Operation Inherent Resolve:US Marine Corps SOF Member Killed in Action in Iraq

On 10 August 2019,GYSGT Scott A. Koppenhafer,35,of Mancos,Colorado was killed in action in Iraq when he was engaged by enemy small arms fire,the Pentagon said.The battle is being investigated.
GYSGT Koppenhafer was a member of 2nd Marine Raider Battalion,MARSOC,out of Camp Lejeune,North Carolina.He had pulled four tours in his MARSOC career,including one in Afghanistan,where he was meritoriously promoted to Staff Sergeant,as well as Iraq.*
According to US CENTCOM,Gunny Koppenhafer was killed while on a joint mission with the Iraqi Security Forces in Nineveh Province,Northern Iraq.He was serving as an advisor to the Iraqi Security Forces as they attempt to dislodge remnants of the Islamic State in Northern Iraq.
GYSGT Koppenhafer had been decorated with the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device (2);the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device (2);the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (2);and the Combat Action Ribbon (2).*
The revered special operator was the third US service member to be killed in action in Operation Inherent Resolve this year.About 5,000 US troops are currently deployed to Iraq with OIR in a train,advise and assist mission.In 2018,Gunny Koppenhafer was named the 2018 Marine Special Operator of the Year for his masterful leadership that directly contributed to the defeat of Islamic State forces in Northern Iraq.He is survived by his wife and two children.*
"Nevertheless I am continually with thee:thou hast holden me by my right hand.
 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel,and afterword receive me to glory."
-Psalm 73:23-24

Operation Inherent Resolve:Combat Against Islamic State Continues in Both Syria and Iraq

Many members of the public may believe the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant is over;but that is far from the case,recent press releases from Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve make plain.For example,on 24 October 2018,US Army Soldiers fired an M777 A2 howitzer from Firebase Saham,Iraq.They were acting in support of Operation Roundup,a military offensive to eliminate ISIL from the Middle Euphrates River Valley and the Syria-Iraq border region.
The Soldiers at Firebase Saham are members of Bravo Battery,Field Artillery Squadron,3rd Cavalry Regiment.It is a physically demanding team effort to load and fire the howitzers.Providing indirect fires along with French artillery in Iraq,the US troops are part of the overall Coalition effort against Islamic State,Operation Inherent Resolve,which also includes training missions and air strikes in support of Iraqi Security Forces on the ground in Iraq and Syrian Democratic Forces in neighbouring Syria.*
NATO has begun a training mission in Iraq as well.*
ISIL is reportedly going underground and operating at night,while trying to blend with the civilian population during the day.The Islamist extremist militants have a remarkable ability to transform and regenerate themselves.*
More recently,on 30 October,ISF and Iraqi Counter Terrorism Services,with Coalition support,conducted multiple strikes against Daesh (an Arab word for ISIL) on Khanukah Mountain in Salah ad Din Province,Iraq.Killed in the raids were five senior Daesh leaders and over 30 other Daesh militants.The leaders had oversight responsibility for Daesh operations in Salah ad Din,Kirkuk,Nineveh and Northern Anbar Provinces.The other militants helped coordinate VBIED attacks in Sharqat and Qayarrah that injured civilians;as well as several attacks against ISF,Iraqi civilians and infrastructure in Salah ad Din and Kirkuk Provinces.

Iraq Update:Fallen Soldiers Identified - Iraq Campaign continues

The Pentagon has released the names of the two US troops who died in Northern Iraq on 13 August 2017 while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.Both were with the 2nd Battalion,319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment,2nd Brigade Combat Team,82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Hood,Texas:
Sergeant Roshain Euvince Brooks,30,of Brooklyn,New York and Sergeant Allen Levi Stigler Jr. of Arlington,Texas.
SGT Brooks joined the Army in July 2012.He was deployed to Afghanistan from June-November 2014.
SGT Stigler joined the Army in November 2013.He was on his first deployment.*
According to Pentagon spokesman Colonel Rob Manning,US Army,an Army artillery section was conducting a counterfire mission against an Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant mortar site at the time of the incident.An investigation is ongoing.
To the west of Mosul,the 9th and 15th Iraqi Army Divisions maintain defensive positions on the west forward line of troops near Tal Afar,and the coalition continues to support the Iraqis as they reset and prepare for follow-on operations in the Western Nineveh Province,COL Manning added.*
The Iraqi Security Forces said the Soldiers died when a shell exploded in a cannon they were inspecting.