Soldier updates running thread

Since Random Thoughts was locked, I guess I have to create a thread for this.

If you know someone serving in Operations Iraqi or Enduring Freedom and get some news, and want to share it with the group, this is the place.

I'll start.

Update 1: I got some good news from my buddy in Afghanistan today. His unit, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division (yeah, I know, it's long), killed 40 Taliban fighters and captured a huge weapons cache in a Mosque, either today or yesterday. His battalion had made contact with these fighters every day for a solid month. Joe's FOB had been rocketed twice in two weeks, and the battalion had lost three soldiers (two sergeants and its executive officer, a major) in the same month. Joe was ecstatic. Now, maybe those guys can have some relative peace and quiet for a while and concentrate on other missions.

Update 2: A VERY close childhood friend was injured Friday when a roadside bomb was remote detonated as the tank he commanded rolled by. Although he has some shrapnel wounds and serious burns about the head and shoulders, he is alert, in Germany and in constant contact with his wife and mother (who, incidentally, was my first-grade teacher). From what I understand, Jonathan (or Jon-Jon), who is a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps, was standing with his head and shoulders outside the tank. Dumb ass!

Update 3: More not-so-good news. The 3rd Infantry Division (to which I've been assigned and report in January) represented the bulk of the "surge" earlier this year. Each brigade combat team (which arrived in country at different times) was also extended to 15 months. The 3rd ID soldiers from 3rd brigade (my assignment) was the last to arrive and will come home in mid-summer. The division commander has decided that only 3rd ID aviation assets will support 3rd ID soldiers and equipment. Well, for my good friend in the 3rd's Aviation Brigade, that means a 19-month tour. He's pretty pissed.

Keep all my boys in your prayers. And, as summer rolls along, I'll have several more make the trip. I'll keep you posted.

 

Thanks for sharing.

My cousin's husband recently returned from a long stint in Iraq, prompting a huge sigh of relief from the family. He might have to go back -- he's an engineer of some kind -- but they're not sure yet.

 

Thanks for filling us in TBF. I'm always interested to hear what our guys are doing.

I have a friend who recently left for training at Lejeune, after which he'll take off for Fallujah for his second tour in Iraq.

 

Just got a great e-mail from Joe (the guy in Afghanistan). He's been selected to teach at West Point. He said he goes to school in the fall for two years, then to West Point for three. No word on whether he's coming home early or staying through the deployment, though.

 

Keep up the news, TBF, please! Good or bad, we need to know what's happening at the individual soldier level and we just don't get enough of that from the MSM.

 

Hey, that's fantastic news! Congrats to Joe.

 

Update:

-- Joe's not going to be able to leave Afghanistan early for his West Point assignment.

-- My friend who was injured last week has already returned to his unit. He had some damage to his right hand and a superficial head wound. Apparently, he and his unit are protecting a dam, according to his mother. Probably the Haditha dam. The unit suspects an inside job on the bomb.

-- On the new-soldier beat, my first cousin arrived for basic training at Ft. Benning this week. His mom said he called at 3 a.m. Saturday to tell her that he'd arrived safely. Sounds like he's having fun.

 

I got an e-mail that a guy who was a year behind me in high school was critically injured in a car bomb explosion. They already have had to amputate a leg. Ryan only had 3 months left in his tour.