Operation Iraqi Freedom II Photo Cutlines
Sgt. Jeffery Boehm (r), of Dover, Ark., Spc. William Sewell (m), of Paris, Ark., and Spc. Larry Robinson, of Magazine, Ark., take a minute to look over the mass number of weapons they pulled out of an underground tank during a raid on 23 homes in Taji Village just north of Baghdad on Oct. 5, 2004. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office)
Lt. Col. Allen Hargis, of Hot Springs Village, presents a slow, respectful salute to each individual display representing the four Fallen Soldiers under his command who died from an April 24, 2004 Rocket attack on Camp Cooke in Taji, Iraq. The event was a painful moment for Hargis, who was only a few meters from the blast that took the lives of his Soldiers. Hargis served as the commander of the Hazen based 39th Support Battalion of the 39th Brigade Combat Team. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
Sgt. Tony Dunlap, of Monticello, Ark., hands an AK 47 out to an Iraqi National Guard Soldier on Oct. 5, 2004. Dunlap found the weapon in the closet of a home during a search of buildings on the banks of the Tigris River. While one AK 47 per household is authorized by Iraqi law, the possession of multiple weapons is a criminal offense. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
(L to R) Capt. John Vanlandingham, of New Blaine, Ark., Staff Sgt. Shawn Buffalo, of Jacksonville, Ark., 1st Lt. Mark Bourgery, of Cranston, RI, and an Iraqi National Guard Captain wait for the word to move forward from Maj. Christian Neary, of Cumberland, RI (on radio in back). The leaders were at the starting line of an operation to cordon and search 23 homes and buildings in Taji Village along the banks of the Tigris River on Oct. 5, 2004. (Photo by 1LT Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Public Affairs Office)
Staff Sgt. Thomas Young, 29, of Cabot, Ark., and Sgt. Bret Parker, 25, of Osceola, Ark., stand back to back as they stand guard while on a security mission for a mission information team in downtown Baghdad on May 26, 2004. The two are currently serving in the 3rd Battalion 153rd Infantry with Arkansas’ Brigade Combat Team on a yearlong deployment. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Rebekah-mae N. Bruns, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office)
Soldiers of the 39th Brigade Combat Team's E Troop, 151st Cavalry Regiment, respond to small arms fire during an operation northeast of Baghdad on April 23, 2004. Responsible for establishing the outer cordon during this particular operation, the firefight was ended quickly without injury and the mission continued with great success. (Photo by Spc. Benjamin Cossel, 122nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
A young Iraqi child offers a peaceful gesture as a Soldier with the 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry pulls security in the area on election day, Jan. 30, 2005. The Soldiers were performing security assessments of election polling sites in their area of operations. The vote was one of the first steps for the Iraqis to elect a national assembly charged with writing the new Iraqi constitution. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
1st Lt. Marcel Robicheaux, of Hot Springs, Ark., calls in a situation report during a firefight in the Adhamiyan district of Baghdad on election day in Iraq, Jan. 30, 2005. Along with electing a national assembly, the vote was also an opportunity to elect council members to represent each of the 18 provinces in Iraq. Robicheaux served as a platoon leader with Arkansas's 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment of the 39th Brigade Combat Team. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
1st Lt. Michael McCarty, of Bono, Ark., reloads a .50 caliber sniper rifle during an engagement on Jan. 30, 2005, which resulted in the death of one insurgent, armed with a PKC machine gun. McCarty, a platoon leader in the 39th Brigade Combat Team's 3rd Battalion, earned the Silver Star during the Operation Iraqi Freedom II deployment.(Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
Sgt. Kim Brasfield, of Dumas, Ark., directs the movement of traffic to help clear up problems created by the long lines for fuel on Dec. 22, 2004. As the temperatures in Iraq dropped, the tempers of the Iraqis heated up, as the supply of kerosene, propane, and benzene are unable to keep up with demand with corruption being first in line to fuel the black market. Brasfield served as a member of the Arkansas National Guard's Company A, 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment of the 39th Brigade Combat Team. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office)
Three Soldiers with the 39th Brigade Combat Team air up soccer balls for distribution to Iraqi children in Husseiniya, Iraq, during Operation Jared Reach in December 2004. The brigade participated in the Operation to deliver a 5-ton truck full of soccer balls, clothing and equipment to some of the more needy children in Iraq. The Operation was born in the heart of Jared Jolton, a ten year old boy from Colorado, who sparked the drive to donate used equipment and ship it overseas. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office)
Sgt. Edward Thompson, of Conway, Ark., greets an Iraqi National Guard (ING) captain at the ING headquarters prior to heading out on an operation on Oct. 27, 2004. Thompson served with a company of the 39th Brigade Combat Team's 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery, which was charged with training the new Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom II. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office)
Staff Sgt. Shawn Buffalo, an Advisor Support Trainer for the 307th Battalion of the Iraqi National Guard, leads the way to the rally point following a joint operation with American, Iraqi and Macedonian Forces in October 2004. Buffalo, a Jacksonville, Ark. resident who served with the 39th Support Battalion of the 39th Brigade Combat Team, participated in the operation to seek out those responsible for the deaths of two 39th Brigade Soldiers the day prior. Both Soldiers had given their own lives trying to save another’s. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office)
Col. Jim Orsini, with the Arkansas National Guard's 39th Brigade Combat Team, blows bubbles for some Iraqi children during a visit to an all girl orphanage in September 2004. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Rebecca-mae Bruns, 39th Brigade Public Affairs)
Spec. Clayton Hill, 20, of Ravenden, Ark., pulls street side security in a line of Soldiers in downtown Baghdad on May 25, 2005. Hill served with the 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry, of the 39th Brigade Combat Team during Operation Iraqi Freedom II. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Rebekah-mae N. Bruns, 39th Brigade Public Affairs Office)
Sgt. Alexander Moya, a Fort Smith resident who served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery of the 39th Brigade Combat Team during Operation Iraqi Freedom II, mans the turret of his vehicle while on a convoy escort mission to the Green Zone in Baghdad in May of 2005. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
Soldiers with the 39th Brigade Combat Team's 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery Regiment, headquartered in Russelllville, move through the streets of Taji in a wedge formation on Oct. 27, 2004. The troops were conducting a cordon and search operation with members of the New Iraqi Army. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
Staff Sgt. Darren Pool, of Russellville, Ark., hands a 155 mm mortar to Sgt. 1st Class William Ridenhour, also of Russellville. The find, on Oct. 27, 2004, was just one of many made by the 39th Brigade Combat Team's 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery Regiment. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
A Soldier with the 39th Brigade Combat Team's Company B, 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, returns a legal AK 47 to an Iraqi civilian during a cordon and knock operation on Dec. 1, 2004. The Soldiers went door to door in the operation to search homes for illegal weapons. An Iraqi family was authorized one AK 47 in their home for protection in the war torn nation. The 39th Brigade confiscated and destroyed countless weapons, ammunition and explosives during its Operation Iraqi Freedom II deployment. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
Staff Sgt. Tony Cooper, of Russellville, Ark., drops his hand to call for fire as Spc. Christopher Anderson, of Dover, Ark. pulls the lanyard in response to the fire mission on Sep. 29, 2004. The Soldiers were serving with the 39th Brigade Combat Team's 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery Regiment in Taji, Iraq, just north of Baghdad, during Operation Iraqi Freedom II. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
Staff Sgt. Shawn Buffalo, of Jacksonville, Ark., holds up a grenade while questioning a detainee about where it and several others cam from. The grenades were only a small portion of weapons discovered in the village along the Tigris River that day. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
Soldiers with the 39th Brigade Combat Team's 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery Regiment, headquartered in Russellville, prepare for a fire mission on Sep. 29, 2004 in Taji, Iraq. The battalion maintained a gun line of 105 mm howitzers during the mobilization in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott, 39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer)
1LT Robin Lowery, with Charlie Company (Medical) 39th Support Battalion, Takes the time to visit with children at an all-girl orphanage near Taji, Iraq, October 18, 2004. Lowery had joined other members of the Brigade on a civil affairs mission to deliver backpacks, dental supplies, flip flops, toys and other items to the kids. “What we might consider insignificant, like soap from a hotel, is priceless to them” said Lowery.