Tuition waivers for combat vets get committee approval

In Oklahoma.......
"City_Press Release_Oklahoma's military combat veterans and their families would receive full college tuition waivers under legislation approved by a House subcommittee today.
House Bill 2896, by state Rep. Richard Morrissettee, would provide full resident tuition-and-fee waivers to members of the military who have served at least one tour of active duty in a combat zone with any military branch as part of the Global War on Terror. Spouses and children of those veterans would also be covered by the bill, which also provides for reimbursement for housing costs and textbooks."
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PHOTOS: Outpost grooming

"COP APACHE, Iraq - Sgt. Niven Williams, a Tuscon, Ariz., native, has his hair cut at Combat Outpost Apache Feb. 21. A local national comes to the COP to assist the Soldiers in keeping their military appearance. Williams serves as a team leader with Company D, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, currently attached to 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, which is attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad."
PHOTOS: Outpost grooming:

Iraq Surge Provides Window of Opportunity

"Chairman: Iraq Surge Provides Window of Opportunity
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2008 – The surge in Iraq is providing a window of opportunity for other necessary developments in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told military analysts in the Pentagon today.
Mullen spoke about his priorities and the short-term and long-term challenges facing the military."

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U.S-Iraqi partnership helps breed security

Stars and Stripes: U.S-Iraqi partnership helps breed security: "U.S-Iraqi partnership helps breed security
By James Warden, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Iraqi soldiers reported the tip, the 1-504 soldiers investigated and
explosive ordnance personnel were called in to clear the home.

A year or two ago, Iraqi security forces or their partners in the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment might have entered a dangerous east Baghdad home without knowing the danger that awaited.
But when U.S. soldiers went to a home at about 10:50 a.m. Monday morning, the growing partnership with the Iraqis helped them avoid no less than 11 bombs that insurgents had rigged to catch the soldiers unawares.
The Iraqi forces received a tip that the house in Baghdad’s Rusafa Security District had been rigged, said Capt. Warren Withrow, an intelligence officer with 2nd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment, the Fort Benning, Ga., unit to which the 504th PIR soldiers are attached."

Special Groups behind Sadr City bombing

"With Muqtada al Sadr's decision to reinstate or drop the self-imposed cease-fire less than nine days away, Multinational Forces Iraq continues to turn up the heat on the Iranian-backed and Sadr-linked Special Groups terror cells. US and Iraqi forces have conducted multiple raids on the terror cells over the past three days throughout central Iraq, continuing the trend that started on Feb. 4. Yesterday's explosion in Sadr City also has been linked to the Special Groups.
The explosion yesterday near an open-air market in Sadr City, which caused the deaths of two Iraqis and wounded 25, was initially thought to be caused by a car bomb attack. But the US Military issued a second press release linking the explosion to the Special Groups."

Since Feb. 12, Multinational Forces Iraq has reported eight raids on Special Groups cells and their weapons caches. During these raids, which were conducted between Feb. 8 and Feb. 12, thirty-one Special Groups operatives, including three cell leaders, were captured. Fourteen explosively formed penetrators, the powerfully deadly EFPs, were seized along with explosives, bomb making material, and weapons. In the recent actions:
• US troops received a tip from a Sons of Iraq fighter (formerly the Concerned Local Citizens) on the location of a large EFP and weapons cache in the town of Jurf Nadaf on Feb. 8
.• US troops captured a cell leader involved in IED and small-arms attacks on US and Iraqi forces in Hurriya on Feb. 10.
• US soldiers captured 25 Special Groups fighters during a series of operations in the Sabak Sur, a neighborhood in northeast Baghdad, on Feb. 11. This is "an area that has recently emerged as a safe haven for Special Groups," Multinational Forces Iraq reported.
• US troops captured a Special Groups cell leader involved in improvised explosive device (IED), EFP, small arms and rocket attacks in the Rashid district of Baghdad on Feb. 11.
• Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured a Special Groups cell leader responsible for IED, EFP, rocket, and mortar attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces on Feb. 11.
• US soldiers received a tip from an Iraqi on the location of an EFP and explosives cache in Baghdad on Feb. 11.
• Special Forces arrested a security guard of a Sadrist member of parliament in Hillah on Feb. 12.
• Coalition forces detained two Special Groups operatives in the Suwayrah area on Feb. 12.


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Iraq blast kills Alamogordo soldier

Sgt. Caleb Martin of Grants injured in the blast that killed Sgt. Gary Willet


"ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The Pentagon says another New Mexico soldier was killed in Iraq in the same incident that wounded a Grants GI.
Sergeant Gary Willet, 34, of Alamogordo died last Friday when a roadside bomb hit his armored vehicle in the city of Taji.
The same bomb wounded Sgt. Caleb Martin, 22, of Grants. In all four soldiers died and seven were wounded by the blast that destroyed the vehicle.
The Pentagon today identified the other three who were killed as Spc. Michael T. Manibog, 31, of Alameda, Calif., Sgt. Timothy P. Martin, 27, of Pixley, Calif., and Staff Sgt. Jerald A. Whisenhunt, 32, of Orrick, Mo.
The soldiers were members of the Army's 25th Infantry Division based in Hawaii.
KRQE Web Producer: Bill Diven"

KRQE - Albuquerque, New Mexico - News, Video, Weather Forecast, Sports, Community, Health, Homes KBIM - KREZ Iraq blast kills Alamogordo soldier:

The US Troop Surge, a Year Later

"from The Associated Press
BAGHDAD February 12, 2008, 12:08 pm ET · A year ago in Baghdad: Shiite militiamen and Sunni insurgents owned entire neighborhoods and key areas beyond. Iraq's government was adrift, and U.S. commanders weighed the real possibility of being trapped in a full-scale civil war."

More...NPR: The US Troop Surge, a Year Later:

1-504 PIR

A U.S. Army Soldier assigned to3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment provides security while his platoon searches a house for a possible improvised explosive device cache in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 28, 2008. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jason T. Bailey) (www.army.mil)

U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment patrol in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 26, 2008. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jason T. Bailey) (www.army.mil)

The Real Stars

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Rise in Iran-made bombs in Baghdad district

"BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Attacks using Iranian-made roadside bombs in a key part of Baghdad rose in January to the highest level in a year, the U.S. military said on Sunday.
Washington has accused Tehran of supplying Shi'ite militias in Iraq with sophisticated weapons, including armor-piercing roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators (EFPs), to attack U.S. troops. Tehran denies the allegation.
The military said there were 12 EFP attacks against U.S. forces last month in an area encompassing northern and eastern parts of Baghdad, including the slum of Sadr City, stronghold of the Mehdi Army militia of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr."

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