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Cracking down on ‘commuter terrorists’

Jul-14-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

Link to Full Article (subscription; also available in the 7/18 news stand edition)
By Matthew Cox, Army Times

MOSUL, Iraq — It’s just past 8:30 a.m. when Capt. Blake Lackey notices the three Iraqi men in a gold Toyota sedan pass his Stryker combat vehicle on the opposite side of the highway.

“Virginia this gold car!” the commander of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, barks into his radio headset.

Each of the three Stryker vehicles in the column makes a hard, 90-degree left turn, drives over the median and halts perpendicular to traffic in the opposite lane.

The aggressive maneuver is known as a “flash TCP,” or traffic control point, and “Virginia” is a code word Lackey uses to signal his men to execute the movement without hesitation.

The tactic blocks oncoming traffic and traps cars with suspicious passengers between the Strykers.

The rear ramp descends from Lackey’s Stryker, and Sgt. James Duke quickly emerges with his M4 carbine leveled at the gold Toyota. First Lt. Ryan Mendenhall follows with an M16 at the ready.

With the help of Selva Saker, an Iraqi-American interpreter, the duo orders the men to the side of the road.

Nothing suspicious is found, so Duke and Mendenhall release the three and begin to search the only other car between the Strykers.

Crack! Crack! Two rifle shots splinter the morning quiet. One bullet glances off the back right corner of the Stryker to their rear.

Both soldiers crouch low and seek cover near the blue sedan they were searching seconds ago.

“Selva! Get down!” Duke shouts to Saker. “Get in that Stryker!” The interpreter obeys, disappearing into safety.

the Strykers’ grenade launchers shoot multicolored smoke canisters in all directions. The thick smoke fills the air as Duke and Mendenhall dash inside Lackey’s Stryker.

The enemy sniper is never spotted, but everyone knows the pattern — an insurgent fired the shots from an idling car, this time about 300 meters away, before disappearing into traffic.

A Company’s July 7 sniper contact is a common occurrence these days as Stryker units from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (SBCT), scour this northern Iraqi city for what leaders here refer to as “commuter terrorists,” Lackey said. [...]


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