DOD
A Marine assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, died due to enemy action in Iraq's Anbar province today, according to U.S. officials in Baghdad.
The name of the deceased is being withheld until the Marine's family is
notified.
DoD officials have released the identities of several soldiers killed
in Iraq.
- Army Staff Sgt. Michael A. Dickinson II, 26, of Battle Creek, Mich.,
died July 17 in Ramadi when his dismounted patrol encountered enemy
small-arms fire. Dickinson was assigned to 9th Psychological Operations
Battalion, 4th Psychological Operations Group, U.S. Army Special
Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.
- Army Cpl. Kenneth I. Pugh, 39, of Houston, died July 17 in Baghdad of
injuries suffered when his M1A2 Abrams tank encountered enemy
small-arms fire. Pugh was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 4th
Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
- Army Sgt. 1st Class Scott R. Smith, 34, of Punxsutawney, Pa., died
July 17 in Iskandariyah of injuries suffered when an improvised explosive
device detonated during a controlled ordnance-clearing mission. Smith
was assigned to the 737th Explosive Ordnance Detachment, 52nd Ordnance
Group, Fort Belvoir, Va.
- Army Spc. Manuel J. Holguin, 21, of Woodlake, Calif., died July 15 in
Baghdad of injuries suffered when his dismounted patrol encountered
enemy small-arms fire and an IED. Holguin was assigned to 2nd Battalion,
6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder,
Germany.
DoD Announces Selection of Enlisted Advisor for Reserve Affairs
The Department of Defense announced today that Marine Corps
Reserve Sergeant Major Joseph A. Staudt has been selected to serve as
the next senior enlisted advisor to the assistant secretary of defense for
reserve affairs (ASD-RA).
Staudt succeeds Army Reserve Command Sergeant Major
Lawrence W.Holland becoming the department's eighth reserve affairs senior
enlisted advisor. Holland will retire in November.
Staudt will be the first Marine senior enlisted to hold
this position, and will serve as the principal enlisted advisor to the
assistant secretary of defense for all seven branches of the military's reserve
components.
"I'm delighted to welcome Sergeant Major Staudt aboard, and
I'm sure he will excel in looking after the welfare of the over 927,000
enlisted members of the total force ready reserve, in the same manner in which
he's looked out for Marines his entire career," said Thomas F. Hall, the
ASD-RA.
Staudt, who recently served in Iraq, is presently assigned
as the headquarters Marine Corps reserve affairs Sergeant Major at Quantico,
Va. He enlisted in 1977 and has served in both the active and reserve
components of the Marine Corps. He also has a civilian experience in masonry and
construction and has owned and operated his own business. His military
awards include the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine
Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal,
Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.
The OASD-RA is the principal staff assistance office
providing advice to the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness
and to the secretary and deputy secretary of defense for reserve component
matters in the Department of Defense.
The USS Nashville has joined the fleet of ships evacuating U.S. citizens from Lebanon, defense officials said today.
The Nashville, a dock landing ship, arrived in the joint operating area
off Beirut yesterday, and landing craft began ferrying refugees from
Beirut to the ship. The ship will deliver the citizens to safe haven in
Cyprus--about eight hours away by ship--later today, officials said.
DoD officials expect the ship to carry 1,200 evacuees. State Department
officials said the operation will continue until all Americans who wish
to leave the country have done so. State Department and Defense
personnel have evacuated more than 1,600 American citizens from Lebanon since
the operation began July 16.
Ships and aircraft transported 1,200 citizens out of Lebanon to Cyprus
yesterday. Of these, 161 "special needs" Americans left via choppers,
and 1,066 sailed on the Orient Queen. DoD chartered the Greek-owned
vessel for the operation.
In addition to the USS Nashville, the Saudi-owned, Panamanian-flagged
Rahmah, with a capacity of 1,400 passengers, arrived in the region and
will begin ferrying U.S. citizens to Cyprus tomorrow. The Italian ship
Vittoria, with a capacity of around 330 passengers, also will begin
operations in the next few days.
DoD officials said five more U.S. Navy ships will arrive at the scene
in the next few days. The USS Iwo Jima will join the operation July 22.
Officials expect to move around 4,000 evacuees tomorrow.
Some 300 to 500 Americans are caught in fighting between the terrorist
group Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon, DoD officials said.
Hezbollah continues to fire missiles into northern Israel, and Israelis
are replying with artillery and air strikes.
"Things are, in fact, quite volatile out of southern Lebanon right now.
We do have several groups of people ... that have congregated and are
ready to move," Mara Harty, assistant secretary of state for consular
affairs, said yesterday. "We would like to be able to move them through
the country, up north, and put them on ships and get them out of harm's
way.
"The decision was taken, given conditions on the ground, that they
would not yet move, so they are in a holding pattern until such time as we
think it is appropriate and safe and prudent to move them forward."
Harty and DoD officials stressed that any evacuation must be done in a
safe and orderly manner. Once all U.S. Navy ships to participate in the
operation are on scene, officials will have the capacity to evacuate at
least 6,000 U.S. citizens per day. The last Navy ship will arrive July
23.
Iraqi and coalition security forces will redouble efforts to stem a recent spate of bombings, murders and kidnappings conducted in and around Baghdad, a senior U.S. military officer
said today.
"We will do whatever it takes to bring down the level of violence in
Baghdad," Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV told reporters during a
Baghdad news briefing.
Caldwell, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, quoted from a joint
statement issued yesterday by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad
and Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force
Iraq, addressing the recent violence in Baghdad and its surrounding
environs: "'We condemn in the strongest possible language the recent attacks
by terrorists and death squads against innocent Iraqi civilians in Kufa
and Mahmudiyah,'" Caldwell read.
He quoted the two leaders as saying coalition officials will work with
the Iraqi government and security forces "to treat the death squads as
the same critical threat to Iraqi security as the terrorists who target
Iraqi civilians," Caldwell continued.
Iraqi and coalition officials recognize that Baghdad is at the
epicenter of insurgent efforts to destabilize the country, Caldwell said.
"Clearly, the death squad elements, the terrorist elements know that
Baghdad is a must-win for them," Caldwell said.
Iraqi security forces deployed across Baghdad have hampered the
movements of terrorists and other criminal elements and foiled a number of
kidnap attempts, Caldwell said.
The Iraqi government and coalition advisers are reviewing and making
adjustments to Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's month-old security plan
for Baghdad, Caldwell said. About 51,000 Iraq soldiers, police and U.S.
troops are involved in this effort, he said.
The plan is intended to reduce murders, kidnappings and assassinations
within the city, he said, noting the plan will be implemented over
several months.
He said terrorists will try to stop the mission from succeeding. "If it
means targeting innocent Iraqi civilians, conducting sensational
attacks against them, that's exactly what they will do," Caldwell said.
