Commander's Comments (Mar 05)

I greet you again from Camp Habbaniyah, Iraq. Along with the warmer weather we have also experienced an increase in our operations tempo.

In addition to defeating the insurgency, we have begun full scale training of Iraqi Security Forces. I am delighted to report the immense strides we have taken in training the Iraqi Army to assume defense of their country. At the end of February, the 9th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, Iraqi Army came to Camp Habbaniyah with a complement of Navy, Marine, and Army trainers. We quickly began an initial assessment of their capabilities, and then began to train them on basic tactical fundamentals. By the second week in March, selected squads from the Iraqi Army were serving hand in hand alongside Currahee counterparts during day to day and Task Force Level missions. The progress is good and will only get better.

During the first week of March, we said farewell to Major Rob Cunniff and welcomed Major Ed Taylor as the new operations officer. Major Cunniff is now serving as the Brigade LNO to Fort Carson to assist in our deployment home. Major Taylor came to us from the Brigade Staff and quickly assumed the helm of our S-3 section, keeping the ball rolling smoothly as we continue our mission to bring stability and democracy to Iraq.

The coming months promise to be as fast paced as the previous seven. We are in the initial stages of planning our deployment to Fort Carson, and look forward to seeing these plans formalize. While the anticipation of returning to the States is high, our focus and resolve remains steady to complete our mission in service to our nation and to the people of Iraq. As always, we continue to covet your prayers and thank you for outstanding and unwavering support to the soldiers of Task Force 1-506th. "Currahee"!