'Gators' prowl highways near Fallujah

Photo By Master Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva | Sgt. William D. Dycus keeps a steady eye ahead while he and his fellow "Team Gator" Marines patrol the highways near Fallujah, Iraq. Team Gator, built around D Company, 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5, patrols the highways, searching for improvised explosive devices and insurgent attackers. They keep those highway open for Coalition and civilian traffic.  

FALLUJAH, IRAQ

08.28.2006

Story by Master Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva 

I Marine Expeditionary Force

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Aug. 26, 2006) -- Forget murky swamps or backyard swimming pools. Regimental Combat Team 5 has "Gators" stalking the six-lane highways surrounding Fallujah.

Marines from D Company, 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, RCT-5, are skulking the main roads surrounding Fallujah. They're on the hunt, looking to clamp down on anyone trying to shut down the well-traveled routes for Coalition Forces. Their favorite prey is improvised explosive device emplacers and the roadside bombs they employ.

Team Gator, built around D Company, is tasked with keeping the main routes in the area open for Coalition and civilian traffic. Marines drive their 27-ton amphibious assault vehicles constantly. Day and night, the amtracs, a holdover nickname when earlier generations of the vehicle were called amphibious tractors, keep the main routes clear. It's a mission that's taxing physically and mentally, and requires an alligator's thick skin to endure.

"We're out there looking for IEDs and possible ambush sites," said Staff Sgt. Justin K. Mayville, a 28-year-old section leader from Killeen, Texas. "The 'amtracs,' are well-suited for this kind of mission. They're good on open-terrain and highways and stand up well against IEDs. They just get hot in the daytime."

Nighttime isn't much better. On a recent patrol, Marines loaded their amtracs, or "hogs" as they affectionately call them, and churned off into the inky-black moonless night. It was a ritualistic hunt. The roads they haunt are their hunting grounds, and they know them well.

"If we're not doing this, another section is doing it, every day," Mayville explained. "Marines know this area well and they know what to look for."

That's because Team Gator creeps their beasts along the roads at a patient, persistent pace. Headlights on, the lumbering amtrac beasts chug down the road, billowing diesel smoke in a throaty groan. Marines ride high, perched in their stations or stand in the back, heads and rifles poking out from the open hatches.

"We're looking for anything out of the ordinary," said Lance Cpl. John D. Darmody, a 20-year-old amtrac crewman from Allen Park, Mich. "We're looking to see something new in the road that we haven't seen before."

Darmody explained Team Gator has traveled up and down the same stretches of highway so often, they know the identifying features. They can pinpoint patch jobs on the road surface from repairs to craters left from previous IEDs. Pieces of trash, canisters, even shrubs that didn't seem to be there the day before are tell-tale signs that something is amiss. That's when Team Gator gets ready to pounce.

• Date Taken: 08.28.2006
• Date Posted: 08.28.2006 16:11
• Story ID: 7582
• Location: FALLUJAH, IQ