Bad news

We're winning.

IraqPundit (via Jules Crittenden):

While the following good news stories may come as a great disappointment to many people, we Iraqis welcome the developments: (...)

Frankly, I don't understand why so many mock us for wanting a future for Iraq. Is your hatred for George Bush so great that you prefer to see millions of civilians suffer just to prove him wrong?

It really comes down to this: you are determined to see Iraq become a permanent hellhole because you hate Bush. And we are determined to see Iraq become a success, because we want to live.

Meanwhile, Ace points to more grim milestones, as does McQ.

Oh, the humanity...

Update: Check this out.

10th MTN HQ to head back downrange

Ft Drum PAO:

The 10th Mountain Division's headquarters is scheduled to deploy to Iraq in Spring 2008 to support military operations and to assist training the Iraqi Army and Iraqi security forces.

"The 10th Mountain Division has supported the country's fight against terrorism since 2001 and we are proud and ready to redeploy in support of this fight again," said Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, 10th Mountain Division commander.

The division headquarters most recently deployed to Afghanistan from February 2006 to February 2007 where it comprised the core of Combined Joint Task Force-76. The division also deployed to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004.

The 10th Mountain began earning its reputation as the Army's “most-deployed division” in 1990 after operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The 1st BCT is currently in northern Iraq on their second OIF tour, and the 2nd BCT is now on its way home from a 15-month deployment to Iraq.

JR Salzman: I'm going to be a world champion again

h/t Mrs G

We own the night

Los Angeles native Staff Sgt. Abraham Bitolas, a squad leader with the Vilseck, Germany-based 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, provides security from the air hatch of his Stryker vehicle during a night patrol through Baghdad’s Sadr City District Oct. 29. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Mike Pryor, 2nd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. Public Affairs)

"...that's when I started to laugh"

Lt. Gen. Kenneth Hunzeker [Commander of V Corps] visits Army Spc. Sean Staggs, 21, from the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment out of Vilseck, Germany. Staggs was wounded near Bahgdad when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. Photo by Ben Bloker / S&S.

“When it blew up, I was knocked out for a minute,” he recalled. “When I came to, everyone was screaming. I didn’t know what was going on. I was confused.

“Then the pain hit. It was agony.”

At that point, he said, he resorted to some profanity.

“I tried to stand up. I fell on my face.”

He crawled his way over to an abandoned building, along with the other soldiers, and they called for a medical Stryker, he said.

They realized they were going to be OK. That’s when he started to laugh, he said.

“We were hurting,” Staggs said, “but everything else was fine.”

SPC Staggs and three other soldiers were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their Stryker on Oct. 21 in Baghdad. He's had surgery on his ankle which was shattered in the explosion. Staggs hopes to go back after he recuperates.

“I definitely want to go back. My team’s still there.”

Valour-IT: More than a laptop

Here's part of a note from the fiancee of a Valour-IT recipient based in Germany.

MaryAnn,

I just want to tell you a quick story: Last Christmas (2 months after my fiance got of the hospital), we got a Xmas tree and decorated it.

We were missing the star to put on the top of the tree, so we used the little angel you sent us in a letter.

I just thought you should know that, and that we have promised ourselves the angel will be used every Xmas on our tree :-)

You hear a lot about how only zero-point-something percent of the population are bearing the burden of the war. So in my opinion, one of the most important aspects of organizations like Soldiers' Angels is getting civilians involved and bridging that gap between them and the military community.

This Soldier still has somewhat limited use of both arms a year after being wounded, so the value of a Valour-IT laptop for him is obvious. Less obvious - although no less important - is that this couple will look at their Christmas tree each year and know that the American people love and appreciate them.

Valour-IT is a lot more than just a laptop.

More information here.

173rd Airborne UAV platoon reaches 1,000 hours safety milestone

U.S. Army Sgt. Ronald F. Williams, (center) a generator mechanic from Chicago, Ill., Army Sgt. Anh M. Huynh, (right) an electronic technician from Philadelphia, Pa., and Spc. Nathan W. Johnson, (rear) a unmanned aerial vehicle operator from Garland, Maine, all with Bravo Company, 173rd Airborne Combat Team UAV platoon, together work on the Shadow UAV following a mission October 17, here at Forward Operating Base Fenty, Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Gregory J. Argentieri)

Jalalabad, Afghanistan - “We’ve got battalion commanders sitting in their tactical operations centers, wherever their area of operation is, getting video from our aircraft flying overhead,” said Army Sgt. John C. Fenter, standardization and UAV operator for the platoon out of Bamberg, Germany. “They can see nearly instantaneously what is happening in their area with their eyes.”

The Shadow UAV is a small 375-pound, rapidly deployable, aircraft designed to be the commanders’ “eyes in the sky.” These complex systems include air vehicles with modular mission payloads, ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment, and communication equipment.

“The Shadow UAV is a highly effective system designed for tactical purposes,” said the Texarkana, Texas native. “My unit and our equipment are set up for the purpose to be able to jump with the brigade as it moves forward in a mobile war.” ...

“The maintainers own the bird, and the operators borrow them to conduct their missions,” continued Fenter. “This crew has had zero incidents due to maintenance, and has not put down a bird at all. We know they're not going to give us a bad bird.” ...

“We do two types of missions; we do an intelligence gathering mission or an operational support mission,” said [Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph] Cuevas, UAV operator and platoon sergeant from Pomona, Calif. “A good intelligence case just happened where we were given information from a source that individuals were spotted digging on the side of a road, trying to cover stuff up, including their footprints. It was very suspicious behavior, and was discovered to be an improvised explosive device.

“An operations support mission is when we have troops going ‘outside the wire,’ and the Shadow is airborne,” added Cuevas. “The Shadow UAV is having a huge impact on this war.”

Commanders using the Shadow get the biggest possible intelligence picture and one more tool to preserve lives, added Fenter.

U.S. Army Sgt. Jeremy R. Squires, (front), Army Sgt. Anh M. Huynh, from Philadelphia, Pa., (center) and Army Sgt. Ronald F. Williams, (right) from Chicago, Ill., all with Bravo Company 173rd Airborne Combat Team, Special Troops Battalion, work to get the Shadow Unmanned Aerial Vehicle off the runway October 17 at Forward Operating Base Fenty, Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan. The 173rd UAV platoon was just awarded for excellence after reaching 1000 hour safety milestone. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Gregory J. Argentieri)


Click here for more 173rd ABCT Afghanistan posts.

Taking position

U.S. troops with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment take up positions outside a house during a raid that targeted a suspected insurgent cell leader in Mosul in northern Iraq. Photo and story by Drew Brown / S&S.

Great weekend programming at Pundit Review Radio

Here are three timely segments that are well worth hearing. You can listen online or download at iTunes and Podcast Alley via the Pundit Review Radio Podcast.

Extended conversation with Michael Yon live from Baghdad

We asked him to explain for the casual observer how we changed the game in Iraq. He talked at length about Gen. Petreaus and The Surge, but he emphasized that it is about much more than an increase in troops, it is a complete change in tactics, and it is working to an astounding degree.

Patti Patton Bader on Valour IT

Patti Patton Bader, the founder of Soldiers Angels, joined Bruce McQuain from QandO along with Gregg and I to discuss the ongoing fundraising drive for Valour IT, an amazing project that provides voice activated laptops for our most severely injured soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

Someone You Should Know: Sgt. Joseph E. Proctor

Gallantry performed with marked distinction shall forever be SGT Proctor’s legacy, and those he saved will never forget his actions and his sacrifice.

Fallen Air Force OSI agents honored

Two unidentified members of an Air Force Office of Special Investigations team on Sunday honor three special agents who died from a roadside bomb last Thursday near Balad Air Base in Iraq. Story and Photo: Scott Schonauer / S&S

Brig Gen. Dana Simmons, commander of the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations, told those who gathered for a memorial ceremony that he always makes two promises to the families of special agents killed in combat. First, he gives them his word that their loved ones will be honored and not forgotten.

“The second promise I will make to them — and OSI has a very good history with this — we will get the people who did this," Simmons said.

Master Sgt. Thomas A. Crowell, 36, of Neosho, Mo., Staff Sgt. David A. Wieger, 28, of North Huntingdon, Pa., and Nathan J. Schuldheiss, 27, a Defense Department civilian investigator from Newport, R.I., died from wounds sustained from a bomb near the American military base in Balad. They were on an intelligence gathering mission against insurgents in the area when they were hit by the blast.

The agency, which includes active-duty, reserve and civilian personnel, has lost seven agents since the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003. OSI has lost five just this year. Two other agents, Tech. Sgt. Ryan A. Balmer and Staff Sgt. Matthew J. Kuglics, were killed on June 5 when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.

Air Force special agents spend much of their time in Iraq in teams of 10 to 12 working off base trying to gather information on insurgents and thwart attacks against U.S. bases. (...) Last year, 130 agents in Iraq and Afghanistan seized 20 tons of weapons and captured or killed more than 500 terrorists and insurgents.

(...) All three fallen agents posthumously received Bronze Star Medals for their service in Iraq. It is rare for a civilian to receive such an honor, which is given for heroic or meritorious achievement while serving in or with the military.