Staff Sgt. Joshua Horst, 29, of Port Richey, Fla., lowers his head in prayer during a holiday party put on by his unit on Camp Taji, Iraq, Dec. 19. Horst, an Apache attack helicopter mechanic, is spending his third Christmas in Iraq. Photo by Spc. Roland Hale

An aviation brigade from Fort Riley, Kan., hosted a holiday party in Iraq, Dec. 19, giving deployed service members a chance to celebrate the season despite being away from home.

The party, held on Camp Taji by the Enhanced Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, included live music, food and sporting events. Service members from several Army and Air Force units on the camp attended the party.

“Being away from home, especially during the holiday season, we thought it was important to spend some positive, fun time with those of us we have here,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Jim Thomson, the brigade’s senior enlisted soldier, to the troops gathered for the party.

Breaking only for a prayer and a performance of “Silent Night” by one of the unit’s officers, attendees competed in events ranging from volleyball to a horse shoe toss.

Some of the troops are serving their first deployments, but for many attendees the party marked yet another holiday spent in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Joshua Horst, 29, of Port Richey, Fla., is on his third deployment here. It doesn’t get any easier, he said.

“You have to deal with missing the special moments,” said Horst.

Horst, who works in the brigade as an Apache helicopter mechanic, said he will especially miss his newborn nephew. But he will spend this Christmas with his soldiers, he said.

“The relationships we develop are a big thing,” said Horst. “We come together to support each other and have fun.”

This year is the first Christmas away from home for 23-year-old Spc. Michael Randazzo. The helicopter repairer usually spends the holidays with his loved ones in New Jersey. While he does not envy his relatives who are braving New Jersey traffic, Randazzo said he misses everything else.

“Christmas is everything to us, almost like a reunion every year,” he said. “Everything is home made. You really can’t beat it. It’s nice to celebrate like this, but it’ll never be the same.”

Randazzo, Horst, and the rest of the unit’s troops will get a chance to make up for their time away from home soon, when their unit returns to Fort Riley this spring. The unit is serving a 12-month tour in support of Operation New Dawn.

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Story by Spc. Roland Hale

The Administration Affairs School held its first Barber Course graduation ceremony at Camp Taji here March 1. The seven graduates, from five Iraqi Army divisions, gained new tonsorial skills they will use immediately to support the soldiers in their units.

The course, which began Feb. 1, included training in sanitation and hygiene, familiarization with the tools and equipment, barber history and shaving techniques during the practical exercises. All soldiers met the minimum requirements on theoretical and practical assessments for completion of the course.

“I am Infantry, so I have learned something new,” said Pvt. Ali Abd Alameer, 8th Division. “I will use what I have learned with the soldiers at my unit.”

At the graduation ceremony, Brig. Gen. Abd Al Kareem, commander of the school, presented each student with a certificate of completion for the course and congratulated them on being the first students to graduate from the class.

The students were enthusiastic about returning to their units to put their new knowledge and skills into practice.

“The knowledge I have gained here will be very useful,” said Pvt. Mohammed Kareem Ali from the 8th Division. “I will cut soldiers’ hair at my unit.”

The next course is planned for later this year.

US Forces – Iraq

Previous material here

As the last detainee boarded a plane destined for another theater detention center today – September 17 2009, the detainee operations mission at Camp Bucca, Iraq, officially ended.

An Air Force C-17 carrying the last group of 180 detainees lifted off from the Basra airport headed to Camp Cropper at 3:22 a.m., officials said.

“As a result of the great working relationship between the government of Iraq and Task Force 134, I’m pleased to say the Camp Bucca detention facility is now closed,” said Army Brig. Gen. David Quantock, Joint Task Force 134′s commanding general. “We’ve been working hand in hand with the government of Iraq to coordinate our detainee releases and transfers in accordance with the [U.S.-Iraq] security agreement, and that teamwork has allowed us to close the Bucca [theater internment facility].”

Task Force 134 members have been focusing on the safe and orderly releases and transfers of detainees in accordance with the security agreement, which took effect, Jan. 1. The agreement, signed in November 2008, states that detainee transfers between coalition forces and the Iraqi government must be conducted with arrest warrants or detention orders. If detainees don’t have a warrant or detention order, they must be released.

The facility’s closure leaves only two U.S.-run detention centers in Iraq: Camp Taji, 16 miles north of Baghdad, and Camp Cropper, near the Baghdad International Airport, officials said. Detainees who were held at Camp Bucca — but haven’t been released or transferred to the Iraqi government — have been moved to one of the two remaining facilities.

Since February, Task Force 134 has released about 750 detainees from its detention facilities each month and transferred an average of 200 detainees per month to the Iraqi government, officials said.

With the Bucca center’s closure, 8,305 detainees remain in coalition custody, officials said. This year, 1,360 detainees have been transferred to the Iraqi government with a warrant, detention order or conviction of a terrorist act by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. Since the security agreement went into effect, 5,703 detainees have been released.

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The number of detainees in Task Force 134 custody dropped below 9,000 during a detainee transfer between Coalition forces and the Government of Iraq here, Aug. 27.

As a result of the 107-person transfer, the detainee population in Iraq stands at 8,947 – the lowest number in U.S. custody since March 2005.

In accordance with the Security Agreement, detainee transfers between CF and the GoI must be conducted with arrest warrants or detention orders. If detainees do not have arrest warrants or detention orders, they must be released.

“We work very closely with the Iraqi government to ensure releases and transfers are conducted in a safe and orderly manner,” said Capt. Brad Kimberly, Task Force 134 spokesman. “In compliance with the Security Agreement, we transferred these detainees to the GoI after receiving valid warrants or detention orders.”

Every detainee’s file is thoroughly reviewed by CF and the GoI to determine if a warrant should be issued, he said. Detainees whose investigations do not produce a warrant are eligible for release according to the detainee’s threat level.

Of the 8,947 detainees in U.S. custody, 3,572 are held at Camp Cropper, 4,585 are held at Camp Taji, and 790 are held at Camp Bucca.

Task Force 134 is in the process of transferring the Bucca Theater Internment Facility detainee population prior to the facility’s closing, which is scheduled for September. Detainees currently held at Camp Bucca will be transferred to either Camp Cropper or Camp Taji.

Task Force 134 releases approximately 750 detainees from its detention facilities each month. In addition, nearly 250 transfers to the GoI are completed per month.

Since January, 1,179 detainees have been transferred to the GoI with a valid warrant or detention order, and 5,236 have been released.

MNF-I

Whitney, Texas, native, Spc. Shane Brassell, an Army Reserve heavy equipment operator assigned to the 277th Engineer Company, 46th Eng. Bn., 225th Eng. Bde., looks on as a fellow Soldier works on clearing the area of debris in preparation for a bridge being built on the banks of a river in northeast Baghdad, July 30. Photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell

On the banks of a rushing river in northeast Baghdad, clouds of dust hang in the air and hulking machines transform the landscape in preparation for a new bridge being built by Army Reserve Soldiers of the 277th Engineer Company, July 30.

Though a suspension bridge already spans the fast-flowing river, it won’t support most coalition forces vehicles, explained Spc. Shane Brassell, a heavy equipment operator from Whitney, Texas, assigned to the 277th Eng. Co., 46th Eng. Battalion, 225th Eng. Brigade.

“The bridge they have now is not big enough and not strong enough to get our MRAPs [Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles] through,” said Brassell. “So we’re helping put up another bridge that’s going to be stronger and safer for our guys.”

Being able to move through the area safely and quickly is imperative for the Soldiers stationed on either side of the river as well as for Iraqi security forces located here.

“It’s a main thoroughfare for Iraqi army and Iraqi police, and it’s right next to Taji, which is a big base for them and it will help them get their equipment through much easier,” added Brassell about the importance of the bridge for his ISF partners.

Maj. Andrew Hilmes, the executive officer for the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division based just south of the river that resupply at Camp Taji, agreed with the assessment. “It shortens the distance and travel time,” he said. “Less time on the roads is less exposure to threats.”

“It will also give future units the capability to rapidly haul a lot of equipment through Baghdad,” continued Hilmes, a native of Sarasota, Fla.

Though the implications behind the success of a new bridge are easy to be seen, the coordination, effort and sweat that go into a project such as this in a combat zone aren’t taken lightly.

This portion of the river is deceptively deep, with a fast and deadly current that could easily swallow a piece of equipment, explained Brassell as he ground-guided a crane just a few feet from the 10-foot drop into the river.

Along with the treacherous terrain, it was riddled with large concrete blocks buried deep within the soil that needed to be moved, he added.

“We’re lucky enough to use the D-9 dozer. It’s the biggest engineering piece of equipment in the Army and because they’re so big and it’s a weight issue, we don’t always use them,” Brassell said. “We still struggled a little bit, but we got good operators.”

One of those operators, Spc. Franklin Cardenas, marveled at the size of the concrete blocks. “A lot were buried in the ground and we had to work them up and push them out … they weigh more than a Volkswagen Bug,” added the Luling, Texas, native as he pointed to a colossal pile of broken concrete slabs.

“It’s dangerous,” said Cardenas, a heavy equipment operator, also assigned to the 277th Eng. Co. “But I have a lot of belief in our security force and we really rely heavily on them. I have a lot of trust in them…but we have to stay vigilant too and you need to know what’s happening and keep your head on a swivel.”

A rotating security element of 1st Cav. Div. Soldiers keeps a watchful eye on the engineers every minute of the day.

“Since day one, we’ve closely coordinated their security,” explained Hilmes. “Not only is the 277th an external unit, but also a Reserve unit…we’ve worked with them a few times already on the JSS [Joint Security Station] and they’ve offered to help out anyway they can…as far as we’re concerned they’re members of the team.”

The teamwork between the cavalry Soldiers and the engineers is apparent and just another example of Soldiers helping Soldiers get the mission accomplished.

“It brings a feeling of comfort knowing that my guys are going across there safe and the ISF will be safe too,” said Brassell as he tried to remove dirt from his brow but only succeeded in adding another layer of mud.

“There hasn’t been a lot of griping from the troops because I think they understand the long term benefits of this bridge,” said Hilmes with a smile. “This is another one of those things to better protect the force and keep Soldiers out of harm’s way.”

In order to do that, Reserve Soldiers help active duty Soldiers, cavalry scouts protect engineers and troops keep troops out of harm’s way.

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Story by Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell