Despite dry well, Operation Mufa-Ja'ah yields strong partnership

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jared Gehmann | Sgt. 1st Class Aldo Delgado, of Los Angeles, patrols alongside an Iraqi soldier during Operation Mufa-Ja'ah, a combined air assault mission, July 31, in the small town of Shakkat, Iraq, located in the Ma'dain region outside of eastern Baghdad. More than 50 Iraqi army soldiers and paratroopers conducted the mission in order to seize potential weapons caches in the region and deny enemy forces the ability to store or smuggle weapons into Baghdad. Delgado serves as a platoon sergeant assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.  

SHAKKAT, IRAQ

07.31.2009

Story by Pvt. Jared Gehmann 

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division

SHAKKAT, Iraq — U.S. Army paratroopers and Iraqi army soldiers took to the skies in the hopes of finding weapons caches during a combined air assault operation, July 31.

The mission dubbed "Operation Mufa-Ja'ah" paired paratroopers assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Multi-National Division— Baghdad and Iraqi soldiers from the 9th Iraqi Army Div. together in order to conduct a helicopter insertion to deny enemy forces from storing any weapons in a small town in the Ma'dain region, located outside of eastern Baghdad.

"The main objective of this mission was to search for weapons caches and gather information in the town of Shakkat," said Capt. Kip Kowalski, of Seattle, the commanding officer for Company D.
During the hours-long mission, Iraqi soldiers cleared more than 60 buildings, many of them abandoned, and asked nearby residents about any suspicious activity in the area. A majority of the civilians were cooperating with the ISF as their U.S. counterparts provided security on the perimeter of the buildings.

After searching the remote town and battling the bumpy terrain, the combined forces left empty handed. However, despite not finding any weapons both U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers deemed the mission a victory because it allowed them the opportunity to continue to grow as partners.
"Even though we didn't find any caches, the operation was still a success." said Sgt. 1st Class Aldo Delgado, of Los Angeles, a platoon sergeant with Co. D. "The mission gave us an opportunity to work alongside the IA, and it help them improve on some weak points."

Delgado added that everyone understood their role in the operation and executed the objective effectively.
"The overall purpose of this operation was to ensure the population of Shakkat was safe and to put an Iraqi face in our operations, I feel we did exactly that," he said.

• Date Taken: 07.31.2009
• Date Posted: 08.03.2009 10:39
• Story ID: 37089
• Location: SHAKKAT, IQ