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4th rotation of Polish troops returns from Iraq 13.08.2005 The fourth rotation of the Polish contingent in Iraq has returned to the country. The Polish troops, stationed in central-south Iraq as part of the Polish-led multinational contingent, were welcomed and congratulated on by defence minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski. 1500 Polish soldiers constituting the 4th rotation left for Iraq at the beginning of February to train the local police and army, help to rebuild roads, schools, hospitals, and to remove mines. The fifth rotation, already stationed in central south Iraq, will remain there until the end of the year. The size of...

WASHINGTON, July 22 - The Pentagon announced Friday that Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, who has been in charge of efforts to train Iraqi security forces, has completed his yearlong tour of duty and will become commander of the Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Named to replace him was Maj. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, who also was nominated for promotion to lieutenant general, the Pentagon statement said. Senior Bush administration and Pentagon officials say the training of Iraqi security forces is critical to stabilizing the country and to supporting a political process that will allow the reduction...

5th shift of Polish troops getting ready for Iraq 2005-06-07, 09:31 Over 1500 soldiers are taking part in a military exercise code-named "Eufrates 05" which commenced in Nowa Deba, northern Poland. Most of the troops are from the 5th round of Polish personnel scheduled to leave for Iraq by end July. The core of the group shall be personnel from the 1st Warsaw Mechanized Division. They are accompanied at Nowa Deba by men and officers from US, Danish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Norwegian and Romanian armed forces, who shall be part of the multinational contingent in Iraq's south-central zone under Polish command....

WASHINGTON — Top Army leaders and combat zone force planners anticipate reducing the total number of troops needed to occupy Iraq within the next year, according to the Army’s No. 2 officer. “I think the next force rotation, we’ll start seeing that the force rotation coming in will be smaller than the force that’s in there right now,” the Army’s vice chief of staff Gen. Richard Cody told reporters Thursday in Washington. Any reductions, Cody underlined, however, hinge on Iraqi forces coming online. “It’s really based upon where they are in-country with the Iraqi [units] and security in the major...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Their enemy has changed, from Iraqi soldiers in uniform to insurgents in civilian clothes. But for the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division returning to Baghdad, some things remain the same. The smell, for instance - a mixture of smog, rotting garbage and sewage. "It's only here, it's only in Iraq," said Staff Sgt. Jason Barr of Roswell, Mich. "I don't know what it is, but it gets to you." Nearly two years after they first entered Baghdad, the Fort Stewart, Ga.-based 3rd Infantry is back in Iraq, taking charge of the Baghdad metropolitan area. While...

CAMP PENDLETON – Rise Bourland ran toward more than 200 Marines and sailors as they came marching down a road in "boonie" hats and digital desert camouflage. "They all look the same," said Bourland, of Seal Beach, after she found her son, James Bourland, a Navy medic. "I was so scared I wouldn't find him," she said, crying and holding her son. The reunion was at Camp Pendleton yesterday, when families and friends welcomed the last batch of Marines and sailors of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which just completed a nine-month deployment to Iraq. Shrapnel wounds on James Bourland's...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Army's 3rd Division returns to IraqBy Rowan ScarboroughTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished February 26, 2005 The Army's 3rd Infantry Division is back in Iraq, 22 months after it stormed the country from Kuwait and was the first U.S. unit to penetrate downtown Baghdad to oust Saddam Hussein.     The Fort Stewart, Ga.-based division has a new commander and a whole new combat configuration. Of its roughly 20,000 soldiers, about 50 percent participated in the invasion and subsequent occupation that saw a rise in lawlessness and a burgeoning insurgency.     "Our soldiers, for the most part, feel like this is the...

Army leaders are considering seeking a change in Pentagon policy that would allow for longer and more frequent call-ups of some reservists to meet the demands of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, a senior Army official said yesterday. Reservists are being used heavily to fill key military support jobs, particularly in specialty areas, but Army authorities are having increasing difficulty limiting the active-duty time of some normally part-time soldiers to a set maximum of two years, the official said. He described the National Guard's 15 main combat units as close to being "tapped out." To avoid pushing reserve forces to...

The largest earthquake in the past 40 years and the resulting deaths of thousands from 33-foot tidal waves are being compared by an American reporter to descriptions of disaster from Holy Scripture. "The speed with which it all happened seemed like a scene from the Bible – a natural phenomenon unlike anything I had experienced before," said Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs, who was swimming off a Sri Lankan island when the disaster struck this morning. "As the waters rose at an incredible rate, I half expected to catch sight of Noah's Ark. Instead of the Ark, I grabbed hold...

These words flashed across the TV screen as I was getting ready for work one recent morning. It was just some copy that came up there, rather matter of factly, and it was followed by the name of a U.S. Army Cavalry unit that has now had its deployment tour extended in Iraq at least twice. Its current time in country is approaching fourteen months. It is not alone. Virtually every unit there now will be affected, I am sure. Total U.S. troop strength will soon reach the 150,000 man level in anticipation of security needs for the upcoming elections...

10,000 Troops Get Iraq Extension Associated Press December 2, 2004 WASHINGTON - With the insurgency still a threat to Iraq's planned elections, the U.S. force is about to expand to its highest level of the war - even higher than the initial invading force in March 2003. The force will grow from 138,000 today to about 150,000 by mid-January, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Extra troops are needed to bolster security before the national elections scheduled for Jan. 30. The increase in troop strength also underscores the fact that, despite enormous effort and cost, American commanders have yet to train...

MICHAEL GILBERT/THE NEWS TRIBUNE FILE Col. Mike Rounds, facing camera, meets Gen. John Abizaid, right, commander of the U.S. Central Command, in Mosul, Iraq, in January. Rounds gave up command of the first Stryker brigade Wednesday. The man who led the Army's first Stryker brigade from the training ranges at Fort Lewis to the streets of Mosul, Iraq, and back again handed over command Wednesday. Col. Mike Rounds led the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division for 29 months. "As much as I'd love to stay, the Army's got a system," the 45-year-old infantry officer said in an interview Wednesday. Brigade...

WASHINGTON - The Army, which has been hard pressed to find enough soldiers to man the rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan, may soon be faced with an urgent request to find another 5,000 to 7,000 troops to increase the number of boots on the ground in Iraq. Commanders there have been quietly signaling an immediate need for at least that many more soldiers to add to the 138,000 Americans already there. This, they say, is the minimum number needed to allow them to pursue the offensive against the insurgents in the wake of the taking of Fallujah. Far from breaking...

Lejeune troops get orders for Iraq October 28,2004 STAFF REPORTS DAILY NEWS STAFF About 14,000 Marines and sailors with II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune will head to western Iraq in early 2005, military officials announced Wednesday. The deployment will be conducted in phases beginning in January and ending by March, according to the release from II MEF command at Camp Lejeune. The troops, which include forces from New River and Cherry Point air stations, should assume control of their assigned area by March, the release stated. The troops are expected to provide security and help stabilize the region....

WASHINGTON - A senior Army leader says the coming third rotation of U.S. military forces into Iraq has begun, with called-up Army National Guard units deploying to the war zone over the next three months and regular Army forces beginning to shift in to replace other units in December. The Army official, who asked that his name not be used, said the rotation was being phased so it stretches out over four to five months. He said that schedule meets the tactical requirements of U.S. Central Command. He denied that any plan was afoot to bunch up the rotating American...

FORT BENNING, Ga. - The Army's 3rd Infantry Division, which led the blitz to Baghdad during the Iraqi war, announced Friday that it has received deployment orders to return for at least a year to combat the nagging insurgency and to help the Iraqis establish their own government. "The deployment is part of a planned rotation of forces," said Maj. Gen. William Webster, the division's commander, in a release issued from 3rd ID headquarters at Fort Stewart, near Savannah. "We expect to be deployed for approximately one year. However, there are no guarantees. The situation on the ground and the...

Sadness overwhelming as 278th heads out on 'great adventure' Sunday, July 18, 2004 By WILLIAM D. JESSIE EDITOR'S NOTE-Capt. William D. Jessie today begins the first of a series of columns. Jessie is a member of 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, which has been deployed for active duty in the war on terrorism. His company is based in Kingsport, and his occasional columns will appear in Sunday editions of the Times-News. The column will not be a news report about military operational developments in the war on terror. That's not the focus. It will be way for Tri-Cities readers to experience...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Citizen soldiers of the Army National Guard, which has suffered increasing casualties in Iraq in recent months, will assume a notably more prominent role in the next rotation of U.S. combat forces into Iraq beginning late this year, officials said Thursday. The number of National Guard brigades in Iraq will grow from three to five, and for the first time in Iraq a National Guard division headquarters will command active-duty brigades. Under the command of the 42nd Infantry Division of the New York Army National Guard will be two brigades of the active duty 3rd Infantry Division...

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - The U.S.-European Cassini spacecraft has been listening to natural radio signals from Saturn, and what it's hearing raises questions about the length of day on the ringed planet. Cassini found the rhythm of natural radio signals, regarded as the most reliable indicator of the length of day, shows a complete rotation takes 10 hours, 45 minutes and 45 seconds, plus or minus 36 seconds, NASA said in a statement Monday. That's about six minutes longer than the radio rotational period measured by the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft that flew by Saturn in 1980 and 1981....

The Associated Press IN a rapid-fire deployment of US troops to Iraq, some 10,000 US Marines will arrive in Kuwait this month and travel into Iraq in July, the US military said today. The deployment occurs in the fierce heat of summer and under an extraordinarily tight schedule, with troops expected to land in the war theatre a few weeks after receiving orders. "We'll be pushing them through the theatre and getting them up north" into Iraq, said Army Colonel Gary McKown, who oversees US troop movements into Iraq from this desert base south of Kuwait City. The Marines, who...

Key points: 600 Scottish troops ordered to Iraq, claims 3000 more troops to join them Black Watch to replace 1st Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in July Shadow defence secretary questions if troops were adequately trained Key Quote: "It remains the case that we, with our coalition partners, are considering the levels and disposition of forces required in Iraq in the months ahead, to support the sovereign interim government of Iraq through the process leading to the election of a transitional assembly and government early in 2005." - Geoff Hoon Story in full: GEOFF Hoon, the Defence Secretary, yesterday ordered...

Sanchez's Reported Departure is According to Rotation Plan By Gerry J. GilmoreAmerican Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, May 25, 2004 – The media-reported upcoming departure of Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez from Iraq was planned long ago and has nothing to do with the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, a senior U.S. military spokesman noted today. "We have always expected General Sanchez to depart (Iraq) sometime after (the) transfer of sovereignty," Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations director for Multinational Force Iraq, explained to reporters at a Baghdad news conference. News reports that speculate Sanchez is leaving Iraq prematurely due...

Their country called again, they said yes They'd already left the military. But when the Marine Corps asked if they'd go to Iraq, two bay area men couldn't say no. By LEONORA LaPETER, Times Staff WriterPublished May 15, 2004 [Times photo: Leonora LaPeter]Ken Rainey, left, and Ben Pieper are headed to Iraq. Discharged from the Marines in 2002, they agreed to return to active duty for a year. SARASOTA - It hits him most at night. He looks over at his girlfriend sleeping peacefully, thinks about the life they have created, how happy they are together.He has a job...

WASHINGTON - The Army could have a tough time finding more combat troops if they are needed in Iraq (news - web sites). Of the service's 10 active-duty divisions, all or parts of nine are either already in Iraq to serve 12-month tours of duty, or have just returned home in recent weeks after a year's duty. If extra troops are needed, soldiers may get less time at home before going back, one top general says. The Army might also have to consider sending troops now in South Korea (news - web sites). National Guard and Reserve combat forces would...

Have you heard of Operation Iraqi Freedom II? That is the reference troops overseas are already accustomed to using, and they are anticipating operations that will endure as OIF III and OIF IV. These designations, of course, refer to approximately one-year increments for stationing troops in the shooting gallery that is present-day Iraq. One year, plus another 120 days. Or more. At this writing, California National Guard troops from companies with home bases in the Antelope Valley, Riverside and Sacramento are anxiously awaiting word as to whether they will be extended past their yearlong "boots on ground" tour of duty...

WASHINGTON - About 21,000 American soldiers in Iraq (news - web sites) who were to return this month to their home bases in Louisiana and Germany will have their tours extended at least three months to help combat the surge in anti-occupation violence, defense officials said Wednesday. The decision, which has not been announced publicly, breaks the Army's promise to soldiers and their families that assignments in Iraq would be limited to 12 months. The affected soldiers already have been in Iraq for a year. In addition, about 1,000 soldiers in transportation units based in Kuwait will be extended beyond...

22d MEU (SOC) arrives in AfghanistanSubmitted by: 22nd MEUStory Identification Number: 200441413639Story by Gunnery Sgt. Keith A. Milks KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (April 14, 2004) -- More than 2,200 Marines and Sailors of the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 22d Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) have completed their movement into Afghanistan to assist the country in its quest for long-term stability. Commanded by Col. Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr., the 22d MEU (SOC) left Camp Lejeune, N.C. in mid-February aboard the amphibious assault ships WASP, WHIDBEY ISLAND, and SHREVEPORT as part of Expeditionary Strike Group 2. Prior to its deployment to...

  Troop Rotation to Iraq Continues, Units Assuming Control By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, March 31, 2004 – The largest rotation of U.S. forces since World War II continues in Iraq, Defense Department officials said today. In all more than 250,000 U.S. service members are affected. Planning for the rotation began months ago. New units worked with units in Iraq to learn their new missions and to plan the movement. In December, new units began flowing into the region, and in January, they began the relief-in-place process. Officials expect the rotation to continue through May, when 110,000 U.S....

MADRID, March 29 (Reuters) - A planeload of 160 Spanish troops headed for Iraq on a troop rotation was delayed for several hours on Monday by squabbling between the outgoing and incoming governments, a defence ministry official said. The incident exposed a continuing rift over Iraq between Spain's departing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and the incoming Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero nearly three weeks after deadly train bombings in Madrid. Zapatero, the surprise winner of elections three days after the suspected al-Qaeda bombings killed 191 people, has pledged to bring home Spain's 1,300 troops on June 30 unless...

Two days after battling insurgents in this restive area, smiling US Marines patrolled the dusty streets of this Iraqi town Sunday, waving and shaking hands with residents in a bid to win them over. A convoy of eight trucks mounted with machine-guns unloaded around 120 Marines in full combat gear in this town located around 50 kilometers west of Baghdad. This is the heart of what is known as the "Sunni triangle", a hotbed of violent opposition by Sunni Muslim insurgents to the US-led occupation. But unlike Friday's incident in nearby Fallujah in which a Marine was killed and several...

  Big Apple of Kuwait reopens By Spc. Marc Loi CAMP NEW YORK, Kuwait (Army News Service, March 24, 2004) -- After three months of not having any visitors, Camp New York is starting to fill its vacancies again. Camp New York was rebuilt in early December to provide facilities for service members coming through Kuwait during the Operation Iraqi Freedom rotation of troops, which began in January and will last through May. Situated in the middle of the Kuwaiti desert, the camp boasts some of the amenities a person would have in New York City, including a 1,000-seat...

64th CSG One Step Closer to Home Balad, Iraq – Two Army corps support groups will transfer authority in a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Speicher near Tikrit March 23. The 167th Corps Support Group, Londonderry, N.H. is replacing the 64th Corps Support Group redeploying to Ft. Hood, Texas. The 167th, commanded by Col. Gordon McKenzie, was alerted Nov. 12. They were ordered to active duty Dec. 7 and mobilized three days later. The unit arrived in Kuwait Feb. 19 and in Iraq on March 9. The 64th, commanded by Col. Thomas Richardson, has been providing direct and general...

For 18,000 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) recently returned from a year in Iraq -- and for some, more months in Afghanistan -- there's no place like home. The "Screaming Eagles" said they returned to Fort Campbell, Ky., after deployments in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom with a newfound appreciation for the simple pleasures in life. And no single pleasure ranked higher than the opportunity to reconnect with their families. For some, like Staff Sgt. David Giddens with the 101st Corps Support Group's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, being home after an 11-month deployment means...

FORT WAINWRIGHT--Eight desert camouflage uniforms stood out among a formation of about 20 soldiers of the 68th Air Ambulance Company at a Fort Wainwright deployment ceremony at the company's hangar Friday. Tan uniforms among a backdrop of green has become a common sight in the last year as select troops among Alaska's military have been sent to Southwest Asia to help fight in the war against terrorism. Within the next two weeks the eight will join the 1,037 Alaska soldiers that have been deployed to either Afghanistan or Iraq since Oct. 1, according to Maj. Gen. John Brown, commander of...

Saturday, March 20, 2004 Back in Iraq: 1st Marine Division returns ready to rebuild By Kent Harris, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Sunday, March 21, 2004 Kent Harris / S&S Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack and Command Sgt. Maj. Wolf Amacker carefully roll up the colors of the 82nd Airborne Division on Saturday as the soldiers gave way in western Iraq to the 1st Marine Division. Kent Harris / S&S Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, deputy commander of Joint Task Force-7, Maj. Gen. James Mattis and Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack stare at the colors Saturday during a transfer of authority ceremony in...

Letter to All Hands, We are going back in to the brawl. We will be relieving the magnificent soldiers fighting under the 82nd Airborne Division, whose hard wonsuccesses in the Sunni Triangle have opened opportunities for us to exploit. For the last year, the 82nd Airborne has been operating against the heart of the enemy's resistance. It's appropriate that we relieve them: When it's time to move a piano, Marines don't pick up the piano bench - we move the piano. So this is the right place for Marines in this fight, where we can carry on the legacy of...

March 14, 2:54 PM EST1st Cavalry Div. Begins Watch in Baghdad By CHRIS TOMLINSONAssociated Press Writer CAMP VICTORY, Iraq (AP) -- 2nd Lt. Peter Balke's patrol had three objectives besides keeping an eye out for militants: stop by the Jordanian Embassy to check security, count the squatters in an old government building and investigate complaints that a new brothel had opened."Everybody got their money with them?" one of the soldiers shouted.Balke smiled, then continued his briefing.Balke, 22, is part of the new wave of troops replacing the one that stormed Iraq a year ago. He's a field artillery officer, freshly...

<p>FORT IRWIN, Calif. (AP) - Army National Guard troops headed for Iraq got an upbeat send-off from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who praised them as "the true terminators."</p> <p>The governor presented U.S. and California flags to the National Guard's 81st Separate Armor Brigade, which is deploying overseas for the first time since the Korean War.</p>

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 March 13, 2004Release Number: 04-03-34 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4ID AND TF IRONHORSE CAPTURE SUSPECTS, WEAPONS TIKRIT, Iraq - 4th Infantry Division and Task Force Ironhorse conducted 143 patrols and eight raids and captured 11 individuals Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Fifty-one of the patrols were joint operations conducted with the Iraqi police, Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and the Department of Border Enforcement. Weapons and equipment confiscated in raids and patrols throughout the Task Force Ironhorse area of operations include 15 AK-47...

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP)--An explosion injured six U.S. soldiers, some seriously, while on patrol north of Baghdad early Saturday, the Army said. Capt. Tim Crowe said small arms fire erupted after the explosion that occurred in the north of Saddam Hussein's former hometown. No further details were immediately available. The soldiers are from the 1st Infantry Division, which is taking over control of security in the Tikrit area Saturday from the outgoing 4th Infantry Division. AP-NY-03-12-04 2201EST

BRADFORD, Ark. - When Mayor Paul Bunn, of Bradford, Ark., asked for a show of hands at a gathering of a sixth- grade class in the town elementary school, he was looking for more than an answer to a civics lesson. He was looking for faces that have an attachment to his soldiers. Seven hands out of more than two dozen students shot up. Called forward, Bunn asked each student to identify their family member in uniform. For the uncles, fathers, and step-fathers he praised each with a few words; as a “good gunner,” “great medic,” and trusted infantrymen –...

Mar 12, 10:33 PM ESTBlast in Tikrit Kills 2 U.S. Soldiers TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- An explosion early Saturday in Saddam Hussein's hometown killed two American soldiers and wounded four, the U.S. military said.The soldiers were on patrol in downtown Tikrit, north of Baghdad, when a roadside bomb exploded, said Capt. Tim Crowe of the U.S. Army.Small arms fire erupted after the explosion.Initial reports said six soldiers were wounded. But the military later said two of the wounded had died. The four other soldiers were evacuated to a military hospital north of Tikrit. It was not immediately unclear how serious...

BALAD, Iraq — As a crowd of Iraqis clapped and cheered, leaders of the 4th Infantry Division unit that brought calm to this city gave a gift meant to symbolize peace and friendship. Lt. Col. Nate Sassaman and Capt. Matt Cunningham — battalion and company commanders from the 4th ID’s 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment — presented a statue of a dove flying above a map of Iraq. It stands atop a red-tile pedestal and fountain built by local artisans. The officers dedicated the statue to 1,500 men, women and children from the Shiite city of 170,000 who were slaughtered...

Iraqis bid a fond farewell to liberating Army infantry By Steve Liewer, Stars and Stripes European edition, Friday, March 12, 2004 BALAD, Iraq — As a crowd of Iraqis clapped and cheered, leaders of the 4th Infantry Division unit that brought calm to this city gave a gift meant to symbolize peace and friendship. Lt. Col. Nate Sassaman and Capt. Matt Cunningham — battalion and company commanders from the 4th ID’s 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment — presented a statue of a dove flying above a map of Iraq. It stands atop a red-tile pedestal and fountain built by local...

WASHINGTON - The Army is spread so thin around the globe that when it needs fresh combat troops for Iraq this fall it will have little choice but to call on the same soldiers who led the charge into Baghdad last spring. The 3rd Infantry Division already has been given an official "warning order" to prepare to return to Iraq as soon as Thanksgiving. When those soldiers flew home from Iraq last summer to their bases in Georgia, few of them could have known they were, in effect, on a roundtrip ticket. They are not alone in facing back-to-back deployments...

BALAD, Iraq — As a crowd of Iraqis clapped and cheered, leaders of the 4th Infantry Division unit that brought calm to this city gave a gift meant to symbolize peace and friendship. Lt. Col. Nate Sassaman and Capt. Matt Cunningham — battalion and company commanders from the 4th ID’s 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment — presented a statue of a dove flying above a map of Iraq. It stands atop a red-tile pedestal and fountain built by local artisans. The officers dedicated the statue to 1,500 men, women and children from the Shiite city of 170,000 who were slaughtered...

Beginning this month, leathernecks from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force will return to Iraq, replacing elements of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. The return of the Marines is surely bad news for those desperate to undermine the liberation of Iraq. Not to take anything away from the U.S. Army — its soldiers have performed magnificently, and will no doubt continue to do so — but America's enemies have a particular fear of U.S. Marines. During the first Gulf War in 1991, over 100,000 Iraqi soldiers were deployed along the Iraqi-Kuwaiti coastline in anticipation of a landing by some 17,000 U.S....

AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq(March 11, 2004) -- July 2003 marked the return of the last units from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif. Now, less than one year after their return home, the Marines and Sailors of Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 3 have returned to provide the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing with logistical support and force protection. "We are here to prepare and maintain work and living spaces for the Wing Headquarters element," said Lt. Col. Glenn Murray, commanding officer MWHS-3. Flying more than 8,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean and touching ground on three separate...

Beginning this month, leathernecks from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force will return to Iraq, replacing elements of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. The return of the Marines is surely bad news for those desperate to undermine the liberation of Iraq. Not to take anything away from the U.S. Army — its soldiers have performed magnificently, and will no doubt continue to do so — but America's enemies have a particular fear of U.S. Marines. During the first Gulf War in 1991, over 100,000 Iraqi soldiers were deployed along the Iraqi-Kuwaiti coastline in anticipation of a landing by some 17,000 U.S....

354th Civil Affairs Brigade Wraps Up its Baghdad Mission BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The 354th Civil Affairs Brigade officially concluded its role in rebuilding Iraq during transfer-of-authority ceremonies Feb. 28. The 354th, a U.S. Army Reserve unit based in Riverdale, Md., provided civil affairs command and control in the Baghdad area of operations for the 3rd Infantry Division and the 1st Armored Division. The brigade is comprised of the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion and the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion. The brigade worked with the divisions' maneuver brigades, the Government Support Team, the Coalition Provisional Authority, international...