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‘Deuce Four’ unit salutes its ‘let’s-go-get-’em’ leader

Apr- 1-2006 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

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MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune

A lot of Fort Lewis units have made their way to Iraq and back, but none has endured as much pain – or attracted as much acclaim – as the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment.

The fortitude of its soldiers against a raging insurgency brought fame to the battalion known as “Deuce Four.”

On Friday the man who led the unit’s 800 soldiers through its trials in Mosul relinquished command.

Lt. Col. Erik Kurilla, 39, wounded twice during his year in Iraq, will soon move on to command the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis – one of the Army’s most elite combat units.

“The accomplishments of this battalion are well-known not only in the Army but across the country and across Iraq,” Kurilla’s boss, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division commander Col. John RisCassi, said at the change-of-command ceremony Friday.

Deuce Four took over the densely populated, mostly Sunni Arab western half of Mosul in October 2004 just as the insurgency was reaching full bloom. U.S. and Iraqi troops were attacked an average of 20 times a day by guerrillas who moved freely.

The battalion under Kurilla employed aggressive tactics, setting up outposts around the city and drawing insurgents out to fight. The January 2005 elections went on as scheduled, U.S. forces rebuilt the Iraqi police and by the spring attacks fell to an average of five a day. ...


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