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If you listened carefully during General Petraeus' briefing, amidst all the questions regarding exactly how badly the Army is broken because of Iraq, you might have heard brief mention of this news story:
3rd ID completes re-up goal in unprecedented timeIn case that wasn't clear, I'll explain: the 3ID - the Division that took Baghdad in 2003, did a second tour in Iraq in 2005, and then bore the brunt of the surge in 2007, exceeded it's re-enlistment goal for FY2008 half way through the year.The 3rd Infantry Division, headquartered at Fort Stewart, Ga., completed its fiscal year 2008 retention goal in less than six months, which most view as a phenomenal act.
This is unprecedented according to the division’s retention sergeant major. “I’ve been in this career field for 16 years, and I’ve never known of a division to meet its goal in such a short time,” said Sgt. Maj. Kelvin Raibon, the 3rd Infantry Division Retention sergeant major.
This is the division’s third deployment to Iraq since 2003, but its high operational tempo did not stop 4,000 Soldiers from re-enlisting. Even more troops will follow their lead, and by the end of March one battalion with the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, out of Fort Benning, Ga., will have met its retention goal twice.
The 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment is four Soldiers away from retaining 200 percent of its goal.
These Soldiers are working together to defend their nation. This is why they joined and why they re-enlisted, said Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Olson, 3rd HBCT senior career counselor.
The 3rd Infantry Division, which is currently the headquarters for Multi-National Division – Center in southwest Baghdad, arrived in theater as part of the Surge. Its Soldiers are serving a 15-month deployment with the combat mission to stop insurgents from bringing bomb-making materials into Baghdad. Within the year, Soldiers have secured most areas, and have begun working closely with the Iraqi Security Forces and tribal leaders to build the economy and make life better for its citizens.
But I was just kidding when I called it a "news story" - no national news source in America would ever even consider running a story like that.
"Big Media" did cover the 3ID back when they were getting ready to deploy, though. Reporters from as far away as San Francisco were all over the story:
Some had only a few days to learn how to fire their new rifles before they deployed to Iraq -- for the third time -- last month.I think that still takes the prize as the most ignorant, self-contradicting argument ever made.
Oh, and welcome home to the 1st Brigade.
And here - from Nov, 2007, is one of the Division's re-up ceremonies in Baghdad:
And a bit of history:
