278th RCT (A Troop 1/278th RCT)

Begin from last to first if looking for the story

2011-06-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

As with these you have to start at the last and work your way to the first for a chronological ordering of events, more or less.

NTC okay I drove 200 yards onto it so have been there now

2011-06-13T08:07:00.001-07:00

Working at Edwards AFB now.

Old Tankers Never Die they just go around taking stupid photos of old tanks.

The XO at Fort Sill "Check or Hold" 2010 and a walk through 2005

2010-05-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

The man, the myth, the legend, he sweet talked the Iraqi women from being suicide bombers with his charm, then he hardened the Balad Ruz ING HQ, built the only live fire range used during the entire deployment to include grenading bunkers, got out the vote, and like Patton he was with J.E.B. Stuart in another life, previously as a cannoneer, unfortunately back then the rifles outranged the cannons so he was tragically shot dead at Chickamauga, he came back as Union mule skinner though. Currently he fires the said cannon seen here at the daily flag raising at Fort Sill, the honor goes to the those older than the cannon, or closest to that mark.

He re-enlisted only those that would take the Oath on the Iranian border within rifle fire range of the Iranian "elite" border patrol militia who screamed "Jihad" "Death to America" as the oath was adiministered, Hooooahs and Rebel yells being returned by the Tennesseans providing overwatch.

He sat inconspicuosly on the Tank main gun for the unit photo, and in the MiTT photo on his Hummer, A65 "always looking for trouble".

He commanded the elite secret American motorcycle assault team in Iraq, he is currently in training for the 20th Group bicycle attack sapper team, the bike frames are actually filled with high-explosives and magnetized so you can stick them to a metal bridge, or 550 cord them, this innocent looking model he is sitting on in a secret location is actually a weapon of mass destruction. Specialized now has a whole new meaning. (Special Forces had to have the word "Specialized" of course yielding the new "Specialized Special Forces" monikor).

Graduation Photo of the Field Artillery Career Course now included, truely a renaissance man, farmer, warrior, poet, lover, and athelete.

SPC Light and Simms(? spelling) Athens Park 2010

2010-05-15T15:42:00.001-07:00

Athens Park 2010, and Iraq 2005, that is Light in between Rios and Dalton on the other end of the stretcher and humping the MK19 40mm Grenade launcher outside our CHUs at "Battle Position Caldwell" FOB Caldwell/KMTB.

Simms is going back a-gain, Godspeed to bold and the brave! Sergeant Simms already has survived one fight, April 4th 2005.

Balad Ruz 2007-2009

2010-02-27T08:36:00.001-08:00

They can thank the Texas Engineers for that sweet HESCO barrier barricade along the main drag, and SFC Lowe/XO Andrews. now someone go get the gravel from FOB Knott and put it down and the job will be done.

SFC Bobbit, 1st PLT PSG

2010-02-27T08:34:00.001-08:00

Outskirts of Balad Ruz, Iraq 2005, NC Guard mounting up, 2004. Top left first operational week for 278th RCT December 2004, day after Christmas. SFC Bobbit and RTO looking GI Joe Vietnam Backdrop Style. All they need now is a napalm strike on the palm trees.

West Point Graduates Deaths (Vic Baladruz)

2010-02-27T08:04:00.001-08:00

These guys have taken a number of hits, West Point Graduates, indicative of the role of a second lieutenant being up front with their troops, more remarkable given we did not have anyone killed in Balad Ruz during our deployment, or the immediate vicinity. Now the Iraqis had dozens killed in the same period. Hind sight is 20/20 but I am thankful for the route clearing efforts of our tank platoon and others now and our general situational awareness and patrol posture, armed to the teeth would describe it mostly. It was not glamorous but the route clearing made all the difference looking back.

CPT Schiller was KIA during a small arms engagement, Capt. Torre R. Mallard was killed by an IED.

Satellite Map Link to Iraq

2009-12-05T09:08:00.001-08:00

http://www.maplandia.com/iraq/diyala/balad-ruz/

A good link may be better than the one below.

I guess once again Baldruz is still not took, even in 2009!

2009-12-05T08:48:00.001-08:00

You know these guys were bored to death this place had a whole Iraqi Army Division operational by 2007. The town is probably looking great by now though it was booming before we left it in 2005, lots of construction and people were out on the stoop at night, traffic etc. Dee-ja-jay for everyone!

Area swept of al-Qaida in grueling battle

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, December 4, 2009

Ben Bloker / S&S

Soldiers from 1st Platoon, Company A, Task Force 3-66 Armor and the Iraqi army wait through gusting winds before heading out on patrol in the village of Tahweela. The Iraqi army, supported by soldiers from Company A, kicked off Operation Dark Wolf Pursuit One to execute the “clear, hold and build” strategy in the southern Balad Ruz District of Iraq’s Diyala province.

Ben Bloker / S&S

Pfc. Marc Capo, with 1st Platoon, Company A, Task Force 3-66 Armor, provides watch as Iraqi army soldiers raid a house in Tahweela. The Iraqi army was searching for a “high-value target” but came up short.

Ben Bloker / S&S

First Lt. Javier Avila, 3rd Platoon leader for Company A, Task Force 3-66 Armor, and Lt. Zafer from the Iraqi army are reflected in the glasses of Iraqi army Pvt. Raad Gabar as they coordinated a patrol in February in the village of Tahweela.

Ben Bloker / S&S

Iraqi children smile and giggle as soldiers from 1st Platoon, Company A, Task Force 3-66 Armor and the Iraqi army pass by during a joint patrol in February in Tahweela.

Ben Bloker / S&S

Sgt. Joseph Prince, from 3rd Platoon, Company A, Task Force 3-66 Armor, pulls security while Iraqi army soldiers search a house during a patrol in February in Tahweela.

Bringing back Balad Ruz: Area swept of al-Qaida in grueling battle

Road warriors of Gila

1-2 soldiers tasked with getting Iraqis autonomy

Despite new restrictions, battalion kept traveling to supply troops

With Iraq violence down, 2-28 focused on training, rebuilding

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Members of Task Force 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment found themselves in a hard-fought battle against dug-in insurgents after the battalion split from the rest of the 172nd Infantry Brigade to fight in Diyala province, Iraq.

Lt. Col. Lou Rago, the 3-66 commander, said his men were assigned to forward operating bases Hammer and Caldwell and fell under 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division during the yearlong deployment to Diyala.

“Our mission was to clear an area in South Balad Ruz that had been an al-Qaida safe haven for about six years,” he said.

Since the U.S. invasion in 2003, American coalition forces had operated in the area for only a few weeks at a time. Al-Qaida fighters had run off Shiite farmers, who once made up half of the population, and destroyed irrigation systems to stop the farmers from coming back. The insurgents fortified villages with double- and triple-stacked anti-tank mines and resisted strongly from late January until May, Rago said.

“We were there to clean that area up once and for all,” he said. “We were probably the last unit to do a battalion-sized fight in Iraq. We were doing combat operations akin to what was seen in 2004 using Bradleys and tanks, firing artillery and using close air support to get after al-Qaida, who were in bunker complexes.”

Equipment such as heavily armored Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles allowed engineers to break through insurgents’ defenses and the infantry to spot the enemy and kill him with close air support, Rago said.

“We killed at least 60 al-Qaida in the area and effectively cleared South Balad Ruz,” he said.

The victory came at a cost. On April 5, Spc. Israel Candelaria Mejias, 28, of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, was killed when he stepped on the pressure plate of a homemade explosive booby trap in a house. Several other members of the unit were injured by roadside bombs, Rago said.

Staff Sgt. Matthew Rogers, 29, of Charlotte, N.C., a squad leader with 3-66 in Iraq, found himself in the thick of the fight during a foot patrol outside Wawhilla patrol base in April.

“About 500 meters down the road, an Iraqi army Humvee got hit with an anti-tank mine,” Rogers said. “The vehicle was totally destroyed, but we medevaced the Iraqi soldiers from the Humvee with minor cuts and a broken shin.”

Rogers said his unit was hit by several anti-tank mines but armored vehicles protected soldiers from injury, except for concussions.

In March, 3-66 broke the back of al-Qaida in Balad Ruz during a 12-hour engagement in which 16 to 20 insurgents were killed after an unmanned aerial vehicle spotted them attempting to load ammunition from a bunker into a truck, Rago said.

“We were able to engage them with close air support and helicopters and then go in and clear with the infantry,” he said. “Based on the exploitation of the scene, we knew we had really taken out the entire

middle management and leadership of the operational cells in South Balad Ruz. From that point on, all our engagements were with al-Qaida ex-filtrating the area. We had no IED (improvised explosive device) emplacements or snipers after that.”

The low point of the deployment came May 11 when two 3-66 soldiers — Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, and Pfc. Michael Yates Jr., 19 — were shot dead, allegedly by another U.S. soldier, during a visit to a combat stress clinic at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

“Whenever we have soldiers injured or killed in action, that is obviously a bad day and affects the organization, but guys accept that a lot more because that is one of the unfortunate consequences of the job we have,” Rago said. “Losing Bueno and Yates at the mental health clinic was probably the worst day we had. It was just not what you expect. It took everybody from me down to the junior privates by surprise.”

From May, the task force focused on the same things that most other units were doing in Iraq this year — making sure Iraqis in their area of operations received essential services and supporting local government, he said.

Capt. Dritan Xhakolli, 29, of Queens, N.Y., and a platoon leader with 3-66 in Iraq, said he was impressed by the progress of Iraqi security forces during the mission. That was hammered home during a mission to clear the town of Shannanah alongside an Iraqi company, he said.

“We didn’t find anything, but they (the Iraqis) searched every house,” Xhakolli said. “It was good seeing them in action, doing what they were supposed to do, not us telling them what to do.”

By the end of the deployment, 3-66 had conducted every aspect of the Army’s counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine, Rago said.

“We did COIN doctrine from soup to nuts, starting with the clear (clearing the enemy from the area), positioning the Iraqis to properly hold villages in that area and prevent re-entry of al-Qaida, and we transitioned to assisting local government with provision of essential services,” he said.

I thought NC Guard took it in 2004, guess not, we thought we did in 2005 we did have elections! One tough town for sure seven years to take it.

2009-12-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

The area of operations is 1500 plus square miles, so I assume that this refers to "down south" where Route Cowboy peters out into the badlands. Past Turki Village et al., Turki Village is on the road a mile or so past CP12, the farm there at the road junction has some nice turkeys, wild ones. The main paved road runs west towards Baquba and 3rd ID also sent forays down into this area, I know we led one of their convoys out of the AO and it had at least 30 vehicles in it. (FOB Warhorse and Scunion) It was and probably still is a no mans land of sorts because of the way the unit boundaries come together and the lack of a population center, the canal runs out here also, no water no large village. We took the tanks and M113A3s down one time as a company + sized unit but it was a bust, breakdowns, crappy weather, no concerted searches, nasty cold and rainy, mud galore. Was actually the worst weather day of the year.

By Sgt. Armando Monroig
5th Mobile Public Affairs

BALAD RUZ, Iraq, Jan. 31, 2007 — The U.S. Army concluded a massive, nine-day assault Jan. 13, centered on a series of small villages in the Diyala province that for the past 18 months had been used as a safe haven for insurgents.

During the operation, soldiers from the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment Reconnaissance, 82nd Airborne Division, killed more than 100 insurgents and detained 54 suspected of involvement with terrorism activities in the area, which is located just south of Balad Ruz.

The unit, located at Forward Operating Base Caldwell, also reported capturing six unnamed leaders of an underground organization thought to have ties to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups hiding in the villages of Turki, Hamoud, and 30 Tamuz.

In outlying palm groves and canals, soldiers found weapons caches containing more than 1,100 Katushya rockets, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades, 500 mortars and a variety of bomb-making materials.

Sunni insurgents defended the area with small arms fire, anti-tank mines and improvised explosive devices.

“The effects will be felt just outside this area in places like Baghdad, Baqubah and further out to the west,” said Capt. Stephen Dobbins, the commander of Troop B.

Leaders of the 5-73rd Cav. suspected that insurgents were using the area as a training ground for conducting terrorist activities elsewhere. The villages are an hour’s drive from Baghdad.

Last month, the unit raided the area after finding a large weapons cache there. More than 100 insurgents and two U.S. soldiers were killed in the fighting.

This last assault was bolstered by the Iraqi Army and U.S. Army units from forward operating bases in Muqdadiyah and Baqubah. Air Force B-1 bombers and F-16 fighter-bombers dropped bombs on nearby canals and tunnel systems to destroy insurgent defenses before soldiers moved in to secure the area.
Soldiers battled ankle-deep mud as they cleared canals and villages.

The 5-73rd Cav., along with the Iraqi army, is now in the process of setting up a combat outpost in Turki from which to control the area.

“It will be a place where Coalition Forces and the Iraqi army can work jointly to develop intelligence, plan rehearsals, and execute missions out here,” said Dobbins.

The outpost will also be used to facilitate infrastructure improvement projects and strengthen the area’s education system.

“With the outpost, the Iraqi security forces can provide a safe and secure environment for those in the area who want a better opportunity for their families,” said Lt. Col. Andrew Poppas, the commander of the 5-73rd Cav.

Poppas said that his unit has already begun to assist with the repatriation of village residents driven out by a mostly Sunni insurgency.

“The end state is to create a safe and secure region with a continuous Iraqi Security Forces presence,” said Poppas.

“That way, we deny the enemy a safe haven in which they can conduct illegal acts with impunity,” he said. “You can’t let an environment of extremism remain in a free and safe society.”

Who throws a shoe, honestly?

2009-08-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer Kim Gamel, Associated Press Writer – Sat Aug 29, 12:09 pm ET

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi journalist imprisoned for hurling his shoes at former President George W. Bush will be released next month after his sentence was reduced for good behavior, his lawyer said Saturday.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi's act of protest during Bush's last visit to Iraq as president turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world, as his case became a rallying point for critics who resented the 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation.

"Al-Zeidi's shoes were a suitable farewell for Bush's deeds in Iraq," Sunni lawmaker Dhafir al-Ani said in welcoming the early release. "Al-Zeidi's act expressed the real will and feelings of the Iraqi people. His anger against Bush was the result of the suffering of his countrymen."

Can't say I have ever seen a more fitting outburst if looking at it from the Iraqi point of view. Figures he is from Tikrit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIX4rFvb8vQ&feature=related Bush interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rwxIjQZF98&feature=related The incident

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFQdhCBqwLs&feature=related Austin Powers

Scott Speicher Buried

2009-08-14T16:16:00.000-07:00

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Navy pilot Scott Speicher, the long-missing first casualty of the first Gulf War, was finally laid to rest Friday in his adopted hometown as thousands of people lined the streets to watch a funeral procession pass his school, church and former military base.
Speicher was shot down in 1991 on the first night of the Gulf War. For more than 18 years, no one knew if he was killed or being held prisoner in Iraq until his remains were discovered in the desert, west of Baghdad, earlier this month.
"Eighteen years, six months and 11 days, that needs to be a record that is never broken," said Buddy Harris, a former Navy pilot and friend who accompanied Speicher's body home to Jacksonville from Dover, Del. Harris married Speicher's widow, Joanne, and helped raise Speicher's son and daughter, plus two more children with Joanne.

LTC Mark Hart and 600 CAV Troopers

2009-07-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

Camp Shelby MS 2004

278th Commanders Photo, a classic for sure

2009-07-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

Come on you have to admit it is one cool photo, no accidental discharges that I am of aware of happened during the taking of this commanders photo, SNAP!

No magazines was a mistake, have to have them in for photo op or everyone knows you are really posing. Now SSG Cooper knows how to do it, magazines in! Finger in trigger well! INFANTRY, what can I say.

Governor's greeting June 2004 Camp Shelby

2009-07-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/governor/viewArticleContent.do?id=706

not much but it is here with the rest of it.

Second Squadron occupies FOB Bernstein

2009-07-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

278th Reported In Position In Tikrit's Province Of Iraq

In-Depth Coverage

By Bill Jones

Lt. Col. Frank McCauley, commander of the 278th Regimental Combat Team's Second Squadron, said via electronic mail on Wednesday that the remainder of his unit will arrive at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bernstein in northern Iraq "in the next couple of days."

The 278th RCT's Second Squadron, which was based in Kingsport before the Tennessee Army National Guard's 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment was called to active duty earlier this year, includes a number of citizen-soldiers from Greeneville and Greene County.

Augmented by National Guard units from several other states during training at Camp Shelby, Miss., earlier this year, the 278th is now called a regimental combat team.

The unit began moving into Iraq from a base in Kuwait last weekend, driving about 450 miles to its area of operations in northeastern Iraq.

Lt. Col. McCauley reported on Wednesday about the Second Squadron's current activities in response to an electronic mail inquiry from a Greeneville Sun reporter.

He said Second Squadron soldiers had been providing security escorting for the 278th's heavier tracked vehicles, that are being hauled into Iraq from Kuwait on large trucks because of the distance involved.

"The convoy from Kuwait took two full days through some dangerous territory," Lt. Col McCauley wrote. "No incidents occurred, and we were provided air escort by Apache helicopters through the most dangerous areas."

He remarked that Second Squadron troops "are in good spirits and are currently becoming integrated with the outgoing unit," which, he said, is the 120th Infantry Battalion, 30th Armored Brigade, of the North Carolina Army National Guard.

"A Transfer of Authority ceremony will be held at the completion of all the tasks in the transition with the 120th," Lt. Col. McCauley wrote.

"This should occur in the next two to three weeks. That ceremony will signify that 2/278 (has) become totally responsible for our area of operations, which has a total population of about 150,000 Iraqi citizens."

Tuz, the Iraqi city near where Forward Operating Base Bernstein is located, is in the As Sulaymaniyah province of Iraq, Lt. Col. McCauley wrote. "The provincial capital is in Tikrit," the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Lt. Col. McCauley also reported that the remainder of the 278th RCT is in Iraq's Diyala province.

FOB Bernstein

FOB Bernstein, the base where the Second Squadron of the 278th RCT is located, is named in honor of the late U.S. Army 1st Lt. David R. Bernstein, 24, of Phoenixville, Pa.

The GlobalSecurity.Org Web site describes the area where FOB Bernstein is located as "a desolate, flat range of ankle-high shrubbery about 10 miles from the city of Tuz."

Lt. Bernstein was fatally wounded, along with Pfc. John Hart, on Oct. 18, 2003, according to the GlobalSecurity.Org Website.

Bernstein and Hart, both members of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade, were killed when their convoy came under attack from rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and machine gun fire, the Website said.

The two soldiers, according to the Website, were in the last vehicle of a quick-reaction force convoy and were cut off from the rest of their convoy when guerrilla fighters fired an RPG at their vehicle, causing the driver, Spc. Joshua Sams, to lose control.

After the vehicle crashed into a dirt berm (embankment), it came to a stop on top of Sams' arm, the Website stated.

Lt. Bernstein, although mortally wounded by a gunshot wound to the leg, then crawled over to Sams' side under direct fire, and pushed on the gas pedal with his hand, moving the vehicle forward off Sams' arm. Bernstein collapsed shortly afterward and died.

PFC Hart, who was seated in the back of the HUMVEE when the attack took place, had been killed in the initial RPG explosion, according to the Global Security Website.

Abstract reference to 278th RCTs performance and mission

2009-07-22T21:18:00.001-07:00

June 2005

The 278th RCT in Iraq: A 'Volunteer' Heritage And a Critical Mission

by Steele, Dennis

The 278th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) patrols the eastern flank of 42nd Infantry Division's Task Force Liberty and a big swath of the Iraq-Iran border. It is an area of operations that is about half the size of the unit's home state of Tennessee, and an area where the flat Iraqi desert slams head-on into the range of craggy mountains that forms the border, concealing a labyrinth of trails that have served smugglers well for centuries.

The 278th RCT patrols a land of, largely, dust and poverty that bears the scars of some of the fiercest battles of the Iran-Iraq War. Today, it is littered with unexploded ordnance, and shifting sands reveal minefields left from the war.

The 278th RCT is built around the Tennessee National Guard's 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, which by maintaining its unit designation in Iraq preserves a proud heritage that stretches back to militia units from Tennessee that marched across the Smoky Mountains to fight in South Carolina, helping to win the Revolutionary War's pivotal Battle of King's Mountain and helping to establish Tennessee as the "Volunteer" state. It continues a National Guard lineage that dates from the late 1800s, with service in two world wars as Infantry formations.

The 278th RCT, headquartered at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Caldwell, is also a family. Soldiers bond through serving long careers together in the regiment, and it is literally a family in some cases, with many fathers, sons, daughters, uncles and cousins scattered in the ranks.

There are many other associations as well. Take the 2nd Platoon, Troop A (Apache), of the 278th RCT's 1st Squadron. The platoon sergeant is SFC Archie McDaniel, an eighth-grade teacher from Cleveland, Tenn. His driver, Spc. Jason Murray, is a former student. SFC McDaniel joined the Tennessee Guard in 1977. Having served in the Regular Army and then finished college, he found that a starting teacher's salary would not make ends meet, but his reasons for staying extended well beyond extra income; he has reenlisted to stay in the same company/troop for the past 28 years.

The 278th RCT commander, Col. Dennis J. Adams, has served in the regiment for his entire military career, starting as a second lieutenant. "The Guard today, however, is not the Guard I came into 27 years ago," Col. Adams said. "There is a lot of professionalism today, both in the job we do and the equipment we have."

"Our state did a great job getting equipment to us before we mobilized," Col. Adams added. "And if we need a replacement, the soldier comes from our home state Guard. So far, the Tennessee National Guard has filled 95 percent of our vacancies."

But home support does not stop there.

"I understand that on the night of the [Iraqi] elections, people all around Tennessee held prayer vigils," the colonel said. "Not a day goes by that I don't receive a letter or e-mail from back home, telling me how proud they are of the regiment, and I feel that support is like having an extra squadron or battalion."

His civilian profession also was teaching. He taught graphic arts and was a football, basketball and track coach. He said that commanding the regiment is much like coaching, "except I get to go on the field and play."

The 278th RCT's 1st Squadron has responsibility for the southern part of the regiment's area of operations; 2nd Squadron has the northern part, and the 3rd Squadron is responsible for the central sector. Vast pools of oil are under the mountains of the north and central sectors.

In the 3rd Squadron's area of responsibility, crumbling hulks of oil drilling and pumping machinery have for many years been left to rust on a hillside that drips oil.

Directly above the derelict gear, broad rivers of oil slowly seep from the hilltop and flow down the hillside. In the distance can be seen the fires atop Iranian wells, burning off gas while they pump oil from the same massive underground deposit.

Oil is one reason the 278th RCT area of responsibility is so important. It is Iraq's economic future.

"These people are sitting on a gold mine," said Lt. Col. Jeffery Holmes, who commands the 3rd Squadron at FOB Cobra.

He thinks that improving the Iraqi economy will be a primary factor in winning the war. "A lot of the anti-coalition and anti-Iraqi government insurgents use the unemployed and the impoverished to work for them, so if we stimulate the economy, it takes away from the AIF (anti-Iraqi forces)," Col. Holmes said.

The first steps toward economic improvement, however, require a more secure environment and a sound government, both of which are ultimately the responsibility of the Iraqis themselves. Col. Holmes said that training Iraqi security forces and working with local Iraqi civil authorities to establish a free and responsive government structure is the perfect job for Guard soldiers.

"It is the right time and the right mission for the National Guard," he noted. He cited the Guard's experience in working daily with state and municipal governments and the wealth of civilian talent in the unit, ranging from detectives and police officers who can help train the Iraqi police to civil engineers who can offer their expertise to rebuild the infrastructure.

Building a local and provincial Iraqi government system practically from scratch, while encouraging cooperation among members of previously competing and antagonistic tribes, has been a priority. "Their conflicts occurred within the last 10 to 15 years, and we ask them to sit at the table with one another," Col. Holmes explained. "We try to understand by putting ourselves in their shoes and seeing how difficult it is for them. [Nevertheless,] we've gotten different tribal organizations to sit down and meet. Two tribes that genuinely hated each other are now talking across the table and seeing what they can accomplish."

According to Col. Holmes, the Iraqi election provided the catalyst for a leap in success. "We've seen a change in the city councils, mayors and local governments since the elections. Up to that point, it was as if they were just taking up seats. Now, it's 'let's get something done/ They are talking about the future," he said. "Through the elections, we've been able to bring to reality what a lot of these people thought they would never achieve, and seeing the people become confident is significant."

Col. Holmes added, "The next step is to nurture that enthusiasm and promote patience-wean them off us to their own government ... and not let them give up." The regimental commander explained that the 278th RCT's mission in Iraq basically is to work itself out of a job, training Iraqi security forces to take over and stepping back as they become more able.

"My soldiers feel they are doing something important," Col. Adams said.

The Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment will be a major addition to the regiment's rich history, and the 278th soldiers' loyalty to the unit and each other remains its heritage. A prime example is a former regimental commander, Ronald G. Price, who stepped down as its colonel in 2000. He wanted so much to deploy with the regiment that he rejoined the unit as a staff sergeant.

"'Volunteer' is not just a state slogan," Col. Adams said.

Text and Photographs By Dennis Steele - Senior Staff Writer

Story Copyright to ARMY Magazine

author: Steele, Dennis

Publisher: Association of the United States Army
Publication Name: Army
Subject: Military and naval science
ISSN: 0004-2455
Year: 2005

278th video from 1/278th RCT good composite overview

2009-07-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1119542493

Probably the most comprehensive youtube video I have run across, good edit and great music background! It shows the progression of deployment sequentially and most of the highlights a member of the 1/278th RCT would recognize instantly.

Easy Squad in Iraq (Version 2)

2009-05-09T16:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsLV-Zd99k4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQGkQ6JvF8I&feature=related

2 youtube postings

TN Army National Guard, Iraq

2009-05-09T16:58:00.002-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MxdvsCrD3A&feature=related

Tribute to I-Troop 3/278th 2nd PLT attached to E-Troop 2/278

2009-05-09T16:58:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AqhSti3uio&feature=related

3rd plt. Henchmen tankers from 2/278 ACR

2009-05-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u4HvxhC2B4&feature=related

YouTube link to brick factory photos of RL Klika

2009-02-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMyOtJVoi4U

Link of YouTube video slide show of the Brick Factory, composed of Klika images.

Civil Affairs Unit operating in May 2005 during OIF III

2009-02-03T13:42:00.000-08:00

\RELEASE NUMBER: 050517-02
DATE POSTED: MAY 18, 2005

Civil affairs Soldiers support Balad Ruz MEDCAP

426th Civil Affairs Battalion Public Affairs

BALAD RUZ, Iraq (USASOC News Service, May 18, 2005) – Civil affairs Soldiers assigned to the 426th Civil Affairs Company B visited the Balad Ruz mayor’s office here and assisted with the Medical Civil Action Program (MEDCAP) May 11.

The 426th CA Co. B is an Army reserve special operations unit based out of Upland, Calif. and is currently deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Capt. Chris Chang, a civil affairs officer assigned to 426th CA Co. B, was attending a city council meeting when his team’s medic and civil affairs specialist volunteered to assist the 278th Regimental Combat Team’s medical staff with a MEDCAP.

A MEDCAP is a military program that provides basic medical attention to locals in need, said Chang.

“My primary job is as the civil affairs team medic, treating American soldiers, however when I see an opportunity where I can lend my skills to aid the Iraqi people I do,” said Sgt. Kelly Dawson, a civil affairs medic assigned to the 426th CA Co.

“Now I’m assisting the doctor on a regular basis, twice a week," Dawson continued. "We can’t always help everyone, but those we can I feel really good about. We even have sent a handful of Iraqis back to the United States for further treatment”

According to Dawson, approximately 100 people requested medical attention.

“My primary role today was to mingle with those waiting to be screened,” said Sgt. Melia Dewitt, a civil affairs Soldier assigned to the 426th CA Co. “I passed out stuffed animals to the children and tooth brushes and tooth paste to both the parents and children. The patients, especially women and children, are usually fascinated with me because I am female. The interpreters are usually tied up with the medics, so I communicate and answer their questions to the best of my abilities. Some things are universal, such as a smile”

426th CA Co. B is currently attached to the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army reserve special operations unit based out of Danbury, Conn. Both units are currently deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The units have distributed over 20,000 tons of school supplies, and scheduled over 1.6 billion dollars in reconstruction projects for the provinces of Salah ad Din, Diyala, Kirkuk, and As Sulaymaniyah.

The 411th CA Bn also holds the distinctions of being the first Civil Affairs Battalion to enter Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the first to return for a second rotation.

-usasoc-

SSG Kelly on patrol, not sure if the same unit though. No basic load though indicates non-infantry. 210 rounds minimum and some grenades, first aid stuff etc is the norm, you might need it even if you do not want to carry it all.

American KIAs vic Balad Ruz Iraq, and it goes on and on

2009-02-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 203-08
March 13, 2008

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died Mar. 10 in Balad Ruz, Iraq, of wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas.

Killed were:

Sgt. Phillip R. Anderson, 28, of Everett, Wash.

Spc. Donald A. Burkett, 24, of Comanche, Texas.

Capt. Torre R. Mallard, 27, of Oklahoma.

Suicide-Vest attack kills 20, injures 9 (Balad Ruz)
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
UPDATE: The bomber was a male and not a female as previously reported. Also, the attack killed 20 and wounded nine.
Multi-National Corps – Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory APO AE 09342
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RELEASE No. 20080917-01 Sept. 17, 2008
Suicide-Vest attack kills 20, injures 9
Multi-National Division – North PAO
BALAD RUZ, Iraq – A suicide vest attack in Balad Ruz, Iraq, was initially reported as a female bomber who killed 17 and wounded eight on Sept. 15, but the attack is now confirmed to have been a male bomber who killed 20 and wounded nine. The attack was conducted at a house near an Iraqi Police Station during the celebratory Iftar dinner in conjunction with the Ramadan holiday.
-30-

Balad Ruz video of Route TACO going W. to E.

2009-02-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=2030680

This one has the whole road, almost. A ride for those who miss it. It is from myspace page of evilmedic.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=2030680

cut and paste as usual into browser

Blackhawk landing at Caldwell video

2008-12-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYZo1nrUED4

video link above.

Can't see much but it is what it is>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Jalula Iraq video, a funny look into one FOB and AO of sister SQDN

2008-12-14T20:10:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mGE0hlEosQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_yZQMlIOCg&feature=related

2nd video is below first

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mu2ZoqJ6oE&feature=related

so real!

2/278th RCT begins Ops Dec 2004 FOB Berstein

2008-12-14T19:58:00.001-08:00

The Greeneville Sun December 16, 2004

278th Reported In Position In Tikrit's Province Of Iraq

In-Depth Coverage

By Bill Jones

Augmented by National Guard units from several other states during training at Camp Shelby, Miss., earlier this year, the 278th is now called a regimental combat team.

The unit began moving into Iraq from a base in Kuwait last weekend, driving about 450 miles to its area of operations in northeastern Iraq.

Lt. Col. McCauley reported on Wednesday about the Second Squadron's current activities in response to an electronic mail inquiry from a Greeneville Sun reporter.

"A Transfer of Authority ceremony will be held at the completion of all the tasks in the transition with the 120th," Lt. Col. McCauley wrote.

Lt. Col. McCauley also reported that the remainder of the 278th RCT is in Iraq's Diyala province.

FOB Bernstein

FOB Bernstein, the base where the Second Squadron of the 278th RCT is located, is named in honor of the late U.S. Army 1st Lt. David R. Bernstein, 24, of Phoenixville, Pa.

The GlobalSecurity.Org Web site describes the area where FOB Bernstein is located as "a desolate, flat range of ankle-high shrubbery about 10 miles from the city of Tuz."

Lt. Bernstein was fatally wounded, along with Pfc. John Hart, on Oct. 18, 2003, according to the GlobalSecurity.Org Website.

After the vehicle crashed into a dirt berm (embankment), it came to a stop on top of Sams' arm, the Website stated.

PFC Hart, who was seated in the back of the HUMVEE when the attack took place, had been killed in the initial RPG explosion, according to the Global Security Website.

http://iraq.billhobbs.com/2005/11/downtown_jalula_iraq.html

Lance in Iraq blog of some 278th soldier who has a couple of photos of AO on it.

youtube Video FOB Berstein

2008-12-14T19:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvKsnMhEr3E&feature=related

Hummer sunk fording river video link

2008-12-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=33355938

This was a pretty funny event because nobody got hurt one of the many oops that soldiers all do at one time or another. It took place in the Diyala province and involved the 1/278th RCT members.
This is a video of a hummer getting stuck in a river trying to forde it on a myspace link of a 278th RCT member.

He has other videos too.

Easy Squad I and II video links, OIF III video

2008-10-26T09:34:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnGFRQxizyY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsLV-Zd99k4&feature=related

These are two video links I ran across on YouTube posted by 278th RCT unit/attachment?
I do not know who they are or what Company it was though. It is a good photo documentation of the progression of the deployment and I am sure someone will recognize which unit it was. One can probably freeze the video and look for bumper unit designation and of course who was a the FOB mentioned. I primarily look for 1/278th info but gladly take anything I can get to post here.

If you do not know click and highlight on the links and then copy them to browser and paste.

Here is an additional video link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-xmVpsT7_U

A different AO with more photos same brush different picture painted. These were Wisconsin National Guard INF and TX 386th CBT EN attachment. Wisconsin provided an Infantry Battalion for the Regimental Combat Team. Hoorah!

Current Unit 108th RSTA Dalton, GA GAARNG, Currently deployed JUN 09 Afghanistan

2008-10-09T12:28:00.001-07:00

Most of these guys deployed, I am done, medically discharging as of AUG 2009, several have been wounded already.

We went to JRTC in June 2007 and worked with ODA/SF teams while the 101st were there also, FOB Budro was where we stayed and it was one miserable affair. The 101st guys suffered mightily in the new add-on body armor, we watched some walking across the FOB just fall on their face and pass out from heat exhaustion. We went hollywood with SF and the Puerto Rican NG, no plates. The "live fire" sucked compared to 101st Airborne ones I had done in 1994-96. It was hyped by command and the SF guys (CA Guard), it was pretty laughable in the end, ODA blew the doors off and that incapacitated the automatic dummies that were supposed to shoot back at us, the explosion blew them down KIA et al. Good training overall though as anytime you get to suffer in the heat, clear buildings (that was good stuff-the clearing buildings part along with the prep for live fire, actually real good), living like a pig, and conducting some night ops it is always good. ODA was real fun especially Hank the slayer from HRT team with FBI or something, real cool dude from CA. The night ops stuff was crazy, they backed over their medic, nosed dived into serious ditch driving in black out mode NODs (but kept going), and assorted other things that were just fun stuff, like showing our guys how to stitch up each other and practice the ol IV, the stitch up was real world so cool, we got to watch one of our guys get sewn up by another. The 101st 1SG ate our ass for shooting star clusters up in the air repeatedly the last day, I told him we were done then two more went off as he walked away, that was pretty funny to us anyway. I told him we were just stupid not insubordinate, celebrating leaving FOB Budro. Looks like the Tankers switched to the RECON quite nicely, had one knife pulling but nobody got cut, and Rome tossed all their guys into a huge mud pit back at the garrison barracks. Yee-Haaaaa. I am broke dick now an unfit for duty designee waiting to medical discharge. Three guys from 278th are still kicking though in the RECON. They all go to Afghanistan in May or so. Good luck and Godspeed Recon.

RECON!

By Pfc Adam Dean
124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
Georgia National Guard

June 12, 2007 – Soldiers from 48th Brigade Combat Team’s 108th Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Target Acquisition Squadron, (formerly 1st Battalion, 108th Armor) are in southwest Louisiana helping other Soldiers from around the country get the training they need for deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

With temperatures rising near the hundred-mark at Fort Polk's Joint Readiness Training Center, the Georgia Guardsmen goal is to make the humidity and foliage the only differences between this active Army post and the arid regions of war-torn Iraq.

Captain Chris Powell, who command’s Rome-based Troop A of the 108th, described his Soldiers’ mission as a role-playing exercise. Acting as Iraqi internal defense force soldiers, they are providing real-world experience to those who are about to experience in the Global War on Terror, many of them for the first time.

“The preparation they get here is important because it lets them experience the kind of obstacles and challenges they’re going to have in communicating through interpreters to Iraqi platoon leaders,” Powell explained.

During its two-weeks at Fort Polk, the 108th is teaching deploying Soldiers, like those with 101st Airborne Division, how to fight insurgents alongside their Iraqi counterparts. The knowledge they’re passing on comes from their own experiences working with the Iraqi army while deployed with the 48th from May 2005 to May 2006.

Sergeant Billy Harp said the training he and his fellow Guardsmen are providing should be a great help to those about to journey “across the pond.”

“They’re getting their feet wet in a whole new way,” said Harp, a Troop A squad leader. “What we teach them here gives them a taste of what life’s gonna be like once they get in country.”

"The new guys with the 101st, especially, are like sponges," said Spc. Michael Matlin, a Troop A team leader and Iraq veteran. “They’re really soaking up the knowledge and looking for more.”

But being at JRTC isn’t just about being the teacher for the Georgia Guardsmen. It’s also about picking up “lessons learned” from the California National Guard’s 19th Special Forces Group, which is deploying with the 101st.

“We’re doing more on the ground now that 108th has changed from the traditional armor mission to one of reconnaissance and surveillance,” Harp said. “Yeah,” said Pfc. Gabriel Human, a scout with Calhoun’s Headquarters Troop, “it’s a whole lot different since we’re now 48th Brigade’s eyes and ears on battlefield.”

The 108th began its transition from an armored battalion to a RSTA squadron not long after returning from Iraq. Most of those who were tankers are now scouts, which is a Special Forces specialty.

“We’re really learning a lot from the ‘SF guys’ about how to do our mission,” Harp said.

"They really know their stuff," said Human added, "so they know our techniques and how we can improve on what we now do."

Troop A’s main body has been at JRTC for the past week. It’s scheduled to return to home later in the month. When they do return, these one-time tankers will be more knowledgeable as scouts, and they will have helped those getting ready to support the mission in Iraq be more prepared themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9Us12WYfig
C Troop send off link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgzSr-MNuEc

Wikipedia 278th Brief OIF III Iraq description link

2008-10-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/278th_Cavalry_Brigade_Combat_Team

OPERATION Iraqi Freedom

The 278th ACR (278th RCT) deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III (2004-2005) from late Nov. 2004 until Nov. 2005 under the command of COL Dennis Adams. The 278th RCT took over from the 30th BCT North Carolina, commanded by BG Danny Hickman,and were part of Task Force Liberty commanded by the 42nd Infantry Division, the only activated National Guard Headquarters in recent history. The TROA Transfer of Authority ceremony took place on Christmas Eve 2004 at FOB Caldwell where the regimental headquarters was established and designated Battle Position Caldwell. FOB Caldwell had the 1/278th and the 386th Engineer BN located on it along with the Regimenatal HQ. The mobilization site was Camp Shelby, MS, to where the regiment began moving en masse in June 2004. Initially the 278th RCT fell under Task Force Danger and the 1st Infantry Division so members could choose between their patch, the 42nd Infantry Division patch, and of course the regimental patch for a combat patch. The 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) replaced the 278th RCT upon redeployment to the United States. The Regiment lost ten soldiers killed in action and had additional soldiers seriously wounded during the deployment. It deployed with roughly 3800 members and its major attachments were the 2/127th Infantry, Wisconsin Guard and the 386th Engineers from the Texas Guard. The regiment operated along the Iranian border in the Diyala Province centered southeast of Baquba, Balad ruz being the nearest town. Each Squadron was assigned to a FOB (forward operating base and detachments sent to other locations, such as F Troop going to Baghdad and falling under the 3rd Infantry Division, and others performing convoy escort missions from Kuwait all the way to Mosul.

FOB Assignments: FOB Caldwell: RHHT, SPT/278th ACR, 1/278th ACR and attachments. FOB Cobra (Jalula, Iraq): 3/278th ACR and attachments. FOB Bernstein (Tuz, Iraq): 2/278th ACR and attachments.

The 2005 Elections were a prime mission in early 2005 and again in OCT 2005. The overall accomplishments of the regiment were staggering when taken cumulatively by the end of the deployment. Its members also accumulated a number of individual awards for valor to include Silver Star recipient 1LT Tiedeman.

An Armored Cavalry Regiment usually has organic air assets (Apache and Kiowa helicopters) but the 278th RCT was without these in Iraq and reorganized at the Troop level leaving two troops out of three without the usual armor (Bradley FV and M1A1 Abrams tanks). Its Scouts and Tankers patrolled in the M1114 unarmored hummer. One Troop per FOB had tanks and BFVs and there were 155 mm Paladins for artillery support. An armored cavalry unit usually provides the screen for an army corps or is the spearhead of a main effort as it is the only unit other than a division that can sustain itself in the field for a limited time. An ACR commander has every combat asset under his command, it is organic, he owns it. This firepower was not needed for the Iraqi mission which is why the regiment was tailored to meet Task Force Danger and Liberty needs, security, AIF (Anti Iraqi Forces) interdiction, and supporting the civil affairs mission (elections/infrastructure improvement etc.).

Battle of Baqubah 30BCT NC Guard

2008-10-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30th_Heavy_Brigade_Combat_Team

This is the link to the a description of NC Guard Units combat action in Baqubah. When we took over combat operations on around December 18th 2004 it was NC that we replaced. The first thing I did was clean out the closet for our TOC and in it was left over stuff from NC and included were the personal photos of CPT Cash who was killed in action during the combat described in the link above.

It was definitely a moment in which I realized someone was going to get killed in the 278th RCT, the first such moment occurred in Kuwait while standing looking at both the 278th RCT and ID BCT standing in chow line, about 9000 soldiers, I stated to SSG Cooper, "man if we get killed nobodys even gonna notice out of this mob" , meaning the realization of how small one soldier was in the overall operation it was a sobering moment that made one think of WWII guys and how they must have felt the same when seeing the thousands of guys preparing for battle.

The Battle of Baqubah (June 24th, 2004)

The first Battle of Baqubah (not to be confused with Operation Arrowhead Ripper in 2007) was some of the fiercest fighting that the brigade encountered during its deployment. The battle began at approximately 5:30 a.m. local time as insurgents from the group Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad (aka Al-Qaeda in Iraq) attempted to ambush 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 120th Infantry (Mechanized) with small arms and RPG fire. The platoon was able to break through the ambush and attempted to turn the battle around with a counterattack. As the battle wore on, however, mechanical difficulties with all three of the platoon's M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles forced the counterattack to halt and once again the advantage lay with the insurgents.^[3]

At around 6:00 a.m. reinforcements from Co A, including company commander Captain Christopher Cash, left the unit's Forward Operating Base and were also ambushed almost immediately. In the process CPT Cash was killed. The Bradley in which CPT Cash was killed as well as one other returned to base, leaving only three Bradleys from 1st Platoon to reinforce 3rd Platoon.^[4] As the reinforcements advanced on 3rd Platoon, an RPG struck one of the Bradleys, hitting SPC Daniel Desens and wounding several others. The platoon sergeant, SFC Chad Stephens, moved under fire without body armor or a weapon from his Bradley to SPC Desens' to retrieve the wounded Specialist. As SPC Desens was treated by the platoon medic, SPC Ralph Isabella, the platoon regrouped and continued its march towards 3rd Platoon. As they advanced once again towards 3rd Platoon, SFC Stephens's Bradley was also hit by an RPG, severely wounding his gunner and wounding several others including SFC Stephens.^[3]

After SFC Stephens's platoon reached its objective, SPC Desens and six other wounded personel were evacuated via helicopter and the platoon carried on the fight until 3:00 a.m. the next morning. SPC Desens later died of his wounds. SFC Stephens would ultimately receive a Silver Star for his actions.^[3]

As the well coordinated attack raged on for another eight hours, insurgents were able to overrun two Iraqi police stations as rocket and mortar attacks racked FOB Warhorse, the unit's Forward Operating Base. Ultimately, Coalition forces were able to root out enemy hiding spots and strong points with UAVs as attack aircraft bombed them. In the end two soldiers from the 30th Brigade were killed and six wounded. While the actual enemy death toll varies, Coalition forces estimated at least 60 insurgents were killed in the attack. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attack although some experts question if Al-Qaeda in Iraq was actually capable of planning and carrying out such an organized attack, despite the fact that Al-Qaeda in Iraq flags were seen being raised by insurgents over the two captured police stations.^[5]

Zarqawi claimed victory over the Americans in the battle, although it may have been a Pyrrhic victory as the insurgent death toll was much higher than the Coalition one and the attack neither forced the Americans from the city nor stopped the planned transfer of authority for the city from the Coalition Provisional Authority to the Iraqi Interim Government at the end of the month. In the end, Zarqawi was killed in an air attack two years later outside of Baqubah and a year after that Operation Arrowhead Ripper succeeded in forcing a large part of the remaining insurgent forces out of the city.

30 BCT link video

2008-10-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/user/matthewcody

North Carolina Guard whom we replaced in December 2004.

DVIDS Army Satellite uplink for media distribution

2008-03-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

Not much on 278th here but it does have an early 42nd ID interview with MG Taluto and one video of some range firing of 278th Unit, not 1st Squadron though. Pretty boring stuff but it is a link relating to one aspect of the overall mission.

http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=video/video_show.php&id=999

Friends in far away places

2008-03-25T10:09:00.001-07:00

Hey,

I thought you guys might like to see this photo, because it appeared in newspapers throughout the world yesterday, as well as in many papers across the US. Also, the New York Times picked up the Story along with Yahoo News from the Associated Press. Basically, we built a school in Jan Qadam, Afghanistan, which is nothing new, because it happens all of the time in Afghanistan and Iraq; however, the partnership with Calvert City Elementary School was the big hook that everyone bit on. Many of the Press had never heard of this happening before and wanted to cover it. Therefore, yesterday I was interviewed by seven different reporters. The only video that was captured was taken by the Armed Forces Network (AFN) and will air across Europe in 4 days and then on the Pentagon Channel in 7 days. Debbie Rae, I will send you a copy of the video in the mail for you guys at the school, as well as for WPSD TV if they want to use it, as well as photos. It was taken while the elders wereoffering a blessing and prayer for the new school year. The position of thehands is a sign of respect.

Take Care, Ken

(BN CDR 82nd ABN DIV UNIT)

youtube link

2008-02-15T15:47:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcGQAg-yVjI

If I find one of anything 278th I will stick a link on here just to keep piling up the material.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmEgZ-F80FA&feature=related

This one above is General Taluto then video of 42nd ID same as the one in his bio below just added it again. 42ID was of course our Task Force Liberty HQ element.

Wednesday, 26 October 2005
October 26, 2005
Release A051026f
Iraqi army’s 5th Division assumes greater role in Diyala Province
TIKRIT, Iraq – More than 3,000 Soldiers from Task Force Liberty and the 278th Regimental Combat Team will conclude their mission in eastern Diyala Province with a departure ceremony on Forward Operating Base Caldwell on Oct. 29th at 11:30 a.m.
The 1st Brigade of the Iraqi army’s 5th Division in Diyala, because of their proven operational capabilities, will take on a greater security role in the military operations in the sector during the ceremony. The Iraqi 1st Brigade continues to train and equip its forces while providing command and control for battalion-sized operations in eastern Diyala Province.
The regiment, from the Tennessee Army National Guard, achieved significant success during its operations in eastern Diyala Province. Troopers of the regimental combat team conducted more than 13,000 combat patrols during their eleven months of service. The 278th RCT would achieve an IED discovery rate of near 60%, preventing the needless loss of life among Task Force Liberty Soldiers and Iraqi civilians.
The 278th seized and destroyed more than 340 weapons caches of bomb making materials and another 275 stockpiles of unexploded ordnance.
The partnership of the regiment with Iraqi Security Forces resulted in the training of more than 10,000 Iraqi soldiers, police officers and border enforcement personnel.
The impact of the regiment on the lives of countless Iraqi civilians exceeded $103 million on projects that included the construction or renovations of more than 50 schools, nearly 74 water and sewage projects, eight health clinics, 32 road projects, 25 electricity and power projects, 25 business and 23 government renovations.

Old Bill Chips (Hoofbeats) link in archive drop down menu to several editions

2008-02-12T10:29:00.000-08:00

So far our newsletter is actually the best one I have come across as far as images go, probably more images of first squadron and regimental HQ because we were at FOB Caldwell. These OBCs are available on searches for download. If you collect this stuff these are excellent and show the timeline very well. They used to have a link on the Regimental webpage.

The Hoofbeats have to be on a hard drive somewhere and document a vast number of missions/events. I did find them online once but did not download and save.

The original links are below in a previous blog post.

386th Engineers

2008-02-12T10:09:00.000-08:00

SGT Allen in ACE combat bulldozer and his cohorts in a "C" filling walls with dirt.

Gilman/Vasquez/Rojas all were a tremendous help for various projects. As usual logistical support may be unseen, but in the end is the key to success. I do not have any EOD unit designations and very few 386th EN info, like what company this actually was etc.

http://www.ngat.org/Communications&News/NGAT%20Magazine/NGAT%20News%20Fall%202005.pdf

Link TXARNG Publication has one photo of 386th C Company in it.

What are they doing now

2008-02-12T08:55:00.000-08:00

In Iraq and now.

20th Group Chinook Jump, former A/1/278th RCT XO.

Welcome! Here are Blog Navigation Tips

2008-02-10T11:42:00.001-08:00

Use the drop down archive menu on left, click on photo to enlarge. There is alot now so might want to start from bottom/oldest if 278th member. Picasa slideshow will link 300 photos.

Infantry/CAV Scout Weapons

2008-02-10T11:08:00.001-08:00

The sniper photo is on a book cover http://www.amazon.com/Hogs-Shadows-Combat-Stories-Snipers/dp/0425217515/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203377763&sr=1-2

USMC (aka known as naval infantry 0311).

M4 and basic load in Balad ruz Iraq, kid staring hole in my back, Klika photo. I was 46 then and we had guys out on patrols age 59-61. We could not carry what you see below, especially at 8000 feet altitude. Iraq is almost the perfect mission for Guard Units as sustained force on force combat is not the norm.

.50 caliber chambering round for mission out of FOB Caldwell, good mount, it is for the .50 cal and not a MK19 one that left the gun loose and inaccurate after 5 round bursts.

Most of these are web photos but demonstrate what it is like to hump the iron and ammunition.

Javlin rounds,M240B on ruck, M4/203 combo and Bradley Fighting vehicle.

SAW/Shotgun

Dudes Movie

2008-02-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

1/278th members video slideshow received from SGT Meigs an A Troop member. These guys obviously did both patrols and convoy escort, Cavarly troopers, yes they shoot back, not much has changed in that regard since Andrew Jackson or the Civil War in East Tennessee. The same is true of the 30th BCT North Carolina Guard guys you see in the video, we did right seat rides with them transitioning. They were a mechanized Infantry Brigade. Trying to add media as I get it. We were tasked heavily for escort duty being a combat arms branch unit and having many members not operating in their usual roles. Regimental Scouts/COLT team/FA all were put on "foot". We actually were quite mobile in the M1114 hummers but a hummer cannot search a building/hole/haystack/person it is a hands on deal, defacto Infantry, whether you are or not Infantry.

Band of Brothers link Newsletter from 101st (online)

2008-02-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=pubs/pubs_show.php&id=40&name=Band%20of%20Brothers%20Magazine

These are online and relate to the general area of operations we had so I put them on here for research purposes or general browsing. The second link is a list of many online items like these newsletters. Most are not so good but the Unit newsletters are okay, I saved the 11/2005 Change of Command Issue but the ceremony was in Tikrit of course 42nd ID TROA to 101st ABN.

http://www.cjtf7.army.mil/index.php?option=com_weblinks&catid=46&Itemid=124

Multi-national Force site with lots of links.

http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=pubs/pubs_show.php&id=65&name=Anaconda%20Times
Anaconda Times, way after our time in the sand but here it is anyway.

Advisor link below has several 2005 issues in the weblink and of course deals wiht training the Iraqi Army.
http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=pubs/pubs_show.php&id=3&name=The%20Advisor

Google Map Jisr Naft, Diyala, Iraq (Mandali/Balad ruz)

2008-02-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

http://www.maplandia.com/iraq/diyala/jisr-naft/

It is quite extrordinary looking at this satellite photo almost three years later. We never got an aerial view so although we knew the features from on the ground when you see the amount of vegetation and the topography it kinda shocks you at how much of it there was.

Jisr Naft came up but Balad ruz did not, you can see the brick factory but someone who has not been there cannot ascertain the scale of it all. It was 15 kilometers to Balad ruz from FOB Caldwell/KMTB. Jisr Naft was about 800 meters along the highway, I mean not even a one stoplight town hardly. The distance from it to "ruz" which is Balad ruz is 25-30 kilometers, TCP4 was 10 kilometers from the FOB, (FOB Knott). The Brick factory is easily discernable but nobody who had not been there would recognize what it is.

There is another huge brick factory to the northeast of Bagdad, it is about four or five times as large as our huge brick factory, simply amazing if you have been in one. It is actually directly below the west side of Balad ruz one on TACO if you scroll south.

278th RCT attachment: A Company 250th Signal BN

2008-02-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.state.nj.us/military/admin/highlightsarchive/19nov04highlights.html

A Deployment Ceremony was conducted on the parade field of Camp Shelby, Mississippi, for the 278th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) on 11 November 2004. The Regiment is from the Tennessee Army National Guard and is composed of units and soldiers from six states. New Jersey’s contribution to this Team is Company A, 250th Signal Battalion, Westfield, under the command of CPT Grindlinger. They will be deploying with the 278th RCT in late November for Iraq. The entire Brigade was assembled on line for the ceremony and the Governors of three states, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Wisconsin addressed the soldiers. The Adjutant General of Tennessee presented the Tennessee State flag to all unit Commanders (battalions/separate companies), as well as the State flag for each of their respective states. Also in attendance were the First Army Commander, LTG Honore; Chief, National Guard Bureau, LTG Blum; Director, Army National Guard, LTG Schultz, and the Commanding General of the 42nd Infantry Division, MG Taluto with the Division Command Sergeant Major (CSM). The Deputy Joint Force Commander, BG Carlini, the Commander of the 250th Signal Battalion, LTC Thomas, and the CSM of the Battalion, CSM Britt, represented New Jersey.

Another Pdf publication 3/278th RCT

2008-02-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

http://www.ausa.org/pdfdocs/ARMYMag/Steele_278InIraq.pdf

This link and file are about 3/278th RCT operations, narrow in scope as it is a newsletter type publication with the usual 10-20 photos.

Iraqi Countryside Diyala near Iranian border (FOB Caldwell/Mandali)

2008-01-31T16:49:00.000-08:00

Klika Photo of chicken dinner on the foot (left)

The one striking fact about Iraq and other places around the globe is the dependence of man on goats, there must have been three goats for every Iraqi. They obviously can live eating the little green you see in these photos and the ones below.

The canal arrays made quite extensive agricultural efforts possible but were the bain of manuevering for US forces. Like thoughts from Korea our obsession with staying on the roads hurt us. In Korea the terrain channelized us onto the roads in Iraq they became the place to kill us too only from the fact that we presented ourselves on them daily and operated from FOBS instead of just plopping down in the towns and cities. FOBs represent the infrastructure that we think we need, but there were literally millions of Iraqis living someplace else, bad sewers or not.

When factoring in the commuting time back and forth, the different units and sections repeating each others footsteps because each had to learn the AO, and the defacto relationship with our emplaced people (town Mayors/IP) often not representive of the total populace it all added up to problems of one nature or another. In the end either we have to walk the towns and stay in them or the Iraqis have to do it. General Petraus may have been the impetus but he surely was not the first to figure that aspect out.

Iraq was barren except for around canals and the two big rivers. It had a tremendous amount of agricultural capacity that was not being used in 2005. I always watched Vietnam movies and wondered why in the heck would they walk across open fields into an ambush, well this is how we approached houses/farm compounds etc. and everytime I did I thought someone was going to shoot one of us meandering up to the house, we did not really do bounding overwatch but did have vehicle gunners overwatching us. Of course that is not going to do you any good after a 7.62mm machinegun burst to the chest from an insurgent shooting from cover if you are the guy on point. It is hard on the first guy to recover from something like that.

Railhead in Kuwait City Iraq

2008-01-31T16:31:00.000-08:00

This was the railhead in Kuwait all the soldiers have been detailed out to drive vehicles to Camp Buerhing for staging then the convoy to FOB Caldwell/KMTB.

Camp Shelby MS photos

2008-01-31T16:18:00.000-08:00

Camp Shelby, MS, the place had a unique history as both WWI and WWII armies trained here. It is big, wooded, and hot. The humidity was horrible and although it looks like camping out it was miserable. Better than being frozen is all I can say about it. I met an old preacher that stopped to visit the museum and he said he had not been back since he trained in WWII as an Infantryman. I aske dif they had heat problems and he said heck yeah, had guys passing out all the time. Some things do not change. The 442nd Infantry trained here, the Japanese American Regiment of WWII fame.

The connex training villages were not my favorite trainng aids to put it mildly. The 278th RCT had a natural persona for dealing with people in a common sense and proper manner that served us well in Iraq. Thank God for COL Adam's, the WI guard could not even leave the post, Hattiesburg was a life saver, the people great and lots of the usual restaurants to go relax at when you had the chance. COL Adam's told the upper echelons that we were going to town and not beig stupid and sitting on Camp Shelby for months in the heat.

About half of these train ups are useless. No matter how hard they try they never match the reality of the actual mission. Mostly because the stupid evaluation process is so skewed and standardized, meaning the trainers just have to have an answer they were told to have. All of the infantry training was vastly substandard to what one did at the 82nd/101st/10th MTN etc. and I think The Infantry has an idea of what infantry training is. It is toughness and a coordinated response honed in miserable conditions on long field training exercises with multiple live fires in several different conditions (day/night).

Huge money is spent on this stuff (good for the Sate of MS) and not the most efficiently it could be spent, like going to the units going to Iraq instead. The reality was you road around with the unit you were replacing a few days once you arrived in Iraq and learned it the hard way, as usual, mixing with the population and doing a recon of the AO. You have to see it first hand to know it in these things. You could not really appreciate what the leaving soldiers were trying to say until you had the experience. All that interaction (cultural indoctrination) crap can be done in a classroom talking with an Iraqi instead of hanging out in some hokey village in MS doing scenarios that never approach reality. Combat arms soldiers can shoot back just fine and they know if a leg is blown off to turn the bloodflow off, even if they have to do it themselves. You want real transition then leave a unit in theater for the duration and send replacements to it instead of new units that would end the coming and going in masse.

Never ending tank maintenance/FOB maintenance stuff

2008-01-28T15:26:00.001-08:00

Some FOB Caldwell maintenance stuff, these are what we called working fobbits, limited scenery was the order of their day.

ye olde shipping container

Can I get another engine and some more track.

They do not show this in the recruiting video but it is where a tanker spends the majority of his time, M1A1 tanks are the number one expenditure in maintenance in Iraq, like 600 million dollars worth.

However, if in a fight it is the machine you want to be riding into it, broken or a dog, it can

get r done.

about me photos

2008-01-22T19:40:00.000-08:00

Son roller blading past PT HHC 2nd BDE, 101st ABN, everyone is humping the ground, must have done a bunch of PUs.

Dad and Uncles, Grandad & USAF Security Forces School photo, Lackland AFB.

AOBC M1A1 NBC training/OCS JUN 1992, TMA and USAF KAB Okinawa Japan (missile shop)

Fork Union Military Academy 1974/KMTB 2005 IA guntruck Platoon Sergeant Adnan

Air Assault School 1994, Fort Campbell, and Howard AFB Panama, Operation Safe Haven with Bro. HHC 2BDE 101st/HHC 505th 82nd.

COL Catalanotti 98th DIV

2008-01-22T12:27:00.000-08:00

http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p4013coll13&CISOPTR=309&CISOBOX=1&REC=3

link to interviews with commanders this one is COL in charge of MiTT/ASTs in 2005 see previous blog post below. There is an access this document propmt at the middle of this Bio/webpage to access interviews. This oe is very generic overview and does not get to KMTB in any detail.

• Col. Robert G. Catalanotti, chief of staff (TPU), 98th Division, Rochester, N.Y., to deputy commander (TPU), 81st Regional Readiness Sustainment Command, Fort Jackson, S.C.

http://cgsc.leavenworth.army.mil/carl/contentdm/home.htm

command and general staff college link

Stephen Clay, Iroquois in Iraq 98th DIV MiTT good pdf file has APR 4th Described from MiTT Cadre view

2008-01-22T08:21:00.000-08:00

http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/clay_iroquois.pdf

I am trying to get the exact MiTT team Cadres designations that the 278th RCT worked with at FOB Caldwell/KMTB side. This is a lenghty PDF written by the guy listed in the title block of this blog post. Link included. They were ASTs at BN level at KMTB, page 118 on pdf link. I have yet to figure out where the Iraqi and MiTT/BN ASTs unit designations split, for example 6th BN for the BN or 2BN AST at KMTB/FOB Caldwell, the sign in our group photo said 2BN? The Iraqi Army was the 1BDE of 5th DIV, I thought our IA company was designated, 4Co/2BN/1BDE/5th DIV but really do not know to this day other than the Company and Battalion of course, 2th BN for the AST does not tell BDE/DIV designation so is confusing. They also renamed Iraqi Army units while we were there.

Page 127 in the document describes the organization of the Iraqi 5th Division KMTB/FOB Caldwell AO. Major Curwen had the AST at KMTB when we, 1/278th RCT, began MiTTs. Page 149 in the actual document lists the name of a Navy Corpsman, which may have been the guy who was with the MiTT/BN ASTs at KMTB, standing out as the only Navy guy around on FOB Caldwell/KMTB. They describe fighting around a water treatment plant, the ASTs/MiTTs worked with the USMC in other AOs so I sure there was more than one corpsman, but not at KMTB, there was just one. This is probably a different water treatment plant than the one in Balad ruz where we had a gunfight of some sort. Reading on you can see that the 278th RCT and the MiTT cadre did not see eye to eye on 278th security measures. Major Curwen is quoted on page 151, he changed his attitude some once he got a dose of us, 1/278th Troopers page 153. I remember Major Curwen also left early due to an injury or something, SFC Porier made the best impression on me personally but I had little to do with the MiTT cadre other than SFC Leach, who was pissed after APR 4th when SSG Dill was killed (the firefight is decribed in this pdf and I inserted the link on the APR 4th account below, LT Hancock's). Getting my ass chewed by their TOP for shooting M203 rounds at one of the big ranges was about the only other interaction I had other than with SFC Leach, who also chewed our asses regularly. I usually signed the range out but did not one time and it was on a normal day, we always went on Fridays at 2PM when it was 120 degrees out and prayer day for the Iraqi army, but this day did not, I had gotten to cocky and forgot I was a SPC, TOP made it clear what my exact rank was and standing in relation to my duties, a least he did not bitch slap me like Major Ali (ING) would have one of his men. The 7.62mm machinegun range was in operation and Teed into the RPG range so we hugged the big berm behind an M1114 and shot the M203 rounds. Safe in reality but not real smart when everyone was out and about and shooting, protocol/proceedures not cowboy Bob at the ok corral was the method when people were watching.

Anyone that has read anything in military history knows when you put a bunch of locals into the mix there are "spys", it happened in Korea/Vietnam extensively, and also is well documented. So of course we did not trust anyone if our asses were on the line in any way. The security was crazy as any Iraqi that wanted to walk over to our side could easily do so, but all of them knew not to and had more sense than to. The intent was exactly as Major Curwen perceived, stay the hell out of our AO without permission or invitation. That message was received and had nothing to do with our future relations with the Iraqi Army once on MiTTs. Then we could build trust and actually knew who we were dealing with. Did SF let anyone in their compound during Vietnam at Fort Campbell? It was their turf and everyone knew it. Our AO was our turf and within the overall AO you had your own Company/Platoon/Sections turf. They had guys (Iraqis) living in the buildings that were not used when we went through them with the 101st ABN to inspect them and nobody knew it. It was smart to let the IA know that it was off limits to come mingle. The same applied to us we did not mingle with them, heck you cannot even put the 101st and 82nd together in our own army if in garrison. MiTTs were the exceptions.

The 98th DIV (institutional) were great at training basic trainees, laying out an overall plan, and at institutional approaches but as far as the operational Infantry companies went were not doing what was needed, lack of resources, the Iraqis themselves, and time constraints played into this problem. They had no battle handover where they passed them on to operational American units to combine patrols with and associate with. Conversely a small number of Americans stuck into their units would be seen as "tattle tales" to our superiors by some. So in the end the Iraqis will be declared ready and let go in charge of themselves more or less. They did not get the point, it is about kicking ass in the Infantry during training, hard training, I personally thought we needed to be looking foward in time when the IA would have to take down a militia element in a real fight that would be rifle on rifle, man on man, not just the AIF/insurgents scattered about, that fight has not occurred yet either in their defense so I may be wrong, but not on the issue of tough training, it is always good. They sure did nothing in Fallujah, we did and got killed for them doing it. Look at Fallujah satellite photo below and tell me how many Iraqi Army boundries you see in the graphic, none, now there were Iraqis around but they did not do the actual beat down.

http://www-tradoc.army.mil/PAO/training_closeup/050104.htm
definition of CMATT/article

http://www.mnstci.iraq.centcom.mil/

MNSTC-I defined/official website

www.lulu.com/content/1728037 is my ebook and has my opinon on the matters of training an operational Iraqi Company/Platoon.

Memorial Hwy in honor of 3/278th RCT member SPC Tucker

2008-01-22T08:03:00.000-08:00

PDF]
2006 Public Acts Chapter
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML... 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Tennessee Army National. Guard, who was killed in the line of duty on October 13, 2005, while serving in Iraq; and ...tn.gov/sos/acts/104/pub/pc0856.pdf -

http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/tuckerrobertw.html

Asbury F. Hawn II KIA Iraq 3/278th RCT

2008-01-22T07:32:00.000-08:00

http://livinglegendteam.blogspot.com/2006/01/army-staff-sgt-asbury-f-hawn-ii.html

Fallen heros link

278th RCT NTC rotation 2004 Old Bill Chips Newsletter

2008-01-20T15:03:00.000-08:00

OBCs has plenty of photos in each issue

PDF]
Old Bills Chips
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTMLPhotos of NTC Rotation. 278th Regimental Combat Team. Inside this issue:. The 278 RCT. completes a rotation. at the National Train-. ing Center, ...www.278acr.com/metadot/index.pl?id=2260&isa=Item&field_name=item_attachment_file&op=download_file - Similar pages

http://209.85.207.104/search?q=cache:UF0_LhfQzAIJ:www.278acr.com/metadot/index.pl%3Fid%3D2260%26isa%3DItem%26field_name%3Ditem_attachment_file%26op%3Ddownload_file+278th+ntc&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=20&gl=us

HTML link to newsletter it can be downloaded as a PDF too.

Old newsletter from rotation before mobilization, not the Iraq OIF III one.

PDF]
278 VS 2
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTMLThe bottom line...the 278th ACR is a much more. ready unit now because of the NTC experience. The Tennessee rotation was the largest Army ...https://tn.ngb.army.mil/volstate/archives/vsgontc02/finalntc.pdf - Similar pages

Chaplain Jones annoucement (Church of God)

2008-01-20T14:41:00.000-08:00

Chaplain Jones (on left) was on this Tomb mission and it was the worst day of the year (coldest), wet miserable and riding in a tin can M113A3. When we returned to FOB Caldwell he tripped and feel out of the hatch in the ramp onto the wet muddy ground and smiling said "what a perfect way to end this day", then walked off still smiling. Here we are eating the MREs, I think the only one I ate all year actually.

http://www.churchofgod.org/articles.cfm?sid=4782

10/8/04
Chaplain (LT) Aaron R. Jones, a Church of God ordained minister, has been recently assigned as a chaplain with the 278th Regimental Combat Team (RCT), 1st Squadron. His Unit is a Tennessee-based National Guard Ground Reconnaissance Squadron, with heavy ties to personnel deployed who live in Cleveland and Bradley County, Tennessee, the headquarters city of the Church of God.
The Unit of which Chaplain Jones will be assisting is equipped with Abrams tanks, Bradley Cavalry Fighting vehicles, mortar carriers and howitzers. Chaplain Jones joined the 278th RCT at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, from his Maryland Army National Guard unit. He is an associate pastor of the Washington National Church of God, near Washington, DC. At the Church, he also serves as Vice President of the National Bible College and Seminary. Chaplain Jones is married and his wife Sharon serves on the staff of the Washington National Church and High School.
Chaplain Jones enlisted in the Army in 1988 and served on active duty and with the Army National Guard for 15 years prior to being endorsed by the Church of God Chaplains Commission for the Army Chaplaincy. Upon graduation from Army Chaplains School in April, 2004, Chaplain Jones returned to his Maryland Guard Unit and his responsibilities at the National Bible College and Seminary. While serving with his Maryland unit, he was notified of his recent selection to deploy with the 278th RCT.
Chaplain Jones has already begun providing ministry, through regular worship services and pastoral counseling. These are important days for Chaplain Jones, as he begins the long process of getting to know each soldier and becoming a part of their lives and the mission ahead.
"I am really proud to be serving with the men and women of the 278th and I look forward to providing ministry to these fine soldiers," states Chaplain Jones. He added, "They have been assigned a vital mission in defense of our country and it is my responsibility to provide them with the spiritual support that will strengthen and sustain them in the weeks and months ahead."
Dr. Robert D. Crick, Director of the Church of God Chaplains Commission, states, "I am well aware of the outstanding history and tradition of the 278th RCT. These National Guard soldiers are a part of America's finest and the Church of God is proud of being able to send one of our own Chaplains to serve along side our sons and daughters.”

Paladin 155mm firing Jisr-Naft Iraq (Klika photo)(great photo link)

2008-01-20T14:22:00.001-08:00

Another Klika Photo

Jisr-Naft was my favorite named place, it was a little desolate village east of FOB Caldwell.

This photo won an award, not sure about the shooting, just kidding FA. Great photos on the link.

http://sill-www.army.mil/famag/online_photo_gallery/field%20artillery%20photo%20contest%20winners%202005/slides/1st%20Place,%20Combat.html

VOLs ACU

2008-01-20T14:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.engr.utk.edu/news/releases/helmet.html

COL Adams accepting VOLs football helmet with Command SGM Pippin, link to article above.

http://209.61.225.240/index.cfm?fa=news.magDtl&dtl=1&mid=2889

VFW article short write ups of multiple FOBs and AOs

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The University of Tennessee College of Engineering (COE) and the UT Athletics Department recently joined forces to show support for the Tennessee National Guard's 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. The regiment, headquartered in Knoxville, has been called to active duty for a rotation in Iraq. Commander of the regiment is Colonel Dennis Adams, a 1978 UT graduate and former Vol football player from 1974 to 1977. James Pippin, the Command Sergeant Major of the regiment, is the director of the COE's Engineering Diversity Programs.
The insignia of the 278th was attached to a UT football helmet, which was then was signed by the current UT Volunteer football team and coaching staff. The helmet was sent to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, where the 278th is preparing for deployment. Adams and Pippin received the helmet on behalf of the regiment on September 22nd, and it will travel with the unit to Iraq in November 2004.

That is the Governor of Tennessee shaking hands with COL Adams, Bredesen.

Tower Seven KMTB side of FOB Caldwell

2008-01-20T13:40:00.000-08:00

RPK field of fire confirmation tower seven

SPC Stephen W. Castner KIA Iraq 127th Infantry, WI

2008-01-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/castnerstephenw.html

The 2/127th was our Infantry attachment element. SPC Castner was assigned to 121st FA, WI

http://iraq.pigstye.net/article.php/CastnerStephenW article link

http://www.mail-archive.com/members@www.americangalloway.com/msg00018.html link to annoucement of his death

http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=9784 DOD page

http://dma.state.wi.us/MediaPublicAffairs/news_print.asp?onid=300 AGs statement

Major general Taluto, 42ID Commander of Task Force Liberty FOB Danger Iraq 2005

2008-01-19T16:54:00.000-08:00

http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/tag/bio.php

Link to his Bio and current duty status.

Maj. Gen. Joseph J. Taluto was appointed The Adjutant General for the State of New York on January 23, 2006. Prior to this assignment, General Taluto was assigned as the Commander, 42nd Infantry Division, New York Army National Guard. Maj. Gen. Taluto commanded the division and Task Force Liberty during its historic deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III from 2004-2005.
Taluto served as the Joint Task Force Commander during the 42nd Infantry Division’s initial emergency response mission to assist the City of New York in its security and recovery operations following the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. He directed a force of some 2,000 Soldiers, Airmen, sailors and Marines to assist the city’s Office of Emergency Management.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/tf-liberty.htm

TF Liberty write up.

http://www.first.army.mil/pao/2005_Articles/Rainbow_Division_TF_Move_Out.htm

Another write up on 42ID deployment as Division HQ for TF Liberty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmEgZ-F80FA&feature=related

http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=video/video_show.php&id=1572#
http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=video/video_show.php&id=1572#

Links to video and interviews with MG General Taluto, there are multiple links on the web page above.

British are paying a price with us (a reminder)

2008-01-19T16:34:00.000-08:00

If you ever see a British soldier thank them mightily as if they had not been there by our side this would be an American instead, they were the only ally that actually put some troops on the ground in a big way.

Thanks

General Casey, LTG Vines, President Bush, and Secretary Rumsfeld the COC when we went to Iraq

2008-01-19T16:23:00.001-08:00

These were the big boys when we were in Iraq, all roads lead through the 101st/82nd Airborne Divisions, except of course for Secretary Rumsfeld & President Bush.

John R. Vines was my Brigade Commander at Fort Campbell and I worked in the BDE S3 section there HHC 2BDE. Tocroach for sure, only we put ours up out in the field repeatedly and it was a bitch, Infantry.

Mosque call video Balad ruz Iraq

2008-01-19T15:37:00.000-08:00

2/A/1/278th RCT Patrol listening to mosque call.

M113A3 Video Balad ruz Iraq east TCP

2008-01-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

These things were loud as you might notice when viewing, worse inside one bouncing around.

FOB Knott Hendy Range Video SAW/M4 carbines

2008-01-19T15:25:00.000-08:00

This was our first testfire at the range after we built it. We put up knock down targets for the Iraqis who had none and so could not tell if they hit anything or not. Easy fix, cut them out of steel plate and prop them up with sticks. A sample target (shot up) is in previous post below, these were 5/16 inch steel and 1/4 inch steel target made from leftover Hillbilly Armor.

CPT Andrews' MiTT team built the range ( he was also our XO)

The generic Medals we were awarded

2008-01-19T15:22:00.001-08:00

Global War On Terroism (L)/Iraq Campaign Medal

Camp Buerhing tents

2008-01-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

Not much to say here. We left from here to Iraq in convoys and on aircraft. A big road march.

FOB Caldwell Laundry room1 and Hickory Cafe

2008-01-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

A few images of FOB stuff.

Area of Operations (Fallujah boundries between Regiments)

2008-01-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

Our area of operations on the left and an interesting satellite photo of Fallujah (not our area). The USMC and Army unleashed six regiments on Fallujah Iraq, Ramadi was on both sides of a river and not near as nicely laid out for an assault and never was cleared like Fallujah was. Here we are talking six regiments walking through and killing any AIF they encountered, much different from what we generally did in our daily misions. We operated in sections most of the most of the time and had little contact, we did have IEDs quite often . This is what we had expected to do. It did not quite work out that way.

Aaron Jagger 1SG KIA Iraq

2008-01-19T14:52:00.000-08:00

Aaron lived in Chickamauga, GA and is the only guy that I actually knew (from SFOR 9 Bosnia mission) that has been killed in Iraq, it struck me mightily as what are the odds of it, it is the same with our guys when we had almost 4000 Troopers and only a few were killed, it is very tragic.

http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/jaggeraarond.html

278th regimental HQ, Charlie Daniels in quad and the big brass, two general officers and two full bulls, Charlie outranks them all this day

2008-01-19T14:48:00.000-08:00

Here is Charlie Daniels posing in the quad of our Regimental HQ FOB Caldwell 2005

Tennesseans love Charlie and Confederate Railroad who came down to Camp Shelby to put on a show for Apache Troop, thanks to both!

UXO for cash program II

2008-01-12T12:43:00.001-08:00

UXO for cash program, now the kid can have satellite. There were some humongus piles around Iraq but the sheer number of munitions around was amazing, anyone could find it and make an IED being the point.

The beautiful people ODA/SF

2008-01-12T06:17:00.000-08:00

The beautiful people in their hats, "I can wear a hat you can't, na na na naaa"

JCC Balad ruz Iraq, this was the first team that was at KMTB another replaced them around June 2005

D/1/278th RCT Patrol on Iranian border

2008-01-12T06:14:00.000-08:00

D/1/278th RCT on the Iranian border.

SFC Kennedy second row on left was KIA during the APR 4th fight.

Fobbit activity

2008-01-12T06:11:00.000-08:00

These were the medical guys and they actually got off the FOB but still in the realm of Fobbitdom were quasi fobbits from spending the majority of the time in their clinic tending us.

Fire!

SFC/NCOIC and two PAs

Let freedom ring! some Ashura event

2008-01-12T06:08:00.000-08:00

I do not think these folks had the inclination to march much before we arrived to assure their right to do so.
Which include providing the security to do so.

balad ruz Iraq 2005

Bradley Section A/1/278th

2008-01-12T06:03:00.001-08:00

The Scouts as opposed to the the tankers, who never tanked, the tank platoon we had was attached as was third platoon who were the actual BFV guys originally. They are crunchies to us we are DATs (dumb ass tankers) to them.

MEDEVAC of AIF (Rios/Dalton medics, 3/A/1/278th RCT

2008-01-12T05:57:00.001-08:00

The Iraqi Army guys are not to concerned, they shot him and wanted him dead on arrival, we of course fixed him. "Mexican Bob" aka SGT Rios and SGT Dalton (who was also present on APR 4th as the medic) are treating him.

3/A/1/278th RCT

Under The Gun: Infantryman, Medic, Tattoo Artist is Rios' book linked below.

Deacon hawg hunt D/1/278th RCT

2008-01-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

Alledgedly cooked, but Muslims of course are not likely to partake in a hawg roast.

Apache Troop on tank ready line FOB Caldwell

2008-01-11T14:16:00.000-08:00

Apache Troop Unit Photo

FOB Caldwell 2005 much thinner than the one on the Armory wall in Cleveland, TN and it got thinner than this as the deployment went on, injuries, emergencies etc.

M1A1 Route TACO video

2008-01-11T12:33:00.000-08:00

Video of tank section rolling out westbound on Route TACO to Balad ruz A/1/278th RCT. The left is the brick factory it can be seen on the blog post of Google Sattelite image, no scale but if you look at the little black blobs zooming in they are Kilns and smokestacks, 75-200 feet high. It is massive, the Jisr-naft village is 24-30 kilometers from Balad ruz, named ruz on the image. The factory itself was at least 12 kilometers long and 2-5 wide depending on where you were, then the debris fields of brick bats made it even bigger. Photo of one of our tanks near Turki Village south of CP12 on route Cowboy.

Shot Through the Arm

2008-01-11T11:53:00.000-08:00

SGT Simms walked 2LT Ruel to the Medevac, he had been shot through the arm with an AK47 early in the fight during the APR 4th Action. Deacon Troopers took the brunt of the hostile fire which is reflected in the awards they subsequently received, blogged below.

Corpsman lights up 1/278th RCT Commander's vehicle

2008-01-11T11:15:00.001-08:00

Pitts article follows my comments,

This was the article on the corpsman from a MiTT Cadre, suspect number one, not mentioned in it, but we knew generally what went down. Any idiot within 18 klicks listening to radio traffic this night knew where everyone was, we sure did, the LTC was first coming North on COWBOY then east on TACO when his convoy came upon the MiTT Cadre vehicles, from "summer school" voting precinct, the others were North on COWBOY and in Balad ruz. Everyone was heading to the house, aka FOB Caldwell. Lesson learned, do not give people machinguns just becasue they think it is cool to gun. It is not cool and you have to constantly make good decisions in a crazy battle space, at night it is worse. For some reason this guy was the only Navy person on the FOB, go figure. All I know is that he left shortly thereafter. I had a good friend from GA (48th BCT) tell me that a 101st guy opened up on them ENTERING into a FOB hitting one of their drivers in the leg after the first two vehicles passed, go figure, so it was not just the Navy, this was the same 48th BDE guy who got into a fist fight with a 101st 2LT on MSR Tampa for calling him a wetback, I digress.

They (the guys who shot at the LTC) were said to be laughing about the incident in our chow hall afterwards, not real bright. The reason they were in our chow hall is that the one on the KMTB side of the FOB was closed at night, ODA was over there but they did not do elections, one MiTT Cadre commander was a Major and they had the corpsman. Officers do not generally gun by the way and why in the hell would the vehicle with the ballot be last in a convoy escorting them?

No blood no foul, it was the evasiveness and failure to come forth and say hey guys we screwed up that left the bad blood. Anyone can understand the incident happening stupid or not but acting like you do not know what went on in your vehicle(s) is complete crap, especially for a major and captain, SFC, 1SG. As stated below anyone that thought the State Department was in Balad ruz has to be from the woods of East Tennessee. The reason the Iraqi Army was with us was that the US Army was paranoid about being seen as influencing elections so pushed the Iraqi Army to secure the locations and we stayed away during the actual voting acting as a QRF. So, since the Iraqi Army 2BN had Balad ruz as their AO they went, and where they went the MiTT cadre went, hence you had the IA guntrucks in the convoy along with the Bradley FV and other 278th elements from Balad ruz all driving back to the FOB at once, the LTC called the ball and as usual everyone executed the plan, which in Joe's case is going to late chow, that is probably why the shooters were in the chow hall/DFAC and being idiots talking about shooting up our BN CDR. That is about all I know. It is another war story now.

Here is a Corpsman mentioned in the link at the end of the sentence below, this was an AST/MiTT operating in another area. Why corpsman I have no idea, no USMC around, they were probably reservists. Just pointing out that there were actually corpsman with more than one MiTT/AST team.

In the HMMWV were five advisors: LTC David P. Wait, the brigade XO advisor, was the vehicle commander; CPT Paul Bollenbacher was the driver; SSG Jose Rodriguez was the gunner; CPT Peter Mollineaux and Chief Petty Officer Hyde, a Navy corpsman, rode in the rear seats.
http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/clay_iroquois.pdf

The only Navy guy around KMTB was the corpsman at 2BN IA MiTT/AST cadre and apparently he was gunning, I went on a patrol with him early, or rather he with us, and he was a complete dweeb all jacked up carrying a gun, in fact I asked "who is that to others" because of his unusual demeanor, and why was a corpsman along with us. All roads led to him in the end, added to the fact he left shortly after. He was with the MiTT cadre I worked directly with/for when we began the MiTT teams.

278th 'friendly fire' incident investigated By Edward Lee PittsMilitary Affairs CAMP CALDWELL, Iraq -- An election night friendly fire incident involving members of the 278th Regimental Combat Team based here is under investigation, regimental officers confirmed Friday.
Lt. Col. Mark Hart, 1st Squadron commander, said officials from both units involved in the Jan. 30 shooting are conducting inquiries and gathering sworn statements. No one was injured in the incident.
The incident occurred when Lt. Col. Hart's convoy of six Humvees, returning to Camp Caldwell after disposing of a homemade bomb near the town of Balad Ruz, tried to join another U.S. military convoy. That convoy, composed of American soldiers from various military branches here to oversee the elections, also was heading back to Camp Caldwell.
According to witnesses, the lead convoy of non-278th soldiers discharged nearly 50 rounds of ammunition and left bullet marks on two 278th Humvees. The firing occurred when Lt. Col. Hart's group came within 800 meters of the lead convoy, which was escorting ballots from Sunday's election, witnesses said.
"There were tracers (bullets) everywhere firing to the left and the right," said Sgt. Caleb Baker, 23, of Greenback, Tenn. "I thought we were being ambushed."
The incident happened about 9:30 p.m., said Cpl. Greg Dixon, 33, of Dayton, Tenn., who was the hatch gunner on Lt. Col. Hart's front Humvee.
He said he heard three bursts coming from the rear Humvee in the lead convoy. The first burst sent bullet rounds to the left of the vehicles as a warning shot, but the second burst came right down the middle of the road toward Lt. Col. Hart's convoy, passing within five to 10 meters of Cpl. Dixon's face, he said.
"As soon as I saw that, I ducked down (inside the Humvee) and said, 'They are shooting at us,'" Cpl. Dixon said.
His Humvee driver swerved off the road and headed for cover behind a small mud hut when soldiers with the lead convoy discharged a third burst of gunfire toward the 278th detachment.
LIKE "STAR WARS"
Sgt. Chad Crisp, 28, of Cleveland, Tenn., said two bullets ricocheted off the front ballistic windshield of the second Humvee, while another lodged into the driver's side windshield of the sixth and final Humvee in the 278th convoy.
Every fifth round fired by a U.S. weapon is illuminated with a red glow that continues to burn along the flight path of the bullet. These tracer rounds allow soldiers firing at night to acquire a reliable aim on an intended target.
"It was like watching the movie Star Wars up close and personal," said Sgt. Crisp, referring to the streams of red that tipped off the 278th soldiers that the bullets were coming from fellow Americans.
The bullets came from a 5.56 caliber machine gun called a squad automatic weapon, or SAW, which is less lethal than the .50-caliber machine guns commonly found on the top of Humvees.
"I probably wouldn't be here if it had been a .50 cal," said Spc. Michael French, 35, of Whitwell, Tenn., who was in the second Humvee that now has two bullet scars.
Sgt. Crisp said Lt. Col. Hart yelled over the radio to cease firing at friendly targets, but there was no response. Carrying the completed election ballots to Camp Caldwell where they would be guarded overnight, the lead convoy never stopped. After checking to make sure no one was hurt, Lt. Col. Hart's convoy also continued its route to Camp Caldwell, this time staying a good distance back of the lead convoy, according to Sgt. Crisp.
Back inside Camp Caldwell, the soldiers in Lt. Col. Hart's personnel security detachment, who travel everywhere with Lt. Col. Hart, confronted the suspected sources of the friendly fire. According to Sgt. Crisp, one of the passengers in the vehicle where the shooting came from said there were reports that insurgents in Baghdad had stolen a Humvee.
Despite the darkness, Spc. French said the gunner in the last Humvee of the first convoy should have seen the headlights of each Humvee in Lt. Col. Hart's convoy and known they were U.S. forces.
"I almost had rather it been the enemy because you know what to do then," said Spc. French. "It is a hard situation when your own people are shooting at you."
An Iraqi Army-operated Nissan truck was the next to last vehicle in the convoy escorting ballots. But Lt. Col. Hart ruled out that vehicle's involvement in the incident by wrapping his hand around the barrel of the .50-caliber machine gun mounted on the truck's bed and confirming that the barrel was cold.
STILL IN SHOCK
Soldiers with the 278th received conflicting reports about who fired at them.
The occupants of the last Humvee in the convoy escorting ballots identified themselves as two officers from the U.S. Navy and a major and sergeant first class with the U.S. Army, according to a 278th soldier
But Sgt. Baker said the shooters were nonconventional soldiers wearing a mix of camouflage and civilian clothing similar to what U.S. Special Forces are allowed to wear.
The suspected shooters told the 278th soldiers they were State Department employees sent to train the Iraqi police and Iraqi Army, according to other reports.
The 278th soldiers involved in the episode have completed sworn affidavits through the regiment's legal office, Lt. Col. Hart said.
On Friday, five days after the incident, the 278th soldiers said they still are in shock at what happened but thankful that no one was hurt.
"Everybody kept their heads and didn't start shooting back," Spc. French said. "It could have gotten rough."
Cpl. Dixon said he felt helpless when soldiers from his own country fired at him, and he said he did not return fire because the convoy escorting ballots had tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, which could have quickly escalated the incident with deadly results.
Sgt. Michael Weeden, 32, of Athens, Tenn., the gunner on the second Humvee in Lt. Col. Hart's convoy, said soldiers are taught to have 100 percent positive identification on a target before squeezing the trigger.
"That takes seconds to do," he said. "If we had fired, we would have been no better than the people who fired on us. Once you pull the trigger, you can't take the bullets back."
The members of Lt. Col. Hart's personal security detachment said they are upset the officers involved did not have enough military discipline to refrain from firing and that the officers involved showed little remorse when challenged about the shooting once back inside Camp Caldwell.
"No one came to us to say, 'We are sorry,'" Cpl. Dixon said. "They didn't want to give us any names, and they were all quiet about it. I find it strange that so few people know who they are."
E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

My opinion: The State Department apparrently can't get its own employees to come to Iraq, definately not Balad ruz, and it is well known that the 98th Division did it and they of course knew if they had a unit out (IA), they being the major/SFC. What confused the 278th guys was the fact that they lived on the KMTB side of the FOB as did ODA/SF and other 98th DIV training Cadre (CMATT/ASTs), KMTB conducted basic training and had an operational IA BDE. It was before we organized MiTT teams that worked with the 98th MiTT Cadre so you had the confusion of who they were. So much for investigative reporting. Lee Pitts stuff was soft, meaning that he took a soft line, no edge at all to his writing, no underlying caustic wit to veil what really went on. It is just short of having an official Army public affairs person writing the articles. To much soundbite and to little substance. What was going on was real, interesting, and very reportable. Like the Fobbit article below, compare it to what soldiers write and post and tell me which is clearer.

The "War Fix" guy goes the other extreme, at least in reporting what and how we did stuff on a daily basis, if you get shot at or RPGed or mortared it does not mean much unless you are hit or it messes up equipment. Book link below, I think he went on some patrols in 3/278th AO. The Doug Grindle video clips are good, linked in link list.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=1561634638&itm=1

SPC Gary Reeese KIA 3/278th RCT, SGT Shannon Tucker KIA 3/278th RCT

2008-01-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/reesejrgaryl.html

Link to Fallen Heros web Memorial

http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/taylorshannond.html

Charlie Daniels (Stars and Stripes link)

2008-01-11T10:55:00.000-08:00

http://www.starsforstripes.com/CDB%20Troop%20Letters.html

Charlie came to FOB Caldwell in April 2005.

Here is Da Man jamming in his CAV hat!

KMTB Kirkush Military Training Base/FOB Caldwell

2008-01-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/kirkush.htm

A link to the home of IA 5th Division now. I suspect this FOB was so big because of the previous Iranina Iraqi war. Kinda like the 11th ACR in Germany except IA unit now. Video clip of border pass in prvious blog post, with narration. Baqubah is actually west of the facility, Balad ruz is closet town.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAI/is_5_37/ai_n15674637

Central Issue Facility (CIF) for two Iraqi divisions.

Kirkush Military Training Base (KMTB)
The new Iraqi Army of 40,000 persons require basing facilities at 18 locations. Prospective Military Bases to re-construct include Kurkush (under Construction as of mid-Jan 2004)
Kirkush Military Training Base (KMTB), Iraq (Mercator Grid Reference System 38SNC 22027 30374) is approximately 70 miles west of Baghdad, close to the Iranian border. Coalition officials are hoping security will improve when a new Iraqi army is formed. The first battalion of that new army graduated from training on 04 October 2003. Their training camp is near Kirkush, 90 kilometers northwest of Baghdad. Some 750 recruits lived and worked at the Kirkush base, a group of squat cement buildings standing in the desert far from the nearest town. The battalion began their 9 week training course on August 2, 2003. During their time in Kirkush, the trainees were instructed in a variety of subjects from the laws of war and codes of conduct to first aid and marksmanship. The first battalion will become part of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division and work along side Coalition forces to protect Iraq's borders. A number of graduates will remain at the training base to become instructors for future battalions of the Iraqi Army. They will continue to receive advanced training focused on their specific mission, once assigned.
The training facility, located 130 kilometers northeast of Baghdad in Kirkush, is one of three sites located throughout Iraq that had begun construction by a Yugoslavian company more than a decade ago, prior to the first Persian Gulf War. However, after that conflict, with the onset of United Nations sanctions that curbed Saddam's military build-up, construction stopped. These facilities were left unused, undeveloped, and essentially abandoned for more than ten years. However, since they were still the property of Saddam's government, looting and stealing from these 'ghost-towns' was not a problem -- fear of Saddam kept these unfinished facilities secure.
The roughly 4 kilometer square area was designed to accommodate seven battalions worth of soldiers with roughly 200 buildings, which include barracks, kitchens, classrooms, administrative buildings, warehouses, maintenance facilities and everything you would expect at a military base. There is even the outline of foundations for family housing units that were never completed. Once the regime fell and the blanket of fear lifted, many of these building were looted for windows, doors, plumbing and electrical fixtures, or simply vandalized in reprisal against the old regime.
Because of the remote location of the facility, and with the lack of water and electrical utility connections from national systems, the Iraqi Contractor, Al Mansoor Construction Company, a state-owned enterprise, solved the needs for essential utility systems for the unfinished facility. Operators were having difficulty getting potable water brought to the site from the nearby town of Balad Ruz, 17 kilometers away. Generators were flown in by IAP, a company that had worked closely with the Corps of Engineers on other emergency response missions, to provide the necessary electricity to the site, especially in a country that is having difficult with their national grid.
The pace of the team was important for the facility to be ready to accept the first Iraqi recruits, roughly 700 soldiers (an entire battalion), at the beginning of August 2003 for a nine-week training program. Three thousand more are expected in November 2003. The clock was ticking for Iraq to develop their own security, and ticking faster for the team of Iraqi Engineers and the corps, which needed to provide these facilities for that army.

From: Army Logistician Date: 9/1/2005

The central issue facility (CIF) at Kirkush Military Training Base (KMTB) in Iraq is tasked with equipping two divisions of the Iraqi Army with weapons, vehicles, communications equipment, and individual gear such as uniforms, boots, body armor, and hygiene kits.
The KMTB CIF, located 56 miles northeast of Baghdad, is one of four such facilities that are operated by the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I) J-4 (Logistics). The other CIFs are at Al Kisik, An Numaniyah, and Taji.
In a recent 1-month period, the six-man team at the KMTB CIF issued over 25,000 uniforms, 12,586 pairs of boots and 4,997 sets of body armor. In the same period, Iraqi soldiers also received 1,039 AK-47 assault rifles, 364 pistols, 5 fuel tankers, 53 other vehicles, 24 general-purpose medium tents, 80 Russian-made UAZ utility trailers, and nearly 660,000 rounds of ammunition. The team credits the 26 Iraqi civilians that work with them for helping them keep the pace, especially with distribution of weapons and vehicles

Why we escorted recruits (FOB Speicher Escort mission)

2008-01-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1025-04.htm

This is the incident that prompted us to escort recruits from KMTB to another FOB, I had thought they were on big buses, but they were on mini buses going to Baquba, a rat hole of insurgency at the time and still a problem in 2007, Diyala Province, up the hwy. is Sammara & Tikrit (other side of Tigris River and east was our AO Balad ruz (30-40 miles).

ARTICLE CUT/PASTE BELOW

They were a group of unarmed army recruits, young Iraqis who had volunteered to help build a force capable of providing their country with security when the international troops had returned home.
But, to the insurgents, they were seen as traitors working hand-in-hand with the hated powers of occupation. And so, they were massacred, 49 of them, in one of the most brutal acts of violence in the current rebellion.
With Iraqis scheduled to go to the polls in January - and Americans voting next week - the murder of the army recruits starkly demonstrates the difficulty of building a domestic force capable of performing the function of foreign troops when they leave. It also makes a nonsense of claims that the situation on the ground is stabilizing.
The attack took place near Baquba, 40 miles north-east of Baghdad, part of the Sunni triangle into which British soldiers based in Basra in southern Iraq will begin deploying within the next 48 hours. Yesterday, the troops, from Black Watch, held their last church service before the journey to the Iskandariyah area, near Baghdad, to help US forces who are preparing the assault on Fallujah.
The Iraqi men had been on their way home on Saturday night to the cities of Amara and Kut from a training base run by the Americans outside Mandali in eastern Iraq, near the Iranian border, in five minibuses. They had checked in their weapons at the base and were dressed in civilian clothes. They were stopped on a stretch of road between Baladruz and Badra in the Diyala province by insurgents dressed as security personnel at a fake checkpoint between three and five in the afternoon on Saturday. The gunmen shot the tires of the buses and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the engines of the first two vehicles.
The recruits were taken in batches of 12 to the side of the road and made to remove their shoes and lie face down on the ground before being shot in the back of the head.
The killings are seen as a significant step in the growing confidence and propensity to violence of the militants. Although hundreds have died in bombings and mortar attacks, this is the first time they had carried out a planned operation with such a high number of casualties.
Last night, a group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who abducted and killed the Briton Ken Bigley, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The discovery of the bodies yesterday took place on another day of killings across Iraq.

SSG Steven Kennedy & SSG Dill KIA APR 4th 2005

2008-01-10T12:04:00.001-08:00

http://www.militarycity.com/valor/779558.html (this link has not been working lately)

Military Times article on his death.

http://www.militarycity.com/valor/779557.html

This is same link only for SSG Dill.

Both were killed during the April fourth action previously blogged below.

This is an excellent search engine and website for searching those KIA, dignified and no BS commentary.

http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/dillchristopherw.html

Link to web memorial

http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/kennedystephenc.html

same link

30 BCT FOB Caldwell (newletter PDF) link

2008-01-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.nc.ngb.army.mil/pao/pressreleases/2004/junenewsletter.pdf

Link to a newsletter kinda like Old Bills Chips.

They of course preceded us at the FOB, TF Danger, thank goodness because nobody wanted the rainbow patch as the divisional CBT Patch. The 30th BCT was under 1st ID TF Danger so we coatailed onto thier patch before TF Lberty arrived.

Fobbits (TOCroaches)

2008-01-10T10:15:00.000-08:00

Citations: 2004 Steve Smith @ FOB Bernstein, Iraq ArmySteve (Nov. 12) “Fobbits and other Iraqi critters”: Those of us who conduct missions “outside the wire’ on a regular basis have come up with a variety of terms to refer to those who remain safe and comfortable on base. The most common one lately has been “Fobbit,” referring to those short, fat, hairy creatures that live in little holes and rarely venture out into the world (see Tolkien for more info). I’ve also seen some units refer to them as FOB Dwellers, with one platoon of Bradleys stenciling the letters FUFD on their back hatches (FU FOB Dweller). Prior to deploying, non-combat troops were usually referred to as REMFs, where RE stood for Rear Echelon (and MF you can guess), but that term seems to have been replaced by Fobbit here. 2005 David Zucchino Los Angeles Times (Mar. 27) “Comforts Of Home Amid Perils Of Iraq” p. A1: Administrative specialists who never leave the fob are known, with some condescension, as fobbits. Like every soldier here, a fobbit could be killed at any time by a random rocket or mortar round. But on most days the greatest danger to a fobbit’s health are the three heaping, deep-fried daily portions of mess hall food. 2005 Anna Badkhen San Francisco Chronicle (June 6) “Appointment in Samarra”: According to soldiers at Patrol Base Uvanni in central Samarra…everyone at Brassfield-Mora, or any other FOB, is a Fobbit. But…1st Lt. Jason Scott…narrows down the definition: a Fobbit is someone who never goes out of a FOB except to go to another FOB. Sgt. Christopher Caulk, 37, from Hawaii, a medic at Brassfield-Mora, is more specific.…"If a mortar round hits your FOB and you can’t hear it because your FOB is so big, you’re a Fobbit. If you have more knives than you have hands and you act like John Wayne, you’re a Fobbit.…If you’re out in a Bradley (fighting vehicle) and you close the hatch when you receive small-arms fire, while the gunner at the Humvee is fighting back with his 50-cal (machine gun), you’re a Displaced Fobbit you’re out on the front line but you belong on a FOB.” 2005 Edward Lee Pitts (AP) (July 9) “Stories from embedded journalists with U.S. units in Iraq”: If you think leaving “the wire” might be a fun adventure, you might be a fobbit, and if the second time you’ll be off the FOB is on leave, you might be a fobbit. 2005 Sri Lausier @ Camp Liberty, Iraq MaineToday.com (July 18) “Living in Iraq”: I am a sentry in our FOB (forward operating base). I am what people call a Fobbit, because I never leave the “wire.”
Posted 13 Dec 05 Permalink Tell a Friend

http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/fobbit/

http://www.timesfreepress.com/iwwl/pitts061805.html

Fobbit article from pitts

A TOCroach would be a fobbit working in a tactical operations center

Purple Heart Awarded 2LT Ruel A/1/278th RCT

2008-01-10T09:41:00.000-08:00

The third recipient was 2nd Lt. Christopher Ruel from Britain, Conn., a 19A tank commander who was an augmentee to the 278th Brigade Combat Team. He was assigned to the same patrol as Betterton when their unit was ambushed.
He dismounted his vehicle to organize the unit and take a better position to return fire. As the firefight wore on, Ruel was alerted to Betterton’s injuries in the drainage ditch and moved to that position to assist his fellow Soldier. Upon returning fire, he was struck in the shoulder by the enemy.
At the end of the ceremony, not only was each Soldier awarded a Purple Heart, they were given a coin from BG Schoomaker on behalf of the Army Medical Corps and a standing ovation from the crowd.

Wounded in APR 4th action in the same firefight as Sgt Betterton.

http://www.tradoc.army.mil/pao/TNSarchives/April05/044705.htm

http://www.gordon.army.mil/pao/signal/Issues/2005/2005_04/0429%20Signal%20online.pdf

Longer article with photo of SGT Betterton and 2LT Ruel (SSG Jason Smith)

SGT Thomason III KIA 2005 (Tribute Zach Wamp Website)

2008-01-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

http://www.house.gov/wamp/columns05/april.20(39).htm

Tribute to SGT Thomason III

http://www.militarycity.com/valor/736404.html

Honor the fallen link, also in links list.

http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/thomasoniiipaulw.html

Link to web memorial

Bronze Star recipient (photo) SGT Betterton D/1/278th RCT

2008-01-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

SGT Betterton's Bronze Star award ceremony photo.

VFW PDF with 278th RCT article

2008-01-10T08:54:00.000-08:00

http://www.vfw.org/resources/pdf/nationalguard.pdf

Page 10 of 40

Actually a great issue as it shows the scope of the Guards participation. It can be downloaded and is the longest general description of Guard involvement I have seen to date. It will bring home the fact that quite a few BCTs have gone to Iraq from the guard.

Apache Troop Interviews (video)

2008-01-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

http://www.douggrindle.com/videoarchive.html

This is actually one of the best sites I have found. It lists the states alphabetically so scroll to Tennessee and click on the videos, window will pop up. Even better it is all Apache Troop interviews.

http://www.douggrindle.com/index.html

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