After a briefing, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, meets with her constituents, Ohio natives from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, during a Congressional delegation visit to Camp Taji, Iraq. Pic: SSG Jon Cupp

Tech. Sgt. Kenneth Prendergast, 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, gives a local Intel briefing to Security Forces Airman who use note pads to write down inportant information during guardmount at Balad Air Base. Pic: Staff Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth

Tech. Sgt. Kenneth Prendergast, 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, gives a local Intel briefing to Security Forces Airman who use note pads to write down inportant information during guardmount at Balad Air Base. Pic: Staff Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth

An Airman walks back to his room after a long duty day at Balad Air Base, Iraq. Most Airmen assigned at the air base live in a compound surrounded by towering T-barriers. The T-barriers act as a line of defense against stray bullets and as blast protection from mortar attacks. The weight of the T-barriers varies from four to 17 tons. Pic: Tech. Sgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo Jr.

An enthusiastic crowd cheers on rapper Stu Stone as he turns around to grab another handful of DVDs to toss out during the Jamie Kennedy Hip-Hop Comedy Tour. Stone was one of five performers to entertain service members during their stop to Camp Liberty, Iraq, Feb. 23. The two-hour set, which headlined Houston-based rapper Paul Wall, was the last stop for the USO-sponsored comedy tour.
Pic: CPL Abel Trevino

Brooklyn-based DJ Joey Nicks opened for the Jamie Kennedy Hip-Hop Comedy Tour at Camp Liberty, Iraq, Feb. 23. He used a combination of old school hip-hop and sampled tracks, scratches and freestyle-turntabling to entertain the crowd before the two-hour set.
Pic: CPL Abel Trevino

Newbern, N.C., native SGT Shawn Mackey, a health care specialist with Company C, 299th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, assesses the health of a newborn Iraqi baby during a medical assistance mission in the village of Abidone inside the Bay Al Sabir High School of the Abu Ghraib district of Baghdad. The event was to thank the community for its continued support of coalition and Iraqi security forces by offering health and dental care to the village's residents. Pic: SPC L.B. Edgar

Newbern, N.C., native SGT Shawn Mackey, a health care specialist with Company C, 299th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, assesses the health of a 6-year-old Iraqi during a medical assistance mission in the village of Abidone inside the Bay Al Sabir High School of the Abu Ghraib district of Baghdad. The event was to thank the community for its continued support of coalition and Iraqi security forces by offering health and dental care to the village's residents. Pic" SPC L.B. Edgar

A Soldier from 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division searches the shadows of a palm grove on a recent patrol in the area of Mahmudiyah, Iraq, 17 miles south of the Iraqi capital. Coalition and Iraqi army soldiers patrol this area together to deny the enemy safe haven and staging grounds to launch attacks against the capital city. Pic: PFC Jon Cano

Soldiers from a platoon of 3rd battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi army Division, "Baghdad Eagles," move stealthily through the muddied ground of a palm grove on a recent patrol in the area of Mahmudiayh, Iraq, 17 miles south of the Iraqi capital. Coalition and Iraqi army soldiers patrol this area together to deny the enemy safe haven and staging grounds to launch attacks against the capital city. Insurgents use the palm groves like these to hide weapon caches from the coalition aircraft overhead. Pic: PFC Jon Cano

Staff Sgt. Kathryn Robinson embraces Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Gregoire after receiving her Purple Heart medal for wounds received from small arms fire. Robinson was on a cordon and search rescue mission with the Military Transition Teams and Iraqi army near Baqubah when she was struck by a snipers bullet in the left forearm and upper right thumb. Robinson is assigned to the 4th Combat Camera Squadron. Pic: Tech. Sgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo Jr.)

U.S. Army Soldiers, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Bliss, Texas, and an Iraqi Force Protection Secuirty guard search for bomb making chemicals used in recent IED attacks on U.S forces, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pic: Senior Airman Vanessa Valentine

An Iraqi Interpreter, contracted by the U.S. Army, uses a bullhorn to give instructions to residents of Haifa Street to line up during a humanitarian aid operation in Baghdad, Iraq. Elements of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, are handing out kerosene heaters and blankets to the residents of the downtown Baghdad neighborhood. Pic: SSG Sean A. Foley

Maj. Jalal Sabri Khmaees, head of the Al-Sulakh Police Station, and CPT Tim Marzano of Clemons, N.C., commander of A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, walk the streets of Adhamiyah, Baghdad on a patrol. U.S. paratroopers and Iraqi police live and work together at the Al-Sulakh Joint Security Station.
Pic: SGT Michael Pryor

Iraqi policeman Hamid Zaid Ahmed (l.) writes down an Arabic word for SGT John Orr of Ann Arbor, Mich., a team leader with Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, while the two stand guard at the entrance to the Al-Sulakh Joint Security Station in Adhamiyah. The JSS is home to U.S. paratroopers, Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi policemen all working together to improve security in the neighborhood
Pic: SGT Michael Pryor

1LT Rusty Shackleford, a platoon leader with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, speaks with Iraqi men in the Adhamiyah district of Baghdad while on patrol Feb. 15. The Charlotte, N.C. native and his Soldiers were out to make contact with the residents they help protect.

SPC Unberto Espinoza, a forward observer with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, and native of Ventura, Calif., talks to Iraqi children outside of a pediatric clinic while on a patrol in Baghdad’s Adhamiyah district

Duluth, Minn., native SPC Michael Benusa, a medic with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, explains to an English-speaking Iraqi girl how to apply medication to her younger sister. The young girl had been suffering from a skin condition around her mouth and eyes.
Pic: SGT Michael Garrett

Bronx, N.Y., native SSG Juan A. Lopez, speaks Arabic with some Iraqi children during his unit’s patrol of a market in Baghdad’s Al Doura district.
Pic: SFC Kap Kim

Cincinnati, Ohio, native PFC Matt Durbin looks around a local market during one of his platoon’s patrols of an area in Baghdad’s Al Doura district.
Pic: SFC Kap Kim

Bronx, N.Y., native SSG Juan A. Lopez and PFC Kee Johnson, of Louisburg, W.V., patrol a market in Baghdad’s Al Doura district.
Pic: SFC Kap Kim

CSM Klaus J. Meckenstock, of Bad Kreuznach, Germany, the senior noncommissioned officer with 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, hangs a mortar round during the platoon’s registration at Forward Operating Base Loyalty. Pic: SPC Courtney Marulli

Wichita, Kan., native PFC Andrew Woods, 20, a saw gunner with 1st Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, which is attached to 2nd BCT, 1st Inf. Div., provides force protection to the Hurriyah Joint Security Station in Baghdad. Six months earlier Woods was wounded by a sniper, but now he has made a full recovery and returned to duty on his second deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pic: CPL Leith Edgar

Soldiers from Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, attached to 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, prepare to fire a 120 mm mortar to ensure their proper distance and accuracy at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in East Baghdad, Iraq. Pic: SSG Bronco Suzuki

CPTs Patrick Bailey and Nick Bauer, both from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division’s Essential Services Cell, conduct a preliminary inspection of the new facilities at Sewage Pump Station TC3 in Baghdad Risalah neighborhood.

A CH-47 Chinook helicopter airlifts a 16,000 pound up-armored humvee, during sling load training on Camp Taji, Iraq.
Pic: SGT Jon Cupp

Ali Bunni, Qada Council’s Deputy Chairman in north Baghdad, officially opens a new girls’ high school earlier this week with a ribbon cutting.
Pic: Mr. Norris Jones

A Bradley Fighting Vehicle of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 136th Combined Arms Battalion, 1/34 Brigade Combat Team, engages a target during an operation Friday, Feb. 9, southwest of Camp Fallujah, Iraq. The Bradley fired 10 25 mm rounds at the two fleeing vehicles. Pic: SFC Clinton Wood

Tech. Sgt. Wendell Perkins, and Senior Airman Michael Williamson, C-130E Crew Chiefs, exit the rear of this C-130E, Balad Air Base, Iraq. Pic: Airman First Class Nathan Doza )

SPC's Elaine and Adam Sandoval share their affections in the evening sun at Forward Operating Base Sykes near Tal Afar. Both are assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Pic: SSG Samantha Stryker

Major Mark C. Boone with 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Navy Construction Regiment, informs Brigadier General James A. Kessler, Commanding General, 2D Marine Logistics Group (FWD), about the new improvements made on the vehicles in Engineer Village on Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq. The 9th Engineer Support Battalion is deployed with I MEF (FWD) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq to develop the Iraqi Security Forces, facilitate the development of official rule of law through democratic government reforms and continue the development of a market based economy centered on Iraqi reconstruction. Pic: Lance Corporal Christopher A. Baldwin.

Criminal Insurgents Can't Sleep At Night

U.S. Army CPT Darren Fowler Commanding Officer of D Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division stands by while his Iraqi Army counterpart questions an Iraqi local national during a combined mission with Iraqi Army in Ghazaliya, Iraq.
Pic: SSG Martin K Newton

SGT Eric Cochran from D Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division shines his tactical flashlight on a rooftop ensuring they are clear during a combined mission with Iraqi Army soldiers in Ghazaliya, Iraq.
Pic: SSG Martin K Newton

An Iraqi Army soldier and U.S. Army SSG Trevis Goode of D Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division watch a rooftop for movement during a combined mission in Ghazaliya, Iraq.
Pic: SSG Martin K Newton

SPC Michael Wiehe of D Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division stands ready to enter a building during a combined mission with Iraqi Army in Ghazaliya, Iraq. Pic: SSG Martin K Newton

1LT McCuan from Alpha Company, 3/8 CAV talks to local Iraqis while on patrol near Balad, Iraq.
Pic: SPC Jason Edwards.

Staff Sgt. Michael Holzworth of the 332nd Communications Squadron Balad Air Base, Iraq takes stock video footage of the Hero's Highway Helicopter pad, Balad Air Base, Iraq. Staff Sgt Holzworth is deployed from Aviano Air Force Base, Italy and he is assigned to the 31st Communications Squadron.
Pic: Airman 1st Class Nathan Doza

SPC Robert Thompson, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, from Gastonia, N.C., provides security from a rooftop in the Ghazaliya combat outpost compound in Baghdad.

SPC Robert Thompson, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, from Gastonia, N.C., provides security from a rooftop in the Ghazaliya combat outpost compound in Baghdad.

Col. Lawrence Jackson, 732nd Expeditionary Mission Support Group commander, presents the Purple Heart to Special Agent Cameron Allen Siegfried, Weapons and Intelligence Team assistant leader, during an award ceremony. Siegfried sustained injuries to his head Aug. 21, 2006, when an improvised explosive device detonated next to his vehicle, injuring him and killing Master Sgt. Brad A. Clemmons.
Pic: CPL Abel Trevino

SGT Cliff Yohn, with the 169th Fires Brigade of the Colorado National Guard, applies an intravenous drip to Sgt. Josiah B. Inman, also with the 169th FB. Soldiers with the 169th FB Personal Security Detachment conducted Combat Life Saver recertification at Foward Operating Base Marez in Mosul.
Pic: SGT Antonieta Rico

SGT Victor Jorgensen, an infantryman with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division takes a break to teach an Iraqi child how to yo-yo after searching a warehouse for illegal weapons in the Adhamiyah district of Baghdad, Iraq. The Tacoma Wash., native used an interpreter to help explain how to use the device after observing the child having difficulty with the toy.
Pic: SGT Michael Garrett

A New Corner is Turned

Soldiers with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division move down a street and into a compound that contains a factory and several warehouses in the Adhamiyah district of Baghdad, Iraq. The Soldiers disrupted insurgent activities in the area in preparation of a new Combat Out Post that is being established in the neighborhood.
Pic: SGT Michael Garrett

PFC Giovanny Rincon, of Brooklyn, N.Y., a paratrooper with B Co, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, makes friends with an Iraqi girl during a patrol in Baghdad's Adhamiyah District.
Pic: SGT Michael Pryor

A paratrooper from B Co, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, pulls security during a patrol in Baghdad's Adhamiya District.
Pic: SGT Michael Pryor

SPC Scott Johnson and PFC Charles Darensbourg from C Co, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, look for targets on a rooftop during a patrol in Baghdad's Adhamiya District.
Pic: SFT Michael Pryor

Soldiers from the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment Reconnaissance, Fort Bragg, N.C., call an end to another day out on the battlefield. The paratroopers participated in a massive insurgent seaking mission in the Tawillah region of Iraq.
Pic: SGT Armando Monroig

Eddie, a dog trained in sniffing out explosives, rides on a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter on the way back from a mission in Northern Iraq.

Iraqi Soldiers and paratroopers from 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, search through a pile of empty ammunitions tubes looking for weapons caches at a site north of Baghdad.

A helicopter lands to extract Iraqi and coalition forces soldiers from an area north of Baghdad after they completed a search of the area for weapons caches. The troops found and destroyed what they suspected was an insurgent training area.