Lt. Col. Alfredo Mycue (left) features as a prominent character in an expansive article about Iraq in Der Spiegel, the German news magazine. Mycue commands the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment Strykers out of Fort Lewis. While Der Spiegel’s Ullrich Fichtner found promising conditions in some places, such as Ramadi, he calls the south Baghdad district that Mycue and his men patrol “The Hell Zone.”Photo: Tina Hager/DER SPIEGEL/Agentur Focus

There’s a lot to chew on in Ullrich Fichtner’s long

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While the Department of Defense hasn’t yet put out the names of the 14 soldiers who were killed in Wednesday’s crash, several of the families have come forward to say their soldier was among the dead.

The Fresno Bee reports that one of those killed was Pfc. Nathan Hubbard of Clovis, Calif., who joined the Army with his brother Jason in 2005 after their brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Hubbard, was killed in Ramadi in 2004.

Meantime folks around Fort Lewis are waiting for word as to the identities of the four UH-60 crew

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For a glimpse into how I Corps’ training might go as they prepare for their likely deployment to Iraq in early 2009, take a look at how the XVIII Airborne Corps has been preparing to do the same mission early next year.

The two-star director of joint training at the Joint Forces Command and the XVIII Airborne Corps’ one-star deputy commander for operations briefed Pentagon reporters today.

A couple interesting take-aways: The corps will likely be running training exercises for the division headquarters that will be headed to Iraq next year. And it looks like Fort

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Here’s another good piece from the Los Angeles Times’ Alexandra Zavis, with an on-the-ground look at what the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment is contending with in Dora, in the heart of Baghdad.

The headline says it all: “Iraq’s ‘Alamo’ simmers.”

Looking back on the past 15 months, the 2-3 and the rest of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division Strykers have been up to their armpits in some of the toughest places in Iraq: Ghaziliyah, Dora, Haifa Street, Sadr City, Baqouba.

Looking north from the road that runs atop the Mosul Dam, you get a sense for how much water it’s holding back. If engineers’ worst fears are realized, all that water …

… would wind up down here, on the down-river side of the dam, and then on to Mosul.

It seems like

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On at least two occasions now PLU French prof Mark Jensen has taken me to task on the United for Peace Pierce County web site for his view that I have failed to adequately cover Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby’s report on detainee operations in Afghanistan. Bottom line up front: Reasonable people can disagree about what should be covered in a news story, but Jacoby’s report doesn’t say what Jensen says it does.

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The 62nd Medical Brigade from Fort Lewis — their motto: “Proud and steadfast!” — have taken over responsibility for command and control of the medical mission in Iraq. They completed the transfer with the 3rd Medical Command in a ceremony last week at the Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory.

The brigade left Lewis in July for its third Iraq deployment, 15 months this time.

The brigade said in a press release it’s now responsible for more than 3,500 soldiers, sailors and airmen providing care across Iraq to U.S., coalition and Iraqi forces and civilians.

Military Reporters and Editors — “the official association of military journalists” — is out with its annual awards.

The top prize, the 2007 Galloway Award, went to ESPN.com for its investigation of the fratricide of Pat Tillman and the Army coverup that followed.

The competition was judged by faculty members at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Follow the link to read the other award winners.