Stop back often! We are constantly adding pictures, video, and audio clips,
news stories,
and links related to Task Force Patriot and the End of Combat Operations in
Iraq.
Author
Pat Proctor at the 1st Division Museum 11 February 2012
In December 2011, Pat Proctor appeared at the
1st
Division Museum at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois to talk about his
book, Task Force Patriot and the End
of Combat Operations in Iraq. This hour-long presentation with
30-minute question-and-answer session has been broken into shorter
videos. Click the links above to watch the video
Saving
Iraqi Civilians 20 August
2011
This news story and the associated photos, produced by the Dragon Brigade public
affairs team, describes the efforts of Task Force Patriot soldiers to
save lives in the aftermath of the suicide bombing that killed Lt.Col.
Ahmed Subhi al Fahal, a key figure in Task Force Patriot and the End
of Combat Operations in Iraq.
Honoring
Our Fallen 20 August
2011
This news story and the associated photos, produced by the Dragon Brigade public
affairs team, detail an NCO induction ceremony conducted by Task Force
Patriot at COB Speicher, Iraq in December 2009. During the ceremony,
fallen Proud American, Cpl. Tony Carrasco was honored.
Proud
Americans Fire Artillery at COB Speicher Iraq 20 August
2011
This news story and the associated photos, produced by the Dragon Brigade public
affairs team, detail artillery training conducted in May 2010 by Task
Force Patriot in preparation for its redeployment to the United States.
Interview
with Pat Proctor from December 2009 20 August
2011
In this video, taken by the Dragon Brigade public
affairs team, Task Force Patriot authorPat Proctor talks about being deployed during the holidays, how
his family copes with it, and how technology helps them to be together.
Author Pat Proctor
and Sheikh Sabah discuss security 11 May 2010 31 July 2011
Pat Proctor, the author of Task Force Patriot,
discusses security with Sheikh Sabah Muntasir Diab al Shimiri, one of
the main characters in Task Force Patriot. This film was
taken at Sheikh Sabah's diwan (meeting room) in al Hamerine,
Salah ad Din Province, Iraq. Speaking in the background, off camera, is
interpreter Mike Samander
USDA's Ron Verdonk visits al Hamerine 2 May 2010 31 July 2011
Part I
Part II
Task Force Patriot brought Ron Verdonk, the senior USDA
representative from Baghdad, to see Sheikh Sabah Muntasir Diab al
Shimiri, a central character in Task Force Patriot, at his farm
in al Hamerine. This raw footage taken by a Salah ad Din Television
reporter, was later turned into a news story about the visit to raise
Sheikh Sabah's stature. Pictures of this visit are also available
here.
Pictures from Task Force Patriot's year in Iraq 31 July 2011
Throughout his deployment with Task Force Patriot, author Pat Proctor
uploaded dozens of photos to his
Facebook page. They are all still available, click
here.
The Atlantic's Sarah Stillman published this story
about her travels with Task Force Patriot (2nd Battalion, 32nd Field
Artillery Regiment) in Iraq in early 2010. These events are also
discussed in Pat's new book, Task Force Patriot and the End of Combat
Operations in Iraq.
“'It's
the Beverly Hills of our A.O. [area of operations],' explains Major Pat
Proctor of our destination, the neighborhood of Al Alam. 'They were the
first ones in Sunni Iraq to get in on the ground floor of the Coalition
presence, and they're rolling in dough because of it.'”
“'On
the one hand, [Naqshabandi is] a religious order, and on the
other it's kind of a Ponzi scheme,' said U.S. Army Maj. Pat
Proctor, the operations officer for 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field
Artillery Regiment, based in Tikrit. 'They Attack us--it's not
really effective--but then they post a video of it on the
Internet and they get donations from all over the country.'”
Pat Proctor talked to embedded reporter Michael Gisick of
Stars and
Stripes during Operation Vigilant Patriot, a combined
US/Iraqi Police/Iraqi Army operation in Tikrit in April 2010.
To see the online version of this article (Middle-East edition,
26 May 2010, Page 3),
click here.
"Fighting
to Understand" published in Military Review 12 March 2011
“The city of ad Dawr
did not seem to be responding as we expected. Security was always
good in the city—until U.S. forces entered. When the Proud American
Soldiers entered the city of ad Dawr, they encountered uniform
animosity from the populace. The unit that preceded us in ad Dawr,
Bravo Company, 2d Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, received small
arms fire nearly every time they entered the city. Despite Task
Force Patriot’s heavy engagement with the leadership and a
significant surge of Commander’s Emergency Relief Program (CERP)
money, it was not long before our battalion met with the same
reception. This violence finally culminated in tragedy when Corporal
Tony Carrasco was shot and killed in ad Dawr on 4 November 2009.”
This
article, written by Pat Proctor and published in Military Review,
the journal of the US Army Command and General Staff College, describes
the new planning paradigm the Task Force Patriot staff used during its
year in Iraq. For more, click
here.
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documents that appear therein are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the
official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the US Government."
