 Coughlin engaged the manned ZSU-23/4 and successfully dispatched the enemy, permitting the attack to be effective.He was deployed with this unit to Iraq in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 2003 invasion of Iraq with Basra.He spent some time with British Army troops in Basra, then fought with his unit north of Baghdad, and he was present at the destruction of Saddam Hussein's statue.