While writing my article on the military's use of the UAV in combat, I remembered a news release a few years ago about a program that was starting to look at development of a new weapons, technology, communications system called the "Land Warrior" program. The funding for this program was dropped back in Febuary but is being brought back and funded again. SO I reearched it again and was amazed by what I had found, and how far the program has come. The Land Warrior program was designed to...

The US military has fielded a series of UAV's (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) that makes one think of futuristic wars and years in the future. But they are here and now. The Army is training with and beginning to use a new UAV called the "Raven".  You have to love the high tech launch system !! The Raven is a small lightweight UAV. While the Raven looks deceptively like a remote-controlled hobby plane it is actually a high-tech device that can provide real-time footage or still images...

I bet you can ask almost anyone on the street or in your immediate friends group "How many soldiers have we lost in Iraq?" and they will probably be able to tell you at least 3000 or 4000 soldiers. Why because you are told the number every day in papers and on the news and radio repeatedly throughout the day. Ask them "How many terrorist have we killed in Iraq?" and they will not be able to tell you. Why? Because of the lopsided reporting on this war. For the first time the numbers ar...

Well on the news last night I heard that the US Military might have had Bin Idiot in their sights and missed him. He was supposedly spotted in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the US Military sent in Special Forces to try and find him and capture or kill him, they did not find him of course, or you would have seen it plastered all over the news. What you did not hear on the nightly news was that the Afghanistan Army advised and supported by coalition forces,...

With all the negative comments about the surge working or not working in Iraq and the childish, and hate filled comments and ads about the Commander of the Troops in Iraq or "progress" in Iraq beng not made I wondered, what would be acceptable by most people as progress? What would have to happen in order for most people to say that things are "better" in Iraq than they have been? Not withstanding a retreat or why we went in the first place. I think most people would sa...

HUSSEINIYAH, Iraq – A noticeable change has taken place on the streets of Husseiniyah that benefits Soldiers and civilians. Civil service impact projects are changing the city’s appearance, smell and attitude. Formerly an extremely hostile area, Husseiniyah is an ever-changing front, where Soldiers now meet with Iraqi leaders in the street. The violence in and around Husseiniyah made world news earlier this summer. What was once a relatively safe and secure area of operations had turne...

This is an interview of Cpt. Tilman about the changes in the Baqubah area of Iraq he has seen and his daily duites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgOQ76yDvqQ

KHAN BANI SA¡¯AD, Iraq ¨C The Iraqi children were full of smiles as they competed for the attention of the cavalry scout Soldiers of 1st Platoon, Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, Aug. 29, in Kahn Bani Sa¡¯ad, Iraq. Their laughter rang clear as they traded, passed and inspected the toys the Soldiers handed out to them during a patrol of the village. The smiles and laughter would be short lived, however, as the mission quickly intensified. Arrow Troop, 2-1 Cav., of the 4th ...

Hmmm better pull out before they actually do some good for these people. Oopppss can't they already have. Oh well lets try and pull out anyway. FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Coalition troops teamed with Iraqi policemen and concerned local citizens to rid a major road of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and al-Qaeda cell members during a two-day operation in Tuwaitha. The purpose of the mission was to not just clear the route, but to also establish an Iraqi capability to...

Here are the facts filtered out of Gen Petraeus's Statement for those that are to lazy to read the entire transcript or to busy to listen to the testimony, or plain just don't care enough to put any effort into listening to what is going on in the War on Terror in Iraq, (this would be about 95% of the American Public):   I.         General Petraeus Opening Statements: A.         ...

Well with the Sept. 15 th Iraq Report coming I am not surprised by all the pre-emptive strikes being made by the media. Many are trying to point out that things have not met “goals” that were set. Well that’s all fine and good, if you were the one that set the goals. But looking at just what has gone on for the last couple of months since the “surge” operation happened you find some very positive things going on. In a August 28 th briefing Maj. Gen. Caldwell, spokesman for the Multi-n...

Here is my latest attempt at a tribute to the men and women in Iraq and their mission:   http://www.youtube.com/v/RlQ7XWgzYEE Hope you enjoy..

Yesterday, a young man in his 20's was attending a meeting with a Community Group of his fellow New Yorkers and a small group of Iraqi's. The Iraq's were there to help the NYers understand their way of life. While the group was standing outside the meeting place and getting redy to move inside a man wearing a jacket, and not part of the group approached. The young man mentioned above spotted him and was suspicious that the man may be wearing a suicide bomb vest, so he moved to him an...

For my 500th Article (my gosh have I really done that many??!?!) I wanted to start out with my YouTube Channel, 3rdID8487 , which has had over 130,000 video views since March 15 th , 2007! A little over 1000 views a day! In addition I have been able to connect 20+ military families with videos or photos of their loved ones in Iraq or Afghanistan. What a treat that has been, the e-mails I have gotten have been priceless and made all the time and effort spent searching, downloading...

Of course there will be absolutely no mention of this in the mainstream media.. but at least you can read it here.. An Iraqi man saved the lives of four U.S. Soldiers and eight civilians when he intercepted a suicide bomber during a Concerned Citizens meeting in the town of al-Arafia Aug. 18.  (Do you notice the "Concerned Citizens" meeting part?)   The incident occurred while Soldiers from 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, were talking with members of the al-Arafia Concerned C...