Photo By Spc. Kirby Rider | Sgt. Michael Terry, a rifleman in Company A, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment,...... read more read more
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BAQUBAH, Iraq – The early morning mission conducted by Iraqi army and coalition forces on Feb. 8 brought them into an area that was believed to be a former al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold to look for weapon caches and to kill or capture any remaining AQI.
Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash., working side-by-side with Iraqi army soldiers cleared the towns of Big and Small Windiyah along with al-Saiyid, Iraq, a village to the south.
"We went into al-Saiyid as part of a battalion operation called Operation Rock Thrasher. My platoon was to clear the town," said Staff Sgt. Eric Breeden, platoon sergeant in Company A, 1-38th Inf. "We cleared the area with the Iraqi army's help."
The Iraqi army was able to talk to the citizens and in many cases persuaded them to give up information on weapon caches or AQI operatives in the area.
By the end of the operation, the soldiers detained seven individuals who were accused of emplacing IEDs or having illegal firearms, found 10 AK-47 assault rifles, two hand-held machine guns, two carbine rifles, one bolt-action rifle, one 14.5mm heavy machine gun, one .50 cal machine gun and two anti-aircraft guns, which had been converted to fire on ground personnel.
"The (anti-aircraft guns) were big finds; we normally don't find those types of things in towns," said Capt. Michael Herbeck, executive officer of Company A, 1-38th Inf.
The citizens of the villages were very open with the soldiers, and there was very little resistance. After talking to the local villagers, the soldiers were able to gather information about the towns and discovered that the area was relatively safe.
"From what we were told by the people living in the town, it is a very quiet and safe area with little AQI presence," Herbeck said. "They have had sporadic encounters with snipers. For the most part though, the threat was not as great as what we thought it was before we got there."
Even though the citizens were very helpful, the soldiers still looked to the sheiks and the tribal leaders for the most reliable information and to get a good idea about what the towns are facing when coalition forces are not in the area, whether it is attacks from AQI, electrical problems or lack of water.
"We would get the best information by talking to the locals or the key leaders," Herbeck said. "They look out for the best interest for the people of the town. If they have any issues, they bring them to us because they know we can help them.
Even after the soldiers learned the threat wasn't as bad as they thought, they still remained very cautious due to the many obstacles they had to overcome to complete the mission. High walls and large debris piles created multiple obstructions that the soldiers had to work through. Crossing canals was a common theme, as the soldiers reached out to each other to stop from falling into the cold water.
The soldiers continued to push through the town until every house and car was completely searched. The soldiers then moved into the next phase of their operation, setting up a Sons of Iraq (formerly known as Concerned Local Citizens) program in the town of Windiyah.
"When we went into Windiyah, we discovered there was already a significant presence of (people providing for their own security) in the area," Herbeck said. "They were already capable of holding the area for themselves. ... It really helped us out."
When the soldiers finished registering the Sons of Iraq, they loaded their equipment and the weapons they found onto their Strykers and drove back to Forward Operating Base Warhorse.
"The day was long, but we did our job. The Soldiers of 3rd Platoon and the non-commissioned officers did a good job finding the caches," Breeden said. "They were very professional and that made the job a lot easier out there."
| Date Taken: | 02.10.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 02.10.2008 23:37 |
| Story ID: | 16219 |
| Location: | BAQUBAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 1,102 |
| Downloads: | 1,049 |
This work, Operation Rock Thrasher clears al-Saiyid, Windiyah, by SPC Kirby Rider, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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