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The War
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American forces are fighting
heroic battles in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the
Global War On Terror, yet the
Mainstream Media is largely ignoring these efforts. Hopefully,
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Fledgling Democracy Taking Shape in Iraq
Cars drive underneath campaign posters hanging between
streetlights in Baghdad's Sadr City District, Jan. 29. Iraq
will hold its first free provincial elections (that are
entirely run by Iraq) on Jan 31. (Click image to enlarge.) |
Letters
From Iraq: Outside the Wire
My day began at 5 a.m. by attending the "guard mount" along
with the other Airmen who would be conducting a patrol outside
the wire. This morning a salty old Master Sergeant was in
charge and methodically discussed the concerns of the day. His
manner bespeaks of a veteran who has clearly performed the
mission more than once and is able to convey a sense of
confidence expected of one with his experience.
By
Lt. Col. Greg Laffitte
887th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, 1/31/09
CAMP BUCCA, Iraq - My day began at 5 a.m. by attending the
"guard mount" along with the other Airmen who would be
conducting a patrol outside the wire. This morning a salty old
Master Sergeant was in charge and methodically discussed the
concerns of the day. His manner bespeaks of a veteran who has
clearly performed the mission more than once and is able to
convey a sense of confidence expected of one with his
experience.
Assembled for this "o-dark-early" briefing are the troops
whose ages range from 20 years up to 50. No surprises here as
the 50 year old guy is yours truly. A quick scan of the
audience reveals not only men but women as well. From my
vantage point I see the faces of your sons and daughters
poised and ready to accomplish their mission. I am proud to
serve with them and realize these are America's finest.
My mission today was to provide emergency medical care in
support of the Airmen patrolling sectors of the countryside.
We would also provide security for a municipal meeting with
local civic leaders where water supply concerns would be
discussed. I was looking forward to this patrol as it would be
my first time interacting with Iraqi citizens in their
neighborhoods.
Once the guard mount was complete it was time to go. The
convoy slowly headed out of the Forward Operating Base
ensuring the 5 mph speed limit was not broken. Yes you can get
a speeding ticket here and the troops don't want to have to
see the "shirt" when that happens.
Our armored vehicles are heavy and have knobs and various
pieces of structure that can really put a dent in your
"nugget" if you hit your cranium while not wearing your
helmet. Standing over six feet tall, I have to really be
careful not to bang my head, especially while exiting the
truck. Once strapped in you put your headset on and make sure
your "comm" is good to go. It never ceases to amaze me how a
group of Airmen can so quickly turn a mundane subject into a
hilarious comedy. There had been some talk about stopping at a
local roadside vendor and trying out the menu. As the onboard
medic I voiced my concerns and within minutes the troops had
the conversation "bottomed" out if you get my drift.
We arrived at our village and exited the truck. My first walk
down an Iraqi street was not exactly what I had expected. Off
to my left was a pile of debris where at least six puppies
were nursing from their mother.
Off to my right was a medium sized dog who apparently was
having a bad day and liked to show his teeth!
After walking for less than 10 minutes, I was greeted by a
crowd of school-aged boys who seemed like they had finally met
up with a long lost friend. I could scarcely believe the
reception I was being given.
These kids were wanting to shake my hand and in broken English
kept telling me, "America number one!"
We conducted our business then made our way to the municipal
building where, this time, we were greeted by older Iraqi
gentlemen who were as courteous as your best friend's family.
I walked around the area keeping a constant look out for
suspicious activity when I got hit.
The object was a soccer ball and the perpetrator was a
6-year-old boy with a passionate love of soccer. Within
minutes this kid and I were kicking his soccer ball back and
forth and having a good old time. Another boy whom I would
have guessed to be about 14 approached me and in broken
English began discussing professional wrestling. I somehow got
the impression he thought I looked like some wrestler named
The Undertaker whom he had seen on TV. My first up close and
personal interaction with the people of Iraq was definitely a
genuinely friendly exchange.
Iraq is a sovereign country as of Jan. 1, 2009. This is of
enormous significance because the Iraqi government is clearly
driving the bus now. American servicemen and women serving
here appreciate that fact because it demonstrates how far we
have come in creating stability and security in this country.
The citizens of Iraq are definitely on the road to progress
and are enthusiastic about an upcoming election only days
away. Our role here is to defend the progress and protect
against any insurgency which might attempt to disrupt that
progress.
Before we departed the municipal compound, I noticed something
worth mentioning in closing.
Standing to my left was an African-American Airman and to my
right was a Filipino-American Airman.
Here were three ethnically diverse American servicemen united
as one force protecting the rights of the Iraqi people who
were also on the eve of a historic election. I think that's
kind of cool!
(Lt. Col. Greg Laffitte is serving with the 887th
Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron at Camp Bucca, Iraq. He
writes weekly commentaries about his deployment.) |
10th
Mountain Division Leads New Deployments to Afghanistan
By
Army Sgt. Amber Robinson
Special to American Forces Press Service, 1/29/09
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - The 10th Mountain Division's
3rd Brigade Combat Team is taking up positions in eastern
Afghanistan that until now have had little coalition presence.
The BCT, known as 'Task Force Spartan,' and based at Fort
Drum, N.Y., was rerouted from Iraq to Afghanistan in the fall.
As the first substantial illustration of the new military
focus in Afghanistan, the brigade will be moving into forward
operating positions through mid-February, serving under
Combined Joint Task Force 101 as a unit in NATO's
International Security Assistance Force.
The brigade will be responsible for the provinces of Wardak
and Logar in Regional Command East. The area has been sparsely
occupied most recently by units from the 101st Airborne
Division out of Fort Campbell, Ky.
The brigade is the first element of its size to deploy
exclusively into the two provinces, increasing the U.S.
presence there by thousands of soldiers. All forward operating
bases throughout these provinces will be reinforced to
accommodate the influx of troops.
The brigade's mission has been called expeditionary because of
the undeveloped region to which it's assigned.
"The term basically means that we are a very flexible force,"
Army Col. David Haight, Task Force Spartan commander, said.
"We can get a mission in an austere part of the world, and if
you give us the right equipment and the right amount of
personnel, we can quickly come up with a solution, deploy to
that area from our home base of Fort Drum, N.Y., and begin
effective operations in a short period of time."
Flexibility was a key word for the brigade as they prepared
for their current deployment.
"We spent well over a year preparing to deploy into the region
of East Baghdad," Haight said. "Once we found out we were
being re-routed, we very quickly replicated our training for
Afghanistan."
Although much of the brigade's last year of training for Iraq
can be applied to combat and counterinsurgency operations in
Afghanistan, the brigade staff and soldiers quickly adjusted
fire and integrated new training objectives for Afghanistan.
"Some may say that a counterinsurgency is a counterinsurgency,
no matter where you are in the world, but there are obvious
differences we had to prepare for," Haight said. "The
infrastructure in Iraq is much more advanced than what we are
dealing with here in Afghanistan, as is the overall terrain.
Language and terrain issues are obviously vastly different in
Iraq than they are in Afghanistan."
In the past, only a battalion-sized element occupied the two
provinces that now belong to Task Force Spartan. Sleeping
arrangements, chow hall capacity, showers, and phone and
Internet connectivity are concerns of the brigade.
Army Pfc. MaryPearl Parnell, an information analyst who
deployed early and has been in Afghanistan for a month, noted
the progress the brigade has made since they began to arrive.
"When we first got here, our tactical operations center was
only a bunch of wires and lots of wood," said Parnell, who is
on her second deployment to Afghanistan with the brigade. "We
really had to organize our priorities once we got here. Things
were different this time around. So once we arrived, we had to
establish connectivity in our headquarters and make sure each
room had the correct lines run for the personnel that would
need them. These basics were already established for the
brigade last time, so that was a challenge."
Aside from the challenges, Parnell and others have focused on
some of the positives.
"I was impressed with the [forward operating base]. It was
much more than what I expected," she said. "I also notice that
personnel have a lot more patience. They understand that this
is a slow process, but it is a necessary process towards
progress."
Like Parnell, about a third of the brigade soldiers have
deployed with Spartan before, Haight said.
"That adds an advantage to our current mission, due to the
fact that they already possess the cultural sensitivity,
awareness of the terrain and are more aware of the tribal
dynamics," he said.
"We learned a lot of critical lessons last time we were here,"
said Army Command Sgt. Maj. Delbert Byers, command sergeant
major for the brigade. "We learned how to operate efficiently
in this environment and what are the best ways to interact
with the people, to include the Afghan national army and the
Afghan national police," he said. "We'll lend a lot of effort
and focus to working with and helping to train the local
Afghan security forces this time around."
The brigade is now focused on building adequate bases to
conduct missions from, but soon they will begin to move into
Wardak and Logar and build relationships with the local
populace.
"Our first steps are to get forces out into these more
populated areas and begin to interact with the people," Haight
said. "Knowing the human terrain is as important as knowing
the mountainous terrain surrounding our forward operating
bases."
"We cannot accomplish our mission without the support of the
people," Army Maj. James Baker, the brigade's information
operations officer, said.
"We establish these relationships so we can understand the
locals' viewpoint, position and better help them in our
efforts to work towards the overall security of Afghanistan,"
he said. "We base these relationships on trust, which is vital
to our joint efforts over the next year."
The focus of the brigade for the next year will be to help to
improve security in Wardak and Logar and to help bring the
local populace into a position of strengthened governance and
infrastructure, officials said. |
|
Marines, Afghans Clear the Way in Southern Afghanistan
U.S.
Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force -
Afghanistan completed Operation Gateway III Jan. 26 in Farah
province, Afghanistan.
From
the International Security Assistance Force, 1/28/09
KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. Marines with Special Purpose Marine
Air Ground Task Force - Afghanistan completed Operation
Gateway III Jan. 26 in Farah province, Afghanistan.
Gateway III, or "De Loides Darwaza" in Pashto, was a
strategically planned operation conducted by 3rd Battalion,
8th Marine Regiment (Reinforced) and Combat Logistics
Battalion 3, the ground and logistics combat elements of SPMAGTF-A.
The objective of the operation was to clear Route 515 of
deadly improvised explosive devices placed by insurgents and
establish an alliance presence along the 43-kilometer stretch
of the important east-west road between the district centers
of Delaram and Bakwa Districts.
"By opening Route 515, we will decrease travel time for
alliance forces, as well as enable civilian goods, that are
vital to the community, to pass through the area with less
resistance," said Lt. Col. David L. Odom, 3/8's commanding
officer. "The clearing of the route will also open the lines
of communication between the two major district centres."
During the operation, the Marines of 3/8 cleared the route,
while encountering nearly 30 IED-related incidents. Elements
of CLB-3 followed in trace and constructed three combat
outposts along the route. Joint patrols with Marines and
Afghan national army soldiers allowed for a successful
clearing operation.
AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters from Marine Light/Attack
Helicopter Squadron 269 provided close-in fire support for the
Marines and ANA soldiers, while many of the necessary
construction materials - weighing more than 95,000 pounds -
were airlifted to the outposts' locations by Marine Heavy
Helicopter Squadron 466. HML/A-269 and HMH-466 are detachments
from SPMAGTF-A's air combat element.
The effects of the improved security were seen immediately in
the form of a new project along Route 515 in the district of
Delaram. As part of the project, dozens of Afghan villagers
dug irrigation ditches along the route, while the Afghan
National Police provided security. The project will ensure
that local crop fields have sufficient water, increasing their
output.
"The Afghan people will benefit directly from what we did
here," said Col. Duffy W. White, commander of SPMAGTF-A. "But
our work is not yet done. We must continue to patrol this area
with our Afghan partners to make sure they are not endangered
by insurgent attacks." |
 Full-spectrum
of Aviation Brigade assets combine for UAV recovery mission
1/25/09, US
Army
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq - Elements of all
six battalions of the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade came
together yesterday morning to recover an unmanned aerial
vehicle that made an emergency landing near Baji, north of
Tikrit.
At approximately 8:35 a.m., Brigade battle staff got word from
their UAV personnel that a Hunter aircraft was indicating
in-flight engine failure. The ground pilots attempted to fly
the vehicle back to the airfield at COB Speicher, but it
continued to lose altitude. By 9:13, the aircraft was on the
ground, and a downed aircraft recovery team was being
assembled and dispatched.
"Due to the skill of the Unmanned Aerial System operator and
the UAS' recovery system, we were fairly certain that the UAS
would suffer relatively little damage during the emergency
landing," said Col. Erik Peterson, 10th CAB commander. "The
quicker we recovered it, the quicker we could figure out what
went wrong, fix it, and get it back into operation. Not to
mention, the Hunter is a relatively expensive, sophisticated
piece of equipment, which we prefer not to leave unsecured in
the Iraqi countryside."
Two OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Scout Weapons Teams from 6th
Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, were the first at the scene,
arriving within minutes to provide aerial security and joined
shortly afterward by a Task Force ODIN Warrior UAS.
First on the ground were the Pathfinders of Fox Company, 2nd
Battalion, who quickly set up a security perimeter to guard
the aircraft until it could be recovered.
The Pathfinders were joined by the quick reaction force
platoon from 2-27th Infantry Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 25th
Infantry Division, while AH-64 Apaches from 1st Attack
Reconnaissance Battalion, 10th CAB arrived to relieve the
Scout Weapons Teams. A downed aircraft recovery team from
Bravo Company, 277th Aviation Support Battalion was dispatched
to recover the Hunter.
 Once
on the ground, the DART team worked quickly to disassemble the
aircraft, removing the wings and tail from the fuselage so it
could be loaded into a CH-47 Chinook from 3rd General Support
Aviation Battalion, 10th CAB, for transport back to COB Speicher.
Although he commands a brigade well-known for its aerial
assets, Peterson lauded his ground troops for their efforts in
the operation.
"Our Pathfinders played a vital role in the mission; they were
on the scene very quickly, providing security, accurate
assessments of the situation and a vital communication link
with responding aircraft and command-and-control elements,"
Peterson said. "Without our dedicated Pathfinder team, this
would have been a much more difficult problem.
"Our downed aircraft recovery team also did a fantastic job,"
he continued. "Although they had training and orientation on
various aircraft, they had never actually disassembled this
type of UAS before. They not only disassembled the relatively
undamaged Hunter in an austere environment in a very brief
time, but they also packaged the components for exfil aboard a
CH-47 Chinook without incurring further damage."
The operation was a success, once again proving the
capabilities of the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade.
"We train and fight as task forces, exploiting and optimizing
the strengths and capabilities of our various units and
airframes," Peterson explained. "In this particular case, we
were faced with a problem that required contribution from
virtually every element of Task Force Falcon, and everyone
performed magnificently. The whole operation was synchronized
and executed by exceptionally sharp young Soldiers, NCOs and
officers cross-talking, innovating, and problem solving.
"Overall, the operation was a great example of the agility and
teamwork of our staff and junior leaders." |
 B-1B
bombs enemy compound
1/25/2009 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- Coalition airpower
integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and
International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during
operations Jan. 22, according to Combined Air and Space
Operations Center officials here.
In Afghanistan, an Air Force B-1B Lancer destroyed a building
in an anti-Afghan compound with a guided bomb unit-38. Enemy
personnel were firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades
at coalition forces from a fighting position inside the
building.
Near Bagram, an Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II strafed a cave
from which enemy gunmen had been firing at coalition troops.
The A-10 also performed a show of force in the area to deter
additional enemy activity.
Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles destroyed anti-Afghan fighting
positions in the vicinity of Nangalam using GBU-38 and -31s.
The strike targeted a heavy machine gun and an enemy sniper
shooting at a coalition patrol.
Outside Kandahar, an Air Force MQ-1 Predator fired a Hellfire
missile, striking enemy personnel who placed an improvised
explosive device along a coalition supply route. The group
attempted to flee the area after placing the roadside bomb,
but was tracked by the Predator's surveillance systems.
An A-10 flew an aerial escort mission for a coalition convoy
near Ghazni. The Thunderbolt II conducted a show of force over
the route to discourage enemy forces from engaging.
In the Asmara area, F-15Es performed shows of force to deter
enemy attacks while a dismounted coalition patrol returned to
their vehicles to exit a village. The patrol had performed a
goodwill mission in the village as the Strike Eagles provided overwatch. The F-15Es also located an illegal anti-Afghan
force checkpoint and guided coalition ground troops to the
site to detain the individuals responsible.
A Thunderbolt II flew shows of force in the area around a
Ghazni area settlement to deter enemy activity. coalition
forces met with local leaders in the village to increase
cooperation and support.
On-scene joint terminal attack controllers assigned to
coalition units verified the success of these missions.
In total, 61 close-air-support missions were flown in support
of the ISAF and Afghan security forces, reconstruction
activities and route patrols.
Sixteen Air Force intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance aircraft flew missions as part of operations in
Afghanistan. Additionally, two coalition aircraft performed
tactical reconnaissance.
In Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 42 close-air-support missions
for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions integrated and
synchronized with coalition ground forces, protected key
infrastructure, provided overwatch for reconstruction
activities and helped to deter and disrupt hostile activities.
Twenty-seven Air Force and Navy ISR aircraft flew missions as
part of operations in Iraq. Additionally, two Air Force
aircraft performed tactical reconnaissance.
Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft and C-17 Globemaster IIIs
provided intra-theater heavy airlift, helping to sustain
operations throughout Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of
Africa.
Approximately 120 airlift sorties were flown, more than 650
tons of cargo was delivered and about 3,050 passengers were
transported. This included approximately 72,000 pounds of
troop re-supply airdropped in Afghanistan.
Coalition C-130 crews flew as part of operations in
Afghanistan or Iraq.
On Jan. 21, Air Force and coalition tanker crews flew 41
sorties and off-loaded approximately 3 million pounds of fuel
to 260 receiving aircraft. |
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