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FORT CARSON, Colo. (Army News Service, Aug. 15, 2005) -- Over the past couple of weeks Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division have left Iraq and been welcomed to Fort Carson with open arms. A handful were also welcomed to the Denver Broncos’ training camp. The Soldiers stood on the sidelines in awe as they watched some of the NFL’s superstars workout during a Monday-morning practice in Englewood where they were hosted by the team’s quarterback, Jake Plummer. The Soldiers were able to enjoy unobstructed views of the practice as they were treated to VIP services. When the...

Trio of 2nd ID soldiers killed in Iraq firefight South Korea-based unit has suffered 68 casualties in Iraq Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Sunday, June 26, 2005 SEOUL — Three 2nd Infantry Division soldiers were killed in Iraq on Tuesday, according to the Defense Department. Spc. Nicholas R. Idalski, 23, of Crown Point, Ind.; Spc. Christopher L. Hoskins, 21, of Danielson, Conn.; and Spc. Brian A. Vaughn, 23, of Pell City, Ala.; were killed by enemy small-arms fire during combat in Ramadi. They were assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division,...

The U.S. 2nd Infantry Division: New Name, New Game The U.S. 2nd Infantry Division has completed its transformation into a letters jumble that in effect means greater flexibility and fire power. Military authorities now wish the division to be known as a Unit of Employment X (or UEx for short) under a wide-ranging reorganization the U.S. military is carrying out. In a veritable festival of acronyms and monikers, the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported Friday the Second Infantry Division had formed an artillery brigade, a so-called Fires Brigade, centered on two Multiple Launch Rocket System or MLRS battalions...

CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea — The 2nd Brigade soldier who created www.beerforsoldiers.com, a Web site that lets people buy a beer online for a U.S. soldier, has been ordered to stop running his site. Sgt. Dale Rogers, in Iraq with Company C, 1st Battalion (air assault), 503rd Infantry Regiment, posted a notice on the site last week informing readers that he is turning it over to his brother. A spokesman for the 2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which includes 1-503, said in an e-mail that lawyers from the unit rendered a legal opinion that the Web site...

CAMP HABBANIYAH, Iraq — To Sgt. Dale Rogers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, the near beer that soldiers sometimes get in Kuwait and Iraq tastes like something drained through a wet sock. But that’s the closest the beer-loving Strike Force (2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team) soldier will get to his favorite drink during the next few months of his deployment in Iraq. The cyber-savvy soldier, though, has plans to make up for the lost consumption during mid-tour leave to Qatar and when he and his mates return to the States next year. And it won’t...

Friday, September 17, 2004 Artillerymen try keeping peace in Ramadi By Seth Robson, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Wednesday, September 15, 2004 Seth Robson / S&S Soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division's Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 17th Armored Regiment encountered this young driver selling blackmarket fuel by the roadside during their first patrol in Iraq. The youngster was told to sell the fuel somewhere else since it might be dangerous if an improvised explosive device went off nearby. Seth Robson / S&S Soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division's Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 17th Armored Regiment prepare for their first patrol in...

By Seth Robson / S&S Camels are a driving hazard for 2nd ID soldiers training at Udairi Range in Kuwait. CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — At first glance, the desert that surrounds Camp Buehring and Udairi Range appears to be a desolate, hellish training environment.Soldiers who live there, including those from the 2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, known as the Strikeforce, have discovered there is more to this scorched landscape than meets the eye.A close inspection of the ground reveals a few sickly plants struggling to make a home in the sand. And a few miles from Camp Buehring...

Friday, August 20, 2004 2nd ID vehicles are upgraded to survive rough traveling in Iraq By Seth Robson, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Friday, August 20, 2004 Seth Robson / S&S A 2nd Infantry Division Humvee from South Korea has new armored doors and windows and an air conditioner unit installed at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Seth Robson / S&S Pfc. Mark Greene of the 699th Maintenance Company, 21, of North Carolina works on an armored door at the Camp Buehring "Mad Max" shop. CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — Soft-shelled 2nd Infantry Division vehicles are getting a Middle East makeover that includes armor,...

The U.S. Pulls Key Military Equipment out of Korea to Iraq It has been confirmed that in connection to the redeployment of the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division from Korea to Iraq, the U.S military has been shipping key combat equipment that doesn’t belong to the 2nd Brigade to Iraq. The equipment includes M-1A1 Abrams tanks, M-109A6 self-propelled Paladin howitzers and other equipment belonging to the 8th Army and artillery brigades under the 2nd Infantry Division. Since the U.S. had notified Korea that only the 2nd Brigade would be sent to Iraq, it is expected that...

RODRIGUEZ RANGE, South Korea — 2nd Infantry Division combat arms units are training to go on the offensive if their convoys are attacked in Iraq, says Col. Gary S. Patton, commander of the division’s Iraq-bound 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Patton and others were at Rodriguez Range Friday to observe platoons doing combat convoy live-fire exercises that train soldiers to use aggressive tactics in response to any challenge from the enemy. “It is all about developing an offensive mind-set. We are treating every mission as a combat operation and every threat along the road as a threat we are going to...

CAMP CASEY, South Korea — With violence in Iraq expected to increase in coming weeks, Iraqi liaison officers will be attached to the 2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team after it deploys to Iraq in late summer, to coordinate operations with soon-to-be-independent local security forces, according to a Pentagon official who briefed 2nd Brigade leaders earlier this week. Col. Tom Baltazar, Iraqi team chief for the assistant secretary for Special Operations-Low Intensity Conflict, in the Defense secretary’s office, told 2nd Brigade leaders the violence probably still will be worsening when the combat team arrives in Iraq. “The president …...

Camp Casey's 2nd ID sees surge of post-traumatic stress disorder By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Tuesday, June 15, 2004 CAMP CASEY, South Korea — The 2nd Infantry Division is experiencing a surge in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among soldiers who rotated here from assignments in Iraq or Afghanistan, says a senior health official. Division psychologist Capt. Mary Dorritie said that although most of the combat-related PTSD cases she treats haven’t been severe, they are the bulk of her caseload; she treats from 10 to 15 soldiers suffering from the condition. Last year, in contrast, virtually all PTSD...

The United States plans to withdraw 12,500 troops from South Korea by the end of next year as part of a global troop realignment, a senior South Korean official announced. "The United states informed us of its plan to pull out 12,500 troops by the end of December 2005. That figure includes 3,600 to be sent to Iraq," said Kim Sook, the head of the foreign ministry's North American affairs bureau. Washington currently stations 37,000 troops in South Korea under a five-decade-old mutual defense pact. "US troops will eventually be reduced to 25,000," Kim added at a televised press conference...

FORT LEWIS, Wash. (AP) - About 4,000 members of the Army's first Stryker brigade got their formal farewell Thursday before they ship out next week for a yearlong mission in Iraq. "A year from now we'll probably return to Fort Lewis knowing that Iraq is a better place because of our time there," Col. Michael E. Rounds, the brigade commander, told the troops and their friends and relatives during a 60-minute departure ceremony. The brigade is built around the Stryker, the Army's first new combat vehicle in 20 years, which can carry as many as 11 soldiers. The brigade's 300...

<p>The Army's new state-of-the art infantry vehicle slated to make its combat debut in Iraq in October is vulnerable to the kind of rocket-propelled grenades now being used by Saddam Hussein's guerrillas, a consultant's report charges.</p> <p>The Army, which rebuts the report's findings, plans to send 300 Stryker armored vehicles and 3,600 soldiers to Iraq. This first Stryker brigade will help put down the resistance that has killed more 60 American troopers since May 1. It will also be a preview of a lighter, more mobile Army for the 21st century.</p>