Recently, the Iraqi Army began a thorough inspection of all Soldiers including personnel records, literacy and physical condition. The goals of the inspection are to complete records, bring discrepancies up to standards, and, in some cases, separate those not meeting standards from the service. Read more »
Since a Soldier's first day at basic training, the idea of a 'battle buddy' etched in the Soldier's mind. One does not go anywhere without his battle buddy or Ranger buddy.
A Soldier will go through many different battle buddies or 'battles,' through his career, and I am lucky enough to have an awesome Battle presently in Sergeant Kevin "KC" Connaughton of Sulphur Springs, Texas. Recently, he returned from mid-tour leave to the U.S. Read more »
Recently the Iraqi Army brigade that we advise and the neighboring National Police unit conducted a joint search mission of a less patrolled area. This cooperation between agencies is a first for the region and a current trend across the country. The below post is pictures from that mission. Read more »
Rich Connaroe graduated from Northside High School in 2000 and VMI in 2004. Now a Captain in the U.S. Army, Connaroe begins a one-year deployment to Iraq in August. During that time, he plans to make regular blog posts that he hopes will connect readers of the The Roanoke Times to U.S. soldiers who are deployed in Iraq.
