NORTHERN IRAQ -- Staff Sgt. Darryl "Gunny" Joseph leaps into the night of northern Iraq as the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter touches down, the dust from the rotary wash clouding his vision. His mission is simple: set up the landing zone and guide in the aircraft carrying the M777 artillery pieces to the raid site. The process of setting up a landing zone, or sling load area, is not new to him. Back at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Joseph and the Soldiers from Battery C, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, "Task Force Strike," practiced sling load operations many times before.

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NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- As U.S. Army advisors enter the remote police training facility, a bright white lab coat stands out against the backdrop of the sand-colored mountains in the eastern Afghan desert. The person wearing the lab coat is neither a police officer nor a male; she is a doctor. Heading toward the doctor is another woman, Army 2nd. Lt. Eva Gibbons, assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. Gibbons, a native of Weare, New Hampshire and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire. She is serving as an advisor with the police advising team in Train, Advise and Assist Command-East. The team is responsible for advising the staff at the 202nd Police Zone headquarters here.

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CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- All deploying units have to make adjustments, but perhaps no unit has had to face and overcome a bigger change in environment than the 109th Transportation Company. Based out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, the 109th TC, 553rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 17th Sustainment Brigade, 1st Sustainment Command (Theater), is currently deployed to Kuwait, where this summer's temperatures have topped 129 degrees Fahrenheit.

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CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- Sirens blared throughout the base. There were reports of a traffic accident involving a fuel truck. Within the hour, a suspicious package was called in causing emergency response personnel to report to different scenes.

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Lt. Gen Stephen J. Townsend, far left, commander of Combined Joint Task Force -- Operation Inherent Resolve, and Command Sgt. Maj. Benjamin Jones, far right, visits Soldiers from Battery C, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, Task Force Strike, at Kara Soar Base, Iraq, August 2016. The artillery units serve two roles: to provide force protection for Coalition and Iraqi security forces and to support ISF ground maneuver, enabling them to defeat Da'esh (an Arabic acronym for ISIL). The mission of CJTF-OIR is to defeat Da'esh in Iraq and Syria by supporting the Government of Iraq with trainers, advisors and fire support, to include aerial strikes and artillery fire.

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WASHINGTON -- U.S. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, Task Force Strike, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), took charge of a ranger training program for qualified volunteers from Iraqi security forces at Camp Taji, Iraq, when they arrived in May. The ranger training program, led by Company A, 1-502nd, is one of the multiple building partner capacity missions the 1,800-member strong task force leads in Iraq.

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Bishop Ian Lambert, the Anglican Bishop to the Australian Defense Force, visited with two U.S. Army Anglican chaplains, Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Dan Knaup with 335th Signal Command and Chaplain (Capt.) Ian Burgess with the 17th Sustainment Brigade, 1st Sustainment Command (Theater) June 10, 2016 at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.

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CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar -- The 401st Army Field Support Battalion-Qatar led a rehearsal of concept drill for Army Prepositioned Stocks-5 equipment issue here, June 16.

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The 1st Theater Sustainment Command operates in a complex environment assisting Iraqi security forces in defeating Da'esh through the use of equipment provided by Iraq Train and Equip Funding. There are many steps in the strategy to procure, process and position ITEF supplies and equipment; some of those steps include cooperation between not only different branches of the U.S. military, but that of various Coalition partners.

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With the changing coalition mission in Afghanistan, contingency contracting has also changed markedly, requiring a broader array of skills and training for a wider range of responsibilities. This article was originally published in the April - June 2016 issue of Army AL&T magazine.

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