What’s he doing?” asked Staff Sergeant Alfonso Paniaugua. “He’s just standing there talking on the phone,” Lance Corporal Trung Cao replied. The young U.S. Marine was looking at an Iraqi wearing camo fatigue pants on a hill in ...
Jun 07, 2020
Jun 04, 2020
Eyes in the Sky: The Drones of Valkyrie Platoon
“They’re a bunch of nerds,” Staff Sergeant Christian Tobler said of his soldiers. “Lots of video games, card games, a little Warhammer action.” Tobler is a member of Valkyrie Platoon, a group of North Carolina National Guardsmen who maintain and ...
May 12, 2020
The War Against ISIS is at a Crossroads
It was a drizzly night at the end of March when members of the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (1-24) arrived in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Semi-Autonomous Kurdish region. They had driven from Mosul, where ...
Apr 19, 2020
Life and Death at K1: Inside America’s Last Days in Kirkuk
These are the nights that they hit us,” said Specialist Nathaniel Zimmerman, a young and energetic cavalry scout known affectionately as “Zim” by his fellow soldiers. “When it’s overcast and there’s not a high breeze or anything ...
Mar 21, 2020
Exclusive Report from Iraq: COVID-19 on the Battlefields
The American-led coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria suspended training operations with Iraqi security forces for at least 60 days in response to concerns about COVID-19, officials announced on Thursday. The coalition will redeploy several ...
Feb 23, 2020
In the Face of Uncertainty, US Infantry Expands Traditional Role in Iraq
Feliz Navidad! Feliz Navidad!” Specialist Hester belted out the lyrics to the Christmas song as he and fellow soldiers sat waiting for their mission to start. It was a sunny November morning as soldiers with the 1-24 Infantry ...
Feb 09, 2020
How U.S. Artillery in Iraq Regained Its Status as ‘King of Battle’
A handful of soldiers looked up at a screen showing a group of mysterious figures moving through a field. Their shapes and movement were unusual, and with the angle of the sun, they were casting very large shadows. The soldiers had ...
Jan 29, 2020
Disappointment and Defiance in Northeast Syria
I feel disappointed because we fought side-by-side with the Americans against ISIS, but when Turkey decided to attack these areas, they just left,” said Ario Syriani, a fighter with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near the ...
Jan 19, 2020
Embedded in Iraq: What Life Was Like for US Troops in Mosul Before Soleimani’s Death
This would be a really badass fighting position,” said an American soldier admiring the architecture of a heavily bombed palace in Mosul, Iraq, that once belonged to the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. “It was a fighting ...
Dec 29, 2019
Rockets and Revolution: American Troops Navigate Complicated Political Realities in Iraq
“What do we do if we run into the PMF?” asked Sergeant Corbin Mason during a briefing for a mission outside of Q-West Airbase in Iraq. The soldiers being briefed are members of the U.S. Army’s 1-25 "Arctic Wolves" out of Fort ...
Oct 28, 2019
Why al-Baghdadi’s Death is a Big Deal
Over the weekend, members of the U.S. Army Delta Force and 75th Ranger Regiment tracked down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria’s Idlib province near the Turkish border during Operation Kayla Mueller. He apparently died after detonating a ...
Oct 08, 2019
U.S. Announces Troop Withdrawal From Northern Syria, Turkey to Invade
“No friends but the mountains.” It's a Kurdish saying that dates back generations, stemming from a history peppered with empires, allies, and neighbors betraying them. Late Sunday night, apparently after a phone conversation with the Turkish ...
Sep 23, 2019
I Took a Road Trip Through Syria — And This is What I Saw
I almost ignored the explosion at first. Loud noises weren’t unusual here in Qamishli, and I’d already heard jackhammers that could have been mistaken for gunfire throughout the day. Maybe I shouldn’t ignore that one, I thought. I ...
Sep 20, 2019
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About ‘Rambo’: A Retrospective
Author's note: The following contains major spoilers of the “Rambo” franchise — but given that the last installment before today’s release of “Last Blood” came out 10 years ago, it’s on you for reading this if you don’t want to know what ...
Sep 15, 2019
From the Tundra to the Desert: Alaska’s 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division Deploys to Iraq
A gathering of soldiers waited for the bus on a cloudy and chilly late-August morning at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. As members of the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team — the Arctic Wolves — they are ...
Sep 13, 2019
Combat Controller Awarded Air Force Cross For Fight Against 350 ISIS Militants
Today the U.S. Air Force chief of staff presented the Air Force Cross to Technical Sergeant Daniel Keller, a combat controller in the Kentucky Air Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, for his actions on the battlefield in Afghanistan during the ...
Aug 18, 2019
The Schoolteacher: How an Arab Pacifist Fought ISIS in Syria
When the Syrian revolution began, Ali Kilzy was a student teacher in Manbij, Syria. He was passionate about teaching people and about the pursuit of knowledge. The Arab Spring inspired many Syrians to take to the streets and demand that Syrian ...
Aug 05, 2019
ISIS Operates in the No-Man’s Land Between Kurdish and Iraqi Forces
“Even right now they are burning the fields,” said General Zirean Shex Wesahni as he points to several burning fields in the distance. “Most of them belong to Kurds, but there may be some that belong to Arabs, too. From here, it’s hard to be ...
May 31, 2019
How Robots and Drones Might Be Used in Future Wars
The U.S. Army loves robots and wants its soldiers to love them, too. The U.S. Army Joint Modernization Command recently conducted its annual Joint Warfighting Assessment in the Pacific Northwest, with most of the testing at the Yakima Training ...
May 28, 2019
The U.S. and Allies Train for Futuristic War Against China
“In great power competition today, we all know that there are two great powers in addition to the United States,” said Brigadier General Johnny Davis, commander of U.S. Army Joint Modernization Command, as he addressed reporters at the Yakima ...
May 17, 2019
Did Air Force Weathermen Just Get More Hardcore?
“Weather guy” doesn’t sound like a particularly badass job on first inspection. For those unfamiliar with the U.S. Air Force’s Special Operations Weather Teams, it may not sound like the sort of thing that takes much courage or daring. But ...
May 08, 2019
PFC Charley Havlat: The Last American Combat Death of World War II in Europe
Adolf Hitler killed himself on April 30, 1945, but his death didn’t bring an end to the fighting of World War II or the work that had to be done. While many German units were standing down, Allied troops fought German holdouts right up until ...
May 05, 2019
Battle of Puebla: The (True) Story Behind Cinco de Mayo
Most Americans recognize Cinco de Mayo by drinking margaritas and eating tacos. Today, it’s a celebration of Mexican culture — and it’s a much bigger deal in America than in Mexico. Though many Americans mistake Cinco de Mayo for Mexico’s ...
Apr 13, 2019
If ‘Game of Thrones’ Characters Were U.S. Military Members
Editor's note: This post contains spoilers. The final season of “Game of Thrones” is upon us. The fantasy epic has become an international phenomenon that some have praised for its complex characters as well as its surprisingly nuanced look at ...
Feb 25, 2019
The Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club is Not Your Average MC
This is a place that we are welcomed on a daily basis,” said Chris “Slyde” Harrison, president of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club’s Seattle-Tacoma chapter. It’s a smoky room in the Thunderbird Lounge on the Puyallup Indian ...