Operation Sackets Harbor yields 2 IED traffickers

Photo By Pfc. Christopher McKenna | Iraqi army soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 25th Brigade, 17th Iraqi Army Division, search a house during Operation Sacketts Harbor, a combined air assault in Asawi village, in the early morning hours of, Aug. 20, 2008.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

08.20.2008

Story by Pfc. Christopher McKenna 

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

By Pfc. Christopher McKenna
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – Iraqi army and coalition soldiers conducted Operation Sacketts Harbor, a combined air assault mission, in Asawi village to locate and detain five suspected criminals, Aug. 20, 2008.

"The plan was to move as a combined force into the area and ask questions about criminal activity against the Iraqi people and coalition forces," said 2nd Lt. Khazwan Kys Khalaf, 3rd Battalion, 25th Brigade, 17th Iraqi Army Division, platoon leader. "The people see any type of mission trying to deal with terrorism as welcome."

Soldiers detained two of the five individuals sought and brought them in for questioning.

"The people we were after were guys trying to sell [improvised explosive devices] as part of an IED cell," said Sgt. 1st Class Kent Vaughn, from Peoria, Ill., 2nd Platoon, Company B, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) platoon sergeant.

"Going out together ... shows the local populace that the IA and coalition really are partners," Vaughn said.

The success of Operation Sacketts Harbor comes from a distinct cohesiveness in both the planning and execution aspects of the operation.

"I feel that the IA is a qualified army and the most important thing is the help from coalition forces gives us more potential to express the good qualification as an army on the ground," Khalaf said. "This helps us to accomplish our mission; especially when the Iraqi people have the same objective as us, to be a secure area."

The operation acted on intelligence gathered by both IA and coalition sources.

"Two times a week we conduct a targeting meeting with our IA counterparts and compare what they have on their black list versus what we have on ours," said Capt. Jeffrey Kain, Co. B, 3rd Bn.187th Inf. Regt. executive officer and a native of St. Louis, Mo.

The coalition now acts in support of operations planned by the IA rather than developing their own.

"They are out there every day," Kain said. "Instead of us having a weekly training plan that we follow, every day, we find ourselves reacting more and more to what they are doing. They are out there [acting on] intelligence and collecting it and it's a success because they are doing their job."

The integration of the IA into the planning and intelligence gathering phases of missions is a testament to the abilities of Iraqi security forces that will soon have the lead in security throughout what is now the Rakkasans' area of operations..

• Date Taken: 08.20.2008
• Date Posted: 08.25.2008 07:42
• Story ID: 22841
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ