Operation Dealer Daze

Jan 22, 2006 | J. Vanzant

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Operation Dealer Daze

Written by J. Vanzant

On or about 8 January, 2006, the enemy in AO Dealer thought they held the upper hand in the fight for control in the new Iraq. The 1st Battalion 67th Armored Regiment "Dealers", 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, Texas were about to prove them wrong. In the first full-scale combat operation conducted by the Dealers, Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie company teams bloodied the nose of our enemy in a joint operation involving well trained Iraqi Army Soldiers, skilled Iraqi Police, and combat power from across the well-stocked arsenal of the United States Armed Forces. The operation, Dealer Daze, began with the Dealers establishing flash traffic control points as the outer cordon in support of a search and knock operation on the west bank of the Euphrates river near FOB Iskandariyah. Dealer Daze spanned eight days of hard fighting and meticulous processing of detainees and captured enemy equipment. When the dust settled, the Dealers had removed a total of 23 enemy insurgents from the battle space, destroyed approximately six thousand pounds of enemy munitions, apprehended several high threat enemy insurgents, cleared over 150 structures, and now control over 20 square kilometers of terrain previously dominated by the enemy.

In the aftermath of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack waged against coalition forces by a cowardly enemy hiding in a nearby structure, the Dealers took the initiative from the enemy by launching a full scale joint operation against anti-coalition insurgents in Howija. The ensuing cordon and search executed by the Dealers netted a total of six enemy detainees and one enemy killed in action. All six of the detainees were enemy insurgents who were apprehended after sustaining wounds from Coalition direct fire weapons systems. Once the firefight abated, Coalition Forces determined that two of the detainees were known insurgents. Both of those individuals are currently receiving medical aid prior to being processed in the Iraqi Legal System as criminals in war.

After securing the site of that IED attack, Dealers began an aggressive but deliberate cordon and search. The objective was a known Terrorist safe haven on an island in the Euphrates River, northwest of Musayyib in the Howija area. Despite unfavorable weather conditions, the Dealer Battalion, joined by Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, of the 8th Iraqi Army and local Iraqi Police, cleared the island with minimal resistance. Once clear, the Dealers, with the assistance of a special Joint Service Unit, combed every inch of terrain with special detection devices in search of enemy weapons caches and munitions storage facilities.

The thorough search yielded hundreds of enemy mortar rounds commonly used as IEDs, rockets with launchers similar to the ones fired at FOB Iskandariyah on Christmas Day, mortar tubes with base plates, artillery rounds commonly used in larger IEDs, rocket propelled grenades with launchers, IED making materials, small arms ammunition, automatic weapons, and numerous other items of tactical importance to the enemy. All items were gathered and destroyed or rendered safe in order to deny the enemy future use of those munitions against the Coalition Forces and local Iraqis.

During the twilight hours of Operation Dealer Daze, Coalition Forces snared two high threat enemy insurgents who have been implicated in a massacre of 15 Shia Iraqis that occurred roughly two months ago. The two suspects reportedly murdered the 15 Shia men, but spared one survivor. The murderers allowed the lone survivor to enter his vehicle and flee the scene. Unbeknownst to the survivor behind the wheel, the murderers had concealed high explosives and a wireless detonation device in the vehicle. The two murders followed the driver in a separate vehicle of their own as he sped to the nearest Iraqi Police station for help. Once he pulled into the Iraqi Police station, the heartless aggressors detonated the vehicle, killing the driver, several Iraqi Police members, and wounding several bystanders. The Dealers take great satisfaction in capturing anyone capable of such evil. Intelligence experts are pleased with the information already gleaned from the two men and continue probing the two detainees exhaustively in order to yield further information about their organization and collaborators.

The Dealers utilized their engineering expertise to raze several houses the enemy had utilized as observation posts and command wire IED detonation trigger points. It is a testament to the professionalism of the Coalition Forces that no innocent Iraqi National locals were harmed during this joint operation. The unoccupied structures that were destroyed posed a threat to future Coalition patrols as likely enemy cover and concealment.

The Dealers remain committed to establishing a more stable and secure Iraq in order to foster the growth of democracy under the newly elected government. The 1-67AR Executive Officer, MAJ Bonner, describes his outlook on the recent operation: "In Operation Dealer Daze, the Dealers performed like the world-class professionals they are. This was a Joint Operation conducted in conjunction with Iraqi Police and the Iraqi Army. With this joint operation, we showed the local population who cooperated with us that they have no better friends than the Coalition Forces. But, to the Anti Iraqi Forces who oppose the Coalition and threaten the safety and democratic future of this area, we proved those insurgents have no worse enemy than the Coalition Forces who desire a peaceful and stable Iraq." The Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police working with the Dealers are a formidable and potent fighting force that will soon be capable of protecting the local Iraqis in independent operations without American assistance. Until that time, the Dealers remain committed to working shoulder to shoulder with our Iraqi brothers in the fight against the Insurgents. Together we will prevail.

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"The Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police working with the Dealers are a formidable and potent fighting force that will soon be capable of protecting the local Iraqis in independent operations without American assistance."

This is indeed excellent news, as is the report of a joint operating in cleaning out yet another nest of terrorists. God bless our brave troops, the coalition forces, and the new and improving Iraqi army and police!