Going To Tal Afar

We found out earlier this week that we will be stationed in the city of Tal Afar, It is a town I became familiar with the first time I was over there. It is the town where SSG Mejia, one of my squad leaders got hit with an IED in this HMMWV. It was in the news quite a bit when the unit that replaced us, COL H.R. McMaster's, (the closest thing the Army has to a Superstar Franchise Officer) Third Armored Cavalry Regiment, built a wall around the whole city and used the strategy of Clear, Hold and Build. If you use Google News or Juan Cole to find out what's been goin on there, you won't find much. So, that's a good thing I suppose. Feel free to dig around in the included links for more information, there's alot of it linked in there, this article from the New Yorker is pretty informative on what McMaster accomplished. Also, his book Dereliction of Duty is considered mandatory reading for the Army's Officer Corps. There's also a large PBS Frontline Online Special containing interviews and videos which I highly recommend.
Peace