Army Reserve Spec. Yuri B. Branzburg is returning to the U.S. after a deployment to the Iraqi Theater of Operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Operation Iraqi Freedom is the official name given to military operations involving members of the U.S. armed forces and coalition forces participating in efforts to free and secure Iraq. Mission objectives focus on force protection, peacekeeping, stabilization, security and counter-insurgency operations as the Iraqi transitional governing bodies assume full sovereign powers to govern the peoples of Iraq.
Members from all branches of the U.S. military and multinational forces are also assisting in rebuilding Iraq’s economic and governmental infrastructure, and training and preparing Iraqi military and security forces to assume full authority and responsibility in defending and preserving Iraq’s sovereignty and independence as a democracy.
Branzburg, a military police member with four years of military service, is normally assigned to the 812th Military Police Company, Orangeburg, N.Y.
He is the son of Karen A. and Mihail G. Branzburg of New Salem Road, Kingston, N.Y.
The specialist is a 2004 graduate of Kingston City High School, Kingston, N.Y.
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