United States Division
– Center
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Paratroopers, Iraqi Soldiers partner to keep Anbar roads safe By Capt. Kurt Zortman 1st BSTB, 1st AAB, 82nd Abn., USD-C
RAMADI, Iraq – American and Iraqi Soldiers have been working together to clear roadside bombs throughout Anbar province since March.
Over the past four months, engineers from Company A, 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, have conducted training and route clearance operations with 2nd Iraq Army Bomb Disposal Co. of 1st IA Division. The Soldiers of Co. A have participated in 30 training events and 23 bilateral route-clearance operations with 2nd IA Bomb Disposal Co. The training has focused on route-clearance fundamentals to increase the capability for Iraqi Security Forces to clear the roads of improvised explosive devices. Sgt. Aaron Trowbridge has acted as primary instructor for most of the classes involving robotics and handemplaced explosives. He established and continues to maintain the training lanes that the IA uses for finetuning skills in identifying IEDs. “Some of the IA students are actively conducting route-clearance operations with their unit at Camp Fallujah,” said Trowbridge. “This experience makes them great assets during the training to reinforce the
Courtesy photo
Second Lt. Hammed, a platoon leader with 2nd Iraqi Army Bomb Disposal Company, 1st Field Engineer Regiment, 1st IA Division, conducts dismounted rehearsals with Co. A, 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Advise and Assist Bde., 82nd Airborne Div., prior to mission execution June 4.
lessons being taught and provide real-world applications to their peers.” The bilateral operations, which have become a weekly event, are a useful tool to validate the training objectives taught at Camp Fallujah during real world missions, he said. The 2nd IA Bomb Disposal Co. conducts routine unilateral operations every night but schedules time to conduct missions with its U.S. partners. These bilateral operations enable the paratroopers to advise the Iraqis and ensure they are sustaining lessons taught both at their schoolhouse and by the U.S. forces.
The Iraqi Soldiers’ institutional knowledge on route-clearance fundamentals varies, but their eagerness to develop and cultivate this knowledge base is strong, according to 1st Lt. Nathaniel Curley, a platoon leader whose mission is training engineers in 1st IA Div. “The IA [Soldiers are] clearly adapting the lessons taught, and implementing those techniques into their route-clearance patrols,” he said. Curley’s route-clearance platoon has conducted 157 patrols, clearing 16,000 kilometers throughout Anbar province.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
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Soldiers in Baghdad run 12km to raise awareness for cause at home By Spc. Luisito Brooks
4th SBCT PAO, 2nd Inf. Div., USD-C
BAGHDAD – The temperature baked at 100-plus degrees of heat at Contingency Operating Location Nasir Wa Salam when they began running June 12. No families were at the finish line cheering them on, no money being raised, but for three U.S. Soldiers, the 12 kilometers they traveled were still worth it. The Soldiers, from 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Inf. Division, participated in a shadow run of the Sound to Narrows 12-km held the
same day in Tacoma, Wash., to raise awareness among fellow Soldiers. “I like running races that support a good cause,” said Sgt. James Maarsignh, from Company B, 4th Bn., 9th Inf. Regt. who organized the run and convinced a few Soldiers to run alongside him. “I wanted to run this event to show support for the organization because they support good health.” According to the race’s official website, the Sound to Narrows 12-km, which has been run in Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park since 1973, raises money to help promote and support the building of healthy lifestyles
in children and families in the community. According to research posted on the Web site, a healthy lifestyle may prevent up to 70 percent of common life-threatening diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. Maarsingh said diseases like these affect everyone, adding that while he wasn’t authorized to raise money at his shadow run, he still wanted to raise awareness. Getting conditioned for a run with temperatures in the triple digits was no easy task, but the three Soldiers have initiated a plan to adapt to the heat.
Photo by Spc. Luisito Brooks, 4th SBCT PAO, 2nd Inf. Div., USD-C
Sgt. 1st Class Mark Bowman waves as he and fellow Soldiers Sgt. James Maarsingh (center) and Spc. Kingsley Grant, all from 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Inf. Division, run 12 kilometers around their base shadowing the Tacoma, Wash., Sound to Narrows 12-km race.
“Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate,” said Spc. Kingsley Grant, a supply specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Bn., 9th Inf. Regt., and a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “The extreme heat was the most difficult part of the run.” A vehicle trailing the runners throughout the race provided water whenever they needed it, and the route was one very familiar to the Soldiers, who said they use it on a weekly basis. “I have run this route in the morning, when it is cool, numerous times,” said Sgt. 1st Class Mark Bowman, a tactical operations non-commissioned officer with HHC, 4th Bn., 9th Inf. Regt. “With the heat, it was like running with hot clothes from the dryer over your face.” The runners finished as the scorching sun set over the horizon, bringing to a close a difficult run that challenged them not only physically but mentally, but it also sparked in them a goal to run the race again. “I can’t wait to get back to the States to run,” said Maarsingh. “Next year, I definitely plan on running the Sound to Narrows 12km, but the good thing about it is that I will be able to run it there.”
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Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Relax at Freedom Rest on Camp Victory Freedom Rest offers a wide variety of activities such as a swimming pool, gym, movies, coffee shop, video games, library, etc. For more information, or to make a reservation at Freedom Rest call DSN: 318-4852185 or via e-mail freedomrestatvbc@iraq.centcom.mil
Camp Liberty MWR Calendar Calendar events start at 8 p.m., unless otherwise noted
Tuesday Spades
29
Thursday Salsa Night
Wednesday Karaoke Ping Pong
30
107° F | 84° F
2
Saturday Smooth Grooves
3
Quote of the Day
Weather Today
1
Friday Dominoes R&B
Tomorrow
106° F | 81° F
Thursday
109° F | 83° F
Friday
Saturday
111° F | 84° F
112° F | 85° F
For more coverage of what USD–C Soldiers are doing, look for the upcoming edition of the Iron Guardian, in publication July 5.
“Eventually there are going to be cities in space.” -Alan BeanAmerican astronaut
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
PAGE 4
This day in history Space shuttle Atlantis docks with Russia space station
O
n this day in 1995, the American space shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian space station Mir to form the largest manmade satellite ever to orbit the Earth. This historic moment of cooperation between former rival space programs was also the 100th hu-
man space mission in American history. With millions of viewers watching on television, Atlantis blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in eastern Florida June 27, 1995. Just after 6 a.m. June 29, Atlantis and its seven crew members approached Mir as both crafts orbited the Earth 245 miles above Central Asia, near the Russian-Mongolian border. Over the next two hours, the shuttle’s commander, Robert “Hoot” Gibson expertly maneuvered his craft towards the space station. To make the docking, Gibson had to steer the 100-ton shuttle to within three inches of Mir at a closing rate of no more than one foot every 10 seconds. The docking went perfectly and was completed at 8 a.m., just two seconds off the targeted arrival time and using 200 pounds less fuel than had been anticipated. Combined, Atlantis and the 123-ton Mir formed
the largest spacecraft ever in orbit. Once the docking was completed, Gibson and Mir’s commander, Vladimir Dezhurov, greeted each other by clasping hands in a victorious celebration of the historic moment. Atlantis remained docked with Mir for five days before returning to Earth, leaving two fresh Russian cosmonauts on the space station. The three veteran Mir crew members returned with the shuttle, including two Russians and Norman Thagard, a U.S. astronaut who rode a Russian rocket to the space station in mid-March. NASA’s Shuttle-Mir program continued for 11 missions and was a crucial step towards the construction of the International Space Station now in orbit. Information found at http://www. history.com/this-day-in-history/6/29
Trivia
Yesterday’s Answers:
1
What mythological gateway to hell gave its name to an Antarctic volcano?
1. “Be all you can be”
2
What TV cartoon series pitted mutants from the planet Plundarr against the lords of Thundera?
2. Sally Ride
1AD Today is an authorized publication for members of the U.S. Army. Contents of 1AD Today are not necessarily official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, Department of the Army or the 1st Armored Division. All editorial content of 1AD Today is prepared, edited, provided and approved by the 1st Armored Division Public Affairs Office.
Commanding General Maj. Gen. Terry Wolff Public Affairs Officer Lt. Col. Eric Bloom Command Information Supervisor Master Sgt. Eric Pilgrim Editor-in-Chief Sgt. 1st Class Neil Simmons Layout & Design Editor Spc. Debrah Sanders
Writers & Photographers The 366th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment/ 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office/ 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office/ 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs Office/ 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs Office
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