Toker, Jason, SFC

Infantry

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Service Details

Current Service Status
USA Active

Current/Last Rank
Sergeant First Class

Current/Last Service Branch
Infantry

Current/Last Primary MOS
11B10-Infantryman

Current/Last MOS Group
Infantry

Primary Unit
2009-Present, HHC, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment

Service Years
2000 - Present

Official Badges

Unofficial Badges

Military Associations and Other Affiliations

Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW)


	2008, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) - Assoc. Page
	2008, National Infantry Association (NIA), General (Member)

OIF/Liberation of Iraq (2003)
From Month/Year March / 2003	To Month/Year May / 2003
Description The 2003 invasion of Iraq lasted from 19 March to 1 May 2003 and signaled the start of the conflict that later came to be known as the Iraq War, which was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States (prior to 19 March, the mission in Iraq was called Operation Enduring Freedom, a carryover from the conflict in Afghanistan). The invasion consisted of 21 days of major combat operations, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and deposed the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The invasion phase consisted primarily of a conventionally fought war which concluded with the capture of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad by American forces. Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from 19 March to 9 April 2003. These were the United States (148,000), United Kingdom (45,000), Australia (2,000), and Poland (194). 36 other countries were involved in its aftermath. In preparation for the invasion, 100,000 U.S. troops were assembled in Kuwait by 18 February. The coalition forces also received support from Kurdish irregulars in Iraqi Kurdistan. According to U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the coalition mission was "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people." General Wesley Clark, the former Supreme NATO Allied Commander and Joint Chiefs of Staff Director of Strategy and Policy, describes in his 2003 book, Winning Modern Wars, his conversation with a military officer in the Pentagon shortly after 9/11 regarding a plan to attack seven Middle Eastern countries in five years: "As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan." Others place a much greater emphasis on the impact of the 11 September 2001 attacks, and the role this played in changing U.S. strategic calculations, and the rise of the freedom agenda. According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of alleged nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace. In a January 2003 CBS poll, 64% of Americans had approved of military action against Iraq; however, 63% wanted Bush to find a diplomatic solution rather than go to war, and 62% believed the threat of terrorism directed against the U.S. would increase due to war. The invasion of Iraq was strongly opposed by some long-standing U.S. allies, including the governments of France, Germany, and New Zealand. Their leaders argued that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that invading the country was not justified in the context of UNMOVIC's 12 February 2003 report. On 15 February 2003, a month before the invasion, there were worldwide protests against the Iraq War, including a rally of three million people in Rome, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ever anti-war rally. According to the French academic Dominique Reynié, between 3 January and 12 April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war. The invasion was preceded by an air strike on the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on 19 March 2003. The following day, coalition forces launched an incursion into Basra Province from their massing point close to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. While the special forces launched an amphibious assault from the Persian Gulf to secure Basra and the surrounding petroleum fields, the main invasion army moved into southern Iraq, occupying the region and engaging in the Battle of Nasiriyah on 23 March. Massive air strikes across the country and against Iraqi command and control threw the defending army into chaos and prevented an effective resistance. On 26 March, the 173rd Airborne Brigade was airdropped near the northern city of Kirkuk, where they joined forces with Kurdish rebels and fought several actions against the Iraqi army to secure the northern part of the country. The main body of coalition forces continued their drive into the heart of Iraq and met with little resistance. Most of the Iraqi military was quickly defeated and Baghdad was occupied on 9 April. Other operations occurred against pockets of the Iraqi army including the capture and occupation of Kirkuk on 10 April, and the attack and capture of Tikrit on 15 April. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the central leadership went into hiding as the coalition forces completed the occupation of the country. On 1 May, an end of major combat operations was declared, ending the invasion period and beginning the military occupation period.

My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year March / 2003	To Month/Year May / 2003

Last Updated: Mar 11, 2023

Personal Memories

Units Participated in Operation
1st Armored Division
143d Military Police Company
709th Military Police Battalion
18th Military Police Brigade
978th Military Police Company
170th Military Police Company
307th Military Police Company, 336th Military Police Battalion
82nd Military Police Company, 82nd Airborne Division
269th Military Police Company, 117th Military Police Battalion
716th Military Police Battalion
3rd Infantry Division
504th Military Police Battalion
401st Military Police Company
3rd Military Police Company, 3rd Infantry Division
59th Military Police Company
812th Military Police Company
615th Military Police Company
64th Military Police Company
720th Military Police Battalion
65th Military Police Company
549th Military Police Company
211th Military Police Battalion
135th Military Police Company, 437th Military Police Battalion
94th Military Police Company
988th Military Police Company
4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery
A Battery, 26th Field Artillery
115th Military Police Company
447th Military Police Company, 391st Military Police Battalion
442nd Military Police Company
101st Military Police Company
551st Military Police Company
32nd Military Police Company
649th Military Police Company
501st Forward Support Company
977th Military Police Company
220th Military Police Brigade
800th Military Police Brigade
44th Military Police Detachment (CID)
3rd Military Police Group (CID)
4th Infantry Division
101st Airborne Division
324th Military Police Battalion
503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne)
118th Military Police Battalion, 43rd Military Police Brigade
267th Military Police Company