3898 x 1570 px | 33 x 13,3 cm | 13 x 5,2 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
25 novembre 2004
Lieu:
FOB Marez, Mosul, northern Iraq.
Informations supplémentaires:
M1126 "Stryker" Infantry Carrier Vehicles (ICVs) of the 1st Battalion 24th Infantry Regiment (1-24), nicknamed "Deuce Four", parked up at FOB (Forward Operating Base) Marez, next to the airport in Mosul, northern Iraq. On the left, two US soldiers are on the move in a Polaris Ranger 6x6 UTV (Utility Task Vehicle). The Stryker is an eight-wheeled armoured personnel carrier, fitted with slat armour designed as protection against RPGs. The first Stryker brigades were deployed to Iraq in October 2003. The 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (SBCT) "Lightning" (a Stryker brigade), and served in Iraq from October 2004 to October 2005. Camp Marez was near Mosul Airport, initially home to the 101st Airborne Division rear command post and various other units. It was initially known as Camp Performance, then Forward Operating Base/Fire Base Glory. In early 2004 it was renamed Camp Marez. On 21st December 2004, at 2:01 PM, an explosion tore through a crowded US military mess tent during lunch service, killing at least 22 people, and wounding 69. 14 of the dead were US soldiers, most of whom were from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, a Stryker brigade from Fort Lewis, Washington.The explosion was caused when a suicide bomber disguised as an Iraqi National Guard trainee blew himself up inside the mess tent. This was during the aftermath of the Battle of Mosul (8 - 16 November 2004) when insurgents took control of most of the city. Following the US-led invasion in March 2003, the Americans went on to occupy Iraq for eight years as part of a multi-national force, their troops finally departing in 2011.
