Editing American Forces Network (section)

===Operation Iraqi Freedom===
[[File:AFNBaghdad.jpg|thumb|left|AFN Iraq on-air radio studio. Baghdad, Iraq (April 2004).]]

AFN-Iraq began broadcasting in December 2003 on the [[FM band]] shortly after the fall of [[Saddam]]. The first song on the air was "Freedom" by [[Paul McCartney]]. Within a short time, Freedom Radio was broadcasting on multiple FM channels from as far south as Basra to as far north as Mosul.

AFN-Iraq, Freedom Radio began as a joint effort between the Air Force, the Marines and the Army. The first unit to operate the station was the [[222nd Broadcast Operations Detachment (BOD)|222nd Broadcast Operations Detachment]], an Army Reserve unit based in southern California. ''"Always There and on the Air"'' was the phrase that started it all, even though there were only eight hours of live radio to kick things off.

After an introduction from [[Lieutenant General (United States)|Lt. Gen.]] [[Ricardo Sanchez]], the commander of Coalition Ground Forces in Iraq, Air Force Master Sergeant Erik Brazones was the first DJ on the air. When the 222nd BOD took the reins of the radio operations, the first two regular radio shows were ''Niki Cage in the Morning'' and ''Abbey in the Afternoon''.  AFN-Iraq signed off in 2011.