2009/07/17:madison.com: WISCONSIN NATIONAL GUARD KEEPING BUSY IN IRAQ

WISCONSIN NATIONAL GUARD KEEPING BUSY IN IRAQ
madison.com
Posted: Friday, July 17, 2009 12:00 am | No Comments Posted

A fire was doused, a soldier became a U.S. citizen, and a big lagoon was built near a detainee camp.

Those are some of the highlights of the 3,300-soldier Wisconsin National Guard 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team's first two months in Iraq.

The team's public affairs officer, Lt. Col. Tim Donovan, issued a press release Thursday with updates on the troops, who are spread across Iraq, providing support and security services, guarding detainees and training Iraqi prison guards.

Spc. Flavio Cottrell of a Stevens Point-based unit was one of 237 military personnel naturalized on July 4 at Victory Base Complex west of Baghdad by Vice President Joe Biden and Gen. Raymond Odierno.

Donovan said there were no injuries in a fire in an unoccupied housing unit at a base near Ashraf. Soldiers also built a 3.1 million-gallon lagoon for a water plant at Camp Bucca, he said.

- Steven Verburg