Free Republic

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 23 - Iraqi and American forces killed at least 80 insurgents during a Tuesday morning raid on what appeared to be the biggest guerrilla training camp yet discovered, Iraqi officials said today. Seven Iraqi police officers were also killed and six were wounded in what American and Iraqi officials characterized as an especially fierce battle. "It was one of the largest such engagements that I'm aware of," said Col. Robert Potter, a spokesman for the American command in Baghdad. The number of anti-government fighters killed was the most reported in a single conflict since the American offensive...

DEPLOYED FORWARD OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq, Feb. 13 - In the life that he put on hold to go off and fight a war, Maj. Ricci Anderson loved walking to work at a private girls school on the Upper East Side, where he was the director of educational technology and a basketball and track coach. Sundays began with the morning talk shows, followed by breakfast with his wife at the Mansion diner at 86th Street and York Avenue and a stroll in Carl Schurz Park. These are the pleasures Major Anderson remembers when the realities of his current life press...

The 3rd Infantry Division will team up with the New York National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division for Operation Iraqi Freedom 3 rotation, Defense Department officials said Thursday.The 3rd Infantry Division headquarters will command two brigades of the division and the 256th Infantry Brigade of the Louisiana National Guard. The division will relieve the 1st Cavalry Division in and around Baghdad. The other two maneuver brigades of the 3rd will come under command of the 42nd Infantry Division. Also with the 42nd will be the 116th Cavalry Brigade out of Boise, ID. The 42nd will relieve the 1st Infantry Division. Troop...

About 1,000 soldiers in the New York National Guard will begin preparing to go to Iraq after the Pentagon put them on notice Monday that they may be mobilized. The alert order was issued to the 42nd Infantry Division headquartered in Troy, N.Y. and three other major units around the country as part of a larger force, probably to total around 100,000 active duty and reserve troops expected to take over for the contingent just beginning a one-year tour. The Pentagon's alert order applies to approximately 1,000 soldiers in units around New York State with the 42nd Infantry Division, known...