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Infantrymen patrolling dusty intersection in Iraqi village

Jan- 1-2006 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By MARGARET FRIEDENAUER, Staff Writer

ADIAH, Iraq--They are infantrymen who carry big rifles and are trained to fire a mobile missile system to destroy enemy tanks. But, like most soldiers in the Mosul area, they have found they spend more time making peace than mayhem.

Their Humvee and two Stryker vehicles--one with "Pest Control" stenciled in black near its missile turret on top--rolled into this village on a sunny, breezy Friday afternoon. The soldiers had driven nearly 45 minutes from base, past miles of dusty fields lying dormant for the winter, waiting for the rainy season to bring spring crops.

They stopped at a crossroads linking rural Iraq and the northern city of Mosul about 12 miles away. The mud-hut village of Adiah was just uphill, less than half a mile away. Below, an olive grove, mountains and more villages dotted the landscape, stretching west into the horizon. Here, accompanied by a couple of donkeys grazing nearby, the soldiers set up shop for the afternoon.

The 52nd Anti-Tank unit is from Fort Wainwright Army Post and deployed here as part of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. They are stationed at Q-West Base south of Mosul but are the only infantry unit at this base. They are also the only ones with Stryker vehicles and some of the few with M-4 rifles, which they said make them the "red-headed stepchildren" of Q-West.

But rather than pound an enemy with missiles, this group of self-declared misfits have found themselves engrossed in daily duties that--while an undercurrent of danger persists--have them socializing with locals and doing things like manning traffic checkpoints. Friday had them searching for weapons and enemies among a straggling parade of gas-starved, maintenance-deprived vehicles....


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