AL ASAD, Iraq (Feb. 2, 2006) -- During July 2005, a small group of Marines from Marine Attack Squadron 223 detached to join Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 261 (Reinforced), the air combat element of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. They didn’t expect to see their parent squadron again until the end of their deployment, but they were wrong. When the 22nd MEU deployed to northwestern Iraq to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, the AV-8B Harriers in the unit relocated to Al Asad, Iraq, the same base their parent squadron deployed to months before. “Before we left, there was talk we might...
