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First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously." The problem is, Jared Monti was killed in action in Afghanistan, on June 21, 2006. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, September 17, 2009. President Obama handed the framed medal...

WASHINGTON — The absence of experienced senior leaders and inadequate action by officers in a tactical operations center, including a failure to provide effective artillery and air support, contributed to the deaths of five U.S. troops and nine Afghans in a Sept. 8 battle, an official investigation has found. Three unidentified officers from the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y., received official reprimands following the inquiry into the clash, which erupted after Afghan security forces and U.S. Army and Marine trainers were ambushed in the Ganjgal Valley, near the border with Pakistan in northeastern Kunar province. "This event highlights...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 17) -- More than 3,000 U.S. troops scheduled to deploy to Iraq won't go after all, as the military tries to draw down troop levels in the war-torn country, a Pentagon spokesman said Saturday. The 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division will not replace a North Carolina National Guard unit already in Iraq, Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh told CNN. The 3,500-troop combat team, based in Fort Drum, New York, was to leave in January, he said. "[The cancellation] reflects a thorough assessment of the security environment in Iraq and continued improvement in the ability of the...

Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan - The soldiers in his New York-based combat unit call Staff Sgt. Brandon Camacho the "Bullet Magnet." Camacho - either the luckiest or unluckiest soldier in Afghanistan - is on his second tour here with the Fort Drum-based 10th Mountain Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team. The reason for the nickname: He's just earned his fifth Purple Heart after being shot in the left knee in a firefight 100 miles south of Kabul, military officials said. "One of my friends said, 'You're the luckiest unlucky person I know,'" said Camacho, 24, who grew up in Saipan...

FORT POLK, La., July 15, 2009 – Don't blame the soldiers here if you see them do a double take when two of the unit's newest captains pass by. Levi Lyles, foreground, pins captain bars on his son, Derrick Lyles, while Lisa Lyles, background, pins captain bars on her husband and Derrick's twin brother, Darrell Lyles, during a promotion ceremony on Fort Polk, La. July 1, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Chuck Cannon  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Despite appearances, the soldiers of 10th Mountain Division’s 94th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team are not seeing double --...

I just heard from my daughter, Rebecca (his wife). They are trying to remove fragments from the spinal cord. He still has no feelings in the lower legs or feet. He will be coming into Walter Reid next week. Thank you for all your prayers. Dusty was among the 10th Mountain Division soldiers wounded or killed last week in the IED attack.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE AIRBORNE, Afghanistan, May 8, 2009 – During his last stop on a whirlwind two-day visit through Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates brought encouragement and assurance of support to 10th Mountain Division soldiers who have been deployed here since January. “What you are doing out here is really important,” Gates told an assembly of 3rd Brigade Combat Team soldiers at this high-altitude outpost in Wardak province. Gates recalled the historical lessons the United States and the world learned when they turned their collective backs on Afghanistan after the Soviets were ousted in the late 1980s. Four years...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, April 22, 2009 – The 10th Iraqi Army Division sent out its ground troops and air support assets April 19 to conduct the first large-scale combined-arms live-fire exercise, nicknamed Operation “Lion’s Roar,” in southern Iraq April 19. An Iraqi forward observer watches the impact zone with binoculars during a combined-arms live-fire exercise in Iraq’s Maysan province, April 19, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Creighton Holub  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “They did outstanding,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, commander of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division. “The Iraqi army is here to...

The body of Alex R. Jimenez, a Lawrence-based soldier who was kidnapped more than a year ago, has been found in Iraq in a tragic ending to a family's wrenching hope for his return. Jimenez's father, Ramon "Andy'' Jimenez, was notified by Army servicemen who came to his home yesterday that his son's body was found two days ago by Iraqi authorities, who contacted their American counterparts. The elder Ramirez, who had held out hope that he would one day see his son's return, seemed to come to terms with the news. "It comforts you when you accept something, and...

Calif., native 1st Lt. Casey Zimmerman of Company C, 3rdBattalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, hands out footballs at a school in Mullah Fayad March 27. All the items were donated by the family and community of Sgt. Nathan Barnes, who served in the area and was killed in Rushdi Mullah July 17. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Tony M. Lindback, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. PATROL BASE YUSIFIYAH — Whoever said violence begets more violence never met the family of Sgt. Nathan Barnes.American Fork, Utah, native Sgt. Nathan Barnes, a Soldier with 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat...

BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers killed 25 criminals in eastern Baghdad March 30.Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, were traveling in a combat patrol to investigate a possible point of origin for an indirect fire attack when their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. Immediately after the IED attack, Soldiers discovered a second IED in the area and attempted to secure it.While attempting to secure the IED, they were attacked with indirect fire, rocket propelled grenades and small-arms fire from a house in the vicinity of the IED strike....

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2008 – U.S. aircraft killed 14 terrorists during two anti-insurgent operations conducted in Baghdad today, and coalition forces killed or captured dozens of additional terrorists during other operations throughout Iraq over the past two days, military officials reported. An American aircrew killed 12 insurgents today after they attacked a U.S. infantry patrol in northern Baghdad. Soldiers assigned to the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team pursued the insurgents after they had broken off their attack. U.S. military aircraft arrived to provide air-to-ground support. After positively identifying the attackers, the air weapons team engaged and killed the...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – New units moving into Iraq have the challenge of continuing the security improvements while helping the Iraqis build economic and political structures, the commander of a U.S. division preparing to take on that task said today. Army Maj. Gen. Michael L. Oates, commands the 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, N.Y., and in May, the division headquarters will relieve the 3rd Infantry Division at Multinational Division Center in Iraq. “We want to build on the security environment that (Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, 3rd Infantry Division commander) and his guys have created,” Oates said...

Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies militaryand the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Fort Drum History of the 10th Mountain Division 10th Mountain Troops 'Fish' for Insurgents Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.

Lt. Col. Dennis Yates, battalion commander, 5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light) and Col. Ahmed Ehbrahim Bedor, battalion commander, 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division (center) pose for pictures with three Baghdad residents who received free wheelchairs from the Iraqi Army in Schmook Village, Jan. 3. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Grant T. Okubo, 4th IBCT PAO, 10th Mtn. Div. FORWARD OPERATING BASE RUSTAMIYAH — Villagers gathered as Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers distributed wheelchairs to disabled Iraqi citizens in Schmook Village, Jan. 3. IA Soldiers from the 1st Battalion,...

A 10th Mountain Division Soldier inventories a portion of over 7 tons of ordinance discovered by Iraqi Police, Dec. 18, around 25 miles west of Kirkuk. Photo by Maj. Sean Wilson, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs. KIRKUK — Iraqi Police (IP) uncovered a major weapons cache in Kirkuk province, Dec. 18. The discovery was made during a series of pre-dawn raids at suspected cache sites. The operation was led by the IP into the town of Ruwadah, approximately 25 miles west of Kirkuk city. The operation was named “Kura Azakan” (The Brave Men) by Gen. Sarhadt,...

KIRKUK, Iraq, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. military officials in northern Iraq say despite continued violence, a citizen neighborhood watch program is beginning to drive al-Qaida out of the region. The citizen patrols, who call the initiative Sahwa, an Arabic term meaning "awakening," recently approached soldiers of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment. Officials say more than 1,000 citizens showed up to be recruited in an effort to drive out terrorists, the U.S. Defense Department reported. "What this program is doing is creating significant problems for the insurgents, because it drives a...

Two soldiers from Alaska were among four killed in Iraq on Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee, the U.S. Department of Defense said today. Staff Sgt. Carletta S. Davis, 34, of Anchorage and Sgt. Derek T. Stenroos, 24, of North Pole were serving with a unit from Fort Drum, N.Y., post spokesmen said in a written statement. They died during combat operations in Tal Al-Dahab, Iraq. Davis was assigned to the 10th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry). Stenroos was assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2007 – About 1,000 members of 10th Mountain Division will deploy to Iraq this spring as replacements for troops due to rotate home, Defense Department officials announced today. The division, based at Fort Drum, N.Y., has been alerted of the upcoming deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman confirmed today. “It was not a surprise. It was more of a confirmation,” Benjamin Abel, the division’s media relations officer, told American Forces Press Service. Since returning from its last deployment in February and March, the unit has received new troops and conducted collective training,...

After a year and a few months, 120 Fort Drum soldiers are set to return from their mission in Iraq. Action News will keep you posted as the troops arrive and reunite with family and friends. FORT DRUM, N.Y. (AP) - It's welcome-home time at Fort Drum. More than 120 Soldiers from the Tenth Mountain Division's Second Brigade Combat Team make their long- awaited return tomorrow when the unit's advance party lands at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield. The returning soldiers will be re-united with their families at a ceremony at Magrath Gym at 3 pm. The troops have been in Iraq...