Allons Soldiers render medical aid to Iraqis after VBIED blast

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — Coalition Forces rendered medical aid to three Iraqis after a vehicle borne improvised explosive device detonated in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, July 21.
Upon hearing a blast in the Mahmudiyah area, Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment “Allons,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., went to the VBIED site and helped the 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division assess damages.
Within minutes the Allons Soldiers arrived at the VBIED site, where they discovered three wounded Iraqis and immediately provided medical aid to them.
Two of the wounded Iraqis were taken to the medical aid station on Forward Operating Base Mahmudiyah for further care.
The third Iraqi was evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad to receive medical care for head trauma and lacerations behind the ear, neck and thigh.

10th Mountain Division legacy lives on through brigade surgeon

Spc. Chris McCann
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq — The 10th Mountain Division’s song recalls the unit’s “glorious history” in World War II. Fort Drum, N.Y., the division’s home, has streets named Lake Garda, Riva Ridge, and Mount Belvedere, after major battles in the Italian campaign. But all of that can seem distant to today’s Soldiers.
Maj. Joshua Sparling, surgeon for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), is a 10th Mountain “legacy” whose grandfather fought on Riva Ridge and Belvedere. And it’s almost an accident he is with the division.
Sparling, a native of Raymond, Maine, has been with the 10th Mtn. Div. twice, strangely enough. He joined the Army in 1996 as a reservist during medical school for four years. In September of 2001, while serving as a general medical officer at the Pentagon, he was attached to part of the division during a rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La. Due to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the deployment schedule changed, and Sparling went back to the Pentagon. After his dermatology residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center – which ended in July of 2006 – he came to Fort Drum, where he worked at the Guthrie Clinic. He volunteered for a deployment, and was chosen to join the 2nd BCT.
Sparling’s grandfather, Herbert Colburn, was an avid skier. When the 10th Mountain Division was founded and ski troops needed, Colburn – then 25 – volunteered for duty. He left in 1943, spending over a year in training at Camp Hale, Colo., and then deploying to Italy until the division ended operations in the European theater. His wife, Marion, was pregnant when he left, and their first daughter was 18 months old when he returned to the U.S. and saw her for the first time.
Colburn, a private first class, was assigned to the 10th Anti-Tank battalion, and was awarded a Bronze Star Medal with ‘V’ for valor during the Mount Belvedere campaign; under enemy fire, he placed barbed wire to prevent the Germans’ crossing a ravine. He was discharged after the war ended.
But after his discharge, he put his service behind him and became an insurance salesman for the next 40 years, until he retired.
“I never got to take him up to Fort Drum,” Sparling said. “Of course, when he was in the 10th Mountain, they were based in Colorado. But I did get to take him to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.”
“It was a moving experience; my idea was to get him to see it, but I didn’t anticipate the people coming up to him to shake his hand and thank him for his service,” he said.
Colburn began suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in his 80s, which sapped many of his memories.
“When we went to the memorial, I know he understood what it was and the significance of it, but that might be about it,” Sparling said.
Sparling said he grew up very close to his grandfather.
“He was my surrogate father,” he said. “I was much closer to him than to my father; I would say he was the major male role model in my life. But he didn’t talk about it much; most of those guys didn’t. I was too young to understand the real meaning of it – war was a distant idea. And the last five years of his life, when I was interested, he had a lot of memory problems.”
In a way, however, the disease gave Sparling a chance to spend more time with his grandfather.
“They lived in the same house in Holyoke, Mass., and went to the same church for almost 60 years,” Sparling said. “But when my grandmother’s Alzheimer’s got bad, he couldn’t take care of her because he had his own memory problems, so they went to Olny, Maryland, about 20 minutes away from where I lived while I was working at Walter Reed. My wife and I would take him on outings and walks, and took lots of photos.”
He said he remains impressed by his grandfather’s stoicism.
“Those people had an attitude that it was a terrible thing that happened, but they were back and moving on,” Sparling said. “We lost a lot of historical data because of that, I think; although there’s been an effort in the last decade to rectify that. But mostly it’s too late.
“Seven years or so ago, my brother videotaped my grandfather and asked him about the war, and he was very open about it. It may have been the Alzheimer’s, but he told us things that no one in the family had known before, like that he’d shot at someone and thought he saw them get hit, and that that had weighed on him.”
Colburn also revealed a side of the war that Sparling finds similar to the conflict he’s in.
“He said the worst part on Riva Ridge was that the enemy would shoot mortars every night at exactly the same time, and it was a powerful psychological weapon. The Americans would sit there, knowing that in fifteen minutes the mortars would start and someone would die, and who it would be was just a roll of the dice. I think the corollary is improvised explosive devices in Iraq; it has the same psychological effect, having no control over the environment. If it blows up, it could do nothing, or it could kill you.”
Another rough part for his grandparents, he said, was the mail.
“Here, I can e-mail my wife and call her almost every day. My grandmother would go weeks or months without hearing from her husband, no word at all, and she wouldn’t know whether it was just because the mail was slow or if something had happened to him. And then she would get eight letters all at once, because the mail would build up before they sent it out.”
Sparling and his grandfather are the only two in their extended family to join the Army, and Sparling said it’s very strange that he is now in the same division.
“The odds are so slim,” he said. “I’m a dermatologist, and Fort Drum only got a position for a dermatologist five years ago. If I’d joined earlier, or if my predecessor had not finished his assignment there, it wouldn’t have happened. And there are very few dermatologists that are deployed.”
Sparling said he still has his grandfather’s army jacket with the patches and rank insignia.
“The unit patch is exactly the same as the one I have on,” Sparling said with a smile. He said he plans to go to the veterans’ ceremony on Whiteface Mountain, near Fort Drum, when he returns from deployment.

Soldiers grieve for NCO known as ‘the standard’

Spc. Chris McCann
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

PATROL BASE DRAGON, Iraq — The gathered Soldiers are somber, standing in the patchy sunlight that streams into the remains of a Russian-built thermal power plant on the banks of Iraq’s Euphrates River.
They are gathered to mourn Sgt. Nathaniel Barnes, a native of American Fork, Utah, who was killed in action while on an air assault near the patrol base July 17.
Capt. Shane Finn, a native of Clinton, N.Y., and commander of Company C, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., with whom Barnes served, spoke fondly of him.
“The day after Sgt. Barnes’ family was told of his death, the community of American Fork lined the streets of the small town with over 400 flags,” Finn said. “His family had planned a huge hero’s welcome for his return from the deployment, and the same sign they planned to hang in November is hanging on their front porch now. It reads, ‘Sgt. Nathan Barnes, returning home with honor.’”
Barnes served as Finn’s radio-telephone operator.
“He took the brunt of most of my dramatic outbursts,” Finn recalled. “My platoon leaders will never know how many times I have fired them and cursed them out, because Barnes …allowed me to vent and get things off my chest. He reminded me of my own younger brother, who happens to be the same age. Other times the roles would reverse, and I would find myself looking up to him.”
Sgt. Jarod Phillips, a native of Oklahoma City and a team leader with the company, delivered a passionate eulogy to his friend and recalled the family Barnes was known for being close to.
“We took turns buying anime series and never letting anyone else know the depth of our geek tendencies. On July 17, a family lost a son, a brother, and an uncle. We owe a debt of gratitude to his family; they were the beginning of what he would come to be. They were the origin of a great man. With all his siblings, his parents had brought a squad-sized element of Barnes’ into the world. We knew him a short time, and he touched us deeply, but they had the honor of knowing him his whole life. Remember them in your grief, for all the loss you feel could not come close to theirs.”
“He was the most caring guy you could ever meet,” said Spc. Christopher Speich, a scout with Co. C and a native of Columbus, Ohio. “He loved hiking, boating, all of it – he loved Utah and his home and family more than anything else. There’s not enough good to say about him; he was just full of life and he’d do anything for people. He always had that crooked smile.”
Spc. Scott Debois, a rifleman with Co. C and a native of Norhert Park, Calif., recalled him as a good friend.
“He was a devoted family guy; he called them every Sunday he could. He really took care of his Soldiers, and he loved his job and took it seriously.”
“Guard jealously your memories of him,” said Phillips. “Fight against the haze of time, struggle against whatever might steal from you the fact that you worked and lived alongside one of the finest men to walk this earth.”
Barnes is survived by his parents, Kevin and Donna Barnes of American Fork, Utah.
His awards and decorations include a Bronze Star Medal, a Purple Heart Medal, an Army Achievement Medal, a Good Conduct Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, an Iraqi Campaign Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, an Army Service Ribbon, a Parachutist Badge and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge.

Treating Tebarek: Combat medic cares for Iraqi child

2nd Lt. Elizabeth Lopez
210th BSB
Multi-National Division –Center Public Affairs

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq — The most important quality combat medics can possess is compassion; the nature of their jobs requires these men and women to witness and participate in some of combat’s most heart-wrenching stories.
Late in the day on July 21, at Patrol Base Yusufiyah, the aid station’s normal routine was thrown into chaos by the arrival of eight victims of a nearby mortar attack. Among the wounded were seven Iraqi children ranging in age from 3 to 12.
One of the victims, a 6-year-old girl named Tebarek, was placed under the care of Sgt. William Ludlow, a combat medic from Company C, 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y.
Initial triage showed Tebarek’s left leg and abdominal injuries were so severe that she needed immediate evacuation to the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad’s International Zone. The medics loaded her on a flight bound for the hospital and never expected to see the little girl again. This would not be the case for Ludlow and Tebarek.
About a week later, the Iraqi army senior medic at Patrol Base Yusifyah asked Ludlow to examine a patient’s wounds with him.
Ludlow, from Fort Smith, Ark., recalled his surprise upon entering the building.
“I saw this little, helpless girl lying there on the litter,” he said. It was Tebarek, who had been released from the hospital and returned to the care of her family. Not knowing where to turn for help caring for his wounded daughter, Tebarek’s father had returned to the base where Soldiers had treated her so well that first evening.
The little girl Ludlow saw before him was not in great shape. Tebarek had undergone several surgeries to treat the shrapnel injuries she sustained during the mortar attack. Risk of infection left her in desperate need of intravenous antibiotic medication, and it was apparent that her wounds needed to be cleaned and her dressings changed.
Seeing her condition, Ludlow immediately set to work giving Tebarek the care she needed. She was sent home that day with instructions to return to the Iraqi Army aid station for another round of medication and dressing changes.
The next day, an Iraqi interpreter brought Ludlow back to the Iraqi aid station. The American medic walked in the middle of an argument between Tebarek’s father and an Iraqi medic.
Tebarek’s father was adamant that Ludlow was the only person he would trust with Tebarek’s care. Touched, Ludlow treated the child just as he had done the day before. As he worked, Ludlow spoke to Tebarek’s father through the interpreter. He told him about the medications he was giving her and explained the procedures he used to clean and dress her wounds.
Tebarek’s father responded to Ludlow.
“Tebarek is your daughter now,” he said. “Do what you would do to your own daughter in order to make her well.”
From that day on, Tebarek’s treatment has been entrusted to Ludlow’s care. Having raised his own little girl at home single-handedly for four years, he takes this job as Tebarek’s other father very seriously.
As she heals, Tebarek has learned to enjoy her visits to the aid station, though they have not always been pleasant. One difficult visit was the day Ludlow had to remove the stitches and staples left over from her surgeries.
“She cried the entire time,” he said. “It broke my heart.”
To make the painful procedures easier for her, Ludlow and the other medics give her gum and candy, as well as Beanie Babies from a stash they keep on hand for Iraqi children.
Tebarek is well loved by everyone at the aid station. They cannot speak of her without smiling, and they often tease Ludlow about his friend. Ludlow ignores the teasing, but unmistakably delight fills his eyes when she is mentioned.
Tebarek still faces a long, slow road to full recovery, but Ludlow and the medics in Yusufiyah remain dedicated to providing her the best care.

Allons Soldiers render medical aid to Iraqis after VBIED blast

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — Coalition Forces rendered medical aid to three Iraqis after a vehicle borne improvised explosive device detonated in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, July 21.
Upon hearing a blast in the Mahmudiyah area, Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment “Allons,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., went to the VBIED site and helped the 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division assess damages.
Within minutes the Allons Soldiers arrived at the VBIED site, where they discovered three wounded Iraqis and immediately provided medical aid to them.
Two of the wounded Iraqis were taken to the medical aid station on Forward Operating Base Mahmudiyah for further care.
The third Iraqi was evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad to receive medical care for head trauma and lacerations behind the ear, neck and thigh.

Dragon scouts kill terrorists in Euphrates ambush

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

AL-OWESAT, Iraq — Troops of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment “Golden Dragons,” set an ambush on a small island off the Euphrates River near al-Owesat, Iraq, July 21 to prevent anti-Iraqi forces from escaping across the river.
Two insurgents were killed in the ambush by the Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), out of Fort Drum, N.Y.
A raft came toward their position, but because of vegetation along the banks, the Soldiers could not be sure the people in the raft were insurgents. However, when the raft landed and the two men came toward the Soldiers’ position, one was wearing an explosive-laden suicide vest. The troops killed both men.
As the Soldiers prepared to leave the island, they came under heavy small-arms fire from two directions.
“The scouts were there to stop traffic across the river,” said Maj. Joel Smith, 2-14 operations officer, originally from Queensland, Australia. “They executed their mission perfectly. The terrorists came to the island thinking they were safe, and walked right up to the Soldiers’ position.
“The scouts were able to get out without incident. It’s a demonstration of the professionalism of our elements operating in small teams, doing what light infantry Soldiers do.”
Smith said that the mission had a twofold effect.
“First, it was very consistent with what we were expecting – that anti-Iraqi forces are using the river for transportation. Secondly, it will make the enemy think twice about hiding there. Their hiding places are shrinking rapidly as Coalition and Iraqi forces control the battlefield.”

Iraqi man arrested for part in kidnapping of sheikh

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

PATROL BASE SHANGHAI, Iraq — A suspected al Qaeda-allied terrorist was arrested July 18 in connection with the June kidnapping of two brothers, one of whom was a rival tribal sheikh.
The man was detained just after 10 p.m., by Iraqi soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and U.S. troops of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) from Fort Drum, N.Y.
The kidnapped men escaped their captors June 23, and one of them ran to an Iraqi Army checkpoint pleading for help. The Iraqi soldiers took him to Patrol Base Shanghai, and a combined Iraqi-U.S. patrol drove to the orchard where the man had left his brother, the sheikh.
Both men bore signs of torture and said they had been kidnapped about two weeks before by al Qaeda-allied terrorists for refusing to cooperate with terrorist demands. They were treated for their wounds and were able to identify about 40 persons involved in their abduction.

Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff re-enlists Commando Soldiers in Iraq

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — “It’s a great honor to be standing with … forty-some Soldiers who decided that serving our country is worth their time, their energy and perhaps even their life,” said Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace, just before he led 42 Soldiers under the 3rd Infantry Division in the oath of enlistment.
Fourteen of the Soldiers were from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and met with Pace in a 9 a.m. formation.
Despite worries about stretching the military too thin, Soldiers continue to re-enlist.
“I want to keep serving our country, and I love the Army – of course, the bonus didn’t hurt either,” said Pfc. Jesse McFarlane, a native of Nampa, Idaho, and a gunner with the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT personal security detachment. “I was going to re-enlist anyway, but this was an extra kick; how many people can say they’ve been re-enlisted by a four-star general?”
Sgt. 1st Class Eugene Burr, a native of Boonville, N.Y., and a 2nd BCT career counselor, was pleased with the turnout, he said.
“I’m really proud of the fact that out of 42 Soldiers re-enlisting, 14 of them are 10th Mountain Division,” Burr said.
Staff Sgt. Michael Baird, a native of Searsmont, Maine, raised his right hand in front of Pace with the other 41 troops.
“Since I was 15 years old, I wanted to join the Army. I love it, I joined as soon as I was 18,” said Baird, a supply specialist with Company C, 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd BCT. September will be his six-year mark with the company – but he chose Fort Carson, Colo., for his next duty station.
Pride in the Army and military service is a motivator for many Soldiers’ re-enlisting. That pride also motivated Pace.
“I feel personal pride as well,” Pace said. “When someone you respect chooses to re-enlist, it reaffirms our own service and commitment. I know great Soldiers wanting to re-enlist makes others want to continue their service.”
Pace graduated from the Naval Academy in 1967 and will leave the Joint Chiefs of Staff after October.
“As I near the end of nearly 40 years of service, I look at the faces of these Soldiers and realize there are so many wonderful patriots ready to serve. It is my honor to re-enlist you, and to thank you for your service and sacrifices,” he said.
Since August 2006, 704 Soldiers have re-enlisted. The 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd BCT, has exceeded their goals twice over.
It’s not just for the extra money Soldiers get, Burr said.
“I think people would re-enlist even without a bonus,” he said, noting that several have utilized their option to choose a duty station. “They realize that wherever they go, they will deploy, so they re-enlist for a duty station close to home so they can spend time with their families,” said Burr. “One of the guys re-enlisted to be a dog handler, and he was just happy to get the slot. Until two weeks ago, he wasn’t planning to re-enlist.
“Really, I didn’t think we’d be so busy at this point in time, since our brigade has completed our original mission. But I’m still working fourteen-hour days, and we have lots of Soldiers still slated to re-enlist before we go back to Fort Drum. I think we will end up with around 850 re-enlistees.”
After the ceremony, Burr reflected on the significance of having Pace lead the oath.
“I think it was a really good day for these (re-enlistees),” he said. “When I hear speeches like that, the hair on the back of my neck stands up. To hear him talk about Soldiers like that, after serving for 40 years, it choked me up a little. It’s awesome.”

Cav troopers help Abu Hillan residents – and animals

Staff Sgt. Todd Phipps
1st Sqdrn., 89th Cav. Regt., 2nd BCT

ABU HILLAN, Iraq — An important part of the Iraqi reconstruction effort is helping the local residents; not only does it provide much-needed aid in areas hard-hit by terrorism, but many tips come from Iraqi civilians who have come to trust coalition forces through medical and veterinary services.
Soldiers of Troop C, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., continued to provide additional assistance to the local populace in Abu Hillan, Abu Sheikan and Safirah, Iraq, July 14.
Soldiers of Trp. C’s mortar platoon, the Tactical Psychological Operations Team, and Maj. Kevin Wellington, a veterinarian who serves with Multi-National Corps - Iraq, provided veterinary assistance to the farmers living in and around the three villages.
After the tremendous success of the previous veterinary operation in Abu Shiekan, the word spread among the locals about the support provided during the visit.
Soon, residents of Abu Hillan requested a similar mission.
Early in the morning of July 14, the Soldiers loaded a trailer full of fencing, water and veterinary medical supplies and went to Abu Hillan to support this request.
When the patrol arrived at the Al-Salam Clinic, they cleared all the area buildings before putting up improvised animal pens. While the pens were being built, Soldiers traveled around the area announcing the opportunity to local farmers.
By 8 a.m., holding and exam pens were established and the message had been delivered.
The initial response from the area was minimal, with Wellington conducting examination of only three cows in the first two hours.
But as the morning progressed, the trickle turned into a torrent. Several local farmers began to arrive with several herds of sheep, more cows and even horses. The number of animals was so large that all Soldiers not pulling security were asked to help the locals with herding and controlling the animals.
“Being from the city, I never had to hold a sheep in my life before,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jose Soriano Jr., a platoon sergeant from Trp. C., “But the operation went very well.” Wellington gave each animal flea-and-tick and de-worming medicines, and advised the owners on general care procedures.
The operation was physically demanding in the heat of late morning, but worth the effort, said Wellington. More than 200 sheep, 10 cows and four horses were treated in the last hour.
Healthy animals are an important part of the farmers’ lives, and essential to their economic survival, so veterinary care is critical to the agrarian community.
Once again, when the local nationals in the 1-89’s area of operations requested assistance, Trp. C responded, continuing to expand the trust and relationship between the residents and coalition forces needed to continue quelling violence and improving security.
“The local nationals responded well,” said Capt. John Breslin, a platoon leader with 1-89. “It increased goodwill and rapport with the locals.”
The success of the operation will not be the last; not long after the mission, another town in the area requested veterinary assistance.
Trp. C will again provide support to the Iraqi communities in the near future.

Iraqi soldiers participate in first ever advanced infantry course

Sgt. 1st Class Angela McKinzie
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — Sweat pours off the bodies of Iraqi soldiers as they low crawl their way through uneven terrain and negotiate various obstacles under the unforgiving heat of the Iraqi sun in hopes that they will make it through the day. But this day is day zero, a day that doesn’t even count.
Iraqi soldiers from 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division participated in the first-ever advanced infantry course, dubbed the Commando Course, at the Iraqi Army Compound in Mahmudiyah, Iraq.
The course, planned and designed by noncommissioned officers of 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., was developed to give the IA soldiers advanced infantry training skills.
“We (the NCO’s and I) thought it would be a great idea to offer something a little more advanced to the (Iraqi troops),” said Command Sgt. Maj. Tony Grinston, 2-15 command sergeant major and a native of Jasper, Ala. “So we developed the Commando Course, which offered advanced training in areas such as marksmanship, physical fitness, map reading, land navigation and troop-leading procedures.”
But before the course could start, the NCOs had to resource all the materials and build the obstacles from start to finish.
“We built an obstacle a day,” said Sgt. 1st Class John Lindsey, Commando Course head instructor and a native of Chattanooga, Tenn. “The field that the obstacles are located in was once covered in weeds that were waist high. We had the engineers come out and level the field so we could use the area as the obstacle course location.”
The obstacle course consists of 10 stations.
NCOs also built a shoot house and found an area to conduct map reading, land navigation and tactical operations before the course started.
The 25-day course began July 8 after day zero, a day that gauges who will actually be admitted into the course.
“There were 100 soldiers who originally started, but we lost 56 soldiers on day zero,” Grinston explained. “This is not an easy course, but the students really like it and are excited to be here.”
The course, beginning with physical fitness at the break of dawn each day, consists of three phases: weapons, troop-leading procedures and land navigation; advanced combat lifesaving; and air assault operations.
“It is similar to the U.S. Army Ranger Course,” Grinston said of the Commando Course. “Here the Iraqi junior enlisted soldiers will learn how to conduct missions on their own without the help of any officers.”
One IA soldier, Sgt. Mohammed Kazim, who serves as a squad leader with 4th Battalion, 4-6 IA, is enrolled in the Commando Course and speaks about his experience in the class.
“Here I have learned how to be mentally and physically tough,” he said. “Although the class is fun, it is challenging – especially the obstacle course.”
He also spoke of what it was like to go through the course with two of his own soldiers.
“They will graduate with more experience than they had before – a lot more experience than most IA soldiers have,” Kazim said. “I am proud of them.”
The course taught the soldiers more than skills - it taught discipline.
“Make sure you line your rucksacks up and make sure everything looks alike,” Staff Sgt. Vinson Kelley said to the soldiers before they were dismissed from formation.
Kelley is a Commando Course instructor.
And that discipline was shown as Iraqi Pvt. Akeel Hamid Abdalrthea, with a perfect haircut and a shaven face, stood at parade rest (a military courtesy) as a senior NCO spoke to him.
“I have learned so much in the course and how important it is to be disciplined and experienced,” Adbalrthea said. “But my favorite part if the class was learning marksmanship, especially the different shooting positions.”
As part of training, soldiers participated in a live-fire exercise.
They also developed their own sand tables, a table used to show how a mission will be conducted, before going on mock missions.
“They write and carry out an entire operational order by themselves,” Grinston said. “And you can tell they are learning because in their sand tables they used cigarette butts to mark spots where packs of dogs hang out.”
Marking the dogs’ location was important because their barking would give away the soldiers’ position.
“Marking the dogs shows attention to detail,” Grinston said. “I would have never thought of that.”
One aspect of the course that was a challenge for the soldiers was map reading because they had to learn American numerals. But with the help of interpreters, the soldiers learned how to find an eight-digit grid coordinate and use plotted grid coordinates to find land navigation points.
“At first they did not even know how to read a map,” Lindsey said. “Now they know how to find points.”
Lindsey discussed what it is like to instruct the IAs.
“As long as they are here I am happy to help them learn,” he said. “I hope these courses will help build confidence within the junior ranks of the Iraqi Army.”
One U.S. Soldier said the Commando Course compares well to similar stateside training.
“This course is just as challenging, if not more challenging, than U.S. Army courses that I have been through,” said Sgt. Jason Carvel, a 2nd BCT personal security detachment squad leader, as he gasped for breath after completing the obstacle course. “The Iraqi soldiers are dealing with hotter temperatures and rougher terrain than traditional U.S. military students deal with. This is not an easy course, but it is the right kind of course.”
Carvel is a native of DeKalb Junction, N.Y.
When the students graduate they will receive a tab, similar to that of the U.S. Army Ranger tab, which says Commando Course in Arabic and English, a certificate of completion and a 2nd BCT coin. The tab has been approved by the 4-6 IA commander to be worn on the IA uniform sleeve. The top student of the course will receive a special gift from the 4-6 IA commander.
The students are scheduled to graduate August 2 at the IAC.

Polar Bear doc has heart-to-heart mission for Iraqi girl

By Spc. Chris McCann
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. PAO

FORWARD OPERATING BASE YUSUFIYAH, Iraq — News from Iraq often deals with major military operations and attacks, featuring numbers and statistics. But statistics can’t show the delicate stories that sometimes appear in the apparent chaos.
Maj. Kenneth Stone, a native of Ames, Iowa, is the battalion surgeon for the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment “Polar Bears,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and he has a special project – to help an Iraqi girl avoid certain death. The fight is far from over.
When Sabrine’s father, Muhammad, brought her to the Yusufiyah aid station, Stone was the only provider who could have recognized the congenital deformity in her heart.
Stone specializes in cardiac medicine, although as a battalion surgeon in a combat zone, he spends more time treating battle trauma and the minor illnesses of Soldiers and local Iraqis who come to the battalion aid station for treatment. Sabrine’s case is different.
“She has a ventricular septal defect,” Stone said. “Basically it’s a hole in her heart, between the ventricles.
“I jumped all over this because it was something cardiology-related,” Stone explained. “It really grabbed my interest. When her father brought her in and had no specific complaints except a heart problem, it sounded like a VSD to me.”
Stone explained that as the heart pumps, blood flows through the defect from the left ventricle to the right ventricle. This forces extra blood into the pulmonary arteries, and in the left atrium and left ventricle. It also mixes unoxygenated blood into the oxygenated blood leaving the heart – which means less oxygen gets to the muscles. Untreated, the extra workload makes the heart pump less efficiently, and eventually fail.
Muhammad told Stone that he had planned to have her heart surgically repaired in 2003, but the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq prevented it. Since she is still young, her heart has been able to handle the delay.
But when he brought her to Stone, he unknowingly did so at a time when everything lined up just right.
Capt. Chris Tilton, a Boston native who works in the Yusufiyah aid station with Stone, said he was amazed by the circumstances.
“This kid could not have presented at a better time,” Tilton said. “The stars lined up just right, to have a cardiologist here, with a friend who works at the 28th Combat Support Hospital and a pediatric cardiologist in charge of medical operations in Baghdad. She wouldn’t have received the care she’s hopefully going to get now. If she had come in while we were transitioning when we first got here, or if (Maj.) Stone hadn’t been here, we might not have even caught that there was a problem.”
Stone served his cardiac medicine fellowship with a doctor who currently serves at the 28th CSH.
“I asked for an echocardiogram to be done, to see if the defect was still correctable, so we took her to the hospital about two weeks ago,” he said.
By what Stone called “blind luck,” Col. Felicia Pehrson, the Multi-National Forces-Iraq surgeon and chief of clinical operations at the 28th CSH, who specializes in pediatric cardiology and doesn’t get to do it often in Iraq.
Sabrine’s heart is still correctable, and the two cardiologists hope to be able to get Sabrine to a hospital outside Iraq for the surgery to repair the VSD. The 28th CSH is so overwhelmed with trauma patients that they simply cannot provide the surgery, although Pearson knows a doctor in Paris who is interested in handling the case, and a Jordanian cardiologist has expressed interest as well.
They’ve also gone to the National Iraqi Assistance Center, an organization that helps with cases like this. But recent unrest in Baghdad has kept the workers of the NAIC from being able to leave the International Zone.
“If she can get treated, she could have a normal life,” Tilton said. “But we can only do what we can do. Out of everything I’ve seen here, she’s the one with the potential to be the biggest humanitarian relief success story.”
Coordinating visas, travel vouchers, money, and other necessary things to get Sabrine to surgery is difficult, Stone said.
“Her dad is really agonizing – it’s his daughter. I’m a parent, I understand how that feels, and I want this to work out so she can get surgery. But the CSH gets requests like this all the time and they have to turn people down. She’s getting this possibility because I’m her advocate, but in Iraq, there are probably hundreds of kids who need this and can’t it, and will die.”
Stone said he hopes to get a charitable organization to help defray the costs of Sabrine’s needs.
“It could take a few weeks – of course, it could fall through, with nothing happening at all, although I hope not.
“Sometimes I wonder if it’s right to help one child, when I can’t do it for everyone, but obviously it will feel good if it goes through.”

Joining the Army can be a family tradition

Spc. Chris McCann
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. PAO

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq — Their mocking and sparring in the dining facility is sometimes fierce, but the love between them is apparent.
It’s not the bond between Soldiers that’s forged in the heat of combat – it’s rarer, here in Iraq. First Sgt. Ricardo Riostirado and Pvt. Bryan Rios are father and son, and lucky enough to be working practically next door to each other, although in different units.
Riostirado, a native of Humacao, Puerto Rico, who serves with 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y. His son, Bryan, works with Troop D, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 10th Aviation Brigade, also out of Fort Drum.
The Army wasn’t what Riostirado wanted for his middle child. His eldest daughter, Tonya, is in college, and his youngest is only 3.
“He enlisted while I was at the National Training Center,” he said. The 2nd BCT spent six weeks at the Fort Irwin, Calif., facility in March and April 2005. When Riostirado got back, his wife said that Bryan had something to tell him.
It didn’t take any words at all – he just slid the pink copies of his contract across the table.
“I thought he’d just done the first steps,” Riostirado said. “But he’d done it all, even had a date to ship out, raised his hand in front of the flag.”
Riostirado was less than pleased, he said, because military service, especially in wartime, can be tough on a Soldier.
“After 15 years of seeing me busting my butt, I know he knew better than to follow along – but he did, all the way to Iraq,” he said, laughing. He admitted, though, that he’s extremely proud of his son.
“I didn’t want to get stuck in (my hometown) Sandy Creek, N.Y., looking for opportunities,” Bryan said. “I wanted to do something like helicopter maintenance. … I already knew about the Army, pretty much knew what to expect, and I knew that if I was lost and needed help, I had someone who would know.”
His father serving as a first sergeant with the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd BCT, at the time of his enlistment didn’t hurt matters, he said; Riostirado helped get Bryan assigned to Fort Drum. Of course, he takes flak for it as well.
“They tease me – I started getting mail here right away, because he gave me the address right away,” Bryan said. “And people say ‘Oh, you were home-schooled for (advanced individual training).’ But it’s all in fun.”
Riostirado is scheduled to return to the United States in November; Bryan’s unit just arrived in Iraq. Their tours will overlap by about four months, so the 15-month deployments won’t be as long a separation as most Soldiers and their parents face.
They are close, as fathers and sons often are.
“I was a single parent,” Riostirado said, pointing at his son. “I raised this thing!”
Bryan grudgingly confessed to visiting his father’s office every Wednesday when he gets free time.
“He just comes over, the next thing I know he’s in my office saying ‘Hello!’” Riostirado said, mocking him gently.
“Yeah, I just show up,” Bryan said. “If he’s busy, I just wait.”
They hunt together – deer, turkey and duck – when at Fort Drum, and argue over whose choice of music is better.
“I listen to country music, and he doesn’t,” Bryan said.
“I like Godsmack and Disturbed,” countered Riostirado. “It’s a family tradition for one of us to start something, and the other has to keep up.”
Having his dad around is a help, he added.
“It doesn’t seem so far from home and lonely,” Bryan said of the situation. A deployment to Iraq – especially the first – can be tough. “It really teaches you not to take things for granted, when you get over here.”
Bryan is a gifted mechanic, and completely rebuilt a vehicle the last time Riostirado was in Iraq, his father said.
“He could get a job anywhere, with the talent he has for it,” Riostirado said. Bryan is not sure if he’ll make the Army a career like his father has, but loves the work he’s doing and says it will give him more experience, no matter what he chooses to do later.
But Bryan’s service is far from bad, Riostirado said.
“It’s a mixture of feelings – pride on one side, fear on the other. Everywhere I go, people have only good things to say about him. Fear, because look where we are. It’s not what I want for him, but he’s a man, and he decided. And I’m terribly proud of him.”

Tipsters lead to capture South Baghdad’s most wanted terrorist, cache

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. PAO

AL-DHOUR, Iraq — With two well-timed phone calls, Iraqi civilians made some Soldiers’ day July 9.
The first tipster called Troop C, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and alerted them to a cache south of the village of Al-Dhour, Iraq, south of Baghdad.
The troop responded, located the buried weapons, and was only five minutes into the process of digging them up when they got another call.
A man claimed he had the 2nd BCT’s top high-value target and would deliver him to coalition custody. The man and Capt. Adam Sawyer, Troop C commander, agreed on a pickup site.
The Soldiers hastily re-buried the cache and moved out, and when the vehicle arrived, they stopped it and took the most wanted man and two other men into custody.
Some of the Soldiers were still able to see the cache from their vantage point - and were surprised to see a civilian pickup truck stop there and begin hastily loading the weapons into the bed of the truck.
They engaged the vehicle with an M-240 machine gun, and the men tried to flee, but the Trp. C Soldiers detained them all – and called an explosive ordnance disposal team to destroy the weapons.
Sawyer a native of Reading, Penn., was jubilant about the operation.
“All of this was possible because of sources we’ve developed, through local-national engagements and working with the residents of the area,” he said. “It’s our work with the people in these areas, our relations with them, paying off.”
The primary target is allegedly responsible for shooting down an AH-64 helicopter in April 2006, the abductions of two Soldiers in June 2006, and complex attacks on patrol bases and terrorist acts against both Coalition Forces and Iraqi civilians.
Additionally, he is believed to be the leader of an al Qaeda network, known to prey on the general public through intimidation and murder against those resisting compliance to the AQI demands and decrees
One of the detainees had been wounded in a previous engagement, and was taken to a coalition hospital for treatment. The other six are being held for further questioning.

Iraqi citizen leads Soldiers to caches in known terrorist safe haven

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

QARGHULI VILLAGE, Iraq — An Iraqi citizen who has been working with Coalition Forces during the past week led them to two caches in Qarghuli Village, Iraq, a known terrorist safe haven.
The local resident accompanied Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment “Polar Bears,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., on a dismounted patrol in the village July 12 and led them to two caches.
The caches consisted of a rack system, a video camera, a 61mm fuze, a spool of command wire used to make improvised explosive devices, 44 Dragonov sniper rounds and a 155mm round.
During the past few days the Iraqi residents have led the Polar Bears to more than 14 caches in the village.
“The people of Qarghuli Village coming forward to help the Iraqi and Coalition Forces is a positive sign that they are willing to take more responsibility in their own security,” said Maj. Kenny Mintz, the 2nd BCT operations officer and native of San Diego. “They are taking steps that they have never taken before.”
The contents of the cache were destroyed during a controlled detonation conducted by members of the explosive ordnance team.

Airborne mail call boosts morale

By 2nd Lt. Elizabeth Lopez
210th BSB, 2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI)

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq — Fort Drum Soldiers are not just taking to the skies to conduct battle operations, they’re using the speed and flexibility of an aircraft to get keep their Soldiers equipped and happy.
There are more than forty “Commando Providers,” from the 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., living at forward locations at any one time. Therefore it becomes the responsibility of the Soldiers remaining at Camp Striker, Iraq, to provide them with the things they need to succeed in their missions – including mail.
It has been dubbed aerial mail drop and the battalion’s mail handlers deliver mail and high-priority mechanical parts to their fellow Soldiers out in sector, supporting forward-based units.
“I love doing it, I love everything about it,” said Pfc. Shanna-Kay Powell, a native of Kingston, Jamaica.
“We hope to make it a regular thing,” said Powell. “I’m very proud and happy to do it – it makes me feel good.”
Each mission generally lasts no more than an hour, but that’s long enough for the mail handler to travel to the battle positions and patrol bases where members of the 210th BSB live and work. Upon arrival, the Soldier is met by a liaison to whom he passes off his cargo of mail and parts.
The aerial missions have a second major benefit. They’ve not only been effective in improving the Soldiers’ morale by decreasing the time it takes to deliver their mail – they’ve also accelerated the rate in which Commando Providers can repair equipment.

‘Hope Rope’ keeps Soldiers safe while guarding patrol bases

By Capt. Amanda J. Nalls
210th BSB, 2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI)

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq — Soldiers serving in Iraq are expected to perform myriad tasks while deployed, one of which is guarding the many towers overlooking the patrol bases and forward operating bases.
The troops of the 210th Brigade Support Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., are no different, and they spend quite a bit of time in the towers, guarding their comrades below in the brigade’s area of operations southwest of Baghdad.
The towers, often constructed on-site at these remote locations, are difficult to climb in and out of with the heavy protective gear worn by all Soldiers. The rungs of the ladders are often up to a foot apart, making Soldiers stretch the limits of their capabilities while climbing up to defend their fellow Soldiers inside the wire.
Soldiers in the 210th BSB have teamed up with their maneuver battalion counterparts to assess the difficulties associated with guarding these towers.
Warrant Officer Troy Hope, a native of Brunswick, Ga., who serves as the Company B, 210th BSB allied trades technician, has taken the reins on the project and developed what has affectionately come to be called the “Hope Rope.”
The “Hope Rope” combines a harness traditionally used by Soldiers that serve as vehicle gunners and a length of rope. The rope, attached to rebar inside the tower, allows the Soldiers to raise their gear into the tower first, and then climb up, uninhibited by the cumbersome equipment that they will need during their guard shift. Once in the tower, Soldiers wear the harness which allows them to be safely lowered to the ground if they are injured while in the tower.
“Our section has traveled to the patrol bases that house these towers and developed the best product possible to keep our Soldiers safe,” said Hope of his Co. B Soldiers. “I think this new equipment will prevent the broken tailbones and spinal injuries that we’ve been seeing in some units in Iraq. Soldiers trying to climb up into those towers have a difficult time, especially with the amount of gear we wear. The ‘Hope Rope’ should eliminate many of the problems we’re seeing associated with Soldiers’ safety in guard towers.”
In addition to the ropes, Hope and his team have also created and installed sniper screens in towers throughout the 2nd BCT’s sector. The team has begun welding ballistic windshields from Army vehicles to metal supports in the towers.
“The screens are to reduce injury from sniper fire,” said Hope. “They will afford the Soldiers some much-needed protection.”
Hope’s team of four Soldiers is currently producing both the Hope Rope and the sniper screens at their welding shop on Camp Striker.

Police recruiting a major attraction, 1800 recruits

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. PAO

MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — Despite Iraqi Security Forces being a primary target for anti-Iraqi terrorists, people continue to volunteer for the Iraqi police. A recruiting drive recently in Mahmudiyah brought almost 2,000 Iraqi citizens vying for jobs.
The three-day drive in Mahmudiyah from July 8th through the 10th attracted 1,804 applicants eager to find a job. The drive was orchestrated largely by the 23rd Military Police Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Brigade, which is based at Fort Bragg, N.C.
The mayor of Mahmudiyah, Mouyed Al-Ameri, visited applicants at the drive, as did Gen. Abid, the police commander in the area.
Applicants were safely processed and tight security and coordination between Iraqi and Coalition Forces ensured safety for everyone involved. Each person was searched twice before entering the compound, and twice within, to prevent attacks on the group of people.
The applicants were mostly Shia, although Sunnis were well-represented as well. They came from many of the local villages – al-Rasheed, Mahmudiyah, Lutifiyah, and Yusufiyah, and the drive was extended for a day to the population of al-Rasheed and other areas of Sunni majority, so that the recruit base will be more evenly represented.
As each person applied, they were entered into a biometrics database with a retinal scan, fingerprint, and photograph.
The Mahmudiyah district, which includes Lutifiyah and Yusufiyah as well as countless outlying villages, will have eight police stations and joint security stations in the next five years; most of them are already built. But staffing them with trained police is the next goal – one which the recruitment drive helped substantially.
“We’ll be able to have more presence patrols and more checkpoints,” said Sgt. 1st Class Robert Porter, a native of Portsmouth, Va., and a platoon sergeant with the 23rd MPs. “We can cut out the unauthorized checkpoints and provide more established security, just as soon as we get police through the academy and get them the resources they need.”
The operation was aided by the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army division, both based in Mahmudiyah.
“With good recruits, we’ll end up with a police force more capable of providing security for the local population,” said Capt. Dustin Walker, a native of Bedford, N.H., and an adviser to 2-15’s partnered Iraqi Army unit. “Recruits from this area have a vested interest in protecting their home areas, and the number of people who want to get involved with their government is outstanding.”

Restoring a Russian relic

By 2nd Lt. Elizabeth Lopez
210th BSB

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq — One of the American Soldier’s greatest strengths is his ability to improvise in the face of adversity - so much so, that when given a broken down bucket loader, two Army mechanics went to extraordinary efforts to bring it back to life.
In May, Sgt. Matthew Deveikis of Merrimac, Mass., and Spc. Jeremiah Becker, of Lebanon, Pa. - both mechanics in Company B, 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI) embarked on what became a month-long project, refurbishing an old bucket loader abandoned along with the construction of a Russian power plant on the banks of Iraq’s Euphrates River.
The vehicle was scavenged from what is now Patrol Base Dragon and evacuated to Forward Operating Base Striker by Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT, and salvaged in order to speed efforts to improve the unit’s many battle positions and patrol bases in sector.
Although the repaired bucket loader will be used in a manner identical to that of similar Army equipment owned by engineer units, restoration of the Russian antique was an entirely different matter.
When working with unfamiliar equipment, mechanics rely on the guidance of technical manuals to minimize the process of trial and error in identifying faults and to accelerate the speed of repairs. But in the case of the bucket loader, there was no manual to fall back on.
Left with nothing but their own ingenuity and resourcefulness, Deveikis and Becker began their project by dismantling and cleaning the engine in order to determine which systems were broken.
“An engine is pretty much an engine,” Deveikis said when asked how this tactic worked.
After identifying the major deficiencies in the engine, the team admitted that the remainder of the project was a little more challenging. The Army is equipped with a wide assortment of parts available for order, but engine components for a fifty-year-old Russian bucket loader are not among them.
With no other choice, the team scavenged most of the components the bucket loader required from parts they kept on hand for other vehicles.
“The whole thing was a little unorthodox,” the team joked, describing the Humvee muffler used to repair the vehicle’s exhaust system.
Not everything could be scavenged. There was no suitable substitute water pump, which cools the engine.
Instead, Soldiers found a local man who was able to take the broken part and return it several weeks later in perfect working order.
Despite the difficulties it presented, the project was a welcome change of pace for the Soldiers.
“It’s nice to have something that makes you think,” said Deveikis.
On July 4, the refurbished bucket loader was picked up from the motor pool, and began its own mission renovating patrol bases and improving quality of life for Soldiers in the brigade’s area of operations.
Having the project completed was a good boost for the Soldiers, they said. “It was a good project,” said Becker. “Definitely something out of the ordinary.”
But for the Providers of the 210th BSB, extraordinary missions are just what they do.

Iraqi ‘Commando Company’ shines in Apollo Fury

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. PAO

SADR AL-YUSUFIYAH, Iraq — An operation called Apollo Fury let a company of Iraqi Army soldiers demonstrate their growing skills June 6 southwest of Baghdad.
Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division led the operation in conjunction with troops of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., near the village of Sadr Al-Yusufiyah, Iraq.
The mission, aimed at capturing high-profile targets responsible for trafficking in foreign fighters, resulted in the detention of 13 men. Eleven were released after questioning at Camp Striker, and two processed into the Iraqi judicial system. But even beyond capturing the targets, the mission showed how much Iraqi troops of the 4/4/6 are progressing.
“They’re the best-trained company in the brigade,” said 1st Lt. Michael Keasler, a native of Augusta, Ga., and the executive officer for Co. B. “They were clearing houses and routes, exploiting caches and were absolutely pivotal in finding information.
“They’re the best Iraqi troops I’ve ever worked with, the most energetic and motivated, and their initiative on the objectives was outstanding. I’d fight with them anywhere.”
The company, nicknamed “Commandos” for their capabilities, has not been trained any differently than any other Iraqi troops. They just do a better job than the average soldier, said Keasler.
The operation included checking a mosque known to be hostile to Coalition Forces, Keasler said. But instead of breaking down the door, the soldiers went to the local imam, who unlocked the door for them, and then followed all the proper customs for entering the sanctuary.
“They were very courteous and gave an outstanding performance,” Keasler said. “They deal with the locals very well, they’re helping build a large intelligence network, and their actions are definitely based on their stealth and use of tactics and warfare.”
The company’s presence for Operation Apollo Fury wasn’t an accident, he said.
“Gen. Ali Jassim al-Frejee (commander of the 4/6 IA) chose this company for the mission because of its complexity,” said Keasler. “They have often been used for the most challenging, immediate reaction missions. Most of them have been serving in the Iraqi Army for two or three years now, and for the last 11 months have been training with the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd BCT, there in Mahmudiyah.”
The skills of the Commando Company offer hope in the bleak picture the media often paints of Iraqi security forces.
“I really hope they’re an example of what the Iraqi Army will be soon,” said Keasler. “They’ll be a solid, effective fighting force.”

Soldier uses his head in fight against terrorist

by Spc. Chris McCann

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq — “I’m one of those guys who believe in leading from the front.” His face is boyish and unassuming, and bears not a trace of the bullet that could’ve cost him his life. Staff Sgt. Kyle Keenan, a native of Newark, Ohio, and a scout section leader with the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) from Fort Drum, N.Y., is a lucky man. An Iraqi terrorist shot him at point-blank range with a pistol, and he shrugged it off and fired back. Keenan said his platoon, from Troop C, 1-89, responded to a tip from Iraqi citizens in abu Hillan, and air assaulted into the sparsely populated area to apprehend two leaders of a local terrorist group. The tip indicated the time and location the leaders would be having tea. “While we were still in the air, we saw two men running away from the target house in track suits – one green, one grayish. The one in green ran north, the other went south, and my section went after the guy in green, because he was closest to us.” Keenan, true to his word, was in the front of their wedge-shaped formation, the point man, carrying not only his usual M-4 carbine but a 12 gauge, pump shotgun. “We went toward where we last saw him, came around the corner of a house, and saw a reed line. We knew we were looking for him in the field there – but when I looked two or three feet away, downward, I saw his face and his eyes, and told him ‘Get up! Americans!’ and right then, I heard a pop and my head snapped back.” His team leader, just behind him and to the right, saw Keenan’s head jerk back and heard the shot as well. “As soon as (the terrorist) shot, I saw the flash and saw him – he was pretty close,” said Sgt. Joseph Connolly, a native of Minneapolis, Minn. “For a split second, I thought Keenan was dead, but I didn’t even think about it, I just engaged.” “I realized I’d been shot,” Keenan said, “but I didn’t know if it was in the head, or in my (helmet).” After regaining his vision, Keenan shot and killed the suspect. “The experience was so fast, there wasn’t even time to be surprised,” said Connolly. “We made the call that he was dead, and we moved out,” Keenan said matter-of-factly. “I took point again. We detained two (men) at the target house and turned them over to our medics and platoon sergeant, then went to the next house, detained two more, and then detained one at the last house, with a locked-and-loaded AK-47. We took them all to the platoon sergeant and started questioning them. They all said that the guy we really wanted had gone into the field, the one in the gray track suit.” They searched fruitlessly for the one in the gray track suit, Keenan said, in the fields and reed lines, clearing the houses three times before another platoon arrived to secure the area. “After it was all over and we got back in the choppers, it hit me,” he said. “It was a ‘thank God I’m alive’ feeling.” The bullet pierced his helmet and exited without touching or leaving a bruise. The man was found to have two grenades with him – one with the pin pulled out. Keenan said he was shot on a previous deployment, but the round struck his body armor leaving only a bruise. Improvised explosive devices likewise have detonated nearby, but failed to wound him. “I’ve never been wounded, no Purple Hearts – scratches, little bruises, that’s all,” he said. “This gear does what it’s supposed to do. It’s not supposed to stop the round, it’s supposed to deflect it, and that’s what it did. … but it was amazing at point-blank range.” “I’m pretty happy that it all worked out the way it did,” Connolly said. After that mission, the platoon prepared their trucks and grabbed some food before heading out on another that afternoon, Keenan included. He told his wife about his near-miss when he got back late that night. “She was worried,” he said, but he reassured her and their 10-year-old daughter that he was fine. He won’t be changing the way he works, he added. “As long as Soldiers see me do this, and see things like that happen and see me keep going – they’ll keep going through this deployment.”
Something he definitely won’t change is the arrangement of moveable pads in his new helmet. If it weren’t for those pads, Keenan said the insurgent would have killed him. “I don’t like the padding much,” he said, laughing. “I always wear my (helmet) low, right above my eyes … “I’m still mad, too – I really liked that one. “ Keenan has been through a lot, and he hopes that it’s motivation for other Soldiers.

BSB Soldiers repair a Russian relic

By 2nd Lt. Elizabeth Lopez
210th BSB

One of the American Soldier’s greatest strengths is his ability to improvise in the face of adversity - so much so, that when given a broken down bucket loader, two Army mechanics went to extraordinary efforts to bring it back to life.
In May, Sgt. Matthew Deveikis of Merrimac, Mass., and Spc. Jeremiah Becker, of Lebanon, Pa. - both mechanics in Company B, 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., - embarked on what became a month-long project, refurbishing an old bucket loader abandoned along with the construction of a Russian power plant on the banks of Iraq’s Euphrates River.
The vehicle was scavenged from what is now Patrol Base Dragon and evacuated to Forward Operating Base Striker by Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT, and salvaged in order to speed efforts to improve the unit’s many battle positions and patrol bases in sector.
Although the repaired bucket loader will be used in a manner identical to that of similar Army equipment owned by engineer units, restoration of the Russian antique was an entirely different matter.
When working with unfamiliar equipment, mechanics rely on the guidance of technical manuals to minimize the process of trial and error in identifying faults and to accelerate the speed of repairs. But in the case of the bucket loader, there was no manual to fall back on.
Left with nothing but their own ingenuity and resourcefulness, Deveikis and Becker began their project by dismantling and cleaning the engine in order to determine which systems were broken.
“An engine is pretty much an engine,” Deveikis said when asked how this tactic worked.
After identifying the major deficiencies in the engine, the team admitted that the remainder of the project was a little more challenging. The Army is equipped with a wide assortment of parts available for order, but engine components for a fifty-year-old Russian bucket loader are not among them.
With no other choice, the team scavenged most of the components the bucket loader required from parts they kept on hand for other vehicles.
“The whole thing was a little unorthodox,” the team joked, describing the Humvee muffler used to repair the vehicle’s exhaust system.
Not everything could be scavenged. There was no suitable substitute water pump, which cools the engine. Instead, Soldiers found a local national man who was able to take the broken part and return it several weeks later in perfect working order.
Despite the difficulties it presented, the project was a welcome change of pace for the Soldiers.
“It’s nice to have something that makes you think,” said Deveikis.
On July 4, the refurbished bucket loader was picked up from the motor pool, and began its own mission renovating patrol bases and improving quality of life for Soldiers in the brigade’s area of operations.
Having the project completed was a good boost for the Soldiers, they said. “It was a good project,” said Becker. “Definitely something out of the ordinary.”
But for the Providers of the 210th BSB, extraordinary missions are just what they do.

1-89 Cavalry meets new neighbors

BAGHDAD, Iraq – After recently taking over Combat Outpost Corregidor, troopers greeted their new neighbors by offering a service rarely available in the rural farmland south of Baghdad: medical care. Soldiers from Troop B, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry, brought a flatbed truck loaded with medical supplies to a small building just outside the COP, while humvees fitted with loudspeakers patrolled the area, advertising the June 30 event.To make the event a success, Troop B coordinated with other elements from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division – bringing female medics and a chaplain from 210th Brigade Support Battalion, as well as a civil affairs team to distribute humanitarian aid.“In this culture, it’s very important that an Iraqi woman be seen by a female practitioner, without any men present,” said Miami native Spc. Arianne Torrenegra, Company C, 210th BSB.  “I came out here for that reason, and because I love helping people, whoever they are – that’s why I’m a medic.” As temperatures soared to 118 degrees, residents suffering from a wide variety of ailments, from the flu to epilepsy, steadily made their way across tilled farmers’ fields to the COP.  Among the first few patients seen were three men, all suffering from a stomach flu likely caused by drinking unclean water.  The men left with oral rehydration salts, vitamins and as much bottled water as they could carry off.“This is really like a sick call for the local populace – we can diagnose and treat simple illnesses and afflictions,” said 2nd Lt. Max Smith, a medical officer for 1-89 Cav., from Grand Haven, Mich.  “We can only do so much, but we’ve got to do as much as we can.”  Iraqi soldiers helped run a checkpoint, patting down residents before they approached the medics.  Around noon, one of the Iraqi soldiers reported that a woman had collapsed in a nearby field.Immediately a team of U.S. and Iraqi troops raced to the spot where the woman lay drifting in and out of unconsciousness.  Troopers from 1-89 Cav. formed a ring of security, while medic Spc. Christina Baker, Co. C, 210th BSB, from Salem, Ore., and an Iraqi soldier
helped her to a shady grove near the main road. There she was put on a stretcher and brought to the makeshift clinic, where she received an I.V. to replace her lost fluids.  The diagnosis: unusually heavy menstruation, coupled with anemia made her especially vulnerable to the day’s punishing heat.Soldiers from 3rd Civil Affairs Battalion brought a trunk full of backpacks containing school supplies, and Chaplain (Capt.) Daniel Kang, 210th BSB, handed them out to children after their checkups. “I love seeing the kids smile,” said Kang, of Charlotte, N.C., who traveled to COP Corregidor to provide religious services to the Soldiers stationed there.  “The base I live on has plenty of chaplains, but these guys don’t have that opportunity.  Some don’t care for it, but some of the Soldiers really draw great strength from religious faith.”As 1-89 Cav.’s squadron physician’s assistant, 1st Lt. Martin Stewart had his hands full during the operation, but put it in perspective.“The value of this is immeasurable – it improves our standing with the local population to the point that they trust us, and help us in securing the sector,” Stewart, from Bryan, Texas, said.  “Since we literally live right down the street from these folks, that gives us the ability to make follow-up treatments, which vastly improves the quality of care we can give.”Stewart described how he had a medication he originally ordered for a detainee but never used, but during the MEDCAP found a local man who could use it. 
Stewart told the man to return later in the week for the medicine.The area around COP Corregidor, while seeming like sleepy farmland, is in reality a notoriously violent zone known as “the belly of the snake,” referring to its role in staging car bomb attacks on Baghdad.  Many Soldiers and civilians have died on the dusty, crater-pocked streets here.Throughout the day, the low thuds of explosive ordnance disposal teams detonating found bombs punctuated the rural quiet, reminding residents of the stark choices upon them.“Iraqis here realize that we’re going home eventually, and that al Qaeda isn’t, so they’ve got a limited time to help us root out a force that has been extremely destructive for them,” Stewart said.   “The tide is turning here, attacks are way down, and I believe missions like this have been a big part of that change.”

Be a part of American history – join the Army?

Spc. Chris McCann
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. PAO

FORWARD OPERATING BASE YUSUFIYAH, Iraq — College money, job experience, or lack of employment opportunities are some of the big motivators Soldiers cite for joining the military. But Cpl. James Hogan left a job he loved, teaching high-school history and economics in Superior, Wisc., to enlist in November of 2005 to be a part of American history.
“I was teaching history and about the wars – and I felt it was my patriotic duty to serve, like the guys who went before me,” Hogan said. “I don’t want to sit on my deck at 60 years old and tell people I had a chance to serve and didn’t.”
Hogan graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Superior, and began teaching at a Catholic middle school, then at a high school in Maple, Wisc. In addition to teaching American history, he taught economics, criminal justice, social science and sociology, and coached football, girls’ basketball, and track and field.
But he gave it all up to join the Army.
“The students were surprised – some were sad, and some were probably happy,” he said, laughing. “I always wanted to teach, and I was no good at math, I don’t like science, and my vocabulary is terrible. But I love politics and history, and I love this country – so, American history.”
Hogan works with Company A, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), out of Fort Drum, N.Y. – the military transition team that has been training the 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with them day in and day out,” he said of the Soldiers in his company.
“From the different personalities, meeting people from all over the United States – I’ve learned a lot. I really respect everyone in the Army, whatever they do, but these (infantry troops) are the ones putting in blood, sweat and tears.”
A willingness to be on the ground and on the front lines is a respect-earner. One of his heroes, he said, is Theodore Roosevelt.
“He really solidified my desire to join the Army,” Hogan said. “He quit the Navy to join the Army and then formed the Rough Riders, because it always bugged Teddy Roosevelt that his father didn’t fight in the Civil War when the country needed him.
“I like his maverick spirit, he did what was in his heart, and he sure wouldn’t be making decisions based on poll numbers if he were president today.”
Hogan has a rather maverick spirit himself – which serves him well with Soldiers both older and younger than him.
“I’m 33 years old,” he said. “In civilian life, I would have been teaching some of these guys, but they’re teaching me the ways of the infantry here,” he said. “It’s tough being older, especially as an enlisted Soldier. I didn’t become an officer because that’s not what I wanted. I’ve had responsibility. I just wanted t be a grunt. And it’s tough to get smoked by a guy nine years younger, but that’s when you just have to swallow your pride.”
Hogan plans to return to teaching – and coaching – when his term of enlistment ends, but he’s toying with the idea of going into the chaplaincy.
“I’m a man of faith,” he said. “I want to study scripture more in-depth, and I want to serve Soldiers in a more personal way. Guys have been laying it all on the line here for five years now, and the turmoil and struggled and separation from family is hard. I feel I could help, and give strength to them to hang in there.”
If he doesn’t choose that road, however, he said what he’s learned in the Army will serve him well as a teacher.
“I think I’ll get more respect as a teacher – I can bring in my photos and things from Iraq, and that would be really good. If I go into the chaplaincy, I’d like to be an Army Reserve or National Guard chaplain so I could still teach.”
And although Soldiers have since time immemorial groused about conditions, Hogan seems immune to it.
“It’s an honor to serve my country alongside all my fellow Soldiers in uniform, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to do it.”

Qarghuli village residents lead troops to caches

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. PAO

QARGHULI VILLAGE, Iraq — Residents of a village south of Baghdad, long a terrorist hot spot, led U.S. forces to major weapons caches near their town
July 6.
Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., were taken to a series of 12 caches – and insurgents responsible for them - by local villagers.
A local man who claimed to have knowledge of a large cache complex approached the patrol and walked the Soldiers from site to site, pointing out each cache. He then took the patrol to two men, whom he said were responsible for collecting and hiding the weapons.
One cache contained a rocket-propelled grenade launching kit - still in the box; six fuses for 82mm mortars, an 82mm round prepared as an improvised explosive device, two resealable plastic bags containing maps, books and a guard roster, a set of ballistic eyeglasses, two bags of homemade explosive, a rocket launcher with two tubes, a rocket engine, a videotape, and photos.
Another contained nine 60mm mortar rounds with 11 fuses, about 55 blasting caps, a block of HME, seven empty 60mm mortar shells, an RPG fuse, 18 feet of detonation cord, a ten-pound bag of black powder, and 28 rocket tips.
Another contained nine 120mm mortar rounds, two AK-47 rifles, two 105mm rounds, 20 pounds of HME, 20 AK-47 magazines, and several mortar fuses.
Another held 61 60mm rounds, five 120mm rounds and seven charges for the 120mm rounds.
An extensive cache contained a 107mm rocket, five hand grenades, a video camera, a 105mm round rigged as an IED, three grenade fuses, a front plate to a radio, two handheld walkie-talkies, 66 sticks of dynamite, 20 pounds of black powder, 20 blasting caps and 20 pounds of HME, 20 feet of detonation cord, a pressure plate for an IED, a sniper instruction CD, a long-range cordless telephone and a homemade boat with two paddles.
Another contained 43 mortar fuses, two AK-47 magazines, 18 load-bearing vests, a cellular telephone and battery, and 10 mortar primers.
The explosives were destroyed by explosive ordnance disposal teams; several other items were seized for further examination.
The area where the caches were found is approximately one kilometer from the site of the May 12 attack where four U.S. Soldiers and an Iraqi soldier were killed and three U.S. Soldiers were captured. One of the Soldiers was later found dead in the Euphrates River, the remaining two are officially listed as “missing-captured.”
Residents, fed up with the violence plaguing their neighborhood, have repeatedly revealed al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists in the area to patrolling Soldiers.
Two Iraqis associated with the caches were detained by the Soldiers

Operation Polar Schism detains six in Owesat


AL-OWESAT, Iraq — A coalition operation called Polar Schism, carried out July 6, sought information about two Soldiers still missing after a May 12 predawn kidnapping, nabbing six local nationals thought to know about the troops.
Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., air-assaulted into the small village on the western bank of the Euphrates River with troops of the 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division.
Two area mosques were searched by the Iraqi soldiers while the coalition troops provided an outer security cordon of the areas. The operation sought anyone with ties to or knowledge of the kidnapping.
Tips from al-Owesat as well as from the eastern side of the river indicated that the missing Soldiers are believed to be in the village, although informants had no further information.
Informants said that al Qaeda affiliated cells were using the mosques as safe houses.
The six men are being held for questioning.

"I'm Still Standing"

By Lt. Col. John Valledor
On any given day, thousands of Soldiers are manning static gun positions all over Iraq as part of cohesive, forward-based force protection measures.Radical Shiite militants taught our nation a painful lesson in 1983 with the high-profile suicide truck bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks at the Beirut, Lebanon, International Airport. Fast-forward to 2007 in Iraq, and the threat of suicide truck bombings is all too real and pervasive.Very few Soldiers burdened with the task of securing their bases will ever face the reality of having to make on-the-spot life saving decisions of applying deadly force in a suicide attack scenario. For Spc. Brandon Rork, a 24-year-old mortarman from Norwood, Ohio, that life-altering moment occurred one hot Sunday afternoon in a small village on the banks of the Euphrates River.June 10, 2007 started out like any typical day in the Iraqi farmstead of Sadr Al-Yusufiyah. Rork began his shift on the machine gun position located on the rooftop of Patrol Base Warrior Keep. Most days are spent fighting boredom and wiping the sweat from one’s eyes as the machine gun shelter, made of sheets of plywood, sand bags and thick wooden beams, swelters in the searing 112-degree heat. From his vantage point, Rork overlooked a narrow stretch of asphalt road directly in front of the patrol base, known as Route Pinto.On an average day, Rork counts more than 80 Kia Bongo trucks, three to five dump trucks and about 60 locals’ vehicles slowly meandering along the gentle curves in front of the patrol base. This day seemed slightly different. Inexplicably, the Edsel market was closed and local national pedestrian traffic had trickled to less than a handful.The midafternoon silence was broken by the loud whining noise of a blue dump truck’s engine as it barreled down the Edsel market’s vacant road in excess of 35 miles per hour. Seconds later, the truck driver began to turn toward the patrol base’s southern gate. Rork briefly panicked, realizing the intentions of the truck’s driver. He opened fire from his machine gun, pouring more than 100 rounds into the engine compartment of the fast-approaching truck. This caused the truck to veer right, knocking over a brick wall. Rork shifted his fire into the dump truck’s windshield and cabin, finally causing the truck to crash to a stop at the huge HESCO-barrier gate, made of huge wire baskets filled with earth. Rork’s fellow roof-top gunner, Spc. Charles Osgood, manning the nearby west-facing gun position, also opened fire on the truck with his M-4 carbine. Osgood watched as the truck driver leaped from the cabin and darted to the rear of the truck bed in a hail of gunfire. He fired several rounds into the fleeing driver, piercing his upper right leg, the round shattering his femur.The driver dropped onto the road, where 1st Sgt. James Rupert, Sgt. Jomo Fields, Spc. Rico Roman and an interpreter named Fox moved to secure him. As they approached the wounded driver, Fields frisked him and yelled that the driver had a suicide vest on. Fox yelled out in Arabic for the man to remove his belt and toss it.The driver incapacitated and dazed from his injury and under the influence of an unknown narcotic, attempted to pull the suicide belt’s initiator but instead managed to rip off his belt, failing to detonate it. He was quickly dragged into the patrol base by the reaction force for medical treatment and tactical questioning.The driver was a 27-year-old from Ramadi, and began his fateful journey days earlier. Three months before, he had been earning a meager living working for an al-Qaeda inspired insurgent group, guarding kidnap victims before to their Shari’ah court interrogation sessions. The “Save the Anbar Province Sheikh Council” that were actively seeking out and targeting al-Qaeda networks eventually drove him, and others like him, out of Ramadi. He was funneled by a shadowy underground network of al-Qaeda-affiliated groups to Fallujah.It was there that he met a fanatical Islamist leader responsible for forming and trafficking homegrown and foreign suicide ‘martyrs’ to their ultimate targets. From Fallujah he was moved to a safe house in the village of al-Owesat, directly across the Euphrates River from Sadr al-Yusufiyah.On the morning of the attack, he crossed the Euphrates in a small boat and moved to a meeting place at the intersection of three major canal locks, known to coalition forces as the Crow’s Foot. It was there that he first saw the explosives-laden truck.A self-declared ‘holy warrior,’ inspired by a desire to “eat lunch with the Prophet Mohammad,” he met with his suicide-mission contacts and received a quick class on how to get to the patrol base and detonating the truck – which contained 14,500 pounds of military-grade munitions and explosives. (By comparison, the Beirut truck bombers used an equivalent of 12,000 pounds of TNT, Timothy McVeigh used 2000 lbs. at Oklahoma City)He was to simply drive to the patrol base’s southern gate and flip three switches crudely mounted on the truck’s steering column. The first was intended to fire a rocket, mounted on the top of the truck bed, to destroy the rooftop gun positions. The middle switch would detonate the truck’s main charge, and the lowest was a backup, in case the other two failed.He drove a series of dirt roads that led to a right turn into the Route Edsel market. Speeding through the market to the southern edge of the patrol base was made easy by the nearly empty streets.He pressed harder on the accelerator as he made his final turn into the base. Then his windshield and cabin exploded in an astonishing hail of machine gun fire. Confused and stunned by the sudden crash into the base’s walled gate, he had no time to reach for the three switches - he simply leaped out of his cabin to regain his bearings, only to be struck down by the painful sting to his leg. Dazed from the loud gunfire and hazy from the drugs he took earlier to relax him on this, his final day on earth, he failed to initiate his suicide belt.His hopes of martyrdom and a follow-on meeting with promised virgins in the afterlife were shattered by the quick reflexes and actions of an alert Army infantryman.Rork remembered seeing a strange local national the day prior to the attack at the patrol base’s front gate that sought permission to recover the body of his dead brother, a local dump truck driver. Hours earlier, Delta Company, operating along a road leading to the village of Sadr al-Yusufiyah, reported discovering a body floating at a nearby canal, with bound hands and a gunshot wound, near one of their fighting positions.It is believed that terrorists attempted to coerce a local driver to carry out this suicide mission to allay suspicion by our Soldiers, who check all drivers entering the village and know most of the drivers. The man’s unwillingness to cooperate along ultimately cost him his life.In the days following this failed attack, local human intelligence sources learned that the plan included a follow-on force of about 70 armed terrorists in several small groups, scattered around the patrol to exploit the suicide bombing by swarming the demolished patrol base. They planned to kill any wounded Soldiers remaining, capitalizing on the high profile attack’s propaganda value. Thanks to Rork’s attention, this attack became an embarrassing example of the local al-Qaeda group’s deteriorating capabilities.Locals said that when the terrorist teams heard U.S. machine gun fire instead of the expected blast, they disappeared into the vast tribal farm fields in shame. Further, in the weeks following this failed attack, the villagers of Sadr al-Yusufiyah were murmuring that al-Qaeda is a doomed cause and its failure was a sign from Allah that he was on the side of the Americans.It took an explosive ordnance disposal team an entire day to complete the controlled detonation of the truck’s lethal load. Seven small-scale blasts shook the village and surrounding areas, in one case knocking down power lines and reminding the villagers of the dreadful consequences of the planned attack had it succeeded.This event highlights the remarkable expertise of our Army and its Soldiers. Had this attack succeeded, like the one in Beirut, it too would have been a tremendous tragedy. The explosives hidden in the truck would have leveled the patrol base as well as two-thirds of Sadr al-Yusufiyah. Our military has learned its lessons from the past and it continues to apply them in ongoing combat operations in Iraq. Rork managed to dig through the mangled remains of the destroyed dump truck and found its unique hood ornament. He carries it in his pocket as a good luck charm and symbol of what he calls “a good day.” He remains joyful and relieved by the fact that he’s “still standing” and that he “didn’t lose more brothers” that fateful day. A two-time veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Rork is humbled by the belief that on that day “God was on his side”.

Commandos kill, capture high value targets

2nd BCT, 10th Mountain Division (LI) PAO

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – Coalition forces killed one suspected terrorist and detained eight others near Koresh, Iraq, four miles south of Baghdad July 1.
Soldiers from Troop C, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), from Fort Drum, NY, conducted the mission based on tips from sources they had built in the area over the initial months of their deployment. The squadron launched an immediate air assault to nab the time sensitive targets.
On the objective, one of the BCT’s most wanted terrorists fired at one of the Soldiers with a nine millimeter pistol, striking the Soldier in the helmet, causing no injury to the Soldier. The Soldier returned fire, killing the terrorist.
The terrorist was wearing a suicide vest and carried two hand grenades.
Initially, seven other suspected terrorists were detained at the target house.
A follow on sweep of the objective netted another suspect from the most wanted target list.
The al Qaeda suspects were wanted for orchestrating attacks against Iraqi security and coalition forces as well as intimidating and murdering locals who did not collaborate with the al Qaeda fighters.
Explosive ordnance disposal teams were sent in to deactivate the vest.
The individuals are being held for questioning.

Commandos conduct 100th air assault of deployment

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

RADWANIYAH, Iraq – Troops from the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., conducted the brigade’s 100th air assault mission west of Radwaniyah June 29.
The 2nd BCT has conducted many air assaults over the last 11 months, using helicopters to gain rapid access to the far-flung rural villages in the area of operations.
The raid, called Operation Wolverine Vise Grip, was conducted to clear a former stronghold of al-Qaeda in Iraq just southwest of Baghdad.
Coalition and Iraqi army checkpoints along a major road in the area often came under small-arms fire attacks, prompting the operation.
Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT provided ground interdiction along the road, preventing terrorists from fleeing, as five platoons of 1-89 “Wolverine” troops were airlifted in by UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
A strip of nearby houses was searched and cleared, and empty AK-47 magazines were found, as well as firing positions on and around the homes, but the isolated settlement was “a ghost town,” said Capt. Michael Murphy, a native of Springfield, Mo., and the operations officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1-89.
Soldiers came under sporadic small-arms fire during the operation, but were unable to find the persons involved.
Iraqis living in the vicinity intend to keep the area cleared of anti-Iraqi forces, Murphy said, adding that 1-89 will increase civil-military operations in that vicinity to aid local residents with basic necessities such as trash removal and water and sewage services as soon as possible. Many residents fled the area due to the presence of al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists.
“Now that this area has been cleared, I think families will begin moving back in,” Murphy said.

Dads celebrate Father’s Day far from home

Spc. Chris McCann
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. PAO

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – Deployment is hard on any Soldier, and a 12-to-15 month tour can strain a marriage.
But what can make it even tougher on troops is missing their children, and Father’s Day can be a reminder of just what they’ve left behind.
“The hardest thing about this whole deployment is being away from my kids,” said Maj. Kenny Mintz, the operations officer for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y.
“They’re young and impressionable and innocent,” Mintz said, “and missing a whole year of that is a tremendous sacrifice. No amount of wealth or glory or honor can compensate for that.”
Mintz, a native of San Diego, Calif., has four children, ranging in age between five and ten, and he is very close to his family, he said.
“It’s a tremendous sacrifice for any parent.”
Sgt. Jonathan Kirkendall, a native of Falls City, Neb., and the projects manager for the 2nd BCT, married recently; his wife has two children, aged seven and 10, from a previous marriage, and the Kirkendalls recently had another.
“They realize what’s going on,” Kirkendall said. “It’s taking a toll.”
He spent a lot of his time on his two weeks of leave with the children, he said.
“I took Kyra shopping when I was home, and let her paint my fingernails and put makeup on me. I don’t mind it – I just won’t get in a dress,” Kirkendall said, laughing. “Jadyn, the baby – I just lay on the couch with her and watched her throw up on me.”
Kirkendall’s family sent a Fathers’ Day package for him, he said, with an embroidered blanket and a card.
“I love being a dad,” he said. “At first I didn’t want kids until I was 30 or so. But when I got to know Cody and Kyra, I realized I love kids. It’s hard to be away from them, Cody especially – we both love video games, and I try to take him fishing. The hardest part is I’ve only seen Jadyn for two weeks, and she’ll be a year old when I get home. The last time I saw her she would fit in a shoebox, and now she’s crawling.”
Sgt. 1st Class Steven Trayah, a native of Georgia, Vt., and the collections noncommissioned officer in charge, has two children, a son of 15 and a daughter of 12.
“I’m doing the Fathers’ Day video teleconference,” Trayah said. “They sent presents that I will open during that so they can see my reactions.”
The younger Trayahs are used to his deployments, he said.
“It’s all they know, really,” he said. “They accept it; they don’t necessarily like it, but they know it’s what I do…I’ve been on four deployments. And it gives them some different experiences, different places, and coping with difficult situations.”
Seeing his family over the VTC doesn’t make him any more homesick, Trayah said, but Mintz feels otherwise.
“I think the video teleconference makes it harder – it’s harder on me, anyway. Part of me thinks I should do it, but part of me doesn’t want to face them. It’s hard to see them and be 8,000 miles away.”
Fathers’ Day is difficult for him, he said, but may be more so for his family.
“I’ll be fighting the war like every other day. But they might actually stop and think about me being gone.”
“I’ll call home and talk to the kids, if they’re not too busy – they’re always doing something,” Mintz said, smiling. “Anytime I call, I hear a ruckus in the background.”
War doesn’t stop for Fathers’ Day, but those troops with children at home still may feel an extra ache in their heart.
“It’s a tremendous sacrifice for the families and the service member,” said Mintz. “This way of life is a constant reminder of what we’re fighting for, a better world for my kids, and hopefully, a safer world.”

Operation Eagle Venture IV detains nine terror suspects

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq – Coalition forces seized an area between Mahmudiyah and Yusufiyah, Iraq in an air-assault operation in the early hours of June 30, beginning construction of a battle position there to prevent movement of anti-Iraqi forces.
Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., in conjunction with troops of the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, cleared an area along a highway known as Route Sioux during the night.
Troops of Battery A, 2-15, discovered a small cache of anti-coalition propaganda materials, and route-clearance troops from the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd BCT, found an improvised explosive device consisting of six 60mm mortar rounds as they traveled to the site of the new battle position.
The IED was destroyed by an explosive ordnance disposal team with a controlled detonation.
Roads leading to the site were blocked and all vehicles there were searched, resulting in the detentions of six local nationals. One was on a U.S. persons-of-interest list, three others were on a similar list from the Iraqi Army, and two carried false identification papers.
During construction efforts for the new position, 2-15 Soldiers came under small-arms fire; attack aviation arrived and suppressed the fire. Iraqi troops attempted to find the source of the attack, but found no one.
Soldiers of Btry. A remained to secure the area as construction and reed-clearance teams continued to work.
The battle position, strategically placed in the area which has long been a central terrorist haven, will provide a much-needed center for operations in the area, planners said.
“The establishment of a new battle position in the Sayyid-Abdullah corridor consolidates the progress made by the Iraqi Security Forces in denying the area as a safe-haven to al-Qaeda in Iraq and other anti-Iraqi forces,” said Maj. Matt Zimmerman, operations officer for the 2-15 and a native of Willington, Conn.
“It also establishes an additional line of communication between the cities of Mahmudiyah and Yusufiyah. Having that communication will allow the 4/6 IA to increase their control in their area of operations, and help them to provide a safe and secure environment for the local populace.”
The nine detainees were taken to Forward Operating Base Mahmudiyah for questioning.

Leaders meet to discuss south Baghdad security

Maj. Web Wright
2nd BCT, 10th Mountain Division (LI) PAO

MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — Leaders from the local government, Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police, National Police and coalition forces met to discuss security policies and strategy at Forward Operating Base Mahmudiyah, Iraq June 16,
Brig. Gen. Ali Jassem al Frejee, commander of the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and Col. Michael Kershaw, commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y. chaired the meeting which covered a detailed assessment of combined operations conducted in the last month, current disposition of forces throughout south Baghdad and recruiting strategies to increase the number of Iraqi police officers in the area.
The invitees included the Mahmudiayh District Iraqi Police chief, Brig. Gen. Abed Mohamed al Abadi, Mr. Mouyed Fathil al Ameri, mayor of Mahudiyah and the commanders of each of the battalions of the 4/6 IA and 2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI).
Kershaw began the meeting with remarks acknowledging the rise in suicide attacks with in the area of operations.
“We’ve seen two suicide vests, a truck borne improvised explosive devise totaling over 14,000 lbs. of explosives and a suicide bombing that destroyed the checkpoint 20 bridge. The trends indicate changes in al Qaeda tactics and are increasingly targeting U.S. and Iraqi security forces.
He stated that this meeting was important to bring the major security parties together to review the changing dynamics and to understand the responsibilities of each of the forces.
Ali spoke initially regarding the situation around the bridge bombed on June 10, after which 4/6 IA was charged with security.
Ali stated that this area had been known as a place where kidnapping was common, but stated that since the 4th Brigade took over, no kidnappings have taken place.
He also stated that he believed that the bombing was in retaliation to the security gains made by 4/6 IA.
“We have been mounting pressure on the enemy for some time,” he said. “They had to cut the road.”
Ali continued to highlight successes of his other battalions.
“First Battalion conducted a company sized operation in Lutifiyah, Iraq last week that resulted in the killing of several terrorists as well as capturing five in the middle of a meeting,” said Ali. “One we believe to be the propaganda chief of the area.”
Ali’s last assessment covered the ongoing security operation to assist the Ministry of Oil repair the pipelines damaged near Lutifiyah.
Since being charged with the security operation by the Ministry of Defense, Ali reported that several engagements with terrorists in the area had taken place, resulting in the killing of eight terrorists and the confiscation of several weapons to include a Dragonov sniper rifle.
He continued, proudly recounting the use of coalition rotary air power by the Iraqi Army force.
“In my three and a half years of working with the coalition, this is the first time that the IA has called the shots in using the attack aircraft,” he said. “The U.S. forces gave us a lot of help through air support to defeat the enemy near the pipeline.”
“By 6 p.m. we controlled the area and were able to bring in the repair crews. The repairs will continue until they are complete,” said Ali.
The topic of discussion then moved on to the plan to increase recruitment of Iraqi Police officers in the area.
Abed began his portion of the meeting by stating that he was encouraged by the partnership between the IA and the IPs south of Baghdad.
“We have worked very hard to remove distractions and have seen a lot of cooperation between the Army and the police,” he said. “And God willing it will continue.”
He briefly ran through his plan to begin with a recruiting drive in Lutifiyah and detailed the joint effort to screen the candidates’ qualifications.
“The minimum qualifications are that these candidates have no security issues. They will have no ties to extremist political or religious groups.”
“They may not be currently employed by any other security force, for example, an IA jundi will not be able to join the police force is he is currently on the payroll.
“Finally, he must be 20 to 35 years old, have a ninth grade education and be willing to move and serve at the needs of the government.”
“We will work with the IA and the mayor to question these candidates and look into their backgrounds,” he stated. “I have spoken with Mayor Mouyed; we will review the list and remove the names for those we deem not appropriate.”
Mouyed then took the opportunity to speak about the future of Iraq.
“Reconciliation is the only chance for the future,” he stated. We must put Iraq first before individual needs.”
“I am afraid though, that there is no common vision. There are too many individual opinions.”
“Reconciliation will not happen from one person, locally or from outside. It involves far more involvement from everyone.”
Kershaw then concluded the meeting with his comments.
“We stand ready to provide assistance as required. We have seen vast improvements.”
He added that he believed that the IP recruiting drive in Lutifiyah was a good move to continue improving security.
“This is a good move to get the Iraqi Police manning the checkpoints in the area to allow the Iraqi Army to get back to the job of fighting the terrorists in the countryside.”