Last Wednesday I rode along on a mounted patrol with members of Bravo Company, Second Assault Amphibious Battalion, aka "Team Gator." As my recent predecessor Bill Roggio described their mission: The traditional mission of an Assault Amphibious Battalion is to land Marines on the beach, using their huge Amphibious Assault Vehicles (or AAVs), which hold up to 20 Marines and a crew of three. Here in Iraq, the mission has changed. The Gators have been assigned to patrol Route Mobile, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Route Mobile, which, along with Route Michigan, are the two largest roads...