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Marines and family members, I received this via forwarded email dated 6/15/07. This looks like a gotta have item. A large download, but it's free and should be worth the time. Semper Fi Subject: FW: OIF2 Campaign Book ~A Personal Library Collection~ : Official Announcement / You Are Invited To Visit the Official Website (please feel free to forward) http://www.oif2campaignbook.com ________________________________ YOU ARE INVITED TO VISIT AND DOWNLOAD (FREE) YOUR COPY OF Operation Iraqi Freedom 2 CAMPAIGN BOOK ~ A Personal Library Collection ~ ________________________________ â–º Please feel free to forward or pass this email on to fellow Marines and...

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (Dec. 2, 2005) -- Like hail during a thunderstorm, the bullets landed all around the Marine as he simultaneously fired two M-16 service rifles, one in each arm. His own weapon and the weapon of his platoon sergeant, who was busy carrying another wounded Marine on his back to safety, continuously erupted as he methodically emptied magazine after magazine into the insurgent position. The four Marines were in an open field in Fallujah, Iraq, with no cover. It was later called a miracle that any of them survived, especially considering that two rocket-propelled...

As the United States developed its war plan, it was clear that it would have to take Baghdad to have a decisive victory. The armed forces' ability for urban warfare was a seen as a possible weakness, with their difficulties in the past in Mogadishu fresh in the minds of both the armed forces and the Iraqis. From talking to you and a number of people, it seems clear to me the Iraqis were keen to spread confusion about who was a combatant and who was a civilian ... [to] exploit American reluctance to kill civilians. But a lot of...

May 11, 2005: American marines in Iraq have begun to regularly take female marines with them on some raids. The female marines are there mainly to search Iraqi women who are expected to be found in the raided location. Terrorists have taken to giving some weapons or other items to women they are with, to hide in their clothing. American troops often do not search Iraqi women, because this makes Iraqi men more hostile, and often enrages them, leading to a brawl during an otherwise uneventful raid. Both soldiers and marines have used female troops for searching Iraqi, or Afghan,...

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WASHINGTON — Top Army leaders and combat zone force planners anticipate reducing the total number of troops needed to occupy Iraq within the next year, according to the Army’s No. 2 officer. “I think the next force rotation, we’ll start seeing that the force rotation coming in will be smaller than the force that’s in there right now,” the Army’s vice chief of staff Gen. Richard Cody told reporters Thursday in Washington. Any reductions, Cody underlined, however, hinge on Iraqi forces coming online. “It’s really based upon where they are in-country with the Iraqi [units] and security in the major...

The Army's second-ranking general said Thursday that the number of American troops in Iraq would probably decline by early 2006, largely because of post-election progress in combating insurgents and training more Iraqi troops to take over security duties. The officer, Gen. Richard A. Cody, the Army vice chief of staff, did not give specific figures, emphasizing that the decision would be made next month by Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top commander in Iraq, and senior Pentagon officials. But other senior military officials said American troop levels could drop to around 105,000 by early next year from 150,000 now....

He's not wearing his seat belt," Patty Hauser said, a little alarmed, as she looked into the van that was about to take her son Daniel to the airport. A few minutes later, she laughed at the irony of the observation. The younger Hauser, 19, was on his way from Walnut Hills to Iraq. Hauser, a lance corporal, was one of 17 Marine Corps reservists from Communications Company, Headquarters Battalion, 4th Marine Division who deployed to Iraq today. The company's mission is to provide radio and data communications for a Marine division headquarters. That means if the situation has anything...

Members of Alpha Task Force, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Unit, hand out candy while providing security for the 155th Brigade Combat Team Psychological Operations team after conducting raids of multiple targets located in the city of Hashwah, Iraq, on March 5, 2005. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Brien Aho

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Their enemy has changed, from Iraqi soldiers in uniform to insurgents in civilian clothes. But for the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division returning to Baghdad, some things remain the same. The smell, for instance - a mixture of smog, rotting garbage and sewage. "It's only here, it's only in Iraq," said Staff Sgt. Jason Barr of Roswell, Mich. "I don't know what it is, but it gets to you." Nearly two years after they first entered Baghdad, the Fort Stewart, Ga.-based 3rd Infantry is back in Iraq, taking charge of the Baghdad metropolitan area. While...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq rose to 1,500 after the military announced Thursday that a soldier was killed in action just south of the capital, an Associated Press count showed.

Marines and sailors of the Okinawa-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded three ships of the Sasebo, Japan- based USS Essex Amphibious Readiness Group and began their voyage home from the Middle East on Monday. The trip back to Okinawa will take about four weeks, according to a 31st MEU news release. The MEU’s 2,200 members served in Iraq from last September to February, when the unit was assigned to the 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force. It was responsible primarily for conducting security and stabilization operations in the 33,000-square-mile U.S. area of operation in the Al Anbar province. It...

DefendAmerica News - Father Pins Silver Star on Son in Baghdad Staff Sgt. William Thomas Payne, his father Carl and Maj. Gen. Pete Chiarelli, stand together after Payne was awarded the Silver Star at the cross sabers monument in central Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. John Queen, 3rd BCT Public Affairs Father Pins Silver Star on Son in Baghdad Staff Sgt. Payne received the United States third highest award for heroism in combat. U.S. Army Sgt. John Queen 3rd BCT Public Affairs BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 1, 2005 -- Staff Sgt. William Thomas Payne of the 1st Cavalry Division received...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Army's 3rd Division returns to IraqBy Rowan ScarboroughTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished February 26, 2005 The Army's 3rd Infantry Division is back in Iraq, 22 months after it stormed the country from Kuwait and was the first U.S. unit to penetrate downtown Baghdad to oust Saddam Hussein.     The Fort Stewart, Ga.-based division has a new commander and a whole new combat configuration. Of its roughly 20,000 soldiers, about 50 percent participated in the invasion and subsequent occupation that saw a rise in lawlessness and a burgeoning insurgency.     "Our soldiers, for the most part, feel like this is the...

Sooner or later the opponents of the war will have to admit they were wrong - again, writes Miranda Devine. Last Wednesday was the third anniversary of the death in Afghanistan of SAS Sergeant Andrew Russell, the first Australian soldier to be killed in the war against terrorism, or what some people insist on calling the "so-called" war. On February 16, 2002, the long-range patrol vehicle in which Russell, 33, was travelling in southern Afghanistan hit an anti-tank mine. He never had the chance to see his daughter, Leisa, born in Perth four weeks earlier. This is the sacrifice Australia...

The U.S. military has begun to transfer authority to Iraqi security forces. Officials said the U.S.-led coalition has been quietly handing over the command to Iraq's military and security units in the four most violent provinces in the country. Fourteen of the 18 provinces have already been under Iraqi security control. In the latest move, the U.S. military has transferred control to the Iraq Army in Baghdad. The U.S. Army's First Cavalry Division has handed over authority in several areas to Baghdad to the Iraq Army's 40th Brigade. "We have reached a certain stage," Iraqi Brig. Gen. Jalil Khalaf said...

WASHINGTON - Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, an architect of the U.S. war with Iraq (news - web sites) in 1991, is advising the Bush administration to consider a phased withdrawal of some of the 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Otherwise, Baker says, the United States risks being suspected of having an "imperial design" in the region. A protracted U.S. military presence in Iraq is probably unavoidable since attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces and on Iraqi security forces are likely to continue, Baker said Tuesday in a speech at Rice University in Houston. "Even under the best...

I have been posting this elsewhere, but I'm getting so much information (and hope to collect info from others) that I wanted to start a seperate thread to keep you informed and, maybe, help my mental health by sharing.

Army leaders are considering seeking a change in Pentagon policy that would allow for longer and more frequent call-ups of some reservists to meet the demands of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, a senior Army official said yesterday. Reservists are being used heavily to fill key military support jobs, particularly in specialty areas, but Army authorities are having increasing difficulty limiting the active-duty time of some normally part-time soldiers to a set maximum of two years, the official said. He described the National Guard's 15 main combat units as close to being "tapped out." To avoid pushing reserve forces to...

WASHINGTON (AP)--The military is increasing drug testing of its forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, in part out of concern that troops will turn to drugs because of the stress of combat, Pentagon officials said Friday. Drug use is low in the military and primarily limited to marijuana, said Mary Beth Long, the deputy assistant defense secretary for counternarcotics. She spoke with the American Forces Press Service, an internal military news service. But concerns about drug use center on Afghanistan, which has become the world's leading provider of opium since the U.S.-led campaign that drove the Taliban from power three...