RELEASED BY:Lt Col. Greg Hapgood

PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER
OFFICE:   (515) 252-4582
CELL:       (515) 971-6385
HOME:     (515) 986-5725

RELEASE: IMMEDIATE

IOWA ARMY NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIER WOUNDED IN IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE ATTACK

An Iowa Army National Guard Soldier serving in the Iraq theater of operations was injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (“IED”) attack on May 15, while conducting combat operations near Ramadi, Iraq.

The attack occurred at approximately 8 a.m., local Iraq time, when an IED detonated in the immediate vicinity of an armored Humvee conducting convoy operations. One of the vehicle’s gunners, Spc. Joshua A. Reece, 25, of Eldora, was injured in the attack.

Reece sustained shrapnel wounds in the incident and was transported to a U.S. Army medical facility in Ramadi. Reece is a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry, Iowa Army National Guard, based in Iowa Falls, Iowa. No additional information is available about Reece’s condition.

Approximately 650 Iowa Army National Guard Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry and Company E, 334th Brigade Support Battalion mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom in September and October 2005. The 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry consists of units located in Waterloo (Headquarters and Headquarters Company, and Detachment 1 of Company B), Dubuque (Companies A and D), Oelwein (Company B), Iowa Falls (Company C), and Charles City (Detachment 1 of Headquarters and Headquarters Company). Company E, 334th Brigade Support Battalion is also based in Waterloo.

The core mission of the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry is to conduct close combat with enemy forces and provide security of key terrain, facilities, and installations. The 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry last deployed in 2003-04 for the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Desert.

For questions concerning this news release as well as additional information about the operations, training, and activities of the Iowa Army and Air National Guard, please contact Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood, Iowa National Guard Public Affairs Officer, at (515) 252-4582 (office), (515) 971-6385 (cell), or (515) 986-5725 (home), or by e-mail at gregory.hapgood@ia.ngb.army.mil. You may also contact Master Sgt. Duff E. McFadden, at (515) 252-4666 (office), (515) 480-7647 (cell), (515) 251-7335 (home), or by e-mail at duff.mcfadden@ia.ngb.army.mil.

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