Free Republic

Capt. James D. Murray IV told the congregation of Grace Church of Aiken on Sunday evening that he leads a “blessed life” helping people with “so many needs” as an Army chaplain. Murray is based at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. He and his wife, Ashley, and their two children, 5-year-old Margo and infant JD, live in a house on the base. “We can hear cannons and machine gunfire from our home,” Murray said. Murray is assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, whose members are known as the Iron Rakkasans. He previously was in an aviation unit, and...

BAGHDAD – Iraqi Army Soldiers and Rakkasans unearthed a large cache in Qarghuli Feb.12. Soldiers from Company D, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and their 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division counterparts, discovered the second large cache in the area in less than two weeks. The cache contained more than 825 pounds of homemade explosives, several rocket fuselages, 120 mm rounds, 720 shotgun shells and a variety of other munitions. “These caches are quite a find,” said Spc. Matthew Hopson from Carbondale, Ill., intelligence analyst, Co. D., 3-187th Inf....

CAMP STRIKER — Raids in Shubayshen and Qarghuli led Rakkasan Soldiers to the discovery of massive caches Jan. 30. Acting on a tip from a local Iraqi citizen, the Iraqi Army partnered with Soldiers from 3rd Platoon, Company D, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and found caches including dozens of rockets and rocket-propelled grenade rounds. After noticing strange behavior from a citizen deemed upstanding in the community, 1st Lt. Keenan Ellison, 3rd Platoon leader, Co. D, 3-187th Inf., approached the man to see what was wrong. Within hours, several individuals were...

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq, Nov. 26, 2007 – For some, a wake-up call came in the form of a B-1B bomber dropping its load on a suspected insurgent safe haven in the pre-dawn hours of Nov. 16. Soldiers from the 502nd Engineer Company pull floating bridge bays together and lock them in to ferry vehicles and heavy equipment across the Euphrates River in support of Operation Marne Courageous, Nov. 16, 2007. Photo by Staff Sgt. Tony Lindback, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Components from the Iraqi army and the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team “Rakkasans” kicked...

* Soldier tells murder hearing comrades threatened to kill him if he told investigators about the crime TIKRIT: A young US army private told a military hearing on Wednesday that fellow soldiers shot dead three Iraqi prisoners then threatened to kill him if he told investigators about the crime. The trial of four enlisted men from the famed “Rakkasans” - the 3rd Combat Brigade of the 101st Airborne - is expected to focus a critical light in the US military’s controversial and opaque rules of engagement in Iraq. Civilian lawyers representing the defendants have said that orders from the Rakkasans’...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, May 2, 2006) – Two towns located near Baghdad are again being patrolled after a four-month absence of coalition forces. Squaretown and Triangletown, named for their shape on the map, are a spill-over from nearby Sadr City, close to Baghdad. Apache Troop of the 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, stationed at Forward Operating Base Rustimayah, have resumed patrolling the area due to a recent increase in insurgent activities. The patrols present convoy drivers with unique challenges as they roll along roads riddled with refuse, but Apache Troop is...

SAMARRA, Iraq (Army News Service, Jan. 25, 2005) – “Iron Rakkasans” are training the future trainers of an independent Iraqi army at sites in Samarra and Mahmudiyah, Iraq. Military Integrated Transition Teams from the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division are providing classroom and hands-on training of basic and advanced courses to prepare the Iraqi soldiers to take over the job of securing their own country. Iraqi army mix of experience The Iraqi army is a mix of seasoned soldiers with years of experience and new recruits right off the street. The classes are a baseline to start...

TIKRIT, Iraq (Army News Service, Jan. 9, 2005) -- The 101st Airborne Division’s “Rakkasan” brigade assumed control of operations in the Salah Ad Din Province in a ceremony Jan. 5 at Forwarding Operating Base Speicher as Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division prepared to head home. Various Iraqi officials attended the ceremony, including Lt. Gen Abdel Aziz, Iraqi Army 4th division commander, and Humad Mumood Shugti governor of Salah Ad Din. The ceremony opened with the Iraqi national anthem and the United States national anthem played by the 101st Army Band. The ceremony passed authority at FOB Speicher to the...

Excitement rippled through the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) parade field as President Bush promised thousands of soldiers just returned from Iraq that the United States won't stop short in waging the war on terror. The president and first lady arrived here today to the booming cheers of thousands of 101st Airborne Division soldiers who waved flags, hoisted children on their shoulders and peppered the president's message with applause and "hooahs." "He seems like he's really dedicated and not going to back down," said Spc. Josh Brown, just returned from tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq with the 3rd Battalion,...

  101st Transfers Authority To 2nd Infantry Division MOSUL, Iraq – On what was described as a bittersweet day for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), the soldiers of 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division formally relieved 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division of its responsibilities in the western Nineveh province.The ceremony marked the first turnover from the 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT) to the Arrowhead Brigade. Soldiers from both units gathered at a forward operating base west of Mosul where the Rakkasans of 3rd Brigade cased their unit colors as the Warhorse squadron unfurled theirs for...

Ground Attack Convoy Five "You have to pick your time to be nervous" AREA OF OPERATIONS RAKKASANS, IRAQ - The radio inside the humvee known as Hellfighter 5 crackled on. Lt. Col. Marty Herbert's voice came over the airwaves, his normal easy reassurance replaced with sternness. "OK," he said, "when we come to a halt I want 100 percent security." A moment later it was apparent why - division intelligence officers had received a warning that in the area a group of 10 to 20 Iraqi soldiers had broken up into two-man teams armed with rocket-propelled grenades. Ground Attack...