By Sgt. Matthew Acosta
22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
FORWARD OPERATING BASE WILSON, Samara, Iraq-"Contact is imminent. Intel reports this guy does not want to be captured and may be wearing a suicide belt to prevent this," said Capt. Robert Croft, commander, Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry (Mech.), 3rd Infantry Division, Task Force Liberty. "Be very cautious."
Members of the Iraqi army and Soldiers from 1-15th Infantry encircled several objectives in the village of Al Julaam, as Operation Moon River Dragon commenced in hopes of apprehending the battalion's second most wanted suspected insurgent, May 29, 2005.
An Iraqi army platoon from Company D, 203rd Battalion led the assault with the support of 100 Task Force Liberty infantrymen from Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry and an M-1 Abrams tank company, as they searched the town, sector after sector.
The Soldiers worked in a coordinated manner to search the town. The Iraqi army soldiers evacuated the occupants from the homes then the Americans followed to search the homes.
"The Iraqi army cleared the houses of all occupants and performed a hasty search of the home," said Spc. James Dalton, infantryman, 1st Bn., 15th Inf. "After the house was clear, U.S. Soldiers were sent into the houses to do a more detailed search."
The villagers were escorted to a designated safe house in the town by Iraqi army soldiers where the males were questioned about insurgent activity.
Although only the males were interrogated, the women and children were brought to the site for their safety, and to allow the Coalition Soldiers to move freely from house to house without the danger of civilians interfering with the mission.
"Although we didn't find the man we were looking for, we did manage to detain the males of the village for questioning," said Dalton.
Overall, the unit detained over 40 males who were released after questioning.
"No one was arrested, but the interrogations yielded valuable information to continue to pursue the targets, limiting their operational freedom," said Croft.
Iraqi army units are being integrated with the U.S. Soldiers on an increasing level as they gain more experience in combat operations.
"We have been operating jointly with D Co for over three months," said Croft. "In our short time with them, they have become much better at both preparing for missions and actually conducting operations on the ground."
"I like working with the Iraqi army," said Dalton. "We're trying to get them to take the lead and be more proactive in combat operations and eventually they will take over operations entirely."
"Although we didn't make contact with enemy forces as anticipated, I think they handled themselves pretty well as well as the civilians they transported to the holding area."
Besides the added manpower, the Iraqi army give the Soldiers an even greater attribute to the mission.
"The IA presence completely changes the dynamic of the operation," said Croft. "People will cooperate with us just the same.
However, when Iraqi soldiers are in the lead giving the instructions, things happen much more quickly and with less confusion.
The effect is that the operation is safer for both U.S. Soldiers and Iraqi civilians."
Imminent danger or not, the Soldiers of Task Force Liberty along with members of the Iraqi army will continue to assault the insurgency, rooting the terrorists out from the comfort of hiding in small communities, until their job is done.
| Date Taken: | 07.12.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 07.12.2005 09:21 |
| Story ID: | 2371 |
| Location: | FORWARD OPERATING BASE WILSON, AF |
| Web Views: | 53 |
| Downloads: | 7 |
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