Free Republic

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, May 22, 2006 – The Counterinsurgency Center for Excellence here was established last year to help units adapt to and train for the war against terror in Iraq as it is fought today, which is much different than it was 2003, 2004 or even 2005. "There is a different nature of operations now," said Army Lt. Col. Pete Cafaro, the center's deputy commandant. "Some of the units were here at the beginning when they were fighting their way to Baghdad. Now that's not the fight. Now what we're trying to do is train the Iraqis so they...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 3/25/06 - Samarra, Op. Swarmer , Kerbala, Abu Ghraib, al-Dor, Baquba, USS Gonzalez, USS Cape St. George, Taji, Nowruz, Istanbul, Tashkent, Tehran BREAKING: Samarra, Op. Swarmer - 11 caches and 104 terrorists taken BREAKING: Kerbala - terrorist attack Abu Ghraib - Real story: cache taken al-Dor - US-Iraqi patrols root out terrorists Baquba - Cache taken USS Gonzalez, USS Cape St. George - Weapons confiscated from terrorist pirates Taji - Nowruz celebrations Istanbul, Turkey - Nowruz celebrations Uzbek capital Tashkent - Nowruz celebrations Tehran - Nowruz celebrations QFN ==== YE OLDE QUAGMIRE-FREE...

"We lose more of them [Iraqi Army members] on leave than we do in combat... these guys are bleeding for a greater voice than we are." -- Army First Sergeant John "Top" MacFarlane on the risk of being a member of the Iraqi Army (many are assasinated while they take their seven days off a month) "I think this is Bob's [ABC's Woodruff] blood right here." -- MacFarlane to me, pointing at a blood stain on his flak jacket "... they're all nuts." -- Army Major Mike Jason on insurgent groups all within a 10-mile radius of here "Go ahead...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY As is their custom when in Washington on a weekend, the President and First Lady attended St. Johns Episcopal Church this morning. The President will address the nation this evening from the Oval Office. In the meantime, Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq on the first leg of his Middle Eastern trip. QUOTE OF THE DAY: From the Vice President's remarks to the troops at Al-Asad Air Base, Al-Asad, Iraq, Sunday, December 18, 2005. (Click here to read the entire transcript.) THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm not Jessica Simpson. (Laughter.) But...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2005 – Passion for his country, pride in his soldiers and acceptance of his own personal sacrifice are traits exuded by Col. Abbas Fadhil, the Iraqi military commander in Taji, Iraq, a senior Defense Department official recalled here after meeting him in Iraq. Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Allison Barber, who led a group of military analysts on a visit to Iraq the week of Oct. 17, said that in the first several months after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the colonel began recruiting soldiers to join the new Iraq military. After he had been on television several...

An Iraqi maintenance worker checks under the hood of a truck to make sure it's operational before being shipped out. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Lorie Jewell Taji Depot Ramps Up Training, Supply Efforts The depot supplies the logistic needs of 10 divisions of the Iraqi Armed Forces, with items ranging from weapons and body armor to ambulances and pickup trucks. By U.S. Army Sgt. Lorie Jewell Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq TAJI, Iraq, Oct. 5, 2005 -- Since operations began in May, the Taji National Depot has completed roughly 500 missions by ground and by air to move equipment...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Task Force Baghdad Soldiers at Camp Taji are being given the opportunity to advance to sergeant or staff sergeant, even while deployed. The standard is the same here as it is back at home station: prospective noncommissioned officers must still appear before a promotion board. Prior to the board, however, a Soldier must get ready. Preparing good Soldiers for advancement is extremely important to Staff Sgt. Everick L. Moore, who is serving with the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq. “If I send good Soldiers to the board, the Army will have good leaders,” said Moore, a...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Aug. 23, 2005 — U.S. Army medics with the Division Support Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division are helping train the Iraqi Army in combat medic skills. U.S. Army Sgt. Matthew J. Carver and Spc. Richard J. Fourroux, combat medics with the 550th Area Support Medical Company, Brigade Troops Battalion, Division Support Brigade, are leading the efforts to train new Iraqi Army recruits to be full combat medics. "It’s a tough course. But, in the end, we learn what will enable us to save more lives while conducting operations out in the field." Iraqi Sgt. Qiass Al-Jobory Carver, who...

The Tohono O'odham Nation is grieving the death of a 20-year-old tribal member killed in action in Iraq. Pfc. Seferino Reyna, an Army combat engineer and father of two, died Sunday when his vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb near Taji, about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad. "This is a tragic loss for the Reyna family, and the entire Tohono O'odham Nation mourns," said Vivian Juan-Saunders, chairwoman of the nation. Reyna was the first O'odham member killed in Iraq. He is the 21st service member of American Indian or native Alaskan descent to die in Iraq or Afghanistan, according...

The clinic serves as a battalion aid station and also provides lab, dental, x-ray and trauma services. TAJI, Iraq, Aug. 3, 2005 — "You never know what is going to roll up to the door," said U.S. Army Capt. Jacqueline L. Graul, brigade nurse for 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division. Graul is part of the staff at "Cobra" Clinic, run by C Company, 125th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, which provides for the medical needs of soldiers at Camp Taji. "You don't get a second chance with a real casualty. All your training is on the line."...

TAJI, Iraq, Aug. 1, 2005 — Rhode Island never gets this hot. For Rhode Island National Guard soldiers of D Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, the Iraqi heat has been a challenge, but integrating with other units has gone smoothly. The infantry company is attached to 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery Regiment, 48th Brigade, Georgia National Guard, which is supporting 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division here. "Three-quarters of my unit are prior active-duty soldiers, so they seamlessly transitioned to what they once were," said Capt. William H. Tuttle IV, D Co. commander from Warwick, R.I. "I have not seen...

U.S. Apache helicopter down in Iraq -military 4 minutes ago BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. Apache attack helicopter crashed in Iraq on Monday, a U.S. military spokesman said. ADVERTISEMENT "We had a helicopter crash northwest of Taji," Lieutenant Colonel Cliff Kent, spokesman for the 3rd Infantry Division said, referring to a major airbase north of Baghdad. He said an investigation was underway. It had not yet been determined whether there were casualties aboard the AH-64 helicopter, which carries a crew of two, Kent said. Local people said they saw one of a pair of helicopters crash out of the sky...

TAJI, Iraq (Army News Service, June 8, 2005) – The Iraqi Army’s Operation Lightning resulted in several detainees and weapons confiscations in Taji and across Iraq, said military officials. Searches in Taji are part of the larger Iraqi Army operation to disrupt the enemy’s ability to attack the legitimately-elected government and innocent citizens of Iraq. The first few days of the operation have provided several good leads. Elements of 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division; 1st Battalion, 13th Armor Regim----

Life has been pretty mundane since she returned from Iraq a week ago. After spending nearly a year in Iraq, Amber McClenny had one thing she wanted to do once back in her hometown - absolutely nothing. "I wanted to be lazy," she said. "And that's what she's been doing too," added her husband, Heath. But after being forced to work more than 90 hours a week as part of her punishment for refusing an order in October, it's an understandable desire. The Army Reservist from the 343rd Quartermaster Company also took a $400 a month pay cut and was...

ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Army Reserve company that drew attention when some of its soldiers refused a mission to transport fuel along a dangerous road in Iraq has returned home, with members honoring the officer who led the unit through the controversy. The 343rd Quartermaster Company came back to the Rock Hill Memorial Army Reserve Center on Friday, and returning soldiers presented the unit's flag to the company commander, Capt. Victor Baez-an. He took charge after some members of the unit balked at the Oct. 13 mission, saying their vehicles were in poor condition and did not have armor....

QUARTZ HILL - When Sarah Joy Miller graduated from Desert Christian High School, she entered the Army National Guard, expecting weekend training sessions once a month, two weeks of duty a year. Should she be called into active duty, she figured it would be for a natural disaster, filling sandbags or assisting with emergency crews. Then a year ago, she received orders to report for duty. She was going to Iraq. "At first I was like, I don't want to go to Iraq," the 20-year-old said. "My Army buddies said, 'Maybe God wants you there?' " She struggled with uncertainty,...

Earlier this week, The Providence Journal contacted Rhode Island National Guard Maj. Christian M. Neary, of the 103rd Field Artillery, in Iraq, and invited him to ask some of his soldiers to write Christmas greetings to Rhode Island. Communicating by e-mail, The Journal sent Neary four questions for the soldiers. To our surprise, the responses from the soldiers were returned through Neary with two extra questions, numbers 5 and 6 below. The Journal has included the additional questions and the soldiers' answers, as we received them. Staff Sergeant Michael Zompa Howitzer Section Chief 1. What are you doing to deal...

To: U.S. Congress Six Ohio-based reservists were court-martialed for taking Army vehicles abandoned in Kuwait by other units so they could carry out their own unit's mission to Iraq. Members of the 656th Transportation Company said they needed the equipment to deliver fuel that was needed by U.S. forces in Iraq for everything from helicopters to tanks. The reservists took two tractor-trailers and stripped parts from a five-ton truck that had been abandoned in Kuwait by other units that had already moved into Iraq, one of the reservists, Darrell Birt of Columbus, told the Associated Press on Sunday. Birt, a...

A MILITANT group killed two US intelligence agents in Iraq on December 8, according to a video released on an Islamist website today. The video shows two armed and masked men reading a statement announcing the deaths of the two men near Taji, north of Baghdad, described as "two members of the Pentagon and the CIA''. The footage from the Saraya al-Jihad Al-Islami group shows various photos and official documents belonging to the two men, one of whom is named as Joseph James Wemple. The statement said that "fighters attacked the vehicles (carrying the two men), killed them and took...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 6 - The American military has ordered punishment, but not courts-martial, for 23 Army Reserve soldiers who refused in October to deliver fuel to a base in Iraq, claiming that it was too dangerous, military officials here said Monday. The soldiers are receiving nonjudicial punishments under Article 15 of the military justice code, which could include reduction in rank, loss of pay and restricted movements depending on their commander's discretion, said Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, a military spokesman. Eighteen have already been disciplined, and the five others will have their punishments decided later, he said. Under the...