More Photos of the Day

[Splinty]

It's called a Rhyno (mis-spelled on purpose). It's basically a heat source that is intended to trigger IR sensor detonated EFPs a second or two early so they miss altogether or hit the engine instead of the crew compartment. EFPs are explosively formed projectiles. A copper disk formed into an inverted cone, set into a cylinder shaped charge that, when detonated becomes an incredibly fast moving metal slug (somewhere around 10,000 ft/sec). It will penetrate pretty much anything out there. We consider EFPs to be the biggest threat we're facing here in Iraq.

[Imperial Grunt]

Originally posted by J_Toe:

Hi, not sure what it is but at 53 seconds into this video the camera pans and you can see one for an instant or two!

Vid of marines shooting a building?

As usual with these videos its hard to tell what is going on, and there is no way to tell what led up to the event prior to the video. Apparently the patrol came under fire from the building and they are returning fire. It does not look like they had any cover, so its point at the target and engage. From the video, it seems like they had positive ID (most of the gunfire is concentrated in one window, and you hear the vehicle commander yell that they are moving to the left, so he sees them). You rarely get a clear cut view of an insurgent standing there, waiting to be shot. Its gunfire, and IED, or both, followed by furtive movement and silohuettes.

The window to the right looks like it might have been the point of orgin of the enemy fire because its being nailed hard. But the insurgents move to the left to escape the fire. Often its like that game with the hammer when you are trying to hit the weasel that pops up out of 1 of 5 holes.

Its hard to tell, but I think you can hear an AK being fired among the other automatic weapons fire. Probably once an assault element cleared the building, they probably only came up with some shell casings and maybe a blood trail. Hopefully there were no civilian casualties.

Lucky for those Marines that the enemy did not have a few RPGs, those HMMWVS could have been toast.

[akd]

New Land Warrior And Mounted Warrior Systems Digitize The Battlefield

Jan 08, 2007

BY Army News Service

Program Executive Officer (PEO) Soldier BG Mark Brown believes that "networking the battlefield" by providing Infantry soldiers with high-tech tools to plug into the digital battle command network is a critical step toward increasing soldiers' lethality, while reducing the risk of death or injury, fratricide and surprise enemy attacks.

"If the technology-based systems we've tested over the past few months under combat like-conditions gain Army approval, for the first time in military history, our soldiers will be wearing and carrying tools designed to reduce and/or eliminate the 'fog of war' previously considered inevitable in battle," said BG Brown.

Brown was referring to the comprehensive assessment of the latest Land Warrior and Mounted Warrior systems conducted jointly by PEO Soldier and the U.S. Army Infantry Center from May through August at Fort Lewis, Wash. More than 400 soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participated. The battalion was equipped with 440 Land Warrior Systems and 147 Mounted Warrior Systems. The assessment produced many lessons learned, and feedback from the soldiers has been positive.

Following a limited user test in September, the Army will decide whether to field the systems to troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Land Warrior develops integrated protection and networking fighting systems for ground soldiers. It combines computers, lasers, navigation modules, radios and other technologically-advanced equipment to improve soldiers' ability to communicate on the battlefield. It heightens their situational awareness and integrates it with protective technologies to enhance their ability to fight effectively and survive. Mounted Warrior develops the same type systems for combat vehicle crewmen. It includes communications and displays that will improve situational awareness on or off the vehicle.

COL Richard Hansen, Project Manager Soldier Warrior, explained the reason for the full-scale assessment: "In late 2004, the U.S. Army Infantry Center conducted a side-by-side comparison between Land Warrior-equipped soldiers and Rapid Fielding Initiative-equipped soldiers at Fort Benning, Ga. This squad-level operational assessment demonstrated that Land Warrior capabilities do improve the combat effectiveness of soldiers and small units engaged in dismounted operations." The result was a battalion-level assessment. Although not all of the results are in, Hansen says they look good.

Infantry close combat is the most demanding battlefield environment with the highest potential for casualties. Land Warrior will help Infantry soldiers, who are exposed to the highest risk in close combat, fight effectively and survive by enhancing their ability to communicate on the battlefield and increasing their awareness of the surrounding environment. Land Warrior-equipped soldiers are capable of instant voice and data communications with other soldiers, command posts, and supporting vehicles and aircraft.

"This system is as significant and important as rifled barrels once were over smooth bore barrels. It will change the way we fight," observed COL Ernest Forrest of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command.

Many of the improvements tested in the assessment were suggested and designed by the soldiers themselves, and they continue to provide expert feedback. The confusion that soldiers commonly experience in battle extends to communicating and receiving orders, as well as tracking the location of other soldiers and the enemy. The Army has made great strides equipping vehicles and command posts with state-of-the-art digital battle command networking capabilities that enhance situational awareness and increase survivability and lethality. The Land Warrior system extends these advantages to Infantry soldiers. Precise navigation and real-time, common situational awareness will substantially reduce the risk of fratricide or surprise enemy attacks, according to Land Warrior leadership.

CPT Patrick Roddy, Commander of C Company, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment at Fort Lewis explained, "The Land Warrior system provides near real-time knowledge of where I am and where all my units are. That gives me a better ability to command and control the movement of the unit in the field, prevent fratricide, and determine what force I want to bring to bear on known or suspected enemy locations at a given time."

Using the new systems, mounted soldiers will be able to receive voice data and tactical Internet connectivity to communicate effectively with troops on the ground, mounted warriors in other vehicles and unit leaders. For the first time ever, large-scale map displays will show the soldier his location, the location of his fellow soldiers, vehicle locations, known enemy positions, and up-to-the minute mission plans and orders. This will allow soldiers to engage targets with minimal exposure, thanks to improvements such as video and thermal sighting routed to a small helmet-mounted display. Leaders will be able to perform faster, more accurate situational assessments, and then transmit simple orders quickly, queuing off the common map situational awareness display to react to changing situations.

LTC Bill Prior, Commander of the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment at Fort Lewis, said, "The vertical integration between my Stryker platforms and my dismounted guys now is much better. It's not just a radio or being able to see him, the Land Warrior can see the Strykers on the Land Warrior screen, and the Strykers can see all the Land Warriors through computer screens. So the situational awareness, the ability to pass orders, messages and that kind of thing will be a big benefit for us."

source

[Imperial Grunt]

Sounds great for mounted forces who have a vehicle to carry equipment for every rifle squad.

Light infantry units will end up humping even more crap.

[Battlefront.com]

I wish the f'n military would make up its mind what to call this program! If I can remember all this correctly, first it was Future Warrior, then Land Warrior, then Stryker Warrior, now it is apparently Mounted Warrior or perhaps reverted back to Land Warrior. Argh!

Looks like this thing has hit yet more stumbling blocks on its way to production. It was supposedly going to see limited production early this year, now it looks like late this year at the earliest.

Imperial Grunt is correct... this package of systems, at least in full, is for mounted forces only. The focus for the last year or two has been on Stryker based forces since they are already "digitized" and have rides capable of housing the new junk.

Steve

[akd]

I think Futureland Stryker Warrior should do nicely.

just a cool pic:

HIGH-RES

The shadow of an AH-64 Apache helicopter is a reminder that this convoy in Iraq is well protected.

remember, Army Strong, Captions Hard! *much gutteral grunting*

[Imperial Grunt]

Wow...that is a big Apache helicopter!

[Dirtweasle]

The soldier holding the weapon in the background is on CSM Mellinger’s crew, and he told me about coming under sniper attack with Mellinger just a few days ago. The American M16 and M4 rifles come in so many personalized configurations that it seems like out of a hundred different rifles, no two are alike except for the bullets they fire. The rifles are outfitted with all manner of lights, lasers and special sights. The sergeant in the background asked the soldier who is stationed at the outpost (yellow glasses foreground) to check out the sights on his rifle. The sergeant was sitting down to avoid sniper fire, and was looking through the “ACOG” scope (a favorite scope for combat soldiers that helps with quick and accurate shooting). The sergeant was back there for several minutes fiddling with that rifle while I talked with the soldiers. Finally, the soldier with the yellow glasses who had handed over the rifle to the sergeant, came closer to me and whispered, “Hey, what’s his MOS?” [Military job.] “I don’t know,” I answered. “Why?”

“’Cause he acts like he’s never seen an ACOG before.” We both chuckled.

A radio squawked saying it was time to get down off the roof. CSM Mellinger was ready to roll. We crouched down and made our way to the stairs.

Walking the Line with CSM Mellinger, Part II of III, by Michael Yon

[hellfish]

Don't know if its still useful, but here ya go:

http://www.primeportal.net/apc/michael_steede/m1129/

M1129 mortar carrier

[MikeyD]

Unfortunately, I think BFC may leave the mortar carrier out of the game - at least that's what I think they said. What I hope is under the fire support menu beside the silhou of the Paladin will also be a silhou of an M1129 for mortar support, so if we can't see it we can at least use it.

[hellfish]

My memory is shot. A year and a half's worth of discussions and I still have no idea whats going on.

[hellfish]

If BFC ever need ideas for tank names, here's some from the Sierra Army Depot's collection:

[akd]

Oh my god! About to drop of front page!

New Strategy Means New Training Plan

Jan 19, 2007

BY Don Kramer

Fort Lewis "Northwest Guardian"

FORT LEWIS, Wash. (Army News Service, Jan. 19, 2007) - The new strategy announced last week by President Bush forces a minor adjustment that will have a major impact on the next Fort Lewis Stryker brigade scheduled to deploy to Iraq.

But the change will have no effect on the readiness of the Soldiers or their ability to perform their new missions, according to a spokesman for the brigade speaking at a press conference Jan. 11 at I Corps Headquarters.

"We were previously planning to go in May 2007," said 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, executive officer, Maj. Jim Brown. "Now we're going in April. That's not a significant change."

Neither has the primary mission changed - secure the cities to foster political and economic progress in Iraq. However, the slight adjustment in the timetable drives a significant change in the training plan.

The Dragoon Raider Brigade will now conduct its predeployment certification exercise, originally programmed for next month at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., on Fort Lewis instead. Brown acknowledged the "great benefit (NTC) adds to a unit ... with the world-class opposing forces, the observer/controllers and the knowledge and experience they bring, and the facilities they have. It's one-stop shopping."

Without the benefit of a trip to NTC, the brigade will work to recreate the same training intensity in familiar surroundings, drawing on fresh lessons of a field exercise called "Cascadian Commitment."

The brigade on Dec. 13 completed the 10-day FTX that used Fort Lewis as a surrogate Iraqi city.

Brigade public affairs officer, Capt. Mike Garcia, said the exercise used the intrinsic "frictions" of moving among the daily activities of a large installation to produce logistical stresses to inform the tactical scenarios. Performing missions around daily traffic and a host of civilian workers and family members helped to create the kinds of realistic challenges Dragoon Soldiers will face in Iraq's urban settings.

As with that exercise, the next one will again be heavily supported by the community, Brown said, but augmented by outside agencies to evaluate performance.

"We're in discussions with the Joint Readiness Center at Fort Polk to bring their observer/controllers up here and assist us," said the executive officer. "So, it will not be exactly the same (as NTC), but we'll try as closely as possible to replicate those conditions."

Brown said the staff has already started communicating its last-minute training and equipment needs to higher headquarters.

When pressed about whether the so-called "surge" might be pushing the unit into theater before it was ready, Brown was adamant about the brigade's collective preparedness.

"It's always something we've known was going to happen. We knew we were going to deploy, so we've had a long time to prepare for it, both physically through our training, but more important mentally - yourself, your unit, your family members. I feel very confident we've done everything we could possibly do to prepare ourselves and our Soldiers for deployment."

Meanwhile, the brigade commander, Col. Jon Lehr, left with key senior leaders the same morning for a previously scheduled in-theater reconnaissance trip. When they return, the training staff will integrate their observations into the final exercise.

The 4,000 Soldiers of 4th Bde., 2nd Inf. Div., make up the fifth and best-outfitted Stryker brigade to deploy to Iraq. They will be the first to employ in a combat zone all 10 variants of Stryker vehicles, including the two newest - the mobile gun system and the nuclear, biological, chemical reconnaissance vehicle. They will also take the Land Warrior System that Brown said "provides a level of situational awareness to the individual Soldier at the fire team level that has been dreamed of for years but is finally coming true."

Despite the shortened lead time, Brown said the Soldiers, NCOs and officers are ready.

"The Dragoon Raider Brigade is fully manned, equipped and ready for deployment," Brown said. "The senior officers and noncommissioned officers in the brigade, who have served the Army for many years, including multiple combat tours, agree this is the best-trained unit they've ever led. Our Soldiers have extensive training in maneuver, live-fire, Arabic language and culture."

The brigade has invested considerable time and money to train Soldiers in basic Arabic as well as customs and courtesies. "Language-enabled Soldiers" are scattered throughout the brigade to assist 4th Bde., 2nd Inf. Div., leaders down to the small-unit level.

Slideshow: Brothers in Arms

By Sgt. Tierney P. Nowland

Iraqi police in the lead, alongside their "brothers in arms;" Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division and U.S. Marines, clear the Al Boetha area of Baghdad Jan. 11.

Slideshow: A Day with 3rd Stryker

By Sgt. Tierney Nowland

Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division conduct a cordon and knock operation near Sadr City in Baghdad.

U.S. troops arrive near the scene of a twin bombing in central Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 22, 2007. Two bombs exploded seconds apart in a predominantly Shiite commercial area in central Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 65 people and wounding at least 113, police said.

Well, what have we here:

U.S. Army Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division provide security for children waiting in line to be seen by medical personnel from the Cooperative Medical Assistance Team, Combined Joint Task Force 76 during a medical assistance program in the village of Tagab, Afghanistan, Jan. 11, 2007. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Michael L. Casteel)

[ January 22, 2007, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: akd ]

[akd]

Good vid of a Stryker sniper team at work on Haifa Street, Jan. 24. Watch what a .50 cal Barret does to a small room:

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/world/2007/01/24/von.baghdad.haifa.clashes.dod

BAGHDAD - BAGHDAD - IRAQ

epa00912340 A US military vehicle secures a bridge where clashes occurred between Iraqi forces, supported by US troops, and insurgents in Baghdad on Wednesday, 24 January 2007. According to official sources, troops launched military operations to clear the area from illegal militia to reduce the sectarian violence in Baghdad. EPA/ALI ABBAS

BAGHDAD - BAGHDAD - IRAQ

epa00912339 US and Iraqi military vehicles block the entrance of Haifa Street where clashes occurred between Iraqi forces, supported by US troops, and insurgents in Baghdad on Wednesday, 24 January 2007. According to official sources, troops launched military operations to clear the area from illegal militia to reduce the sectarian violence in Baghdad. EPA/ALI ABBAS

Spc. Art Barajas, who is from San Francisco, Calif., and is a sniper with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division pulls security in Baghdad?s Al-Doura district Jan. 18. Abandoned buildings were breached in order to ensure they were not being used as insurgent strongholds. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. L.B. Edgar, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

Spc. Colby Helton, who is from Birmingham, Ala., and is a saw gunner with 1st Platoon, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, pulls security in Baghdad's Al-Doura district Jan. 15. The mission was to clear the neighborhood of possible insurgents by searching building to building.

U.S. Army Capt. David Curlin, from 1st Battalion, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, poses for a photo with an Iraqi child during a school opening in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 10, 2007. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tierney P. No wland)

An unidentified airman looks over the military's Active Denial System, a non-lethal ray gun that was demonstrated Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007, at Moody Air Force Base, Ga. The system shoots a beam of energy that makes people feel they are about to catch fire. Officials say it's safe and humane. It could be used in Iraq to protect the U.S. military from insurgents and to save the lives of innocent Iraqis

Dance motherf***ers!

Airmen pretending to be rioters scatter after being zapped by a new military ray gun during a demonstration at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007. The millimeter beam from the Active Denial System makes people feel as if they are about to catch fire. Officials say the weapon could be a non-lethal way to increase the security of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and with its 500 meter range it is far superior to current non-lethal weapons, such as rubber bullets

[DASman]

I wonder if the soldier named Young is my brother's kid.

E

[Gpig]

Check out those Tank names posted by fytinghellfish above - bottom of third column. "Charlie Mike."

A tank full of Combat Mission fans?

GPig

[akd]

Same sniper team from video:

Sgt. Sean Milligan, a native of Redding, Calif., with 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Stryker Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, fires on insurgent forces as the dust settles in a building on Baghdad’s Haifa Street during combat operations Jan. 24. Cpl. Shea Butler

Spc. Christopher Rhoades, a native of Copperas Cove, Texas, with 1st battalion 23 Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Stryker Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, has an anti-Iraq force in his sight and prepares for a shot on Hiafa street Jan. 24. Cpl. Shea Butler

Spc. Robert Durham, a native of Phoenix, with 1st battalion 23 Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Stryker Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, scan for anti-Iraqi forces out of a building on Hiafa street Jan. 24. Cpl. Shea Butler

Spc. Robert Durham, a native of Phoenix, and Sgt. Kevin McCallum, a native of Aikens, S.C., both with 1st battalion 23 Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Stryker Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, scan for anti-Iraqi forces out of a building on Hiafa street Jan. 24.

[akd]

.S. Army Spec. Enele Lefsano, right, guides a Stryker vehicles into position in the hold of the U.S. Navy ship USS Shugart docked at the Port of Anchorage (Alaska) Thursday Jan. 25, 2007.

Stryker vehicles are unloaded from the U.S. Navy ship USS Shugart at the Port of Anchorage in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday Jan. 25, 2007. The equipment follows the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska and C Company, 84th Engineer Battalion from Fort Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska which were redeployed from duty in Iraq to Alaska in December, 2006. According to the U.S. Army, the vehicles, equipment and helicopters will undergo an extensive four-month reset program, an accelerated maintenance and overhaul schedule to repair, clean and rebuild all items to a fully mission capable standard at Forts Richardson and Wainwright .

Stryker vehicles sit in a storage yard at the Port of Anchorage in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2007, waiting to be put onto a railroad car for transport to Fort Wainwright, after being unloaded from the USS Shugart. The vehicles, equipment and helicopters will undergo an extensive four-month reset program, an accelerated maintenance and overhaul schedule to repair, clean and rebuild all items, which were brought back from Iraq

NY Times:

In a New Joint U.S.-Iraqi Patrol, the Americans Go First

By DAMIEN CAVE and JAMES GLANZ

Published: January 25, 2007

BAGHDAD, Jan. 24 — In the battle for Baghdad, Haifa Street has changed hands so often that it has taken on the feel of a no man’s land, the deadly space between opposing trenches. On Wednesday, as American and Iraqi troops poured in, the street showed why it is such a sensitive gauge of an urban conflict marked by front lines that melt into confusion, enemies with no clear identity and allies who disappear or do not show up at all.

With that, Sergeant Biletski ran through the billowing yellow smoke and took up a new position.

The Haifa Street operation, involving Bradley Fighting Vehicles as well as the highly mobile Stryker vehicles, is likely to cause plenty of reflection by the commanders in charge of the Baghdad buildup of more than 20,000 troops. Just how those extra troops will be used is not yet known, but it is likely to mirror at least broadly the Haifa Street strategy of working with Iraqi forces to take on unruly groups from both sides of the Sunni-Shiite sectarian divide.

The commander of the operation, Lt. Col. Avanulas Smiley of the Third Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Second Infantry Division, said his forces were not interested in whether opposition came from bullets fired by Sunnis or by Shiites. He conceded that the cost of letting the Iraqi forces learn on the job was to add to the risk involved in the operation.

“This was an Iraqi-led effort and with that come challenges and risks,” Colonel Smiley said. “It can be organized chaos.”

The American units in the operation began moving up Haifa Street from the south by 2 a.m. on Wednesday. A platoon of B Company in the Stryker Brigade secured the roof of a high rise, where an Eminem poster was stuck on the wall of what appeared to be an Iraqi teenager’s room on the top floor. But in a pattern that would be repeated again and again in a series of buildings, there was no one in the apartment.

Many of the Iraqi units that showed up late never seemed to take the task seriously, searching haphazardly, breaking dishes and rifling through personal CD collections in the apartments. Eventually the Americans realized that the Iraqis were searching no more than half of the apartments; at one point the Iraqis completely disappeared, leaving the American unit working with them flabbergasted.

“Where did they go?” yelled Sgt. Jeri A. Gillett. Another soldier suggested, “I say we just let them go and we do this ourselves.”

Then the gunfire began. It would come from high rises across the street, from behind trash piles and sandbags in alleys and from so many other directions that the soldiers began to worry that the Iraqi soldiers were firing at them. Mortars started dropping from across the Tigris River, to the east, in the direction of a Shiite slum.

The only thing that was clear was that no one knew who the enemy was. “The thing is, we wear uniforms — they don’t,” said Specialist Terry Wilson.

At one point the Americans were forced to jog alongside the Strykers on Haifa Street, sheltering themselves as best they could from the gunfire. The Americans finally found the Iraqis and ended up accompanying them into an extremely dangerous and exposed warren of low-slung hovels behind the high rises as gunfire rained down.

American officers tried to persuade the Iraqi soldiers to leave the slum area for better cover, but the Iraqis refused to risk crossing a lane that was being raked by machine-gun fire. “It’s their show,” said Lt. David Stroud, adding that the Americans have orders to defer to the Iraqis in cases like this.

In this surreal setting, about 20 American soldiers were forced at one point to pull themselves one by one up a canted tin roof by a dangling rubber hose and then shimmy along a ledge to another hut. The soldiers were stunned when a small child suddenly walked out of a darkened doorway and an old man started wheezing and crying somewhere inside.

Ultimately the group made it back to the high rises and escaped the sniper in the alley by throwing out the smoke bombs and sprinting to safety. Even though two Iraqis were struck by gunfire, many of the rest could not stop shouting and guffawing with amusement as they ran through the smoke.

One Iraqi soldier in the alley pointed his rifle at an American reporter and pulled the trigger. There was only a click: the weapon had no ammunition. The soldier laughed at his joke.

[akd]

U.S. Army Soldiers on board a Stryker vehicle fire a mortar to support a defensive engagement at the Grafenwoehr, Germany, training area Dec. 13, 2006. The Soldiers are attached to 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment out of Vilseck, Germany. (U.S. Army photo by Arthur McQueen)

[hellfish]

It's not long before we come to a trench that has been ripped across all four lanes of the highway. A Stryker armored vehicle was hit there, with an estimated 2,000-3,000 pounds of explosives.

Miraculously no one in the armored vehicle was seriously injured. But the road is still so damaged that even after repairs, a large convoy truck would have to crawl over it at 2 or 3 miles an hour — perfect for an ambush. We stop as a radio command comes in.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7027614&ft=1&f=1001

Wow! Sounds like it was a culvert IED, which would explain the trench effect of the blast and why anything could survive 2000lbs of explosives, as most of the force would be expelled out the culvert openings instead of into the vehicle. But still...

[akd]

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Timothy Price, executive officer from Alpha Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, verifies the authenticity of an Iraqi police car during a traffic control point in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 24, 2007. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Commu nication 2nd Kitt Amaritnant)

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Bruce Johnson, left, and Sgt. Tyler Wheaton use digital recorders near Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 24, 2007, to broadcast a message to residents on how to cooperate during a cordon and search operation. Johnson is with Tactical Psyop Team 16 35, and Wheaton is with Alpha Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment. DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kitt Amaritnant, U.S. Navy.

U.S. Army Soldiers from Alpha Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment dismount their vehicle and provide security for other troops as they prepare to search a vehicle in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 24, 2007. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication 2nd Kit t Amaritnant)

[Nicdain]

U.S. Army Soldiers from Alpha Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment

Just for curiosity and forgive my ignorance: the soldier on the background seems to have a 101 airborne division screaming eagle patch on his arm. :confused:

Are soldiers allowed to stick patches of other divisions?

[M1A1TC]

He might be attached to them

[hellfish]

Originally posted by Nicdain:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> U.S. Army Soldiers from Alpha Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment

Just for curiosity and forgive my ignorance: the soldier on the background seems to have a 101 airborne division screaming eagle patch on his arm. :confused:

Are soldiers allowed to stick patches of other divisions? </font>

[Nicdain]

thank you for your replies