PHOTOS: Operation Ultra Magnus: Clearing Hussein Hamadi village

4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division PAO

1st Platoon

U.S. Army Soldiers from 1st Platoon, Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Task Force Iron, from Fort Lewis, Wash., along with Iraqi army soldiers from 3rd Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division run by a burning vehicle in Hussein Hamadi village, Diyala Province, Iraq, Oct. 29 during Operation Ultra Magnus. The joint operation was designed to clear the village, a former terrorist stronghold, of al Qaeda (AQI). Five AQI operatives were killed, three wounded and seven individuals detained in the three-day operation.

Sgt. David Bokor

Sgt. David Bokor and Cpl. Adam Margio of 1st Platoon, Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Task Force Iron, from Fort Lewis, Wash., clear a home in Hussein Hamadi village, Diyala Province, Iraq, Oct. 29 during Operation Ultra Magnus.

First Lt. Ron Vinyard,

First Lt. Ron Vinyard, platoon leader, 1st Platoon, Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Task Force Iron, from Fort Lewis, Wash., and an Iraqi army soldier advance up stairs in a home in Hussein Hamadi village, Diyala Province, Iraq, Oct. 29 during Operation Ultra Magnus. During the three-day operation, five AQI operatives were killed, three wounded and seven individuals detained, including a suspect AQI sniper. In addition, the troops liberated a kidnapped Iraqi who had been tortured.

Iraqi Army 1st Sgt

Iraqi army 1st Sgt. Ghafil Mahdy of 3rd Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, Task Force Iron, searches a home in Hussein Hamadi village, Diyala Province, Iraq, for weapons Oct. 29 during Operation Ultra Magnus.

Cpl. Adam Margio

Cpl. Adam Margio of 1st Platoon, Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Task Force Iron, from Fort Lewis, Wash., checks the chamber of an AK-47 discovered in a home in Hussein Hamadi village, Diyala Province, Iraq, Oct. 29 during Operation Ultra Magnus. The joint operation with the Iraqi army was designed to clear the village, a former terrorist stronghold, of al Qaeda in Iraq. The Soldiers found numerous weapons during the three-day operation including almost 10 AK-47s, one RPK, one rocket launcher with more than 10 rockets, three pistols, and several grenades.

First Lt. Ron Vinyard

First Lt. Ron Vinyard, platoon leader, 1st Platoon, Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Task Force Iron, from Fort Lewis, Wash., talks to a local villager about al Qaeda in Iraq operating in Hussein Hamadi village, Diyala Province, Iraq, Oct. 29 during Operation Ultra Magnus. AQI had had a strong presence in the village for more than two years, forcing many of the local residents to move away. When Coalition Forces arrived, many locals were eager to help them find where AQI was hiding.

Sgt. Brandon Dean

Sgt. Brandon Dean of 1st Platoon, Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Task Force Iron, from Fort Lewis, Wash., pulls security on the roof of a home in Hussein Hamadi village, Diyala Province, Iraq, Oct. 29 during Operation Ultra Magnus.

Operation Ultra Magnus

During the three-day Operation Ultra Magnus in and around Hussein Hamadi village, Diyala Province, Iraq, Oct. 28-30, Soldiers from Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Task Force Iron, from Fort Lewis, Wash., working side-by-side by Iraqi army soldiers, discovered numerous weapons including almost 10 AK-47s, one RPK, one rocket launcher with more than 10 rockets, three pistols, and several grenades.

Troop C, 2nd Squadron

A Soldier with 1st Platoon, Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Task Force Iron, from Fort Lewis, Wash., shares a laugh with an Iraqi army Soldier from 3rd Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi army Division during a tactical pause in Operation Ultra Magnus in Hussein Hamadi village, Diyala Province, Iraq, Oct. 30.

By Staff Sgt. Russell Bassett

Military Friends of NewsBlaze

Military Friends of NewsBlaze originated these stories, sending them directly to us from Iraq, some from Afghanistan and some in the USA.