February 22, 2012

You are here: Home / Archives for Iraq

Adjutant General welcomes last troops from Iraq

December 23, 2011 By

The last Missouri National Guard members have returned to the state as part of the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Iraq.

Major General Stephen Danner says the 23 members of the 139th Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard are home just in time to be with their families for Christmas. Those soldiers were providing security at Bagdad International Airport.

Missouri's Adjutant General, Major General Stephen Danner extends holiday greetings to Missourians from the Missouri National Guard. Photo courtesy, Missouri National Guard.

The 139th is based in St. Joseph.

Danner says for a military man or woman, being home for the holidays is tremendous. “When you’re out in the field you’ve got your buddies with you that you celebrate the holidays with, but we all know that no matter how good our friends are, our families are our blood. You always want to be home with your family and especially with your kids. That’s something you just can’t replace and you can’t live over again.”

Had it not been for this withdrawal, the General says it is unclear how long the Guard might have had a presence in Iraq. The 139th was on a 6 month deployment. Danner says, “I know that at one point they thought that the Iraqi government would ask them to stay on maybe another couple of years. But, obviously that did not happen and I know these airmen, being the last Missourians out of Iraq, will be glad to be home this week.”

Though the last Missouri National Guard personnel have left Iraq, General Danner points out there are many still deployed across the globe. That includes, “…a medical unit and an administrative unit in Egypt, right now in the Sanai with U.N. forces, we had the 138th infantry in Japan not too long ago, we’ve had Air Guard in Thailand, we’ve been in Africa with the Army Guard and with the Air Guard went down to Chile in their earthquake earlier this year, and we also have Air and Army Guard in Central America.”

The general notes, the Guard has remained on State Emergency Duty since April 2, and he expects to remain on that status through March and perhaps longer. “We’ve had over 2,500 Army and Air Guardsmen activated for our state mission.”

Filed Under: Human Interest, Military, News Tagged With: , , ,

Skelton calls move in Iraq "a turning point"

June 30, 2009 By

A top Missouri Congressman calls it "a turning point"; the US military movement out of the cities of Iraq, handing their security over to the Iraqi military.

West-Central Missouri Congressman Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, says the action to leave the cities to the Iraqi defense will allow the US to focus even more attention on Afghanistan.

"That was our primary effort and we, sadly, neglected it over a period of time," Skelton tells the Missourinet, "but in truth and fact, they’re the ones who attacked us back on 9-11. Do you remember?"

The Iraqi government celebrated the withdrawal by declaring Tuesday a national holiday. The celebration was marred by violence. Late in the day, a car bomb exploded in an outdoor market in Kirkuk, killing at least 24. Four American soldiers were killed in combat Monday in Baghdad.

The United States and Iraq had reached an agreement at the beginning of the year that American troops would withdraw from the major cities by the end of June. American troops now are only to respond in the cities if the Iraqi military requests their presence. The next milestone for Iraq will be the parliamentary elections in January.

American troops remain in rural Iraq. Their numbers total 120,000. Trainers and advisers also remain to help the Iraqi military battle insurgents.

Skelton says the US violated a major tenet of war going into Iraq: never take on more enemies than you can afford.

"We had Afghanistan, which was a major one. Remember that’s the genesis of the attacks on Americans. That’s what we should have done is concentrate on that," Skelton says. "But we spread our forces and found ourselves in two places and found it very, very difficult to do both."

Skelton says the move out of the cities will ease the strain on the American military even as it focuses the country’s attention on terrorist hold-outs in Afghanistan.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)

Filed Under: Military, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Army Engineer says military is making progress in Iraq

June 3, 2008 By

A top Army engineer back home from Iraq says the United States is making progress there, though he says "it’s still very fragile".

Colonel Dan Grey serves as Chief of Staff, US Army Maneuver Support Center and Fort Leonard Wood. Grey briefed reporters at Fort Wood on his experience in Iraq. He said a change of strategy turned a faltering mission into a successful one.

"It was all about securing the population where they sleep," Grey told reporters.

Prior to that, according to Grey, US military couldn’t get intelligence from everyday Iraqis, because al-Qaeda threatened to wipe out the entire family of anyone who snitched on them. Americans and coalition forces would be successful in chasing al-Qaeda from a city and then leave for another. The terrorists would simply return after the military left, intimidated the populace and re-establish themselves. The military now will secure a city and leave personnel behind for protection as it moves on to another. Iraqi security forces also are gaining their footing and providing security, according to Grey.

Secure in the military presence with a growing confidence in their own government, Iraqis began to turn. They began to provide the intelligence needed to inflict real harm on al-Qaeda, and the military began rooting them out of key Iraqi cities. Violence fell. The number of deaths dropped.

"It’s a very good news story," Grey said, "Now, I will tell you, it’s still very fragile. I’m not telling you we won the war, because it’s very far from it."

Grey returned from Iraq in February. In Iraq, Grey served as the Engineer Director of the Multi-National Corps. Engineers were vital to the new strategy. They would establish a joint security station used by Coalition and Iraqi military or an outpost for Coalition forces that would move the military from large bases into the population. Grey said that dictated the pace. He compared it to General Douglas MacArthur’s successful island hoping campaign in World War II.

Grey emphasized the fragile nature of progress in Iraq, "There’s a keen sensitivity that we haven’t won this yet, but it is going in the right direction. We need to continue doing what we’re doing, but be cautious about it."

Grey says the tactic in Iraq has changed from winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis to getting the Iraqis to trust each other and build their own government. Eighteen American soldiers died in May, the lowest total of the war. In comparison, 126 soldiers died in May of last year.

Download/link Brent Martin reports (1:15 MP3)

Filed Under: Military Tagged With: ,

Bond criticizes Democrats "in denial" over progress in Iraq

April 8, 2008 By

On a day General David Petraeus – the top U.S. military commander in Iraq – appears before Capitol Hill lawmakers to update them on the situation in Iraq, Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) delivers a blistering attack on those he claims are in denial and committed to defeat in Iraq.

Bond says critical progress is being made, thanks to the surge. Bond adds the reason Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered a ceasefire is because he and his followers are feeling the heat. Bond says Americans who want to know what is going on in Iraq should listen to the American military men and women who are leading the charge in that country.

Bond criticizes Democrats who are calling for withdrawal from Iraq, saying they are in denial over the progress being made in Iraq. Patraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, are in the middle of two days of testimony on Capitol Hill.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 Mp3)

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Missouri Guard Soldier Dead from IED in Iraq

February 7, 2008 By

A Missouri Army National Guard Sergeant has been killed in Iraq, the victim of an improvised explosive device (IED) yesterday, February 6 th . The Guard reports that Sergeant Bradley Skelton of Gordonville had come out of retirement to serve on this deployment. Skelton is the second Missouri soldier from the 1138 th Engineer Company headquartered in Farmington to die in Iraq this year.

Specialist Matthew Straughter was a Belleville, Illinois resident who enlisted with the Missouri National Guard in St. Charles. He also served with the 1138 th . Straughter died January 31 st in Baghdad of wounds suffered when a rocket propelled grenade struck his vehicle. Straughter died one day before his 28 th birthday. Skelton was 40.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With: ,
« Older Posts