Operation Swarmer: Pre-Flight Briefing

Reuters - Thu Mar 16, 11:24 AM ET U.S. soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team and the Iraqi Army's 1st Brigade receive a pre-flight briefing from a UH-60 Blackhawk crew chief at Forward Operating Base Remagen airstrip before the start of Operation Swarmer, an assault operation with the combined U.S. and Iraqi forces targeting insurgents near the town of Samarra, about 100 km (60miles) north of Baghdad March 16, 2006.

The U.S. military said on Thursday it had launched its biggest air offensive in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. A military statement said the operation involving more than 50 aircraft and 1,500 Iraqi and U.S. troops as well as 200 tactical vehicles targeted suspected insurgents operating near the town of Samarra.
FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/Sgt. First Class Antony Joseph, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade/Handout