U.S. Air Force STAFF SGT. Ryan Sandell, Nebraska Air National Guard, 155th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, communicates with LT. COL. Keith Schell, Pilot, in the cockpit of a KC-135R Stratotanker refueler aircraft before departing for Incirlik AB, Turkey at the Lincoln Airport, Neb., on Oct. 24, 2004, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.(U.S. Air Force PHOTO by 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.