The Gods of Diyala: Transfer of Command in Iraq

In March 2004, Gregory M. Tomlin, PhD ’13, and Caleb S. Cage deployed to Baquba, Iraq, on a mission that would redefine how conventional U.S. military forces fight an urban war. Drawing on their experience with leading artillery units through a transition into anti-insurgent rifle companies and carrying out daily combat patrols in one of the region’s most notorious hotspots, Cage and Tomlin chronicle Task Force 1-6 Field Artillery’s year on the ground in Iraq and its response to the insurgency that threatened to engulf their corner of the Sunni Triangle.