09AUG2006: Serving as the First Sergeant for Cobra Company, 1-37 Armor, 1SG Aaron Jagger and his team found out in the summer of 2006 that their Iraq deployment was about to change. Currently serving in a relatively calm area of the country, 1SG Jagger and his men were now tasked with reinforcing ongoing operations in the deadly city of Ramadi. Entering the fight in south-central Ramadi, 1SG Jagger and his men placed themselves directly in the insurgent path into and out of the city. Engaged in near daily fights, 1SG Jagger and his men established a series of combat outposts to help secure the volatile city. A major part of this initiative was called a census patrol where a units from 1-37 AR would focus on face-to-face meetings with the citizens of Ramadi to reinforce the Iraqi and US understanding of the human terrain and hopefully build trust with the local citizens. These census patrols were conducted in the midst of a heavily kinetic environment. While trying to win the support of the local population, 1SG Jagger and his men were always on the lookout for an enemy ambush or IEDs designed to kill American Soldiers in one of the deadliest cities in Iraq. On August 9th, headed back to COP Spear, the convoy passed through an intersection and a large IED was detonated under 1SG's vehicle. The blast killed 1SG Aaron Jagger, SPC Ignacio Ramirez and SPC Shane Woods.

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