(KL) ABOVE: Before heading out to inspect the troops during a battlefield exercise, Major General Mark Graham pats Specialist Tom Punnara on the shoulder before getting onto a Blackhawk helicopter to go into the field. Graham went to inspect the training

(KL) ABOVE: Before heading out to inspect the troops during a battlefield exercise, Major General Mark Graham pats Specialist Tom Punnara on the shoulder before getting onto a Blackhawk helicopter to go into the field. Graham went to inspect the training exercise called Warhorse Gauntlet II which is a full spectrum counter insurgency operation. Personnel with the 2nd Brigade 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, which includes the 167th Armored Battalion, have been taking part in the simulated battlefield scenarios. The whole operation encompasses about 2000 military personnel. Graham came to the "battlefield" to see how the troops were progressing with the simulated exercises. This exercise took place in a fake Iraqi village called Hamal on the Fort Carson Base. Major General Mark A. Graham <cq> is the Commmanding General, Division West (First Army) & Fort Carson. He is the top general at Ft. Carson and is responsible for preparing thousands of soldiers for war, billions of dollars in construction projects and issues involving post traumatic stress disorder for returning soldiers. On top of all these duties, he has lost two sons one in the war and one to suicide. His son Kevin Graham, who was a pre-med student and Senior Army ROTC scholarship cadet, committed suicide in June of 2003. Only 8 months later, his son 2nd Lt. Jeffrey Graham, of Company C 1st Battalion 34th Armored regiment 1st Brigade Combat Team from Ft. Riley, Kansas was killed from injuries sustained from small-arms fire and an improvised explosive device attack in Khalidiyah, Iraq <cq>. Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post (Photo By Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images)