June 1, 2003

O FAMILIES AND FRIENDS OF THE 203RD,

I wanted to give you another update on how your loved ones are doing. As you may know, essentially the entire battalion is in Iraq. For the most part, Bravo Company and most of HHC resides at Talil and Charlie, Alpha and the command group is in Baghdad. To date, both groups have performed great. We have conducted over 100 joint missions in the greater Baghdad area with our coalition partners from the UK and DIA elements and have found some very important pieces of enemy equipment. Of course, we have also found some old junk too and lots of destroyed or looted equipment. This week the Australians joined our group to include a one-star general. So, as you can see we are getting lots of attention and the mission is an important one.

In Talil they have catalogued and exploitated over 300 pieces of enemy equipment. They would probably like to be a little busier, to be honest about it, but it has proven to be very difficult to have the heavy lift assets (e.g. big cranes, flatbeds, and trucks) needed to move some of the equipment allocated to our tasks. Our group in Doha is small and doing the work of a small Army themselves; their support has been superb to those forward.

We are in the process of planning to consolidate the entire battalion operation in the Baghdad area over the next few weeks. This means that Bravo and all of HHC will come north. This will be a major move for us and will also involve picking up the balance of our equipment that is scheduled to arrive from APG in the next couple days.

This move is necessary because it will help make it easier to run the battalion and make it easier and faster to exploit and collect up all the equipment we have. The main fighting during the war was really around Baghdad, and so that is where the equipment is. We have a great deal stored in two or three main storage areas around Baghdad and bringing Bravo and HHC up here will allow us to get it, get it packed up, and ultimately be able to come home sooner.

The area around Baghdad is, as you can tell from the news, a sometimes dangerous place. Be assured that we are taking every precaution we can and do a detailed assessment of enemy activity constantly. I have cancelled missions that I considered too risky based on the latest information. Most of the attacks that you read about occur at night against fixed, stationary targets. We never do missions at night and the vast majority of our targets are secured by coalition forces.

In short, things are going well and you should continue to be proud of the soldiers in the battalion. They moved from Kuwait to Iraq faster than any unit in the theater and are performing superbly under difficult conditions. I know that they are constantly thinking of you and are grateful for the support you have given.

Regards,

LTC Young

To all 203rd families and friends,

The entire battalion is now in theater and doing well. The majority of the unit is in Kuwait but will be moving into Iraq within the next week to ten days. Some will be near Baghdad and others in the southern part of the country. I have been to both bases personally and both are very well secured by US forces. Most of the locals seem friendly to US forces but we are being very careful and also travel in multiple vehicle convoys, prepared for anything.

The conditions are pretty austere although they do have some shower facilities and a quasi PX where you can get the basics (shower items, shaving, personal hygiene and my favorite, Pop Tarts). For the most part, once in Iraq people are eating MREs. There is some phone and email service although it is spotty and the lines are horrifically long. If you don't hear from your loved one as often as you would like, please keep in mind that different sections of the battalion are in different places and some have better access than others.

The mail service into country is slow but we are working to try and fix that. Shortly we will be sending new APO addresses for everyone in an attempt to speed up the delivery. Until then, you can continue to use the existing APO. All the soldiers are doing very well and performing well above expectations. I traveled to the Baghdad area last week and met with some of the Alpha company team. All are anxious to come home, of course, but still focused on continuing to do great work. Click here for new mailing addresses!

There is no word on redeployment and when that will be. Anything that is discussed is rumor. But some units are starting to plan to return and our situation will firm up in due time. I am speaking mainly about the units that have been here since January. As I have certain information, we will pass that along. Until then, I don't want to speculate and get anyone's hopes up (or down). I will continue to update you as things change here. Please keep up all in your prayers. Thanks for your continued support.

Regards,

LTC Boe Young
Commander 203d MI BN