Iraq Veterans Proud to Serve, Eager to Deploy Again

Unmanned Predator Kills Three Terrorists; Relative Turns in Suspect
March 29, 2006 – An MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle engaged three insurgents in the process of planting a homemade bomb along a road near Balad Air Base, Iraq, yesterday evening and launched an AGM-114 Hellfire missile against the group.
The Predator monitored the three terrorists for about a half hour while they used a pick ax to dig a hole in the road, placed an explosive round in the hole, and strung wires from the hole to a ditch on the side of the road. When it was clear the individuals were placing a bomb, the Predator launched the 100-pound Hellfire missile, killing all three insurgents.

"This is a prime example of how airpower is supporting the fight on the ground," Air Force Brig. Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad, said. "We're able to provide a persistent view of the battlefield to commanders on the ground and, if called upon, put a weapon on a target within minutes."
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Terrorist Cell Leader Captured; Soldiers Destroy Weapons Caches
March 30, 2006 – Iraqi and U. S. soldiers captured a terrorist cell leader, and more weapons caches have been found and destroyed, military officials reported.

The suspected cell leader and six others were captured. No damage to personnel, equipment or buildings occurred during the raid, officials said. Elsewhere, soldiers of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Band of Brothers, found four weapons caches March 28 in Salah Ad Din province, about 80 miles northwest of Baghdad.
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Iraq Veterans Proud to Serve, Eager to Deploy Again
March 30, 2006 – With the war on terror in its fifth year, U. S. military personnel continue to pack duffle bags and don desert camouflage uniforms -- many not for the first time.
"I am proud of what I accomplished during my tour in Iraq and would be proud to return, on sea or on land," Navy Lt. Cmdr. David Bitler, a surface warfare officer, said. Bitler is assigned to the USS Tarawa, which returned from a Middle East cruise in February.

"Most of all, I'd be honored to work again alongside the Iraqi people, whose bravery and courage in the face of continual barbarism and anarchy is our best hope for long-term success and, I believe, our survival," Bitler said. original version