NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel was live at the top of “NBC Nightly News” from a stryker fighting vehicle containing the last combat troops in Iraq as they head to Kuwait, marking the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Engel, who was with the 42 Stryker Brigade, said the convoy had a total of 440 soldiers and had just left Camp Liberty in Baghdad. It was 2am in Iraq.
Anchor Brian Williams said that Engel’s reporting “constitutes the official Pentagon announcement.”
More: NBC says Engel will continue reporting on MSNBC tonight as the convoy reaches the border. In addition, the network explains in a release how Engel used the Bloom Mobile for the report, which is named after the late David Bloom:
Tonight, Richard Engel utilizes the Bloom Mobile, affectionately named after the late David Bloom, who died while covering the Iraq war for NBC News. The Bloom Mobile is part tank, part satellite truck, and delivers a live satellite broadcast while reporting from the field. The Bloom Mobile enabled David Bloom to deliver the very first broadcast live from the field at the beginning of the war, notably, as the troops entered Iraq via the same road Richard Engel reports from live tonight.