SGT James Williams, of Natchitoches, La., checks on some green beans just before the dinner meal inside the “containerized kitchen” at Forward Operating Base Hope in Baghdad. Pic: SFC Kap Kim

Soldiers with Company B, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, and soldiers with the 5th Iraqi Army Division cross a palm grove in Baqubah, Iraq, March 17. Soldiers of the unit, part of 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., spent three days clearing the palm groves in the neighborhood of Buhriz to deny insurgents access to the terrain, which can be used to hide weapons and to launch attacks on coalition forces.Pic: SGT Antonieta Rico

Sgt. 1st Class Scott Madden, a platoon leader, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division (Light), listens to an Iraqi woman while his Soldiers conduct a house assessment in Airport Village, a suburb of Baghdad. The Miamisburg, Ohio, native and his platoon have been patroling the village since November. Madden said although the area is relatively safe, they regularly check up on residents to make sure there are no suspicious persons or activities. Pic: SPC Laura M. Bigenho

Marines with Regimental Combat Team 2 discuss the island they just searched for weapon caches along the Euphrates River, just north of Hit, Iraq. Pic: Cpl. Shane S. Keller

Marines from Regimental Combat Team 2 Personal Security Detachment pass a tank from Alpha Company, 1st Tank Battalion along a road north of Hit, Iraq during an operation to disrupt and interdict insurgent operations. Pic: Cpl. Shane S. Keller

SSG Gary Fink, an intelligence analyst with Company C, 101st Military Intelligence Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, gets the opportunity to be promoted by his mother, Linda Pegg, at Camp Liberty, Iraq. Pegg, a worker with Morale, Welfare, and Recreation at Camp Taji, Iraq, was able to fly to Liberty and not only attend her son’s promotion, but be the one to promote him. Pic: PFC William Hatton

1LT Andrew Kochli, and SSG Mike Rice with Demon Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Bliss, Texas, coordinate patrols during a raid on a Pepsi factory, Mosul, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pic: Senior Airman Vanessa Valentine, USAF

(From left) Hon. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), Hon. Allyson V. Schwartz (D-Penn.), Hon. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.), Mayor Ali Al-Shershab of Al Batha, Iraq, Hon. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), and Hon. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.) pose together for a photo during a Congressional Delegation visit.

(From left) Hon. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), Hon. Allyson V. Schwartz (D-Penn.), Hon. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.), Mayor Ali Al-Shershab of Al Batha, Iraq, Hon. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), and Hon. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.) pose together for a photo during a Congressional Delegation visit.

Hon. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., poses for a photo with Sgt. Dugan Fauth, El Monte, Calif.-based 250th Transportation Company, during a Congressional Delegation visit.

Hon. Hilda L. Solis, D-Calif., talks with Staff Sgt. Steven Cordero, a native of Laverne, Calif., during a lunchtime visit. Solis and four other members of a Congressional Delegation were there for a visit.