Randomness...

U.S. Army Sgt. Derek Arnold, 24, from Boring, Ore. waits to go before the promotion board at an outpost for B Company, 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, April 21, 2008.

(AP Photo by MAYA ALLERUZZO)

Evening...

Happy Monday - I trust your weekend was enjoyable...

As we maintain our battle rhythm and press on through another week, I am looking at the calendar and counting the days till my oldest son's wedding and Chris' R&R from the streets of Baghdad. We are expecting lots of family to roll in the end of May for the multi-celebration...and we can't wait for the party to start.

Am I a little distracted?

Yep...

As a result, tonight's blog is a little bit of this and that..and some randomness...so, fair warning...

A quick spin around the web with my info hounds has produced more info and pictures on the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment...their work, sacrifice and service all across the Baghdad area continues to be superb.

Maybe you recognize someone in the pictures? Let me know...

Enjoy!

Iraqi Security Forces Take to Streets
MND-B Soldiers Search for Criminals
MND-B Engage Criminals, Soldiers Seize Weapons in Separate Operations

SPC Eric Strick (L) and SPC Chris Stevenson, Dog Company, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment enjoy a cup of Chai during a break on patrol in Baghdad, Iraq

(CDS Photos, Inc.)

Stryker Infantry Soldiers search a pool hall for any evidence that could lead to the apprehension of high-profile terrorists and criminals operating in Baghdad's Abu T'shir and Saha communities in the southeastern Rashid District April 17. The Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers of Company F, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, deployed out of Vilseck, Germany, last year as part of "surge forces" called to reinforce the Baghdad Security Plan, detained several suspects April 17 to include a suspected cell leader believed to be one of MND-B's most wanted individuals responsible for committing crimes and acts of violence in Baghdad. The pool hall was one of many objectives Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces searched during clearing operations April 16-17.

(Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

Spc. Breaon Gaddy, an infantryman from Fayetteville, N.C., assigned to Company F, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, searches a young Iraqi man during an operation April 17 on a pool hall in southeastern Baghdad's Saha neighborhood, a reputed hang out for a high-profile criminal operating in the Rashid district. The Stryker Infantry Soldiers conducted searches and combined operations in support of Operation Raider Typhoon, the 1st BCT's first operation to further prevent enemy activity in their area of operations, since assuming the mission April 13.
(Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

U.S. Army soldiers from B Company, 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment search a house in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, April 21, 2008.
(AP Photo by MAYA ALLERUZZO)

A U.S. Army soldier from B Company, 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment passes a map of Iraq posted in the window of a home while his platoon searches for weapons in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, April 21, 2008.
(AP Photo by MAYA ALLERUZZO)

A U.S. Army soldier from B Company, 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment carries his weapon as he looks for a rooftop view in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, April 21, 2008.
(AP Photo by MAYA ALLERUZZO)


A young Iraqi boy challenges U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Abraham Bitolas, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, 27, from Palmdale, Calif., to a thumb-wrestling match at the boy's home in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, April 21, 2008.
(AP Photo by MAYA ALLERUZZO)

Iraqi girls walk into school as U.S. Army Soldiers from Dog Company, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment look on. They conducted an early morning clearing operation to look for weapons caches and insurgent activity in Baghdad
(Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Greg Pierot)

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Chris, I love you son - be safe!

v/r,
- Collabman