The newly formed 2nd Brigade Combat Team deployed again to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in fall 2005 for 15 months . While deployed , the soldiers of the 502nd continued to improve security conditions within their assigned area of operations and began to train Iraqi security forces within Southern Baghdad and the infamous area of Mahamudiyah , Lutafiyah and Yusifiyah . During their deployment , the Strike brigade lost 67 soldiers with numerous injured to combat operations in an area where over 4,200 IEDs were found during their tenure . In March 2006 , 5 soldiers participated in the rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer Qasim Hamza . Strike soldiers once again deployed for 13 months in late 2007 north of Baghdad where they continued to train Iraqi security forces while fighting the Jaish al Mahdi paramilitary force
5 soldiers participated in the rape and murder
Mahmudiyah rape and killings
502nd Infantry Regiment (United States)