Photo By John Crosby | A large blast rains down rock, dust and dirt during the controlled detonation of an...... read more read more
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By Spc. John Crosby
4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division Public Affairs
KHAN BANI SA'AD, Iraq – The Iraqi children were full of smiles as they competed for the attention of the cavalry scout Soldiers of 1st Platoon, Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, Aug. 29, in Kahn Bani Sa'ad, Iraq. Their laughter rang clear as they traded, passed and inspected the toys the Soldiers handed out to them during a patrol of the village.
The smiles and laughter would be short lived, however, as the mission quickly intensified.
Arrow Troop, 2-1 Cav., of the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., has patrolled the streets of this city for more than a month now, living at Joint Combat Outpost Key West.
Key West was an old, abandoned Iraqi high school years ago, and turned into an outpost by the Iraqi army. Recently coalition forces moved in, and Arrow Troop has called it home for the last five weeks.
On this particular day, the mission of 1st Platoon was to walk house to house, passing out toys to the local children, building trust with the local populace and trying to gain information on suspicious behavior in the area.
"We've had several problems in the past with enemy activity in this area," Sgt. 1st Class, Leonardo Alaniz, 1st platoon sergeant, Arrow Troop. 2-1 Cav., said. "We got some intelligence from a woman who said she saw men walking in and out of an abandoned factory, carrying burlap sacks near her home."
Based on that information, the unit changed strategies. Ready for action, they moved tactically to the factory.
"We split into two teams to search the warehouse," said Staff Sgt. Aaron Chipix, Bravo Team leader.
Some members of the two teams provided cover while other members of the teams moved swiftly in and out of the factory's doors.
Two Stryker vehicles shadowed the patrol, screening for the dismounted Soldiers as they moved tactically through old shacks, sheds and courtyards to the main complexes of the factory itself.
Everyone remained vigilant and ready to react to snipers, mortar attacks, improvised explosive devices or anything else the enemy might throw at them. This is what these men trained for.
The teams found a sack full of a white clumpy powder inside the warehouse, believed to be homemade explosives. The bag was brought back to JCOP Key West for further analysis.
The teams completed their sweeps of the complex and set up defensive security positions.
Suddenly a loud explosion rattled the factory, raining rock, dust and dirt on everyone around.
The Soldiers sprang into action.
"Everybody head to the vehicles and spread out!" Alaniz yelled, not knowing whether the explosion was a mortar attack or a roadside bomb.
A 60-meter-tall plume of dust and smoke rose up from the ground.
The quick, deliberate violence of the explosion disappeared as quickly as it came, and the Soldiers on the ground wondered if, when and where the next explosion would come.
"We heard the explosions from the warehouse," said Cpl. Kevin Summerbell, Alpha team leader. "The building was shaking and dust fell from the ceiling. We gathered our squad up to leave and noticed that one of the Strykers was hit and that there was wounded. We immediately set up security positions."
Gunners Spc. Michael Sparks and Spc. Zayd Tajiddin, along with driver Spc. Curtis Armstrong were inside the Stryker at the time of the blast. Alaniz and Chipix assisted the injured Soldiers out of the disabled vehicle.
1st Platoon Medic Thor Romero assessed the injured, checking their eyes and ears and monitoring their breathing.
"We had to wait for another security element to arrive before we could (evacuate) them," Romero said. "It only took about 10 minutes to get them out of the vehicle, treated and brought back to the aid station for them to get assessed further."
Armstrong, Sparks and Tajiddin were evacuated by Stryker back to the JCOP Key West's aid station where they were assessed by Sgt. Santiago Gonzalez, Arrow Troop's senior medic.
After giving them a neurological examination, Gonzalez concluded that all three were negative for concussions or brain trauma.
"Just some ringing in their ears was all they complained of," Gonzalez said. "The Stryker did its job and absorbed most of the blast."
The three Soldiers were evacuated to Forward Operating Base Warhorse later that night.
Pressure wires ─ two wires that conduct a charge when crossed ─ were found under the vehicle, indicating a roadside bomb. A large crater about three meters in diameter was right beside the vehicle. Chipix then checked the immediate area for wires and indicators of a secondary roadside bomb.
The Soldiers traced the wire to a canal and found a burlap sack sitting ominously between tire tracks left by vehicles on previous missions. The sack sat hidden under the dust with several wires protruding from it. It was a secondary improvised explosive device located not six meters from the first explosion. A small stuffed animal sat on top of the sack, displaced by the first blast.
Alaniz relayed the information to JCOP Key West, and security was on the way.
Capt. Joe Byerly, 3rd platoon leader, was at JCOP Key West when he first heard that 1st Platoon was hit by a roadside bomb. He went directly to the command post.
Arrow Troop Commander Capt. Dustin Heumphreus told Byerly he needed as many troops as possible to perform sensitive site exploitation and search the houses around the blast site.
Byerly gathered an element of two Strykers and eleven more personnel who traveled to the scene to assist the disabled vehicle, provide additional security and search for personnel in the area.
"I briefed Capt. Byerly on who had been evacuated, that the vehicle was disabled and that there was a suspected secondary IED," Alaniz said. "I showed him the pressure wire and told him it possibly led to the houses on the other side of the canal. I told him the Strykers would have to provide support by fire without crossing the canal in case the wires led across to the other side."
Byerly agreed and led his team across the canal.
With the mounted team providing security over watch, the dismounted team moved quickly through gardens and fields to the first house.
The Soldiers threw flashbang grenades into the building and moved in quickly to secure and search it. They met no resistance as they swept from room to room. Around the back, Summerbell found a stash of different types of wires, some similar to the wire found at the site of the roadside bomb.
A hole, about four-feet wide by four-feet deep, hidden by logs, brush and sheet metal was found and uncovered around the side of the house.
Byerly said holes like that can be used to hide explosives and weapons for later use.
The hole and wire were destroyed with two fragmentation grenades.
Just as quickly as they had arrived, the Arrow Troop Soldiers left, sprinting across a barren landscape to the next house. They moved rapidly and fluidly through the rooms of the house, ready to escalate force if needed be.
Again there were no personnel in the house. The team exited the house and moved to the last building, everyone mindful of watching their sector. They entered silently.
"Clear!" could be heard from outside the house.
"We found something, sir!" a Soldier relayed to the platoon leader.
They discovered the roadside bomb's power source. Pressure wires were found leading from the house, across the canal, to the blast site. The windows of the house were painted green making them opaque to provide concealment for the enemy to watch coalition forces and arm the bomb. A wire was found tied to a window that had perfect line of sight to the blast area.
As the Arrow Troop Soldiers discovered, the building was used as an enemy observation post and IED trigger point.
The Soldiers then neutralized the secondary IED through a controlled detonation.
Engineers from the 92nd Engineer Company, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division assisted Arrow Troop by towing the damaged Stryker back to JCOP Key West.
Although no suspects were apprehended after the blast, Arrow Troop still pinpointed where the IED originated and led. The secondary IED, estimated to be a 50-pound homemade explosive charge, was detonated under the coalition forces control and no one was seriously injured. Intelligence on an ever-changing enemy was collected and lessons were learned.
What started out as a day interacting with the local populace and handing out candy to
kids could have turned a lot worse had it not been for the actions and reactions of Arrow Troop, 2-1 Cav.
| Date Taken: | 09.11.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 09.11.2007 03:20 |
| Story ID: | 12285 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 1,673 |
| Downloads: | 1,459 |
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