1-504 PIR Settling in

Stars & Stripes: "82nd Airborne battalion arrives, doubles FOB Loyalty’s population
Base finally has enough troops to qualify for AAFES store, officer reports

By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, January 22, 2007

Lisa Burgess / S&S
Pvt. Jonathan Duque, 20, of Houston, a member of Company D of the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, sweeps the Kuwait dust out the inside of his Humvee at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Baghdad, Iraq. Duque and the rest of the 82nd Airborne battalion, have arrived in Iraq this week as part of the increase of 21,000 troops ordered earlier this month.


Lisa Burgess / S&S
Sgt. Johnathan Hamilton, 22, a forward observer for Company B, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, takes some time Saturday to play the video game 'Far Cry' at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Baghdad, Iraq.


Lisa Burgess / S&S
Spc. Eric Rose, 21, of Tracy, Calif., a member of Company D of the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, sweeps off the bed of his Humvee at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Baghdad, Iraq.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq — A battalion-sized element of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division arrived here by helicopter over the past week, nearly doubling the base population.
The soldiers — from the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment out of Fort Bragg, N.C. — are part of the increase of 21,500 U.S. troops ordered by President Bush in early January. The extra troops, whose tour is open-ended, are to help Iraqi forces quell violence in their country, particularly in Baghdad."