Captain Rasul Alsalih Chief of Design, Detachment 15, 732nd Expeditionary Civic Engineer Sq., 732nd Expeditionary Mission Support Group, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, United States Air Force Balad Air Base, Iraq

Born in 1956 in Samawah, Captain Rasul Alsalih is a native of Southern Iraq. Captain Alsalih is currently serving on active duty as the Chief of Design, Detachment 15 of the United States Air Force in his former homeland, Iraq. In August of 1992, Captain Alsalih and his family were selected to relocate to the United States and arrived on September 24, 1992. Captain Alsalih and his wife became American citizens at the NY Supreme Court in Binghamton in 1997. In 2004, Captain Alsalih returned to Iraq to serve as the liaison officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Government, working closely with Ambassadors Bremer, Browning and Jeffrey. The U.S. Army commanding officer, Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, granted him the right to wear the 1st CAV’s combat patch for his tireless support and contribution.

Captain Alsalih proudly serves each day for his new country to provide hope and promise for the people of Iraq. He says, "I always feel that I am indebted to this country (the United States); my wife, daughter’s lives and mine were saved from a certain death and we would have been killed in a horrific way similar to what happened to those who could not make it and for the dream opportunity given to me to restart my life. I will do my best to pay back as much as I can by serving in the military and deploy where ever I am ordered to go to. I am certain that I will not be able to pay back all the debt but I will keep on trying.”