Coming Sunday: Report from Iraq on Modesto's 184th Infantry Regiment

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National Guard soldiers from the Modesto-based 184th Infantry Regiment find their new deployment far more agreeable than former tours. The regiment's 1st Battalion arrived in Iraq in mid-November and likely will stay through late summer.

The soldiers say dramatic political and security improvements show hope for the end of the war.

The battalion lost 17 of its roughly 700 Baghdad-deployed troops in 2005, its last Iraq tour.

Modesto Bee - Staff Sgt. Daniel Clemons, 32, of Sacramento deployed to Iraq for the third time this November. He finds the country much calmer than he remembered.

Iraq Connection Blog

This time, it's stationed at a former Iraqi airfield in a safe corner of northern Iraq. Empty desert surrounds the base for miles, protecting the battalion from surprises.

Bee staff writer Adam Ashton, on a two-month assignment in Iraq, caught up with the Guard unit where it's stationed at Ninevah province. He found soldiers who appreciate the relative calm and the progress that has been made since their earlier deployment.

Read the story in Sunday's Bee. Find more Iraq stories and Adam Ashton's blog at www.modbee.com/iraq.