Marines: We Would Do Fallujah All Over Again

[thedrifter]

Marines: We Would Do Fallujah All Over Again
Wednesday, December 01, 2004

FALLUJAH, Iraq — Maj. Rich Bourgeois says the image of a young Navy medical corpsman rushing to aide a mortally wounded Marine in Fallujah's (search) notorious Jolan district will be forever imprinted in his mind.

"In the middle of a firefight, there was this wounded Marine, his left leg blown off and just the femur sticking out," recounts Bourgeois, 41, of Malden, Mass. "And the young corpsman ran to his side, oblivious to the battle, applying the tourniquet."

More than 50 Marines have died since the Fallujah attack began Nov. 8, and skirmishes still take place in the city. Yet for some Marines, their performance in one of the major battles of the Iraq (search) conflict is a source of pride.

"Fallujah is going to be right up there among the most successful battles in Iraq," said Maj. Tom Davis, 45, of St. Cloud, Minn. "It's where the rubber meets the road. That is where our heroes did their best."

Fighting in Fallujah and elsewhere in Iraq made November one of the bloodiest months for American forces since the war began in March 2003. At least 135 U.S. troops died in November — the same number as last April, which had been the deadliest single month of the conflict.

"Fallujah has been a life-changing event for many of the Marines, fighting in an environment that is just unfathomable to anyone outside," said Bourgeois, an explosives expert who retired from active duty two years ago, but was recalled this year.

During the Fallujah battle, he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment to study enemy tactics and techniques.

Although the fighting was brutal, Bourgeois believes the Marines' morale was reinforced when they found evidence of atrocities committed by insurgents — including emaciated hostages chained to the wall and bodies of those killed execution-style.

"When we saw what the enemy did, what they were capable of doing, we were only more eager to do away with this pure evil," Bourgeois added. "Regardless of how many pockets of resistance are still out there, it will not sway our morale. Nothing can."

Lyle Gilbert, a first lieutenant and spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said morale is high in Fallujah — despite the ongoing firefights.

"Sure, the Marines are engaging every day. Fallujah is not as cleared as everyone would like it to be," he said. "Some insurgents still lie there in waiting. They get restless, hungry and start shooting at us. But we will chase them. We shall beat them on their turf."

Lt. Col. Dan Wilson said that although major resistance collapsed two weeks ago, Fallujah remains a very dangerous place for American troops because some insurgents are still holding out or have slipped back into the city.

"One minute they (Marines) might be handing out emergency supplies and a couple of steps away, they might be getting shot at by insurgents who are still hiding in some damaged structure," Wilson said.

Some of the Marines echoed those concerns as they patrol Fallujah, its empty streets an apocalyptic landscape of bombed out buildings and debris.

"There is always a moment of uncertainty that some Iraqi would be passing by, giving us the thumbs up and the next minute he'd fire an AK 47 at us," said Sgt. Mike Wagner, 27, of St. Louis, Mo. "But you know that your buddy is there, watching your back. If it weren't for my buddies, I wouldn't be here."

Sgt. Wayne Doyle, 23, of Neversink, N.Y., said he naturally misses home.

"But I'd much rather be here with my Marines," he said. "And I'd do Fallujah all over again."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Same name, both Marines, buried together

By Stephen Manning
The Associated Press
Posted December 1 2004

Cpl. Dale Burger Jr. and his father shared more than just a name. Both joined the Marines at 17 and both were combat veterans. As a boy, Burger dressed up in his dad's uniform for Halloween. He helped care for his father after the older man became an invalid a decade ago.

Father and son now share one last thing, a gravesite. Killed Nov. 14 in Iraq, Dale Jr., 21, of Bel Air, Md., was buried Monday at Arlington National Cemetery next to his father, a Vietnam veteran who died in May at 54.


"He said, `If anything happens to me, I want to be buried near my dad,'" said the younger man's mother, Martina Burger.

The Pentagon reported 135 U.S. troops killed in November as of Tuesday morning, matching April of this year for the deadliest month since fighting began in March 2003.

Many, like Burger, were killed in the street-to-street fight to retake the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah or during gunbattles in cities such as Baghdad and Mosul. Others were killed by snipers, in accidents or from shrapnel sprayed by roadside bombs. Some died where they were hit; others succumbed at stateside military hospitals.

Twenty were from California, and 13 were Texas natives. Puerto Rico suffered its 11th fatality. Six were from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, based in Hawaii; seven others from that battalion were killed Oct. 30.

The dead include Marine Cpl. Jarrod Maher, 21, who had helped his father plant soybeans at their Shenandoah, Iowa, farm on his last visit home in May.

Another was Brian Baker, 27, of West Seneca, N.Y., an Army specialist based at Fort Drum who was about to become the father of twin girls.

Army National Guard Spc. Quoc Binh "Bo" Tran was sent a care package by his mother containing his favorite dried noodles, "the Asian kind that are really good," said his sister, Kristie, 25. Tran, 26, a mechanic, was killed Nov. 7 by a bomb in Baghdad. His family is not sure he got the noodles.

Tran's father was once an officer in the South Vietnamese army. Sent to a re-education camp after the Vietnam War, he escaped from Vietnam with his family in 1986 by trudging through the jungle. They later settled in Mission Viejo, Calif.

His family went out to his grave Sunday. Thanksgiving was the first time that one of them had missed a holiday gathering.

Spc. David Roustum, 22, was in his last semester of college when he got a call to active duty with the Army National Guard in March. His father, a native of Syria, urged him go there instead to avoid the fighting.

"He looked at me and said, `Dad, I would never even consider it,'" Russ Roustum said.

Dale Burger Jr. took part in the initial assault on Iraq in 2003. He was just days away from the end of his second tour of duty when he was killed. He was wounded in the arm by shrapnel recently but told his mother he planned to return to the fighting. She urged him not to, but he said his unit was short on men and needed him.

"He died doing what he believed in," Martina Burger said. "He's my hero. I'm just so proud of him."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Bloody month for Marines
Stoic city mourns base's casualties


By JERRY ALLEGOOD AND JAY PRICE, Staff Writers

JACKSONVILLE -- November was Camp Lejeune's bloodiest month of the Iraq war: At least 23 Marines from the base were killed, most in the assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
At least 135 Americans died fighting in Iraq last month. Coalition forces launched offensives designed to rout stubborn opposition fighters, and insurgents retaliated with car bombs, roadside explosives and guns.

November's toll equaled that of April, until now the deadliest month since the war began in March 2003.

Last month's dead, who included North Carolinian Lance Cpl. David B. Houck, joined 50 Lejeune Marines killed earlier in the war, according to a database of casualties maintained by The Associated Press


In Jacksonville, there are no plans for granite monuments, no visible memorials to the Marines killed. But they don't go unnoticed in the city that's home to the world's largest Marine Corps base.

"I promise you the people have not forgotten," said the Rev. Michael Schwalm, 51, pastor of Centerview Baptist Church. "It's an everyday fact of life."

Jacksonville, a city of about 68,000, has bustled with Marines since World War II. Today, about 43,000 Marines and sailors are stationed at Camp Lejeune.

At least 60 percent of Schwalm's 325-member congregation are either active duty or retired Marines; 20 people from his church are deployed.

"There is not a Sunday that passes that we don't pray for our troops," he said.

It seems as though whenever there is a major battle in Iraq, Camp Lejeune Marines are there.

Shortly after the 2003 invasion, Lejeune units found themselves in a fierce fight for the southern city of Nasiriyah. More than a dozen from the same unit were killed in a single day.

Last month, two groups of Lejeune Marines played key roles in two of the year's biggest offensives -- the battle of Fallujah and a more widespread operation in small towns and cities south of Baghdad that Pentagon officials believe are staging grounds. Fighting continues in both places.

About 1,200 members of Lejeune's 2nd Marine Division have been serving in the insurgent stronghold west and north of Baghdad called the Sunni Triangle.

A Marine spokesman in Iraq said a full battalion of several hundred Lejeune Marines fought in the battle of Fallujah. The bulk of the November casualties came from that group.

Meanwhile, the 2,200 Marines of Lejeune's 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit are operating in northern Babil province, which is south of Baghdad.

They left North Carolina by ship in June and are now involved in an operation to root out insurgents and criminal gangs in a swath of towns. Some insurgents who fled Fallujah before the battle there are thought to have moved into the 24th MEU's territory.

Houck, the only Marine among those killed last month who listed a North Carolina hometown, died in Anbar province, which includes Fallujah. He was from Winston-Salem. His survivors include a 1-year-old daughter, Chloe, his parents, two brothers and two sisters.

His father, Bob Houck, said in an interview Tuesday that David had "floundered about" after high school, and Houck, himself retired from Navy, was thrilled when his son enlisted in February 2002.

"The Marines was good for him," Houck said. "It gave him a discipline and a direction."

Before Houck left for his second tour in Iraq, he told his father that the area he was going into was unusually dangerous, that the Marines who were coming back from there had Purple Hearts.

He wrote home several times. The last two letters came three days apart in September.

On the 25th, he wrote that the unit had received orders for a big operation, urban combat. In his last letter, on Sept. 28, Houck wrote: "We've been intensifying some of our missions, which means we're gearing up for something big," he wrote. "Maybe we can do a big sweep and come home soon."

Jacksonville rejoices in safe returns -- homemade welcome banners still flutter on a fence -- but it bears death stoically.

On Tuesday, business hummed at shopping centers around town and along N.C. 24, which leads to Lejeune's main gate. Restaurants were busy, and customers shopped for furniture, cars and groceries. A few Marines stopped for a regulation buzz cut at the town's scores of barbershops.

There was little visible effect of the war's news. "It seems to outsiders that it's a little bit callous," said Stefanie C. Spradling, who works in her family's florist shop. People in Jacksonville care, she said, but they have to keep busy.

Mayor Jan B. Slagle said she hears people talking about the toll.

"When you go in a store, someone will say, 'We lost another one,' " she said. "That's on everybody's minds and everybody's lips."

The trickle of ill tidings is unlikely to end soon: In January, 14,000 more Marines from Lejeune are scheduled to ship out for Iraq, where they'll be stationed in the Sunni Triangle.

(Staff photojournalist Juli Leonard contributed to this report.)

Staff writer Jerry Allegood can be reached at (252) 752-8411 or jerrya@newsobserver.com.
Staff photojournalist Juli Leonard contributed to this report.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

11-29-2004

Guest Column: Unprepared for Iraq



By Lt. Anonymous



I am a platoon leader in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division out of Fort Riley, Kans. Having returned from a trip to the National Training Center in California, I can honestly say that I am not sure we are ready to deploy to Iraq early next year as scheduled, and I feel that this issue is being overlooked.



As a platoon leader, the only thing that matters to me is the 41 guys that I lead and making sure they are safe and taken care of. They are fighters, they are winners, and they have no problem defending this country when asked. But my concern is that we are operating some of the oldest and most worn-out equipment in the Army without the adequate support and available time to perform maintenance, receive new equipment and be allowed to prepare ourselves.



My recent trip to NTC showed me nothing more than the fact that all of our gear is broken 90 percent of the time. We fell to a operational level of less than 40 percent due to equipment being sidelined. Out of the 16 Bradley Fighting Vehicles that we have in the company, maybe two actually are mobile and ready to go, that is not counting weapons.



We could not fire in the live-fire exercise at NTC because none of our crews are qualified. Our crews are not qualified because their guns are broken most of the time. We, the crews, are constantly performing maintenance into the dark hours of the morning just so our vehicles would at least be able to get my dismounted infantry to the fight the next day.



The guns don’t work, the turrets are always breaking, there are communication problems that no one is willing to take the time to fix and that is only 3/4 of the issue. It goes much larger than that, and I wish I were smart enough and knew enough to put it down into technical words besides just saying that my equipment is broken, my mechanics are frustrated and the junk we are operating is older than dirt.



My dismounts are operating with the old M-16A2, while most of the battalion staff is carrying around the newer M-4 with M-68 optics, not really knowing how to use it. There is a shortage of night-vision equipment, PEQ-2A lasers, updated M-249 SAWs, spare barrels, replacement parts and equipment for the SAWs and M-240 MG. We are also struggling to get the little things like batteries and other accoutrements to give us that sufficient edge is not given to us.



There was a small article in the Army Times a few weeks ago that talked to the guys from 1-13AR at NTC, who are part of our brigade. They should have talked to us instead. They should have listened to us when we tell them that less than 5 percent of the guns on our Bradleys are capable of firing one round without jacking up.



Someone is lying. Someone is telling his or her bosses that we are fired up and ready to go. When if you look at us and you talk to the soldier on the ground, he will tell you straight up he has no problem at fighting the enemy, he just wants the stuff that is supposedly out there to be given to him so he can do it right.



To Army leaders, I say: Give us the time to fix our stuff, give us the time to spend preparing ourselves to go to war, the time to spend with our families. Let our leaders take the time to give us the confidence in knowing that when we go to combat, we have the capabilities at hand to unleash lethal and accurate hell upon the enemy.



Someone needs to fix this before we leave in January or February 2005.



Lt. Anonymous is the pseudonym of a platoon leader in the 3BCT, 1 Armored Division.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraq Health Care System Crippled by War - Report

Tue Nov 30,12:25 PM ET Health - Reuters


By Patricia Reaney

LONDON (Reuters) - War in Iraq (news - web sites) has caused a public health disaster that has left the country's medical system in tatters and increased the risk of disease and death, according to a report released on Tuesday.


Medact, a British-based charity that examines the impact of war on health, said cases of vaccine-preventable diseases were rising and relief and reconstruction work had been mismanaged.


"The health of the Iraqi people has deteriorated since the 2003 invasion," Gill Reeve, the deputy director of Medact, told a news conference to launch the report.


"Immediate action is needed to halt this health disaster."


The report, which is based on interviews in Jordan with Iraqi civilians, relief organizations and health professionals who worked in Iraq, called for Britain to set up an independent commission to investigate civilian casualties and to provide emergency relief and a better health system.


"The 2003 war exacerbated the threats to health posed by the damage inflicted by previous wars, tyranny and sanctions. It not only created the conditions for further health decline, but also damaged the ability of Iraqi society to reverse it," it said.


British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described the report as detached because it was based on interviews made in Jordan, not Iraq.


"The claims that there is not enough money going to Iraqi healthcare is nonsense because the amount being given is huge in comparison to what it was," he told reporters.


"The backlog of neglect in Iraq under Saddam was stunning."


The report said Iraq had high mortality before the 2003 war but it details a recurrence of previously well-controlled illnesses like diarrhea, acute respiratory infections and typhoid.


Postwar security worries limit access to health care, particularly in flashpoint areas. The quality of health services is poor because of chronic under-funding, poor physical infrastructure, mismanagement of supplies and staff shortages.


One in four people in Iraq still depend on food aid and more children are underweight or chronically malnourished than in 2000, the report added.


"Maintaining adequate care is a real problem," said Mike Rowson, the executive director of Medact.


Iraqis increasingly rely on self-diagnosis and traditional healing and buy prescription medicines in the marketplace.


"The U.N., traditionally responsible for coordinating humanitarian crisis responses, has been marginalised while U.S. assistance has been characterized by damaging political in-fighting," the report added.


Rowson said a lot of money had been pledged for reconstruction but very little had been distributed to rebuild the Iraqi health system. "The political situation is key to making health improvements in Iraq," he added.


The report urges coalition forces to monitor casualties and re-evaluate the impact of weapons used in populated areas.





"We hope that by highlighting health we can make sure that all sides in the conflict know the price the civilian population is paying for the ongoing violence," Rowson added.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Six Camp Lejeune Marines Die In Iraq

POSTED: 7:04 pm EST November 30, 2004

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Six Marines stationed at Camp Lejeune were killed last week in Iraq, bringing to nine the number of soldiers from the base killed in recent fighting there.

The most recently reported death was that of Cpl. Gentian Marku, 22, of Warren, Mich., who died Nov. 25 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.

He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

The Defense Department also said that Cpl. Kirk J. Bosselmann, 21, a native of Maryland, Lance Cpl. Adam R. Brooks, 20, of Manchester, N.H., and Lance Cpl. Charles A. Hanson Jr., 22, of Panacea, Fla., died as a result of enemy actions.

Also killed were Lance Cpl. David B. Houck, 25, of Winston-Salem who died Nov. 26, and Lance Cpl. Joshua E. Lucero, 19, of Tucson, Ariz., who died a day later. Both died as a result of enemy action in the Anbar Province, the military said in a news release.

Houck, who had been in the Marines for about 2.5 years, was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune. Lucero also was based at Camp Lejeune, assigned to 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

Houck's mother, Beth, said she and her husband, Bob, of Millbridge in Rowan County, took comfort in knowing that her son died while fighting a war he supported. He was on his second tour of duty in Iraq.

"He said, 'Mom, we can't quit now. We've got to see this through to the end,"' she told The Salisbury Post.

Lucero's family was still trying to cope with news of his death and declined to talk to reporters on Monday, said Capt. Kevin Bright, Tucson Marine Corps spokesman.

Brooks and Hanson, both assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, died in Iraq's Babil province. The military did not immediately release details of their deaths.

Brooks joined the Marines in August 2003; Hanson had served with the Marine Corps since April 2002 and received a Purple Heart while with Task Force Tarawa during the invasion of Nasiriyah, according to a Lejeune spokeswoman.

Bosselman grew up in Dickerson, Md., before moving to Napa, Calif., after graduating from high school. He died Saturday in Iraq's Anbar province; the Pentagon did not release details.

Bosselmann was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune.

Pastor Merritt Ednie of Boyds Presbyterian Church led a prayer service on Sunday in honor of Bosselmann at the Potomac Hunt Club in Dickerson, The Frederick News-Post reported. The Marine was a member of the club.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

THE FACE OF WAR--FROM WORLD WAR II TO IRAQ--DOES NOT CHANGE.

On November 10, newspapers including the New York Post (left) picked up the Los Angeles Times photograph of the "mystery Marine"--fatigued, bearded, and smoking a cigarette as he was doing his job in the battle for Fallujah. LAT photographer Luis Sinco made no attempt to identify him, though days later it was leaked to be 20-year-old Lance Corporal James Blake Miller of Kentucky. Before then, the New York Sun's Maura Yates wrote (November 11):

We're left with a nameless face as a haunting reminder of the sacrifices being made every day in Iraq.

Change "Iraq" to "Saipan," "Iwo Jima," or "Okinawa," and the same words could have been expressed 60 years ago by Life photographer W. Eugene Smith (1918-1978). He covered the Pacific theater during World War II and he, too, photographed a bearded, weary, determined, cigarette-in-mouth Marine (right), whose name--and fate--was and is a mystery. In 1990, Life editors chose the Smith photograph from the thousands of magnificent works in the magazine's archives for the cover of the "coffee table" World War II (Little, Brown).

The response to the Sinco and Smith photographs serves as reminders that the Sun-described "grit and determination" is the essence of warfare no matter where or when. Our thanks... to Life communications director Jenny Parker for providing the cover.


http://www.minonline.com/images/topstory/ts112904a.gif

http://www.minonline.com/images/topstory/ts112904b.jpg


Ellie

[thedrifter]

'Gift of Groceries' Offers Unique Way to Celebrate Season <br />
By Bonnie Powell <br />
Special to American Forces Press Service <br />
<br />
FORT LEE, Va., Nov. 30, 2004 -- Anyone can show support for military...

[thedrifter]

Lima Co. Marines remember fallen team leader
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FALLUJAH, Iraq (Dec 1, 2004) -- "And when he gets to heaven to St. Peter he will tell, one more Marine reporting sir, I've served my time in hell," read a poem on the grave of a Marine at Guadalcanal in 1942.

As evidence of this poem, death and hardship has been a constant for Marines in combat since their beginning 229 years ago.

The hardest day to date for the Marines of 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, was Nov. 11. The day one of their most respected team leaders and friend was taken from them by enemy fire on the hostile streets of Fallujah.

These Marines with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, were clearing houses and gaining ground in the Jolan district of Fallujah for three days since the start of Operation Al Fajr Nov. 8, said Lance Cpl. Ralph E. Arzate, fire team leader.

"We've been going through (Fallujah)," said the 22-year-old native of Victorville, Calif. "We've been sweeping down and searching out and destroying the enemy. We cleared houses in our area of operations, and were doing a lot of (military operations in urban terrain).

"We were tasked with the area south of the train station of the city called the Jolan district. We heard that it was the (worst) part. The risk was pretty high and this proved to be true."

On the morning of Nov. 11, the Marines stood in awe as a fighter jet dropped a bomb on a four-story building south of their position. 2nd Lt. Benjamin T. Budde.

By late afternoon, they steadily advanced south toward their objective despite light enemy contact. Sergeant Nathan J. Sauer, a 25-year-old squad leader from Collyer, Kansas, lead his weary but ready Marines into the four-story building they saw nearly destroyed earlier that day.

"Immediately we began to take enemy fire," he said. "It was a really heavy engagement, but the squad was holding strong."

The squad kept taking fire from buildings on the opposite side of the street from just about everywhere, Arzate remembered. While he was loading a 40 mm high explosive grenade into his M-203 grenade launcher, the seemingly impossible happened.

"When I was loading a round into the breach of my weapon, (Cpl. Theodore Bowling) was hit," said Arzate. "I didn't know how bad his wounds were so I was pulling him out and I got hit. At that time, our squad leader and a few others came and picked him up and got him out of harm's way."

All the Marines in the squad barely had time to breath after their revered team leader had been hit, but they kept engaging the enemy like they were trained, said Lance Cpl. Nic J. Gowanlock, a designated marksman.

"Things got pretty real, pretty quick," Gowanlock said. "As a Marine, you face the fact that you might not come back, but you know you're doing the right thing. You know you're doing your job."

"He was a good Marine," he said, "a Marine who taught us a lot about everything. He was someone we looked at as kind of invincible. We never thought he would ever go down."

After Arzate was hit, he low-crawled back to his position, where Gowanlock patched him up as best he could.

Bowling and Arzate were hit, but "we had to keep going," Gowanlock said. "We had to figure out where the fire came from and send rounds back down range."

The platoon's senior corpsman, Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyle L. Coker, and the platoon guide then showed up to take care of Bowling while Arzate was escorted to safety.

That was when the squad was notified by unit radio traffic that Bowling, the trusted 25-year-old team leader from Casselberry, Fla., had died of his wounds.

"When you hear about things like this over the (radio) net, it hits everyone pretty hard," said Arzate.

One Marine who felt the immediate repercussions was Gowanlock, who had to step up to fill the leadership gap.

"It was pretty difficult having to step up after losing two team leaders in one day," he said. "Early on we didn't see any combat like this. It's toward the end of the deployment that we get thrown into a real hot combat zone, and we start losing Marines. That's probably the hardest thing to deal with."

Since that day, the Multi-national Force steamroller has all but flattened the enemy in Fallujah. In hindsight, the Marines have lost one of their best and most revered leaders, but they had to keep going.

"Maybe it was bound to happen ... just not to our platoon and our squad," Gowanlock said. "When it happened, it shook us up and made us realize that this is no joke. We had to keep going and do our mission."

The loss was felt all the way up the chain of command, and Bowling's sacrifice has not gone unnoticed, said Capt. Brian G. Heatherman, 32, a native of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and the commanding officer, Company L. The boys did awesome, but it's weird, we fight all day and just when you think things are winding down, a firefight happens. Third platoon lost a good Marine that day.

First squad, 3rd Platoon, Lima Co., 3/1 is currently still in Fallujah wrapping up operations. Lance Cpl. Arzate has returned to full duty and re-joined his Marines as one of the team leaders.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

A soldier's reporter
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H. Brandt Ayers
The Anniston Star
Nov. 28, 2004

My Thanksgiving prayer was for 150 young men, many of them teenagers just out of high school, who are a long way from home - often scared, but man enough at their age to fight through their fear.

They are the Marines of Bravo Company, First Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment in Fallujah, Iraq. I haven't met any of them but feel I know them through the eyes of Dexter Filkins, a reporter for The New York Times.

Filkins is sandy-haired and open-faced, a University of Florida man, who is a little older than the unit's 34-year-old commanding officer. He has lived with the company on the streets, house to house, as they fought insurgents who pop up, as in a deadly arcade game.

He knows the sights and sounds of urban combat as well as the troops: the heart-racing whine of a near miss, the ping that signals a mortar round incoming, the screams of men, "No, no, no," when one of their comrades lost part of a jaw to a hand grenade, "No, no, no."

Filkins would be momentarily puzzled by overwrought citizens who demonize his newspaper as near-traitorous, but he would find solace in the respect of the men, and the gratitude of their families who learned from him what kind of man a son or husband or brother had become.

Reporters go to war, too, and some die. Here is how the battle for Fallujah went on Thursday, Nov. 18, as told by Dexter Filkins in The Times:

"A pair of Marines wound their way up the darkened innards of a minaret, shot through with holes by an American tank. As the Marines inched upward, a burst of gunfire rang down, fired by an insurgent hiding in the top of the tower. The bullets hit the first Marine in the face, his blood spattering the Marine behind him. The Marine in the rear tumbled backward down the stairwell, while Lance Cpl. William Miller, age 22, lay in silence halfway up, mortally wounded.

" 'Miller!' the Marines called from below. 'Miller!' "

Silence triggered the automatic response - fellow Marines on the fourth try in the dust and darkness, under continuous and mounting fire, retrieved Cpl. Miller's lifeless body and carried him back to base through machine-gun fire.

"I was trying to be careful, but I was trying to get him out, you know what I'm saying?" said Lance Cpl. Michael Gogin, 19, making clear in his inarticulate way Marine codes of honor and solidarity.

Cpl. Nathan R. Anderson was compelled by the same code to rush into 40th Street, under interlocking fire, to help retrieve a fallen comrade, Sgt. Lonny D. Wells, who had written parents of his young squad that he would look after them. He bled to death.

On one grim night later, men of the First Platoon turned a corner in the darkness and came across men in Iraqi National Guard uniforms. The disguised guerrillas opened fire, and Cpl. Anderson died instantly.

A hero earlier, Anderson's body was retrieved by other heroes. It is little consolation to his loved ones to know that he did not suffer. If he had to go, it was better to go out like a light.

That's how tall, gregarious, good-looking Cpl. Nick Ziolkowski got it. "Ski" had a passion for surfing. "All I need now is a beach and some waves," he said, during a break from sniper duty at the Grand Mosque, where he had made three "hits" in a single day.

On the rooftop of the mosque, he took off his helmet to get a better view through the wide scope of his bolt-action M-40 rifle. The bullet hit him in the head, knocking him backward onto his back.

In eight days of fighting, Bravo Company took 36 casualties, including six dead - a one-in-four chance of injury or death in just over a week of combat. There were moments when they felt unsure about what to do next. It was then they heard the reassuring bark of their CO, Capt. Read Omohundro, more confident than he actually felt, "Damn it, get moving!"

They were only boys, many 19 and 20 years old. Their three lieutenants, each responsible for the lives of about 50 men, were 23 and 24. Yet they were mature far beyond their years. They were from different races and religions, from big cities, and small-towns like Pearland, Texas, and Osawatomie, Kan.

Yet they recognized no division between Marines from blue states or red states, evangelicals, Catholics, Jews or mainline Protestant. They saw only Marines, bound by their code of honor, and by their mission.

For the sake of Ski, Sgt. Wells, Cpls. Miller and Anderson, we who do not believe in unprovoked wars of choice hope that the mission in which they believed turns out well.

Regardless, when the men of Bravo Company come marching home, they deserve from all Americans this salute: Semper Fi.

--- H. Brandt Ayers is the publisher of The Anniston Star and chairman of Consolidated Publishing Co. His column appears on Sundays in the Insight section.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Lawmaker wants camera crews barred from combat theater
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By Rick Maze
Times staff writer


The lawmaker responsible for delaying by 24 hours the media’s reporting of combat deaths is now pushing for camera crews to be banned from covering direct combat actions.
Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., said in a Nov. 29 letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that he worries the presence of camera crews could end up jeopardizing lives.

“There must be a balance between the need for media coverage and the difficult and complex missions being carried out by our brave troops,” Jones wrote. “I pray that a Marine or soldier in the future will not lose their life because they hesitated due to concerns that their action would be recorded by the media, reported out of context and scrutinized by public opinion before all of the facts are presented.”

Jones’ letter comes after an NBC freelance cameraman filmed a Marine shooting and killing an already wounded Iraqi during the recent fighting in Fallujah. The Marine Corps is investigating of the shooting, but the video of the incident has been widely aired on Arab news programs, fueling anti-American sentiments.

“Recent events have highlighted the complexity of recording combat situations and placing those recordings in the proper context of the overall battle,” Jones says in his letter. “Media coverage provides only a brief and often distorted view of what our men and women are facing in combat. It is unfair for our troops to be constantly monitored by cameras and have their every move recorded and subjected to public opinion based on a sound bite or two-minute video segment.”

Jones has been fierce critic of media coverage of the military. Two years ago, he convinced his congressional colleagues to force the Pentagon to give families 24 hours’ notice of a combat casualty before making a public announcement so a family could prepare for a potential onslaught of media coverage.

So far, senior military officials seem willing to stick to their agreement with the media to “embed” reporters, photographers and film crews with combat units.

At a Nov. 17 House Armed Services Committee hearing, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee was asked if he thought embedded reporters should be removed. He said he thinks having media representatives in combat units is a good thing.

“In my personal opinion, embedded reporters have actually worked very well,” Hagee said. “They inform the American public about what these great young Americans are doing over there, and a large, large majority are doing … a tremendous job.”

The media are “an important part of getting that information out,” Hagee said. “I personally … would not want to do away with something that’s working very well. I would like to focus on the part that we might be able to do better and correct that rather than doing away with the entire embedded reporting process.”

Jones isn’t alone in raising the issue of embedded media. Vietnam veteran Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, first raised the subject at the Nov. 17 hearing.

Among those also expressing concerns about media combat coverage was Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga. “No news is better than news which is unfairly balanced toward the bad,” Marshall said.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. Generals in Iraq Were Told of Abuse Early <br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <br />
By Josh White <br />
Washington Post Staff Writer <br />
Wednesday, December 1,...

[thedrifter]

Marine hurt in Iraq recalls harrowing day
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By KIM SKORNOGOSKI
Great Falls Tribune Staff Writer

A week after a fellow Marine dragged him out of a crumbling building in Fallujah, a Fort Belknap, Montana man is recovering in a Navy hospital having survived a suicide grenade attack.

Marine Corporal Catcher Cuts The Rope was in the Iraq hot spot since October, clearing bombed buildings of often-armed insurgents.

An Iraqi ran out of a room toward Cuts The Rope and three other Marines, pulling the pin of a grenade as they shot him, he said Tuesday from his hospital room at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Shrapnel ripped into his arms and legs - his flak jacket and helmet protected his body and head.

Cuts The Rope will be transferred to a military hospital in Hawaii, where his wife, Amy, and 11-month-old son, Conan, live.

"I can use my arms. My finger in my right hand is broken. I can't use my right knee. It hurts to walk right now," he said. "I think it'll take me a few months of recovery and physical therapy before I get back to normal."

The 32-year-old joined the Army at age 18, serving from 1992 to 1997. He enlisted in the Marines after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Cuts The Rope is the son of the well-known Gros Ventre artist Clarence Basil Cuts The Rope and former Hays schoolteacher Margaret Cuts The Rope, both of whom have died.

He grew up on the Fort Belknap Reservation, graduating in 1991 from the high school in Dodson.

The leader of his squadron, Cuts The Rope was sweeping a building when a squadron in a neighboring building fell under attack.

Running over to help, Cuts The Rope found the body of a good friend and fellow squadron leader and carried it out of the building.

He returned to clear the building of four men who were shooting AK-47s. One man was spotted running to another building. The squadron then searched three neighboring buildings looking for him.

Spotting a bloody handprint on the stairs of one of the buildings, Cuts The Rope and three other Marines went from room to room searching for the insurgent. When they reached the second floor, an Iraqi ran out of a small room screaming.

Cuts The Rope remembers firing at the man five times, but the man kept running at them with a grenade in his hands.

The blast injured all four Marines.

"I could hear them screaming in pain," Cuts The Rope said. "I backed out of the room. I couldn't use my hands. I couldn't hold my rifle. But I was able to use my thumb to press down on the radio and call for help."

Cuts The Rope said he couldn't stand and was dragged out of the building.

"I started to pass out - the pain was really starting to get to me. I could feel the blood running down my thigh. I thought I was going to die."

He later underwent surgery in Germany before being flown to Maryland. He expects to be home with his family in the next few days.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

On the home front, families battle fears, anxiety
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By MARK JOHNSON
markjohnson@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Nov. 30, 2004

The stress and worry began before the first casualties, even before the reserves of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines left for Iraq in September.

Knowing that he would be going to war, Maj. David Durham, a vice president at U.S. Bank, began getting his life in order. In April, he and his wife, Connie, bought a house in Cedarburg. He bought life insurance. He bought birthday cards for each of their six children, so that even in a war zone he could send home a father's love. He typed out a detailed note, "The Everything Connie Needs to Know While I'm Gone Folder."

And he took his five sons to a cabin in Colorado.

"That was on his heart. He wanted them to see the mountains, and he wanted to be the one to show them," Connie Durham says.

Now, David Durham and the other Marines in his Madison-based company are in Iraq in the thick of the fighting, and their families in Wisconsin are struggling to sleep, crossing days off calendars and praying in their cars, homes and offices.

It has not been easy. On Nov. 8, Golf Company lost three men when their vehicle struck a land mine south of Baghdad: Lance Cpl. Shane K. O'Donnell, 24, of DeForest; Robert Paul Warns II, 23, of Waukesha; and Branden Ramey, 22, of Belvidere, Ill.

And on Thanksgiving Day, Golf Company suffered another loss: Pfc. Ryan J. Cantafio, 22, of Beaver Dam died as result of an enemy attack in Al Andar Province, Iraq.

Casualties in Iraq intensify anxieties in Wisconsin.

Families such as the Durhams have found their own ways of coping. They pray. They pour themselves into work or into causes. They take comfort in outpourings of community support. Girl Scout troops prepare tree-shaped boxes to send to the troops. Co-workers stop a nervous father: Send this to your son.

A man whose son plays football with her boys approached Connie Durham recently.

"I'd like your boys to go hunting with us," he told her. "It's the least I can do. Tell your husband thank you for his service."

Still, at home, families must struggle with fears no one else can feel or allay.

Bethany Jacobson wakes in the middle of the night, knowing that it's daylight in Iraq, where her 24-year-old son is with the Marines. She wonders whether at this moment he is in danger, and sometimes her imagination runs wild.

"Thanks to the movies, you know what an explosion looks like," she says. "It's so easy to put your own child into those scenarios. It's not hard to imagine it. I can imagine it a hundred times a day, and it wears on you."

Since his 24-year-old son went to Iraq, Chuck Knutson has found himself eating more, taking more nerve pills and staring anxiously at any parked cars he does not recognize on his quiet street in Mount Horeb. Strange cars could bring Marines to his doorstep; that is his fear.

Connie Durham stays up late, sometimes until 2 in the morning, glued to the war coverage on Fox News, busy with the scrapbook she keeps of her husband's Marine company and alert to any of his e-mails that might arrive while the children are sleeping.

Her children feel the stress, too, and it shows in the things they tell their dad and each other. In a letter to his father, 13-year-old Jacob Durham, the third oldest, described his football team's road to the conference championship, adding, "but it's hard to enjoy my wins when in the back of my mind I know you're going through hell."

Later in the letter, Jacob recounted a conversation with his younger brother Joel, 6, about the upcoming Christmas season:

"Joel never stops amazing me. Yesterday I asked Joel what was the present he wants most, and he said, 'I want my dad to come home for the holidays. I can't wait to see dad because I know it will come true if I ask Santa. I can't wait.'

"I didn't have the heart to tell him," Jacob wrote. "It almost made me cry."

Jacob plans to send his football trophy to his father in Iraq.
A therapeutic scrapbook

Connie Durham's five sons and one daughter keep her busy, but what helps also is the scrapbook, which she calls "therapeutic." The scrapbook contains a photograph of the flyover when the company left Madison and all of the parents, spouses and children stood in formation spelling out the message, "love you."

Other pages of the book include her husband's orders to leave, and his letters and e-mails, which often end with the words, "Stay safe. Watch my babies." Connie Durham also fills pages with the kind letters sent from friends and from her husband's co-workers at U.S. Bank.

Many of the things she keeps in the book speak to the closeness of their family, such as the birthday card David Durham sent to Jacob:

You have always been a complete joy to me and your mother and with each passing year I grow more proud of the man you are becoming. I love you very much.

Connie Durham, who does not consider herself quite the arts-and-crafts type, fills the scrapbook neatly and diligently because she hopes someday to show it to her grandchildren, a piece of history that their family lived through.

For other families, the worry and the coping present a very different challenge.

Bethany Jacobson remembers vividly the day her son and daughter-in-law stopped by her house on the way to the airport, the last time she would see him before he left for Iraq. She got a camera and took pictures.

"It was like this could be the last picture I have with my son," she said, tears filling her eyes. "Knowing they're going into a war zone, it affects every aspect of your relationship with them."

About six months ago, she began wearing a small button that says, "Pray for Peace." Then, in the last month or two went a step further, putting a "Bring them home now" sign on her Dodge Dakota and joining the group "Women in Black," which holds silent vigils to protest war.

Although some have suggested that citizens cannot support the troops and not the war, this is what Bethany Jacobson believes she must do.

"I want people to understand that I support these men who are being asked to do an impossible job in an impossible situation," she said. "There has been religious fighting in that area for over 3,000 years. How are we going to change that?"

Her son, Cpl. Elijah Jacobson, a father of three himself, understands her view and does not object.

"He said, 'Mom, I always knew you were a hippie,' " she said.

Jokes aside, this is a hard place for a war mother to be. Bethany Jacobson has come across a photo on the Internet of an Iraqi mother with her young son who lost his leg in Fallujah.

"That mother loves her son like I love my son, and our country did that to him," she said. "He's a little boy about the age of my grandkids."

Such feelings make her feel isolated from other military families. And yet, in some respects, she is not so different from them. She has learned what it means to pray without ceasing.

Dozens of times a day, when she has no task to distract her, "there is a pull to your heart, to God, to the universe. Just bring him home safe. Bring him home," she said. "It's the constant cry of a mother's heart. It's a mother's nature when your child is in danger."
Praying for strength

A father's heart cries too, Chuck Knutson knows.

When his son, Cpl. Curt Knutson, phones home, his father's voice catches in his throat and sometimes all he can manage is, "I love you, Curt," before he hands the phone over to his wife, Laura.

"I know my son is real strong. He's got good eyes and ears. He's built like a brick. I know he's got me in him," Chuck Knutson said.

On the phone, Curt Knutson has sounded calm, upbeat and confident: "What are you up to, Pops?" he often asks.

In letters home, he has told his parents, "I am fighting the terrorists now so my kids will feel safe always."

Knowing how strong his son is, "that makes me strong too," Chuck Knutson said.

Still, he has found it hard to be strong all of the time. Mornings he watches several hours of war coverage before he leaves for his housekeeping job at a hospital in Dodgeville. When the TV shows pictures from the funerals of Marines, the images return to him in his nightmares.

Each day on his lunch break, Chuck Knutson goes to the hospital chapel and prays, "Make my son safe."

At home, he tries to keep himself busy with tasks: dusting, vacuuming, washing dishes. His son likes health foods, so he recently bought a dehydrator and began making dehydrated oranges, apples and bananas to send to Iraq.

Family and friends have sent a constant stream of packages to Curt Knutson: tuna, chewing tobacco, baby wipes, toothpaste, eye drops, lip balm.

Meanwhile, Laura Knutson crosses days off the calendar; each one, she hopes, another day closer to her son's return. She wears her heart on the back of her car. "Support Our Troops." "Pray for Our Troops." "I Support Our Armed Forces." "Freedom Isn't Free."

As she drives to work, she prays for her son. And sometimes at night, she'll go out on her porch and look up at the stars and pray, "Bring him back. Bring him back alive, intact physically and mentally."

She daydreams about the wedding reception they will hold for Curt Knutson when he comes home. He got married in April, an event that had to be moved up when it became clear the company would be going to Iraq.

"I try to envision him walking off the plane," Laura Knutson said. "Oh, man. I can see him walking down the steps. I can't wait for that day."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine's Loyalty To Troops Recalled
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By Lila Arzua
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 1, 2004; Page B02

The photograph of Capt. Patrick Marc M. Rapicault appeared to be looking over the crowd of mourners gathered at the Old Post Chapel at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday. There he was with his dark hair cropped short, medals glistening against his chest, gaze as solid and determined as ever.

Nearby, his body lay in a flag-draped coffin.

More than 100 family, friends and fellow service members had gathered to mourn the 34-year-old Marine who lost his life in Iraq. Rapicault, of St. Augustine, Fla., was killed Nov. 15 in Anbar province. He was the 97th service member killed in Iraq to be buried at Arlington.

Rapicault was assistant operations officer for the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. He had been quoted in numerous news accounts and stories about the war in Iraq and the troops' experiences.

"You have to get over your feelings and keep on pushing, just for the simple reason that you have another 170 Marines to take care of and make sure they come back," he told Time magazine shortly before his death.

He was interviewed for an Oct. 25 article on the war that recounted Rapicault's role as commander of Whiskey Platoon, leading his men on a counterinsurgency mission prior to the start of major fighting in Fallujah.

According to the Time article, Rapicault's Humvee was struck by mortar fire and disabled during the patrol. It was the sixth time he had been hit, the article said. None of his men were killed in that attack, but Rapicault was prepared to give his life for his country.

"It is a daily hit and run," Rapicault later told Agence France-Presse.

Yesterday, a letter from a CBS correspondent who had covered him was read aloud to the mourners. A friend and fellow serviceman recalled his "bone-crushing handshake" and his loyalty to those he loved.

Rapicault had been awarded the Purple Heart, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and National Defense Service Medal.

He was born on the island of Martinique and moved to the French Riviera at age 5. He immigrated to the United States as a teenager. It was during his high school years in Mississippi that he developed his distinctive accent -- part French and part southern, according to one of the speakers at the service. But "Frenchy," as he was known to many, was proud of his mastery of English as a second language, and especially of a writing award he won.

Rapicault attended Delta State University in Mississippi and joined the Marine Corps Reserve. Upon graduating with a bachelor of science degree in business management, he converted to active duty. In 1997, he completed Officer Candidate School and reported to Camp Pendleton in California. The following year, he graduated first in his class from Army Ranger School.

At his grave yesterday, a Marine band played the hymn "Eternal Father Strong to Save." Capt. Daniel Hench presented a U.S. flag to Rapicault's wife, Vera, and Staff Sgt. Charles Dorsey presented another to his mother, Nicole Rapicault.

In addition to his wife and mother, Rapicault is survived by his father, Gabriel Rapicault, and a sister, Christine Cappillino.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraq, Neighbors Argue Over U.S. Troop Withdrawal

By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Angry disagreements surfaced on Wednesday at a meeting of interior ministers from Iraq (news - web sites) and its neighbors over the timing of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Iraq, diplomats said.


The diplomats said some countries, including meeting hosts Iran, were pushing for a joint statement with an article calling for the complete withdrawal of U.S.-led troops shortly after Iraq's planned Jan. 30 national elections.


Members of Iraq's interim government disagree with the inclusion of a U.S.-led troop withdrawal deadline.


"The Iraqis believe it's up to them to decide about it," one of the diplomats said.


No date has been set for the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Iraq and Washington has said the Iraqi government is free to ask its troops to leave whenever it sees fit.


Diplomats said the issue provoked some angry exchanges between officials at the two-day Tehran meeting which had been due to conclude earlier on Wednesday.


"Some of them were shouting at each other. It's hard to be optimistic (about an agreement)," one said.


Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib acknowledged there were problems agreeing on a joint statement.


"There are some disputes on the statement but we are trying to moderate the language," he told reporters.


GROWING IRAQI FRUSTRATION


The Tehran meeting had already exposed Baghdad's growing frustration with some of its neighbors, accusing them of not doing enough to halt the flow of illegal arms, people and money connected to violence in Iraq.


"A lot of people come illegally to Iraq," Naqib told Reuters on Wednesday on the sidelines of the ministerial gathering.


"There are so many goods smuggled into Iraq -- weapons, money. That is the major issue right now for us. They (Iraq's neighbors) should make some efforts to control their borders," he said.


Neighbors also needed to arrest "terrorists which are working in some neighboring countries and exchange some information about their activities," he said.


The Tehran meeting involving Iraq, its neighbors, Egypt and the United Nations (news - web sites) was seen as a chance to improve security cooperation and encourage tighter border controls.


But while Iraq's neighbors, such as Iran, acknowledge some difficulties policing their frontiers with Iraq, none accept any responsibility for the violence taking place there.


Iranian Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari, for example, turned the tables on Iraq, arguing that its western neighbor must do more to prevent the violence spilling over into Iran.





"Smugglers have smuggled much weaponry over the insecure borders of Iraq to Iran and continue to do so and this creates problems for us," he told reporters.

Diplomats said Iran, a long-time foe of the United States which broke ties with Tehran in 1980, also wanted the joint declaration to "condemn the occupation of Iraq by U.S.-led forces and the massacre of civilians."







Ellie

[thedrifter]

Britain: Body Isn't Kidnapped Aid Worker

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer

LONDON - A mutilated body found in Iraq (news - web sites) is not that of kidnapped aid worker Margaret Hassan, the British government said Wednesday. But the Foreign Office said it continued to believe Hassan had been murdered, although the evidence was not conclusive.


The Foreign Office said dental tests conducted in the United States showed the body of a woman of Western appearance, found in Fallujah last month by U.S. Marines, was not Hassan.


The Iraq director of the aid group CARE International, Hassan, 59, was abducted on her way to work in Baghdad on Oct. 19. On Nov. 16, the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera said it had received a video showing the execution of a female hostage identified as Hassan.


British officials who watched the tape said they believed the blindfolded woman shown being shot in the head by a masked gunman was Hassan.


Hassan's four brothers and sisters released a statement last month saying they "have to accept that Margaret has probably gone and at last her suffering has ended." CARE said it was in "mourning," and Hassan's Iraqi husband, Tahseen Ali Hassan, released an emotional television appeal for his wife's body to be returned.


A Foreign Office spokesman said Wednesday that officials still believe Hassan was killed, although they cannot be absolutely certain until her body is recovered.


The Irish government said it had no new information about the fate of Hassan, who had British, Irish and Iraqi nationality.


Born in Ireland and raised in England, Hassan had lived in Iraq for more than 30 years. A fierce critic both of United Nations (news - web sites) sanctions on Iraq and the U.S.-led invasion, she worked on projects providing food, medicine and humanitarian aid to Iraqis.


Hassan was the among the most high-profile of more than 170 foreigners kidnapped in Iraq this year, and the first female hostage to be killed. More than 30 male hostages have been slain.


U.S. Marines found a mutilated body on a street in Fallujah on Nov. 14 during the U.S. assault on the city, regarded as an insurgent stronghold. The body, clothed in what appeared to be a purple velour dress, was wrapped in a blanket, with a blood-soaked black cloth nearby. U.S. officials said they believed it was that of a Western woman.


Hassan was among nine foreign women hostages abducted in Iraq this year. Eight, including two Italian aid workers and Polish-born Teresa Borcz Khalifa, have been released.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

America Supports You: Airline Teams With USO for Care Packages
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2004 -- Frequent fliers with American Airlines can donate $25 to sponsor a holiday care package for deployed troops that includes a 100- minute prepaid AT&T calling card, toiletries, disposable cameras and sunscreen.

The program is a cooperative effort between American Airlines and the United Service Organizations, which sponsors Operation USO Care Package.

Since Dec. 1, 2003, members of the airline's AAdvantage frequent-flier program have donated $200,000 to Operation USO Care Package, sending more than 7,600 care packages to U.S. servicemembers overseas, USO officials said.

In addition to frequently requested care-package items, donors can include a personal message wishing a happy holiday and thanking troops for their contributions.

"The generosity AAdvantage members have shown to the deployed members of U.S. armed forces is truly remarkable," said Jeff Zidell, an American Airlines vice president. "The care packages and personal messages of support have touched the lives of thousands of deployed men and women, letting them know we appreciate their service and sacrifice."

Elaine Rogers, worldwide administrator for Operation USO Care Package, called American Airlines "a committed sponsor" of the care-package program and said the USO looks forward to working with the airline again this holiday season.

"Operation USO Care Package is possible due to the support of corporations like American Airlines, their employees and their AAdvantage members," she said.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Job never boring for Marine weapons expert
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Commercial-News
Danville, Ill.
Dec. 1, 2004

FAIRMOUNT - The military career of Marine Capt. Walt Romine could be described as the ultimate chess game.

Romine, a Fairmount native, has worked 19 of his 21 years in the Marines as an EOD - explosive ordnance demolition. He and his crew eliminate the undetonated roadside bombs and large caches of ammunition found by soldiers.

Every device he encounters could have a new quirk or different kind of technology inside, making preparation imperative.

"It's the ultimate competition," he said during a recent Vermilion County visit. "They're building something, doing something and you're trying to beat them."

The "competition" keeps the 40-year-old Romine going through a continual regimen of training and retraining.

"We're constantly training about new technology and tactics," he said. "We're constantly changing so you don't give the bad guys a chance to figure out how we do business."

In Iraq, where Romine served two tours, he said soldiers see a full spectrum of explosives, differing from one zone of the country to the next.

Only about 300 Marines serve as EODs and Romine is one of only 25 captains.

It wasn't some strange childhood interest in fireworks that led him down his current path.

Instead, he said, it was paperwork. Faced with paperwork in his first two years in the military, Romine saw a piece in a newspaper about EODs and he pursued it.

Dave Biggerstaff of Catlin grew up and went to school with Romine. Biggerstaff didn't find out just what his old friend did until years later.

"It's just hard to imagine the kid I went to school with looking at Sidewinder missiles," he said.

While there was a little surprise, Biggerstaff concluded Romine found the perfect job in life. In their youth, Biggerstaff said Romine was always picked first when playing war.

"He's the same guy he's always been," Biggerstaff said. "He just has a lot more firepower on his side."

And that's the truth. In addition to handling the roadside bombs and car bombs, EODs like Romine are called in to eliminate stockpiles of unused ammunition.

Romine can relate to the discovery of house after house of weapons described by soldiers during the recent operation in Fallujah.

"It's huge. You'd be surprised how many schools are full of it," he said, adding literally every other garage would be full of weapons.

Upon discovery, it's not exactly like loading the unused ammunition into a truck.

"It's a huge thing, time and logistics, to move out," he said. "Some of it's not in the best condition or they'll leave a little surprise in a stack. We take all of that into account."

Once the weapons are taken away, soldiers must find an appropriate location that can handle detonating the ammunition.

Stationed out of Camp Pendleton north of San Diego, Romine said he has no intentions to leave now and plans on heading for the 30-year mark in his military career.

There's little chance, in his eyes, that his duty can get boring.

"It's never the same day twice," he said. "The situation dictates what we do. It's not a 9-to-5 job."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Platoon Outlines its Top 20 Must Haves
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by Sgt. Clinton Firstbrook
Marine Corps News
November 30, 2004

FALLUJAH, Iraq - After coming out of a combat zone, many Marines commented on the items they're glad they brought with them.

The following list includes 20 "must have" items of Marines from 3rd Platoon Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment during Operation Al Fajr:

1. Advanced combat optical gun sight/Binoculars: "When you're on post, you can tell what individuals walking down the street (blocks away) are carrying," said Cpl. Michael Fredtkou, a M-203 gunner. "The enemy doesn't expect you to see them that far away."

2. Energy bars: "They're lightweight, easy to get to," said Staff Sgt. Luis Lopez, 3rd platoon sergeant. "Plus they're not as bulky as MREs." (meals-ready-to-eat)

3. Kevlar cushions: "The old padding gives you a headache after wearing it for a few hours," said 1st Lt. Travis Fuller, 3rd platoon commander. "After a few minutes with the cushions on, you can't even tell it's there."

4. Elbow/Knee pads: "If it wouldn't be for these things, my knees would be completely cut up by now," said Lance Cpl. Tim Riffe, a machine gunner. "You can only take so much jumping into a defensive position without them."

5. Personal Role Radio: "Communication has been a huge key in our operations," said Cpl. Tyrone Wilson, 2nd squad leader. "When my squad was across the street in a defensive position, the platoon was able to let me know insurgents were in the building next to us. Who knows what would've happened if they couldn't contact me."

6. Global Positioning System: "I'm able to pinpoint our location within 10 meters when calling in position reports and medevacs," said Lance Cpl. William Woolley, a radio operator. "We'll never get lost as long as we have it."

7. Extra socks: "My feet are nice and dry right now," said Lance Cpl. Kaleb Welch, a squad automatic weapon (SAW) gunner. "I've gone without changing my socks before on three to four day training exercises and I always regretted it later."

8. Gloves: "They're clutch because when you're climbing over a wall you don't have to worry about broken glass cutting your hands," said Cpl. Gabriel Trull, 1st squad leader. "You also don't burn your hands when changing 240 golf barrels."

9. Baby wipes: "It's a multi-use piece of gear," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Irving Ochoa, a Navy Corpsman. You don't have much time out here for personal hygiene, so it's the best alternative."

10. Three-point sling: "When you're jumping over rooftops you don't want to worry about dropping your weapon," said Cpl. Dave Willis, 3rd squad leader. "At any time you can just reach down and grab it."

11. Alice/Day pack: "Without these I don't know how I'd carry all of my gear," said Lance Cpl. Geoffery Bivins, a SAW gunner. "It displaces all of the weight around my body, so I'm not uncomfortable. When you're running with 100 lbs. on your back, that's important."

12. Night Vision Goggles: "Wearing these at night gives you the advantage over the enemy," said Lance Cpl. Marquirez Chavery, a combat engineer. "When you're on a rooftop at night you can see everything."

13. Personal hydration system: "Water is one of the things you always need to make sure you have," said Seaman Hugo Lara, a Navy corpsman. "Instead of struggling to get your canteens out, the cord is there within your reach. Plus it holds more water as well."

14. Watch with compass: "You get calls where you have to lay down suppressing fire in a certain direction and instead of wasting time to ask which way is north or south, you can just look at your wrist," said Lance Cpl. Lonny Kelly, a machine gunner. "Knowing the time is important because everyone pulls shifts for guard duty or standing post. How would you know when your shift starts or stops without one?"

15. AA batteries: "You use them for your NVGs and handheld radios; both which contribute to more effective fighting," said Cpl. Bryan Morales, 1st squad 1st fire team, team leader. "You wouldn't want either of those items dying on you, so having a spare set of batteries around is very important."

16. Poncho/poncho liner: "The temperature at night is extremely different during the day," said Lance Cpl. Jonathan Etterling, machine gun team leader. "If you don't have some sort of protection at night, you end up freezing because you're cammies are still damp from sweating during the day."

17. Ballistic goggles: "I was the A-driver one of our convoys and we got hit by an IED (improvised explosive device)," said Lance Cpl. Anthony Johnson, an assaultman. "Shrapnel bounced off of my glasses, saving my vision."

18. Multi-purpose portable tool kit: "It's like carrying a combat knife, hammer and screwdriver in one hand," said Lance Cpl. Evan Fernandez, an assaultman. Cutting open MREs, cleaning your weapon, tightening screws on your gear; it has a thousand uses."

19. Carabineers: "Anything that you might have to grab at a moments notice, you don't want to be digging through your pockets to try and find it," said Pfc. Jason Kurtz, a SAW gunner. "With these you can attach anything to your flak and have right at your fingertips."

20. High powered flashlight: "It does wonders," said Cpl. Chris Williams, 2nd squad 1st fire team leader. "After you throw a fragmentation grenade into a room it's difficult to see because of all the dust floating around. No one can hide from them."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

War in Iraq leaves wounded loved ones at home
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Elliot Blair Smith
USA Today

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - In a Marine bar near Camp Lejeune, a blond woman handed a beer to the man drinking black coffee. She liked his Irish accent, which was phony, and his smile, which was genuine. It was the same big grin that blazed out of so many childhood photographs in which the crew-cut youth dressed like the Marine he had become.

The love affair of Deborah and Donald May began in September 1999 as a happy collision of two hearts. It ended March 25, 2003, during the first days of the Iraq war, when the tank commanded by Staff Sgt. May, 31, plunged into the Euphrates River and sank to the bottom. He and his three crew members drowned, trapped inside.

In less than four years together, the Mays had married, moved to the Marine base at Twentynine Palms, Calif., had two sons and were raising Deborah's daughter by a first marriage. Their talk, their letters, were filled with life and love.

Today, however, Deborah belongs to a fast-growing sorority of American war widows. As if by ricochet, each American serviceman and woman killed in combat leaves behind a trail of secondary casualties: spouses, children, parents. Through Nov. 20, 45 percent of the 1,374 U.S. service personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were married, the Defense Department says.

Considered survivors, widows and widowers of the war dead are among the conflict's walking wounded. The toll is rising amid heavy fighting in recent weeks.

The Pentagon attempts to ease the trauma of death by notifying survivors with specially trained casualty officers. That is a far cry from the impersonal telegrams delivered to families' doorsteps until early in the Vietnam War. The Department of Veterans Affairs supports military widows with financial and medical benefits that can last a lifetime.

But the death of a loved one is only the first in a series of blunt rearrangements for the surviving spouse. Civilian wives and children methodically are separated from the tightly structured military hierarchy. Base housing, neighbors, nearby schools and the fabled band of brothers all disappear. In the ensuing void, grief and trauma loom large, say war widows, casualty officers and grief counselors who spoke to USA Today.

Bonnie Carroll, founder of TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, explains: "The Defense Department's mission is war fighting. Once the paperwork is done and the late family member is out-processed, they no longer are part of the war machine."

TAPS and the VA help widows come to terms with the loss by counseling "four tasks" of mourning. Mere mileposts in recoveries that might unfold forever, they are:

Accept the reality of the loss.

Work through the grief.

Adjust to the environment in which the deceased is missing.

Form a new identity.

Psychologists William Worden and Therese Rando developed the task-based approach because they believe the bereaved must be active, rather than passive, participants in navigating the loss.

When Deborah May, 40, overcame her numb disbelief at Don's death, she, like many widows, realized that the struggle had just begun. "I had made Don my world." she says. "His world was the Marines. When he was gone, my world was gone."

Task 1: Accept the reality

After returning home from a checkup with her doctor, Deborah, seven months pregnant, learned via the Internet on March 27, 2003, that a U.S. tank was missing.

She and a neighbor, Rachel Phillips, whose husband, Randy, also served in the Marines' 1st Tank Battalion, tried to calculate the odds that one of their husbands was in the lost tank. That is when Lt. Michael Jackson, 25, drove up.

Newly commissioned as a Marine, Jackson insisted on taking the casualty officer's call when he learned that the missing tank belonged to his own battalion.

Accompanied by another Marine and a chaplain when he arrived in the neighborhood, he says: "Everybody stopped and watched us get out. They knew what we were there for."

Phillips went to the door. The broken doorbell hardly made a sound. But in looking through the peephole, she gasped loud enough for Jackson to hear. May, behind her, collapsed.

"She was screaming and falling against the wall," Phillips says.

The realization that death stands at the doorstep is perceived in slow motion: freeze-frame moments that last a lifetime, several widows say. "Everything about that moment is captured in a snapshot," TAPS founder Carroll says.

May, hysterical, hardly realized that Jackson had come to tell her only that Don and three of his men were missing. She was taken to a hospital and sedated.

When the officer returned two days later to notify her that bodies had been recovered, he had to begin all over again. Jackson, who rehearsed his lines, says, "I just threw that out of the window at the last moment. You sound like you're not human when you say it: 'I'm sorry to inform you, on behalf of the United States Marine Corps, your husband was killed in Iraq.' "

Instead, Jackson said, "I'm very sorry, Mrs. May, but Don died in Iraq."

Phillips moved in for more than a month to help care for the new widow and her children, Mariah, 8, and Jack, 3. They slept crossways on the Mays' bed because Deborah no longer could bear to sleep in her old place and feel Don missing.

Task 2: Work through grief

In July 2003, the Marines gave Deborah a mud-caked camera retrieved from Don's tank. Cracked and waterlogged, it held a roll of decomposing film. A handful of stark images were salvaged. Once again, she saw Don, looking out from a hand-dug bunker in Kuwait just before the war began.

When the time came to engage the enemy, Don and his men had served with distinction. Sweeping into Iraq, Don's tank foiled an ambush, destroyed five enemy tanks and two armored personnel carriers, and killed several enemy soldiers, according to the 1st Tank Battalion's war history, interviews and posthumous commendations.

But the wife and husband's struggle at being separated is apparent from the letters that trickled home even after Don's death. On March 7, for example, he had written from the Kuwaiti desert: "I believe this is my last tour. I don't want to ship over again if it is going to separate me from my family."

By the time Deborah received the letter, Don was dead. That is what made the broken camera and recovered photographs, though damaged by light and dirt, such an unexpected treasure.

More than the war medals and ribbons Don was awarded posthumously, she viewed the photographs as "the best gift" imaginable. "I was thrilled to have another piece of him," she says.

Recognizing that her children required her love and attention, May says she negotiated with herself over how helpless she would allow herself to feel.

"I could spend the rest of my life crying," she says. "I had to say to myself: How much time would have been enough? It never would have been enough. But what if I only knew him for five minutes? I knew I had to be happy with five minutes. So I had to be happy with - what was it? - 1,300 days."

Task 3: Adjust

On Veterans Day on Nov. 11, 2003, May appeared on "Good Morning America" with several war widows. One was Shauna O'Day, whose husband, Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick O'Day, 20, drowned with Don. Another was Brandy Williams, whose husband, Army Sgt. Eugene Williams, 24, was killed by an Iraqi suicide bomber.

O'Day, 20, of Cameron Park, Calif., who gave birth to her husband's daughter, Kylee Marie Patrick O'Day, two months before the TV appearance, says: "I had to start focusing on my life, my daughter's life. I don't want to live the rest of my life alone."

She became engaged to her late husband's best friend, Marine Pfc. Ray Brown, who now serves in Iraq. And she is pregnant again.

Williams, 27, who has two daughters - one born after the death of her husband, Eugene - moved in with her parents and works part-time. "I kind of feel like the worst has passed, and I'm trying to move forward. I'm trying to be strong for my girls," she says.

For May, getting on with her life was more difficult. "The widows live in a world where we're torn between the past and moving forward."

The VA supports military widows with lifetime financial and medical benefits. Usually, within 48 hours, a $12,000 death "gratuity" is paid. Most dependents receive a $250,000 life insurance policy. A monthly widow's pension of $967 is provided, plus $241 for each dependent child up to age 18, combined with Social Security payments. And the VA pays up to $35,460 in educational assistance.

In addition, since August 2003, the VA has made grief counseling available at 206 medical centers across the U.S.

May, who is used to pinching the pennies of an enlisted man's paycheck, says, "Don makes more money now than he ever made when he was alive." She adds, "That's not a consolation to me."

TAPS founder Carroll says, "It is very psychologically difficult to take money after a sudden traumatic death because it feels like you're getting paid for the death."

Task 4: Form new identity

Just after New Year's, May and her three children said goodbye to Twentynine Palms. But not before Jackson helped her sort through Don's belongings.

Leaving meant giving up a safety blanket. But the military asks survivors to relinquish base housing within six months, and May had stayed three months longer.

"Everybody put their arms around me in a big circle. Who wants to leave that?" she asks. By moving to Jacksonville, her family would live within a four-hour drive of Don's mother, Brenda, and his grandparents. And she would be close enough to Camp Lejeune to shop on the base and receive military medical care for the children.

Yet the transition to the East Coast meant arriving alone and anonymous. There would be no more Rachel, no more Jackson.

Rachel Phillips, who now lives in Phoenix, frets: "Two, three, four years from now, she's still going to need people. You can't leave them. You can't have a funeral and say, 'That's it.' "

Widows and widowers confront many questions: Do I take off the ring? How long should I wear black? Each question triggers personal doubts and pain.

May still wears a wedding ring. Don's voice remains on her answering machine. Her 3-year-old son, Jack, has a Marine's horseshoe haircut and Don's smile.

In the new house, she filled a glass cabinet with Don's medals and ribbons, his boots, hat and photographs. May laughs when she thinks of how Don's mother memorialized Don Sr., a former Marine, after his death even though they were divorced.

"His uniforms are hanging in her closet," she says. "Now I'm her."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

PR Meets Psy-Ops in War on Terror
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By Mark Mazzetti
LA Times Staff Writer
December 1, 2004

WASHINGTON - On the evening of Oct. 14, a young Marine spokesman near Fallouja appeared on CNN and made a dramatic announcement.

"Troops crossed the line of departure," 1stLt. Lyle Gilbert declared, using a common military expression signaling the start of a major campaign. "It's going to be a long night." CNN, which had been alerted to expect a major news development, reported that the long-awaited offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Fallouja had begun.

In fact, the Fallouja offensive would not kick off for another three weeks. Gilbert's carefully worded announcement was an elaborate psychological operation - or "psy-op" - intended to dupe insurgents in Fallouja and allow U.S. commanders to see how guerrillas would react if they believed U.S. troops were entering the city, according to several Pentagon officials.

In the hours after the initial report, CNN's Pentagon reporters were able to determine that the Fallouja operation had not, in fact, begun.

"As the story developed, we quickly made it clear to our viewers exactly what was going on in and around Fallouja," CNN spokesman Matthew Furman said.

Officials at the Pentagon and other U.S. national security agencies said the CNN incident was not an isolated feint - the type used throughout history by armies to deceive their enemies - but part of a broad effort underway within the Bush administration to use information to its advantage in the war on terrorism.

The Pentagon in 2002 was forced to shutter its controversial Office of Strategic Influence (OSI), which was opened shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, after reports that the office intended to plant false news stories in the international media. But officials say that much of OSI's mission - using information as a tool of war - has been assumed by other offices throughout the U.S. government.

Although most of the work remains classified, officials say that some of the ongoing efforts include having U.S. military spokesmen play a greater role in psychological operations in Iraq, as well as planting information with sources used by Arabic TV channels such as Al Jazeera to help influence the portrayal of the United States.

Other specific examples were not known, although U.S. national security officials said an emphasis had been placed on influencing how foreign media depict the United States.

These efforts have set off a fight inside the Pentagon over the proper use of information in wartime. Several top officials see a danger of blurring what are supposed to be well-defined lines between the stated mission of military public affairs - disseminating truthful, accurate information to the media and the American public - and psychological and information operations, the use of often-misleading information and propaganda to influence the outcome of a campaign or battle.

Several of those officials who oppose the use of misleading information spoke out against the practice on the condition of anonymity.

"The movement of information has gone from the public affairs world to the psychological operations world," one senior defense official said. "What's at stake is the credibility of people in uniform."

Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said he recognized the concern of many inside the Defense Department, but that "everybody understands that there's a very important distinction between information operations and public affairs. Nobody has offered serious proposals that would blur the distinction between these two functions."

Di Rita said he had asked his staff for more information about how the Oct. 14 incident on CNN came about.

One recent development critics point to is the decision by commanders in Iraq in mid-September to combine public affairs, psychological operations and information operations into a "strategic communications" office. An organizational chart of the newly created office was obtained by The Times. The strategic communications office, which began operations Sept. 15, is run by Air Force Brig. Gen. Erv Lessel, who answers directly to Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Partly out of concern about this new office, Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, distributed a letter Sept. 27 to the Joint Chiefs and U.S. combat commanders in the field warning of the dangers of having military public affairs (PA) too closely aligned with information operations (IO).

"Although both PA and IO conduct planning, message development and media analysis, the efforts differ with respect to audience, scope and intent, and must remain separate," Myers wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Times.

Pentagon officials say Myers is worried that U.S. efforts in Iraq and in the broader campaign against terrorism could suffer if world audiences begin to question the honesty of statements from U.S. commanders and spokespeople.

"While organizations may be inclined to create physically integrated PA/IO offices, such organizational constructs have the potential to compromise the commander's credibility with the media and the public," Myers wrote.

Myers' letter is not being heeded in Iraq, officials say, in part because many top civilians at the Pentagon and National Security Council support an effort that blends public affairs with psy-ops to win Iraqi support - and Arab support in general - for the U.S. fight against the insurgency.

Advocates of these programs said that the advent of a 24-hour news cycle and the powerful influence of Arabic satellite television made it essential that U.S. military commanders and civilian officials made the control of information a key part of their battle plans.

"Information is part of the battlefield in a way that it's never been before," one senior Bush administration official said. "We'd be foolish not to try to use it to our advantage."

And, supporters argue, it is necessary to fill a vacuum left when the budgets for the State Department's public diplomacy programs were slashed and the U.S. Information Agency - a bulwark of the nation's anticommunist efforts during the Cold War - was gutted in the 1990s.

"The worst outcome would be to lose this war by default. If the smart folks in the psy-op and civil affairs tents can cast a truthful, persuasive message that resonates with the average Iraqi, why not use the public affairs vehicles to transmit it?" asked Charles A. Krohn, a professor at the University of Michigan and former deputy chief of public affairs for the Army. "What harm is done, compared to what is gained? For the first year of the war, we did virtually nothing to tell the Iraqis why we invaded their country and ejected their government. It's about time we got our act together."

Advocates also cite a September report by the Defense Science Board, a panel of outside experts that advises Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, which concluded that a "crisis" in U.S. "strategic communications" had undermined American efforts to fight Islamic extremism worldwide.

The study cited polling in the Arab world that revealed widespread hatred of the United States throughout the Middle East. A poll taken in June by Zogby International revealed that 94% of Saudi Arabians had an "unfavorable" view of the United States, compared with 87% in April 2002. In Egypt, the second largest recipient of U.S. aid, 98% of respondents held an unfavorable view of the United States.

The Defense Science Board recommended a presidential directive to "coordinate all components of strategic communication including public diplomacy, public affairs, international broadcasting and military information operations."

Di Rita said there was general agreement inside the Bush administration that the U.S. government was ill-equipped to communicate its policies and messages abroad in the current media climate.

"As a government, we're not very well organized to do that," he said.

Yet some in the military argue that the efforts at better "strategic communication" sometimes cross the line into propaganda, citing some recent media briefings held in Iraq. During a Nov. 10 briefing by Marine Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, reporters were shown a video of Iraqi troops saluting their flag and singing the Iraqi national anthem.

"Pretty soon, we're going to have the 5 o'clock follies all over again, and it will take us another 30 years to restore our credibility," said a second senior Defense official, referring to the much-ridiculed daily media briefings in Saigon during the Vietnam War.

According to several Pentagon officials, the strategic communications programs at the Defense Department are being coordinated by the office of the undersecretary of Defense for policy, Douglas J. Feith.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

No. 1231-04
Dec 01, 2004
IMMEDIATE RELEASE




National Guard and Reserve Mobilized as of December 1, 2004
This week, the Army and Air Force announced an increase in the number of reservists on active duty in support of the partial mobilization, while the Navy and Marines had a decrease. The Coast Guard number remained unchanged. The net collective result is 659 more reservists mobilized than last week.

At any given time, services may mobilize some units and individuals while demobilizing others, making it possible for these figures to either increase or decrease. Total number currently on active duty in support of the partial mobilization for the Army National Guard and Army Reserve is 157,261; Naval Reserve, 3,132; Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, 11,390; Marine Corps Reserve, 10,594; and the Coast Guard Reserve, 1,054. This brings the total National Guard and Reserve personnel, who have been mobilized, to 183,431 including both units and individual augmentees.

A cumulative roster of all National Guard and Reserve personnel, who are currently mobilized can be found at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2004/d20041201ngr.pdf.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

No. 1232-04
Dec 01, 2004
IMMEDIATE RELEASE




Department of Defense Announces Troop Extensions for Iraq
Today the Secretary of Defense approved a request by the Commander of Multi-National Forces-Iraq (MNF(I)) to extend two Army brigades and a Marine Expeditionary Unit operating in Iraq. The Secretary also approved the Commander’s request for two additional infantry battalions to deploy to Iraq.

General George Casey, Commander, MNF-I, requested the extension of the units, as they are the most experienced and best-qualified forces to sustain the momentum of post-Fallujah operations and to provide for additional security for the upcoming elections, in conjunction with the Iraqi Security forces.

The United States Army’s 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, the 2nd Brigade 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas and the United States Marine Corps’ 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, Okinawa, Japan, will be extended beyond their current rotation dates. This extension also includes the 66th Transportation Company, Kleber Kasern, Germany. The length of extension varies between the units. Two battalions from the 82nd Airborne Division will deploy to Iraq for an anticipated duration of approximately 120 days to support security efforts during the election period.

This approved request adds an additional 1,500 active duty soldiers, and extends approximately 10,400 active duty combat forces, which includes 2,300 Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit off of the ESSEX Expeditionary Strike Group. This extension is in conjunction with the current force rotation, and will increase the U. S. forces in theater from 17 to 20 brigades, increasing the force size in Iraq to approximately 150,000 personnel during the election period.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Presenter: Maj. Gen. Fred D. Robinson, Director of Operations, Readiness and Mobilization, Army G3




Media Roundtable on Troop Extensions
(Also participating was Deputy Director for Regional Operations, Joint Staff Operations Directorate, Brig. Gen. David Rodriguez, U.S. Army, and Director, Operations Division, USMC, Brig. Gen. Robert B. Neller)

STAFF: (In progress) -- to discuss the troop extensions and some deployments for a short-term period in Iraq, and so we will stick to that topic today. And they're going to lay it out for you a little bit and give you an opportunity to ask some questions, and then we'll wrap it up.

With that, go ahead.

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Okay. Brigadier General Rodriguez, like I said, from the Joint Staff in the Operations section. On my right I have Brigadier General Bob Neller, who's out of the Operations section of the United States Marine Corps. And on my left is Major General Robinson from the Operations section of the Army. And today we're here to talk to you about the troop extensions and deployment in Iraq to support the elections and continue to keep pressure on the insurgency.

These units that are going to be extended who are over there are the 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division, about 4,400 personnel from Hawaii; also the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas, and there will be about 3,500 of those; and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), approximately 2,300 personnel from both Okinawa and Hawaii and California; a transportation company, 160 personnel out of Germany. And they are all the extensions that we're going to discuss today. And then lastly there is an additional deployment of two battalions from the 82nd Airborne Division out of North Carolina, approximately 1,500 personnel.

These modifications are part of an ongoing effort by the ground commanders to review and evaluate the troop levels in Iraq and adjust to the situation. The continual review may result in additional adjustments to the troop level there, and it gives them the ability to adjust to the situation on the ground.

With that, we'll take your questions.

Q: General, are any of these extensions -- will this result in any of these troops having been on the ground in Iraq for more than 12 months --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, it will. The extensions for the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry, as well as the 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division and the 66th Transportation Company, which is the unit from Germany that I mentioned -- those personnel will be on the ground in Iraq more than 12 months.

Q: You know about how long?

Q: How long?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Up to 14 months, the longest. It's, you know, a little bit different from each other, but it's between a month and two months for both of them.

Q: How many troops are we talking about involved, the ones that you just mentioned?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: The ones I just mentioned were the 4,400 --

Q: No, how many troops does that involve? How many troops total is that?

STAFF: You mean what's the increase be over the --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: I'll tell you the three numbers: 4,400, 3,500, and 160. Okay? I can't add that quick -- (cross talk) --

STAFF: (Off mike) -- 150,000.

Q: A hundred fifty thousand?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Total?

Q: What will the total be?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, it will be approximately 150,000 in Iraq at that point in time when the -- during the --

Q: When do you expect it to reach that point? About mid- January or early January? This month?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: It will be late December, early January about when they --

Q: When will the 82nd go? The two battalions from the 82nd, when will they go?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: They'll deploy here shortly and be there by mid- December.

Q: How long do you expect the 82nd to be there?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Expect to be there about 120 days at the -- up to 120 days.

Q: Is the 150,000 the highest level it's been since the invasion force?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, it is. The 150,000 is the highest level since the invasion.

Q: General, the -- it's my understanding there are about 138,000 there now? Is that correct?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Right. Thereabout -- I'd say that's correct. Now, you've got to understand that we're just beginning another transition between forces. They do the flow. So the numbers fluctuate a little based on coming in and out, because you understand they have the two week overlap as they get their feet on the ground --

Q: Right, but roughly 10,000 of those you're talking about here are already there. So how do you --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: The flow continues for the people that are coming in. So the difference is about 10,000.

Q: Do you know where those first units come from? How do you get the additional 12,000?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, the -- I don't know whether I know all of them off the top of my head, but it's the -- like the 116th is coming in right now, so they are -- they will be additional personnel because the unit that they are replacing is not coming out. The 2nd of the 1st is already an additional unit, so that unit just flowed in recently. So that unit should be part of the additional build-up. So, but I can't give you specific fact -- I mean, I can; I don't have it off the top of my head though.

Q: General, do you plan on accelerating any elements of the 3rd ID?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, we do not. There's no plan to accelerate units of the 3rd Infantry Division at this point in time.

Q: How about the 3rd ACR?

Q: So the extra two months for the troops that are extended, that puts them where? And also, can you refresh our memory -- how many were in the invasion force? Is it higher than the initial invasion force? I can't remember.

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: I don't know the exact invasion force thing, but since the post combat operations since then -- I'd say it's a little bit higher than that. That was about 148,000 about that point in time.

Q: So the plans for the extensions takes them to when?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Takes them to the beginning of March to mid- March. And you know, you got to -- you got to spread it out 'cause they call can't come out at once, so it's about that time.

Q: And could you say what the primary purpose is? And if it's, in fact, for the elections, to help out that, what will the troops really be doing?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: The purposes are -- it's mainly to provide security for the elections, but it's also to keep up the pressure on the insurgency after the Fallujah operation, but both those things provide better security for the elections. So as far as, you know, how they'll be used over there, that's to be determined by the ground commanders, but -- and there's multiple ways to secure the elections, one of them being just like we did in Afghanistan, was keep the pressure up on the insurgencies and they ended up staying away. So they're going to determine that based on the situation on the ground.

Q: And you don't know yet like whether they will be at polling places --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, I do not. No. That's for them to determine.

Q: That's just not in your planning?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No. That's correct.

Q: Will you accelerate deployments, 3rd ACR?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, there will be no accelerated deployments at this time planned at all for either the 3rd ACR or the 3rd Infantry Division.

Q: What --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: The timing -- as you look closely through the timing of when the people rotating in and how they're rotating in, the ground commander believes that the most experienced troops are the ones he needs to stay there longer during this critical time surrounding the Iraqi election. They're the ones who know the ground best, who have worked with the people closest. And the deploying soldiers from the 82nd are actually going to go in and replace some of the 1st Cavalry soldiers, who are securing some sites in Baghdad, and then they're going to get the 1st Cavalry soldiers out and about who have been back and forth already in the city, so that's why the most experienced soldiers has been the determining factor in why he requested that it be done this way.

Q: General Smith, the deputy commander of CENTCOM, a couple of weeks ago was talking about the possibility of an increase and was talking about maybe a brigade net increase, maybe 3 (thousand) to 5,000 troops. This seems -- this is significantly more than that net increase. What changed in that time?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Well, you know, like I said, this is an ongoing assessment. And as the ground commander assessed the situation on the ground between the operation in Fallujah and the results of that and what we were able to accomplish there, and then as he looked forward he came forward with this request. So I don't know the particulars on why that was a little bit different than what they mentioned a couple of weeks ago.

Q: Do you still have more residual commitments in Fallujah than you were expecting at this stage?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: I don't know that specifics. But, you know, like I said, this is a constant assessment of how the ground commander is going to -- you know, to execute his tasks and everything. So he made the assessment based on the current situation where they're at and what he's looking in the near future up through the election period, and this is what he's requesting.

Q: To what extent does this reflect any -- a shortfall either in numbers or capability of Iraqi security forces? And do you have any -- I know they talked about they had a goal of -- I think President Bush said 125,000 or something. Where are we on that time frame? Is there a shortage of Iraqi troops that would necessitate more U.S. troops?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, the Iraqi forces have continued to improve. They're making progress toward being able to provide for their own security. There are about 115,000 performing those tasks right now. And this is no reflection on the Iraqi forces. This is -- like I said, this is a combination of the Iraqi force, the coalition force and the U.S. forces, what the ground commander believes he needs for the situation at this point in time.

continued.......

[thedrifter]

Q: And you're on track to reach the goal by January when the elections take place -- of Iraqi forces --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: I believe that the 125,000 that you --

Q: So you're on track?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: That's correct.

Q: General Casey said 145,000. Are you pulling back from that number?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, I am not pulling back from that. I don't know the specific things. I said I think he's about close, okay? So that's -- but I don't know that specific number at this point in time. But I can get back with you on that, okay?

Q: You're saying that while there's an ongoing assessment right now that currently you expect the force to be back to about 138,000 to 140,000 by mid-March if there's no change, right?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: That's right, if there's no change. That's correct.

Q: It will be back to current level when --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Right.

Q: Could you remind us of the other extensions of your plan? I understand there is the 20,000 with the 1st ID and the, after that, -- (inaudible).

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: The 1st Infantry Division Headquarters, and also Task Force Olympia, which is the headquarters up in MNB North, as well as the MNC-I headquarters, which is built around the 3rd Corps, we delayed the replacement of those forces a couple of weeks so that they could remain through the elections, for the same reason, so that they had the most experienced personnel there through the election period.

Q: Sir, could you run the numbers for us? What -- if you didn't do all of this, how many folks would you have had in place at the time of the elections and now after you've taken these actions and the decisions, you'll have --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: It's about like what Charlie said. It was about 138,000 -- you know, between 138(,000) and 140,000. Right around there was where we would have been without this. And then, at this point in time, it's going to be about 150(,000), somewhere around there, after --

Q: Do you have a one-for-one promise to these guys; that they spent 14 months there, they'll spend 14 months at home?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: That is the goal, and we've been able to do that in the planning process for the other organization that was -- earlier stayed up past 12 months. That's correct. That's the goal and will continue to be the goal.

Q: A question for General Robinson.

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: And we see -- foresee no bad impact on that in the future.

Q: A question for General Robinson.

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.

Q: Can you just give us a little sense sort of what this change in the rotation does for readiness, particularly since the 82nd Airborne is the so-called 911 force?

GEN. ROBINSON: As far as readiness, it really doesn't change. Immediately upon these two battalions deploying out of the DRB (Division Ready Brigade), we will regenerate two battalions to take their place. I mean, they're already going through that process right now. We always have a backup brigade, so if one deploys, the next one's cycled to be able to fall in. And that's -- there will be no gap in the DRB capability.

Q: Are these the same troops that went to Afghanistan?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No. No.

GEN. ROBINSON: No, sir, these are not. These are ones that --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: They're from the same division, but a different brigade. So it's the same ones. That was --

Q: Somebody went to Afghanistan, and when was that? In September?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, they --

GEN. ROBINSON: Yeah.

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: They went around the election period, the same time, for about 90 days, the election in Afghanistan. And it was about 575 - 600 personnel --

(Cross talk.)

Q: Can you tell us where you expect they'll be concentrated? The airborne troops -- where will they be concentrated?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: The --

Q: Specifically?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: It's going in the 1st Cavalry Division's area of operations, because what it's going to do is, it's going to release some 1st Cavalry Division soldiers to go back out and support the operations that are ongoing in the vicinity of Baghdad, in the greater Baghdad area.

Q: General, can you walk us through each one of these units that are being extended, when they were supposed to leave, when they'll -- when they're now scheduled to leave?

And I know for the 2nd of the 1st, it's the second extension that they've received.

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Right. They were supposed to be coming out in November, and then when we extended in the first time, for two months, they were supposed to come out in January 12th –

[Sic: Clarification on 1st Cavalry extension provided by Joint Staff:] (1st Cavalry Division units were informed in October they would be extended for two months, to depart Iraq around mid-January.)

Q: Which unit?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: This is for the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry. And now they'll come out about 45 days past that.

Q: Thirty-five days?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Forty-five days past that. So --

Q: Can you run through the other three units you mentioned -- (off mike) -- the 2nd of the 25th --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: The 2nd of the 25th was coming out right around the beginning part of January, and now it'll come out in the March time frame now.

Q: So how long will the 2nd Brigade of the 1st --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Just a second -- yes, about 60 days. That's correct. Also, the MEU was coming out in January, and now it's going to come out at February-March -- March 15th by the time it comes out. And then the truck company -- excuse me?

Q: How long will be the MEU be there? The Marines normally go for what, seven months? And they will be there --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Right, they'll be there about eight months and everything, and including their ship time back and all that, somewhere around nine, nine and a half months.

Q: How long will the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cav have been there? They were supposed to come out in November, and they're --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: As you remember, Charlie, on the troop rotation as we go through that, we spread that. They were one of the units that was only going for 10 months originally scheduled, so the first extension took them up to about 12 months, and then this will take them up two more, so it will be about 14 months.

Q: The 2nd of the 25th, is that part of Task Force Olympia?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: The 2nd of 25th is currently part of the 1st Infantry Division, which is in north-central Baghdad, centered around Tikrit, Baqubah, in that area.

Q: And now long will they have been -- once they're finished?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: About 13-1/2 months. You know, it's just a little bit less than 14.

Q: General, go back to the question about what these troops will actually do. We've been hearing there could be as many as 6(,000) to 9,000 for the polling locations around the whole country. Would you envision U.S. troops literally standing guard at polling stations to allow people to vote, that sort of thing?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: I don't have the specifics on that. The ground commanders make that plan, and they are going through those processes now. But like I said, there's many ways to secure the elections, and that the over-arching mission is to secure the elections. But I don't have those kind of specifics here today.

Q: You're saying that it's up to Casey, basically, to make that decision --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Right. Right. He fights that situation on the ground, he sure does.

Q: Is the 13th COSCOM part of this extension? And could you do the truck issue, please?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. The truck company, about 160 personnel, who are actually the 66th Transportation Company, are stationed on Germany, and they are part of the 3rd (sic) COSCOM. So it's one very, very small element of the 160 personnel who are in the 3rd (sic) COSCOM. And they are in the same boat. They were supposed to come out, you know, early in January, and are going to end up coming out in just by March. So it's the same thing, about 60 days of extension for them to stay.

Q: Sir, I think you mean the 13th COSCOM, right?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Yes. I'm sorry. The 13th COSCOM, yes.

Q: You used the number of 148,000. I wasn't clear whether you were referring to the -- (off mike) -- force or the total in during the elections.

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: During elections we estimate would be about 150,000 now. The high point earlier on, somewhere around May, was about 148,000.

Q: May of '03?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, I'm sorry. May of '03. Thank you.

Q: One of the things that General Abizaid said a couple months ago on the Hill was that he expected there to be a need for more troops, and he hoped they would be Iraqi troops. He surely knew how many Iraqi troops would be through training on schedule by now. You say they're on schedule, but something happened here with the -- (inaudible) --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: I mentioned earlier, the Iraqi troops are continuing to make progress and continue to develop the leaders all the way up from the senior leader level all the way through the nine commissioned officers. When he said -- you know, when he mentioned that and everything -- the training piece of it gets you so far and everything, and then the experience and all that of what they have to do and what level that they need to be to handle the situation and stuff is what the difference in stuff that we're talking about here and stuff.

So operationally, you know, they've -- like I said, they've got -- many of those units continue to make progress. They've had many recent successes, beginning in Najaf all the way up through Fallujah. And based on the situation, including all those soldiers and troops from the Iraqi Army, he still thinks he needs about 10,000 more, which is what he's asked for.

Q: So is it fair to say they're not where you or where General Abizaid hoped they would be? I mean, whether it's experience or training or whatever --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: You'd have to ask General Abizaid that question, okay?

Q: Could I also just quickly ask General Neller and Robinson --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Sure.

Q: -- concerns about retention, because you have these extensions? Retention, recruitment -- are you seeing any signs that you should be concerned about because of that, and does that concern you?

GEN. NELLER: For the obvious reasons, we're monitoring that very closely. And thus far we have not seen any negative trends as far as either retention or enlistment. In fact, in some cases we've seen it be positive.

Q: General Rodriguez --

Q: General Robinson, would you mind just --

GEN. ROBINSON: I just reviewed last night with the vice chief of staff of the Army the active duty and retention for the first quarter, and it's exactly on track. And, you know, the previous extensions from the 1st Armored and the 2nd Infantry are -- earlier this summer, there's -- as long as it's a mission and they're focused, we've generally not seen a retention problem.

Q: General Rodriguez, right now the elections are on track for January 30th, but there's some talk in the Iraqi government of possibly delaying that. If that happens, doesn't this throw this whole plan into chaos?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, this -- you know, the plan for troop rotations and how we support the combatant commander with providing troops and everything is fairly flexible. And for this plan -- for this extension and deployment here, especially the extension, understand, they would not be extended any further than this, okay? So -- but -

continued..........

[thedrifter]

Q: So could you run through the hypothetical issue of --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, I couldn't. I'm not going to run through all the hypotheticals, but I got to tell you that the plan is flexible and we can adjust to whatever the commander needs on the ground.

Q: So these units can be sure that if the election changes from January 30th to February 30th that they're not going to change that out date after that?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: That's right. That's the current plan right now, even if that -- that's correct.

Q: I'm sorry; February 28th would be the last day.

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Right.

(Cross talk.)

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: There you go. All right.

Q: So you're guaranteeing that the 1st Cav is going to come home in --

(Cross talk.)

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: I don't make guarantees. That is the plan, and all these troops -- and because these are the ones that have been there longest and been extended, the plan is that they come home at the end of this extension whether the -- you know, but let me say we're also focusing on the elections going on the 30th of January.

Q: General Rodriguez, do you know, under the original phase four plan, what was the troop level supposed to be for the U.S. in Iraq at the end of '04?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, I do not know that off the top of my head. No.

Q: General, what would you say to the critics who say that the fact that you had to have these extensions now, extending people beyond a year, essentially shows that the U.S. military is too small, that you ought to have more --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: I'd say we've -- we can -- like we've always said, we give the combatant commander the troops that he needs and the level he wants, and we've been able to adjust over time as we've done many times. You know, one we were going down to actually about 13 brigades and then planning it up going back to 17. And there's enough flexibility in the plan to adjust however they need. And we --

Q: No one is saying that you can't get the job done by working harder and longer, or getting the job done. The question is, should you really have to be resorting to extensions and this sort of thing? If you had more troops in the U.S. military, specifically in the Army, wouldn't you be able to do this without having the troop extensions?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: The extensions in this case are required for the specific point in time that we're at right now, based on the Fallujah operation that just went on and the timing of the elections and the security situation. So the determination was made on the ground that the most experienced soldiers need to stay in rather than bring in the new -- rotate everybody in, so that's who he wanted additional to stay because of that. So like I said, right now, you know, we think we can handle all this at this point in time.

STAFF: We have time for maybe one or two more. How about somebody that hasn't had a chance to ask a question?

Q: General, how many -- how many insurgents do you or does the Army, the military project that you're facing there in Iraq?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: I don't have an exact number. You know, it fluctuates; there's a big range. I just don't know what that --

Q: It used to be 5,000. But is this a tacit admission that that number is growing?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: I couldn't tell you the kind of specifics on the intelligence right now.

Q: General, during previous extensions of the 3rd Infantry Division and the 1st Armored Division in particular, some family members complained loudly and bitterly. Have you heard any response so far from family members who've said, "We were expecting our loved ones home at a certain time and now this is going to get extended."

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, I have not. You know, the soldiers and their family members understand the importance of this. And we understand it's a lot of sacrifice involved, and they understand that and they understand the importance of it. And they've been, you know, doing a great job and we appreciate all that.

STAFF: Jeanie, we're going to make you the last question. You have it, Jeanie.

Q: General Neller, is this the first time the Marines have been extended? And what does this do to their rotation? If the 31st MEU is going to be gone a total of nine and a half months by the time they get back, doesn't throw everything else off?

GEN. NELLER: We've extended other MEUs in the past. You remember the 26th MEU went into Iraq, and then they ended up on the way home they got extended to do the Liberia operation. So they understand they've got a mission. And if there are some potential impacts down (inaudible), then we'll adjust the schedule in order to keep our commitment to the Marines that they get time home for time deployed.

And we're looking at how we can get them back as quickly as we can. And like General Rodriguez said, we have enough depth in the structure that we can flex a little bit and to make sure that they get proper time to refit and retrain before they have to go back.

STAFF: Okay, we have passed out a news release that if there are insufficient copies, that you'll be able to get a copy over at the press office.

Q: One more?

STAFF: That was the last question. Thanks very much.

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Thanks.

Q: When were the troops notified? When were the troops notified?

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Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. to Expand Military Force in Iraq

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - The United States is expanding its military force in Iraq (news - web sites) to the highest level of the war — even higher than during the initial invasion in March 2003 — in order to bolster security in advance of next month's national elections.


The 12,000-troop increase is to last only until March, but it says much about the strength and resiliency of an insurgency that U.S. military planners did not foresee when Baghdad was toppled in April 2003.


Brig. Gen. David Rodriguez, deputy operations director of the Joint Staff, told reporters Wednesday that the American force will expand from 138,000 troops today to about 150,000 by January.


The previous high for the U.S. force in Iraq was 148,000 on May 1, 2003, when President Bush (news - web sites) declared that major combat operations were over and most soldiers thought the war had been won. The initial invasion force included thousands of sailors on ships in the Persian Gulf and other waters, plus tens of thousands of troops in Kuwait and other surrounding countries.


The expansion in Iraq will be achieved by sending about 1,500 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C., this month and by extending the combat tours of about 10,400 troops already in Iraq. Those 10,400 will be extras until March because the soldiers who were scheduled to replace them in January will arrive as planned.


Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld approved the moves Wednesday, according to a Pentagon (news - web sites) statement.


"They are the most experienced and best-qualified forces to sustain the momentum of post-Fallujah operations and to provide for additional security for the upcoming elections," the statement said.


The Pentagon originally expected to train and equip enough Iraqi government forces to fill the security gap in the weeks leading up to the elections, but that hope was not fulfilled.


The military is reluctant to extend soldiers' combat tours because of the potential negative effect it could have on their families, and thus on their willingness to remain in the service. In this case, Gen. George Casey, the most senior U.S. commander in Iraq, decided it was necessary to keep up pressure on the insurgents while also providing security for the elections.


One unit, the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, is being extended for the second time. Its soldiers originally were told they would be going home in November at the end of a 10-month assignment, but in October they got the news that they would remain until mid-January. Now they are being extended until mid-March.


The 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry and most of the other extended units will end up serving about 14 months in Iraq, exceeding by two months the 12-month standard set by the Army.


Rodriguez listed these unit extensions:


_About 4,400 troops of the 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division, which is operating in north-central Iraq, will stay until mid-March, instead of departing in early January. Those soldiers' home bases are mostly in Hawaii.


_About 3,500 soldiers of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry, will be extended until March. These are the soldiers who originally were told they would be leaving Iraq in November.


_About 2,300 members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in Okinawa, Japan and in Hawaii, and California, will stay until mid-March instead of leaving in January.


_About 160 soldiers of the 66th Transportation Company, based in Germany, was due to depart Iraq in early January but instead will stay until early March.


The 82nd Airborne is generally relied upon by the Army to keep one of its three brigades on short-notice alert year-round to deploy abroad in the event of a crisis. Shortly before the October elections in Afghanistan (news - web sites), about 600 members of the 82nd Airborne were sent there to strengthen security.





Military officials have said repeatedly in recent weeks that they were considering whether more American troops would be required to provide sufficient security before Iraqis vote.

The moves announced Wednesday are in line with expectations — a combination of holding some troops in Iraq longer than scheduled and sending some fresh forces from the United States.

Sen. Jack Reed (news, bio, voting record), D-R.I., a critic of the administration's handling of the war, said the Pentagon's announcement confirmed that the effort to stabilize Iraq would take years, with no certainty of success.

"This announcement makes it clear that commanders in Iraq need more troops and that this will be a long and very expensive process for the United States," Reed said. "It is still not clear whether Iraq will emerge from this chronic violence as a viable and stable country."

Officials have said they were considering sending some elements of the 3rd Infantry to Iraq earlier than scheduled, as part of a force-bolstering plan. But Rodriguez said it was decided that no units will have their deployments accelerated as part of the pre-election security effort.

Security problems are most severe in the area north and west of Baghdad, as well as in the capital itself. Voter registration has not yet begun in the more unstable cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

Recently there also has been trouble in the northern city of Mosul. On Wednesday, U.S. soldiers traveling through Mosul on a mission to discuss the January election with Iraqis came under fire at a gasoline station, witnesses said. One U.S. soldier was wounded in the ensuing gunbattle.


Ellie