Fort Riley female soldiers train to protect themselves in Iraq

Here are recent headlines about the military in Kansas:Fort Riley ¢ 1st Infantry Division(49abcnews.com) Fighting back: Sexual assaults in Iraq: “As anywhere you go, you’re going to have rapes and muggings and it’s the same in Iraq,” Sgt. Valerie Brown said. “People are people, no matter where you go.” Sgt. Valerie Brown is preparing for her second deployment to Iraq. She says being a female soldier in a war zone can be twice as hard. … Most of the female soldiers in K-State’s military combatives course are heading to Iraq for the first time. Sgt. Brown wants them to be prepared for the worst, just in case. “They’re human,” Sgt. Brown said. “Everybody’s human.” Fort Riley wants the female soldiers to know that sexual assaults can and do happen during deployments. Combatives instructors are teaching them moves like the triangle choke, which teaches them to escape or finish the fight.Fort Leavenworth(LJWorld.com) Leavenworth welcomes new commander with Iraq experience: The new commander at Fort Leavenworth, fresh off a tour in Iraq, said progress was being made in the war-torn country. After a ceremony Thursday honoring him as the new commander of the Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell IV spoke about his year in Iraq. “There is not a quick solution to the situation in Iraq, and it’s going to take time. But the questions are, ‘Is it moving forward, and is progress being made, and what is the long-term goal we want to achieve over there?'” He said since arriving in Iraq in May 2006, he has seen multinational troops and Iraqi forces begin to work together toward reconciliation. He said that because the Iraqi government was new and apprehensive, it was going to take time to get on its feet. But he added there still was a visible difference in the growth and commitment of the country.