U.S. Air Force SENIOR MASTER SGT. Nancy Vondrasek, Nebraska Air National Guard, checks the paperwork of 155th Air Refueling Wing personnel at the Family Readiness Center while processing out for a deployment to Incirlik Air Base,Turkey, on Oct. 24, 2004, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.(U.S. Air Force MASTER SGT. Alan Brown) (RELEASED)

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.