DoDLive | Tag Archive

34-Year-Old Paratrooper, New U.S. Citizen, to Reprise Role as Boxing Champ

Filed under DoD News by glenn.selby on December 9, 2009 at 9:26 am {no comments}

Spc. Wenderson Jangada, an infantryman with 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), mans a M240B machine gun in a guard tower at Forward Operating Base Ubaydi, Iraq, Dec. 5, 2009. A former Brazilian heavyweight champion boxer who became a U.S. citizen just prior to deploying with the 82nd Airborne, Jangada plans to return to professional boxing when his enlistment expires in 2010. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. MacLeod)

To view a story about Spc. Wenderson Jangada, click here.

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable: Program Aims to Improve Women’s Lives

Filed under Bloggers Roundtable by on November 30, 2009 at 8:48 pm {no comments}

On Nov. 25, we conducted a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Army Maj. Elba D’asaro, Multinational Forces-Iraq Chief of Women’s Initiatives Program. As Iraq rebuilds its economy, many Iraqi women are looking to be recognized as working equals, according to a U.S. military officer posted in Iraq.

“As far as a glass ceiling, that idea is very much a Western process. That doesn’t exist here yet due to the cultural differences of Iraq and their religion,” D’asaro told bloggers during the discussion.

To hear the complete interview, click here.

To read the related story, visit Defense.gov.

Iraqi Police Make Strides Toward Independence

Filed under Bloggers Roundtable by Administrator on November 16, 2009 at 3:28 pm {2 comments}

As the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq advances, efforts to help Iraqi police build their own independent force have made tremendous progress. During a Nov. 13 DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable, Brig. Gen. Michael Smith, Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission-Police explained how the force is structured at federal and provincial levels and described their recent achievements.

These include graduating the first class of 50 Iraqi policewomen – bringing the total number of federal officers to more than 40,000. There are now some 300,000 Iraqi police throughout the nation. That number includes Kurdish areas and Smith says Kurdish and Baghdad based ministries overseeing police are working well together. Smith also said that there is a unity in federal police ranks that dissipates old tensions between people of Shia and Sunni ethnic heritages. He added that his assistance team is currently training Iraqi police in the collection of forensic evidence at crime scenes and in analytic techniques including the use of DNA.

To read the related article, click here.

To listen to the interview, click here.

To read a transcript from this interview, click here.

Officials Push For Iraq Election Law

Filed under DoD News by Administrator on October 27, 2009 at 1:16 pm {no comments}

American and UN officials are urging the Iraqi parliament to come to a decision on legislation that will allow Iraq to hold national elections in January.

The U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill and Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Commander of Multinational Force-Iraq, issued a joint statement stressing the importance of the Iraqi Counsel of Representatives coming to a consensus on an election law, according to the American Forces Press Service.

Many leaders in Iraq would like a review of the country’s electoral commission, but with the election three months away Hill and Odierno feel the review should wait until after the election since it is such a critical period for the country.

To listen to the AFN report on this story click here.

(Courtesy of American Forces Network)

A Soldier’s Daily Grind

Filed under DoD News by Ian Graham on October 26, 2009 at 5:34 pm {one comment}

soldier_shredding

U.S. Army Sgt. Gregory Opoien ollies (jumps) onto a funbox in a parking lot on Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq, Oct. 13, 2009. Opoien is an information assurance officer assigned to the 34th Infantry Division.
U.S. Army Photo by Pfc. J. Princeville Lawrence