newsminer.com

Three University of Alaska Fairbanks journalism students and their professor are headed to Iraq to embed with the Fort Wainwright Stryker Brigade.

Jennifer Canfield, Tom Hewitt and Jessica Hoffman are traveling with associate professor Brian O’Donoghue, a veteran journalist who has been in the field for 30 years, including stints with a couple of Alaska television stations and newspapers. He left the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in 2001 to teach journalism at UAF. He's also known for his back-of-the-pack finishes in the Iditarod and Yukon Quest.

The four will be with the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division for a month. They said they plan to send back reports via radio, television and print and will be updating their blog Short Timers.

They will be in Iraq as the Strykers begin to return home after a year overseas and other U.S. troops pull back. It should be an interesting time. Stay tuned.