ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

A special operations soldier will receive the Medal of Honor for his role in a daring hostage rescue mission in 2015 in Iraq, while a second soldier could posthumously be awarded the nation’s highest award for valor for his actions in 2005.

Sgt. Maj. Thomas Payne will receive the Medal of Honor on Sept. 11 during a ceremony at the White House. 

Payne, an Army Ranger assigned to Army Special Operations Command who has deployed 17 times, will be the seventh service member—and second living recipient—to receive the nation’s highest valor award for actions in Iraq. 

The block-by-block 10-month Battle of Mosul in 2016 and 2017 was won through steel, sweat and blood but not from any new doctrinal concepts, says a new Land Warfare Paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army.

Written by Maj. Amos Fox, a squadron executive officer with the 4th Security Force Assistance Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado, the paper says a study group report issued two months after the July 2017 conclusion of the Battle of Mosul “reinforces existing doctrinal predilections at the expense of challenging and assessing doctrinal utility.”

U.S. service members who suffered a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury are more likely to experience a range of mental health disorders than troops with other serious injuries, according to a new study by University of Massachusetts Amherst health services researchers.

“Our findings suggest that patients who are critically injured in combat and sustain severe TBI have particularly high rates of mental health disorders,” said David Chin, the study’s lead investigator. 

The Army needs to do a better job of teaching its senior leaders how to identify and then work with key stakeholders to achieve the service’s goals and missions, according to a new paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army.

“Stakeholder engagement must be part of what we do as leaders, and we must learn how to do it early enough in our careers to make an impact when we serve at the highest levels of command and staff,” U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Alex Carter writes in “Understanding Assets: Teaching Senior Leaders How to Identify and Engage Stakeholders.”

Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)’s 1st Brigade Combat Team had their agility tested during a recent deployment to Iraq and Syria, but the lessons learned proved invaluable, the soldiers said.

The Army’s 3rd Cavalry Regiment—a Stryker brigade combat team from Fort Hood, Texas—encountered a much more experienced, “battled-hardened” Iraqi military during its recent nine-month advise-and-assist mission in Iraq, Syria and Kuwait.

“They are happy to be in the lead,” said Regiment Command Sgt. Maj. Adam Nash. “From a military mindset, … [conducting] your own maneuvers within direct fires, that’s a huge leap. And to see them do that in combat without our advisement, without our prompting, that was a huge leap.”

A former Army staff sergeant who fought in the second Battle of Fallujah in 2004 will become the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions during the Iraq War.

David Bellavia, now 43, will be honored during a ceremony on June 25, the White House announced. He will be the fourth soldier to receive the nation’s highest valor award for actions in Iraq.

In all, five service members—three soldiers, a Marine and a sailor—have been awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions in Iraq. All the awards were presented posthumously.

An Army staff sergeant will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor for his actions more than a decade ago in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Travis W. Atkins will be honored with the nation’s highest award for valor on March 27 during a ceremony at the White House. Atkins’ son, Trevor Oliver, and other family members will be in attendance, the White House said in an announcement.

Atkins is being recognized for his actions on June 1, 2007, while serving in Iraq with the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry).

In a surprise trip to see U.S. troops in Iraq, President Donald Trump said he came to al-Asad Airbase “to personally thank you and every service member throughout this region for the near-elimination of the ISIS territorial caliphate in Iraq and Syria.”

“Great job,” he told them to cheers. “We will be watching ISIS very closely,” Trump said, referring to the Islamic militant group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

First lady Melania Trump accompanied him on the trip.

Units are gearing up for winter and spring deployments to replace other units in Europe, Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait as part of a regular rotation of forces in support of ongoing missions.

Two 1st Infantry Division units from Fort Riley, Kan., will deploy in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve in Europe and one division unit will deploy to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.