Geez, that's an unbelievable collection of great shots. It does indeed make me proud.

January 30, 2008
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sammy Rodriguez of U.S. Army Europe's 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry (left), helps prepare a damaged vehicle for recovery to a forward operating base in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan.


Soldiers from a military transition team assigned to 2nd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division take cover as they return fire during a smalls arms engagement in Mosul, Jan. 23. The Soldiers work side by side with the Iraqi Army to provide assistance and advice.


January 25, 2008
Soldiers confronts a local man with a weapon approaching them from the vine groves.


Spc. David Higuera and Staff Sgt. James Price, of Co. B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, conduct an early morning patrol through a market area in Baghdad's Sha'ab neighborhood Jan. 14 to assess the market's security before the start of business.


Sgt. Stuart Arnold, personal security detail, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd BCT, 3rd Infantry Division, pulls security in front of Combat Outpost Meade with an Abrams tank in the middle ground and a Bradley vehicle in the background Jan. 16.

A U.S. Army Soldier from Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment,
4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division watches a K-9 handler share water
with his dog in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, Jan. 29, 2008

U.S. Army Master Sgt. Heath Potteiger provides security as part of a clearing operation with Concerned
Local Citizens in Dura'iya, Iraq, Jan. 28, 2008. Potteiger is assigned to 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd
Infantry Division.

Gen. Charles C. Campbell (right) of Shreveport, La., commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command, and Portola Valley, Calif.,
native Maj. Gen. (P) Joseph F. Fil, Jr., outgoing commander of the 1st Cavalry Division inspect the troops during a ceremony
Cooper Field Feb. 1.

U.S. Army Capt. Will Canda points out a possible route to follow while attempting to navigate his convoy through
a muddy field in Baghdad’s Sha’ab neighborhood Jan. 27, 2008. Canda is a 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment,
82nd Airborne Division commander.


A donkey appears more interested in the camera than the U.S. Army soldiers from 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker
Cavalry Regiment, searching a damaged building in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 26, 2008.


U.S. Army soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, search for a possible improvised
explosive device cache in Baghdad, Jan. 28, 2008.


U.S. Army Sgt. William Brayman, 25, right, from Warner Robins, Ga., patrols with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion,
30th Infantry Regiment in Beijia village in Arab Jabour, south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Feb. 4, 2008.


U.S. Army Staff Sgt. William Lambert, 30, from Plainview, Ark. shares his rations with an Iraqi boy in Beijia
village in Arab Jabour, south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Feb. 4, 2008.

A young Iraqi boy smiles at U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class James Mattwig, as he pumps up a new soccer ball.
Mattwig, assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division,1st Cavalry Regiment, was participating a medical civic
mission in Al Bahda, Iraq, Feb. 3, 2008.



U.S. Army Spc. Hospedales gives candy to an Iraqi girl during a patrol in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, Feb. 7, 2008.
Hospedales assigned to 2nd Infantry Division, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion.



U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mathew Jemison, with 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team,
3rd Infantry Division, provides security during a joint clearing operation with Concerned Local Citizens in Dura'iya,
Iraq, Jan. 28, 2008.


U.S. Army Spc. Kenneth Charleston provides cover during Operation Iron Harvest II in Sulah ad Dihn province,
Iraq, Feb 6, 2008. Charleston is assigned to 2nd Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Regiment.


U.S. Army Capt. William Clark, center, commander of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment,
3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, is followed Iraqi volunteers from the Concerned Local
Citizens as they patrol through a village looking for weapons caches and enemy personnel during a joint clearing
operation in Dura'iya, Iraq, Jan. 28, 2008. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Timothy Kingston)


A U.S. Army Soldier assigned to3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment
provides security while his platoon searches a house for a possible improvised explosive device cache in Baghdad,
Iraq, Jan. 28, 2008. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jason T. Bailey)


U.S. Army Pfc. John Courson, from Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division,
conducts a patrol in Samarah, Iraq, Jan. 18, 2008. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jordan Huettl)


U.S. Army Soldiers attached to Heavy Company, 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment take cover
behind their vehicle after hearing small arms fire in the distance in Mosul, Iraq, Jan. 17, 2008.
(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Kieran Cuddihy)

Two U.S. Army Soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade
Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division stay low while providing security during a mission with Concerned
Local Citizens to clear insurgents and weapons caches from a village and to clear improvised explosive
devices from two canal roadways in Al Ja'ara, Iraq, Jan. 17, 2008. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Timothy Kingston


U.S. Army Sgt. Steven Saddler, from Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy
Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, climbs over a wall during a search for weapons caches with
Concerned Local Citizens in Ja'ara, Iraq, Jan. 17, 2008. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Timothy Kingston)


U.S. Army Soldiers from Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division
look for weapon caches just outside the Uch Tapa village during a cordon and search mission in the Kirkuk
province of Iraq Dec. 31, 2007. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Samuel Bendet


U.S. Army Soldiers, from Charlie Troop, 1st Battalion, 71st Cavalry Squadron, 1st Brigade Combat Team,
10th Mountain Division, fire a machine gun at the range in Forward Operating Base Bernstein, south of Kirkuk,
Iraq, Dec. 28, 2007. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Laura M. Buchta)


U.S. Army Soldiers, from Charlie Troop, 1st Battalion, 71st Cavalry Squadron, 1st Brigade Combat Team,
10th Mountain Division, fire a machine gun at the range in Forward Operating Base Bernstein, south of Kirkuk,
Iraq, Dec. 28, 2007. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Laura M. Buchta)

I really like this picture Scotto.

Good pictures, makes me proud.

7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Soldiers move alongside a new training facility during
urban combat training at Fort Bragg, N.C., Jan. 31. (Photo by Sgt. Daniel Love, 7th Special Forces Group PAO)

As the Soldiers in his platoon provide security, Spc. David Bougourd,
from Newnan, Ga., an infantryman in 3rd Platoon, Company D, 1st
Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, pries open a door to a warehouse
in Jisr Diyala, Iraq, Feb. 9.

Thank you for taking the time, effort, and energy to send these out.

It means a great deal!

Chapie+

I hope I dont step on any toes, but I thought about joining the marines, and the more i see those pictures, the more I want to join and be deployed. I understand its a very deadly situation to be put in, a whole new country, and death around the corner, but I guess growing up in Jersey and seeing such things, I have a lack of fear of such things.

I would also make the very best of it. Yeah the situation sucks, but you get to carry a gun around, work as a team with your friends, learn new things, and see new things every single day. A lot better than sippin a beer on the beach, I think.

But thanks for posting those pics! We all thank you for doing what you do to make this country the greatest!

Not to take anything away from the Marine corps but all of these photos are Army soldiers..

In a field demo at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., a Soldier demonstrates how the
Vcommunicator iPod-sized translator device fits on the wrist but doesn't interfere with his (dummy) weapon.


Soldiers of the 501st Military Police Company conduct a dismounted foot patrol in Tikrit, Iraq Feb. 13.


Soldiers of Troop A, 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, operationally assigned to the 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, kneel during a security halt as they walk to a nearby town south
east of Patrol Base Meade, Jan. 27.

A Soldier with Troop A, 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, operationally assigned to the 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, walks down a road behind a route clearance team east of Patrol
Base Meade, Jan. 27


Sgt. Gene Park, a native of Glenview, Ill., team leader, Company B, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment,
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, pulls security
and talks with a local child during a consequence management mission in Fourteenth Ramadan at Camp Taji, Feb. 8.

Soldiers from the 552nd Military Police Company, based out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, say a group prayer at a U.S. military base
in Mosul before entering the city to search passenger vehicles for weapons and bomb-making materials on Feb. 14.


Sgt. 1st Class Michael Ford, platoon sergeant for 1st Platoon, and other Soldiers from the 552nd Military Police Company, based out of
Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, move down a street in downtown Mosul before stopping vehicles to search for weapons and bomb-making
materials on Feb. 14.



Sgt. Angela Mathern and her bomb-sniffing dog Vinny, both of the 51st Military Police Detachment, based out of Ft. Lewis, Wash., walk
through traffic in downtown Mosul during a search of random vehicles for weapons and bomb-making materials, Feb. 14.



Sgt. Angela Mathern and her bomb-sniffing dog Vinny, both of the 51st Military Police Detachment, based out of Ft. Lewis, Wash., inspect
a cart carrying propane tanks in downtown Mosul during a search of random vehicles for weapons and bomb-making materials, Feb. 14.
Soldiers from the 552nd Military Police Company, based out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, pull security.



Sgt. Angela Mathern and her bomb-sniffing dog Vinny, both of the 51st Military Police Detachment, based out of Ft. Lewis, Wash., inspect a
cargo truck in downtown Mosul during a search of random vehicles for weapons and bomb-making materials Feb. 14.



Pfc. Miguel Laboy, a Soldier in 1st Platoon, 552nd Military Police Company, based out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, pulls security during a
meeting with Iraqi police in downtown Mosul, Feb. 14.



A U.S. Army Humvee is parked in front of an Iraqi police checkpoint in downtown Mosul on Feb. 14 as the turret gunner pulls security with a
.50 caliber machine gun while military police conduct searches of vehicles for weapons and bomb-making materials.

U.S. Army Sgt. Mike Falcone and Sgt. Brandon Ryan, 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute
Infantry Regiment, provide security while their platoon attempts to link up with Iraqi soldiers for a patrol of
Rusafa, Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 25.


Staff Sgt. Frank Woode from Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, attached to the 2nd
Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, talks to Iraqi children in Hateen, Iraq, Feb. 13



U.S. Army Pfc. Coker, 2nd Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
accumulates a following of children while providing rear security on a patrol of Rusafa, Baghdad,
Iraq, Jan. 26.

U.S. Army Sgt. Brandon Ryan, 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
provides security while his platoon attempts to link up with Iraqi army Soldiers during a patrol of Rusafa,
Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 25.

Date Taken: January 25th, 2008
Location: Rusafa, IQ
Photographer: Staff Sgt. Jason Bailey



A U.S. Army Soldier, 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, secures
the 12 o'clock position with a M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon during a patrol in Rusafa, Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 27.

Date Taken: January 27th, 2008
Location: Rusafa, IQ
Photographer: Staff Sgt. Jason Bailey



U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to 2nd Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
and Soldiers from 132nd Military Police, 18th Brigade, 95th Military Police Battalion, patrol Rusafa with Iraqi
police and members of Sahawa (a Concerned Local Citizens group), Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 26.

Date Taken: January 26th, 2008
Location: Rusafa, IQ
Photographer: Staff Sgt. Jason Bai


Troops with the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment made their own shade as they waited at a staging area
before a joint night operation with the Iraqi Army to secure a violent neighborhood in Mosul.
Photo: Michael Kamber