BAGHDAD - When detainees at Camp Cropper want to get under the skin of guard force soldiers from the 829th Engineer Company, they employ a tactic that would be more at home along in the Coulee Region than inside a theater internment facility in Iraq: they needle the Wisconsin Guard troops about Brett Favre's success as a Minnesota Viking.

It seems the Green Bay Packers logos that sprouted up all over Camp Cropper since May tipped off detainees that Packer fans were in the house. It's a small world.

The 3,200 men and women of the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team have accomplished a lot during their time in Iraq so far: big accomplishments like closing the largest detention facility on Earth at Camp Bucca; small accomplishments like winning the flag football championship at Camp Cropper.

Here is what some of the units want their Wisconsin hometowns to know about their service in Iraq - the big things, the small things and all of the individual and organizational accomplishments in between.

Headquarters, 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Camp Douglas)

The 32nd Brigade's headquarters continues working to change the face of Baghdad's International Zone - the government quarter in the center of the Iraqi capital - and to keep it secure.

Since taking over their mission as Joint Area Support Group-Central May 27, the Wisconsin troops have returned 19 properties covering more than 70 acres from U.S. to Iraqi control. The properties include Ibn Sina Hospital, made famous in the HBO documentary "Baghdad ER," along with former U.S. military compounds and a palace once used by Saddam Hussein. Before they're finished, the JASG will turn over a half-dozen more properties, and a significant part of this city once dominated by U.S. military forces will be run by the government of Iraq.

As properties changed hands during the past year, responsibility for security for the International Zone also shifted, from U.S.-led efforts up until the end of 2008 to Iraqi forces in the months since. These developments in Baghdad are important for the entire nation, and 32nd Brigade soldiers from Wisconsin are at the very center of them.

Company A, 32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion (Onalaska)

Company A, 32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion reports the unit's soldiers are doing well and looking forward to returning home in January.

"Our time here is quickly coming to a close and we find that ... we have been doing a mission vastly different than that which we trained for or that many within our company anticipated or wanted," said Capt. Shawn Vele, of Milwaukee. The company normally has an engineer mission, but not in Iraq, where soldiers have been working in detainee operations at the theater internment facility at Camp Taji.

"Our unit has done extremely well and been recognized by both military police battalions we have fallen under during this deployment for our professionalism and ability in detainee operations," Vele said.

Company C, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry (Arcadia, Onalaska)

Fall is football-watching season for some of the 32nd Brigade's Arcadia and Onalaska-based soldiers during their time off at the four forward operating bases where they are assigned. Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry soldiers gather every weekend to watch college and NFL football games shown on American Forces Network television.

The company had a tailgate party Oct. 6 for the first Packers-Vikings game of the season. Soldiers had a good time grilling fresh steaks sent from the states and watching the game on a large projection screen.

The downside: the Monday Night Football contest didn't start until 3 a.m. in Iraq, and the game's outcome was disappointing. But more than 50 gifts from supporters in Wisconsin were distributed to the troops to take away a little bit off the sting of the Packer loss.

Soldiers get mail twice a week. Packages and letters have been coming in steadily, providing soldiers with snacks, necessities and news and photos from back home.

829th Engineer Company (Chippewa Falls, Richland Center, Ashland)

When they're not being teased by detainees about Brett Favre's purple football jersey - and even when they are - the soldiers of the 829th Engineer Company from Chippewa Falls, Richland Center and Ashland are busy with their detainee operations mission at Camp Cropper.

For engineer soldiers assigned to the company's Repairs and Utilities Section, the work is familiar. "We are still involved in making hundreds of wooden products, pouring concrete, fixing fences and, in general, doing what it takes to support the main mission of TIF operations," said 1st Lt. Joel Busboom, of New Berlin, the section's officer in charge. "The end is in sight now, however we know that the end of our tour doesn't mean it's time to relax."

Staff Sgt. Mark Meuer of La Crosse is night shift lead for one of the compounds and claims "the hardest-working soldiers of the 32nd Brigade" have made the place a lot better. "The compound improvement projects still continue, such as replacing sniper screen, painting, and everybody's favorite, filling and replacing sandbags," Meuer said.

Some of the 829th's soldiers use their time off after their 12-hour workdays to better themselves. According to the company's senior medic, Sgt. 1st Class Ginger Macdonald of Muskego, 17 soldiers are enrolled in a 153-hour emergency medical technician course. These soldiers will come home with extra skills they hope to use as they continue or pursue civilian careers in medicine or emergency services.

The main job at Camp Cropper, though, is guarding detainees. Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Traaholt of Ashland reports the past few weeks have been a bit busier, but "detainees seemed to settle into their zones, and the temperatures cooled off, which helped everyone."

As the 32nd Brigade's soldiers head into the final two months of their time overseas, the change of seasons in Iraq is attempting to prepare them for their return to Wisconsin. The high temperature in Baghdad on Nov. 18 was 62 degrees and the overnight low is forecast to be about 40. It's not January-in-Wisconsin weather yet, to be sure, but high temperatures are more than 60 degrees cooler than the troops experienced just a few months ago.

They'll be ready for Wisconsin.