2nd/14th Inf Iraq Blog: July 2007

MONDAY, JULY 02, 2007
Golden Dragons Kill Insurgent, Seize Weapons Near Mosque

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

   PATROL BASE DRAGON, Iraq - Coalition forces killed an insurgent, detained a suspected terrorist and seized weapons near a mosque June 13.
   Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment “Golden Dragons,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) from Fort Drum, N.Y., noticed four men wearing ski masks armed with AK-47s setting up an illegal checkpoint neat the Feotah Mosque just 20 miles southwest of Baghdad through an unmanned aerial vehicle.
   The insurgents were conducting the operations from a nearby house. Soldiers from the Golden Dragon’s quick reaction force conducted a hasty air assault to search the house. While the QRF was air assaulting the unmanned aerial vehicle spotted the truck leave the house and park near the mosque. Attack aviation was dispatched to the site and immediately shot the truck.
   An insurgent was killed and others were spotted running into a canal away from Coalition forces. An Iraqi man was detained and is being held for further questioning.
   Two Ak-47s and a PKC machine gun were recovered from the house.


MONDAY, JULY 02, 2007
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.


TUESDAY, JULY 10, 2007
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.”

Spc. Anthony Gormley, a native of Jackson, Mich., and a mortarman with the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., fires a 120mm mortar from Patrol Base Gator Swamp, southwest of Baghdad recently. (U.S. Army photo)

FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2007
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.


WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2007
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.”

INDEX

July 02	Golden Dragons Kill Insurgent, Seize Weapons Near Mosque
July 02	Commandos Conduct 100th Air Assault Of Deployment
July 10	'Commando Company' Shines In Apollo Fury
July 13	Restoring A Russian Relic
July 25	Dragon Scouts Kill Terrorists In Euphrates Ambush
July 25	Photo - SPC Anthony Gormley firing mortar