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Task Force Ripper teams foil insurgents ...

Aug-26-2005 » Filed Under: TF Freedom

Task Force Ripper teams foil insurgents by filling Mosul's potholes

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By Rick Emert, Stars and Stripes

MOSUL, Iraq — With a name like Task Force Ripper, the mission would seem to be some sort of bloody, covert operation that strikes fear into the hearts of enemy forces in Iraq.

The Germany-based 94th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) mission — named for rapid pothole repair, or RPR — does take place under the cover of night, but the purpose is to save lives, not take them.

About 10 soldiers from the battalion, along with other soldiers who provide security at the sites, go out into Mosul several times a week to rob insurgents of hiding places for roadside bombs. The battalion’s companies A and B and Headquarters Support Company run the missions.

The crews patch potholes and, in some instances, craters left from roadside or car bomb blasts to prevent the same hole from being used for another bomb — a common practice among insurgents.

“We’ve gotten some intelligence that the [insurgents] are not happy, because we are doing this and making their job a lot harder,” said 1st Lt. Young Chun, 2nd Platoon leader, Company B, 94th Engineers. [...]


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