of a 13-show whirlwind tour to boost the troops' spirits during the holiday season. Mr. Atell, known for his...

NAWA, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, 2009 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Patrol Base Jaker here today to tour the base and the Nawa district center and spend time with Marines and sailors assigned here. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks to Marines and sailors with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, during a visit to Patrol Base Jaker in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, Dec. 17, 2009. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Brian Tuthill  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen accompanied Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Lawrence D....

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2009 – The demonstrated bravery and resolve of the nearly 3,000 Canadian forces serving in Afghanistan reflects the commitment necessary to achieve success there, the commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan said in the Canadian capital yesterday. Canadian forces’ efforts in mentoring Afghan security forces and their work in infrastructure development projects in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province are greatly appreciated, Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal said at the Conference of Defence Associations Institute in Ottawa. “The courage and determination of Canadian forces are an inspiration to our coalition,” McChrystal said, noting that Canada, with about...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 17, 2009 – Iraqi security forces with U.S. advisors arrested a suspected leader of a terrorist group operating in southern Baghdad yesterday and followed up overnight with four more operations targeting the Baghdad al-Qaida in Iraq network. All of the operations were conducted with warrants issued by Iraqi courts for the arrest of suspected terrorists. Acting on intelligence gathered by Iraqi and U.S. sources, Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors stopped an alleged Aisha Battalion cell leader as he was driving on a public roadway west of Baghdad. Aisha Battalion is an al-Qaida in Iraq proxy group. The driver...

NAWA, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, 2009 – Sayed Alim stood on the firing line, a Marine by his side and M-16 service rifle in his hand. When the whistle blasted, the Afghan National Army soldier quickly spun to his left and delivered two rounds without hesitation, nearly center into a 12-inch circle drawn on a silhouette target. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. John B. Kavanaugh explains to an Afghan soldier how his firing stance can affect his balance and accuracy near Forward Operating Base Geronimo in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, Dec. 14, 2009. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Brian Tuthill  (Click photo for...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, Dec. 17, 2009 – With Iraq’s national elections approaching, U.S. soldiers are preparing to support the Iraqi army and police while remaining in the background. Four women from Najaf, Iraq, walk down the street as U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, drive past during a reconnaissance mission, Dec. 3, 2009. The soldiers were checking out polling sites in the area for Iraq’s upcoming elections. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Natalie Hedrick  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The soldiers of the 3rd Infantry...

The steadily-shrinking Air Force base in Grand Forks, N.D., got something of an early Christmas present this week. Air Force Secretary Mike Donley announced Wednesday that 180 airmen will arrive at the base next year, as its unmanned aerial drone mission is expanded. Donley also said Global Hawk drones will be coming to the base, supplementing the Predator drones already there. The new personnel represent only one-tenth of the active-duty airmen at the base, a number that has been eroding for years. For decades, the base was an offensive outpost in the U.S. nuclear showdown with the Soviet Union. But...

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Pat Barone, a platoon leader, and Sgt. Daryl Appling, both with Company D, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), explain to Iraqi department of border enforcement Soldiers how to conduct tactical patrols at night along the Iraqi-Syrian border, Dec. 9, 2009. Photo by Spc. Mike MacLeod, 82nd Airborne Division. COS UBAYDI — Since U.S. advise and assist forces began partnering with Iraqi border patrols along the Syrian border in mid-November, the instances of smugglers circumventing Port of Entry stations have all but ceased, according to the Department...

12/16/2009 - PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Afghanistan National Security Forces and their dependants are entitled to free military health care throughout the country. This service is not often used by families due to lack of awareness or proximity to a military facility. The Paktya Regional Military Hospital is a 50-bed inpatient facility which has hundreds of outpatient visits daily and, of those, almost none are from family members. Helping the hospital staff raise awareness of this resource was a project supported by the Medical Embedded Training Team at Forward Operating Base Lightning. The goal of the program, named Women's...

KABUL, Dec. 16, 2009 – Combined Afghan and international forces detained four Taliban commanders and other suspected militants in three operations in two Afghanistan provinces today, military officials reported. In Wardak province, a combined force searched a compound near the village of Bhardokheyl where intelligence sources reported militant activity. They detained two Taliban commanders involved with bombing activity and responsible for several attacks in the area. Another Taliban commander and a few other militants were detained in an operation in western Kandahar. This commander has led a sizable militant element and is responsible for a number of bombing attacks in...

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, Dec. 16, 2009 – From the battle at Belleau Wood, where Marines earned the name “Devil Dog,” to the iconic image of the flag-raising at Iwo Jima, Marine Corps history is embedded in every Marine from initial training at boot camp, and it continues to provide inspiration to those who serve. Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Viriato B. Sena stands before his Marines at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Oct. 13, 2009. Sena, who joined the Marine Corps in 1973, participated in the evacuation of Vietnam and is now deployed to Iraq for the drawdown of...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Dec. 16, 2009 – The morale of troops here and success of their missions depends upon communication, whether it’s within Iraq or calling back home. Army Spc. Jason Jackson, Army Sgt. Jeryll Delmar and Army Sgt. Jacob Horning attempt to save their equipment from flood waters at Contingency Operating Site Garryowen, Iraq, Oct. 31, 2009. Their efforts were successful. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Charles Bagot  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Keeping communications open for the 1st Armored Division’s 4th Brigade is the responsibility of “signaleers” -- technicians who enable the commander to send...

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 16, 2009 – The first exclusive Afghan National Police Women’s Police Corps Training Center was established in the heart of Jalalabad here Dec. 5. Army Brig. Gen. Anne MacDonald, Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan’s deputy to the commanding general for Afghan National Police development, congratulates new recruits at Afghanistan’s first Afghanistan National Police training center exclusively for women in Jalalabad, Dec. 5, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tracy J. Smith  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The opening ceremony for the center was held in honor of Lt. Col. Malalai Kakar of the Afghan National...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2009 – Despite a new U.S. strategy for Afghanistan that entails sending 30,000 additional American forces, the more important operation for the Marine Corps is Iraq, the service’s top officer said today. Gen. James Conway, the Marine commandant who returned recently from visiting troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, called the Afghan mission more dangerous but less vital than Iraq. “What I told the troops in Iraq is that the most dangerous thing that our corps is doing today is happening in Afghanistan,” he told Pentagon reporters. “The most important thing we're doing today is happening in Iraq....

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2009 – With the first additional Marines beginning to stream into Afghanistan to help bolster security in the south and east, preparations are under way for the arrival of soldiers to focus on the other key goal of the surge: recruiting, equipping and training Afghan security forces. Initial elements of the 10th Mountain Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Drum, N.Y., are slated to deploy to Afghanistan starting in January, Army Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, commander of the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, reported last week. Speaking with...

KABUL, Dec. 15, 2009 – A combined Afghan-international security force detained a Taliban commander and other militants in Afghanistan today, and militants caught planting a roadside bomb were killed yesterday, military officials reported. The Taliban commander is linked to a bombing network in Zabul province and is believed to be responsible for several attacks in the area. The combined force searched a compound in the provincial capital of Qalat where intelligence sources reported the commander to be located and detained a few militants, one of whom identified himself as the man targeted in the operation. No shots were fired, and...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2009 – Iraqi security forces arrested nine suspected terrorists in four operations today, military officials reported. In a rural area north of Baghdad, an Iraqi emergency response unit and U.S. advisors searched a home for a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq member who is believed to make and distribute bombs for use in attacks throughout the Tarmiyah and Baghdad region. Preliminary questioning and evidence collected at the scene led Iraqi police to identify and arrest the warranted man and a suspected criminal associate. During a second security operation near Beiji in Salahuddin province, police and U.S. advisors searched...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2009 – Police in Iraq’s Babil province soon will distribute 2,000 backpacks filled with notebooks, coloring books, pencils and pens to the children in their province. Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Byers shows a police officer from Iraq’s Babil province a backpack filled with school supplies at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, Dec. 6, 2009. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team donated 2,000 backpacks to the police department. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The provincial police received the school supplies here Dec. 6 from their partners in the 3rd Infantry Division’s...

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 15, 2009 – When Marines hear they must live at a small patrol base for a long time, many think of primitive facilities, dirty conditions and bland, packaged meals coming from brown bags. Navy Seaman Timothy Wienke and Marine Corps Cpls. Carlos Martinez and Carlos J. Orellana chop vegetables, season meat and cook sides at the Patrol Base Jaker custom field kitchen in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, Dec. 5, 2009. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Brian Tuthill  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But for Marines with the police mentoring team assigned to the 1st Battalion,...

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 15, 2009 – Five months ago, the Marines and sailors of 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, arrived in Nawa district here to the sounds of gunfire, rockets and mortars. Marine Corps Lt. Col. William F. McCollough approaches the Nawa district administrator's home in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, where nearly 45 Marines and local Afghan leaders gathered for a celebration in his honor, Dec. 8, 2009. McCollough, known throughout Nawa as “Colonel Bill,” showed his respect to his hosts by wearing traditional Afghan clothes and a headdress. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Brian Tuthill  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

A piece of Don Sunstrom's past has been missing for 40 years. While fighting in Vietnam, he'd gotten a fancy engraved cigarette lighter as a keepsake to remind him of a place he later would try to forget. But he lost the lighter in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Two months ago, Sunstrom, 65, who now lives in Blaine, was stunned to learn that the Zippo lighter had been found -- at the bottom of a lake in southern Wisconsin. Scott Mitchen, a professional treasure hunter and author, found the lighter during a dive in Delavan Lake and plans to...

TIKRIT — An Iraqi Emergency Response Battalion, with U.S. advisors, arrested three alleged Jaysh Rijal al-Tariq al Naqshabandi members through warrants issued by an Iraqi Criminal Investigation Court, Dec. 12. Wathiq Alwan al Amiri, Muhanned Muhammed Abd al Jabbar al Rawi and Abd al Majid al Hadithi are suspected of operating within JRTN. Rawi and Amiri are suspected of being part of a media cell responsible for propaganda, distribution of terrorist procedures and tactics and subversion of the Government of Iraq. Rawi allegedly produced and gathered media designed to showcase various attacks. Amiri is allegedly a high-ranking member within the...

BAGHDAD — Just weeks before Multi-National Corps - Iraq cases its colors and rolls into the new U.S. Forces - Iraq organization, its commander said plenty of operational activity still is under way here. The mission here continues in support of the strategy of turning the security lead over to increasingly capable Iraqi Security Forces, Army Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby recently told reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. U.S. forces in Iraq are “fully engaged,” supporting that mission in two primary ways, Jacoby said during a roundtable session Dec. 10. In addition to partnering with Iraq Security...

An excited child receives a bag of toys and school supplies from Spc. Michael Petro (right), of West Chester, Pa., as Staff Sgt. Marvin McCorvey, of Graham, N.C. manages the already growing crowd of children outside Forward Operating Base Falcon, in southern Baghdad, Dec. 12. Photo by Spc. Kelly LeCompte, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. BAGHDAD — Two Soldiers with Company B, 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, recently organized a surprise toy delivery for children living here just outside the walls of Forward Operating Base Falcon. Spc. Michael Petro, an infantryman, said he had the idea to start collecting goodies...

KABUL, Dec. 14, 2009 – U.S. troops need to be prepared to operate in a “complex human terrain” when they arrive in Afghanistan, the commander of International Security Assistance Force Joint Command said here today. Army Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez took over the job just two months ago. He commands U.S. troops assigned to NATO and troops of 42 other nations for daily operations throughout Afghanistan. “Now that we know where [U.S. troops] are going and when they are coming in, I think we’ll be able to make them well-prepared for what they need to do,” he said during...

KABUL, Dec. 14, 2009 – The insurgency in Afghanistan has become more pervasive, more sophisticated and more violent, said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff here today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said during a news conference with Afghan and American reporters that the insurgents “have a dominant influence in 11 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.” The insurgents are becoming more effective at using improvised explosive devices and small-unit tactics, Mullen said. “I remain deeply concerned by the growing level of collusion between the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida and other extremist groups taking refuge across the border in Pakistan,” he...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2009 – A combined Afghan and international security force killed five enemy militants and detained another in Afghanistan’s Laghman province yesterday while pursuing a Taliban bomb maker linked to several attacks in the area. The force targeted a compound near Tingawar village where intelligence sources reported militant activity. During the operation, several militants threatened the force with assault rifles and shotguns and were killed. The force then searched the compound without incident. In a Dec. 12 operation, a combined force killed an enemy militant and detained another in Paktia province while pursuing a Taliban commander responsible for...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2009 – Iraqi soldiers and police arrested four terrorism suspects in two operations yesterday, military officials reported. Iraqi soldiers arrested a suspect yesterday during an operation in northeastern Baghdad targeting the Promised Day Brigade terrorist network. The soldiers and U.S. advisors searched a home for a suspected leader of the group believed to be responsible for attacking security forces in the Baghdad region. Preliminary questioning and evidence collected at the scene led the soldiers to arrest a suspected criminal associate of the leader. In a separate operation, Iraqi constables, with U.S. advisors, arrested three alleged terrorist cell...

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 14, 2009 – When the Marines and sailors of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, came to the Now Zad region in Afghanistan, the message they received from outgoing units was simple: Beware of the village of Changwalak. Marines patrol an orchard in Changwalok, Afghanistan, during Operation Cobra's Anger, Dec. 6, 2009. The patrol was tasked with removing Taliban presence from the village and supporting the presence of Afghan national security forces. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Zachary Nola   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “[The outgoing units] wouldn't ever go to Changwalak,"...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Dec. 14, 2009 – The holidays are a special time of year when family and friends get together and celebrate the season in various ways, but many servicemembers serving Afghanistan cannot go home for the holidays due to their military obligations. Army Sgt. Carletha Woods places a bag of letter mail on a skid of packages at the Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, post office, Dec. 11, 2009. U.S. photo by Army Spc. William E. Henry  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Fortunately, the post office here excels at bringing a bit of home to America’s troops on the...

The Air Force Mental Health Clinic and the 55th Medical Combat Stress Control clinic at Joint Base Balad help service members and civilians who are overwhelmed during the holidays or any time of year. Photo by Sgt. Keith VanKlompenberg, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. JOINT BASE BALAD — This time of year, holiday joy and stress can sometimes go hand in hand, especially for deployed service members and their families at home. With this in mind, the Air Force Mental Health Clinic and the 55th Medical Combat Stress Control clinic here assist service members and civilians who are overwhelmed or...

Soldiers with the 101st Engineer Battalion cut the cake in celebration of the U.S. National Guard's 373rd birthday, in Al Faw Palace, Camp Victory, Baghdad, Dec. 13. The 101st is a direct descendant of one of the three original National Guard units formed in 1636, the East Regiment. Photo by Master Sgt. Michael Daigle, 114th Public Affairs Detachment. BAGHDAD — A ceremony here today in Camp Victory's Al Faw palace celebrated the birthday of the U.S. military's oldest component, the National Guard. Members of the Army National Guard’s 101st Engineer Battalion joined more than 1000 other service members in the...

BAGHDAD — After a long and tiresome process, Soldiers with Battery A, 113th Field Artillery, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, can now put Joint Security Station Copper behind them. The Soldiers lived and operated there for the past seven months, sharing the land with the 3rd Battalion, 55th Brigade, 17th Iraqi Army Division, until Dec. 10, when documents were signed, releasing the property to the Government of Iraq. The IA will continue to use part of the land as their base, while the GoI will decide to use the rest of the land or return it to the land owner....