U.S. Colonel Michael Beech (R) speaks during a joint news conference with Iraqi Police Brigadier General Abd al-Rahman Yusif in Baghdad August 10, 2006. (REUTERS/Ahmad al-Rubaye/Pool) (IRAQ)
Posted on 08/10/2006 4:04:25 PM PDT by Gucho
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2006 – Coalition soldiers killed 15 extremists Aug. 8 during a firefight at a provincial reconstruction team base in the Kamdesh district of Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, military officials reported.
Two U.S. soldiers and one Afghan policeman suffered minor wounds when 30 insurgents attacked the base with small arms and rockets. Coalition forces responded with small arms and mortars. The wounded soldiers and police officer were treated on the scene and returned to duty. The coalition base was not damaged.
“These extremists will never succeed in overcoming coalition and Afghan security forces,” Army Col. Thomas Collins, a coalition spokesman, said in a news release. “We will prevail because the Afghan people have demonstrated that they want a stable and prosperous country.”
Elsewhere, Afghan and coalition troops found a weapons cache and two explosive devices Aug. 8 in eastern Afghanistan. A coalition unit discovered and destroyed the weapons cache, consisting of 200 rockets, hidden in a cave in the Kohi Safi district of Parwan province.
Afghan police found an improvised explosive device in the Asadabad district of Kunar province, and Afghan soldiers found a landmine that had washed up onto a road in Khost province. Coalition teams destroyed both weapons in place.
“These weapons will no longer be a threat to the lives of Afghan civilians,” Collins said. “We will continue working alongside Afghan security forces to remove these types of deadly weapons wherever we find them to ensure a peaceful existence for the Afghan people.”
Also on Aug. 8, five passengers walked away largely unharmed from a roadside bomb blast that destroyed their up-armored Humvee.
Up-armored Humvees have saved many coalition lives in Afghanistan, officials said. The comments were in response to recent news reports contending that forces there need more of the vehicles and aren’t using them consistently.
In other news from Afghanistan, Afghan police in Regional Command South received 36 new motorcycles Aug. 8.
“The motorcycles will help us follow insurgents and Taliban,” regional police commander Gen. Esmatullah Dawlatzai said.
“We thank the international community for helping us with equipment and educating our police force,” he added.
Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, which assists the Afghan government in manning, training and equipping its security forces, helped obtain the motorcycles.
“These motorcycles will enhance the (Afghan National Police’s) mobility and will allow them to react to threats and better conduct their job,” said Army Lt. Col. Donald Carr, deputy chief of resources for the command’s Police Reform Directorate.
(Compiled from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases.)
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Thursday, 10 August 2006
Story by Cpl. Daniel J. Redding - 1st Marine Logistics Group
CAMP TAQADDUM — Seven Marines were presented with a $5,000 award for their combat zone ingenuity in designing and creating a protective armor kit for military forklifts and front end loaders, commonly called TRAMs, at a ceremony here Sunday.
Those awarded, welders and mechanics assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group, were selected for the recognition by the Marine Corps' Beneficial Suggestion Program after fabricating from scratch a steel cover, complete with protective glass windows, that fits over the cab of the TRAM.
TRAM is the Marine Corp's acronym for "Tractor, Rubber-tired, Articulated steering, Multi-purpose."
Awarded were:
- Staff Sgt. Andrew N. Zabel, the project's team leader, and 27-year-old from Batavia, Ill.
- Cpl. James A. Carrillo, 23, from Chicago.
- Cpl. Kelsey S. Marshall, 23, from Anchorage, Ala.
- Lance Cpl. Jonathan C. Elkins, 20, from Moorehead, Ky.
- Cpl. Adam L. Schroeder, 22, from Platteville, Wis.
- Cpl. Rogelio De La Graza, 21, from Premont, Texas.
- Cpl. Jonathan M. Rakestraw, 22, from Pittsburgh.
Brig. Gen. David G. Reist, commanding general of the 1st Marine Logistics Group, came from nearby Camp Fallujah to recognize the Marines and thanked them as he presented the award.
"You Marines are saving lives, and that's what it's all about," said Reist, who serves as the deputy commanding general for support of Multi-National Forces - West.
In May, as extra forces were being called on to secure Ramadi, the capital of Al Anbar province, Col. David M. Richtsmeier, the 1st Marine Logistics Group commanding officer in Iraq, ordered the men to come up with an armor kit for the TRAMs, which were planned to be used to build new combat outposts throughout the city.
With Ramadi the setting of some of the fiercest fighting in the struggle to stabilize Iraq, the slow-moving TRAMs needed something that would protect the operators if they came under enemy attack while fortifying the outposts, said Richtsmeier, who recommended the Marines for the award after seeing the results of their efforts.
The goal was to create a replicable force protection system with blue prints that other units could use to add armor to TRAMs anywhere in Iraq.
Detailed schematics were created for each piece of the adapted armor, including precise measurements and clarification on which part of the original humvee armor kit the pieces came from.
Combat Logistics Battalion 7, a unit nearAl Asad Air Base, used these schematics to build an armored protection system for one of their own TRAMs.
Over the course of two weeks, the seven-man team worked around the clock developing the system, using leftover armor designed for a Humvee and an air conditioner built for another vehicle system to complete their makeshift product.
Fueled by energy drinks and music, the Marines were inspired by the unique mission they were tasked with and the benefits of their final product to others.
"Our motivation came from the ever-present rebuilding mission that the Marines of the I Marine Expeditionary Force have been given," said Zabel, the team leader. "I tried to make it a point every day to emphasize the fact that by building this armor shell, we were (potentially) saving the life of a heavy equipment operator."
Adapting parts intended for a completely different machine - and overcoming the tight spaces and sharp angles of the TRAM - were some of the major frustrations they met head on, said Schroeder.
Carrillo and Marshall, vehicle mechanics used to fixing engines and transmissions in Humvees, helped overcome some of these frustrations when they adapted a larger alternator to power the air conditioning unit for the new cab.
The challenges of building something with no prior design to gauge off of kept the Marines working almost non-stop until they completed the project, said Rakestraw, who drafted the blueprints of the design.
As heavy equipment mechanics, Rakestraw and De La Garza added their expertise of working on TRAMs and other large military vehicles to the team.
Senior personnel involved in the project encouraged the Marines to submit their final product to Marine Corps Logistics Command for their Beneficial Suggestions awards program.
"(The Marines) went beyond their 'normal job expectancy' to quickly and effectively neutralize a very dangerous situation for heavy equipment operators," said Shirley P. Stiles and Robin G. Wimberly, who work with the Beneficial Suggestion program and helped get the Marines approved for the $5,000 gift that was split between the seven.
The Beneficial Suggestion Program, run by Marine Corps Logistics Command in Albany, Ga., is designed to take advantage of the creativity of military and civilian personnel who contribute practical and innovative ideas for improving and maintaining productivity, economy, efficiency, and mission effectiveness for Marine Corps programs and operations.
"It's like winning the lottery, only in the Marine Corps way," said Elkins, who along with his fellow metal worker, Schroeder, was responsible for the precise cutting and welding to form the new cab cover.
The seven Marines played a big role in ensuring the TRAM operators were protected as they supported combat operations in Ramadi, said Richtsmeier.
Feeling protected made it easier for the TRAM operators in Ramadi who endured sporadic enemy attacks while operating in Ramadi, said Pfc. Michael E. Jordan, a heavy equipment operator who helped build some of the new combat outposts in the city.
A U.S. Marine assists U.S. Army soldiers from 7th Brigade, 2nd Division, Iraqi National Police Transition Team, during a mission in Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 7, 2006. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jonathan F. Doti)
Thursday, August 10, 2006
KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan expects its eastern neighbour Pakistan to fight Taliban-led militants "bravely" in a bid to stop cross-border attacks here, Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said.
Aug 10, 2006
Romanian President Traian Basescu (L) speaks as his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai listens during a news conference in Kabul August 10, 2006. (REUTERS/Ahmad Masood) (AFGHANISTAN)
By Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2006 – American officials are on guard in light of arrests made in Great Britain overnight in connection with a terror plot targeting trans-Atlantic commercial flights, senior Defense Department officials said today.
British authorities’ discovery of the terror plot has led to a ripple effect around the world. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his agency has raised the nation’s threat level to Severe, or Red, for commercial airline flights originating in the United Kingdom bound for the United States.
This mirrors Great Britain’s precautions. “Consistent with these higher threat levels, the Transportation Security Administration is coordinating with federal partners, airport authorities and commercial airlines on expanding the intensity of existing security requirements,” Chertoff said. “We are prohibiting any liquids, including beverages, hair gels and lotions, from being carried on (airplanes).”
British authorities announced today they had foiled a terrorist plot to bomb airliners flying to the United States. A total of 21 people have been arrested in the United Kingdom, according to news reports. Homeland Security officials said there is no indication of plotting within the United States.
“We believe that these arrests have significantly disrupted the threat, but we cannot be sure that the threat has been entirely eliminated or the plot completely thwarted,” Chertoff said.
DoD officials said the department has a close working relationship with the Department of Homeland Security. Instances such as this “tend to be worked as a government rather not as one particular agency,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
Still, Homeland Security is the lead agency and DoD will continue to monitor the situation and stay in close contact with other agencies, officials said.
U.S. Northern Command officials stated it would be “inappropriate to speculate or comment on any current operational activities or discuss future force protection measures.” Officials said the command will remain vigilant to potential terrorist threats and is prepared to respond to any threat.
Senior defense officials speaking on background said there is no change in the status or deployment of U.S. military forces in response to the situation in the United Kingdom.
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney this morning called up National Guardsmen to help screeners at Boston’s Logan International Airport. But there are no plans to federalize Guardsmen in response to the situation, DoD officials said.
By Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva - Regimental Combat 5
FALLUJAH, Iraq (Aug. 8, 2006) -- Tankers with Regimental Combat Team 5 know how to send a message. They simply show up.
Marines from A Company, 2nd Tank Battalion, RCT-5, reinforced an entry control point on the outskirt of Fallujah, an operation they conduct on a regular but erratic schedule. The tankers roll a section of M-1A1 Main Battle Tanks to the ECPs surrounding Fallujah to boost security, provide overwatch and give the Marines on the ground a greater sense of safety.
“We provide them cover and firepower superiority,” said Sgt. Crescencio T. Padilla, a 21-year-old tank commander from San German, Puerto Rico. “We’re guardian angels for them.”
They’re guardian angels who wield a pretty big stick. Along with the 120 mm main gun, each tank carries two 7.62 mm machine guns and a .50-caliber machine gun. Top that off with state-of-the-art targeting systems and sights, and they can hit whatever they can see. And they can see farther than any of the infantry on the ground.
“I can see the car before it gets to the ECP,” Padilla said. “The gunner is able to identify a threat before anything happens.”
Cpl. Orasee D. Russel, Padilla’s gunner on his tank, said he has all-weather capability and can scan for targets in the worst of conditions. If infantry equipment fails, they have theirs to back up the grunts.
“We’ve got the night vision and the thermals,” explained Russell, a 22-year-old from Apple Valley, Calif. “If their NVGs stop working, our thermals work. They give us a clearer picture.”
And if a tank does shoot, they’ve got ammunition to spare. Boxes of ammunition are stashed in nearly every open space and the coaxially-mounted machine gun has a belt of rounds so long, it doesn’t appear to have an end.
“We carry more that 10,000 rounds of ‘7.62,’” said Lance Cpl. Brandon C. Pollock, a 19-year-old from Bainbridge, Ga. “We can resupply the infantry with whatever we have to keep them in the fight.”
It’s not just the clearer sight or big guns, though. Tanks send a serious message.
“We provide presence,” Russell explained. “There’s an intimidation factor. People see a tank and they know all games are over. Insurgents see tanks and they think again.”
That intimidation factor was evident. The ECP tanks arrived at this particular day had been hit by sporadic small-arms attacks and improvised-explosive devices recently. The morning tanks arrived, nothing happened.
“It’s awesome to see those tanks,” said Sgt. Leo A. Robillard, a 25-year-old infantryman from Cheshire, Mass., assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment. “They have a huge psychological effect. It’s a show of force. It lets them know we have something up our sleeve.”
Robillard is the sergeant of the guard at an ECP outside the city limits of Fallujah. He said he breathes easier when tanks are on the scene. They not only boost the firepower of his outpost, but give him greater flexibility if he’s attacked.
“They give us an immediate reaction force,” Robillard said. “If we get hit with something farther out, all we can do is run a humvee up there. The tanks give you something to throw back at them.”
Lance Cpl. Devin J. Anderson is Robillard’s corporal of the guard, assisting him in all his duties with security at the ECP. He said having the tanks in scene makes him and his Marines walk a little taller.
“The Marines aren’t as timid when they’re here,” said the 25-year-old Anderson from Southington, Mass. “They are more daring to come out, because we know… no one’s going to mess with us today.”
It’s not just the Marine, though. Anderson said the Iraqi Police and Iraqi soldiers who man the post alongside Marines get a boost from the visible increase in lethality.
“You see them start to work harder” he said. “It’s a big, big reassurance. It’s like having the ultimate overwatch.”
The appreciation of the infantry Marines on the ground isn’t lost on the tankers, either. During this operation, Marines manning the posts offered to bring out ice water and food to the tankers, dividing up what supplies they had for themselves.
“It’s easy to see they like having us around,” Pollock said. “There’s usually a lot of flash photography.”
Sgt. Crescencio T. Padilla, a tank commander with A Company, 2nd Tank Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5, scans the horizon as his tank section rolls out to reinforce an entry control point in Fallujah, Iraq. The tankers periodically reinforce the ECPs, manned by infantry Marines. They bring greater firepower, a quick reaction force and enhanced observation to Marines keeping insurgents from entering the city. (Photo by: Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva)
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Troops using howitzers to quell enemy fire
Members of Second Platoon, Battery C, 2-3 Field Artillery, pose beside a Paladin self-propelled howitzer at Camp Ramadi on Wednesday. (Monte Morin / S&S)
Spc. John W. Fair, 23, of Ravenna, Ohio, the driver of a Paladin self-propelled howitzer, pokes his head through a hatchway in the artillery piece at Camp Ramadi on Wednesday. (Monte Morin / S&S)
By Monte Morin - Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
Friday, August 11, 2006 IV>
RAMADI, Iraq — In a shadowy, run-and-gun insurgency, where battles are fought with robot planes and roadside bombs, it’s rare for an artilleryman to fire his howitzer in anger.
Rarer still is the artillery gunner who actually gets to fire shells at the guy who just lobbed a mortar round at his gun position.
While most U.S. artillerymen in Iraq have been called on to perform jobs outside their military specialty — essentially swapping their howitzers for Humvees or observation posts — soldiers in the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment have assumed a key role in a costly, give-no-quarter campaign in Ramadi.
In the first two months of the campaign, the Giessen, Germany-based 2-3FA “gunners” have fired roughly 2,000 artillery rounds — the vast majority of them high-explosive rounds aimed at enemy mortar and rocket teams or known launch sites. Already, the guns have significantly reduced indirect fire attacks on Camp Ramadi and have been singled out for praise by Col. Sean MacFarland, commander of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, the unit leading the campaign.
Alerted to enemy attacks by a web of radar that covers downtown Ramadi and surrounding areas, the gunners scramble to their Paladin self-propelled howitzers and — if all goes right — fire off a 155 mm “bullet” at the launch site while the enemy round is still in the air.
Although the low, roof-rattling boom of the howitzers is enough to silence all chatter in the camp’s bustling dining facility, soldiers say they take heart in the knowledge those rounds are hissing toward insurgent positions somewhere beyond the perimeter.
“When they hear those guns, people know we’re supporting troops in contact or counter-firing for combat outposts in the city,” said Capt. Rodney Crenshaw, Battery C commander.
“I think it’s a morale booster when they hear those guns. They know we’re firing back,” said the 37-year-old from Wetumpka, Ala.
Before June, 2nd Battalion soldiers were stationed in comparatively peaceful northern Iraq, where they performed infantry, Iraqi army training or civil affairs roles. The only rounds they fired then were either for practice or to illuminate the night for Iraqi patrols.
Ramadi is a welcome change of pace, the artillerymen say.
“We just like shooting,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Saxton, 30, of Ramah, N.M. “We just like slinging it back at ’em and doing it fast so that we get somebody.”
For the most part, the gunners are far removed from the attacks that trigger their fire missions. But there are those occasions when the howitzer crews find themselves close to the action.
Recently, Sgt. Trowny Alexis’ section of 2nd Platoon, Battery C was pulling duty at a dusty firing position on the edge of Camp Ramadi.
The howitzer crew was passing time watching a movie in the tiny, air-conditioned hut erected behind their Paladin when a mortar exploded just beyond a berm that surrounds the camp. The round struck roughly 100 yards away, throwing up a plume of black smoke and rocking the plywood hut.
The men braced themselves for a second explosion when their communications radio blared: “Counter fire! Counter fire! Counter fire!”
Usually, the men have no view of the attacks they are responding to and may only learn details days later. This time, however, there was no question in their minds.
“It got personal then,” said Spc. Adam Gulley, 22, of Phoenix, the “No. 1 man” or loader. “It really hits home with you when something lands that close. Also, you’re quite upset.”
On the section’s best days, it takes just seconds for crewmembers to pile out of the hut and scurry into the rear hatchway of their 32-ton gun. This time, though, the men were especially fast.
“It was a lot more of an adrenaline rush,” said Alexis, 25, of Miami. “I think that’s the fastest we ever shot.”
Since the unit arrived in Ramadi, indirect fire attacks on the camp have dropped from about two a week to less than one a week. It was during late June and through July that the artillery men were busiest.
“We think we killed a lot of guys then,” said battalion commander Lt. Col. Joseph Harrington, 41, of Chesskill, N.J.
The insurgents appeared not to expect such a deadly response, he said.
“I think they had gotten a little lackadaisical,” he said.
The effort by artillerymen to combat insurgent mortar and rocket teams — who often operate in open spaces and farmland on the outskirts of Ramadi — coincides with the use of Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and aerial bombs against snipers and other insurgents deep within the Sunni Arab city.
MacFarland, the 1st Brigade commander, said the heavy-guns approach his soldiers used in Ramadi might have been articulated best by 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes when he said, “Be sociable with them that will be sociable and formidable to them that will not.”
However, in some cases, it appeared that it was not just the U.S. military or its partnered Iraqi army units that were dealing harshly with the insurgents.
Harrington said there appear to have been cases where insurgent fire teams were killed not by his artillerymen, but by local Iraqi landowners or farmers who wanted to prevent artillery fire from being directed onto their property.
“They’re angry at these guys for coming onto their property,” Harrington said. “They’re tired of them getting fired at by us.”
Staff Sgt. Michael Saxton, 30, of Ramah, New Mexico, and Spc. Nicholas Posatiere, 24, of Mentor, Ohio, between fire missions inside their Paladin self-propelled howitzer at Camp Ramadi. (Monte Morin / S&S)
Staff Sgt. Michael Saxton, 30, of Ramah, N.M., demonstrates how to load and set the fuse for a 155 mm artillery round. (Monte Morin / S&S)
By Steven Donald Smith - American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2006 – The overnight arrests of 21 suspected terrorists by British authorities is a stark reminder that the United States is still at war with “Islamic fascists” who are intent on destroying freedom-loving people, President Bush said today.
The suspects are thought to have been ready to unleash a plot to bomb multiple international flights bound for the United States. Officials said the suspects planned to carry liquid explosives onto about 10 commercial airplanes.
“I want to thank the government of Tony Blair and officials in the United Kingdom for their good work in busting this plot,” Bush said while standing on the tarmac at Austin Straubel International Airport, in Green Bay, Wis. “I thank the officials in Washington, D.C., and around our country who gather intelligence and who work to protect the American people.”
Bush said cooperation between British and American authorities was solid, and the cooperation among agencies within the U.S. government was excellent. He added that the United States is safer today than it was before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, because of security improvements made since that attack.
“But obviously we're still not completely safe, because there are people that still plot and people who want to harm us for what we believe in,” the president said.
Bush said travelers are going to be inconvenienced as a result of the steps taken to further tighten airport security, but he urged patience and vigilance. “The inconveniences occur because we will take the steps necessary to protect the American people,” he said.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today that the investigation into the bomb plot is ongoing.
“This plot appears to have been well planned and well advanced, with a significant number of operatives,” Chertoff said. He described the plot as sophisticated in nature and “suggestive of an al Qaeda plot.”
Chertoff said the arrests in Britain have significantly disrupted a major threat. “But we cannot assume that the threat has been completely thwarted or that we have fully identified and neutralized every member of this terrorist network,” he added.
Reports indicate that U.S. and British intelligence agencies continue to search for 10 additional suspects.
The U.S. raised the nation’s threat level for commercial flights originating in the United Kingdom and bound for the United States to its highest alert level of Severe or Red. The threat level for all other flights was raised to High or Orange.
In addition, almost all liquids have been temporarily banned from commercial flights, and several states have enhanced airport security measures by deploying National Guard troops there.
“I have ordered the re-deployment of security assets to high priority locations to respond to this threat -- these assets include bomb-sniffing dogs, the California National Guard, and the California Highway Patrol, in concert with local and federal law enforcement agencies,” Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a written statement.
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ordered the Massachusetts National Guard to bolster airport security in the commonwealth.
“We’ve done this mission before, and we're ready to do it again," said Brig. Gen. Oliver J. Mason, the adjutant general of the Massachusetts National Guard. The commonwealth’s Guard units helped secure its airports after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The role of the National Guard in airport security is to support or augment, not replace, airport security and law enforcement authorities, Guard officials said.
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U.S. Remains on Guard in Response to Terror Threat
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American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2006 – Coalition soldiers killed 15 extremists Aug. 8 during a firefight at a provincial reconstruction team base in the Kamdesh district of Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, military officials reported.
Two U.S. soldiers and one Afghan policeman suffered minor wounds when 30 insurgents attacked the base with small arms and rockets. Coalition forces responded with small arms and mortars. The wounded soldiers and police officer were treated on the scene and returned to duty. The coalition base was not damaged.
“These extremists will never succeed in overcoming coalition and Afghan security forces,” Army Col. Thomas Collins, a coalition spokesman, said in a news release. “We will prevail because the Afghan people have demonstrated that they want a stable and prosperous country.”
Elsewhere, Afghan and coalition troops found a weapons cache and two explosive devices Aug. 8 in eastern Afghanistan. A coalition unit discovered and destroyed the weapons cache, consisting of 200 rockets, hidden in a cave in the Kohi Safi district of Parwan province.
Afghan police found an improvised explosive device in the Asadabad district of Kunar province, and Afghan soldiers found a landmine that had washed up onto a road in Khost province. Coalition teams destroyed both weapons in place.
“These weapons will no longer be a threat to the lives of Afghan civilians,” Collins said. “We will continue working alongside Afghan security forces to remove these types of deadly weapons wherever we find them to ensure a peaceful existence for the Afghan people.”
Also on Aug. 8, five passengers walked away largely unharmed from a roadside bomb blast that destroyed their up-armored Humvee.
Up-armored Humvees have saved many coalition lives in Afghanistan, officials said. The comments were in response to recent news reports contending that forces there need more of the vehicles and aren’t using them consistently.
In other news from Afghanistan, Afghan police in Regional Command South received 36 new motorcycles Aug. 8.
“The motorcycles will help us follow insurgents and Taliban,” regional police commander Gen. Esmatullah Dawlatzai said.
“We thank the international community for helping us with equipment and educating our police force,” he added.
Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, which assists the Afghan government in manning, training and equipping its security forces, helped obtain the motorcycles.
“These motorcycles will enhance the (Afghan National Police’s) mobility and will allow them to react to threats and better conduct their job,” said Army Lt. Col. Donald Carr, deputy chief of resources for the command’s Police Reform Directorate.
(Compiled from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases.)
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By COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN, COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER - KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Aug 10, 2006
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – The United States ’ up-armored High-mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, or Humvees, continue to save lives of Coalition troops facing increased threats of improvised explosive devices in eastern Afghanistan .
On Aug. 8, a Coalition convoy in Ghazni struck an IED. Five soldiers were riding in an up-armored Humvee that was destroyed, and no serious injuries occurred.
A news report published that day suggested that Combined Joint Task Force – 76, the eastern Afghanistan operational command, requires additional Humvees for troop protection and that no regulations in regard to troop movements were in place at forward operating bases. Both points made in the report are erroneous.
The CJTF-76 chain of command considers all ground movements as combat missions and maintains a standing written order regarding the use of Level 1 up-armored vehicles when traveling outside Coalition operating bases. A Level 1 armored vehicle is defined as factory built from the depot and not “add on armor”.
“Our policy since arrival in theater has been that units will exclusively use up-armored Level 1 Humvees, unless otherwise approved by a Colonel Commander or higher,” said Brig. Gen Anthony J. Tata, Deputy Commanding General for Support. “All our subordinate units have submitted requests for up-armored Humvees, and every one of those requests has been filled by our higher headquarters. If there are new requirements out there, we will process those as quickly as we do all others.”
Since February, when CJTF-76’s current rotation of forces entered theater, up-armored Humvees have helped save the lives of numerous troops involved in IED attacks.
“We continue to make improvements to our up-armored vehicles and conduct daily assessments of the force protection required to operate effectively in the area of operations,” Tata said. “Coalition forces employ a variety of tactics, techniques and procedures, as well as technological advancements, to ensure the joint task force is well-protected.”
Operation River Falcon shows townspeople they are not forgotten.
Soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, conduct Operation River Falcon July 25 in Sayifiyah, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Michael Molinaro
By U.S. Army Cpl. Michael Molinaro - 2nd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office 4th Infantry Division
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, Aug. 10, 2006 — Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, conducted Operation River Falcon July 25-27 in and around the town of Sayifiyah.
“The goal was to set conditions in the area in support of future projects and more kinetic operations,” said Capt. Colin Brooks, commander, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment.
Sayifiyah had once been a “French Riviera”-type region for Sunnis, who were given preferential treatment under the Sadam regime, Brooks said. Located southeast of Baghdad on the Tigris River, the small area, which is full of date palm groves and plush two-story waterfront houses, had become a sanctuary for terrorists.
Some difficult regions to the northwest caused security force leadership to shift their focus to those areas, leaving the relatively peaceful town of Sayifiyah unguarded, said 1st Lt. Leon Satchell, platoon leader, Company B. Soldiers departed here July 25 and rode into town in the pre-dawn hours inside Humvees and Bradley Fighting Vehicles in search of terrorists. Five men, all of whom were on a suspect list, were detained during the initial cordon and search mission.
“We sent a strong message that the area is no longer a place where the enemy can move freely,” said Brooks, a native of Cleveland. “They will think twice about conducting (terrorist) operations in Sayifiyah.”
Soldiers continued searching houses and introducing themselves to many weary and mystified residents, who were unsure of the soldiers’ reasons for coming into town. The soldiers set up a temporary operating base on the outskirts of town.
Soldiers continued patrolling the streets, looking for anything out of the ordinary. One platoon was tasked with combing a thick date palm grove in the Abasha Farms section of town that drew the suspicions of many. The suspicions turned out to be valid as soldiers unearthed an enormous cache that will affect enemy logistics, both in the short-term and long-term scheme of things, Brooks said. Multiple vehicles suspected of being used to transport weapons and car bombs were also found.
One man was detained after soldiers witnessed him attempting to emplace a roadside bomb in front of a traveling combat patrol. The detainee was caught with detonation chord, an ignition battery and admitted to his crime on tape.
Soldiers discovered numerous defensive roadside bombs in front of known safe houses. The bombs were large and buried underneath the concrete road. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team conducted a controlled detonation of the bombs.
“We definitely disrupted the insurgency,” said Sgt. 1st Class Ken Hignight, platoon sergeant with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, a native of Moline, Ill. “The cache was the biggest we have found since we got to Iraq.”
Soldiers set out on the final day of the operation to meet the residents and explain to them they were in town to get rid of the terrorists. They handed out humanitarian aid bags, food, a variety of helpful items and TIPS cards so the residents could inform Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers or Iraqi Security Forces if terrorist activity was occurring in the area.
Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, unearthed a weapons cache July 26 in Sayifiyah. (U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Michael Molinaro)
Soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, sip tea July 27, 2006, in Sayifiyah. The soldiers were in town to talk to residents and see what their needs were. (U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Michael Molinaro)
Locals discussed the lack of power their town had experienced for the past four to six months. The power line had been severed by terrorists in Baghdad. Without power, the water purification plant shut down, and many were unable to work without electricity.
“Without electricity, we have nothing,” said a resident mechanic. “I had to send my son to Baghdad to live with other family members because it got too hot here. I can’t work because none of my tools work without power.” At first, the people seemed unsure of why soldiers were in town all of a sudden and weren’t convinced they wanted to communicate with anyone, said Satchell, a resident of Rialto, Calif.
“They soon realized we were here for their well-being and opened up to us,” he added. “Once we start producing, they’ll start telling us who the enemy is.”
Soldiers could see the perception of the locals change in just three days, Brooks commented.
“We neutralized (roadside bombs), exploited weapons caches, detained known terrorists and engaged with the local leaders,” he said. “We also identified several in-roads to help the town and its people, such as projects and future raids to root out any remaining insurgency.
“Until a few days ago, the terrorists were winning in this town. That is no longer the case.”
Another unit will assume Sayifiyah as its area of operations as 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment continues its counter-insurgency campaign in the Babil province.
The soldiers witnessed a community that doesn’t want terrorists in their town, Hignight said.
“Seeing the soldiers ride in here was like having all of our wishes come true,” said Abdul, a lifelong resident of Sayifiyah. “That is the first sign of hope this year.”
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