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WASHINGTON - In a new sign of mounting strain from the war in Iraq, the Army has extended the combat tours of about 4,000 soldiers who would otherwise be returning home, defense officials said Monday. The 1st Brigade of 1st Armored Division, which is operating in the vicinity of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, will be kept in place for several weeks beyond its scheduled departure, the officials said. The officials spoke only on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been formally announced by the Pentagon. The brigade's home base is in Germany. The soldiers' families were...

SALINA, Kan. - Deanna Millsap has often celebrated Father's Day without her dad around. That's life when you're a military kid - you get used to sharing your dad with the Army. A "business trip" for her sergeant dad meant he'd be spending a year behind barbed-wire fences in a war zone. "Sightseeing" meant he'd don a bulletproof vest, helmet and his weapon. "Business dinners" came in neatly wrapped brown packages called Meals Ready to Eat. When he was home in Kansas, he was a cool dad who sometimes fixed MREs for Deanna and her friends. Having a drill sergeant...

When soldiers are badly wounded or seriously ill they are sent to combat support hospitals. When vehicles are seriously damaged or require extensive repairs, they go to “the third shop.” Soldiers with B Company, 501st Forward Support Battalion (FSB), 1st Armored Division, operate one of these shops at Provider Forward Operating Base in Baghdad. “Our mission is to bring ‘deadlined’ vehicles up to speed,” said Staff Sgt. William Brown, shop foreman, B Company, 501st FSB. Any vehicle belonging to a 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT) unit, from a High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) to an Abrams tank, that is...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three American soldiers were killed and four wounded in two separate attacks in Iraq, the U.S. military said Monday. Two soldiers were killed and two others wounded Sunday in Baghdad after their patrol was targeted by a roadside bomb. The soldiers belonged to the 1st Armored Division, a military statement said. In Abu Ghraib, on the western edge of Baghdad, one soldier was killed and two wounded Sunday after an attack on their Military Police unit, according to the statement. Since President Bush announced the end of major combat in Iraq on May 1st, 213 U.S. soldiers...

A dramatic shift of American military forces from bases in Germany to locations in "new" Europe, including Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and Hungary, is being brought forward after the war in Iraq. According to reports in the US, the 17,000-strong 1st Armoured Division, most of which was sent to Iraq from Germany, will not return there. Meanwhile, Romania's Defence Minister, Ioan Mircea Pascu, has announced that talks will begin shortly with Washington on the deployment of more American forces to bases in his country. The decision to scale down American forces in Germany, as well as Pentagon plans to remove troops...

Posted on Sat, Apr. 05, 2003 Fort Riley soldier's idea keeps weapons workingAn oil-based lubricant for guns is like a magnet for dust and sand in the desert. One soldier found a synthetic substitute.BY TIM POTTERThe Wichita Eagle FORT RILEY - As they head to war in Iraq, the soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 13th Armor, carry 1-ounce bottles of orange liquid that could save their lives.They contain a synthetic lubricant that keeps pistols, rifles and machine guns working in the desert sand and dust, which can coat, clog and wear any mechanism.The tank battalion, part of the 3rd...