Photo By Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Smith | Lt. Col. Patrick Frank, commander of the 1-28 Infantry "Black Lions", briefs Gen....... read more read more
By Pfc. Nathaniel Smith
4th IBCT, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs
BAGHDAD – The commanding general of Multi-National Force-Iraq visited Soldiers operating in the southern neighborhoods of the Iraqi capital to get a better understanding of the battle going on in the hotly contested region.
Gen. David H. Petraeus visited Joint Security Station Black Lion and Coalition Outpost Attack in the northwest section of the Rashid District June 30.
Lt. Col. Patrick Frank, commander of the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, said Petraeus' visit to his battalion bore special meaning.
"To have the theater commander come here and visit the "Black Lions" and see the tremendous work Task Force Black Lion has done in northwest Rashid is a special occasion," he said. "We know that we're the division's main effort as a brigade combat team right now.
"We want Gen. Petraeus to understand the fight that we're in," he added.
Petraeus gained that understanding through a briefing given by Frank about the challenges his battalion is facing.
With troops living so close to the citizens of Baghdad, it allows them to form tighter bonds with the people they're protecting as well as decrease response time to insurgent activity.
Pfc. Kazan Tamer, a member of the 1-28 Inf. personal security detachment from Patterson, N.J., said there were positives and negatives for Soldiers living at the JSS. One of the good things Tamer mentioned was a better response time to attacks, while the biggest negative is the culinary experience.
"We respond a lot faster to attacks. We're always ready to go at any time," he said. "The canned food is probably the worst thing."
Tamer said the COPs were more company-focused than the JSS, which serves as more of a mini-battalion headquarters.
For Soldiers like Tamer, living conditions are good at the JSS. Tamer said the primary difference between living at a COP and JSS, as opposed to a larger Forward Operating Base, is the level of security, but he still feels safe living at the JSS.
"(Sergeants of the guard) are on top of it," he said. "I enjoy being at the JSS more than at the FOB, we're always out there, we're always first or second to respond."
The MNF-I commanding general was particularly impressed by the way the Black Lions are conducting detainee operations and immediately made the recommendation that some of their tactics, techniques and procedures get sent to the Counter-Insurgency Academy.
After the briefing, Petraeus pinned medals on Iraqi army heroes, took a brief tour of the JSS and patrolled to COP Attack in the Aamel region of the Iraqi capital. While at the COP, he pinned the Combat Infantryman's Badge on Soldiers from the Black Lions' Company A.
Cpl. Mark Sanderson, a team leader in Company A from Thorndale, Texas, said having the MNF-I commander pin on his CIB was a surprise.
"It feels pretty good," he said. "I didn't expect that. It was nice."
While it was nice for the Soldiers to get to visit with Petraeus, the visit also had special significance for their battalion commander. Frank served under the MNF-I commander as the 101st Airborne Division's deputy operations officer while Petraeus commanded the "Screaming Eagles" in Operation Iraqi Freedom I.
"I have immense respect for him," Frank said. "He's invested an immense amount of time in Iraq, so for him to come down and see the Black Lions and spend some of his extremely valuable time with us means a lot."
| Date Taken: | 07.04.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 07.04.2007 04:34 |
| Story ID: | 11118 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 942 |
| Downloads: | 529 |
This work, Top U.S. commander in Iraq enters the "Lions' Den", by SSG Nathaniel Smith, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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