MOSUL, Iraq -- Their days began before sunrise and the missions did not end until 15 hours after wakeup. The Soldiers said they endured intense heat and sporadic firefights, but completed the largest operation the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) has executed in Iraq to date.
According to Stryker Brigade officials, Aug. 1, three battalions from the brigade and three battalions from the Iraqi National Guard conducted joint operations to decrease terrorist activity in Tall Afar. On August 2, Soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment and soldiers from the 102nd Battalion of the Iraqi National Guard hit the small town of Avgoni, a suspected terrorist haven near Tall Afar. On Aug. 4, the brigade conducted its first ever air-ground combat assault to capture a terrorist cell leader near the Syrian border. Lt. Col. Karl Reed, commander of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment based in Tall Afar, said the region is a center of influence for terrorist activity.
He said while traveling through Tall Afar, his Soldiers have been attacked with small arms fire, rocket propelled grenades and roadside bombs almost every day for the past month. "Tall Afar is a very dangerous place and the Tall Afar fighters hide and store their weapons in Avgoni," Reed said. "We hit these towns in such a tight timeframe because we wanted to put pressure on all the areas and catch the guys traveling between those points and defeat the enemy and his ability to move around."Reed compared Tall Afar to Samarra and Fallujah, two Iraqi cities that were once major terrorist hubs.
"It seems as if wherever there's a little flash of fire, all the fighters want to go where the action is, like a pilgrimage, and rally together to cause trouble," he said. "You have to try to control these areas and keep them from getting out of hand, that's why we executed these operations."
Nicknamed Sykes Regulars, after Civil War Brig. Gen. George Sykes, the 5-20 Soldiers were the main effort during the three operations. Created in 1861, the Regulars fought in the Civil War, World War II and the Korean conflict. Their actions on the battlefield during the first week of August exemplified the meaning of a Sykes Regular Soldier.
Aug. 1: Operation Sykes HammerThick concrete walls with steel doors border the homes in Tall Afar. The city's sturdy cement houses are almost all two or three stories and square shaped. Most of the homes have five to eight rooms with floors that vary from marble to concrete to dirt. Some of the living quarters have beds, others simply have a large number of pillows spread throughout the room. In almost every home sits a large cabinet containing family heirlooms, clothes and blankets. In the backyard are piles of straw, bags of grain, auto parts and large bowls of vegetables. "You never know where somebody will hide an AK-47 or a mortar tube, so we search everything and everywhere," said Spc. Charles Barnes, Company B, 5-20.
The Soldiers who executed Operation Sykes Hammer thoroughly searched every home, cautiously opened every door and secured every rooftop, as they cordoned and searched suspected terrorists" neighborhoods in Tall Afar, a city with a population of 250,000 people. In addition to looking in homes, the Soldiers patrolled the streets, explored small caves and looked for two suspected weapons caches in a large sewage dump. "We are not searching these homes and towns just to be searching," said Capt. Damien Mason, commander of Company B, 5-20. "We are there because insurgents continue to pose a threat in Tall Afar."
Fighting alongside the Regulars were soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment and the 101st, 102nd and 106th Iraqi National Guard Battalions. The six battalions brought about 2,000 soldiers to Tall Afar and detained 16 people and confiscated numerous rifles, rocket propelled grenade launchers with rounds and propaganda materials. August 2: Operation Sykes AnvilDense vegetation surrounds the small town of Avgoni. The neighborhoods sit atop large hills and the yards are filled with luscious green grass, vines, brush and deciduous trees with bright green leaves. Rock walls and twig fences are randomly placed in between homes and hills. The Soldiers said Avgoni didn't look anything like Iraq.
"There's so much vegetation. It looks like Vietnam in the movies," said Sgt. Joseph Daniel, a sniper with Company B, 5-20.
The plan was that Company C Soldiers would search the homes while Company B Soldiers secured the forested area. When conducting reconnaissance, Reed anticipated the enemy would flee to the woods and use the vegetation and walls as cover and concealment. He was right.
As Company B Soldiers moved through the thick vegetation, they received small arms fire. Enemy personnel were hiding behind a dried creek embankment with RPGs and AKs in hand. They fired upon an advancing squad, wounding one Soldier. Although he suffered bullet wounds in both legs and the lower abdomen, the Soldier continued to fight. He fired his M4 rifle and eliminated the enemy seconds before the terrorist was able to launch an RPG. "He essentially took the pressure off of the rest of his squad by killing the RPG gunner," Reed said. "Our Soldier survived and the other guy didn't."
The wounded Soldier was treated for his injuries and evacuated to the nearest military hospital for immediate medical attention. He was stabilized and is now recovering under the care of Army doctors, said Mason.By the end of Operation Sykes Anvil, the Regulars and soldiers from the 102nd Battalion of ING had found several weapons and munitions, detained three suspected terrorists and killed one.
August 4: Operation Sykes Nail Just minutes away from the Syrian border, suspected weapon smugglers live in a small village southwest of Sinjar, Iraq. The countryside is flat and the village is comprised of mud-hut and square concrete homes with shiny new cars in the driveways. One platoon from Company C flew via helicopter to set up security around the village while the rest of the Regulars moved to the objective in Stryker vehicles. The Soldiers found several unlicensed weapons, including a silver-plated AK-47. The biggest find of the day was the main target of the operation, a suspected weapon's smuggler who was caught with large amounts of bomb-making materials.
"The most important thing is we got a person who was a leader of a cell," Reed said. "He is a key player. Those leaders of those cells are the ones using money to buy and move weapons. They plan the attacks and insist people stand up against the Iraqi government. And we got him."
Wrapping up the week, at the end of each mission, the Soldiers carefully filled out paperwork in regards to the confiscated equipment and detainees. They wrote sworn statements on their account of what happened. According to Reed, documenting the evidence and the actions of the detainees is as important as capturing them. If the Soldiers do not provide sufficient evidence of the person's actions or confiscated equipment, the detainees will be released and back out on the streets.
"To be a Soldier, you have to be a little bit of a detective too," he said. "And the last thing we want is for a terrorist to go back on the streets because we didn't provide proper documentation."
The Regulars detained more than 20 suspected terrorists and numerous weapons, bomb-making devices and grenades during the first week in August. However, their battalion commander doesn't measure the operations" success by numbers. He measures it by his Soldiers" performance.
"These young Soldiers are incredibly impressive. This past week, they proved their ability to be in a situation and adapt and out-think and out-fight the enemy," he said. "This enemy has spent their whole lives in conflict. They are experts of survival and our Soldiers are ready for them. We detained a lot of terrorists in these operations and we have proof. You don't get these things by accident. It's because our Soldiers are so good."
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2004 |
| Date Posted: | 08.18.2004 14:28 |
| Story ID: | 250 |
| Location: | MOSUL, IQ |
| Web Views: | 595 |
| Downloads: | 124 |
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