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 »
The way that US military vehicles travel on roadways in Iraq and interact with local traffic has significantly changed over the last five years, especially throughout the last 12 months. Read more »
A few days ago, the Army recognized my team's hard work with an awards ceremony. Read more »
I have been having trouble with running shoe lately. It would seem that my big toe is making holes straight through my socks and then straight through the mesh that goes along the top of your foot. I have been hypothesizing for months, but today, my thinking has taken a 360. Read more »
A number of weeks ago, my team turned in our Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles the Army issued us new ones. Read more »
Last week, an Iraqi Army commander ordered his battalion of Soldiers to not respond with insults or physical force when civilians yell insults at the Soldiers. Instead, he ordered his Soldiers to arrest the civilian on the spot. As Americans, my team was shocked to hear this order. The notion of an American Soldier making arrests on the streets of downtown Roanoke for yelled insults is laughable. Read more »
The Iraqi Army planned and executed all aspects of the security for the 31JAN09 elections. As the elections approached, the Iraqis examined possible threats to the election process. Women being used as suicide bombers was among the threats, because, for cultural reasons, Iraqi Soldiers could not search women voters. Therefore, the Government of Iraq hired enough women searchers to adequately cover each polling site. Read more »
Stepping off the plane in Atlanta to start leave was like stepping a time machine set for the year 2-0-0-9! Oddly, through the ATL and Richmond airports I had this overwhelming feeling that everyone was staring at me. I was in uniform, but mostly I just think that this was paranoia. Read more »
Four days from day, Iraqis and Shi'a worldwide will celebrate Arba'een. In southern Baghdad, the holiday has already begun. Read more »
Just over four years ago, the Iraqi people voted in their first free and fair democratic elections. But those elections came at a cost. Large religious sects, certain voting districts, and in one case an entire province, boycotted the election.
Sectarian violence ensued, resulting in 44 civilian deaths on Election Day, January 30, 2005, and countless more in the months and years to follow. 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.
