Articles 8.6.2005

The Colorado Springs Gazette and the Ft. Collins Coloradan report on the alleged murder-suicide of a 2nd BCT Soldier and his wife in Ft. Collins two days ago. The article explores some of the motives that may have led Pfc. Stephen Sherwood to kill his wife, Sara, and himself while their 15-month-old daughter was at a neighbors house. Family and friends are quoted as saying the main motives are the stresses from Iraq and an alleged affair.
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One separate quote from the Gazette article: "Tanaka said of 2,700 soldiers screened at [Ft. Carson] for mental health, family and alcohol problems, 80 have been deemed to be high risk."
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The Western Nevada County Union, CA and Sacramento Bee report on the death of a 1/5 Marine in Ramadi. Lance Cpl. Adam J. Strain was killed on 8.3.2005 from small arms fire. He was engaged to be married, and would have turned 21 later this month. Lance Cpl. Strain is the 13th Marine of the 1/5 Marines killed during this present tour in Iraq, and the first serviceman killed in Ramadi since the 2nd BCT turned over command. Our hearts go out to his family.
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The Associated Press follows up on a previous article on a controversy over the name of the conflict to include in a memorial for Pfc. Mark Barbret, of the 44th Eng, who was killed in Ramadi on 10.14.2004. The memorial will simple say "Iraq." A dedication ceremony is scheduled for 10.14.2005.
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The Colorado Springs Gazette (via MSNBC) has an article on 2nd BCT Commander Col. Gary Patton after his arrival at Ft. carson. He describes his impressions of returning home and pride in his brigade. One quote: "The brigade killed or captured 2,100 insurgents. Along with thousands of mortar and artillery shells, the brigade seized 300,000 rounds of ammunition in searches and raids."
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The St. George Spectrum, UT has an article on Lt. Col. Justin Gubler, commander of the 1-503rd, who visited family in the area on leave. Some quotes:
- ""We literally fought street to street and house to house for October, November and half of December," he said. "Fighting in a city is very intense. ... It's a much more intense battlefield." Gubler said cities provide more hiding places and firing places, creating a more dangerous situation than in the rural countryside. His battalion shared Ar Ramadi with a battalion of Marines and the two finally were able to drive many of the enemy fighters from the city by mid-December. They went from about 10 fire-fights per day to only one or two. The number of fire-fights decreased even more after the Iraqi elections, Gubler said."
- "Gubler described the city as a ghost town when he arrived because of the enemy presence. But when he left, schools were open for both boys and girls, shops stayed open until 10 p.m., freight trucks were moving goods and many of the utilities had been repaired."
- "Gubler said there are three main groups opposing coalition and Iraqi security forces. The first group comprises terrorists, which are usually fundamentalist Muslims, many of whom are only interested in fighting Americans. They recruit globally and have made Iraq a focus of a global jihad, he said. The second group is local to Iraq and often referred to as resistance fighters. Gubler said they are fighting just because foreigners invaded their country, meaning that they are not interested in destroying Iraq or killing Iraqis like the terrorists. Because of this, coalition forces sometimes are able to negotiate with them, he said. The third group is the criminal element, which may act as a support group for the other two groups depending on how much money they will make. Gubler said this group is similar to organized crime in the United States, committing kidnappings and murders for money."
- "Though mentions of the "insurgency" in Iraq often bring connotations of Vietnam, Gubler said the variety of enemies is the big difference between Iraq and Vietnam. With Vietnam, there was a single enemy and a single ideology, in Iraq there are many. "Iraq is not Vietnam," he said. "Actually it's not like anything we've experienced as a military since the Philippines at the turn of the century in the Spanish American War." During that war, the United States eliminated the Spanish government in the Philippines and installed a Filipino government friendly to the United States. Gubler said that is what the United States is trying to do in Iraq: Install a peaceful government that will not sponsor terrorism. "That's a very difficult task," he said. "The Iraqis will figure out what democracy means to them.""
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The Pueblo Chieftain reports that another 100 2nd BCT soldiers will be housed at Colorado State University-Pueblo until Aug 13, following the 300 soldiers who stayed their earlier this month.
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A Department of Defense news article explores the use of Virtual Family Readiness Groups (vFRGs). The 2nd BCT Desert Strike FRG site was the first, and seems to be considered a pilot study. More improvements are described in the articles.