Photo By Pfc. Christopher McKenna | Two Iraqi army soldiers stack sandbags to create a Battle Position on Route Peggy in...... read more read more
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By Pvt. Christopher McKenna
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq – In an effort to deal a blow to al-Qaida in Iraq west of Mahmudiyah, the 2nd battalion, 25th brigade, 6th Iraqi army division established permanent battle positions in the Sa'id Abdullah Corridor on April 24.
"Until only a few short weeks ago, this road was an area where American and Iraqi soldiers only went expecting a fight," said Capt. Dennis Call, from Albuquerque, N.M., leader of 4th Platoon, Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). "In the past, we did a number of air assault raids, dismount patrols – always on the edge, knowing the history of the area."
No one knows better than Spc. Roy Corpier, a team chief with 4th Plt., Btry. A, 3-320 FA. Corpier, a native of Sedalia, Mo., stepped on a pressure-plate improvised explosive device in November, losing hearing in his right ear.
"Any time we went into the SAC we could expect to get into something," Corpier said. "The operation over the past couple weeks has silenced AQI in the area."
After the IA completed clearing operations on April 15 in support of Operation Marne Piledriver, they made preparations to control and secure the area on a permanent basis. The soldiers established battle positions to guard lines of commerce and serve as an operations base for missions into the surrounding area.
"I wouldn't have expected to be setting up out here," said 2nd Lt. Mohammed Shakur, 2/25/6 IA Div. "I find it amazing how much safer this area has become, and only in a few weeks time."
After months of intensive kinetic operations into the SAC, the completion of battle positions throughout the heart of what used to be an AQI area of support is significant, but not the final step.
"This is only the start," Call said. "For this to actually work, patrols need to constantly move out from the battle position and engage the populace on a regular basis."
The following weeks will see an influx of IA support to the populace as the area takes advantage of the newfound security and begins to rebuild.
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 04.26.2008 18:52 |
| Story ID: | 18805 |
| Location: | MAHMUDIYAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 448 |
| Downloads: | 380 |
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