I was out since Wednesday, and plenty of news happened since then. Allow me, however, to promote my story of the use of burn pits at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, and elsewhere (the story also has this sidebar).

Other local links:

5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division:

Grieving a ‘very brave young man’ [The News Tribune]
Fort Lewis soldier wounded in Afghanistan can’t wait to go back [KING-TV]
Fort Lewis bids farewell to another ‘good soldier’ [The News Tribune]
Fort Lewis MP officer dies in Iraq noncombat incident [The News Tribune]
…

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Agence France-Presse has embedded with the cavalry soldiers of 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. They’re serving in Spin Boldak along the Pakistani border, and the story focuses on the soldiers setting up a meeting for local leaders.

Sounds like things are pretty quiet down there: “I feel like we are social workers with guns because, for the most part, the enemy threat is not very strong here so our main focus is go meet the population and build infrastructure,” Lt. Mike Stahlke told the wire service.

Another dispatch that ran today talks about the rough terrain. Mine Resistant …

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