The ‘toughest job in the Army?’ post a few days back prompted a fair bit of commentary – by FOB Tacoma standards, anyway.

It led to reader K S offering a number of resources that might be helpful for military spouses, vets, and others who may be having trouble with any number of deployment-related issues. So I’m reposting K S’s list here figuring that more people might see it this way.

I know so many of you have been around the block on this stuff. Please feel free to add suggestions that you think others might find

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The Christian Science Monitor’s Scott Peterson was along with scouts from A Troop of the 2-1 Cav on a mission that uncovered an al Qaida in Iraq hideout in a remote Diyala village. They found what appeared to be an insurgent expense report:

For the month of November, the ledger notes that AQI paid snipers 273,000 Iraqi dinars ($230). Roadside bombers got twice that amount. The largest single expense: $3,000 paid to “martyrs” and their families.

The document is topped with an obscure name for the militant cell, and signed simply: “The Management.”

The fleet of Strykers getting the rubber glove treatment at Fort Lewis is, by my count, the third brigade set delivered to the Army by General Dynamics Land Systems.

3rd Brigade took the first set to Iraq in 2003, of course, and then left the trucks behind for their then-Fort Lewis comrades from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division.

Meantime, the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Alaska got the second set.

1-25 brought their “gently used” rigs back to Lewis in late 2005, where they underwent a major overhaul.

3rd Brigade, meantime, got a new set to take with them on Deployment No. 2.

Which leaves that original set still in the hands of 1-25, which has since become the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, which has since taken them back to Iraq.

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USA Today has a good interview with a company-level family readiness group leader, a young captain’s wife at Fort Bragg.

I’m glad she was willing to tell her story. The folks who do this work deserve a lot of respect.

No telling whether anything will be settled by the time Washington’s party caucuses and presidential primary roll around next month.

But if you’re a civic-minded Joe or Josephine deployed to the box – or just somewhere stateside on TDY – and you want to participate in the selection of your next commander-in-chief, there are some logistical issues to consider.

Washington Democrats are going to use the Feb. 9 caucuses to decide how they’ll allocate their convention delegates for president. The Feb. 19 primary, for the Ds, will be a beauty contest.

The Republicans are going to

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Save the dates: The Thunderbirds will headline this summer’s Air Expo at McChord Air Force Base July 19-20, base officials announced this morning.

"We’re extremely pleased to have the Thunderbirds be a part of our McChord Air Expo 2008," Maj. Doug Edwards, McChord Air Expo director, said via press release. "We plan on making this summer’s air expo an outstanding show to commemorate the history of air power and to showcase the aircraft currently engaged in the Global War on Terrorism."

A team of airmen and a couple of the trademark red, white and blue F-16s

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More boom-boom from Fort Lewis. The public affairs office says they’ll be doing the following:

&bull Day and night today: demolitions, bangalore torpedos and C4.

&bull 6 p.m. to midnight today through Thursday: approximately 40 Howitzer rounds per night.

&bull Day and night Tuesday through Friday: demolitions.

&bull Day and night Jan. 22: demolitions.

Same alibis apply as the last time we posted on this subject.

The public affairs office recorded complaint line is 253-967-0852.

Strykernews.com has a few more links to stories that ran over the weekend about Phantom Phoenix/Iron Harvest/Raider Harvest.



Some more:

The Christian Science Monitor has one datelined from Baqouba.

The Washington Times also reports from FOB Normandy (in Muqdadiyah). One nit: It’s the 38th Engineer Company, not the 38th Engineer Battalion, but the reporter is entitled to at least one mulligan after getting his bell rung in an IED strike vs the Buffalo he was riding in.

UPDATE: Times reporter Richard Tompkins writes about his encounter with the IED. (Hat

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