Iraq Blog:  May 2007

The following news items are taken from the Blog web site
of the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division Commandos

SUNDAY, MAY 06, 2007
Operation Commando Dive Leads To Detentions, Cache Finds

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO
Multi-National Division – Center PAO

   BAGHDAD - A multifaceted-coalition operation in the Shubayshen area, just south of Baghdad, led to the detentions of almost 50 detainees and a number of cache finds April 21.
   Operation Commando Dive incorporated several units’ operations from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., as well as the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division.
   Operation Eagle Dive was conducted by the 4/6 IA “Baghdad Eagles” in conjunction with 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd BCT, and netted 33 detainees, mostly suspected of involvement with improvised explosive device manufacture and emplacement.
   Caches found during the operation contained two machine guns, two shotguns, six AK-47s, two ski masks, 27 mortar rounds, 280 57mm rockets, four 155mm rockets, nine 12-volt batteries, multiple mortar fuses, three ready-to-emplace IEDs, 500 hand grenades, four 82mm mortar tubes, a large rocket, and six rocket-propelled grenade launcher sights. Additionally, numerous IED-initiation devices and 30 DVDs of Al-Qaeda propaganda were discovered.
   Operation Polar Dive, executed by 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT, and the 4th Battalion, 4/6 IA, detained three suspected terrorists and found a cache of improvised-explosive device-making materials including wire, black powder, explosives manuals in English and Arabic and chemistry textbooks.
   One of the men detained admitted to making over 100 IEDs.
   Operation Trident IV, conducted by the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT, and 3rd Bn., 4/6 IA, detained six terror suspects and found a small weapons cache containing small arms and ammunition as well as 300 pounds of homemade explosive material and ball bearings for use in IEDs.
   Company A, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd BCT, cleared the routes of IEDs, discovering three emplaced explosive devices en route to the objectives.
   “This was in an area that has been a safe haven for terrorists,” said Maj. Brian Kerns, operations officer for the 2nd BCT and native of Fairfax, Va.
   “The 4/4/6 Iraqi Army has improved their capability to get into these areas … and the operations will definitely disrupt terrorist operations.”  “The terrorists realize that Shubayshen is no longer a safe haven for anti-Iraqi forces,” Kerns added.  The detainees were taken into Iraqi custody for questioning.
   The contents of the caches were destroyed in place with controlled detonations.
  


SUNDAY, MAY 06, 2007
Commandos, Baghdad Eagles Detain Suspected Extremists, Find Caches and IEDs

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO, Multi-National Division – Center PAO

   BAGHDAD – Coalition and Iraqi forces detained extremists, found weapons caches and improvised explosive devices south of Baghdad Thursday.
   Soldiers of 4th Brigade “Baghdad Eagles,” 6th Iraqi Army Division and 2nd Brigade Combat Team “Commandos,” 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) of Fort Drum, N.Y., detained the suspected extremists and found the caches during routine combat operations.
   U.S. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, detained two suspected extremists after discovering a weapons cache in the vicinity of the detainees’ house southwest of Radwaniyah.
   In the cache was a bayonet, four bandoleers, two cases of 7.62mm ammunition and 26 AK-47 magazines.
   Meanwhile soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 4-6 IA discovered a cache consisting of two Katyusha rockets in Mahmudiyah.
Three improvised explosive devices were discovered; two were found by soldiers of 4-4-6 IA near Yusufiyah. The other IED was found by Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd BCT.
   The detainees are being held for further questioning.
   The contents of the cache were destroyed during a controlled detonation conducted by the explosive ordnance disposal team.
  


SUNDAY, MAY 06, 2007
Polar Bears, Golden Dragons Discover IEDs, Weapons Cache

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO, Multi-National Division – Center PAO

   BAGHDAD - Coalition forces discovered two improvised explosive devices and a weapons cache southwest of Baghdad today.
   Soldiers from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Benning, Ga., currently attached to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment “Polar Bears,” and the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment “Golden Dragons,” both units of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) from Fort Drum, N.Y., discovered the weapons.
   The first IED was discovered by 2-69 Armor Soldiers southwest of Yusufiyah at 9:35 a.m. local time.
   Soldiers of D Co., 4-31 Inf. discovered another IED in the vicinity of Rushdi Mullah at 10:05 a.m. local time, while conducting a dismounted patrol. The IED was found near a wood line in a white plastic bag.
   In another incident, the Golden Dragons found a weapons cache near Rushdi Mullah.
   The cache consisted of three rocket-propelled grenade rounds, a bag filled with unknown types of explosives, three bags of crystalline powder and three large blasting caps.
   The cache and IEDs were destroyed by the explosive ordnance team during a controlled detonation.
  


SUNDAY, MAY 06, 2007
Yusufiyah Joint Security Station Opens, Hosts Major Projects Meeting

By Spc. Chris McCann
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO
Multi-National Division – Center PAO

   FORWARD OPERATING BASE YUSUFIYAH, Iraq - In the village of Yusufiyah, Iraq, representatives refuse to stand still and allow the fear of explosions to stop them from discussing issues.
   Several members from the Yusufiyah nahia, or local council, met Sunday at the Joint Security Station in Yusufiyah to discuss projects with civil affairs officers from 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and the 478th Civil Affairs Battalion, out of Perrine, Fla., and attached to 4-31 Inf.
   Many projects that 4-31 have begun in the community are complete or nearing completion – including streetlights for the town, especially the market area, garbage pickup, and irrigation canal cleanup and improvement.
   But some of the projects, such as a soccer field in the Ar-Barash-Tamuz neighborhood and a fire station for the village, are momentarily stalled as the citizens try to determine the best places for them. Since the various representatives were together, they began discussing among themselves different ideas and mentioning people who might be willing to sell or donate land for the projects.
   Capt. Chris Sanchez, a civil affairs officer with 4-31, has brokered many of the project meetings over the last several months. He said that it was the first time the Yusufiyah locals had talked so animatedly and begun figuring things out for themselves rather than passing ideas through him, a valuable step in getting the Iraqi village to assume control of local governance and planning.
   Still, there are areas where American presence is still needed. The main canal through the area comes through the village of Sadr Al-Yusufiyah, northwest of Yusufiyah, and a water gate there is broken, letting too much water through and alarming the locals.
   “Currently, the water flow might cause another break. We’re very edgy,” said Al-Assid. “Time is not on our side with this.”
   However, with security issues in the space between the villages, communication is nearly impossible without U.S. help. So, Sanchez spoke to the civil operations Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT, stationed in Sadr Al-Yusufiyah, to get the damage repaired.
   A water pumping station also ran into contract difficulties with the fuel provider, and the water pumps, left from Hussein’s time, are failing. Muhammad Hasehm Al Meheyawi asked for a backup pump of higher quality, which would not be available without American contracting assistance.
   The meeting provided a forum for the representatives to get together as U.S. forces provided security. While Yusufiyah is a great deal safer than it was before, like most of Iraq, it is not yet free of violence.
   “The meeting went really well,” said Sanchez, a native of Los Angeles. “What made it go so well was all the ministry representatives talking to each other. That’s the intent – we want them to figure things out without us being there. Everyone was open about their projects and issues.”
   Abbas Abbas Al-Sakbari, the nahia’s electrical engineer, was visibly excited when Sanchez mentioned that an American electrical engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would be visiting to help install streetlights in the market and improve the electrical infrastructure.
   “I won’t sleep,” Al-Sakbari said. “I’ll want to stay up all night with him, discussing things we can do with better electricity.” 
   “I’m glad to see them coming up with their own projects and addressing the needs of their area with the Iraqi government,” said Sanchez.
  


MONDAY, MAY 07, 2007
Reuters Photographer Embed

Reuters photographer Robert Strong recently spent time in Mahmudiyah with the 2nd Bn, 14th Inf. Regt. The link to his photos is here.
  


THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2007
Patrol Base Dragon:  Living In "Al Qaeda Land"

From Army Magazine
By Dennis Steele

   The bare steel and concrete ribs of a massive unfinished power plant tower above a lazy curl of the Euphrates River in the farmlands southwest of Baghdad. The Russian construction crew that worked on the plant for several years dropped everything and left when Coalition forces stormed across the Iraq border four years ago, leaving the huge complex a derelict monument to grandiose plans, halfhearted workmanship and the sudden realization that no more of Saddam Hussein’s checks were going to clear.
   Cranes, cable spools, welding sets and boxcar-sized turbines sit rusting in the yard, but the plywood walls of a mess hall, weight room, command post and sleeping areas are recent additions.
   American soldiers have moved in and cobbled the ghostly complex into an outpost called Patrol Base Dragon. Today, it is home to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry (A/2-14 Infantry) from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry).
   Posters are tacked to the walls; handheld video games, MP3 players and laptop computers lay on cots; and air conditioners are jammed into cutouts. An Internet café is open around the clock, and a jerry-rigged shower drips around the clock, too. The shaving water is tepid, but steaming breakfasts and dinners are served from a mobile kitchen trailer; boxes of Hot Pockets are set out for lunch. You can get a cold soda from a brace of refrigerators anytime you want - until the week’s soda allotment runs out, which is about the third day after delivery - but soldiers share with each other goodies they receive in care packages from home. You find that selfishness diminishes in direct correlation to how rough soldiers live. All in all, life’s not bad at Patrol Base Dragon. Certainly, it’s nothing to compare with the relative creature comforts of the big American camps and forward operating bases (FOBs) in Iraq: that would be like comparing a shantytown to Las Vegas. However, the soldiers of A/2-14 Infantry say they would rather be at the patrol base than a super FOB. They say it feels rather strange when they rotate back to Camp Striker for less than 72 hours every nine or 10 days.  Most of them feel it is useful only for getting laundry done, grabbing a haircut and restocking snacks. OK, sure, you can grab a milk shake, but you also have to put up with overhearing soldiers who never leave the FOB called “fobbits” in the current vernacular) talk about how rough they’ve got it.
   Morale is exponentially higher among small units at places like Patrol Base Dragon because of the intangibles: a sense of collective self-reliance; making do with what you’ve got; depending on your buddies and taking care of your buddies; only the arms room really needs a lock; everyone talks to each other; everyone pulls his weight; and, if you really need it, somebody will give you his last pair of clean pair of socks … or a pint of blood. There’s no way to name it all, and no price you can put on any of it.
   Another thing they have is an around-the-clock, real-world mission - sharp-edged, ground-pounder stuff: finding weapon caches; raiding improvised explosive device (IED) factories; catching bad guys … shooting it out with them if it comes to that; sitting though a rainstorm on a crummy observation post; working to gain the confidence of the locals and joking with their kids. A place like Patrol Base Dragon means soldiering at the retail level. Sure, it’s dangerous, but at the end of a patrol, there’s a good chance there will be something to show for it.
   The 2nd BCT, 10th Mountain Division, has patrol bases scattered throughout its area of operations (AO); it focused on establishing them as soon as the brigade arrived in Iraq.
   “During our training [for the deployment], we tapped into Vietnam veterans to learn from their experiences,” said Lt. Col. John Valledor, commander of the 2-14 Infantry.
   “They said you need to live forward in-zone to successfully engage in a classic counterinsurgency operation.”
   “The insurgency we’re fighting [in this AO] is strictly … Sunni extremists, who have been here for quite some time,” Col. Valledor explained. “[Among them] we have the 1920 Revolutionary Brigades group, which is involved with al Qaeda. … All told there are probably four distinct and [discordant] Sunni groups, and the fact that they are not working together makes it easier for us. My feeling is that the strong al Qaeda guys have been displaced and that we’re dealing with factionalized Sunni extremist groups that are still here because of the lack of governance. And that is why we are trying very hard to convince the sheiks and everyone else to become involved in the political process.”
   “Fighting an insurgency involves being out there with the people, not fighting from an FOB,” Col. Valledor said. “Our soldiers are fighting in-zone. We don’t drive to work.”
   A/2-14 Infantry occupied the power plant in late October after a short stint at the nearby Gator Swamp patrol base. The plant had been an off-and-on insurgent training camp and launch point for attacks and kidnappings, but the company took the facility without resistance. An Iraqi Army company has since co-located with the American soldiers at Dragon.
   Most of the operations and routine patrols launched from the base are dismounted. “Patrol bases are fantastic,” said Capt. Daniel Hurd, the A/2-14 Infantry commander. “We’ve detained 40 insurgents in the past two and a half months and not one of them was in a truck; we haven’t struck an IED in one of our vehicles because we don’t use vehicles.”
   “The most dangerous part in being out here is going back and forth to Camp Striker,” added 1st Sgt. David Schumacher. “You can sit in a vehicle on the highway all day long, but that won’t make you safer,” Capt. Hurd said. “We’re safer here not because we sit on the road and wave at people. We’re safer because we get out and get around.” “We have soldiers wearing 60 pounds of gear running down a guy who’s not carrying anything,” the first sergeant said. “Our dismounted operations disrupt the enemy about 10 times more effectively than if we were just rolling around. Being dismounted keeps our guys safe, and they are more likely to spot something.”
   “Our soldiers are better focused,” Capt. Hurd added. “When they step outside they know they’re in al Qaeda land. And because we’re always here at the patrol base or on patrol, the local people see that we’re here to stay,” Capt. Hurd said. “They are opening up and talking.”
   “Maintaining this patrol base isn’t a logistics nightmare. We’re pretty low maintenance,” said 1st Sgt. Schumacher. “We’re fortunate here because the place is so big that we have room for a dining facility, maintenance bay and aid station, but a patrol base will work no matter what you have. All you need is a house that you can secure and, brother, you’re in sector.”
  


TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2007
Task Force Golden Dragon Captures Enemy Weapons

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO
Multi-National Division – Center PAO


   CAMP STRIKER, Iraq - U.S. Soldiers discovered a weapons cache southwest of the Baghdad Airport Complex May 7.
   Company D, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) from Fort Drum, N.Y., discovered the cache at around 8:52 a.m. near Radwaniyah while conducting a search-and-attack mission in the area.
   Found were 17 60mm mortar rounds, seven 82 mm mortar rounds, five 105 mm artillery rounds, four 120 mm artillery rounds, five 122 mm artillery rounds and 27 mortar fuses.
   The rounds were configured for both indirect fire and for use as improvised explosive devises.  The cache was in close proximity to a historic IED site.  The owner of the property was detained and is being held for questioning.
   The ordnance was destroyed in a series of two controlled detonations conducted by the explosive ordnance team.
  


TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2007
IA Soldiers' Boots Touch Ground In Terrorist Safe Haven

Staff Sgt. Angela McKinzie
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

   SHAKRIYAH, Iraq - For the first time ever, Iraqi army soldiers’ boots have touched ground in a place that had once been referred to as the “Triangle of Death,” a place where terrorists dominated the area.
   Soldiers of the 3rd Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division raised the Iraqi flag Tuesday as a symbol of their presence in Shakriyah, Iraq, during a small ceremony at Patrol Base Gator Swamp in Shakriyah.
   “The company’s arrival at PBGS marks the beginning of a much anticipated transition of authority over a once well known terrorist safe haven,” said Capt. Brendan Hobbs, commander of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment “Golden Dragons,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) of Fort Drum, N.Y. “Their partnership will contribute significantly to this area.”
   For several months Hobbs’ Soldiers have been living at PBGS where they conduct routine operations to rid the area of terrorists. And now they have been partnered with Iraqi soldiers in hopes of creating an even safer place for the Iraqi local nationals.
   “We eagerly welcome the men of Company 3 as we continue to eliminate terrorist cells that have once thrived in Shakriyah,” said 1st Lt. Matt Knox, C Co. executive officer. “Their presence will establish a peace of mind among the area residents that will ultimately result in increased cooperation in bringing terrorist activities to an end.”
   While the Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers are partnered, they will not only be living together, but training as one.
   “The Golden Dragons will be able to teach the Iraqi soldiers marksmanship skills, how to find caches and they will go on dismounted patrols together,” said Lt. Col. John Valledor, the 2-14 commander. “The Soldiers will keep doing all the things they have been doing, but with the IA – as one.”
  Having the IA and U.S. Soldiers together at company level allows them to learn from each other in a smaller setting.
   “Each of the 2-14 companies is partnered with an IA company,” Valledor said. “It gives them – at company level – to train together and it is amazing … Eventually you start seeing the jundis start to imitate the U.S. Soldiers. They dress like them – anything from wearing knee pads to goggles,” he added. “They instantly click.”
   A Soldier from 2-14 Inf. echoed what Valledor said.
   “I am excited to work side-by-side with the IA soldiers and assist them in any way possible,” said Cpl. Joe Carmosino, a Soldier with 2-14. “One day the security of Iraq will be able to rest safely in their hands.”
   Carmosino is one of the Golden Dragons who will be working with the 60 new jundis at PBGS.
   “These are brand new IA soldiers,” Valledor mentioned. “We want them to gain a sense of duty and what it is like to be duty bound for the country of Iraq.”
   The IA company commander shared his feelings about being partnered with the Golden Dragons.
“We are excited to work as brothers with the Soldiers of 2-14,” said Capt. Thair, the 3rd Co. commander. “It is my hopes that we can bring security to the area and bring our terrorist enemies to justice.”
   In an area where no IA soldier dared to enter, May 8 marked a new beginning – a beginning with safety and hope… a beginning of a new found Iraq.
   “When the people of Iraq can visibly see an Iraqi force presence in the Sharkriyah village and see the Iraqi flag flying over a combined compound it means something,” Valledor said. “That is power.”
  


THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2007
QRF On The Mesopotamian Plain

By Lt. Col. John Valledor, Commander 2d Bn., 14th Inf. Reg’t

   The quick reaction force - QRF - wearing night vision goggles, quickly waded through a waist deep canal, keen on snatching their illusive prey. Overhead, a team of two AH-64 Apache helicopters circled like flies, ‘sparkling’ their infrared laser pointers on two suspected insurgents, fleeing and desperately trying to distance themselves from the fast-approaching U.S. hunters.
   The pilots had their forward-looking infrared sights’ heat polarity setting on “black hot,” revealing two dark colored human silhouettes against a broad white or cold farmland background. Invisible to the naked eye was a pair of thin, laser-straight light beams dancing across the landscape, emanating from the unseen helicopters aloft. Eventually they converged on a dense patch of four-foot-tall elephant grass bordering an irrigation canal, illuminating the insurgents final hide site.
   The reaction force, guided by the pilot’s beacons and radio instructions, pounced on the patch. The team’s lead sergeant, propelled by adrenalin, roughly tackled the pair of cowering insurgents. One was a Moroccan foreign fighter wearing a chest ammunition rack and carrying an AK-47 assault rifle with a Russian hand grenade in the pocket of his Adidas running suit. The other, a tribesman, was described by local intelligence sources as belonging to Al Qaeda in Iraq.
   Quickly, the reaction force reassembled on a nearby freshly-plowed potato field where minutes earlier, the Blackhawk helicopters had dropped them off. Again, the formation of helicopters descended from the darkness to withdraw the force and their newly acquired detainees for a short flight back to their base within the Baghdad International Airport complex.
   Hours earlier, a U.S. Army platoon accompanied by a squad of Iraqi jundis, or soldiers, conducted a combined, nighttime air assault into the village of Ar-Radwaniyah. The village is a sleepy, out-of-the-way collection of irrigated croplands on the Mesopotamian plain, suspected of being a waypoint along an insurgent ratline connecting Al-Fallujah, Abu Ghraib and southwest Baghdad. As soon as the force hit the ground, the supporting aviation battalion battle captain detected movement in what was previously a still, motionless scene, typical of all Iraqi villages obeying nation-wide, nighttime curfew restrictions.
   In the planning prior to the execution of the air assault, the task force had created several contingency plans, including that of the targets’ withdrawing from objectives as a reaction to the air assault. Although the assault force was primarily focused on clearing a sprawling cluster of over 20 Iraqi homes, they had rehearsed a plan to kill or capture fleeing ‘squirters’ - insurgents who managed to escape by squeezing through U.S. lines.
   Critical to accomplishing this task is good air-to-ground integration between attack aviation assets and the ground maneuver force. In the event that the assault force could not chase down and capture-fleeing insurgents, the task force designated an additional ground maneuver force, the QRF, with dedicated aviation lift assets to get them to any point on the ground deemed necessary. For this air assault operation, those assets would come from the same helicopter platoon used to infiltrate and later extract the ground assault force. The Blackhawk helicopters supporting this air assault would simply return to the mission’s primary pick-up zone and shut down, monitoring the task force’s command radios for continuous situational awareness. Likewise, staging the QRF’s Soldiers alongside the idle aircraft facilitated rapid loading and assault launching if needed.
   The QRF commander, in this case a highly respected master sergeant, participated in all of the ground force commander’s air mission planning and rehearsals, so that he was acutely aware of the anticipated threats, terrain limitations, the ground maneuver scheme and most importantly, all likely contingencies. Further, the QRF commander placed himself inside the task force tactical operations center during the execution of the air assault. This allowed him to monitor live reports from the ground maneuver commander and the supporting aviation battle captain as they called-in code words signaling completion of tasks on a checklist. He was also able to observe live unmanned aircraft system feeds to better visualize the effects of terrain on both the U.S. force and their opponents.
   As planned, the reaction force commander began to track and plot on a digital imagery map the initial spot reports from the air battle captain of suspected insurgent ‘squirters.’ He was able to monitor and track the assault force’s attempts to close with and capture the fleeing duo.
   From the onset, the assault force touched down two kilometers away from the initial insurgent sighting. They followed the radio instructions as well as the attack aviation’s laser beacons, but with the dense undergrowth and water-filled farm plots, closing in on these insurgents was taking longer than hoped and jeopardized the completion of tasks in the original scheme of maneuver.
   The enemy also had first-hand knowledge of the dense irrigation canal networks in Ar-Radwaniyah and were able to outrun the assault force Soldiers trying to envelop them at night, through complex terrain, wearing full body armor.
   Although the attack aviation aircraft could clearly see the suspected insurgents using their infrared optics, they could not positively identify if they were carrying weapons, which would increase the options for how to apply the rules of engagement.
   Although their actions by fleeing the site of the air assault landing marked it as suspicious activity, it alone was not enough to warrant the application of deadly force. At a minimum, it was imperative that the task force attempt to capture the suspicious twosome for intelligence of military value.
   Frustrated by the fleeing insurgents’ ability to outrun the ground assault force, and by the fact that the air battle captain did not have visual justification to interdict the fleeing duo with lethal fires, the task force commander decided to launch the QRF.
   The task force commander contacted the aviation battle captain managing airborne assets over the objective and tasked him to identify a safe and suitable helicopter-landing zone for the QRF in close proximity of the pinpointed insurgents. Once selected, the task force staff passed the map coordinates to both the pilots and QRF commanders so they could give the information to all involved.
   Once launched, the QRF was able to capture the wanted insurgents, safely disarm them, and return them to the task force detention facility for tactical questioning within a span of 40 minutes. Upon questioning, it was found that the Moroccan foreign fighter was high on an unknown substance. He freely divulged detailed information on existing insurgent cell networks in the area—information that would be used in the never-ending cycle of human intelligence driven counterinsurgency operations.
   The operation described might sound like a mission executed by a secret, covert, special-operations team. But surprisingly, it was entirely conceived, planned and successfully executed by conventional Army forces. The ground assault force consisted of Soldiers from Task Force 2-14’s heavy weapons company and the QRF from the reconnaissance platoon. With prudent planning and careful use of limited aviation assets, any conventional force in Iraq can achieve time-sensitive targeting effects previously within the domain of special operations forces.
  


THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2007
Second Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment Seizes Weapons, Suspects In Raids

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

   BAGHDAD - The ongoing search for three Soldiers who disappeared in a May 12 attack near Yusufiyah, Iraq, continues to turn up caches of weapons and new suspects in the case.
   Soldiers of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment conducted house-to-house searches southeast of Yusufiyah today, detaining 17 suspects and seizing a cache.
   The Soldiers found an AK-47, a 9mm pistol, five magazines, a gas mask, two bandoliers, three ammunition vests, ten magazines and five other weapons, three of which were hidden in tennis-racket cases.
   In another home the Soldiers found a modified cell phone, an AK-47, and another 9mm pistol, and next door, an AK-47 with an ammunition bandolier and five magazines, and in a nearby house, another bandolier, gas mask, and a bayonet.
   The detainees were taken to U.S. facilities for further questioning.
  


THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2007
Search Nets Weapons, Suspects

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

   BAGHDAD - Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) from Fort Drum, N.Y., continued to find weapons caches and detain terror suspects during search operations for three missing Soldiers May 22.
   The 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT discovered a series of caches which contained five 57mm rocket rounds, two six-volt batteries, two spools of copper wire, two 58mm rocket rounds, a 120mm rocket round, and two complete DSHKA heavy machine guns.
   Batteries, artillery rounds and wire are some of the most basic materials used in the construction of improvised explosive devices.
   The battalion’s scout platoon discovered two AK-47s with five magazines, two ammunition vests, a hand grenade, four grenade fuses, four blasting caps, a stick of plastic explosive, an IED detonator, 100 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, a Kawasaki motorcycle, and over 150 homemade CDs labeled in Arabic.
   The caches were seized and the explosives destroyed by controlled detonation.

 

Iraq Blog:  May 2007
2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division Commandos
Page Copyright © 2008 Kirk S. Ramsey
Last modified: September 13, 2008