Posted on July 20, 2010
‘Scary’ growth of gangs in war zones
Chicago cop who served in Afghanistan and Iraq has warning: Gang members are coming home with military training.

Being in a street gang is now forbidden for members of the U.S. armed forces. But you might not guess that if you were to visit U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to soldiers who have recently served there.

Jeffrey Stoleson, a Wisconsin corrections official, returned from Iraq in January with photos of gang graffiti on armored vehicles, latrines and buildings. Stoleson, a sergeant with a National Guard unit, was there for nine months to help the Army set up a prison facility outside Baghdad.

“I saw Maniac Latin Disciples graffiti out of Chicago,â€