By Sgt. Matthew Acosta
22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
FORWARD OPERATING BASE MACKENZIE, Iraq - Ocean-like deserts covering areas of Iraq can be easily overlooked when conducting reconnaissance missions.
Due to the inhospitable nature of the area, communities can go unnoticed, creating a safe haven for enemy forces.
However, the scouts of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry, Task Force Liberty, seek out the hard to reach locations to search for insurgents.
An aerial reconnaissance mission flown by Task Force 1-17th OH-58D Kiowas observed one un-named village in particular, five miles south of Al Ubayd.
"We're looking for what is believed to be an Anti-Iraqi (forces) training camp in that area," said Staff Sgt. Fritz Autenrieth, section leader, Section B. "Since no one has been to that village in a very long time, we figured we"d go in and check it out."
The scouts set out with four M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, several supporting armored gun trucks, and upwards of forty Soldiers to raid the village and search for illegal weapons or signs of insurgency.
After several hours of travel along canals, over rough roads and desert sands, the Soldiers reached the objective.
With the close air support of the Kiowas, the Soldiers started entering and clearing the houses room by room.
"First we try to round up all the males in the village then sweep back over it to do a more detailed search, looking for illegally owned weapons, bomb making materials or anything that can support the training of Anti-Iraqi forces," Autenrieth said.
"Once we have control of the males in the village, we can then downgrade the aggressiveness to show the people that we will respect them and their homes," said Staff Sgt. Joshua Cardinal, scout squad leader. "This will help us in the long run."
Although they did not find a significant number of weapons, they did detain four Iraqi men for questioning.
"We took a couple of unregistered AK-47s from the village and detained four men for questioning," said Capt. Harry A. Irving Jr., scout platoon leader. "If the weapons are properly registered then we'll leave them with the Iraqi families but if they aren't we'll confiscate them."
"Besides the rifles, we found two RPG (launcher) sites in two separate houses," he added. "Those men were taken for questioning."
The battalion has tasked the scouts to search unmapped villages in the past and must judge everything off aerial photos taken by air recon helicopters. There are no intelligence reports of previous units to work with. This "not knowing" can lead to a tenser situation for the Soldiers conducting the raids.
"Knowing there hasn't been an American Soldier in the villages in a long time, or ever, makes it a bit more difficult because we have no way of telling what's going on there," said Cardinal.
One asset the Soldiers commonly rely on is the air support from 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry, stationed with the scouts at Forward Operating Base Mackenzie.
Autenrieth said they commonly work hand and hand with the OH-58D Kiowas from Task Force 1-17.
"Just knowing those guys are up there takes some of the pressure off," he said. "They help recon the targeted sites before we get there and let us know what's going on. They even look for routes of travel for our vehicles and possible escape routes the enemy might take and they will destroy targets if needed."
These fast-paced raids can take its toll on Soldiers. The weight of the life-saving 'survival gear" they carry, such as body armor and extra ammunition, combined with high temperatures, can leave Soldiers fatigued during the mission.
"Everything you do is training for the missions," said Spc. Curtis Winston, scout. "You get tired from moving fast, but the adrenaline keeps you going until the mission is over."
In many cases, the Soldiers must move fast from house to house in order to keep the element of surprise.
The Soldiers cleared the village faster than expected. The whole operation took just over two hours from the first step into the village to gearing up for departure.
"You never know what you are going to stumble upon out there," said Irving. "The insurgents are on the move every couple of days because we are pursuing them."
Although the Soldiers may be in constant danger every time they set foot outside the gate of the FOB, they seem to enjoy their work and don't mind the long, hot, dusty hours of travel to reach an objective.
"We really enjoy our work. Besides doing the actual raids, the long drive out there across the desert is kind of fun," said Cardinal. "It can have its effects on the vehicles; you just need keep up the speed to stop from bogging down in the deep sand until you get home."
Like driving in the desert, the scout Soldiers keep their speed up during raids to keep from bogging down until the mission is over.
"So far we've come up empty-handed, but we'll get them (insurgents)," Irving said.
| Date Taken: | 06.17.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 06.17.2005 08:05 |
| Story ID: | 2180 |
| Location: | SAMARRA, IQ |
| Web Views: | 41 |
| Downloads: | 9 |
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