Thread: Operation Iraqi Freedom/Multi-National Force

Partners disrupting accelerant flow

By Maj. Joe Sowers, 3rd HBCT Public Affairs
Jul 25, 2007 - 5:27:15 PM

Blackanthem Military News, FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment have new partners in their efforts to stop accelerant flow into Baghdad.


Sgt. 1st Class Scott Darnell, 34, Greenwood, Ind., 3rd Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment platoon sergeant, discusses traffic control point operations with a National Policemen during a break at a traffic control point along the Al Kut Highway southeast of Baghdad. (Photo by 1-15th Infantry Soldiers)

The 2nd Battalion Wassit Emergency Response Force is now working alongside its Coalition counterparts from the “Dragon Battalion” to establish traffic control points to disrupt the flow of bomb-making material along major thoroughfares southeast of Baghdad.

The 1-15th Inf. Regt., 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, deployed to Iraq in March 2007 and immediately established combat outposts among the communities southeast of Baghdad. As a part of the surge, the Soldiers of 1-15th Inf. Regt. assumed the mission of hindering the flow of insurgents and bomb-making material as they moved north.

Capt. John Horning, commander, Company C, said when the 1-15th Inf. Regt. began conducting missions in early April, traffic control points along the Al Kut Highway were nothing more than “traffic observation” points.

The 3rd platoon of Company C has joined with the ERF to along the Al Kut Highway, near Wahida. The Al Kut highway is lined with businesses in many places and contains key commercial zones in the Fort Benning, Ga., soldiers’ area of operations. The road has also seen the highest number of roadside bombs in the battalion’s area of operations.
The ERF, also known as the “Lions of Wassit,” bring experienced leaders and soldiers onto the Coalition team. Horning said many of the Lions are former Iraqi army paratroopers. Soldiers of the unit maintain higher standards of discipline than many other ISF units and are very well trained, he said.

“They don’t lack motivation, and they don’t lack individual skills,” Horning said. “They are … fearless.”

Sgt. 1st Class Scott Darnell, 3rd platoon sergeant, Company C, concurs.

“They weren’t the regular soldiers under Saddam’s regime,” said Darnell. “The tactics they use are a little more advanced than what we see with the regular Iraqi Security Forces.”

Horning thinks the success of the Lions can easily be seen.

“The best evidence of their success is how quiet it has been along the Al Kut Highway in our area,” Horning said. “All the EFPs (explosively formed penetrators) that we have seen have been outside of their area of operations.”

Besides hindering terrorist activity, the combined traffic control operations provide an opportunity for 1-15th Inf. Regt. Soldiers and ERF personnel to work together and learn from each other. The Company C initiative is focused on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of traffic control points conducted by the ERF.

Horning believes that while the ERF soldiers possess individual skills above their ISF peers, he also sees where the unit can improve as a whole. Horning said battalion-level planning and “conditions setting” would be areas in which he would like to see the Lions improve.

Even with some deficiencies, Horning said he thinks the ERF help his company greatly.

“Their ability to gather human intelligence is way beyond ours,” said Horning. “We rely on technology and they bring the human element. They complete the puzzle.”


Partners disrupting accelerant flow

Chasing the Mahdi Army through Baghdad's hall of mirrors
Published Date: July 25, 2007

BAGHDAD: On a searing summer afternoon the streets of the Al-Hurriya neighborhood in western Baghdad are bustling, the shops are open, the people are smiling and chatting and lounging outside in the shade. Ask anyone and they will tell you there is complete security in their corner of central Baghdad-no militias, no insurgents, no worries. But no one calls this a victory for the five-month-old Baghdad security plan, and the US soldiers who police Al-Hurriya are convinced that most of its people are in the
grip, or on the payroll, of a shadowy militia. "The reason they say it's safe is that all the Sunnis they worry about-neighbors they lived with for generations-are dead," Lieutenant William Cone of the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne said. "The Mahdi Army will come and beat the hell out of them if they talk.

The powerful Shiite militia, founded by radical cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, melted away in the face of a Baghdad security plan launched earlier this year, its black-clad gunmen mostly vanishing from the streets. They did not disappear for good, however, and the militia commands a following in places like Hurriya. In the eyes of the American soldiers, almost everyone here is a potential operative. On Friday morning shots rang out in the distance as soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne patrolled along
an abandoned railroad. Someone saw movement on a nearby rooftop and the patrol raced over to the house, burst in through the door, and dragged the family - an old bearded man, his three grown sons, two women and two children-into the living room.

The sleepy-eyed young men glared at the walls as their father sat on the floor in his underwear, staring up at the soldiers in a mixture of fear and astonishment. They dragged one of the younger men out to the back porch. "Why were you on the roof?" one soldier asked. "I raise birds up there." "Where's your AK?" the soldier asked, referring to the AK-47 assault rifle, ubiquitous in Iraq. "No AK." "So if we tear up your house we aren't going to find anything?" "I have just one AK." He is allowed to have one
AK. At this point Lieutenant William Cone, the platoon leader, stepped in. "I don't give a shit about your AK. Who was shooting at us?" he asked. "I don't know." "****ing liar," another soldier said. They soon determined that the gunshots came from further south, but remained suspicious because the house was next to a street where militants frequently set roadside bombs.

You know anything about guys planting bombs on this road?" Cone asked the old man sitting on the floor. "No, I swear." "Because I personally got blown up on this road," Cone said. "You don't know anything about it?" "We hear bombs sometimes." Outside, a young boy rode his bike past a line of Humvees, weaving around a soldier who has taken up a firing position next to the vehicle. The soldier stepped out and grabbed him by the shirt. "You see all these mother****ing trucks? Get out of here," he yelled, k
icking the wheel of the bike as the kid rolled forward.

Another soldier ran over and kicked the wheel again. The patrol resumed, the soldiers walking through the streets under a heavy midday sun, loudly interrogating random men, frisking young kids in the streets and shouting at people to disperse when the crowds got too thick. They have been here for seven months. Snipers have hit their guard towers, mortars have landed near their patrols, and in May a sophisticated roadside bomb flattened one of their armoured Humvees and killed two of their comrades. And nea
rly every time the people of Al-Hurriya, the ones who sit in front of the same shops on the same streets every day, saw nothing. Their apparent detachment belies Al-Hurriya's bloody past. At the end of last year, before the battalion arrived, Shiite militias crept into the once-mixed area and launched a campaign of terror to drive Sunnis out.

Over the course of a long weekend you had 200 Sunni families move out and 200 Shiite families move in," said Lieutenant Colonel Brynt Parmeter of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, responsible for much of western Baghdad. The influx of around 9,000 US soldiers-part of a capital-wide "troop surge" launched in February-temporarily froze the frontline just south of Al-Hurriya, halting a Shiite land-grab in the heart of the capital. But the militias were never defeated and are now quietly consolidating t
heir power.

I think some people support them, some people are scared, and most just don't want to get involved," Captain Irvin Nelms of the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne said. "There's been a switch of leadership. All the old JAM leaders have gone away and now we have new guys springing up," Nelms said, referring to the Mahdi Army, in Arabic the Jaish al-Mahdi, by its military acronym. Nelms and others speak of "bad JAM"-those who terrorize residents, monopolize local services, and target US and Iraqi forces with roa
dside bombs-and "noble JAM" who cooperate with US and Iraqi forces.

There are groups of 20 people who will carry out actions in the name of Jaish Al-Mahdi and have no connection to the base," Parmeter said. But then "there are Jaish Al-Mahdi guys who have a great vision for the future." US commanders even claim to have arrested Sunni members of the organization. "It's kind of like the mob movies where one kid grows up to be a cop and the other one joins the mafia, and it's like 'Sammy, what are you doing?'," Parmeter joked. But no one can say which militants are closer to
Sadr himself, whose glowering visage looks down from posters plastered on Al-Hurriya's shop windows but who has only appeared in public once in the past several months. A few hours before dawn on a still summer night earlier this month two rocket-propelled grenades slammed into the small base that houses US and Iraqi forces in Al-Hurriya. US commanders believe the attack was ordered by militants from the southern Shiite holy city of Najaf where Sadr's protean movement is based, a sign perhaps that someone
is watching, and waiting. - AFP

Provincial Reconstruction Teams rebuild Iraq from bottom up
Saturday, 28 July 2007
Spc. Chris McCann
10th Mountain Division (LI) PAO



Col. Michael Kershaw (left), a native of Huffman, Texas, and commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., speaks with Lou Lantner (second from left), brigade embedded provincial reconstruction team leader, Dr. David Kilcullen, a counter-insurgency expert, and the deputy commander of the 2nd BCT Lt. Col. John Laganelli at a conference at the 2nd BCT's headquarters at Camp Striker, Iraq, in June. Photo by Spc. Christina Mc Cann, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs.CAMP STRIKER — Recently, the Army has been bringing embedded provincial reconstruction teams to brigades in Iraq in order to help teach Iraqi businessmen and local officials how to improve their marketability and function as part of a democratic government.

The EPRTs are teams of about 10 people who work closely with a brigade’s civil affairs teams, engineers, and other staff sections to help Iraqi governance and economic development. The idea, while used in Afghanistan, is relatively new to Iraq. The first wave of EPRT personnel arrived in Iraq in April. The strategy seems to be bearing fruit already.

Lou Lantner, a native of Washington, D.C., was on his second tour in Vietnam as a public affairs officer with the U.S. State Department when he attended a public affairs conference and heard Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speak. She mentioned opportunities for State Department employees in Iraq, and Lantner pursued the chance.

The pursuit didn’t take long, he said. A month later he left Vietnam for four weeks of training in the United States and another week in Kuwait and Iraq.

Now he heads the EPRT that works with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., helping with projects in Mahmudiyah, Yusufiyah and other villages southwest of Baghdad.

“We have civilians, active-reserve and active-duty service members with us,” Lantner explained. “Together, we try to identify the moderates in Iraq, people who are supportive of the United States, and help them stand up their local governments. We also help the local government work with the national government.”

Local input is a new concept here. Saddam Hussein funded what he took a personal interest in, and most villages in the country had no say, Lanter said.

“National government is new for them,” he said. “People are getting used to this new way of doing things. They’re not used to dealing with planning projects, doing budgets, submitting them to government, getting them funded – it’s our job to help that happen.”

The EPRT members have sent local officials to classes on budget formation and other skills they need.

“All of this is normal, to (Americans),” he said. “But it’s very new and different to our Iraqi friends.”

One of the primary responsibilities of an EPRT is refining the plans brigades already have, Lantner said. For example, the 2nd BCT (Brigade Combat Team) already had planned a micro-loan clinic in Mahmudiyah. The EPRT helped make it functional. They also assist Iraqi business people that take advantage of the micro-loans.

Another project has been veterinary care, a major concern in the agricultural area south of Baghdad, 2nd BCT’s area of operations. While one EPRT member is a veterinarian, the object of the game is to get local veterinarians back in business.

“Some of the local doctors show a real interest in resuming their practice,” Lantner said. “We’re not to that point yet, but we’re getting there.”

Jeff Kaufman works with the U.S. Agency for International Development and is a member of the EPRT. He helps local business owners with marketing and networking to increase sales, and looks for ways that they can increase their efficiency and marketability.

“It’s not just about making things; it’s marketing, too,” Kaufman said. “The caveat is that it’s difficult to operate in a different country,” said Kaufman. “Adapting U.S. marketing culture to Iraqi modes of doing business is different. I have to adapt myself to how their culture does business.”

Ultimately, what starts as a simple micro-loan has a huge ripple effect.

“They improve their business, which makes more jobs,” said Kaufman. Jobs are critical; many people who plant improvised explosive devices do it not because of a terrorist ideology, but simply because they were offered money to do it, and needed to feed their families.”

A second benefit is even subtler, Kaufman said.

“If we have a micro-finance clinic, then the banks ask, ‘Why can’t we do that. too?’ Maybe they start offering loans and have a more competitive interest rate, and that makes credit more available for more people.”

The EPRT is trying to guide and teach without providing concrete assets, Kaufman explained.

“If we insert ourselves into the process, then when we leave, it falls apart,” he said.

He cited the example of a canal being shut off during a May search for two missing Soldiers of the 2nd BCT. The shutoff was necessary, but it affected the town of Mahmudiyah, which depends on the canal for much of its water. The incident, while unfortunate, had a benefit.

“The government became really energized,” Kaufman said. “The EPRT, the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd BCT, and the mayor of Mahmudiyah got together and worked out ways to react next time. The local government was engaged and really realized that they were responsible for helping the people.”

The incident helped illustrate the need for emergency plans and other urban development ideas.

In the countryside, the EPRT has been helping farmers form cooperatives and associations, which will help them survive when the Iraqi government phases out subsidies.

“The farmers will be speaking with one voice,” Kaufman said. “That will help them with enhancing their production and buying input items like seed and fertilizer. Over time, they will reap the benefits.”

The fact that the EPRT’s successes are not as visible as kinetic military operations – they don’t result in captured terrorists, for example – makes it difficult, even for the team, to determine what success is, but they can feel it.

“We’re trending in the right direction,” Kaufman said.

“I think we’ll know in the next three or four months if we’re successful,” Lantner offered. “We’ve seen a lot of gains, but it’s too early to tell if it will continue. I like to think it will.”

Operation Olympus opens route, secures towns
Saturday, 28 July 2007
By Pfc. Ben Fox
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division



An Iraqi man unloads a bag of rice from a container full of food rations that were delivered by coalition and Iraqi security forces to the town of Anbakia as a part of Operation Olympus, July 22. Photo by Pfc. Benjamin Fox, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.ANBAKIA — Two key towns were held captive by a terrorist threat in the Diyala province, effectively blocking a supply route for many citizens in the Diyala River Valley.

As the anti-Iraqi forces continued to terrorize the towns, many of the citizens were displaced and became refugees in the nearby town of Anbakia, overpopulating the town and creating an even further shortage of food and services.

That all changed on July 22 with the start of Operation Olympus. Early in the morning, Iraqi army soldiers on foot, and teams of paratroopers from the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, air assaulted into the towns and completely destroyed the terrorist cells within.

“Our operation attacked these two villages that were harboring these terrorists, isolating them and bringing overall combat power to destroy them,” said Lt. Col. Andrew Poppas, the 5-73rd Cav. commander.

“This was a number of campaigns in an overall campaign plan to bring safety and security to the Diyala River Valley,” said Poppas.

“Previous intelligence-driven operations have been specifically directed at destroying anti-Iraqi forces in this region,” he said. “We have been extremely effective… at destroying the enemy in order to supply safety and security to the area.”

The operation also focused its efforts on Anbakia, the town that held all of the refugees.

The operation stationed a civil military operations (CMO) team to deliver initial supplies and services, such as food and medical spe******ts, said Poppas.

The number of refugees stressed the town’s already meager rations and capabilities to address the population’s needs, he said.

Capt. Henry Shih, the brigade surgeon for 3rd BCT, held a combined medical engagement in the town with Lt. Wassim from the Iraqi army.

“It was very good to have Lt. Wassim seeing patients so they could see the face of the Iraqi army,” said Shih.

Shih said Wassim did a good job because he had knowledge of medicine and was in good spirits. He also served partially as an interpreter for Shih because he knew English.

The patients the combined force treated had problems ranging from diabetes and heart problems to rare chronic and congenital illnesses, said Shih.

The IA medic also helped the local population with the coalition’s overall goal.

“We are trying to push them to be more reliant on the Iraqi army for security and other services,” said Shih. “They will have to be more independent when we leave.”

The mission was an example of the IA and 5-73rd’s ability to handle complicated multi-faceted operations.

“Simultaneous kinetic operations have been conducted with non-kinetic operations aimed at establishing effective, representative local governments, repairing and rebuilding the physical infrastructure of local communities and the establishment of basic services necessary for all communities,” said Poppas.

In addition to the combat, food and medical support was provided, 5-73rd Cav. also cleared the entire route connecting these towns.

“This operation is indicative of the duality of a mission profile in which we have anti-Iraqi forces which try to attempt to deny freedom of movement for coalition forces and freedom of movement along the entire route,” said Poppas.

On their way up to Anbakia, the CMO team conducted route clearance, removing improvised explosive devices, barriers, and illegal check points in order to allow Iraqis to use the main road to travel between Baqubah and Khalis, said Poppas.

The residents of Anbakia have been loyal supporters of the coalition and Iraqi security forces, which is part of the reason help was sent to them specifically with their refugees.

“The town had been friendly to coalition forces,” said Shih.

“They help us, so we help them,” he said. “We will continue to work with them and not just abandon them.”

“Our deliberate destruction of anti-Iraqi forces throughout the entire region has set conditions for the repatriation of these dislodged individuals,” said Poppas.

The mission ended by setting up ISF security positions in the towns and along the routes.

“The combined might of Iraqi and American power” reduced the problem set to one that the ISF can easily maintain, said Poppas.

“The establishment of Iraqi security forces will allow for long-term safety and security, and freedom of movement in the entire region,” he said.

Local residents lead Soldiers to huge weapons cache
Saturday, 28 July 2007
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO
Multi-National Division - Center



Soldiers of Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., pose for a photo with a cache of weapons they unearthed after several local citizens near Patrol Base Inchon chased away anti-Iraqi forces from the cache and told U.S. forces about it. The cache was full of explosives. Courtesy photo.PATROL BASE INCHON — The rural areas south of Baghdad have long been a trouble spot for Coalition Forces. The fertile land was given by Saddam Hussein to Baath Party members and close friends, and the ties made it a hotbed of terrorism.

Increasingly, however, residents are combating terror in their areas.

On July 23, a local Iraqi man came to Patrol Base Inchon, near the Euphrates River, staffed by Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and elements of the 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division. He told troops that several other residents had chased a group of anti-Iraqi forces away from a weapons cache. He asked Soldiers to remove the weapons.

Several local residents guarded the cache and placed a fluorescent marking cloth to alert helicopters that they were not hostile.

Soldiers of Company D moved out to find the cache and were met on the road by some of the local residents, who guided them to the cache, which was next to a canal.

The cache contained 210 57mm rockets, 25 82mm rockets, eight 120mm mortars, a large rocket, and a bag of homemade explosives.

An explosive ordnance disposal team detonated the contents of the cache with a controlled explosion.

Although most rockets and mortars found in caches are not suitable for firing as intended, they are commonly used as improvised explosive devices.

“It’s a significant breakthrough in one of our most problematic areas,” said Maj. Kenny Mintz, 2nd BCT’s operations officer. “We have had a series of people turn in caches in the Qarghuli tribal area, which has historically been a source for supplies for IEDs and munitions for terrorist attacks.”

Mintz, a San Diego native, said he feels the change in residents’ behavior is due to a realization that al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations are not what they had bargained for.

Improved Ninewah security may mean fewer U.S. troops in future
Saturday, 28 July 2007

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Adam Johnson provides security over workers from a flour factory during a raid in Mosul, Iraq. Johnson is with Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, out of Fort Bliss, Texas. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Vanessa Valentine.BAGHDAD — Insurgent attacks in Iraq’s Ninewah province have dropped significantly, and if the trend continues, fewer U.S. troops will be needed in the region, an Army commander in the area said Friday.
A sign of the improved security situation in the province is the fact that the province - which includes Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city - will transfer to Iraqi provincial control sometime next month, said Army Col. Stephen Twitty, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 4th Brigade, during a briefing with Pentagon reporters via telephone.

The Ninewah provincial government has made great strides and can stand on its own with minimal help, Twitty said. “We have a very mature provincial government here,” he said.

The Coalition provincial reconstruction team in Mosul and the brigade staff will continue to coach and mentor the provincial government. “In nine months I have seen this government mature, so they will be able to operate pretty much independently and run the provincial government pretty much independently,” Twitty said.

On the security side, the two Iraqi divisions in the province are already under the command of Iraqi Ground Forces Command. “We still continue to see a need for the (provincial reconstruction team) to be here and will probably see a need for some type of Coalition forces up here,” Twitty said. “That may or may not be a robust force like I have, and it's going to be based on the security situation here.”

He said the security situation is showing great promise. When his brigade moved into the area in December, there were between 15 and 18 attacks per day. Today, that number is down to between seven and nine. “But we must not call victory yet, and we must continue to look at the situation up here,” he said.

He said he will look at the possibility of reducing Coalition forces in the province.

About 19,000 Iraqi police and 20,000 Iraqi Army Soldiers are in Nineveh and are taking on the job of fighting and defeating terrorism, Twitty said. He described an example of Iraqis shouldering the burden that occurred May 16, when terrorists launched a car-bomb offensive. “The Iraqi Security Forces stood their ground and destroyed the majority of the (car bombs) … so they could not reach their final destination, decisively defeating the attack,” he said.

Iraqi Security Forces have “the will, the personnel and most of the equipment to fight,” but still face challenges, the colonel acknowledged. Logistics, medical support, aviation support, and engineer expertise and equipment are shortfalls. “These are the areas that the Iraqi Security Forces must develop and that the Iraqi government must provide for their forces,” Twitty said.

The Iraqi forces will continue to grow; Iraqi government plans call for another 3,000 policemen and standing up three new Iraqi Army battalions to augment the current forces, Twitty said. “These additional forces will solidify the current effort in the province,” he said.

The terrorists have reacted to the success with confusion. “The insurgents have been plagued with infighting amongst several groups of the Islamic State of Iraq, and it continues to attempt to influence operations here in Nineveh,” Twitty said. “This infighting caused decreased effectiveness of insurgent attacks in June. This month, insurgent forces received little to no financial and logistics support due to the strong Iraqi police, Iraqi Army and Coalition force presence and operations. These operations have resulted in the seizure of 11 caches and the capture of several insurgent leaders.”

The improved security has allowed coalition and Iraqi officials to concentrate on infrastructure improvements and strengthening the local government.

(By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service)

In

3-1 Cavalry tests water at new well in al Nijadat
Wednesday, 01 August 2007
By Staff Sgt. Sean Riley
3rd HBCT Public Affairs



A 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment Soldier passes out backpacks to local children as Civil Affairs Soldiers inspect and test a new well near the town of al Nijadat July 25. Photo by Staff Sgt. Sean Riley, 3rd HBCT Public Affairs.FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Soldiers from 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, along with a Fort Bragg Civil Affairs team, visited the town of al Nijadat to inspect a recently-installed fresh water well July 25.

The well is the product of joint efforts by 3-1 Cav. Soldiers and local government officials. After meeting with the town council, Soldiers from Company A, 97th Civil Affairs Battalion learned fresh water was a major concern for al Nijadat residents.

“We were delivering water by truck,” said 1st Lt. Jeffrey Ritter, of Waterloo, Iowa, civil affairs liaison and staff officer for 3rd Squadron. “The well is a near-to-long term solution, at least until the Sabbah Nissan pumping station is completed.”

The Sabbah Nissan pumping station, another 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team project, is in the planning phase. The proposed $6.3 million irrigation pump station will bring water as far out as al Nijadat, said Maj. Brad Domby, Weiser, Idaho, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team project manager.

Ritter said a major challenge was connecting the pump to a power source.

“We had to locate the well in a central location, to keep it available for the public,” Ritter said. “There are only two power lines in the city. They had to run cable from the lines to a generator, then to the pump.”

The generator is there to provide power when electricity from the town is unavailable.

“This way,” Ritter said, “they can get water any time they want.”

While others inspected the well, members of the team handed out backpacks, women’s and children’s shoes to local citizens.

The well was tested for water purity and is providing clean drinking water.

The 3-1 Cavalry is assigned to the 3rd HBCT, 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Benning, Ga. The 3rd HBCT has been deployed to Iraq since March.

Coalition Forces reclaim Jamea'a during Operation Rogue Thunder
Wednesday, 01 August 2007
By Spc. Alexis Harrison
1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs



The commander of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, Col. Raheem, points out locations of traffic control points and other security measures being placed in Al Jamea'a during Operation Rogue Thunder July 23. The Iraqi Army Battalion, along with a Military Transition Team and Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, swept the area and implemented several new security measures during the operation. Photo by Spc. Alexis Harrison, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.BAGHDAD — As Operation Arrowhead Ripper moves along in Diyala, ever so quietly, Operation Rogue Thunder swept through a section of the capital in hopes of ridding the area of anti-Iraqi forces for good.

The 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, their Military Transition Team and Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, cleared Al Jamea'a of caches, bombs and insurgents while helping to ramp up security efforts to reclaim the area terrorized and bullied by al-Qaida.

The terrorists in the area had been ruthlessly controlling every action of the people according to Maj. Chris Norrie, the transition team's commander. Women were forced to cover their faces, men were arrested for seemingly nothing and children weren't even allowed to play soccer in the streets.

Al Jamea'a used to be occupied by white-collar professionals until the insurgents began the scare tactics that led to many of the well-off residents leaving their homes. Many of the mansion-sized homes in the neighborhood are empty, and as Capt. Peter Kilpatrick said, the empty homes are seen as an opportunity for insurgents to move in.

"Only 30 percent of Jamea'a was occupied," said the Bronx, N.Y., native. "The vacancies made it vulnerable."

Several caches had been found during previous operations around the Najra Mosque area. During the first day of this operation, the streets and shops around the Najra Mosque were empty. A few people cautiously came out to see the Humvees, tanks and Iraqi army vehicles stage. This would begin the lengthy process of securing the area.

Iraqi soldiers began setting up traffic control points along the street to inspect vehicles. Meanwhile, in another section of the neighborhood Soldiers were busy setting up observation points to overwatch the area known for its high number of roadside bombs.

This area is of particular importance for the Soldiers of the 1-64th Armor. They had lost several of their comrades to deep-buried improvised explosive devices in recent times. The observation towers and combat outpost being placed in the neighborhood would give them constant presence in the area therefore deterring any would-be bomb placers from accomplishing their mission.

During the ramp up of security measures, several teams were searching houses for caches. One cache, consisting of more than 50 60mm mortar rounds, was found in one of the abandoned houses.

Sgt. Kenneth Swartwood said that many of the residents are happy to see the coalition forces move into their neighborhood. More importantly, the combined presence of Iraqis and Americans working together proved to the people just how important the area's security was.

"One-64th came in with open arms to the [Iraqi army]," the Corpus Christi, Texas, native said. "A big reason Adel and Jamea'a are good now is because of the partnership with the IA. They actually worked with them hand-in-hand. The civilians feel a lot better when it's a partnership. They feel like it's twice as secure."

After many of the new security measures were in place, the commander of the Iraqi army battalion, Col. Raheem, went to the mosque to use its loudspeaker to make an announcement to the people in the neighborhood.

He let it be known to the people that the coalition forces were in the area to make a change for the better. He said that security will improve for the people and that they have not only God watching them, but the entire coalition.

"Almost immediately, people began to come out of their homes," Raheem said. "These people deserve to live in peace after al-Qaida had oppressed them for so long."

Raheem commands one of the largest battalions in the area. Many of the soldiers he commands are very new to life in the army, but he and the transition team made sure that they conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism.

Now that the security measures are in place, Kilpatrick said that the coalition forces in the area will have 24-hour surveillance over the entire area.

"We've established several static positions," he said. "However, I don't think locals would have felt comfortable with putting a [combat outpost] next to the mosque without help from the Iraqis."

Raheem said that many of the locals feel that having a combined presence in the area is good and that it helps gain the trust of the people even faster.

Troops provide dental, medical assistance
Wednesday, 01 August 2007
By Sgt. Robert Yde
1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs



2nd Lt. Omar Khan, an Iraqi Army dentist, looks at a young girl's teeth during a humanitarian aid mission in Baghdad's Janeen neighborhood July 27. Photo by Spc. Robert Yde, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.BAGHDAD — While in many countries basic dental and medical care may sometimes be taken for granted, for most Iraqis, services such as these are luxuries that are often times unavailable or unaffordable.

To help mitigate this issue, Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, conducted a dental and medical assistance mission in a small village near the neighborhood of Janeen July 27.

More than 100 people received treatment during the humanitarian aid mission, which was conducted in conjunction with dentists from the Iraqi army.

“Today we came to provide medical care for the local nationals and our goal was to restore families and help them with the care that they don’t get on an every day basis,” explained Capt. Leon Richardson, the physician’s assistant with 3-82 FA.

The San Antonio native said that the battalion tries to conduct missions like this at least once every two months, but if time allowed, they would like to be able to do them more often.

“We want to try to pick it up and get out here a little bit more because there’s a lot more that needs to be done,” he said.

One of the residents, who the Soldiers had worked with before, volunteered the use of his property for the set up of their make-shift clinic.

Richardson set up in a small shaded corner outside the house, while the brigade’s dentist, Capt. Christine Ford and her assistant, Spc. Lisa Beasley, used the living room to see their patients.

Along with Ford, two dentists from the Iraqi army, 2nd Lts. Omar Khan and Saleh Faris, were also on hand to provide assistance.

“We were taking care of immediate problems, particularly pain issues, which were mostly extractions,” Ford, a native of Seattle, explained. “Most of the patients we saw were mostly tooth pain or gum pain, all coming from poor oral hygiene.”

Ford explained to each of her patients how to properly care for their teeth and handed out toothbrushes after treating them.

She said that while it was good that they were able to offer some help, there were several limitations to the type of services she could provide.

“Since we can’t bring all our equipment we couldn’t do regular fillings or anything like that,” Ford said. “It was basically extractions, maybe a quick cleaning or nothing. So our realm was very limited.”

Richardson agreed with Ford about the limitations of the types of care he could provide, saying that the best he could do for most people was give them something to try to alleviate whatever pain they were dealing with

“We’re just here to treat symptoms,” he explained. “Because we can’t do a whole lot, we just give them something to help them with the pain. If there’s some emergency, we may do some small procedure, but other than that it’s just pain control – relieve the symptoms and make them feel better.”

He said the most common problems he saw were joint and abdominal pain and allergies, and although he can’t cure everybody, just being able to provide a little assistance is a good feeling.

“Whenever you can relieve pain from any patient, it doesn’t matter, Americans or local nationals, it’s a great feeling,” Richardson said. “We touch lives and people leave feeling better.”

While Ford and Richardson attended to the patients, Soldiers from Battery A, 3-82 FA maintained order and security outside.

Sgt. Frank Kautz, a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., said that he enjoys taking part in these humanitarian missions, particularly his interaction with the children.

“I love children and I’ve always loved children,” he said. “I like to see smiling faces on kids. The reason I play the games with them and play around with them is it gives them a little entertainment and let’s them know we’re friendly and doesn’t give them a bad impression of us.”

While their parents were waiting to be seen, Kautz and other Soldiers organized games for the children and handed out small prizes to the winners.

“Any humanitarian mission that I’m a part of I feel good about myself because I know we made a difference,” Kautz said. “It gives the people a good impression that Americans are not here to be harmful, they’re here to help, and that’s why I always feel good every time I’m a part of something like this. I know I’m here helping people and the people know we’re here to help.”

Thanks for this blog on Gen Petraeus. I am glad to know he has no "soft edges". The military now needs to provide the leadership the politicians lack. Soft edges need not apply.

It was said some time ago that diplomacy precedes war, but when war becomes necessary, let the soldiers do what they do best (a paraphrase on my part). It doesn't matter that the Clintons' and Edwards' now say they lament their vote in Congress. They made the vote. Let the soldier do his job and back him to the end. Let him right your mistake.

General Petraeus, with the fine American soldiers that surround him, will get the job done, if the politicians will just get out of the way (this is Vietnam deja vu all over again). There is a simple expression for it for it in the military: lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.

At the same time, wars are not won by Generals, they are won by Privates, Corporals, Sergeants, Lieutenants and Captains. They are the ones that lead and create success. Petraeus will not be successful unless those Sergeants and Captains are. So if this fails, you can't blame Petraeus; the military will not have failed. If the politicians keep interfering, they will have failed...again.

What we don't need is people making decisions that affect our boys today, when those people, for the most part, have never stood a day in any boots, let alone our boys'.

Personally I think a tour in uniform would clear the minds of many of the decision makers. Perhaps we should amend the Constitution so that any public office holder must have served. Maybe the decisions could be more based in reality. As it is, we have folks who have never bent over to pick up a single piece of trash deciding if the garbage collectors are doing their jobs.

God Bless America,

Art Myrick, 1SG, US Army (Retired)