Common Sense Junction
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Common Sense Junction
Military Blog Headlines

  1. Arab Spring, Fall & Crash?

    → BLACKFIVE | 6 Feb 2012 | 7:16 am MST

    I rooted for the fall of dictators during the Arab Spring. Many people were saying that this could lead to Islamist groups replacing them. True dat. But can you name an Islamist country that actually manages to increase the standard of living? They don't and they rule by oppression and theocratic fiat. All of that needs to be seen by the people they purport to rule in order for them to be discredited. Well we have the first inklings that all may not be well in Allah-land. In Egypt, which imports more than half its caloric intake, wages must keep up with the price of food or people begin to starve. Yet the country appears to be heading for a monumental financial collapse in 2012, and perhaps by the summer. If Islamists strut about as though they rule Egypt, the population will blame them and their SCAF allies – not the Tahriris – for its hunger. The anger could quickly turn ferocious. After waiting 84 years to attain legitimacy and power, the Muslim Brotherhood may find it got suckered into taking over the ship’s help just as it heads into an iceberg. You can't feed people w/ Korans and restrictive edicts. These fanatics must fail and do so publicly so they can be discredited. Let the games begin.

  2. Soldier's Angels... they're everywhere!

    → Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. | 6 Feb 2012 | 6:43 am MST

      A C-130J Hercules from the 146th Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard, conducts flare training off the Ventura County coast Jan. 10, 2012. The flares are used as tactical infrared countermeasures to confuse and redirect heat-seeking missiles. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Dave Buttner)

  3. Another moment of Gunner (and Castle) Zen

    → Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. | 6 Feb 2012 | 6:37 am MST

    What a difference a day makes... [As usual, this pic enlargifys]

  4. A moment of Gunner Zen

    → Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. | 5 Feb 2012 | 1:48 pm MST

    050834SFEB2012, Somewhere in northeastern Kansas... [This pic embiggenates if you know the sekrit]

  5. Last original SAS member dies

    → BLACKFIVE | 5 Feb 2012 | 12:12 pm MST

    Enjoy your time in Fiddler's Green, Brother. The last surviving member of the original SAS has died aged 92. Jimmy Storie was one of 66 men handpicked to embark on a series of daring and deadly missions against the Nazis. The brave Scots Guards officer joined the first version of the Special Air Service, L Detachment, which operated in North Africa against Field Marshal Rommel. The regiment’s first parachute raid ended in disaster when almost two-thirds of the unit was wiped out after they leapt from a plane during a severe desert storm. But Jimmy and his colleagues, known as The Originals, soon became the scourge of the German and Italian forces.

  6. Winter comes to the Castle

    → Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. | 5 Feb 2012 | 11:55 am MST

    Finally.  Of course, with temps in the '40s, it will all be gone by sundown.  In the end, the enduring ephemeral core of day-to-day at the Castle is what keeps it interesting; vice the drab, day-to-day sameness of the suburban landscape.  Or the chaos of the urban landscape that obscures the ephemera, unless you concentrate on it.  But even then, you're living in a concrete canyon....

  7. All That For A Flag?

    → Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. | 5 Feb 2012 | 11:31 am MST

    Yes - For it's not for free, Michelle. (Click to engranden your heart) U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Cari Brooks, a member of the security forces squadron for the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, rests against a wall before she goes out to patrol the perimeter of the base at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia Jan. 30, 2012. Brooks and the security forces squadron routinely patrol the base perimeter to look for suspicious activity and ensure the security of assets and personnel. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. James Lieth) BOQ

  8. 'Nuther Reason Why I Won't Be On The T.V. Today

    → Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. | 5 Feb 2012 | 7:40 am MST

    Boq

  9. Best idea for Super Bowl Half-time Show, Evah!

    → Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. | 4 Feb 2012 | 3:24 pm MST

    Wait, what?Teaser line:...the bottle rocket blew up in the defendant's rectum......

  10. Arab Spring & The Grand Jihad

    → BLACKFIVE | 4 Feb 2012 | 1:42 pm MST

    The Arab Spring has brought us more of the Muslim Brotherhood. Great Leader doesn't seem to have a problem with that. This brilliant look at Andy McCarthy's book "The Grand Jihad" shows why we need to pay attention.

  11. Semper Fi Willy Pete!

    → BLACKFIVE | 4 Feb 2012 | 8:10 am MST

    Sharon Rice-Weber, the better half of David Weber, sent me a link to a wonderful story about a special Marine in Afghanistan. Read it here. To a true Teufel Hunden, I say "Get Some!" LW UPDATE: Just found out about the comments to the story indicated the dog had been killed on orders from higher. Am trying to get info, but if anyone has hard information to confirm or deny, please post it here or if you don't want to go public, drop me a line at wolf1 at laughingwolf dot net. Looking for more than heresay. UPDATE II: DC PAO couldn't find anything on Willy Pete's current status, has put me in contact with Marine PAO in Afghanistan. E-mail sent, will update when/if I get anything. UPDATE III: No go on contact with USMC PAO Afghanistan. E-mails are bouncing (tried different addys/servers for me, to make sure wasn't something on my end), and don't have a commercial number to call them (I don'thave DSN access currently). Anyone who can get to them, would love to talk with them and get good info. UPDATE IV: Updating and bumping post, as I have received a report from an involved party that Willy Pete was indeed killed/executed on orders from higher (report states company commander). If anyone can help put me in touch with local/unit PAO, it would be appreciated.

  12. Not all Armories are created equal [fixed]

    → Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. | 4 Feb 2012 | 7:51 am MST

     The Arms Room at Castle Argghhh! is neither this extensive, expensive, nor procedure-driven. We have a greater variety in our selection. However, their Armorer is better looking than our Armorer.

  13. Caption Contest (Opening The Barn Doors Edition)

    → Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. | 4 Feb 2012 | 6:00 am MST

    (Click For Jumbo)Boq

  14. Best SF For Those Serving?

    → BLACKFIVE | 3 Feb 2012 | 12:53 pm MST

    They may come from the future, but the people at io9 want to know what is the best science fiction for those serving in the military. Frankly, I think the comments so far are way to limited, and there are zero mentions of modern military SF (Weber, Ringo, Kratman, Williamson, etc.). Go leave a comment, let them know what you think. Put what you think here as well, and let's see what you say. Hat Tip: Insty. LW

  15. Where Ever I'm From

    → Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. | 3 Feb 2012 | 7:24 am MST

    Holdit right there Holder!...

  16. Afghanistan and Honor

    → BLACKFIVE | 1 Feb 2012 | 9:13 pm MST

    I asked a question at the end of the last post. The consensus from you ladies and gentlemen is... let it go. We've spent almost three thousand American, UK and NATO soldiers' lives there. That's a hard thing to walk away from. Not that you're wrong. I have never seen the high-percentage shot for Afghanistan since we moved regular forces into play there. The logistics have never worked, except for illegal goods whose value is exaggerated by artificial scarcity. Moving them into legitimate markets was never an option. Take a look at the railroad situation. They have no seaports, so rail roads are the next best thing. Of their neighboring countries, China is on a different track gauge; Pakistan and nearby India are on another; Iran is on a third; only the former Soviet states share their gauge. But that means a vast distance to the nearest seaport, and connection to global trade; or else, investment in the kind of infrastructure needed to hook up with the several other lines on offer. Putting that investment in means that you've got a viable expected return on the investment. You won't find it in industry, with an uneducated populace; and others have pointed out that even 'rare earth' minerals are often readily, and more cheaply, found elsewhere. If we walk away from the dead, though, there is a debt of honor owed. We must have a reckoning with those who led us to this place.

  17. A Milblog You Should Check Out

    → BLACKFIVE | 1 Feb 2012 | 2:19 pm MST

    If you spend any time over at This Ain't Hell (and I do), you have seen comments from Doc Bailey. They are usually quite good, reasoned, and interesting. If you didn't already know, he has his own blog, and this post is a good introduction to the Madness of the Combat Medic. Well considered, well reasoned, and well worth reading. LW

  18. The ISI And the Taliban: But You Knew That

    → BLACKFIVE | 1 Feb 2012 | 10:24 am MST

    The BBC has obtained a leaked NATO report on the relationship between the ISI and the Taliban. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul says the report - on the state of the Taliban - fully exposes for the first time the relationship between the ISI and the Taliban. The report is based on material from 27,000 interrogations with more than 4,000 captured Taliban, al-Qaeda and other foreign fighters and civilians. It notes: "Pakistan's manipulation of the Taliban senior leadership continues unabatedly". It says that Pakistan is aware of the locations of senior Taliban leaders. "Senior Taliban representatives, such as Nasiruddin Haqqani, maintain residences in the immediate vicinity of ISI headquarters in Islamabad," it said. It quotes a senior al-Qaeda detainee as saying: "Pakistan knows everything. They control everything. I can't [expletive] on a tree in Kunar without them watching." Right. So now what? If you've been watching the 'three-quarters Surge' we've been conducting in Afghanistan, you'll have noticed a few trends. The Taliban fighters increasingly rarely commit to battle with ISAF forces; that level of violence has dropped quite a bit, and it is that decrease that is driving our claims that the Surge is working. The Taliban has apparently removed its shadow government efforts from the contested areas, which we are interpreting as a success; but it also serves the function of preserving their administrative structure for a rapid reinsertion when facts on the ground change. For that matter, this approach preserves Taliban fighters for the period after the departure of ISAF strength. Intimidation attacks -- assassinations of prominent GoIRA supporters, attacks that take down services like cell phone towers, night letters, etc -- are up. The Taliban are moving to open a political office in Qatar, and it's clear that our State department intends to try to foster a dialogue. This suggests to me that the Taliban effort in the south and southwest is geared to a Maoist strategy of waiting until the (known) withdrawal of US forces, when the ANA will have to try to hold gains with increasingly small support. During the waiting period, now, they are preparing the ground by destroying government supporters and spreading the message that only the Taliban really controls the future. When they come against the ANA, the ANA will thus find relatively weak support among the population in many areas. The Taliban will have preserved their shadow government apparatus, so that they can rapidly reinsert and take administrative control of areas won from the ANA. Early Taliban success in those areas will force the US government to either recommit -- in the middle of a Presidential election season, with a US population that does not think we can win -- or step up the State department's pace in obtaining a settlement with the Taliban negotiators. That means more concessions from us, faster. The Taliban's name means "students," so perhaps after ten years they have gotten around to studying Mao. On the other hand, the ISI is a professional intelligence service whose leadership includes many who have formal military educations. You can be sure they have read Mao. (It would appear that relatively few of our own leadership may have done so, since they seem to be walking right into this trap.) So, now the cards are on the table. What do we do about it?

  19. Air Commando Journal - Special Tactics Past and Present

    → BLACKFIVE | 1 Feb 2012 | 8:39 am MST

    The guys at AFSOC send us the latest issue of Air Commando Journal: ...if you get a chance check out the Special Tactics story in the Air Commando Journal. It was a very good overview of ST Past and present and a touching tribute to those we lost. Read through it. It's a great journal, very informative and interesting, and definitely worth your time.

  20. So Simple, Even A Butterbar Can Do It

    → BLACKFIVE | 1 Feb 2012 | 5:30 am MST

    What, you thought I was going to pick on E-1s? I can't get into politics these days, but thank Ifni there is a lot more to life than politics. Like, researchers doing neat things, things that might let me continue to reach out and touch at a distance despite age. Like, this: Check out the full story at Wired. LW

  21. "Better oil up your guns, boys"

    → Mudville Gazette | 7 Dec 2011 | 10:42 am MST

    "December 7th, 1941. Just a normal Sunday," my mother recalls. "Until Dad came home and said "better oil up your guns boys, the Japanese just bombed Pearl Harbor". He had heard it on his car radio." He might have heard something like this... ...and if he changed channels after that sudden interruption, maybe this: He was too old to go to war himself, but that hadn't always been the case. "Dad had been in France just 23 years before, and...

  22. Roads to Leesburg (4)

    → Mudville Gazette | 1 Dec 2011 | 8:28 am MST

    Sunday, October 20, 1861: Nothing but ten miles of road separated the men of Colonel Nathan Evan's Brigade, Confederate States Army, from Brigadier General George McCall's Division of Union troops to their east. Even closer to hand was Brigadier General Charles Stone's Division - ten thousand or so more Yankees, just across the Potomac. All totaled there were six Union infantry brigades in the vicinity of one Confederate; to call the situation confronting the southerners a tight spot would...

  23. The story thus far

    → Mudville Gazette | 30 Nov 2011 | 7:23 am MST

    Touched with fire One: Lieutenant Holmes believed himself a dying man... Two: Charles Carleton Coffin rode into camp in the immediate aftermath of a battle lost, when visible evidence of the disaster included corpses laid out in line awaiting burial, and the memory of their first defeat at the hands of Johnny Reb was still fresh in the minds of the young men who'd fought it. Three: "...Lt Putnam is dead Capt. Putnam lost his right arm. Hallowell fought...

  24. Final Thanksgiving in Iraq?

    → Mudville Gazette | 24 Nov 2011 | 11:15 am MST

    Mudville, November, 2008:Thanksgiving in America, and in Iraq the Parliament approved the Status of Forces Agreement. The news was scarcely noted on our shores as coverage of our national day of plenty gave way to that of the busiest shopping day of the year...All United States combat Forces shall withdraw from Iraqi cities, villages, and localities ... no later than June 30, 2009.... And the total withdrawal (also Article 24) must indeed be accomplished "no later than December 31,...

  25. Thanksgiving on the Potomac

    → Mudville Gazette | 24 Nov 2011 | 9:35 am MST

    "There was one feature of the day that I take especial pride in mentioning, as indicating the material of which the regiment is composed. It is that not a man was intoxicated during the whole day. What other regiment of eight hundred men, with pockets full of money, and plenty of whiskey within reach, can boast of so much self-respect and regard for their officers as not to yield in a single instance?" Thanksgiving on the Potomac, November, 1861:The...

  26. One November Day

    → Mudville Gazette | 24 Nov 2011 | 9:31 am MST



  27. Voyage of the Enchantress

    → Mudville Gazette | 23 Nov 2011 | 8:45 am MST

    The Union gunboat Albatross recaptures the schooner Enchantress, July 22nd, 1861 (note Jacob Garrick in water at lower right) November 21, 1861: The editors of the New York Times had some difficulty deciphering the handwritten letter they'd received (and the forwarded letter included with it), but as the contents were highly newsworthy they published the best interpretation they could manage. "Our Prisoners in Richmond," read the headline. "LETTER FROM A LIEUTENANT OF THE SIXTY-NINTH." " T o the Editor of...

  28. Roads to Leesburg (3)

    → Mudville Gazette | 21 Nov 2011 | 7:56 am MST

    "Only bread and the newspaper we must have, whatever else we do without."- Oliver Wendell Holmes (Sr.), "Bread andthe Newspaper" (September, 1861) ***** At 6 feet 6 inches, John White Geary (center) was tall sitting down. October 20 1861: John White Geary began a letter to his wife. Following his heartfelt appreciation of news of her continued health and well being - and assurances that he himself was "never better" ("God has blessed me with an excellent constitution," the...

  29. Roads to Leesburg (2)

    → Mudville Gazette | 16 Nov 2011 | 1:41 pm MST

    The legend of Captain Henry Alden began to grow immediately after his death at Ball's Bluff. Before the year was over John Gilmary Shea published Alden's life story, with this version of its conclusion, in his salute to 1861's Union war dead, The Fallen Brave.When General Stone received the order to make a demonstration on Leesburg, on the 20th of October, the Tammany Regiment was one of those sent by him to Conrad's Ferry, opposite Harrison's Island, to be...

  30. Roads to Leesburg

    → Mudville Gazette | 15 Nov 2011 | 4:53 pm MST

    Robert Augustus Moore knew where the Confederate soldiers were. But as he was one that wasn't surprising. As a private in the 17th Mississippi who'd done a lot of marching in a very few days he wondered where they'd be tomorrow. For months he'd kept track of his travels in his diary, one page dedicated to each day. At the top he'd enter the date and his location, then fill in that day's events. If he ran out of...

  31. Can't keep the guns and the money

    → IRAQ THE MODEL | 5 Oct 2011 | 9:59 am MDT

    Looks like yesterday's meeting was just another failed attempt to break the deadlock. The "agreement" the political leaders reached is practically worth nothing. Washington will not like this. The US is not willing to station people overseas without legal protections...I think it's politically indefensible in the US. The cause of this deadlock is rooted in the disagreements on power, land and




  32. Riots erupt in Saudi village

    → IRAQ THE MODEL | 4 Oct 2011 | 11:56 am MDT

    And it is on in Saudi Arabia! Fourteen people, including 11 policemen, were hurt when riots erupted in a Shiite-majority village in eastern Saudi Arabia, state news agency SPA said Tuesday, blaming the unrest on a "foreign country." "A group of outlaws and rioters on motorbikes gathered" at a roundabout in the village of Al-Awamia in Al-Qatif province on Monday "carrying petrol bombs," SPA said,




  33. Comments Closed - Pending a WP Move

    → Winds of Change.NET | 30 Sep 2011 | 1:36 pm MDT

    We're (far too slowly) moving the site and comments to a new instance of WP so it'll be stable and available. That work will be happening over the next week or so, and to that...

  34. Iraq May Approve Energy Law by Year End, Committee Chief Says

    → IRAQ THE MODEL | 27 Sep 2011 | 9:54 am MDT

    An overly wishful, almost out of touch assessment of bill stuck since 2007:“We are studying two drafts, one from within the committee and another one from the government,” Adnan Al Janabi said. “We will come out with a new law from these two drafts, and we can pass the law by the end of the year.” Not gonna happen! First you need the three major blocs to all agree on a workable power-sharing




  35. Iraq signs deal to buy 18 F-16 warplanes

    → IRAQ THE MODEL | 27 Sep 2011 | 9:32 am MDT

    The deal is finally signed...it's unclear yet though whether it includes the same lame weapons package announced in the original notification. The final price will also be significantly lower than the $3-4 billion estimate. How much exactly? We'll have to wait, but I guess it will be around $1 billion.




  36. Saudi women gain vote for the first time

    → IRAQ THE MODEL | 26 Sep 2011 | 2:25 pm MDT

    Congrats to the women of Saudi Arabian who now have the right to vote and run for public office...A huge step forward.




  37. Somali radio gives away assault rifles in Quran contest

    → IRAQ THE MODEL | 21 Sep 2011 | 12:38 pm MDT

    You're not gonna believe what this radio station in Somalia did!The "Al-Andalus" radio station offered weapons (and cash) as prizes for winners in a Quran memorization contest this past Ramadan. The first place winner got an AK-47 and the equivalent of $700. Second place winner got an AK-47 too, plus the equivalent of $500 in cash. The third place winner, well, he got 2 hand grenades and $400 in




  38. Iraq Calls for Change of Syrian Regime

    → IRAQ THE MODEL | 21 Sep 2011 | 9:03 am MDT

    This is a pretty interesting and welcome about-face.




  39. Bomb blast in Ankara as Turkey, Iran consider joint operations

    → IRAQ THE MODEL | 20 Sep 2011 | 7:20 pm MDT

    This escalation will most certainly reflect negatively on the border ares of Iraq's Kurdistan Region. Actually, with a joint Ankara-Tehran operation possibly in the works, it looks like the KRG has some really tough days ahead. It could also very well influence the KRG position in their negotiations with Maliki, who will probably try to leverage the situation to improve his position..It would be




  40. Egypt bars Islamist hard-line political party

    → IRAQ THE MODEL | 20 Sep 2011 | 12:05 pm MDT

    Egypt's Political Parties Affairs Committee has made a brave decision, barring the extremist Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiyya from registering as a political party. The way this enfolds will have deep effects on the future of Egypt's political system.If this ruling stands, Egypt will succeed in avoiding one of the biggest mistakes we made in Iraq when all filters were removed. We ended up allowing those who




  41. Iraq Crude Oil Output Rises to Highest Level Since 2003

    → IRAQ THE MODEL | 19 Sep 2011 | 11:59 am MDT

    Production in August hit 2.81 million barrels per day. Going neck and neck with Kuwait, who has also been frantically ramping up output this year.With significant revenue growth in the pipeline, the government in Baghdad is already working on a plan to expand next year's budget by more than a third.You will see September numbers dip slightly when the next output report is released. That's because




  42. Steve

    → Winds of Change.NET | 24 Aug 2011 | 8:50 pm MDT

    Letter to Apple: "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know....

  43. Memory & Forgetting, Children & Love

    → Winds of Change.NET | 3 Aug 2011 | 9:19 pm MDT

    A couple of articles lately that really hit home. Brink's "How to mend a broken heart" is simply excellent. Turns out that drug addiction may actually be a byproduct of love's existing circuitry, that a...

  44. Ron Pope Plays Hendrix' "Little Wing"

    → Winds of Change.NET | 19 Jul 2011 | 11:23 am MDT

    It takes a lot of balls to cover Hendrix, but musician Ron Pope said he grew up wanting to play like Jimi. Ron himself acknowledges that no-one can really play like Hendrix, so he...

  45. After the Arab Spring Comes the Storm?

    → Winds of Change.NET | 17 Jul 2011 | 5:33 pm MDT

    Caroline Glick's "Caution: Storm Approaching" looks at the economic convulsions that underpin the Arab world's current political convulsions. Her conclusion is that those convulsions are about the get worse before they get better. It doesn't...

  46. Saudis Buying German Tanks?

    → Winds of Change.NET | 13 Jul 2011 | 12:37 am MDT

    If anyone is curious what's going on with that, you can get the whole run-down at Defense Industry Daily - just read "Desert Leopards: Germany Selling Heavy Armor to the Saudis?". As a bonus, DJ...

  47. The Bulgogi Talmud: a Bestseller in... Korea?!?

    → Winds of Change.NET | 5 Jul 2011 | 5:19 pm MDT

    The Torah is the Old Testament. The Talmud is a long, multi-volume series of rabbinic commentaries and applications of the Torah, as well as general discussions of philosophy, ethics, etc. Think of it as THE...

  48. Ending al-Qaeda: The Psyop Approach

    → Winds of Change.NET | 1 Jul 2011 | 12:29 am MDT

    Interesting bit in The American Interest: "In a September 2007 video, al-Qaeda's third-highest leader, Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi, published a strategy, largely based on al-Qaeda errors in Iraq, showing how the West can fight and...

  49. Is This the Way to Amarillo's... Mascot?

    → Winds of Change.NET | 30 Jun 2011 | 11:21 pm MDT

    Apparently, the design for the Independent League baseball Amarillo Sox' mascot didn't turn out quite the way they had hoped. "Is this the way to Amarillo? Every night I've been hugging my pillow Dreaming dreams...

  50. EMMA: After Uranium Fission Comes... Thorium?

    → Winds of Change.NET | 22 Jun 2011 | 9:25 pm MDT

    Very interesting Daily Mail article about Britain's Electron Model of Many Applications (EMMA) ring accelerator, and its potential in both energy generation and medicine: "One ton of thorium can produce as much energy as 200...

  51. Facebook Page

    → Stryker Brigade News | 21 Mar 2011 | 9:07 pm MDT

    Apologies for the radio silence on this portion of the site recently. I wanted to step back a bit and talk about why we started this site in the first place and where we see ourselves going forward. When we...

  52. Searching For Answers

    → Stryker Brigade News | 27 Feb 2011 | 8:56 pm MST

    ‘Everyone is an enemy - The News Tribune Spc. Dustin Knapp’s temper flared while he drank beer and argued with his uncle six weeks after coming home from a tour in Afghanistan with a Joint Base Lewis-McChord Stryker brigade. The...

  53. Stryker cavalry regiment supports Afghan police, maintains security

    → Stryker Brigade News | 27 Feb 2011 | 8:31 pm MST

    KABUL, Afghanistan – Soldiers from the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Forward Operating Base Frontenac, provide security for Checkpoint 18, a paved bridge crossing over the Arghandab river and section of Route Bear in Uruzgan province. Checkpoint 18 is the north-south...

  54. 1/25 SBCT Trains at NTC

    → Stryker Brigade News | 27 Feb 2011 | 8:25 pm MST

    Fort Wainwright s Stryker brigade combat team begins training in California - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner FAIRBANKS — Some 4,000 soldiers from Fort Wainwright’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry arrived at the Army’s National Training Center in Southern California...

  55. Afghan Army plans, executes mission to take fight to Taliban in Zabul

    → Stryker Brigade News | 27 Feb 2011 | 8:14 pm MST

    KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan National Army and Hawk Company, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment troopers recently conducted an air assault mission into three remote mountain villages in Zabul province. The mission targeted insurgents in the villages of Tulak, Nowbad...

  56. 1LT Daren M. Hidalgo

    → Stryker Brigade News | 25 Feb 2011 | 3:26 pm MST

    The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. 1st Lt. Daren M. Hidalgo, 24, of Waukesha, Wis., died Feb. 20 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his...

  57. Another Look at Land Warrior Gear

    → Stryker Brigade News | 17 Feb 2011 | 1:26 pm MST

    Weight of War: Military struggles to lighten soldiers' load - Seattle Times In the summer of 2008, a team of Army advisers working in the rugged terrain of eastern Afghanistan found the load shouldered by soldiers had reached a kind...

  58. Arctic Wolves begin intense cycle at the NTC

    → Stryker Brigade News | 17 Feb 2011 | 12:54 pm MST

    FORT IRWIN, Calif. — Soldiers from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division entered the final stages of preparation for their deployment to Afghanistan as they began training this week here at the U.S. Army’s National Training Center....

  59. Newest vehicle checkpoint demonstrates improved highway security

    → Stryker Brigade News | 17 Feb 2011 | 12:47 pm MST

    SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan – A recently refurbished vehicle checkpoint along Highway 4 was open for business. The objective of the checkpoints is to combat the flow of illegal drugs, weapons or bomb-making material from entering Afghanistan. Checkpoint 4 is located...

  60. Wolf Pack takes the fight to the Taliban

    → Stryker Brigade News | 17 Feb 2011 | 12:44 pm MST

    ZABUL, Afghanistan - While folks back home were still dreaming in their beds about Super Bowl Sunday, troopers from Hawk Company, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment and their Afghan National Army counterparts were preparing for an air assault mission...



-- Finis --