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Wesley Morgan has published another dispatch with the 4-9 INF, 4/2 SBCT. Excerpt:
After a few hours of rest and writing, I rejoined 1st Lt. Lowe's third platoon, A/4-9 Infantry for their rotation to the joint security station just outside Mushada, a major overwatch point for protecting Main Supply Route Tampa from Sunni IED teams based in the Tarmiya area. We rolled out sometime after midnight and arrived at the JSS not long afterward, with time to spare, after moving supplies and gear in from the Strykers and posting watch in the rooftop fighting positions, for sleep.Most soldiers seem to hate combat outposts (COPs) and Joint Security Stations (JSSs) with all their hearts (understandably). They hate them because the living conditions are often like something out of World War II – dust, fleas, cold food, cramped quarters – but mostly, I think, they hate them because they are mind-numbingly boring. At a given time a small patrol may be out, which breaks the tedium, but for the most part, the soldiers at the Mushada JSS spend their time either manning the sandbagged machine gun bunkers on the roof, being frustrated by the insurgent-riddled Iraqi Police detachment living with them, or doing absolutely nothing. On FOBs, there are things to do: internet and phone centers, movies, and gyms are all available to the soldiers there, in addition to the endless menial tasks required to maintain a unit’s equipment and readiness. Not so at most JSSs (although some of the nicer ones, I have heard, do have computers) – the platoon’s job, for the three, four, or five days that it spends at the outpost, is simply to be there, showing a presence. Some soldiers – Sgt. Wojo, for example – seem to deal with this by sleeping through every unoccupied hour, but that’s more sleep than most have in them, even after a few exhausting days of patrolling, so they have to find other ways to pass the time.
By MSG Michele R. Hammonds, 1st Sustainment Command
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – Members of the 2nd (Stryker) Cavalry Regiment recently became the first Army unit to have the new Remote Weapon Systems refitted and mounted on their Stryker vehicles.
The RWS is the Army’s latest advancement in weapon systems. The system has a new laser range finder for its .50-caliber mounted machine gun. Before 2nd SCR Soldiers deployed to Iraq the new systems were mounted on Strykers in Germany and Kuwait.
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO
BAGHDAD — Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers found a house rigged to explode during clearing operations in the Rashid District of the Iraqi capital, Aug. 28.
In the early afternoon, Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, attached to the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, responded to a call from Joint Security Station Doura that a house was possibly rigged with explosives.
This is the first article I've seen mentioning the 2nd Stryker CR's presence in country.
By Sharon Behn, The Washington Times
BAGHDAD — Thoughts have turned to home and family for soldiers in the 2-3 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, one of the first units set to complete extended deployments ordered by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to meet demands of the U.S. troop surge.
The conversation in the evening darkness outside the soldiers' "hooches," or where they live, is focusing more on wives and children, buying new trucks and that first cold beer.
By TATIANA PROPHET, Desert Dispatch
No matter how much gear they wear or how protected their Stryker combat vehicle, Iraq-bound soldiers must encounter the desert sand one way or the other — in their teeth, in their eyes and under their clothing.
The sky grew dark and the sand whipped up in the desert of Victorville Monday, as a helicopter hovered above a mock Iraqi village at the former George Air Force Base, conducting reconnaissance and sending radio messages to the soldiers on the ground.
Via FOB Tacoma we found the following article from Ullrich Fichtner in Der Spiegel. This long article from his recent trip to Iraq includes a visit with the 2-23 INF, 4/2 SBCT, which begins on page four. Excerpt:
This danger is palpable, visible and audible to anyone visiting the south of Baghdad, neighborhoods like Doura and Rasheed, traveling with Lieutenant Colonel Alfredo Mycue and his "Stryker" Battalion. Mycue, standing in the commander's porthole on the front, left-hand side of his "Stryker" light armored vehicle, yells "Tomahawks."It is shortly after noon on July 9. The muezzins are calling the faithful to prayer from the minarets, and on Highway 5, which passes through Doura and which the Americans have dubbed "Route Senators" on their maps, the enemy has just detonated another car bomb.
Another report from Wesley Morgan.
After a couple hours of much-needed sleep, I got up at 0530 to link up with the patrol I was accompanying. On Haifa Street with the 1-14, I'd mostly focused on the battalion/squadron and company/troop echelons, so for this embed, which was shorter, I decided it would be better to latch onto a platoon –- after all, if things go as planned, a platoon is what I'll be leading as a lieutenant a bit more than three years from now. So in the early morning darkness, I made my way over to the barracks of 3rd platoon, Alpha Company, 4-9 Infantry (the Manchus) and introduced myself to the platoon leader, 1st Lt. Daniel Lowe.
Morgan has published his latest dispatch, and this time he is embedded with the 4-9 INF, 4/2 SBCT. Excerpt:
In one incident last week, Charlie Company of 4-9, which runs the Tarmiya JSS, took fire from a mosque on the edge of town; in the resulting firefight a soldier was killed and an Apache was eventually called in to take out the al-Qaeda fighting position with a Hellfire missile. In the Mushada area, down the road from Tarmiya in Alpha Company’s area, armed fighters aren’t as much of a problem as IEDs are: MSR Tampa, the country’s main north-south highway, runs right through the place, so the stretches of road entering and exiting Mushada are actually the two most heavily bombed roads in all of Iraq. That’s where I was going.
Multi-National Division – North PAO
RASHIDIYA, Iraq – Leaders from the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division met with leaders of the Iraqi Police, Iraqi Army and local tribal leaders to promote peace and stability in the brigade’s area of operations Aug. 24. The meeting, which included an elaborate meal of both American and Iraqi food, was held at Sheik Mohan Sajer Fahd Al-Fayahd’s home in Rashidiya, Iraq.
“This meeting really means a lot to me,” Al-Fayahd said through a translator. “We are here to promote friendship and brotherhood. I hope in the future that Iraq is secure enough to where you guys can come and visit me as a civilian. I want to show people that if we work together, we can improve the security situation.”
Lt. Col. John Drago, commander, 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment, was one of approximately 40 Soldiers who attended the luncheon. Drago praised Al-Fayahd’s stand against sectarian violence.
FORT LEWIS — Few get this excited about making a bed, never mind making more than 200 beds.
But these half-dozen wives had a spring in their steps Friday as they tucked corners and smoothed blankets and sheets, one of innumerable tasks both large and small under way to prepare for the return of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) after a 15-month deployment to Iraq.
"It's like the light at the end of the tunnel," Melissa Townsend, wife of Col. Steve Townsend, the brigade commander, said in an earlier interview. "You can put your hands on it."
This morning we posted a casualty notification for Cpl. Willard M. Powell based on information provided in this press release from the DoD. What was not made clear by the DoD was that this was a correction of a previous notification they had published for Spc. Willard Kerchief III, not a new casualty. Apparently Powell legally changed his name. The change in rank likely comes from a posthumous promotion. We regret any confusion.
J.M. Simpson with the Ft. Lewis Ranger has a couple new dispatches posted at Blog-Ah!.
By Brian Zanzonico, Herald Community
They while away precious minutes in the unlikeliest of places, using the lavatory not for its intended purpose but rather as a miniature break room. Civilian workers back home have their own places to catch their breath and collect their thoughts while on the job - a cafeteria to relax in, a truck to lean against - and members of the U.S. Army's Alpha Troop of the 114th Cavalry have theirs.
This is the way it has been much of the time for Pfc. Brian Buith, a Franklin Square resident who graduated from Valley Stream North High School in 2004, since he arrived in Iraq in June 2006: End the day, retreat to the comforting four walls of the port-a-john, be grateful you've made it through and dream about home. The plastic box offers a chance to escape the life-or-death challenges he faces every day.
Multi-National Division – North PAO
TIKRIT, Iraq – Coalition Forces and Iraqi Police leaders met at Camp Taji, Wednesday to discuss the way ahead for future cooperation in order to enhance peace and security in the region.
Key leaders of the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division teamed up with their Iraqi Police counterparts from throughout the brigade’s area of operations and focused on security as the way ahead.
By Spc. John Crosby, 4/2 SBCT Public Affairs
CAMP TAJI, Iraq -- Staff Sgt. Joe Naylor from Citrus County, Fla., a member of 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, and Sgt. Jason Sims from Wenatchee, Wash., a member of 202nd Brigade Support Battalion, have developed a magic act that has gotten a lot of recognition.
With the heat, constant threat of violence and distance from loved ones, Soldiers deployed to Iraq have many pressures that can lower morale. Something as simple as a laugh, letter from home, movie or even a show can be just the thing a Soldier needs to get their mind off the daily stressors of deployed life.
By Sharon Behn, Washington Times
BAGHDAD — During two tours totaling 26 months, Maj. Alfred Williams has dealt with insurgents, terrorists and lawless militias. But a giant sinkhole in a main street of one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods has him stumped.
"When I look into the hole, I just want to shoot myself and fall into it," he said, frustrated beyond all measure.
It all started in July.
Via FOB Tacoma we found this story featuring the 2-3 INF, 3/2 SBCT.
BAGHDAD — Across the walls of a neighborhood that has seen better days, Sunni Arab insurgents splash slogans in black Arabic letters: "Death to America" and "Long Live the Resistance." U.S. and Iraqi forces black out the words and replace them with slogans of their own: "Long Live Iraq" and "No to Sectarianism."
The graffiti war, with its echo of U.S. ganglands, is a manifestation of a deadly confrontation that has played out for months in the vast southwestern section of Baghdad known as Dora. Sunni militants have chosen to make a concerted stand in Dora against U.S. troops -- their Alamo, as one American military official put it.
Multi-National Division – North PAO
BAQOUBA, Iraq – The Baqouba public flour mill began processing wheat Monday, after being closed for nearly a year, marking the local production of flour in the Diyala Province as a major step toward Iraqi self-sufficiency.
“This is one more piece to the larger puzzle of providing normalcy here,” said Lt. Col. Fred Johnson, deputy commanding officer of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. “It’s probably the most important thing we’ve done.”
Five-hundred and sixty tons of imported wheat arrived in a 21-truck convoy at the flour mill on August 16th from Baghdad.
The grain, imported from the U.S., will be cleaned in multiple processes and milled with a mixture of 25 percent locally-grown wheat. The product will then be sacked and distributed to the local population as part of the Public Distribution System, an Iraqi program dating back to the 1980’s. The distribution program largely collapsed after insurgent forces disrupted PDS operations in Baqouba last year.
The mill is expected to employ around 100 workers in addition to truck drivers. Its addition to the local economy is expected to help lower the price of bread for the people of Diyala province. The mill is capable of producing 200 tons of finished flour per day.
Blog-Ah! has published its latest column from David Hardt, a soldier serving with the 3/2 SBCT in Iraq. Excerpt:
The days are getting shorter, and the anticipation for coming home grows each day. I can’t wait to smell the fresh air and the freedom of America the great. Until then, I keep the hope.
Simpson, embedded with the 2-23 INF, 4/2 BSCT, files a brief update at Blog-Ah! from Iraq. Excerpt:
As my earlier blogs have indicated, I have been embedded with Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment. These soldiers are currently serving at a Command Outpost, or COP, outside of Baghdad.It’s a rather barebones operation, but it does have the advantage of keeping us off Forward Operating Base (FOB) Falcon. As one soldier put it, “It’s nice to be away from the flagpole.” I agree.
By BRAD RHEN, Lebanon Daily News
INDIANTOWN GAP — Pennsylvania’s Stryker brigade has taken another step toward becoming a fully functional military unit.
About 350 soldiers from the National Guard’s 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team took part in a command-post exercise over the weekend at Fort Indiantown Gap. It was the largest exercise undertaken by the brigade since it was converted to a Stryker brigade in October 2005, according to Maj. Eric Zimmerman, the brigade’s operations officer.
Throughout military history, those serving in the rear echelons could evoke derision from frontline combat veterans.
No more.
In a war in Iraq where there are no frontlines, at a time when soldiers' families are considered an integral part of the Army's success, the "rear detachment" is regarded as a lifeline, and one upon which the Army relies heavily, staffing it with some A-team troops.
At Fort Lewis, the "Rear D" of the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, is the wizard behind the curtain, spending considerable energy recently coordinating memorial services for soldiers killed in Iraq, while at the same time preparing families and troops alike for the brigade's September homecoming.
Multi-National Division – North PAO
TIKRIT, Iraq – Operation Lightning Hammer continued into its fifth day Aug. 18 as 16,000 Iraqi and Coalition Forces Soldiers worked to secure parts of Diyala province and bring food and medical aid to the people there.
On the evening of Aug. 17, Coalition Forces medics and a physician’s assistant from Troop C, 6-9 Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, provided medical treatment for 30 families in the village of Abu Tina and distributed bags of rice and flour to each family.
Ft. Lewis Ranger reporter J.M. Simpson has arrived in Iraq and has posted a couple items at Blog-Ah! He will be embedded with the 4/2 SBCT.
Embedded reporter Wesley Morgan accompanied General Petraeus on a tour of the 4/2 SBCT's area of operations. He provides great insight on recent and potential future operations. Excerpt:
Next up was a briefing on the area of operations by Col. Jon Lehr, the commander of 4th SBCT, 2nd ID, and his staff officers. Again, it was for background only, but there were other media at this one. The brigade deployed from Fort Lewis to Iraq in April with four maneuver battalions: 2-1 Cav, and 4-9, 2-23, and 1-38 Infantry (also a field artillery battalion, the 2-12). Upon arrival in Iraq, 2-23 and 1-38 were peeled off and sent into east Rashid, in Baghdad, as reinforcements [...], while 2-1 and 4-9, along with the brigade headquarters, went to Camp Taji, the main FOB north of Baghdad, and were put under the operational control of Maj. Gen. Mixon and MND-North. During Operation Arrowhead Ripper, 2-1 Cav (a unit identical to 1-14, who I was with on Haifa Street) supported the Stryker units clearing Baquba with an air assault and blocking positions, but is now back in its main sector. The area of operations, Col. Lehr explained, is split into three parts: the west bank of the Tigris around Tarmiya, under 4-9, the east bank out to Bani Saad, under 2-1, and a southern sector bordering Baghdad around Husseiniya, under 2-12 Field Artillery [...]. Since 4th SBCT is one the “surge” brigades, its AO was never patrolled in any kind of strength before, allowing al-Qaeda to settle in pretty thoroughly in some villages.
Correction (8/23/07): The DoD originally listed the soldier's name/rank as Pfc. Willard M. Kerchief III. On August 23, 2007 the DoD released a corrected notification that listed his legal name/rank as Cpl. Willard M. Powell. We have updated this entry to include this new information. We regret any confusion.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Cpl. Willard M. Powell, 21, of Evansville, Ind., died Aug. 16 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when the enemy attacked using small arms fire during combat operations in Taramiyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
We would like to extend our condolences to his family, friends, and fellow soldiers.
Bill Roggio at The Fourth Rail has published a new analysis of recent operations in Diyala, where elements of the 3/2 & 4/2 SBCTs are operating.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pfc. Shawn D. Hensel, 20, of Logansport, Ind., died Aug. 14 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds during an enemy attack. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and fellow soldiers during this difficult time.
Wesley Morgan has published another article while embedded with the 1-14 CAV, 3/2 SBCT. Excerpt:
In the morning (Wednesday, August 8), I geared up before first light. We were supposed to roll back to the forward operating base around 0600, but there was a delay: The cameras positioned on the perimeter of the outpost showed very few pilgrims. Apparently the holiday hadn't really started yet – the marchers last night had been Shia from southern Iraq who had arrived early. "Nobody knows when this damn holiday actually starts," Peterson told me in frustration – the terps, apparently both Sunnis, had no idea either.There was further confusion over a vehicle curfew that was supposed to coincide with the holiday; the Iraqi Army's jundis were enforcing it already, but the Maliki government had declared that it would begin in the evening. In the meantime, I sat around and talked with some of the soldiers from Peterson's security squad over Cocoa Puffs.
Finally, the colonel appeared again and gave the order to mount up. We threw on our armor, walked beyond the sandbags and concrete Jersey barriers to the Strykers, piled in, and were on our way. Because of the delay, we didn't have time to do another foot patrol, so the three Strykers just did a driving tour of the area of operations, with the colonel pointing out different areas and explaining their demographics to me, and returned to the FOB, just in time for a scheduled meeting with three officers from the Taji Counterinsurgency Academy.
Blog-Ah! has published its latest column from David Hardt, a soldier serving with the 3/2 SBCT in Iraq.
Multinational Division North-PAO
BAQOUBA, Iraq – Operation Lightning Hammer kicked off with a powerful barrage of artillery fires and air strikes on carefully selected targets in Diyala province, Iraq, Tuesday, sending al-Qaeda in Iraq a strong message that they have no safe haven there.
More than 300 artillery munitions, rockets and bombs were dropped throughout the night and into morning, blocking al-Qaeda movements and suppressing suspected al-Qaeda targets. This barrage set the stage for subsequent nighttime helo-borne and ground assaults into the Diyala River Valley by 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, and 6-9 Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, respectively.
These forces combined with other units already conducting operation Lightning Hammer elsewhere in Diyala and Salah ad Din provinces, totaling approximately 10,000 Coalition Forces and 6,000 Iraqi Security Forces.
By Sgt. Armando Monroig, 5th MPAD
BAQUBAH, Iraq - She carried a bag full of what she considered to be precious cargo – precious enough for her to risk her life delivering its contents.
She made several trips across the Diyala River, armed only with a pistol and a few friends as body guards.
This woman braved the dangers of traveling in a combat zone, where coalition forces and Iraqi security forces waged war against al-Qaida terrorists who used Baqubah as a stronghold.
Here's another article from Wesley Morgan, which covers some of the same ground as the dispatch we linked to earlier.
By Wesley Morgan, Public Multimedia Inc.
Tuesday evening [note: August 7], after a delicious local lunch in the café with a couple of soldiers, an Iraqi contractor, and a glamorous interpreter who I think hopes to marry her way out of Iraq (no cavalry troopers have taken her up on it yet), I attended a squadron battle update briefing, another briefing, and then got ready to roll out on my first patrol with the Strykers. At the first briefing, I was informed that since I would be hooked into the intercom on missions, I had a radio call sign: Harry Potter.
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Peterson, who goes outside the wire at least once a day to feel the pulse of his area of operations, was leading the mission. We would drive to the bottom of Haifa Street, walk up its length to assess the Iraqi Army's security preparations for the Shiite pilgrimage to commemorate the martyrdom of the Seventh Imam, which was about to start, and then mount up again for the ride to COP Remagen, where we would spend the night with the soldiers living there. Peterson gave a mission brief, instructed a soldier to tell a joke, and gave the order to armor up.
Wesley Morgan has published another embedded dispatch, this time with the 1-14 CAV, 3/2 SBCT. Excerpt:
Last week, I rolled on seven patrols with the cavalry troopers and infantrymen of Task Force 1-14 Cav. I rode in their Strykers, standing in the rear hatch hooked up to the vehicle comms. I trudged up and down Haifa Street with them, did overwatch from the roof of a high rise, helped the snipers search cars, listened to them bitch endlessly about their duties, and spent the night with them in their combat outpost. I clambered into and rushed out of their Strykers so many times that rolling down the streets standing in the hatch behind the machine gun, running foot patrols in the squalid back alleys, and being on the receiving end of the deadly glares of Mahdi Army loyalists all began to seem completely natural. On Friday, one unit, short on dismounts, rigged me up as their radioman, making me an honorary cav trooper for the day.
Multi-National Division – Baghdad
BAGHDAD — Multi-National Division – Baghdad troops discovered a vehicleborne
improvised explosive device Aug. 12 in the eastern portion of the Rashid
District of the Iraqi capital.
Soldiers of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment
“Tomahawks,” attached to the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry
Division operating in southern Baghdad, found a white sedan rigged with a
107mm projectile.
A Coalition explosive ordnance disposal team was dispatched to detonate
the device. There were no civilian casualties or damage from the controlled
detonation.
Elements of the 4/2 SBCT are involved in this operation.
Multi-National Division – North PAO
TIKRIT, Iraq – TIKRIT, Iraq – Operation Lightning Hammer, involving approximately
16,000 Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces, began Aug. 13 with a large-scale offensive
to defeat al-Qaeda and other terrorist cells seeking safe haven throughout the Diyala
River Valley. This operation is a key part of Multinational Corps-Iraq’s overall operation,
Phantom Strike.
Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, partnered with
members of the 5th Iraqi Army Division, initiated the operation with a late-night air
assault into targeted locations to capture or kill al-Qaeda responsible for the violence
against Iraqi civilians.
Yon has published a new dispatch on his website titled Three Marks on the Horizon, which discusses his visit to Mosul before he embedded with the 3/2 SBCT in Diyala.
Bill Roggio at The Fourth Rail takes a close look at the launch of Operation Phantom Strike. Operation Phantom Strike is being represented as the follow-on to Operation Phantom Thunder, of which Arrowhead Ripper was a part of. Excerpt:
Operation Phantom Strike follows Operations Fardh Al-Qanoon (the Baghdad Security Plan) and Phantom Thunder, which pushed Coalition and Iraqi security forces into areas previously unsecured, as well as ejected terror groups from safe havens in Baghdad, and Northern Babil, eastern Anbar, Salahadin and Diyala provinces. During this time, Iraqi and Coalition forces conducted daily, intelligence driven raids against al Qaeda in Iraq and the Iranian-backed cells nationwide, with a heavy emphasis on cells in Baghdad, Diyala, and central and northern Iraq.The Baghdad Security Plan and Phantom Thunder can be considered shaping operations for Phantom Strike. Once Iraqi and Coalition forces moved into previous no-go zones, they have established local security forces and intelligence networks able to pinpoint the makeup and location of the Sunni and Shia extremist groups. Phantom Strike will be a largely intelligence driven operation.
Related Article:
Coalition Troops Launch Operation Phantom Strike in Iraq - AFPS
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
Just like past Fort Lewis commanders, Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr. is responsible for training the post’s troops and taking care of their families.
He has 11,000-plus Fort Lewis soldiers now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, more troops deployed than at any time since the Vietnam War.
He also has the job of maintaining relations with the military leaders of U.S. allies across the Pacific, and ensuring that the Army is a good neighbor to communities around Fort Lewis.
By Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times
BAQUBAH, IRAQ -- Iraq's deputy prime minister flew here Sunday under heavy guard with promises of food, jobs and cash for a city emerging from the sway of Sunni Arab militants largely driven out by U.S.-led troops. What he got was an earful.
Men in long white dishdashas pushed past the crush of bodyguards, soldiers, aides and journalists that surrounded Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih in a market street, demanding to know when food rations would arrive from Baghdad and when government pensions would be paid.
J.M. Simpson of the Ft. Lewis Ranger newspaper will be heading to Iraq soon to embed with the 4/2 SBCT. Stop by the paper's website, Blog-Ah!, to hear more about his plans.
Multi-National Division – North PAO
TIKRIT, Iraq – A new neighborhood watch program established by local citizens has already made significant contributions toward efforts to secure the city according to Coalition Forces.
In late July, Col. Steve Townsend, the commander of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, met with local citizens interested in contributing to the future security plan for the provincial capital city of Diyala.
That meeting launched the Baqouba Guardians, which have been credited with the recent identification of several suspected members of al-Qaida and leading Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police to uncovering unexploded ordnance found in the city.
KAREN MCCARTHY; For The News Tribune
BAQOUBA, Iraq – Stryker brigade leaders played a central role in organizing a key meeting of politicians, locals and military this week in an attempt to restore the political process and basic services to the Iraqi city of Baqouba.
Meanwhile, a peace accord was signed between 25 Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders who agreed to work together to keep al-Qaida in Iraq from returning to the city it once declared as its headquarters in the country.
The agreements might be one of the few pieces of good news coming out of Iraq as the Stryker brigade’s Baqouba operation, Arrowhead Ripper, moves toward its third month.
Despite its recent losses the 2-3 INF, 3/2 SBCT continues to make progress in its area of operations. We found this story via FOB Tacoma.
By Sharon Behn, The Washington Times
BAGHDAD — Residents and U.S. commanders agree that the streets of the al Doura neighborhood in southern Baghdad are safer than at any time in months, but the progress has come at a price.
As lucrative contracts are issued for Iraqi residents to begin repairing the neighborhood's dilapidated infrastructure, the Americans cannot be sure that some of the money isn't going straight to the enemy.
Embedded journalist Wesley Morgan takes a very detailed look at the activities of Task Force Warhorse, which is comprised of elements from 1-14 CAV and 5-20 INF, 3/2 SBCT. Excellent coverage. Excerpt:
In the tactical operations center here on Forward Operating Base Union III, a huge poster is emblazoned with the slogan “Army Strong – Cav Tough.” From what I’ve seen in the past few days as I’ve lived and ridden with the Stryker cavalry Task Force based here, called Task Force Warhorse, that slogan is true enough, but could just as well read “Army Strong – Cav Smart.” This unit – two cavalry troops and an infantry company, headquartered by the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry – has been in three different areas of operations in the past year and has been engaged in an enormous spectrum of operations, from neighborhood cleanup to a multiple-day, full-squadron assault on enemy positions.Yet in its current area, based around the notorious Haifa Street in Baghdad’s Karkh security district, it has managed, with few kinks, to transition from assault mode to classical-style counterinsurgency and counter-organized crime operations that require not force and firepower but finesse and an unbelievable amount of patience. How Task Force Warhorse and its commander, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Peterson, have conducted these operations should, from my perspective at least, stand as a model for the U.S. Army as it strains to apply Gen. David Petraeus’s “surge” strategy in central Iraq. But before diving into what I’ve seen here in Karkh, I should give a bit of background about the three main elements of the story: the area of operations, the unit, and the commander.
This report was published at The Fourth Rail, but Morgan also maintains a personal blog, Notes From Downrange, you might want to bookmark too.
The following stories are from local media outlets today regarding the 3/2 SBCT's recent losses.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Spc. Kareem R. Khan, 20, of Manahawkin, N.J., died Aug. 6 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. Khan was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
All of us here are deeply saddened by the loss of another Stryker soldier.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Cpl. Juan M. Alcantara, 22, of New York, died Aug. 6 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. Alcantara was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
All of us at SBN offer our sincere condolences to the Alcantara family, as well as his friends.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. Nicholas A. Gummersall, 23, of Chubbuck, ID, died Aug. 6 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. Gummersall was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones he leaves behind.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Jacob M. Thompson, 26, of North Mankato, Minn., died Aug. 6 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. Thompson was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and fellow soldiers.
Mike Gilbert of The News Tribune conducted a brief email interview with LTC Barry Huggins, commander of 2-3 INF 3/2 SBCT, regarding the battalion's recent losses.
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
The 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division paid its respects Wednesday to the most recent of its soldiers to be killed in Iraq, two men who died three weeks ago in the villages northeast of Baghdad.
The brigade hasn’t lost a soldier since July 20, when Cpl. Rhett A. Butler, 22, was killed by a deep buried bomb that exploded beneath his Stryker near Khan Bani Sa’d.
Cpl. Brandon M. Craig, 25, died the day before when his Stryker was hit by a bomb in Husseiniyah.
By Sgt. Armando Monroig, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
BAQUBAH, Iraq – During a recent mission with the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Soldiers in Stryker vehicles entered Buhriz, near Baqubah, Iraq, prepared for a firefight.
Two Stryker vehicles blocked the street. Soldiers scanned the vicinity, checked roof tops for signs of the enemy, and cleared the building before entering.
On July 25th, 2007 the Department of Defense announced the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
1st Sgt. Michael S. Curry Jr., 37, of Dania Beach, Fla., was killed July 23 in Sarobi District, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Curry was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy.
Although Curry was not currently a Stryker soldier, he had a close connection to the Ft. Lewis brigades. According to a Major with the Stryker Program:
Michael Curry was the first NCOIC of the I Corps G3 Transformation cell responsible for coordinating the efforts to transform 3/2 and 1/25 into the first 2 Stryker Brigades. Unfortunately, he was killed last week in Afghanistan as part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. I would appreciate if you would post something to the site.
Godspeed 1SG Curry.
Yon has published a new dispatch on his website titled Bread and a Circus, Part II of II. Part I can be found here. Excerpt:
LTC Johnson bristled when he spoke to the collapsing convoy, telling them that that the future of Iraq would depend on the outcome of moments like this all over the country, where men either stand their ground, or run away and give the day to the terrorists. Johnson’s words carried particular weight because of an encounter earlier that morning.That morning, still in Baqubah and trying to get the convoy organized, a truck driver had approached us with intention in his eyes. LTC Johnson closed on the man whom he suspected was a suicide bomber. My video was running as Johnson drew his pistol. If a bomb had detonated, Johnson and a few others would have definitely been killed. I might have survived—although in no condition to write these words—but had I, it would have been solely due to Johnson and the others having closed space with the man. But they actually risked their lives not to save mine, but his: they could have shot him from a distance of perhaps even 10m farther, but it happened so suddenly they just moved straight in. That was courage.
As it happened, the man who had closed space with us was simply an Iraqi coming forward to help start the convoy rolling. The Iraqi man—I’ll call him “Tonto” because he’s still in the thick of the war—owned some trucks and wanted to get his business going. Guts and capitalism make an impressive combination.
In addition to the fatalities there were numerous soldiers seriously injured in the bombings last week. A local New York paper picks up the story of one soldier, Spc. Kevin Mowl. We will hope for a complete and speedy recovery for all of them.
By Greg Livadas, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
(August 7, 2007) — A Pittsford native has been injured in Iraq after a bomb exploded near his vehicle Thursday night.
U.S. Army Spc. Kevin Mowl, 21, suffered a brain injury and numerous fractures, family members said. He was flown to Washington on Sunday and underwent surgery Monday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
His parents, Harold and Mary Mowl of Pittsford, and his sister, Carlene, spent time with Mowl at the hospital.
"He continues to be stable and has not been awake due to anesthesia," his father said.
[...]
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Spc. Eric D. Salinas, 25, of Houston, Texas, died Aug. 2 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Salinas was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
Everyone here at SBN would like to offer our sincere condolences to his family, friends and fellow soldiers.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Spc. Cristian Rojas-Gallego, 24, of Loganville, Ga., died Aug. 2 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Rojas-Gallego was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones he leaves behind.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Fernando Santos, 29, of San Antonio, Texas, died Aug. 2 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Santos was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
To his family and friends - please know that we are all keeping you in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
By Spc. Alexis Harrison, 2nd BCT, 1st Cav PA
BAGHDAD – From the markets of Al Doura to the streets of Al Rashid to the neighborhoods of the Karkh District, troops from the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment have found themselves in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the Iraqi capital.
After more than a year patrolling and surviving the mean streets, the squadron finds itself on the downhill slope toward their home at Fort Lewis, Wash. Although many of the Soldiers are counting down the last remaining days, they still patrol the streets of Karkh.
Multi-National Division–North Public Affairs
TIKRIT, Iraq – Eighteen paramount tribal leaders representing 14 of the major tribes in Diyala province, Iraq, swore on the Quran and signed a peace agreement unifying the tribes in the battle against terrorism during a meeting at the Baqubah Government Center Aug. 2.
The meeting, led by Ra’ad Hameed Al-Mula Jowad Al-Tamimi, governor of Diyala; Staff Maj. Gen. Abdul Kareem, commander of Iraqi security forces in Diyala province; and Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of coalition forces in Diyala, was attended by sheiks representing three Shiite tribes, 11 Sunni tribes and 60 of Diyala’s 100 sub-tribes.
BY SUSANNAH PATTON, Northwest Arkansas Times
Friends and co-workers of the family of a Fayetteville soldier severely injured in Iraq will host a benefit concert today from 3 to 9 p. m. at Parsons Rodeo Grounds in Springdale to help meet some of the family’s financial burdens.
The concer t will feature music from the Boston Mountain Playboys, Cousin Eddie, Joe Giles and the Homewreckers, Effron White and more.
Pfc. Adam Watkins, 21, was seriously injured May 21 when the Army Stryker vehicle he was driving ran over an improvised explosive device.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pfc. Alfred H. Jairala, 29, of Hialeah, Fla., died July 31 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
All of us here at Strykernews would like to offer our sincere condolences to his family, friends and fellow soldiers.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pfc. Charles T. Heinlein Jr., 23, of Hemlock, Mich., died July 31 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones he leaves behind. Please check back for any related articles we find.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Spc. Zachariah J. Gonzalez, 23, of Indiana, died July 31 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
We extend our condolences to his family, friends, and fellow soldiers during this difficult time.
By Christian Lowe, Military.com
The Soldiers slip around the edge of the wall, stacking up against a rusty metal door blocking access to the compound. With a heavy punch of a boot, the entry is ripped from its hinges and the Soldiers pour into the hard-packed dirt yard in a flow of lethal green.
After a look around, the insurgent they were sent to nab isn't there.
Time to look in another house.
By Sgt. Armando Monroig, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
BAQUBAH, Iraq – Leaders from the 5th Iraqi Army Division and the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, traveled together to assess progress in several neighborhoods of Baqubah, Iraq, July 31.
As Operation Arrowhead Ripper continues, the effort has shifted from combat operations to reconstruction and humanitarian missions. The Iraqi army, Iraqi police and provincial council members are leading the majority of the projects. Many residents have joined in to do their part to improve their city.
On the night of June 18 and the early morning of June 19, U.S. and Iraqi forces launched Operation Arrowhead Ripper in Iraq's Diyala province. Targeted at the city of Baqubah, which the now-deceased al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Masab al-Zarqawi proclaimed his own capital of the "Islamic State of Iraq" in October, the goal of the operation was to trap and destroy the insurgents who have run the city of some 250,000 residents for more than a year.
Representing part of Gen. David Petraeus' plan to pacify the "Baghdad belts" that have served as way stations for terrorism attacks inside the capital, Arrowhead Ripper is a key test of the surge of American troops to Iraq. The operation has also turned out to be an excellent palette for milblogging, both from the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, which provided the central striking force of the offensive, and from freelance journalists.
By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2007 – Operations in Baqubah, Iraq, are transitioning to the “hold” phase of the “secure, hold, build” strategy, the commander of coalition forces in northern Iraq said today.
Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Multinational Division North, told military analysts that coalition and Iraqi forces are building joint security stations and combat outposts in the city. “We have a number of large operations planed over the next 30 days to address the threat in the city,” he said.
(via FOB Tacoma)
By Mike Drummond and Hussein Khalifa, McClatchy Newspapers
BAQOUBA, Iraq — Several months ago, Abu Haider was aiming his weather-beaten AK-47 rifle at American soldiers. Now it pointed to the floor.
At a makeshift police station that once served as a farmer's union hall in Baqouba, the U.S. effort to enlist former Sunni Muslim insurgents in the battle against al Qaida in Iraq coalesced this week into an uneasy truce.
Abu Haider, as he called himself, and about 80 other mostly Sunni residents — some of them former members of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a fiercely nationalistic insurgent group — had arrived to register as security volunteers. An American soldier photographed and cataloged the recruits. The result: a neighborhood watch program with ammo.
Here's another related to the 2/25 SBCT.
By Gregg K. Kakesako, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Peter Pappalardo checked into work at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, and he doesn't plan to leave his office and the loading docks at Kilo pier until next week when the Navy completes what he describes as the "single biggest movement" in a decade.
"I'm in it for the long haul," Pappalardo told reporters yesterday as he orchestrated the loading of vehicles and equipment belonging to the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, which will deploy to Iraq in November.
The last shipload of equipment is slated to leave Pearl Harbor on Monday.
The following article also includes a photo gallery and video. Click through to view.
By William Cole, Honolulu Advertiser
PEARL HARBOR — The Army's 310 Strykers, rarely seen on O'ahu's roads, seemed like they were everywhere yesterday around Kilo pier, as the 19-ton armored vehicles were driven onto a huge cargo ship for training in California and then deployment to Iraq.
The eight-wheeled vehicles won't be seen again in Hawai'i for an expected 18 months because they will be shipped to the Middle East from the West Coast and then be part of a deployment that could last up to 15 months in Iraq.
Blog-Ah! has published its latest column from David Hardt, a soldier serving with the 3/2 SBCT in Iraq.
The names of eight members of the armed forces from Washington killed in Iraq in July will one day be inspiration for quiet thought at the 10-acre Reflection Park being created in the historic garrison section of Fort Lewis.
The names and dates of all the fallen from this state's towns and military bases, from every service branch in every war beginning with World War I, will be engraved on granite walls set amid the sound of trickling water.
Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO
BAQOUBA, Iraq – Leaders from the 5th Iraqi Army Division and the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, traveled together to assess progress in several neighborhoods of Baqouba, Iraq, July 31.
As Operation Arrowhead Ripper continues, the effort has shifted from combat operations to reconstruction and humanitarian missions. The majority of the projects are being led by the Iraqi army, Iraqi police and provincial council members. Many residents have joined in to do their part to improve their city.
By Sgt. Armando Monroig, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
BAQUBAH, Iraq – Strykers provide the U.S. Army with the means to project combat power anywhere throughout central and northern Iraq, but that capability would be impossible without the mechanics that maintain and repair the combat vehicles.
That’s where Soldiers of the 296th Brigade Support Battalion’s combat repair team come in. It is their job to make sure the vehicles keep rolling for members of the 3rd “Stryker” Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash. Their job has become even more critical since the 3rd SBCT began operations in Baqubah in mid-June.