Super Bowl and a Journalist Hero in Afghanistan
Obama Thanks Troops, Pledges Support Following Meeting
President of the United States Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden greet service members during their first visit to the Pentagon on Jan. 28. Obama met with Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all of the service chiefs getting their inputs on the way ahead in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad McNeeley
Super Bowl and a Journalist Hero in Afghanistan; Getting it Done in Iraq
Sgt. Stryker here. As 2009 progresses (can you believe January is almost over already!?), the progress continues in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Here’s an update on everything from watching the Super Bowl (Arizona Cardinals take on the Pittsburgh Steelers during Super Bowl XLIII) at FOB Tillman in Afghanistan to a journalist (Chris Jackson) who jumped into action to save a marine to the daily things being done in Iraq – I have your updates.
FOB Tillman, a remote base in the Paktia province of Afghanistan, is named in memory of Army Sgt. Pat Tillman. Tillman was a three-year starter for the Cardinals, but left the team before the 2002 season to join the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He became an Army Ranger and deployed to Afghanistan, where he was killed during a highly publicized friendly-fire incident in April 2004.
Half a world away, FOB Tillman stands as a more austere memorial to the fallen Ranger. A weathered sign at the entrance to the base bears his name.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who visited the base in 2007, said it reminded him of an Old West frontier town. “The area surrounding the base was desolate and forbidding,” he said, but he noted that morale among the troops was high.
These troops, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry “White Currahees” Regiment, serve as a trip wire to Taliban infiltrators attempting to cross the Pakistan border, less than two miles to the east.
Army Maj. Jason Westbrock, the unit’s executive officer, said he expects many of his soldiers to watch the Super Bowl, which will be broadcast live on American Forces Network. AFN-Afghanistan is coordinating with the Pentagon Channel to produce a video tribute to Tillman, and hopes to air it during the game.
But otherwise, Westbrock said, no commemorations or special arrangements are planned at FOB Tillman. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Moss is working to get the FOB’s sign replaced, but doesn’t expect it to be ready in time for the Super Bowl, he said.
Also regarding Afghanistan – Chris Jackson, who was with a Fox News cameraman embedded with a Marine Corps platoon last year, was traveling by Humvee down a dangerous road in Afghanistan on August 3, 2008 when it hit 50 pounds of homemade explosives. All of the vehicle’s passengers escaped the flaming vehicle, with the exception of vehicle commander Marine Corps Sgt. Courtney Rauch.
The blast severely injured Rauch and knocked him unconscious. Jackson, despite having received shrapnel wounds himself, rushed back to the vehicle, pulled Rauch out and carried him to safety.
“Without Chris’ quick thinking and heroic act, I would have lost my life that day,” Rauch said. “Chris forgot about being a reporter that day and became one of our brothers and acted as one of us. Chris went above and beyond his duty.”
Jackson, who now works for CNN/Turner Broadcasting, was presented with the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, the second-highest award given to civilians by the Navy, for his actions. Jackson received the award at Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory, outside of Baghdad, during a stop in Iraq en route to India. An audience of appreciative Marines was on hand during the ceremony.
Meanwhile, in Iraq:
According to Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases, Iraqi security forces and U.S. soldiers detained suspected criminals and seized weapons in Baghdad’s Rashid district on January 26, 2009.
Iraqi national police and U.S. soldiers yesterday discovered a cache of 60 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition in an abandoned house in the Risalah community. A short time later, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi police detained three suspected criminals in the Saydiyah and Risalah communities.
The troops also confiscated 15 AK-47 assault rifles in Saydiyah and a light anti-tank 66 mm rocket in the Aamel community.
January 25, 2009 in Iraq:
Iraqi and U.S. soldiers confiscated an anti-armor mine and nine AK-47 assault rifles in Baghdad’s Rashid district.
Iraqi national police and U.S. soldiers seized a weapons cache consisting of a rocket-propelled grenade, gun powder, grenade, a stick of dynamite, 1,000 rounds of machine-gun ammunition and 100 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition in Rashid’s Shurta community.
January 24, 2009 in Iraq:
Iraqi police and members of the “Sons of Iraq” civilian security group thwarted a homemade-bomb attack and arrested five suspected terrorists January 24, 2009 in Tarmiyah, northwest of Baghdad. The forces apprehended two suspects attempting to place a bicycle strapped with explosive devices near a funeral site.
After questioning, the suspects led forces to a nearby cache containing propaganda, magnets, timers, homemade explosives, mortar fuses and batteries. The suspects also led the forces to a site suspected of housing other members of a bomb cell where three more were arrested. All suspects are in Iraqi police custody.
This is Sgt. Stryker signing out.