CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq - The sky was dark for those on the night of March 19, near Arshadia Island, Salah ad-Din province, with only distant city lights and the stars above as a light source.
However, for Soldiers with 2nd Platoon, Security Detachment, Division Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, the night was alive with a bright green haze from their night vision goggles, allowing them to see everything in their sector.
The Soldiers were on a night over watch, presence patrol, a mission where they used their night-vision capabilities to observe a suspected enemy area and to make their presence known, just in case enemy forces were watching.
"We provided over watch of an area that usually fires indirect fire to Contingency Operating Base Speicher," said Capt. David Bright, the security detachment's commander. "What's unique about the area is that it's an island and the people that use it go to the island, launch their rockets, then leave."
"We go out to different areas to show that we're still around to try to [deter] any enemy activity," said Cpl. Jeremy Obermiller, a truck driver, infantryman and team leader for 2nd Plt., Security Detachment, DSTB, 3rd ID. "We work closely with the Iraqi police to keep them involved, so the local populace can see their own security forces out there."
Because the team works so closely with the Iraqi police, they routinely stop by the IP stations in Al Sequor before every mission to notify the policemen of their intentions and to ask them if they would like to join them, allowing both forces to teach and learn from each other. On this mission, two Iraqi policemen participated in the search for the possible suspects.
"All of our missions are joint presence patrols now," said Obermiller, a Blue Hill, Neb., native. "We're not trying to take control anymore, we're more of an over watch element. We're letting the Iraqi police, army and Sons of Iraq take charge of their security, so that when we leave, it will already be in place."
According to Obermiller, who served his first deployment at Camp Victory in Baghdad from 2007 to 2008, this deployment is different in the way that the Iraqi forces have a larger role in the missions.
"The difference with this deployment is that it is more about letting the Iraqi people take control of their security," he said.
Once the team, along with two Iraqi policemen, reached the area near the island, they battled treacherous weeds and uneven terrain with deep ruts. Once the Soldiers reached their scanning point, they split up into teams to observe different areas of the Tigris River and the island on the other side.
The Soldiers rarely moved as they held a rigid stance for roughly an hour, where they scanned their sectors for potential threats in the peace of the night. Some Soldiers, like Obermiller, prefer the night missions rather than the day ones because they have fewer distractions.
Soldiers can get out there and get what needs to get accomplished without interference, said Obermiller. Also, with the technology Soldiers use today, they can see up to longer distances. There aren't any hindrances because they still have great visibility.
Part of the night-friendly tools that the Soldiers used included a Humvee equipped with special night vision tools that allow the team to see distances farther than their night vision goggles and naked eyes will allow. Before departing the fields, the Humvee was sent out toward the river to do a scan to ensure the team didn't miss anything.
After approximately three hours out in the field, the team headed back to their base. Although no enemy suspects were found and nothing out of the ordinary was seen, Obermiller still felt a sense of accomplishment.
"To me, the mission was a success because it was a pretty quiet night," he said. "Granted, we didn't find anything, but that's not always a bad thing. That means there's been a lull in enemy activity, and we're doing our job so the enemy doesn't want to come into our area of operations."
| Date Taken: |
03.19.2010 |
| Date Posted: |
03.23.2010 12:54 |
| Story ID: |
47086 |
| Location: |
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, IQ |
| Web Views: |
169 |
| Downloads: |
104 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
This work, Security team ensures optimal security through night missions, by SGT Cassandra Monroe, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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