Operation Blore Heath III

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Sean Riley | Pfc. Henry Krigbaum, of Quincy, Ill., 3rd platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team (Heavy), 3rd Infantry Division, climbs in the back of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle after conducting a joint clearance mission with Iraqi National Police in Salman Pak, Iraq, Sept. 21.  

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, IRAQ

09.25.2007

Story by Staff Sgt. Sean Riley 

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – The 1st Iraqi National Police Brigade cleared a road connecting al-Bawi and Stiyah during a combined effort with 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, resulting in the killing of six insurgents, Sept. 21.

Iraqi national police, in conjunction with Company A, 1-15 Inf. Regt., conducted the mission to make the route safer.

The mission started with the 1st Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st NP Brigade, linking up with the 3rd platoon of Co. A for the mission.

The 3rd Battalion NPs were engaged by small-arms and machine-gun fire. One NP was wounded during the exchange. As the NPs maneuvered on the insurgents, 3rd platoon, Co. A, moved to assist and cleared six buildings from where the fire was originating.

The NPs discovered an improvised explosive device while clearing the area. A quick reaction force and explosive ordnance disposal personnel from Combat Outpost Cahill moved to the bomb site, and destroyed the IED.

While EOD and the 3rd Battalion NPs were completing the task of destroying the IED, 3rd platoon, Co. A, came under small-arms fire from another house. Bradley Fighting Vehicles moved to support the infantry platoon's repositioning of soldiers in the line of fire with 25mm cannon and machine-gun fire.

Once the enemy fire ceased, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, already on site in support of the mission, were called to the scene and engaged the enemy position with 30mm cannon fire and Hellfire missiles.

A flight of U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons dropped a 500-pound bomb onto the house, killing six insurgents inside.

The 1-15 Inf. Regt. is assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga., and has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March 2007.

• Date Taken: 09.25.2007
• Date Posted: 09.25.2007 07:18
• Story ID: 12533
• Location: FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, IQ