WHO-TV Covers Fort Irwin, Calif.

As mentioned briefly in yesterday's Red Bull Rising post, WHO-TV (Channel 13) Des Moines reporter Sonya Heitshusen and photographer Brandon Bingham spent a couple of hot-hot-hot (!) desert days embedded with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34 BCT) earlier this month. The Red Bull soldiers were conducting wargames at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif.

Their reports were far-flung and extensive, ranging from combat convoy operations to unsung heroes such as our transportation and medical soldiers. The feature on reacting to an enemy ambush was particularly well done, in my opinion.

Because various news outlets are posting and collecting reports in different places--you'll find WHO-TV's coverage listed as a "special report" on the station's website--I've taken the liberty of linking to individual reports here:

Video: Fort Irwin, Day 1

Video: "Soldier Training" (The hazards of "moon dust")

Video: "Life on the Forward Operating Base"

Video: "Soldier Spouses, Deployed Together"

Video, article: "Battlefield angels: Iowa National Guard medics train for Afghanistan deployment"

Video: "Iowans at War: Convoy" (334th Brigade Support Battalion operations)

Video: "Iowans at War: Truck Drill" (Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment combat scenario)

Video: "Iowans train for combat"

Video, article: ""Female soldiers: Some female Iowa National Guard soldiers are heading to the front in Afghanistan, but their job isn't to fight the battle"