Posted on 11/18/2005 6:05:38 PM PST by Palladin
A weapons cache several soccer fields long and containing surface-to-air missiles, rockets, and roadside bomb materials used by insurgents, has been discovered in northern Ramadi in Iraq by a National Guard soldier attached to a city-based unit, Army officials said.
Sgt. Brian Packer with Co. B. 109th Mechanized Infantry Regiment, based at the Grove Street Armory, came upon the weapons buried in farm fields on the outskirts of the city Wednesday, an Army news release said.
Specific details of how Sgt. Packer found the weapons were not provided, but the commander of the brigade Packer is assigned to said the soldier's aggressiveness and alertness led to the discovery.
"It was not the technology that uncovered this huge cache site; it was an American soldier," Col. John L. Gronski said in the release.
Among the material discovered buried and prepared for use against U.S. and Iraqi troops were mortars, grenades, and night-vision goggles, the release said.
Bravo, Sgt. Brian Packer!
That's another one for the good guys! Way to go Sgt. Packer!
I cannot believe things like this are not headline news!!! The press is too worried about secret prisons and who outed Valerie Plame...
There is definitely something wrong in this country.
Congratulations troops! There are a lot more people than you think that support you all the way.
Sgt. Brian Packer! You da man! Right ON brother! Thanks from all us loyal Americans!!!
...more...
Sgt. Jason Guthrie said he served with Packer during a peace-keeping mission in Bosnia three years ago. "He's a good non-com officer" Guthrie said "With no exaggeration, with Packer, it's always mission first and he always gets it done."
A state National Guard spokesman also thought the discovery of so many weapons was something to brag about.
"It's an extraordinary find," Capt. Cory Angell said in a telephone interview from Fort Indiantown Gap. "This will shed some light for a lot of folks who don't agree or don't understand why we are there."
Angell said the seizure of so much material will impede the insurgency's effectiveness and save troops' and citizens' lives.
Packer discovered the weapons while he was on patrol as part of a task force working with the 2nd Marine Division that is working to clear insurgents from the Ramadi area before parliamentary elections scheduled for December 15, Gronski said.
I know this is good news but everytime I see one of these titles I'm always holding my breath for WMD.
Of coarse, at this point there would be accusations of planting.
Sgt. Packer, YOU DA MAN!
Thanks again, Russia.
Amen to that.
This should help maybe cut down on the IED's.
How much more stuff is buried around Iraq, Syria and Iran?
This should be on every evening newscast.
Instead we get endless reruns of Bob Woodward and Valerie Plame.
I had to look up the dimensions of a soccer field. Here is what I found:
International Matches
Length: minimum 100 m (110 yds) maximum 110 m (120 yds)
Width: minimum 64 m (70 yds) maximum 75 m (80 yds)
And this weapons cache was three times this area! How many dozens more are out there like it, and who is supplying the materiel?
Exactly..
Your going to have to go to Syria to find the WMD
Murtha was a marine, send him over, he supports the troops.
Murtha...what can I say? In his youth, he was like Sgt. Brian Packer. We owe him our thanks for his service in Korea and Vietnam.
Can you say..."promotion?"
I hate to disrespect anyone who has served this country but...
Benedict Arnold was also a patriot until he turned.
You remember he was also involved in Abscam???
Saddan never met a weapon he wouldnt bury.
I won't say anything bad about a man who earned two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star in the service of our nation.
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