The OIF GenerationA field guide to the Iraq War and the generation that fought it
Where They Went

Where the OIF Generation Went

Two decades on, the people who served in Iraq are running agencies, writing laws, flying aircraft, and representing the country abroad.

Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where many of the Iraq War dead are buried, Veterans Day 2016.
Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where many of the Iraq War dead are buried, Veterans Day 2016. U.S. Army photo by Rachel Larue, Arlington National Cemetery (public domain)

A generation in mid-career

A soldier who was 19 at the invasion is in their early forties today. The OIF generation has reached the age at which Americans typically take on leadership, and its members are doing so across national life.

Where to look

What carries over

Veterans of the war describe common threads in what came next: comfort with responsibility early in life, experience working across cultures and with interpreters, skepticism of easy answers, and a lasting sense of obligation to those who did not come home.