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Louisiana Board Of Veterinary Medicine

Another rotation of troops is coming to a close in Iraq. On February 10, the XVIII Airborne Corps officially took command of Multinational CorpsIraq, replacing III Corps. The New York National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division (ID) headquarters took over command of Multinational Division North Central from the 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) on February 14. Units of the 1st ID returned to their bases in Germany. Two brigades of the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) will serve under the 42nd as will the Idaho National Guard's 116th Brigade Combat Team and the Tennessee Guard's 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. The troopers of the llth Armored Cavalry Regiment took command from Task Force Olympia on February 13. The 1st Brigade (Stryker), 25th Infantry Division (Light), is serving under the cavalry's command.

The rest of the 3rd Infantry Division officially began its second tour in Iraq, relieving the 1st Cavalry Division on February 27. The 3rd now leads Multinational Division Baghdad and consists of two brigades of the 3rd, the 256th Brigade Combat Team from the Louisiana National Guard, the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry). The Hawaii Guard's 29th Brigade Combat Team will replace Washington State's 81st Brigade around Baghdad.

In the west, the Army's 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, will serve under the Marine Expeditionary Force commander.

One of the soldiers returning to Iraq will be Capt. David Rozelle, who is the first amputee in recent military history to be returned to a combat zone. Rozelle lost his right leg in an improvised explosive device ambush in Hit in 2003 and has made a full recovery at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The results of the Iraqi election were announced on February 14. The United Iraqi Alliance, which repre?sents the Shiia, came in first with just over 47 percent of the votes. A Kurdish alliance came in second with 27 percent and interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's slate came in third with 14 percent. Officials on the Shiia slate called on all Iraqis to cooperate as the new government takes power. More than 8.5 million Iraqis voted in the elections, 58 percent of the eligible population. Many Sunni Arabs, who make up some 20 percent of the population, stayed away from the polls.

In another sign of progress in the country, between 8,000 and 10,000 people showed up at a recruiting station to join the new Iraqi army on February 14. While only about 5,000 made it through the first step of the screening process, U.S. Army officials were only expecting 6,000 people to apply. On February 24, some 204 Iraqi police officers graduated from a training facility after completing advanced and specialty courses in leadership, criminal investigation, interrogations and other subjects. They join nearly 2,000 Iraqi police who graduated that same week from basic and advanced training courses.

In a tragic accident on March 4, Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had been held hostage for a month and was then released, was injured when coalition forces fired on the vehicle she was in as it approached a checkpoint near the Baghdad airport. An Italian intelligence officer was killed in the incident, which is under investigation.

The U.S. Army suffered 49 casualties in the month of February. Most were killed by IEDs, but small arms fire and noncombat related incidents also claimed lives. Iraqi civilians too, have continued to suffer from the violence. On February 28 more than 100 people were killed when a car bomb detonated in Hilla, a suburb of Baghdad. At least 146 people were wounded in the blast.

Missions in Afghanistan. On February 10, coalition troops helped to evacuate more than 27 people after a multiple-vehicle accident in Parwan province, transporting them for treatment at hospitals on Bagram air base.

Coalition troops also aided citizens affected by the heavy snowfalls in February. A provincial reconstruction team from Parwan delivered much-needed winter clothing and medicine to more than 2,500 people in displaced-persons camps near Kabul. A coalition C-130 transport plane from Uzbekistan air-dropped packages of humanitarian assistance supplies to the village of Shinkay in the Zabol province. Also in the province, soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, teamed up with aviators of the division's 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, and their CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters, to deliver humanitarian aid packages.

In eastern Ghazni province, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter of Company A, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment delivered bags of flour, beans and rice, as well as oil for cooking and heating, and blankets to a small village surrounded by nothing but deep snow. Along for the ride was Ghazni's governor. The aircraft returned to its base, resupplied and tried to deliver more relief to another town. When the pilots found that they could not land because of poor visibility, they performed an aerial drop of the supplies, including more than 10 tons of food.

"The Afghan people are gaining daily a sense that coalition forces are not here to convert anyone. We're not here to take over, we're here to help," Maj. Joseph P. Walsh, executive officer of the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, said.

U.S. troops continue to search for and discover weapons caches around the country. In some cases, the troops are led to the caches by local citizens. The weapons are either destroyed or distributed to the Afghan National Army.

One soldier died in Afghanistan during the month of February. Spc. Richard M. Crane, 25, died February 8, in Kandahar, of noncombat-related injuries. Crane was assigned to the Army Reserve's 325th Field Hospital.

Army Misses Recruitment Goals. For the first time in five years, the Army missed its total recruiting goals when the active Army fell short by 1,900 of its February goal of 7,050 new soldiers.

To attract new recruits, the Army has added incentives, such as increasing enlistment bonuses from $8,000 to $10,000. Some bonuses are as high as $15,000 in hard to fill military occupational specialties. In addition, the Army has increased the number of recruiters on the street by 20 percent.

Reenlistments are higher in units that have deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, including Guard and Reserve, than in units that have not deployed.

New Combat Badge. The Army announced on February 11 that it will be introducing a new badge for selected combat arms soldiers in combat arms brigades who engage in active ground combat. The close combat badge (CCB) will provide special recognition to ground combat arms soldiers who are trained and employed in direct combat missions. Infantry and Special Forces soldiers will continue to be recognized for their ground combat role with the combat infantryman badge.

The Army will award the CCB to Armor, Cavalry, Combat Engineer and Field Artillery soldiers in military occupational specialties or corresponding officer branch/specialties recognized as having a high probability of routinely engaging in direct combat. They must be assigned or attached to an Army unit of brigade or below that is purposefully organized to routinely conduct close combat operations and engage in direct combat in accordance with existing rules and policy. The badge will be presented only to eligible soldiers who are personally present and under fire while engaged in operations to close with and destroy the enemy with direct fires.

The CCB should be available this fall through unit supply and also available for purchase in military clothing sales stores.

Enlisted Promotions. The Army announced a new policy, approved on February 23, placing all eligible specialists and corporals (with 48 months in service and a year in grade) on a promotion list to sergeant without having to appear in front of a promotions board.

Once on the list, some soldiers will automatically be promoted if a military occupational specialty falls below 100-percent strength at the E-5 level. Commanders will have a 15-day window to remove from the list names of any soldiers they feel are not qualified.

While most promotions to sergeant will continue to go to those who appear before a promotion board, if there are still positions that need to be filled in the E-5 grade, those positions will go to soldiers on the list. Soldiers placed on the promotion list without appearing before a promotion board will only be given the minimum of 350 points.

Soldiers who want to receive promotion points based on their accomplishments need to go through the promotion board procedures and the processes outlined in AR 600-8-9.

The Army is experiencing a shortage of sergeants in some specialties because of demands of the war and the creation of new units. The new brigade combat teams and units of action require more senior NCOs, accelerating the promotion of mid-grade NCOs and resulting in more E-5 vacancies. Many specialists are already doing the jobs of sergeants without the pay or recognition. The new policy could potentially affect about 19,000 corporals and specialists currently in the active component.

Army Helps in Kenya. In February, servicemembers from Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) and Kenyan army medics treated thousands of people and tens of thousands of animals in Kenya's remote Wajir region.

Care was provided by soldiers from the Army's 96th Civil Affairs Battalion and Navy and Marine Corps volunteers. The soldiers and volunteers provided medical care for 3,000 people over four days and veterinary care for more than 21,000 sheep, goats, camels, donkeys and cattle over five days.

OEF/OIF Vets Needed as Recruiters. The Army is looking for veterans from Operation Enduring Freedom (OFF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) to work in their hometowns in the Special Recruiter Assistance Program.

Through the program, OIF and OEF veterans will get up to 14 days of temporary duty at a recruiting station near their hometown. There, they will assist with recruiting activities, speak at college and community events and participate in interviews with local media. Approximately 300 soldiers have signed up for the special recruiting program, with some 35 veterans having already completed duty.

The Army Recruiting Command (USAREC), which administers the program, encourages enlisted soldiers age 25 or younger in stateside units, who have served overseas in support of OEF or OIF, to apply online at the USAREC web site. Interested soldiers should wait until their units return stateside before applying.

CID Seeking Applicants. U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) is currently accepting applications from soldiers at the E-6 level who are fully qualified and serving in the Military Occupational Skill 31B (Military Police) or 31E (Internment/Resettlement Specialist) to become CID special agents.

CID agents investigate all felony crimes in which the Army has an interest, provide protective services for key personnel and work closely with other federal, state and local law enforcement and intelligence agencies to solve crime and combat terrorism.

Interested soldiers should contact their closest CID office or visit CID's web site for more information at www.cid.army.mil.

New DFAS Web Address. As of March 31, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service public web site has changed from (http://www.dfas.mil) to http:// www.dod.mil/dfas. Webmasters who link to the site or pages within the site should review their links and update them accordingly.

In 2004, DFAS made 104 million pay transactions to about 5.9 million people, processed more than 12.6 million invoices from defense contractors, disbursed more than $455 billion and managed more than $226 billion in military trust funds.

Copyright Association of the United States Army Apr 2005
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