February 17, 2006: The U.S. Navy is stepping up its efforts to help out the army in Iraq. Both the navy and air force have sent additional troops to Iraq, to do jobs that all the services have people performing. In this case, the navy is sending another 8,000 sailors to handle medical and support tasks, as well as a hundred or so additional SEAL commandoes. This will bring the total number of sailors in Iraq to 12,000. The navy will also be sending some of its new Naval Expeditionary Combat Command troops, who will man small combat craft along Iraqis rivers.