For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 13, 2005

Fact Sheet: The President Participates in a Video Teleconference with U.S. Troops

      President Addresses U.S. Troops in Iraq in Video Teleconference
     

• The President participated in a Video Teleconference with 10 soldiers from the U.S. Army's 42nd Infantry Division Task Force Liberty and 1 Iraqi soldier who have been based in Saddam's former hometown of Tikrit.

Facts on the 42nd Infantry Division and Task Force Liberty:

• Took over from the First Infantry Division in January 2005 and is responsible for a vast section of northern and central Iraq. It has been working with Iraqi Security Forces to root-out insurgent networks and prepare the security environment for Saturday's vote.
• Began service in Tikrit in December 2004 and January 2005 and is scheduled to return home in the coming months.
• Based in Troy, New York, but the Division's brigades and separate battalions in peacetime are spread across ten States.
• Made up of combat elements from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams, the Idaho National Guard's 116th Brigade Combat Team and the Tennessee National Guard's 278th Regimental Combat Team
• Partnered with the Iraqi Army's 4th and 5th Division and more than 45,000 Iraqi Security Forces throughout the four provinces of Area of Operations (OA) Liberty

Participants in the Video Teleconference:

42nd Infantry Division
Captain Brent Kennedy
Master Sergeant Corine Lombardo
Captain David Williams
Staff Sergeant David Smith-Barry
Captain David J. Smith
Sergeant First Class Jerry R. Munoz
Captain Stephen N. Pratt
Sergeant Dustin Giesbrecht
First Lieutenant Gregg A. Murphy
Sergeant Ronald E. Long, Jr.

4th Iraqi Army Division

Sergeant Major Akeel Shaker Nassir, Senior non-commissioned officer in charge of the Iraqi Army Training facility in Tikrit.

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