US Air Force (USAF) SENIOR MASTER Sergeant (SMSGT) Christopher Batta, 86th Expeditionary Contingency Response Group, packs his weapon in a protective pouch, prior to boarding a USAF C-17A Globemaster III aircraft at a staging base in Europe, as he and US Army (USA) Soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, prepare for an airdrop into Northern Iraq, during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM

Iraq War aka Operation IRAQI FREEDOM was the 2003 invasion of Iraq, led by U.S. Army General Tommy Franks, under the code-name "Operation Iraqi Freedom". 248,000 soldiers from the United States, 45,000 British soldiers, 2,000 Australian soldiers and 194 Polish soldiers from Special Forces unit GROM sent to Kuwait for the invasion. The invasion force was also supported by Iraqi Kurdish militia troops, estimated to number upwards of 70,000.