I was in basic at that time. We all thought that the war would be completely over by the time we got to our units.

Me too. Ft. Lost-in-the-Woods, Misery. You?

I was in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

It was an interesting time. Arty? When we rolled into the AIT phase of OSUT we picked up a guy from Sill.

Yup, prior 13B. I was at Leonard Wood when I came back in. That is where they in process prior service who are going OCONUS to Alaska, Hawaii, or Korea.

Freshmen year in High School. Didn't even imagine I'd ever enlist. Here I am on my second tour in Afghanistan, about to reenlist!

I would've been the most badass 11 year old around, but no...I wasn't even thinking to enlist until way later haha.

I was there in 2003 i was part of 3rd id 1 64 Armor alpha company later on changed to Charlie company i was part of the third platoon that was crossed attached to Charlie Rock 3 16 it was interesting at times and thing where really over in a matter of weeks there are thing i have seen and thing i have wished i could have changed but that is all in the past. I'm here now and I'm always of for question if you like to ask.

And yes i am a veteran

That's crazy, now I know of 2 other furries from the same battalion. I joined the Desert Rogues in 2010 and deployed with Aco 1-64 ARBN to Kandahar AFG in 2012.

My Platoon Sergeant was also part of Thunder Run.

Who was you Platoon Sargent

SFC Aiello.

10 years ago tomorrow, Task Force 1–64 Armor of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade, executed a raid, later called the "Thunder Run", to test remaining Iraqi defenses. The operation began south of Baghdad and went through main roads to the newly secured airport. The force encountered no organized resistance, and appeared to have caught Iraqi forces completely off guard.

Two days later, the entire 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division was ordered to conduct another "Thunder Run", following the same route as before. This route had been fortified in the intervening period, and senior leaders feared much more substantial resistance than during the prior encounter. COL David Perkins, the brigade's commander, followed the original Thunder Run route north into Baghdad, but then veered east into the government districts instead of west towards the airport. The 2nd Brigade easily took control of what is now the "Green Zone" in one day, dramatically speeding up the end of conventional ground combat in Iraq.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baghdad_(2003)#Thunder_Runs)

Hmm, let me see. I can't remember the exact activities. I was 11 at the time so I was either at school or on spring break. The day ended with kids shows and other activities but I can remember watching the news. Personally I was surprised preparations had taken so long but at the same time I'm not. Since then I've had fun tracking enemy movements and watching, unable to really act since I was too young.

Now I'm in college trying to get a degree so I can aim for an officers position. Still have one more year before I can enlist. Then the real fun can begin.

Never thought I'd be aiming for a military style of art though. Completely flew over my head.

pcs'ed from Bliss to Wiesbaden and deployed with 1AD

I was a senior in high school when the war first started. I remember it was a hotly contested topic among everyone. Most teachers and students had strong opinions for or against it, sometimes their debates with each other would get out of hand.

A few years later I was an infantryman riding around in MRAPS and M1117 ASV's protecting convoys out of Balad, Iraq. I can still mentally follow the highways and roads we took to travel around the country. That was 4 years ago.

I was 14, though my family supported the 3rd division, marines.

I think I was in 5th grade. I know my dad deployed for that when it kicked off. Now i'm an Infantrymen who just got back from a tour in Afghanistan. Iraq ended before I enlisted.

Finishing up High School, and a year later I would find myself in Fallujah / Ramadi for my entire stint. Started contracting in 2008, and with regular trips to Afghanistan. Afghanistan went full blown deployments in 2011, and now I can't get enough of the private security sector. #GetMoneyGetPaid

Don't know how I missed this. I was in B battery 2-4 Field Artillery. It is a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) unit. We stationed our unit about 5 miles south of the Iraq border and the second they said "GO!" we launched at least 100 missiles into Iraq hitting various targets to include Baghdad International Airport and the runways of all the Iraqi Air Force bases. The news reported that it was aerial bombers that did that damage because my unit was never "officially" deployed to OIF.

This is what I drove in Iraq

Standard rocket being fired
http://www.enemyforces.net/artillery/mlrs.jpg

Long range missile being fired, this is all we shot on day 1
http://www.enemyforces.net/artillery/mlrs_2.jpg

I was finishing up my sophomore year in high school. I remember watching the news with my dad, who had just retired from the Seabees the month before, and watched for hours for the first Tomahawk missiles to bel launched. Joined the army in '06 and deployed to Afghanistan for the first time in Dec of '08, OEF 9-11. Was a Uh-60 crew chief that whole tour with A Co. 7-101.

I was 3 days into basic when we crossed the line. The platoon was gathered in the war room with our drill sergeants huddled around the speaker listening to President Bush announce to the nation and the world that US and Coalition forces had begun military operations in Iraq. This hit our drills especially hard as they had been trying to get back to their line units since 2001. When word of SFC Paul R. Smith's death fending off an attack by a company sized element of Iraqi Republican Guard forces at the Saddam International Airport our Drills were devastated. They had personally known and served with him before the war.

Our grenade and BRM budget was slashed in half and we sent off tons of munitions to the front. At week 8 of 12B OSUT guardsmen from Minnesota or Wisconsin were yanked out of our company and shipped direct to Kuwait to join their units in the field and do AIT as On The Job Training. It was surreal at the time.

In 2004 my unit was ordered into Federal Service for combat operation in Iraq. We arrived at the end of OIFII and manned checkpoints and police stations during the first free elections. On the fly we elvolved from mech into a new kind of motorized engineers trying to fill a role some where between infantry, cav scout and SWAT team. We remained in country through OIF III when we rotated home. My platoon was lucky, we only had some minor flesh wounds but the other two platoons each a couple guys home crippled from IED's. We operated out of Kirkuk and near Al-Hawijah.

Engineers eh? Still build the bridges and lay the mines... doing double time?

We can, we can, we can... Essayons.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4833502/ Spring 2004, on a shitty highway south of Kirkuk. A scene I can still see, feel, smell, and be pissed at a US Air Force EOD team over. This was the lucky one.