‘Bulldog Brigade' no barking dog

The News Enterprise ^ | 3/18/05 | Erica Walsh

[qam1]

Col. Russ Gold would be willing to put the soldiers in the Bulldog Brigade up against any other soldiers in the history of the United States.

"History will show soon that this mixture of Generation X and Y will equal, if not better, any other generation produced anytime in the U.S.," he said.

About 75 soldiers stationed at Fort Knox were honored with a Valorous Unit Award Tuesday for their service in Iraq as members of the 1st Armored Division, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, or the Bulldog Brigade. The 3rd BCT is based at Fort Riley, Kan., but several members of the unit have since been transferred to Fort Knox.

The award is given to a unit who has demonstrated "extraordinary heroism" during military action against an enemy of the United States.

The brigade served in Iraq from February 2003 to April 2004, participating in both the ground war and support operations to rebuild the country.

There were three key missions between Sept. 1, 2003, and Nov. 30, 2003, which led to the honor for the unit, said Gold, now the chief of staff for the Armor Center at Fort Knox.

The first was Operation Bulldog Flytrap, in which the brigade captured insurgents they called the Mad Mortar Men from the Abu Ghraib area. They killed seven insurgents who were responsible for improvised explosive devices and roadside bombs. The mission also was the first to use helicopters to fire in Iraqi cities.

The second mission was Operation Bulldog Mammoth, where the brigade captured 58 terrorists and foreign fighters and recovered hundreds of weapons from a slum area near Abu Ghraib Prison.

The third mission, Operation Cancer Cure, was a little more personal. After a lieutenant from the unit was killed, the brigade discovered the group responsible and set out to catch the insurgents, who were Sunni extremists. The insurgents were using mosques as their meeting places because U.S. troops were not allowed to enter the holy sites. Because of the information gathered form the brigade and informants, they were given permission to enter the mosque after prayer services were completed to apprehend the insurgents. The mission opened the rules of engagement for troops to be allowed to enter mosques to capture terrorists.

The brigade was also responsible for the capture of 19 members of the black list, better known as the "deck of cards."

"The key was the innovativeness of the soldiers," Gold said. "All the things we did over there, we never trained for. They went out there and they just did it."

Sgt. Kreg Gaertnier, now with the 16th Cavalry Regiment, said even though the award was given to the group for their heroic efforts, he's not sure he feels like a hero.

"I know I went over there and did what was expected," he said. "But it would have been nice to come home with everybody in our unit."

1st Lt. Eric Huss, now with the 16th Cavalry Regiment, said the ceremony Tuesday at Haszard Auditorium on post was also the first chance that the unit was able to get together as a large group since they returned from Iraq. Being overseas together, the members of your platoon become like family, he said. Seeing them again was like a family reunion, Huss said.

The brigade's comaraderie makes the award even more important to Gold, because it's something all of his soldiers were a part of.

"Of all the awards I've received, this means the most to me because it represents what we are: a team of teams," Gold said.

[qam1]

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[starfish923]

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[clee1]

Goooooo Bulldogs!