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Archive: January, 2017

An M30A1 explodes on target vehicles configured into a convoy at Udairi Training Range in Kuwait, recently. The munitions are being used to replace “cluster bomb” munitions with tungsten steel pellets to target soft vehicles and enemy personnel without leaving potential unexploded ordinance on the battlefield. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon Hubbard, USARCENT Public Affairs)

Jan. 17, 2017

New munitions replace cluster bombs on Central Command battlefield

UDAIRI RANGE, KUWAIT — A new artillery warhead is retiring an outdated cluster-bomb round on the battlefields for U.S. Army Central in the Middle East and Southwestern Asia.

Spc. Erik Salmon, 26, an intelligence analyst assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, poses for a photograph while deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, at Camp Swift, Jan. 8, 2017. Salmon assisted in the recovery of an isolated Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) soldier while working as a member of a U.S. and Iraqi advise and assist operations cell. U.S. Soldiers, alongside international coalition partners, are supporting the Government of Iraq and the ISF as they wage war against the terrorist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Ireka R. Sanders)

Jan. 17, 2017

101st Soldier, Coalition extract Iraqi teammate from enemy lines

CAMP SWIFT, IRAQ — Before he enlisted, Spc. Erik Salmon was a traveler fond of seeing new places and experiencing different cultures. When the 26-year-old intelligence analyst deployed to Iraq in May, 2016, with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), he found himself trapped in tiny Camp Swift behind dirt barriers, concrete walls and concertina wire.

161205-N-TO519-023 MEDITERRANEAN SEA (Dec. 5, 2016) An AV-8B Harrier, from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), takes off from the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1). The 22nd MEU, embarked on Wasp, is conducting precision air strikes in support of the Libyan Government aligned forces against Daesh targets in Sirte, Libya, as part of Operation Odyssey Lightning. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathan Wilkes/Released)

Jan. 13, 2017

DoD Officials Hail Iraqi Forces’ Progress in Eastern Mosul

WASHINGTON — Iraqi forces reached the Nineveh governorate and counsel buildings in eastern Mosul and raised the Iraqi flag there, according to Elissa Slotkin, the acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.

Pfc. Nessy Sanders, stands next to the vehicle she drove in Iraq during Operation Inherent Resolve. In August 2016, Sanders became the first female to deploy to Erbil, Iraq as a Combat Engineer since the Military Occupational Specialty 12B was opened to women in June 2015. Sanders is assigned to Company B, 39th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. A Combat Engineers duties include constructing fighting positions, fixed and floating bridges, obstacles and defensive positions and emplacing and detonationg explosives. Sanders is from Columbus, Mississippi. Her mother also served in the Army in the mid-1980s. Erbil, Iraq is home to one of four Combined Joint Task Force locations under Operation Inherent Reslove dedicated to training Iraqi defense forces to assist in the defeat of ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

Jan. 12, 2017

Soldier completes historic combat tour

ERBIL, IRAQ — When Pfc. Neesy Sanders joined the Army she was given three choices of military occupational specialties: 56M, Chaplain’s Assistant, 92G, Food Service Specialist and 12B, Combat Engineer, which was opened to women in June 2015.

An Iraqi security forces soldier fires his M16A2 as a Portuguese trainer observes during training at Besmaya Range Complex, Iraq, Jan. 06, 2017. This training is part of the overall Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve building partner capacity mission to aid partnered forces fighting ISIL. CJTF-OIR is the global Coalition to defeat ISIL in Iraq and Syria. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Joshua Wooten)

Jan. 10, 2017

Counter-ISIL Forces Moving to Liberate Mosul, Raqqa

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department believes the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s days are numbered in Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said here today.

Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, commanding general, Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command – Operation Inherent Resolve, cuts the Iraqi Armed Forces Day cake with Maj. Gen. Ahmed Abid Al-Nak Said, director, Combined Joint Operation Center – Baghdad, during a celebration Jan. 6, on Union III, Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi Armed Forces Day commemorates the activation of the Iraqi Army on Jan. 6, 1921. (Photo by U.S. Army Spc. Derrik Tribbey)

Jan. 9, 2017

Coalition celebrates Iraqi Armed Forces Day

BAGHDAD, IRAQ — “We are proud of our history,” said Brig. Gen. Akram Abid Al-Latef, the air defense commander with the Iraqi army. “This is wonderful and a great opportunity.”

Jan. 6, 2017

II MEF Marines slated to deploy to Helmand Province Spring 2017

At the request of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A), approximately 300 Marines will deploy to Helmand Province Afghanistan in Spring 2017 in support of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission. The last II MEF Marines to deploy to Helmand Province, Afghanistan returned in 2014.

Lt. Gen. Muhammad Waziri, left, 201st Afghan National Army Corps commander, and Train Advise Assist Command-East Command Sgt. Maj. Bryan Barker discuss collective training during an expeditionary advisory package mission in Sarobi district, Afghanistan, Dec. 27, 2016. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Grace Geiger)

Jan. 6, 2017

This time it's different

SAROBI DISTRICT, Afghanistan — Radio chatter calling distance and direction crackles loudly through a handheld speaker. Afghan and U.S. forces perched on a dusty mountainside watch an element maneuver through the barren valley toward their objective Dec. 27, 2016.

Staff Sgt. Larry Runk, 407th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron crew chief, walks away from an F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron after marshaling it for take off at the 407th Air Expeditionary Group, Dec. 29, 2016. Combat missions flown by the fighter squadron have degraded military capabilities of Daesh, also known as the Islamic State, by denying the group safe haven in the region. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Benjamin Wilson)(Released)

Jan. 5, 2017

DoD Spokesman: U.S. Airstrikes Weaken Al-Qaida, ISIL Terrorists

WASHINGTON — A series of precision U.S. airstrikes against al-Qaida operatives this week in northwestern Syria’s Idlib province killed more than 20 militants and destroyed eight vehicles and nine structures, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said.

An Iraqi air force C-130J Super Hercules takes off from Qayyarah West Airfield, Iraq, after offloading troops Nov. 17, 2016. The airfield was recaptured from Da'esh by Iraqi forces in July 2016, and has been refurbished by Coalition engineers to allow recommencement of air operations. is now a vital logistical hub, opening an air corridor in support of the battle to liberate Mosul as well as operations throughout northern Iraq. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Charles Rivezzo)

Jan. 5, 2017

Iraqi air force drops letters on Mosul

MACDILL AFB, Fla — On Oct 17, 2016, the day the operation to liberate Mosul began, The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), an international not-for-profit organization that works with media and civil society activists to promote positive change in conflict zones and areas of turmoil around the world, launched a digital campaign tagged #LettersToMosul.