Subject: Thank you for your care package for US Soldiers here in Iraq! To: opshbxnj@yahoo.com Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2009, 12:38 AM Dear Rod Hirsch, Operation Shoebox staff, and members of the Rolling Hills Girl Scout Council of Central NJ: Thank you for your care package for US Soldiers here in Camp Bucca, Iraq! I have distributed your care package items to various Soldiers and the Chaplains who share these things with Soldiers in need. Everybody loves your cookies! It is truly amazing to see the American support for Service members here, and packages like this really improve morale! Camp Bucca is located in southeastern Iraq near the Kuwaiti border and near Umm Qasr, Iraq's only port city. The main mission of Camp Bucca is detainee operations - holding personnel that are a risk to the security of Iraq; this is currently the largest military detainee operations facility in the world. Things are changing quickly; most of these detainees will likely be handed over to the Iraqi correctional system within the next year. Things are going well here; Iraq has a new security agreement with the US, effective Jan. 1, so that means the Iraqis are now in the lead for taking care of their country and the US is in more of an advisory role. Our unit, the 2-113th Infantry Battalion, 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, New Jersey army National Guard, has about another four months duty in Iraq before we expect to start heading home; should be back in NJ in late spring sometime. Attached is a picture made of some Alpha Company, 2-113th Infantry Battalion troops when Gov. Corzine visited our Soldiers on Jan. 6. Thank you again for your patriotism and thoughtfulness, MAJ Jason Fetterolf Public Affairs Officer Task Force 2-113 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Camp Bucca, Iraq APO, AE 09375 DSN: 318-853-6118