***Operation Infinite Freedom - Situation Room

CENTCOM:

June 7, 2003
Release Number: 03-06-26

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ONE SOLDIER KILLED, TWO INJURED IN VEHICLE ACCIDENT (nr. Baghdad)

One Soldier Killed, Two Injured in Vehicle Accident

CAMP DOHA, Kuwait -- One soldier was killed and two injured yesterday, June 6, 2003, in a vehicle accident about 35 kilometers north of Baghdad. They were providing security escort to Coalition Provisional Authority personnel at the time of the accident. The wounded soldiers were evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital for treatment.

The names of the soldiers and their unit are being withheld pending notification of their next-of-kin.

CENTCOM:

June 7, 2003
Release Number: 03-06-25

COALITION AND IRAQI POLICE WORK TO MAKE IRAQ SECURE (JUNE 7, 2003)

CAMP DOHA, Kuwait -- Coalition Forces continue to aggressively patrol Iraq to eliminate crimes against people and property, rid populated areas of weapons, ammunition and explosives, and stop the black market trade in fuel and other commodities. Coalition Forces also continue to conduct joint security patrols with Iraqi police to increase the professionalism of the police force and prepare them for their role in a self-governed Iraq.

Weapons Turn-In Program:

Iraqi citizens voluntarily turned in a variety of weapons under the Weapons Turn-In Program that began June 1. As of today's count, Coalition Forces throughout Iraq have received 39 pistols, 65 semi-automatic rifles or shotguns, 202 automatic rifles, 10 machine guns, 58 anti-tank weapons (i.e., rocket-propelled grenade launchers), 79 grenades and other explosive devices.

The amnesty period for the Weapons Turn-In Program will run through June 14.

Coalition Activity:

Iraqi police and Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment raided a house in Al Hillah yesterday, detaining 11 men associated with an man who had installed himself as mayor of Surf Al Sakhar. They seized eight AK-47 rifles, two SKS carbines, a shotgun and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with four rounds.

Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment raided a house in Ad Dinwaniyah yesterday after receiving information that weapons were hidden there. They detained five men and confiscated eight AK-47 rifles and ammunition.

Marines from the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines raided a suspected arms market yesterday in An Najaf. They detained six suspected arms dealers and confiscated several weapons.

First Armored Division soldiers raided a house in Baghdad yesterday and arrested 11 men suspected of being gang members.

Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division raided a house in Al Fallujah yesterday where false identification cards were being made. They detained five Iraqis for questioning and confiscated various materials used for making false identification, to include laminating machines.

In raids and patrolling activity over the last 24 hours, the 1st Armored Division in Baghdad seized 23 AK-47 rifles, 9 pistols, 2 rocket-propelled grenade launchers with 17 rounds, 410 rifle and light machine gun rounds, 300 rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition, a 9mm submachine gun and two swords. They also detained people for crimes including looting, theft, weapons violations, car theft, drug dealing and curfew violations.

Police Activity in the Last 24 Hours:

Coalition Forces conducted 9 raids and a total of 2,326 patrols throughout Iraq. Of those patrols, 270 were joint Iraqi and Coalition patrols. They detained or arrested 229 individuals for a variety of criminal activities including looting, curfew violations, weapons violations, theft, larceny and dealing drugs.

Recent Police Activity:

Iraqi police and soldiers from the 233rd Military Police Company conducting a joint patrol in Baghdad recently served an arrest warrant on three larceny suspects. They were able to identify and apprehend one individual, while a search of the area failed to turn up the others. The patrol took the suspect to the East Baghdad Jail.

Iraqi police and soldiers from the 233rd Military Police Company on joint patrol in Baghdad arrested the driver and a passenger of a truck after the driver was unable to produce documents proving ownership. Iraqi police determined that the truck was stolen Iraqi government property. The patrol apprehended the driver and passenger and took them to the East Baghdad Jail.

CENTCOM:

June 7, 2003
Release Number: 03-06-22

COALITION EFFORTS AID IRAQ'S RECOVERY (June 7, 2003)

CAMP DOHA, Kuwait – Coalition Forces continue to assist in developing a safer and more secure environment in Iraq through the following activities.

NORTHERN AND CENTRAL IRAQ

Coalition Forces recently:
· Reported 3.96 million liters of gasoline were delivered in Baghdad Friday. The goal is 4 million liters/day. Total gasoline and propane distribution for Baghdad continues to meet or exceed targets. Also, 53,100 bottles of propane were delivered. Received 125 benzene and 22 propane trucks from Turkey.
· Reported a total of 108 trucks crossed into Iraq from Syria in the last 24 hours, a strong indicator that commerce is steadily improving.
· Reported a 251-truck World Food Program convoy arrived from Turkey with 5,798 metric tons of food consignments for Dohuk, Mosul, Irbil and Sulaymaniwah.
· Found approximately 13 km of water piping in an abandoned Ba’ath warehouse vic Rabi’ah, which will be used to install a local water system.
· Received nine trucks of bulk food shipments at UN Food Distro in Ar Ramadi for a total of 534 shipments to date.
· Conducted a "Task Force Neighborhood" mission in Mosul that hired 23 locals, and removed 13 truckloads of garbage from a Mosque. Clean-up operations continue in the Tigris River Valley as well.
· Conducted a "Task Force Neighborhood" mission in Makhmur with improvements to the schools, and a soccer field. Provided dental services, began reconstruction of the market, including building stalls and fences.
· Transported and consolidated 133 truckloads of captured Iraqi ammunition in the last two days. 7,375 tons have been removed to date.
· Transported five Iraqi patients to the Medical City Center.
· Reported Government of Syria (GOS) granted tax exemptions, reduced port dues, service fees, and handling fees to the humanitarian community as its contribution to Iraqi reconstruction.
· Participated in the CPA Fuel Distribution conference to continue to coordinate fuel deliveries and contracts in Iraq.
· Attended the Baghdad water and sewage authority weekly meeting to meet municipal services leadership and to finalize a decision to fund $30,000 sewage repair projects in the Rusafa and Adhamiyah municipalities.
· Have removed most of the vehicle hulks.
· Identified and marked 60 live Iraqi tank rounds for removal by explosive ordnance disposal personnel. .
· Continue to repair Terminal C of the Baghdad International Airport, which included electrical, plumbing, and carpentry work.
· Attended a salary meeting in Baghdad concerning June salary payments throughout Iraq. Payments will begin 15 June, with an anticipated completion date of 25 June.
· Facilitated the establishment of Neighborhood Advisory Councils in Rusafa and Ad Hamiya on Friday.
· Reported that assessments of the 500 school facilities by the Ministry of Housing/Construction will be finished in two weeks.
· Assessed the Ibn Al Nafees Cardiovascular Hospital in the Karadah Municipality to coordinate and seek funding for medication and surgical supplies, ambulance repair, and security, and conduct an assessment.
· Attended meeting at the Grain Board, and reported the grain distribution message went out again today by radio and newspaper. Displaced persons are directed to go to one of 128 rationing centers, where they will receive a letter, which they can take to their respective food agent. The Ministry of Trade has agreed to double payments to agents to cover the high costs of transportation/security.
· Disseminated more than 21,600 proclamation posters and handbills about the weapons turn-in program. Coalition forces supplemented this effort with loudspeaker messages and talking one-on-one to local citizens.

SOUTHERN IRAQ

AN NASARIYAH
· Recovered relics from a black market in Al Fajr and made contact with an archeologist to discuss their proper disposition.

AL KUT
· Report that vehicles waiting in gas lines have dropped from 300 cars to 10 in the last two weeks and that black market gasoline sales have virtually disappeared.
· Reported the Wasit Province is currently receiving 65MW of electrical power from the South Baghdad super grid. The amount of power is significantly increasing daily and should be at full power in one week when a 400KV line between Al Kut and An Nasariyah will be returned to service.

AD DIWANIYAH
· Met with the Baghdad Ministry of Education primary , secondary and higher education minsters to discuss plans for the future. Completed program of having provincial teachers sigh Ba’ath party non-affiliation statements.
· Met with the assistant manager of the Agriculture Bank regarding access to accounts for Food Stuff Company and Grain Board.
· Met with the Director of Education to discuss the organizational chart, payment of salaries, hiring security and maintenance workers, and the province- level meetings later this week.
· Submitted a funding nomination for a three-story school administration building looted during the war.
· Paid 9 schools $500 each from discretionary funds.
· Met with representatives of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), World Food Program (WFP), United Nations-Habitat (UNHSC), Geneva Committee International (Red Cross) and Save the Children Foundation (SCF/US) to coordinate relief efforts in the Ad Diwaniyah area.

AL HILLAH
· Supervised the following National Payment Program payments to date.
·· Education Department (265 schools, 491,335,000 Dinars paid).
·· Finance Ministry Retirement Department (46 total employees, 9,200,000 Dinars paid).
·· Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (39 total employees, 7,410,000 Dinars paid)
·· Grain Elevator Trade Ministry (517 total employees, 86,700,000 Dinars paid).
·· Nationality and Civil Issues Department (230 total employees, 45,400,000 Dinars paid).
·· Banking Department/Agricultural Branch (21 total employees, 3,800,000 Dinars paid).
·· Communications Department (369 total employees, 58,300,000 Dinars paid).
·· Fuel Department (766 total employees, 28,350,000 Dinars paid).
· Participated, with the governance support team, in the daily meeting with the interim governor. Issues discussed were the National Payment Plan, compensation for ex-Iraqi soldiers, police performance, and other issues of day-to-day operations of the municipality.
Met with Trade Ministry Officials from the Departments of Trade Observation, The Mills, Shopping Centers, Structural Materials, and Food Supplies to coordinate the payments of salaries to the five departments.

AS SAMAWAH
· Reported that the judicial department began screening candidates to serve as investigators that will eventually work for the police and judicial departments.
· Funds were secured to repair three different warehouse buildings and substation #4. The repairs include windows, doors, gates, fence, and lights.
· Repair/replacement parts for environmental lab and pumping stations were purchased in Baghdad.
· Photographed damage to the Asthma and Allergy Clinic in preparation to complete repairs.
· Conducted a meeting at the Children’s Hospital to discuss salary concerns, the need for repair to the air conditioning in the doctors’ barracks, and to drop off Foley catheters donated by U.S. Navy Corpsmen.
· Met with the Director of Education and planners and contractors to discuss school projects. Marine Corps engineers assessed four kindergartens.
· Met with CPA-contractor representatives to discuss water and sewage needs assessments, and facilitated contact with local officials of the sewage department and U.S. Navy Seabees, who have expertise in water treatment assessments.

KARBALA
· Performed operational assessments of the Al-Hussein Water Treatment Facility, which provides water to 30% of the city (approximately 50,000 homes) and the areas around the shrines. Assessing cracked pipes, broken valves, and leaking, and structural stability for future repair.
· Met with Manager of the Women’s Hospital to discuss plans and estimates for repairs to the operating and labor rooms.
· Met with Save the Children at City Hall and turned over two projects to them. One project is connecting two water lines to filters at the Al Hussein Hospital. The other project is procuring parts for a city water-pumping facility.

Do you ever sleep???

FRom AP

Palestinian Officials Blast Hamas

JERUSALEM -

Frustrated Palestinian officials harshly criticized Hamas on Saturday, saying the Islamic militant group's abandonment of talks aimed at ending attacks against Israelis could torpedo a new peace plan just as it was getting off the ground.

The Palestinian foreign minister chided Hamas, saying it should "act responsibly."

Ha! You're still here when I go to bed and you're here when I come back. Kat...she's running on something stronger than

(MoM Y)

Q: How do you confuse a ~~blonde~~ member of the WH press corps?
A: Tell her that the same people who predicted hundreds of thousands of casualties and a massive refugee crisis are now condemning US intelligence for supplying inaccurate information about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

Q: Did you hear the one about the United Nations taking action against Robert Mugabe’s systematic destruction of his country?
A: Me neither.

Three human shields walk into a bar. And stay there until the war in Iraq is over.

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: To wave its anti-war banner in front of television cameras.

http://timblair.spleenville.com

Palestinian Officials Blast Hamas

Wow. What a headline. This is new, no?

www.opinionjournal.com

By JAMES TARANTOMake War, Then Love
It's springtime in Baghdad, and love is in the air, the Boston Globe reports:

Soldiers are finding that their interactions with Iraqi women are leading to friendships and, in some cases, romance. With emotions running high during the weeks after Saddam Hussein's regime fell, some soldiers found that relationships developed naturally.
Affections were particularly warm outside the Baghdad Convention Center, where the cosmopolitan staff of the Iraqi Media Network, a television station, moved into new offices guarded by US soldiers, said Josh O'Connor, a freelance producer from North Carolina who now works for the Iraqi station.
"There were a couple [marriage] proposals here and there," said O'Connor, 29, who found himself acting as a conduit between his colleagues and soldiers. "Usually it was the women proposing to the men. Not all of them were accepted." . . .
Gradually, the soldiers began socializing with the staff, although they would refuse beers the Iraqis offered them, O'Connor said. After a while, a handful of them started asking about each other.
"I would say, 'so-and-so likes you,' " he said. "It's so like junior high school."

LOL. I know a lot of Israelis that would love to blast Hamas too! ;-)

Love? In Iraq? :-o One world .. One people .. Why not? :-)

Hamas Vows Attacks Unless PM Abbas Retracts Pledges

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The militant Islamic group Hamas threatened on Saturday to pursue suicide attacks against Israelis unless Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas retracted pledges he made at a U.S.-led peace summit.

But Palestinian Authority officials, keen to quash speculation about impending civil war in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said the Islamic group would probably resume truce talks.

"Hamas had put the dialogue on hold, and Hamas has no other choice but to resume the dialogue simply because if they refuse, this means they want to have confrontation," Palestinian Minister of Security Affairs Mohammed Dahlan told Reuters.

Kat, has the food in Kuwait improved?

Meddling With the Menus Just a Matter of Taste

American Forces Press Service

FT BELVOIR, Va., June 6, 2003 -- Any good chef knows that to stay in business, he or she has to please the diners. That principle holds true whether we're talking about four-star gourmet restaurants or Meals Ready to Eat. The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia has taken this truism to heart and recently changed the menus of its MREs.

Under a new contract, some menu items will be phased out and replaced with other entrees. MREs featuring the new entrees are going into production in June and will go immediately to the military services.

Entrees that are being eliminated include the Jamaican Pork Chop, Pasta Alfredo and the seemingly universally disliked Beef with Mushrooms. However, the current stock of MREs will be used until exhausted. The new entrees include Pork Rib and Sauce, Vegetable Manicotti and Roast Beef with Vegetables. The changes were made in response to Army surveys, which recorded the preferences expressed by military personnel in the field.

The MRE is a pre-packaged operational ration designed to sustain an individual engaged in heavy activity such as military training or during actual military operations when normal food service facilities are not available. It is totally self-contained and consists of a full meal packed in a flexible meal bag. The full bag is lightweight and fits easily into military field clothing pockets. Each meal bag contains an entrée and a variety of other useful items, such as chewing gum, matches and moist toilette.

Except for the beverages, the entire meal is ready to eat. While the entrée may be eaten cold, it can also be heated in many ways, including submersion in hot water while still sealed in its individual entrée package. Since 1991's Operation Desert Storm, a flameless ration heating device has also been packed into each meal bag to heat the entrée.

Each meal bag contains the components of one meal. Service members engaged in heavy activity normally consume three MREs a day. Special humanitarian daily rations are also produced and distributed to displaced persons or refugees under emergency conditions. These packs contain enough food to sustain a moderately malnourished person for one day.

DLA provides several types of MREs tailored to different dietary requirements. The Meal, Religious, Kosher or Halal, is provided for individuals in the military services who maintain a strict religious diet. Each meal consists of one kosher or halal certified entrée and religiously certified or acceptable complementary items sufficient to provide the recommended daily nutritional requirements. There are two vegetarian meals in every box of MREs that support troops who, for various reasons, cannot consume meat.

(Based on a Defense Logistics Agency news release.)

Hamas needs to be swatted down. Spoiled brats.

More on the supply lines:

Logistics Agency Lines Out Its Support to Forces in Iraq

By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2003 – "Speed can kill the enemy" were some of Army Gen. Tommy Franks' words of wisdom for his commanders and troops during Operation Iraqi Freedom. And the U.S. forces' lightning thrust to Baghdad with minimal Iraqi resistance and few U.S. and coalition casualties substantiates this saying.

But these fast-moving combatants created a problem for the Defense Logistics Agency's logisticians: The combatants outran their supply line.

Fortunately, the problem wasn't widespread, nor did it last long, according to DLA's director, Vice Adm. Keith W. Lippert, during a recent interview.

"Supplying the fastest moving combatants in history was an interesting thing," said Lippert, the former commander of the Naval Supply Systems Command. "There were some isolated instances where warfighters were saying they'd run short on MREs (meals ready to eat) and bottled water. We always had enough of MREs and bottled water in theater."

Inefficiency wasn't the problem, Lippert noted. "The issue was, they advanced so quickly that in many cases they outran the distribution lines," he explained. "That's where the shortages came. The troops marched to Baghdad in a hurry and it was a matter of the supply lines catching up with them."

When it comes to comparing and contrasting support of troops during 1991's Operation Desert Storm to those in Operation Iraq Freedom, Lippert said, "There have been major, major differences. I'd put it under the broad titles of people being forward deployed with the warfighter – a big difference."

Before the first shot was fired in Iraq, DLA already had customer representatives embedded with warfighters at 71 different sites around the world. At the request of U.S. Central Command, there were 72 logistics experts in-theater working as contingency support teams.

"They're there as logistics experts," Lippert said. "They communicate back to us what the issues and requirements are so we can respond much quicker than any time before."

He pointed out that communications was much faster during Iraqi Freedom than in Desert Storm, when telephones were the primary mode of communications.

The admiral noted that he uses a secure Internet system to stay in daily contact with the combatant commanders' logistics heads in theater. The messages also go right down to the logistics center that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"So I'm in communications with the warfighter in-theater and also with the Joint Staff," he said. "We get almost real-time exchange of information for what the issues are. That's a big, big difference than in anything we've had in the past."

During Desert Storm, there wasn't any way of telling exactly where shipments were or what was in them. Consequently, warfighters were ordering three times more, "hoping to get the quantity they needed," Lippert said.

That problem was solved during Iraqi Freedom by using advanced technology and having specialists in the field to handle any problems. "As we issue materiel to our distribution depots, everything gets a radio frequency identification tag on it," Lippert noted. "The recipient scans the ID tag to find out what is in the van and where it's going. So there's asset visibility that has made a huge difference."

Getting involved in the early stages of advanced planning helped DLA prepare to support warfighters during a conflict, according to the admiral. "All the way back in July 2002, the Office of the Secretary of Defense asked us to start preparing for a potential conflict," Lippert said.

"They gave us the force structure, but it wasn't exactly what we had in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but it wasn't too far off. We developed requirements based upon that – medicines, food, spare parts, fuel – right on down the line.

"We bought things like the chemical protection suits, MREs, sand bags and construction material," he continued. "We were consuming about 350,000 of those meals per day, so we had to make sure we had plenty of MREs. We issued 48 million MREs.

"They're still eating about 350,000 MREs per day," the admiral said. "We try to keep about seven days' worth of MREs on hand. So that's more than 2 million in theater."

MREs and certain aspects of the war got a lot of attention, but to Lippert, the most rewarding thing was the troop and weapons systems readiness.

"We had a very ready force to go into Operation Iraqi Freedom," Lippert said. "That was done because a lot of people have worked very hard to improve the overall readiness. DoD and the president made concerted efforts to increase the funding for spare parts, so we were in good shape."

~~~

US troops escort a bus carrying a seven-man team of UN inspectors from the IEAE (International Atomic Energy Agency) back to their hotel after visiting nuclear facility in Tuwaitha Saturday June 7, 2003. The IEAE inspectors with the US counterpart visited the site, 50 kilometers east of Baghdad, Iraq, to assess Iraq's largest nuclear facility which was looted during the war that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime.

The bus carrying inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, escorted by U.S. soldiers, enters al-Rasheed hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 6, 2003. Under close American scrutiny, a small team of U.N. nuclear experts arrived in Baghdad to begin a damage assessment at Iraq's largest nuclear facility, left unguarded by U.S. troops during the early days of the war and then pillaged by villagers. The arrival of the team, whose members are not weapons inspectors, marked the first time since theIraq war began that representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear agency, returned to the country.

U.S. soldiers keep alert during a search for a sniper in Baghdad, June 7, 2003. U.S. troops deployed around Baghdad's Revolution Square on Saturday, after locals reported sniper shots from a building nearby.

An Iraqi boy holds up a national flag in front of a police station in Fallujah, some 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, just a day after commanders announced the dispatch of extra troops to the area. One US soldier was killed and five were wounded when the police station was hit in a rocket-propelled grenade attack early the same day.

Former Iraqi Army soldiers shout slogans as they march towards the US Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Services or ORHA in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday June 7, 2003, to demand the restoration of the dissolved Iraqi Army. The Iraqi Army was dissolved recently by the new US administration in Iraq to pave the way for the formation of the new Iraqi Corps.

Two army soldiers guard the entrance to Iraq's Tuwaitha nuclear facility, June 6, 2003. UN nuclear experts returned to Iraq on Friday for the first time since the U.S.-led invasion, to check on looting at the research facility that may have caused radioactive contamination. Seven experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) flew to Iraq from Kuwait on a limited mission under tight U.S. restrictions.

A U.S. military policeman takes an Iraqi man detained into a Humvee at the city of Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad, Friday, June 6, 2003. Five men were taken to an undisclosed destination, suspected of being fedayeen.

A U.S. soldier keeps alert at the front of a convoy passing through Ramadi, west of Baghdad, Friday, June 6, 2003.

The destroyed nuclear facility in Tuwaitha, 50 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, as seen from the air on Thursday June 5, 2003. A seven-man team of safety inspectors from the UN International Atomic Energy Agency arrived Friday to assess the damage on Iraq's largest nuclear facility in the wake of widespread looting following the fall of Saddam Hussein>

U.N. Senior Inspector and team leader Brian Rens, from the International Atomic Energy Agency, center, accompanied by two inspectors arrives at the al-Rasheed hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 6, 2003. Under close American scrutiny, a small team of U.N. nuclear experts arrived in Baghdad to begin a damage assessment at Iraq's largest nuclear facility, left unguarded by U.S. troops during the early days of the war and then pillaged by villagers. The arrival of the team, whose members are not weapons inspectors, marked the first time since the Iraq war began that representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear agency, returned to the country.

Nuclear Experts Begin Iraq Mission; Troops Ambushed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops were ambushed near Saddam Hussein's hometown on Saturday, as U.N. nuclear experts began work to assess looting at Iraq's main nuclear facility.

The U.S. military said a soldier died and four were wounded when gunmen fired small arms and a rocket-propelled grenade at them near Tikrit, 110 miles north of Baghdad.

It was the latest in a series of attacks on U.S. forces in Sunni Muslim areas in central Iraq that the military blames on Baathist remnants of Saddam's ousted government.

Ha! You're still here when I go to bed and you're here when I come back.

No I was not, not at that time. But I am now. I do not know how the food is in Kuwait at the present, I have not talked to my son since that last conversation I told you about. Hopefully its better.

Soldiers help distribute cooking fuel in Iraq

Soldiers of C Troop, 1st Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment try to keep a crowd under control while propane gas is sold to Iraqis. (photo by Spc. John Wollaston, 1AD Public Affairs)
(Click on the graph to view a higher resolution photo)

by Pfc. Mary Rose Xenikakis

MOSUL, Iraq (Army News Service, June 2, 2003) -- Soldiers in northern Iraq are assisting in the distribution of propane, the primary fuel used here for cooking.

"If you don't have propane you can't cook anything," said Jaklean Sulaiman, a translator working with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault.) Men, women and children often wait in long lines for propane under the scorching sun for hours, she said.

The 101st soldiers of the Fire Support Element of 2nd Brigade helped carry tanks of propane to the homes of villagers.

The FSE soldiers, following the direction of Brig. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, assistant division commander [operations], are providing security for propane distribution and ensuring propane stations are honest with their customers.

~~~

Soldiers bring smiles to Baghdad orphanages

-- Cpt. William Crawford, 3rd Forward Support Battalion physician's assistant, blows up a balloon for children at an orphanage in Baghdad May 24. Soldiers from the 3rd FSB brought supplies and cheer to two other orphanages that day.
(Click on the graph to view a higher resolution photo)

by Sgt. Craig Zentkovich

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, June 5, 2003) -- Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division's Forward Support Battalion visited three orphanages in Baghdad May 24, bringing treats and supplies for the children.

"We are helping to rebuild the community by reaching out to those in need - the kids," said Capt. Mike Heninger, 3rd FSB chaplain. "We want to share the resources we've received from home."

For many of the children of this tattered country, oppression, poverty and loss are all they've known, Heninger said.

A physician's assistant, a dentist and roughly a dozen soldiers from the 3rd FSB accompanied Heninger. They brought with them humanitarian rations, school and personal supplies, and various treats for the children who ranged in age from 7 months to 17 years.

The first home visited that morning was a Catholic orphanage for girls under the age of 13. Shortly after arriving, Cpt. Joseph Bonaville, 3rd FSB dentist, gave each of the 17 girls a dental checkup and toothbrush, while Cpt. William Crawford, 3rd FSB physician's assistant, handed out bubbles, toys, candy and temporary tattoos.

The story of one of the girls, a ten year old who was wearing a blue floral dress and a constant smile, was heartbreaking to the 3rd FSB executive officer, Maj. Derrick Norman.

"(The girl) was abandoned in Basra by her parents just days before the war," he said. "One of the nuns found her and brought her up to Baghdad to live in the home."

The youngest girl in the home, an eight year old, also touched his heart. "She reminded me so much of my daughter," Norman said. "I would love to call my wife and tell her to set a fourth plate on the table."

~~~

Looted artifacts are seen on a table at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq,in this May 6, 2003 file photo, after they were recovered. The world-famous treasures of Nimrud, unaccounted for since Baghdad fell two months ago, have been found in good condition in the Central Bank, in a secret vault-inside-a-vault, submerged in sewage water. U.S. occupation forces also announced that fewer than 50 items from the Iraqi National Museum's main exhibition remain unaccounted for after April'slooting and destruction.

Looted artifacts are seen on a table at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, in this May 6, 2003 file photo, after they were recovered. The world-famous treasures of Nimrud, unaccounted for since Baghdad fell two months ago, have been found in good condition in the Central Bank, in a secret vault-inside-a-vault, submerged in sewage water. U.S. occupation forces also announce that fewer than 50 items from the Iraqi National Museum's main exhibition remain unaccounted for after April'slooting and destruction.

Treasures of Nimrud Found in Iraqi Vault

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The world-famous treasures of Nimrud, unaccounted for since Baghdad fell two months ago, have been located in good condition in the country's Central Bank — in a secret vault-inside-a-vault submerged in sewage water, U.S. occupation authorities said Saturday.

They also said fewer than 50 items from the collection of the Iraqi National Museum's main exhibition are still missing after the looting and destruction that followed the U.S. capture of Baghdad.

The artifacts — gold earrings, finger and toe rings, necklaces, plates, bowls and flasks, many of them elaborately engraved and set with semiprecious stones or enamel — were found several days ago when the vault was opened, according to an official of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the official name of the U.S.-led occupation force.

Hope you hear from him soon, Kat. Should I put in a request for cell phones and laptops? (^; You know the troops do awesome work with very little - cannibalizing machines to fix others - versatile and tough. The UN and the NGOs come sailing into Iraq after the most dangerous work is done - in fancy buses and SUVs, air conditioning and nice offices, demanding that our hard working, risk-taking, courageous troops provide them private security - and whining.

Our troops should have everything they need before a penny from American taxpayers goes to the UN or any NGO.

TF Neighborhood scores with soccer stadium cleanup by Sgt. Craig Zentkovich

Baghdad (Army News Service, June 5, 2003) -- For Americans, it's baseball. For Iraqis, it's soccer - pastimes that people of all ages can find joy and common ground in.

That is why the people of northern Baghdad and the U.S. Army took a keen interest in repairing and cleaning a soccer stadium that had become a symbol of their national pastime and an icon in their community.

Task Force Neighborhood, a V Corps' community improvement program, and 200 area residents cleaned and repaired the stadium and surrounding complex, undoing the damage done by the Iraqi army in the months leading up to the war.

"Four months before the war, an Iraqi airborne battalion occupied the stadium and utilized it as a hasty barracks and training area," said Lt. Col. Thad Hill, 3rd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, Florida National Guard, battalion commander. "There were over 50 fighting positions around the stadium alone."

The two practice fields adjacent to the stadium were also littered with fighting positions trash and military equipment.

The daylong effort, which began at 8 a.m., utilized the 535th Engineer Company and B Company, 142nd Engineer Battalion, and their earth-moving equipment to fill in the scores of six-foot-deep fighting positions on the two practice fields, flatten the fields and carry away the collected trash.

"The (engineer) assets are invaluable for projects like this," said 1st Sgt. J. A. Gliedman, 535th Eng. Co. first sergeant and Task Force Neighborhood coordinator. "It makes a lot of work possible in very little time."

~~~

If the famous antiquities were found in a secret vault inside a bank - could we say it was an inside job? Where was James Carville that week?

101st trains Joint Iraqi Security Company

Capt. Donald La Rue, with the 109th Medical Company and attached to 2/44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, has one of his pupils, a former member of the Free Iraqi Force, demonstrates his first-aid skills. (Photos by Pfc. James Matise, 101st Airborne Division PAO)
(Click on the graph to view a higher resolution photo)

by Pfc. James Matise

MOSUL, Iraq )Army News Service, June 6, 2003) - Units from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) will spend the next two to three months training Iraq's military security force to be self-sufficient.

The Joint Iraqi Security Company, the first military security force in Iraq made up of Iraqis from across the country is being prepared for service by 2nd Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 101st Abn. Div.

The soldiers that were gathered inside the dilapidated building were a diverse lot. They wore a motley cru of uniforms, some were still boys, while others bore thick mustaches flecked with gray. All of their eyes were on the instructor in the center of the room, whose head was being wrapped in a bandage by an Iraqi soldier in bright green combat fatigues.

"Very good," the instructor said when the soldier motioned that he was finished. The instructor stood up with his gift-wrapped head and gestured for the other soldiers to give a round of applause. "Now who's next," the American soldier asked.

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Stewart welcomes home first two 3ID units

Photo of Spc. Roger Dever and his mother.

Spc. Roger Dever, 1st Battalion, , 39th Field Artiller, is welcomed by his mother Debra at the Homecoming Ceremony, June 3. (photo by Sgt. Sam Hoffman)
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by Sgt. Sam Hoffman

FORT STEWART, Ga. (Army News Service, June 6, 2003) - The 3rd Infantry Division Band and a field artillery battalion returned to Fort Stewart to the applause of about 1,200 family members and friends the evening of June 3.

1st Battalion, 39th Field Artillery and the band were the first 3rd Inf. Div. (Mech.) units to return to Fort Stewart since the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

More than 400 soldiers arrived in two flights to Hunter Army Airfield, where after a sensitive items check (night-vision goggles, weapons) they departed by bus to Fort Stewart.

The first buses arrived at Cottrell Field around 10:30 p.m. and the second wave at close to 1 a.m., both receiving deafening applause from the crowd. Banners and posters revealing the names of soldiers were displayed all along the field, some held up by proud relatives while the bigger ones were hung on special fences built for the ceremony.

Tammy Crosby's brother, Spc. Jason Crump, had been deployed for 10 months.

"I'm just excited to have him home! That's my only brother," she shouted.

Staff Sgt. Terry Middleton's wife, daughter, sister and nephew were all waiting impatiently for his return. Daughter Tara was speechless, but Lauren had many kind words to say.

"We all missed him!" she said. "We're really proud of him!"

Once dismounted from the buses, the soldiers formed up and marched into the center of the field. After a brief welcome from Col. Edwin Marrero, installation chief of staff, and a singing of the Army and "Dog Faced Soldier" songs, they were released to the warm arms of their loved ones.

"(As chief of staff) it complements my task of preparing and deploying (the soldiers) when (by being asked to be the official welcoming party), I am able to be a part of the event that receives them and welcomes them home to families and loved ones," he said. "It's so incredibly emotional!"

Returning soldiers had few words to say, many of them were just too happy being home to even say anything.

"It's just a great day to be here!" said Sgt. 1st Class William Wilson, 1/39 FA, who was among the first soldiers to arrive at Fort Stewart.

1/39 Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Craig Finley was swarmed by his wife and children after the dismissal of the formation.

"They did great!" he said referring to his battalion's performance in Iraq.

Commenting about being the first unit returning, thus leaving so many behind, Finley said, "It's bittersweet, but I think the rest of the division will be home soon."

"It's been murder on a mom," said Debra Dever, whose son Spc. Roger Dever was on the second flight.

Unaware of which flight her son would be on, Dever showed up at 8:30 p.m. She was forced to sit by patiently for nearly four hours waiting for him. After the first group left Cottrell Field, Dever picked up someone's discarded sign and using her lipstick, wrote a welcoming message on the reverse side.

It was all a surprise to Roger who didn't know she would be coming.

"I'm just so glad he's home," she said, "He's one of the lucky ones."

In spite of the reunion, family members were still unable to forget the fact that some families would not be welcoming home soldiers.

Tara Middleton said she thought about the 35 division soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice.

"They served their country. Their loss is our loss," she said.

(Editor's note: Sgt. Sam Hoffman is a staff writer for the Fort Stewart Frontline newspaper.)

OIF pilot wins NHL 'Fan of Year' honors

by Patrick A. Swan

NEW YORK (Army News Service, June 3, 2003) -- In early May, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Roger Farina dodged swirling sand storms and breathed in cupfuls of dirt to ferry beans and bullets in his CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter to American war fighters pressing on Baghdad.

On May 27, however, Farina dodged spinning sports reporters and breathed in buckets of accolades from a capacity crowd at the first game of the Stanley Cup finals before the New Jersey Devils-Anaheim Mighty Ducks contest in New Jersey's Meadowlands.

Farina, a life-long New York Islanders fan, is the winner of the inaugural National Hockey League 7th Man Award, for its "Fan of the Year." He served as the NHL commissioner for the day, had lunch with his "predecessor," league commissioner Gary Bettman, and hockey greats Bobby Nystrom, Jean Potvin and Brian Mullen and dropped the first puck in a ceremonial face-off at center ice.

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Farina said that while he was grateful to be back in the United States for his short stay, he wanted everyone to remember the soldiers still in harm's way in Iraq.

He said that's why he wore his Desert Camouflage Uniform for his television appearances -- so the nation would remember. And, it is why, when he walked the red carpet to center ice before the Devils-Ducks game, he pulled off his custom-made NHL "Fan of the Year" jersey to reveal his war-weathered DCU's underneath.

"I kept pointing to the U.S. flag on my sleeve and pumping my fists in the air," Farina said. "The crowd was cheering wildly and chanting 'USA! USA!" From their reaction alone, I knew hockey fans are behind our troops 100 percent. That gives me a great feeling inside. I thank Commissioner Gary Bettman and the great people with the NHL for making this possible."