Thursday, September 13, 2007

3rd HBCT hosts medical operation at new clinic

Medical personnel from 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team talk through an interpreter to screen an Iraqi woman prior to her being treated at a free health care clinic for in Salman Pak, Iraq, Sept. 11.

Multi-National Division - Center
Media Release
HQ, MND-Center
Baghdad, Iraq

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

3rd HBCT hosts medical operation at new clinic
By Staff Sgt. Sean Riley
3rd HBCT Public Affairs
Photos courtesy of 1-15 Inf. Regt.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Coalition troops, working with the Salman Pak Council, provided free medical assistance to local residents at a new clinic in Salman Pak Sept. 11.

Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and Iraqi National Police set up and supported the operation.

Soldiers screened and treated about 140 people, while others handed out newspapers, children’s toys and sports clothing.

A 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team medic sorts through medication for use during a free medical clinic in Salman Pak, Iraq, Sept. 11.

1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment Soldiers provide security at the entrance to the free medical clinic, hosted by 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team medical personnel in Salman Pak, Iraq, Sept. 11.

An Iraqi man ushers his two sons out of a clinic room after they were screened by 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team medical personnel during a free medical clinic in Salman Pak, Iraq, Sept. 11. The 3rd HBCT also handed out humanitarian items to the children during their visit.


Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, provide security at the entrance to the free medical clinic, hosted by 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team medical personnel in Salman Pak, Iraq, Sept. 11.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cpl. Javier G. Paredes, 24, of San Antonio, died Sept. 5 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from a rocket propelled grenade. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.

Tip leads to east Baghdad cache

Multi-National Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tip leads to east Baghdad cache
Multi-National Division - Baghdad PAO

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq - Soldiers with the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division recovered a small cache during operations looking for a terrorist suspect in eastern Baghdad Sept. 10. 

Soldiers with Company D, 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment discovered a cache in the New Baghdad District, based off of a tip from a resident. The cache consisted of one double-barreled shotgun, one revolver with seven rounds, two cell phones and one AK-47 rifle with magazines.

The terrorist suspect was not found during the operation. Tips from Iraqi residents continue to lead Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces to cache finds and terrorists. 

U.S. and Iraqi Security Forces continue to drive into insurgent strongholds and combat outposts and joint security stations have set up tip lines to receive information while keeping callers’ identities unknown.

Battalion commander looks to future of Salman Pak

Multi-National Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Battalion commander looks to future of Salman Pak
Multi-National Division - Center PAO

COMBAT OUTPOST CLEARY, Iraq - Lt. Col. Jack Marr has a positive outlook on what has been a rough and bumpy road to a peaceful and successful Salman Pak community.

“It’s getting better every day,” said Marr, of Minneapolis, commander of 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. “There is no one solution that will completely solve this problem.”

Salman Pak is a town in the southern most portion of the Mada’in Qada, where the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team assumed control in early April. It’s a historic area where Soldiers and leaders of the 1-15 Inf. Regt. have continued to combat adversity and controversy since their arrival. 

The area has not always had such a dismal reputation. According to Marr, Salman Pak is rich with historical significance. The city is mentioned in the Bible, in the book of Ezra, and has historical markers such as the Ctesiphon Arch and the Salman al-Frasi Mosque dedicated to Salman the Persian, the first non-Arab convert to Islam.

Marr said Salman Pak was also a resort city in the beginning of Saddam Hussein’s rule over Iraq. Still in the area are run down hotels and convention centers where 1-15 Inf. Regt. Soldiers have found various pictures and post cards of what once was.

Capt. Steve Schmidt, of Sunnyvale, Calif., battalion fire support officer, said the area was a vacationing center for high society Sunni leaders.

“If you look down from the top of the Panorama Building (a run-down structure overlooking Salman Pak,) you can see the remains of a swimming pool,” he said.

Before 1-15 Inf. Regt. arrived in Salman Pak, there was a National Police presence in the area. However, they were harsh in how they dealt with the local populace. There was also known corruption within the city, Marr explained.

“The people of Salman Pak left and the government was not functioning,” he said. “The buildings were abandoned and the National Police moved into them. They really had no place to work. Since 1-15 arrived, the people have moved back to the area.”

Since the National Police do not currently have a headquarters building they can call their own, they take over buildings such as schools, libraries and hospitals thus shutting down some or all operation within the building, Schmidt explained.

“With the National Police occupying these buildings,” Schmidt said, “they are turning the buildings into magnets for attacks.”

To combat this problem, Marr said Soldiers are currently working with the Mayor of Salman Pak to choose a location for a new FOB where the National Police can set up their headquarters. Marr said the project will begin soon.

Another problem both Marr and Schmidt expressed was the lack of security on the main route into Salman Pak.

“Many males feel they can’t travel freely on the route,” Marr said. “They feel as though they will be killed or kidnapped if they travel on that route.”

This concern makes it difficult to get supplies and resources into the city. Schmidt gave an example regarding school testing in the area. School kids in ninth and 12th grades must conduct a test to determine where they are in their education and where they would best be suited in the community. The test also determines which students would best be suited for college.

“The lack of security on the route did not allow for testers to come to Salman Pak,” Schmidt said. “They ended up moving the test to Jisr Diyala but very few kids showed up to take the test. They just didn’t feel safe.”

Marr is concerned that the lack of testing in Salman Pak will result in a low number of the area’s school children furthering their education at universities.

He said his unit is taking a bigger role in humanitarian assistance for Salman Pak. Soldiers provide convoy escorts along the dangerous route so trucks bringing fuel, water, propane, kerosene and other supplies and resources can make their way safely into the area.

He believes the humanitarian efforts will also prevent residents from, once again, migrating away from Salman Pak.

Currently, Marr said his unit is working on projects to better the quality of life for the citizens of Salman Pak.

“One-15 is currently overseeing the construction of a health care clinic,” he said. “They (local government) are doing repairs on several unoccupied schools, cleaning up the streets, and replacing concertina wire and jersey barriers around the city with decorative cement pots. They are in the planning phases of funding and building a new fire station, government center and high school.”

Salman Pak, as of today, is not recognized as a Nahia, or local council, and cannot hold regular elections. Marr said before he leaves, he would like to see the council recognized and paid by the government of Iraq.

Although Salman Pak is in the beginning stages of building a self-reliant community, where violence and chaos is scarce or non-existent, Marr is hopeful and can see the ever-improving relationship with his Soldiers and the local community.

“It’s completely a matter of trust,” he said. “We are building and providing visible, tangible alternatives to the seditious rhetoric of the extremists in this area.”

Marr also sees great potential in the local population of Salman Pak.

“If they can get through the separation and balance Sunni and Shia services of life, they have a chance at success,” he said.

Prosthetic clinic offers new hope

Multi-National Corps – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Prosthetic clinic offers new hope
Multi-National Division – Center PAO

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Third Heavy Brigade Combat Team medical personnel visited an Iraqi Ministry of Defense prosthetic clinic in Baghdad’s International Zone last week.

The purpose of the visit was to help 20-year-old Soham Hassan Ka-Naan and 17-year-old Hussein Ahmed.

The lives of these two Iraqi citizens were changed by insurgents after separate attacks left both as amputees.

Soham was 17 when an insurgent rocket attack in Jisr Diyala took her left leg below the knee and her entire right leg to her hip. Three years later, she came to the clinic after her case was discovered during a recent 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, humanitarian mission to the city. This was the woman’s first visit to the clinic, and she and her family say they are very pleased.

“God bless the American Soldiers,” said Khalid Hassan Ka-Naan, Soham’s brother, who accompanied her during her visit. “We appreciate everything they do for us. My mother prays for you everyday to help her life. We are very grateful for you help.”

Soham’s right hip and left leg were measured to be fit with prosthetics.

According to Chris Cummins, prosthetic clinic adviser and former U.S. Army civil affairs Soldier, Soham’s bi-lateral amputation complicates the situation, but he feels confident that with modern prosthetic tools and methods, she will one day walk unassisted.

“She has a whole world of challenges,” Cummings said. “A below-knee (amputation) and the other at her hip will require a lot of balance and upper body strength.”

Hussien was only a child when an insurgent roadside bomb took one of his legs. His visit to the clinic with his father included an ultrasound to evaluate his old wound. The ultrasound will find defects such as painful and potentially debilitating bone spurs not detectable to the naked eye.

“He’ll do fine,” Cummings said during Hussein’s evaluation. “We’ll get a good fitting (for him).”

Cummings conducted both Soham’s and Hussein’s evaluations during their first visit to the clinic. Cummings, an Operation Iraq Freedom veteran, said he thinks both patients will benefit from the evaluations and looks forward to their follow-up appointments.

“It’s always great to see kids,” he said. “I stay in this field to help people.”

Soham and Hussein are scheduled for future visits to start physical therapy and to be fitted with their new prosthetic limbs.

Maj. Cynthia Majerske, of Bar Harbor, Maine, the 3rd HBCT surgeon, who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation, said she accompanied the pair on the visit to assist in their evaluations and to check out the facility.

“I was impressed,” Majerske said. “Cummings is there with state-of-the-art equipment to make prosthetics. The staff there is very knowledgeable and caring.”

Majerske, and other medical professionals from 3rd HBCT, contacted the Multi-National Security Transition Command after meeting Hussein and Soham.

The Soldiers and their patients were then referred to the prosthetic clinic in the International Zone.

The prosthetic clinic is an Iraqi Ministry of Defense project to help wounded Iraqi army soldiers, but the Iraqi Surgeon General, Gen. Samire, has taken the project further by extending their services to include Iraqi police and civilian casualties as well.

The 3-1 Cav. Regt. is assigned to the 3rd HBCT, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga. and has been deployed in support of OIF since March 2007.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Aviation, Infantry team up in raid

Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, wait to board a Chinook helicopter in the holding area at Combat Outpost Cleary before an air assault operation,Sept. 8.

Multi-National Division - Center
Media Release
HQ, MND-Center
Baghdad, Iraq

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Aviation, Infantry team up in raid
By Sgt. Natalie Rostek
3rd HBCT Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER – Soldiers of Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment conducted an air assault operation early Sept. 8, in Stiyah, near Salman Pak, detaining 14 men and finding a weapons cache.

Company A Soldiers, along with support elements from 1-15 Inf. Regt., departed Combat Outpost Cleary to conduct the night mission.

They landed at the village and immediately began clearing houses in search of weapons and military-aged men.

Two hours after the mission began, 1st Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, engaged two hostile gunmen, killing both.

Soldiers from Company A, 3rd Platoon, found a weapons cache after searching a barn behind a barber shop.

The cache consisted of several AK-47 rifles, a PKC machine gun, a shotgun, several belts and magazines of AK-47 and machine gun ammunition, a camera, and two black ski masks.

The 1-15 Inf. Regt. is assigned to the 3rd HBCT, 3rd Inf. Div., from Fort Benning, Ga., and has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March 2007.

Pfc. Mike Montemeyer, 3rd platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, and Sgt. Michael Hager, a team leader in the platoon, search a bedroom for weapons and ammunition during an air assault operation Sept. 8 in Stiyah, near Salman Pak.


Sgt. Michael Hager, a team leader in the 3rd platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, searches a bedroom for weapons and ammunition during an air assault operation Sept. 8 in Stiyah, near Salman Pak.

Pfcs. Antonio Martinez and Mike Montemeyer, from 3rd platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, search a pile of mattresses and a cabinet for weapons and ammunition during an air assault operation Sept. 8 in Stiyah near Salman Pak.

Sgt. Michael Hager, a team leader in the 3rd platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, searches through a bed for weapons and ammunition during an air assault operation Sept. 8 in Stiyah, near Salman Pak.

The weapons cache found in a barn behind a barber shop by 3rd platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, during an air assault operation Sept. 8, in Stiyah, near Salman Pak, Iraq.

‘Willful Sinners’ rock out at FOB Hammer

Multi-National Division - Center
Media Release
HQ, MND-Center
Baghdad, Iraq

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

‘Willful Sinners’ rock out at FOB Hammer
Photos by Staff Sgt. Sean Riley
3rd HBCT Public Affairs

Wilson Gil, lead singer of the California-based band Wilson Gil and the Willful Sinners, performs for servicemembers and civilians who live and work at Forward Operating Base Hammer Sept. 6. Members of the band and Soldiers of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, battled high winds and dust during the two-hour music set. The band has been touring Iraq and Afghanistan to show support for deployed service members.

Front man Wilson Gil (center), lead guitarist Joe Dean (left), and bass guitarist Barry Spry (right), rock out for the troops and civilians during a concert at Forward Operating Base Hammer Sept. 6. The four members of the band and Soldiers of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, battled high winds and dust during the two-hour music set. The band has been touring Iraq and Afghanistan to show support for deployed servicemembers.

Wilson Gil, lead singer for the California-based rocker band, Wilson Gil and the Willful Sinners, watches as bass player Barry Spry (right) provides back-up vocals and rhythm with his bass guitar during a concert for the Soldiers, airmen, and civilians at Forward Operating Base Hammer Sept. 6. The band has been touring Iraq and Afghanistan to show support for deployed servicemembers.

Wilson Gil and the Willful Sinners play a two-hour set during a visit to Forward Operating Base Hammer Sept. 6. The California-based band has been touring Iraq and Afghanistan to show support for deployed servicemembers.

Lead guitarist, Joe Dean, plays during a concert by the California-based rock band, Wilson Gil and the Willful Sinners at Forward Operating Base Hammer Sept. 6. The band performed a two-hour music set for the Soldiers, airmen, and civilians based at the FOB. The band has been touring Iraq and Afghanistan to show support for deployed servicemembers.

Soldier reaches out to deaf parents

Pfc. Patti Angel, Grand Junction, Colo., a food service specialist from Company F, 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, checks her e-mail at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation tent at Combat Outpost Cleary.

Multi-National Division - Center
Media Release
HQ, MND-Center
Baghdad, Iraq

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Soldier reaches out to deaf parents
By Sgt. Natalie Rostek
3rd HBCT Public Affairs

COMBAT OUTPOST CLEARY– Pfc. Patti Angel faces communication barriers no amount of waiting in line or talking into a phone from Iraq can help. Her parents are deaf.

Keeping in touch back home is already tough for deployed Soldiers with friends and family members who can hear. Not being able to use conventional means of communication at her disposal makes reaching out to her parents that much harder on Angel.

The 19-year-old food service specialist from Grand Junction, Colo., Company F, 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, Angel has found a way to communicate with her hearing-impaired parents and explained how others can do the same. She uses the Sorenson Video Relay Service to “speak” visually to her mother and father.

“They have a screen with a web-cam on their phone,” Angel said. “I talk to the interpreter, then the interpreter signs what I say to my parents. My parents then sign back to the interpreter and the interpreter talks to me.”

Angel first started signing to her parents when she was 10-months-old, before she even learned to speak. She didn’t learn to communicate vocally until her older sisters taught her English.

“We all learned to sign before we could talk,” Angel said. “My older twin sisters had to go to speech school when they were 2. Then, after my brother and I were born, our sisters taught us how to talk.”

Angel explained her parents are capable of speaking; however, those who do not talk to them on a daily basis find them difficult to understand.

Growing up in a deaf household was not as difficult as it would seem, Angel said. She compared the communication in her family to that of a Spanish-speaking family. Everyone talks to each other in their native language, but knows how to communicate with those outside of the home.

“It’s all we knew,” she said. “We knew tricks like stomping on the floor or flicking the lights to get their attention. It really wasn’t difficult at all.”

Her parents’ house in Grand Junction is set up to facilitate their active senses. Lights are used to help identify noises, such as the phone or the doorbell, Angel said. Even the family dogs, Hunny and Toby, notify those inside when visitors knock on the door.

She explained how her mother and father used a baby monitors’ flashing lights to keep tabs on her sisters as babies. As they made noise, the lights would flash. By the time she and her younger brother were born, the twins were old enough to assist the parents.

Mirrors placed around the house also help in communication.

“When you lose one (of your senses), all the others are heightened,” Angel said. “Having the mirrors all around the house is like having a lot of eyes all around the house. I love the mirrors, but at the same time, my parents can always catch me if I back-talk them.”

Her family has always been close and Angel attributes her successes and those of her siblings to her parents. Her mother and father both attended the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind from elementary through high school.

Her parents met as seniors in high school. Her father was a sports fanatic and her mother was a cheerleader.

“I was fortunate to go to one of their class reunions and got to watch some sporting events,” Angel said. “It was interesting to see the differences. In volleyball, the referee blows the whistle, but also has to run out on the floor and stop the play. In football, they blow the whistle so the blind players hear it, but they also beat a drum so the deaf players feel the vibrations through the ground. They are actually very good players.”

Angel’s mother went on to Gallaudet University, a Washington, D.C., college for the hearing impaired. From there, she graduated with a degree in home economics and later excelled in taking care of her four children, Angel said.

Her father, now retired, worked as a bus driver for skiers in Aspen, and as a house construction specialist.

Angel’s sister, Jamie, made the decision to use her sign language skills as a career and currently works as an interpreter with deaf children in public schools. Her brother, Rusty, is a manager at an oil company in Colorado.

Angel is following her other sister, Jamie’s twin, Amy, a staff sergeant and recruiter in Grand Junction. Amy is directly responsible for recruiting Angel into the Army.

“At age 13, I went to my sister’s graduation from basic training,” Angel said. “After seeing what the Army was like, I told myself, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ After my senior year in high school, my sister recruited me.”

Angel said she has always liked to cook and work with her hands. She chose food service as her military occupational specialty when she found the Army had no need for her signing abilities.

“The Army doesn’t consider me bilingual, because they don’t allow deaf people to join,” she said. “My dad said he would have joined the Army if they allowed him to.”

As of right now, Angel said she plans on staying in the Army in her current job as a food service specialist.

“I know being a private is probably one of the hardest working jobs as far as manual labor,” she said. “But I know once I get up there in rank, I’ll be leading and training Soldiers. I’ll have that pride when I see one of my Soldiers doing their job and knowing I trained them to do it.”

When she does make the decision to leave military service, Angel said she wants to go into either cosmetology or into a job working with the deaf.

“I know kids who rebelled against their deaf parents and didn’t accept their being deaf,” Angel said. “Not us, though. We’ve always been a close family. Our deaf parents raised four very successful kids.”

Company F, 203rd BSB is in direct support of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment and is assigned to the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga., and has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March 2007.

Pfc. Patti Angel, a food service specialist from Grand Junction, Colo., from Company F, 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, serves Soldiers their meals from a Mobile Kitchen Trailer at Combat Outpost Cleary Sept. 6.

Pfc. Patti Angel, a food service specialist from Company F, 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, calls her family from Grand Junction, Colo., from a phone center at Combat Outpost Cleary Sept. 6.

Friday, September 07, 2007

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Spc. Keith A. Nurnberg, 26, of McHenry, Ill., died Sept. 5 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit during combat operations. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Operation Comanche Swarm II uncovers cache

Scouts from Troop C,3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment display part of the cache they found during Operation Comanche Swarm II east of Baghdad Sept. 2.

Multi-National Division - Center
Media Release
HQ, MND-Center
Baghdad, Iraq

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Operation Comanche Swarm II uncovers cache
Story and by Spc. Ben Hutto, 3rd HBCT Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER – Acting on tips from concerned citizens, scouts from Troop C, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, detained three people and seized a large cache east of Baghdad Sept. 2.

The 789th Explosive Ordnance Company, from Fort Benning, Ga., currently attached to 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, destroyed eight rocket propelled grenades, six 82mm mortars, two fragmentary grenades, 21 mortar fuses, a 5-gallon fuel can filled with an unknown explosive, 20 detonating cords, two blasting caps and three rocket propelled grenade launchers.

Two AK-47 assault rifles, seven magazines and improvised explosive device-making materials were confiscated.

Third Squadron, 1st Cav. Regt., is a part of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, stationed in Fort Benning, Ga.

Scouts from Troop C,3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment display part of the cache they found during Operation Comanche Swarm II east of Baghdad Sept. 2.

Fort Benning Soldiers investigate Al Bawi pump station

Lt. Col. Todd R. Ratliff, 42, Holland, Ohio, the BSTB commander, inspects the Al Bawi pump station, outside of Salman Pak Sept. 4.

Multi-National Division - Center
Media Release
HQ, MND-Center
Baghdad, Iraq

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fort Benning Soldiers investigate Al Bawi pump station
Story and photos by Spc. Ben Hutto
3rd HBCT Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER– Amid various media reports of water shortages in Baghdad, the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team continues to help the residents of the Mada’in Qada find short- and long-term solutions to insurgent-created water distribution problems. 

Soldiers from the Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, performed an assessment of the Al Bawi pump station, outside of Salman Pak Sept. 4.

Lt. Col. Todd R. Ratliff, 42, Holland, Ohio, the BSTB commander, inspected the building, the pumps and the generators at the facility.

“This was an assessment to verify information we were getting from the Qada Council,” he explained.

The Mada’in Qada Council is working to rebuild the pump station damaged in an attack by Sunni insurgents March 17. The insurgents targeted the station in an attempt to deny irrigation and drinking water to the Shia population in the towns of Nahrwan, Wahida and Jisr Diyala.

Maj. James Carlisle, 42, Palm Beach, Fla., chief of Civil Military Operations, 3rd HBCT, is pleased with the progress of the station.

“The Iraqi government continues to install more pumps and increase water capacity,” he said. “The progress we see exceeds Coalition Forces’ expectations.”

At the station, workers are trying to overcome power issues that prevent the station from running effectively explained one of the site workers through an interpreter. The station has five generators.  Only two of them are currently working.

“The power grid is not reliable,” said Ratliff. “They need a new electrical system out there. You could see wires hanging everywhere.”

Ratliff sees some signs of progress.

“They are doing okay with what they have,” he said.  “What we will do now is go back and review what we have and see what we can do to help.”

Lt. Col. Todd R. Ratliff, 42, Holland, Ohio, the BSTB commander, talks with workers at the Al Bawi pump station, outside of Salman Pak Sept. 4.

Lt. Col. Todd R. Ratliff, 42, Holland, Ohio, the BSTB commander, talks with workers at the Al Bawi pump station, outside of Salman Pak Sept. 4.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Night raid successful with close call

Staff Sgt. William Piper, squad leader for squad A, 2nd platoon, Troop B, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, gets ready to leave Combat Outpost Cashe and return to Forward Operating Base Hammer Aug. 24.

Multi-National Division - Center
Media Release
HQ, MND-Center
Baghdad, Iraq

Night raid successful with close call
Story and photos by Spc. Ben Hutto
3rd HBCT Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER– It was several hours before the scouts of 2nd platoon, Troop B, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment were set to go on a night raid Aug. 24, and all appeared to be normal.

Scouts listened to music, took naps and watched movies on their computers. Occasionally one member of the troop would become the object of the group’s good-natured ribbing.

“If you are part of this group, you better be ready for jokes at your expense,” said Sgt. Thomas Young, a team leader in Troop B. “We give each other a hard time, but it’s all in fun. You can’t take it too seriously. If you do, you are just gonna get more of it.”

The light mood is briefly interrupted by Staff Sgt. William Piper, a section leader in 2nd platoon.

“Everyone out front for walk-throughs,” he ordered his men.

Everyone in the room put away what they were doing and woke up the few scouts that were napping. They filed through the halls of the Tactical Operations Center at Combat Outpost Cashe to a dry-erase board set up near the entrance of the building.

A rough map was drawn beside a list of names and times on the board. The scouts surrounded the board and 1st Lt. Mike Barth, platoon leader of 2nd platoon, and waited for the meeting to begin.

“How’s everyone doing?” Barth asked. “Here is what we have going on tonight.”

With quick and precise language, the platoon leader outlined the mission, the target and the logistics of the night’s operation. The room was silent except for his voice.

“We have to get in fast, blow that door and get in there,” Barth said. “I want you guys dropping the ramp on that Bradley before it stops. This has to be fast tonight. This is a bad guy. We want to get in there, get him and get out. Any questions?”

Several Soldiers, ranging in rank from staff sergeant to private first class, asked questions about the route out and where they were supposed to set up. They offered suggestions on how the plan could be made better. Some were implemented, some were not.

Before everyone took off, Barth asked one of his Soldiers a question.

“What is the name of our target?” he asked.

After a few moments of silence, the Soldier smiled and said he could not remember. The process was repeated a few more times before someone answered correctly.

Barth smiled.

“Make sure we all know this stuff,” he said. “We have to know our route in and out, our target’s name and where everyone is. We’ll go over it again before we leave. Make sure your kits are good to go. Get to it.”

As quickly as the meeting started, it was over.

Back in the barracks, the scouts of Troop B started filling camelbacks and taping infrared chemical lights to the back of their gear. Music played in the background, as they went back to joking with one another. In the midst of all the preparation, drivers and gunners went out to their vehicles to conduct their pre-combat checks.

“We’ve been together a long time,” said Spc. Thomas Monk, Barth’s gunner. “We are a tight knit group. We all joke and play with one another, but when it is time to go to work, we are all business. You have to get serious and focused come game time.”

Five hours later, everyone was ready to go. Exactly as Monk promised, everyone in the platoon was serious and focused. No one in the troop answered a question wrong. Equipment was checked by a team leader to make sure he had everything. The inspection went perfectly; all scouts passed inspection.

“All right, everyone out to the vehicles,” said Barth. “We SP in 30 minutes.”

This type of intricate planning isn’t unusual for the troopers.

“We conduct an extensive amount of preparation,” said Barth. “It’s all based on the intel we have. We are as safe and effective as we can possibly be. The more we can plan and rehearse, the more we can mitigate risk.”

Walking outside, most of the scouts had already loaded up into their vehicles. A few made last minute adjustments to their gear.

Night fell, but the moon provided enough light for the scouts to see.

“I like the night,” said Monk. “There are fewer people on the streets and if they are out there, they probably shouldn’t be. It makes our job easier.”

Barth agreed.

“During the day, it is much harder to tell who’s good and bad,” he said. “We also have an advantage on the enemy, because we are better equipped to fight at night.”

That point was drilled in as the platoon exited the gates of COP Cashe and started moving toward their target in Jisr Diyala. One by one the headlights of the vehicles go out. The rest of the way into Jisr Diyala was completed under the cover of darkness.

Through the lenses of their night vision goggles, scouts negotiated the roads of the neighborhood to get to their target. Over the radio, Barth was notified that the cordon protecting the scouts was set. As they pulled up to the house, the ramps on the Bradley’s came down and troops poured out.

The first team started clearing the wrong house, but Barth sprang forward.

“I need people on this house now!” he said as he runs up to the correct house. “We have to get in here. Open that gate and let’s get in there.”

The lock on the gate was quickly cut and scouts filed into the courtyard and cleared it. Within moments, they were in the house and clearing rooms. The plan was altered because of the earlier mistake, but Troop B rolled with it.

Piper took control and directed traffic in the house. He put all the women and children living in the house in one room and told his team to begin searching for contraband. Room by room the scouts meticulously searched for anything that was not supposed to be there, but the clock was ticking.

A loud explosion a few minutes later caused everyone’s head to snap up for a moment. Barth stayed on the radio.

“They are using rocket propelled grenades!” he shouted. “The cordon is returning fire. We’ve got to hurry. Sgt. Piper, you have 10 minutes!”

Piper’s men continued their search as the echo of small arms fire came from a few blocks over. When Barth told everyone that it was time to get back to the vehicles, the scouts quickly complied. The target was not there.

The scouts quickly mounted up, and the vehicles took off. Headlights blazing, the vehicles quickly moved through the streets. There was no attempt to hide at that point. Platoon B was trying to get back to Cashe as quickly as possible.

Scouts in the lead Bradley sat shoulder-to-shoulder through the rattling ride. Nobody tried to speak over the roar of the tracks, but when a flash temporarily lit up the back of the vehicle everyone perked up. Before they made it back to Cashe, two RPGs were fired at them. Luckily, both of them missed.

When everyone returned to COB Cashe, they began clearing their weapons and talking about what happened.

“I saw that rocket go across your vehicle,” said Sgt. William Morris, one of the Bradley commanders in the convoy, to the scouts riding in the back of the lead vehicle. “That was a close one.”

Barth called everyone over and explained how the mission went. The target was apprehended by Soldiers in the cordon as he attempted to get away from his house. Piper’s scouts found an AK-47, ammunition, several cell phones and large sums of cash. One of the cell phones contained some images that implicate the target in several illegal acts.

“Good job guys,” Barth said. “We got a really bad guy tonight.”

As his troop headed back to their sleeping quarters, Barth reflected on what happened.

“This isn’t typical scout stuff,” Barth said. “These guys are doing a lot of things that are typically infantrymen stuff, but they are doing great.”

Barth is quick to point out that he is proud of how they performed, despite the mistake his Soldiers made.

“We had a great rehearsal, but when we got out there things changed and we had to adapt,” he said. “It was a complex mission, but we got through it and accomplished our mission.”

Barth explained why he was never worried through out the operation.

“The most important thing I can do is use our experience,” he said. “I wholeheartedly trust my guys’ ability to make decisions on the ground and I give them the freedom to do that.”

Morris appreciates his platoon leader’s faith in him.

“The leadership lets us focus on what we have to do,” Morris said. “There’s no yelling or micromanaging out here. It’s good to have that trust.”

The 3rd Squadron, 1st Cav. Regt. of the 3rd HBCT are assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, from Fort Stewart, Ga. The brigade is from Fort Benning, Ga.

On, 1st Lt. Mike Barth,platoon leader of 2nd platoon, Troop B, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, outlines the plan for the platoon’s raid in Jisr Diyala at Combat Outpost Cashe Aug. 24.


Staff Sgt. Nick McKearn, 2nd platoon, Troop B, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, clears the chamber of a confiscated AK-47 during a mission in Jisr Diyala Aug. 24.

Soldiers clear insurgent safehouses

Multi-National Corps – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Soldiers clear insurgent safehouses
Multi-National Division – Center PAO

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Task Force Marne Soldiers conducted a night air assault in al-Khanasa to deny insurgents sanctuary southeast of Baghdad Aug. 30.

U.S. Army AH-64 attack helicopters provided aerial support as Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, moved via CH-47 Chinook helicopters to the objective.

At the first objective the Soldiers found an AK-47 assault rifle and a pistol then moved north to investigate a possible weapons cache.

Soldiers then assaulted a suspected extremist safehouse where they found electronics, a bulletproof vest, enemy propaganda and medical supplies.

Company B Soldiers cleared multiple targeted houses during the course of the mission.

The 1-15 Inf. Regt. is assigned to 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, out of Fort Benning, Ga. The 3rd HBCT has been deployed since March.

Subway comes to FOB Hammer

Col. Wayne W. Grigsby, Jr., commander, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, speaks to leaders and Soldiers of the 3rd HBCT, along with civilians from contracting companies during a ribbon cutting ceremony signifying the grand opening of a Subway Aug. 30, at Forward Operating Base Hammer.

Multi-National Division - Center
Media Release
HQ, MND-Center
Baghdad, Iraq

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Subway comes to FOB Hammer
By Sgt. Natalie Rostek
3rd HBCT Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER,– Soldiers of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team and civilians living at FOB Hammer can add one more morale boost to the rapidly growing list.

Leaders and Soldiers of the 3rd HBCT, along with civilian contractors attended a ribbon cutting ceremony signifying the grand opening of a new Subway Aug. 30, at the FOB.

“Now Soldiers of the best heavy brigade combat team in the United States Army can, not only go to the best dining facility the Army has to offer, but can also go to Subway,” said Col. Wayne W. Grigsby, Jr., commander, 3rd HBCT. “It’s a break from the day’s routine.”

The contracted workers smiled widely as the ribbon was cut. They were proud of their accomplishment and contribution to the 3rd HBCT’s mission.

“We are all part of a team,” said Robert Gotshell, chief of service for one of the contracted companies. “We are here to support and anything we can do, we’ll do it.”

“This is a great boost for the Soldier’s morale,” said Brandon Dixon, service business manager for the Army and Air Force Exchange Services, in Baghdad. “This is what the AAFES motto is all about; ‘We go where you go.’”

(from left to right) Gotshell, chief of service for one of the contracting companies, Frank Sorbin, an assistant technical manager, Col. Wayne W. Grigsby, Jr., commander of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, Lt. Col. Kelly Lawler, commander of the 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, and Brandon Dixon, service business manager for the Army and Air Force Exchange Services, in Baghdad, cut the ribbon during a ceremony signifying the grand opening of a Subway Aug. 30, at Forward Operating Base Hammer.

Pfc. Tony Mendez, 19, Kingsville, Texas, Company E, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, orders the first sandwich at the new Subway after the ribbon cutting ceremony Aug. 30, at Forward Operating Base Hammer.

Spc. T.J. Forbes, 26, Sayre, Pa., Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, orders the second sub at the new Subway after the ribbon cutting ceremony Aug. 30, at Forward Operating Base Hammer.