Dear Interested Reader,
Bara'ia families receive food, water and farming supplies. 1st Lt. Richard Warehime is our "Face of Defense." 1st Corps Soldiers relieve 18th Abn Corps. Kirkuk Province city council plans for the future. Iraqi contractors providing JBB security. First ever Tactical Cmdr's Course prepares cmdrs for battle. In Afghanistan, combined forces kill 52 insurgents, capture 17. "Steel Rain" counters enemy ambush in Konar.
Joanna
_______________________________
April 12, 2009
Multi-National Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342
Bara'ia families receive food, water and farming supplies
Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Jones, bn sgt maj, 2nd Bn, 35th Inf Regt, hands a package of supplies to a local girl.
(Army photo by Sgt. Ian Terry)
COB SPEICHER, TIKRIT - - In the Bara'ia neighborhood near Samarra, March 31, Soldiers from the 35th Inf Regt, 3rd IBCT, 25th ID, delivered several cases of Halal meals to families in the neighborhood.
"Bara'ia is an extremely impoverished area of Samarra, and local residents are not used to receiving humanitarian aid from govt or CF," said 1st. Lt. Daniel Flynn, plt leader. "The last time most of these folks saw people in uniform, they were kicking down doors and arresting people."
The local citizens appeared cautious at first, but quickly warmed up to the Soldiers when it became apparent they were on scene to help. In addition to food and water, Coalition Soldiers and Iraqi SF delivered several large rolls of plastic, useful in the cultivation of crops. "It's difficult to grow here, sometimes," said Abdul Hassani, a local farmer. "This will help us very much. We are very grateful."
The Bara'ia community is home to 2 small shops, a makeshift soccer field, and several acres of farmland. Residents don't have access to clean drinking water, and draw their water directly from the Tigris River. The nearby village of Al Rega, where a water treatment facility was recently opened, has pledged to provide assistance to neighboring villages, including Bara'ia.
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Special to American Forces Press Service
Face of Defense: Soldier Leads Platoon Down Dangerous Roads in Iraq
By Scott Flenner
Army 1st Lt. Richard Warehime is pinned with the Bronze Star Medal, just minutes before his team departs on its next route clearance mission in Baghdad, February 2009.
BAGHDAD , April 6, 2009 – Hours on a route clearance mission can lead to many inside jokes. For soldiers of the 688th Engr Co’s 2nd Plt, their platoon leader provided the ammo. The holder of 3 types of martial arts black belts, Army 1st Lt. Richard Warehime is fondly referred to as “happy feet” by his soldiers. And while the soldiers joke, they also are quick to explain why their ”LT” is one of the best.
For the past year, Warehime has successfully led his plt, which is attached to the 890th Engr Bn, 225th Engr Bde, down some of the most dangerous routes in Baghdad, clearing them of explosives that threaten the safety of everyone in Iraq. “Every day, I wake up and consider myself very fortunate to work with the group of people that I do,” Warehime said. “What I enjoy most is the platoon, just being around the guys.”
Along with his daily plt leader tasks of mission planning, intel gathering, and overall command and control of his soldiers, Warehime leads his soldiers from the front by performing every duty, driving every vehicle and completing every task involved in a route clearance mission. “I wanted to learn more about the vehicles and what jobs the other soldiers do, so I started driving and troop commanding different vehicles,” Warehime said. “The knowledge is very beneficial … I would not ask my soldiers to do a job that I would not do myself.”
Of his favorite vehicle, he said, “The buffalo is nice because it's a lot more powerful to smash stuff, but I really like the husky. It's a lot more versatile vehicle, the most survivable vehicle, and it can tow anything. It's probably my favorite because it's so useful.”
Warehime has gained the respect and confidence of his soldiers and command over the past year. “He's an extraordinary, incredible officer with a ton of talent who brought the best out of his soldiers,” Army Capt. Marc Anderson, cmdr for the 688th Engr Co, said. “I have been impressed with him from the time we started. Throughout the deployment, he continually encouraged soldiers to bring ideas and concepts forward, and that's what makes him a great leader.”
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Special to American Forces Press Service
1st Corps Soldiers Relieve Fort Bragg Troops
By Army Sgt Lindsey Bradford
Army Gen. Raymond Odierno, cmdr of MNF-I , comments on the achievements of the 18th Abn Corps during a transfer of authority ceremony at Al Faw Palace, Camp Victory, April 4, 2009. Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin III, cmdr of 18th Abn Corps, relinquished command of MNC-I to Army Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby, cmdr of 1st Corps. Jacoby serves as the cmdr of 1st Corps, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., and Austin as the commander of 18th Abn Corps, based at Fort Bragg, N.C.
(Army photos by Pfc. Christopher Gaylord)
BAGHDAD – The day not only marked a new command at the palace, but it also etched a new chapter in 1st Corps' lineage. 1st Corps HQ has not deployed to an active combat zone in more than 50 years, since serving in the Korean War in 1953.
"I handed the colors to Austin in 2008, and there was no one better suited to lead the Corps," Odierno said. "They proved that every day." Odierno said Austin and TF Dragon tackled great responsibilities upon arriving in Iraq. Combat bdes involved in the "surge" strategy were beginning to redeploy, and Austin had to review current ops and adapt quickly to changes on the ground. Austin knew the challenges that were ahead of him, and he met them head on, Odierno said.
Before discussing accomplishments and the successes of the 18th Abn Corps in Iraq, Austin asked all in attendance to take a moment to remember Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, the first Medal of Honor recipient in OIF, who was killed in action 6 years ago to the day.
After thanking all who served during his command, Austin said the coalition's close working relationship with Iraqi SF would continue to flourish under Jacoby's command. "There's still much more left to do... I am confident that Iraq will continue to see progress," he said.
Jacoby accepted command of MNC-I and promised his predecessor that no other corps is more suitable for the job. He said 1st Corps soldiers, now a part of TF Courage, trained for months before getting their boots on ground, ensuring they would be able to provide top-notch support to CF and Iraqi SF.
Army Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Grippe of 1st Corps uncase the Corps' colors during a ceremony in which Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, relinquished command of MNC-I to Jacoby.
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Multi-National Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342
City council looking to the future
FOB WARRIOR, KIRKUK - The Abassi City Council in Kirkuk province is designing projects to improve the quality of life in their town.
Sheikh Aswaad Ali presided over a meeting of more than a dozen Iraqi contractors, several village leaders and Soldiers from 2nd BCT, 1st Cav Div, to resolve important local issues like preparing for the upcoming dry summer and improving commerce in their town.
One project discussed was a water treatment facility which would create efficiencies in the processing of water for drinking, hygiene and irrigation for all villages surrounding Abassi. According to 1st Bn., 8th Cav. Regt., the project would also funnel more than $600,000 into the local economy. "This water project is an outstanding project that, if completed, would definitely improve the quality of life for many residents," said Aswaad. According to weather data released by the U.S. AF, 2009 is the 4th consecutive year that Kirkuk province has experienced a reduction of average rainfall.
Another project involved constructing a hardened-gravel road within the village of Fakhah, which could positively impact the economy and reduce travel time within Fakhah and the villages of Shageldi, Al Saeidi and Al Sahriya.
All of these villages encompass a circle approx. 25 miles in circumference and are up to 6 miles north or south of Abassi. "The road would improve commerce and supply to the outer villages as well as provide direct routes to the schools and medical facilities," said Aswaad.
1st Lt. Jason Uphoff, a plt leader in 8th Cav. Regt., assisted Aswaad during the meeting. "The more people that benefit from the project, the more likely the project will get approved by the govt," Uphoff informed Aswaad.
Aswaad expressed his commitment to use the projects to take care of people in his area.
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Iraqi Contractors Provide Base Security
By SSgt. John Gordinier, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing
An Iraqi screener searches a local national before entering Joint Base Balad (JJB), April 1.
(Photo by Tech. Sgt. Lionel Castellano)
JOINT BASE BALAD — More than 100 Iraqis were recently contracted to secure the outer perimeter of this base to help protect the men and women serving here. “This contract is a first of its kind,” said Lt. Col. Raymond Reyes, JBB Regional Contracting Center cmdr. “Putting a requirement to employ 80% of the contractor’s workforce from the local area is an innovative contracting solution to implementing the Joint Campaign Plan.
“This is a tremendous boost to the Iraqi First Program,” he continued. “It provides economic opportunities in the Diyala and Salah-al-Din provinces while providing our CF the added force-protection measures we need.”
The initiative, which included certification training, improves perimeter and checkpoint security from VBIEDs and insurgents as well, according to Maj. Scott Selchert, 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Group plans and programs chief. “We are attempting to give some ownership of security back to the people who live in the local area, because they have a vested interest in JBB,” Selchert said. “In my opinion, the Iraqis are highly motivated to work and succeed. There were 114 jobs offered in the contract and more than 300 applied.”
“I am very proud of this job because I am able to provide security to my people while cooperating with U.S. forces,” said Arafat, one of the Iraqi security supervisors, via an interpreter. “I was trained on how to search vehicles and personnel; then I trained my team.”
Overall, the contractor, who was awarded the contract, Feb. 3, exceeded the 80% requirement, and employed 100% Iraqis, Reyes said. The initiative also includes women.
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Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq Release
Course Prepares Commanders for Battle
TAJI — IA Bde and Bn cmdrs recently met for the first-ever Tactical Cmdr’s Course (TLC) to share experiences and learn modern training systems. The course, which lasted 10 days and was conducted at the Counter-Insurgency Training Center here, was designed to provide the attendees with current updates on tactical, operational and logistical trends, provide a tactical op and plans exercise, and provide an update on senior staff perspectives, trends and policies from Iraqi and Coalition senior leaders.
This TLC is intended to be a combat multiplier that will contribute to the professionalism of the Iraqi Joint Forces, and to the continued strength of the GoI. “The teachers of this course have a high level of experience,” said IA Staff Maj. Gen. Samir Basha, dir. of the Basic and Tactical Training dept. “This course was the first experiment of bringing together high-level cmdrs under modern training systems. This course will help Iraqi cmdrs to increase our fighting level. “Training also included logistics support and how to get the systems and equipment that the cmdrs in the field will need for battle,” Samir continued.
The training also covered how to deal with media and media issues on the battlefield, as well as establishing a foundation for training new officers and new NCOs.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Patrick Christian, MiTT senior advisor, addressed the course graduates at the end of the ceremony. “Your determination to learn and candor in improving the process of learning have challenged us to support you in a better way...” Christian said. “Multi-National Security Transition Command- Iraq accepts this challenge in supporting your trainers, and we commit to helping them in making this next course even more effective.”
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AOR Week in Photos
Final Retreat Ceremony
Ali Base - SSgt Scotty Ducan, 407th Air Expeditionary Group Honor Guard, gives a folded American flag to Chirf MSgt. Susan Baker, forer 407th AEG superintendent, during her final retreat ceremony at Ali Base, March 26. Chief Baker departed Ali ase to return to Minot AF Base, N>D>, where she will retire from the AF after 30 years of service.
(AF photo by SSgt Christopher Marasky
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American Forces Press Service
Forces Kill 52, Capture 17 in Afghanistan Fighting
WASHINGTON, April 6, 2009 – The firefights mostly have occurred in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand and Zabol provinces, where military officials say the Taliban is increasing its presence.
Afghan and CF have killed at least 37 insurgents in Helmand since April 3, and 14 insurgents were killed in Zabol on April 4. Combined forces also killed an insurgent and captured 8 others in the southern province of Kandahar, April 3. Bombing cells, illegal drug ops and foreign fighter trafficking have been disrupted.
During a search of one compound, the forces discovered a drug lab containing 5,000 pounds of poppy seeds used to produce opium, 10 bags of opium, scales and other drug paraphernalia. A further search of the compound uncovered various weapons and ammo, including a heavy machine gun with ammo, 2 RPGs, body armor, mortar rounds, several containers of homemade explosives, and several bags of ammonium nitrate, commonly used to make explosive.
A second compound nearby also housed a bomb-making facility containing ready-to-use suicide vests, a large amount of bomb-making materials and components. The facility, located near a mosque, appeared to have been strategically placed in order to deter detection and destruction. The building had extensive booby traps, and the combined forces were unable to retrieve the explosives from the building safely. After ensuring that no civilians were in the area and taking every precaution to minimize damage to surrounding buildings, the combined force destroyed the materials with a controlled detonation.
No Afghan, coalition military or non-combatant civilians were reported wounded in any of the ops.
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CJTF-101 in Afghanistan, Bagram Media Center
"Steel Rain" counters enemy ambush in Konar
By Army Maj. Jenny Willis
BAGRAM AIR FIELD (April 7, 2009) -- SNAP! SNAP! Flinching at the sharp sound of rounds passing by, the gunner curses into the intercom. Exclaiming "Incoming!" he pivots the turret of his armored vehicle toward a looming ridgeline across the Pech River.
It's a tense game of cat-and-mouse whenever the seasoned infantrymen of 1st Bn, 26th Inf Regt, known as the "Blue Spaders," embark on daytime patrols, up and down the green valleys of the Pech River basin, where they've operated for the past 10 months.
As gunner Army Spc. Kevin Mulholland's profane warning is relayed over the convoy radio net, the armored trucks of the Tactical (TAC) Plt, HQ Co, 1st Bn., 26th Inf. Regt., simultaneously open up on a spot marked by the tracers spitting from Mulholland's M-240B machine gun. Explosive rounds sparkle on the rocky, wooded slope some 750 yards away, red tracers arcing smoothly to their targets in a hammering rain, while the convoy cmdr, Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Allemani, 33, coolly radios back to FOB Blessing for artillery support.
"The ability of the gunners in the TAC plt to isolate enemy positions, and the communication between them to mass fire when a position is located, says volumes about the Soldiers' tactical proficiency," Allemani later explains. "These men are not scared to practice private initiative."
Within a few minutes, plumes of burning white begin exploding on the forested slopes, starting small fires that linger long after the white phosphorus clouds have drifted downwind. As Allemani works with the forward observer to adjust fire onto the enemy snipers' hiding place, 155mm artillery and 120mm mortar rounds
begin slamming into the hillside in a killing crescendo. "We spot enemy targets and reduce enemy positions, as well as assisting the fire support officer to get indirect fire where it needs to be," Allemani says.
Over the course of the next 2 hours, the convoy of armored trucks lays down an intense barrage of suppressive fire. Walking a curtain of artillery shells down the ridgeline, the Spaders cut off the snipers' escape route in a bid to annihilate them under "steel rain."
The hunt ends abruptly with the arrival of an F-15 Eagle, called in to locate the elusive quarry with forward-looking infrared radar (FLIR). Against FLIR, trees provide no cover. But the militants, knowing this, go to ground at the first sound of the jet's approach high above. With the sniping stopped, the close air support mission is called off.
Mulholland, 19, has already been decorated for valor in the infamous Korengal Valley. He is prosaic about the risk of gunner duty. "I am the last line of defense," he says. "It just depends on their luck that day whether they can put effective fire on us."
Along the Pech, arguably Konar's most violent area, the danger is omnipresent. But this stretch of ridgeline -- the sheltered draw that hid Mulholland's would-be shooter -- has become so notorious to the men of TF Spader that they've given it a designation: Engagement Area Huskies. Here, opportunistic insurgents plant IEDs, lay sophisticated ambushes with recoilless rifles and RPGs, and gamble on small arms fire at extreme range, hoping to score a shot that kills a Soldier.
During any given day, at least one convoy passing around this ominous bend is likely to receive enemy fire. But the Spaders' quick, overwhelming response tends to discourage insurgents from launching attacks within effective range. "We've beaten back the anti-Afghan forces pretty well in this area," Allemani concludes. "Because of their inability to close the distance and trying to stay out of our range, it negates their ability to produce suppressive fire. The only challenge is pinpointing enemy positions."
As the guns fall silent, peace returns to the Pech Valley floor. Afghan children swarm around the halted convoy, shouting for spent brass. Mulholland tosses his empty shells to them, like crumbs to pigeons. The brass is precious scrap metal, a windfall to the poor villagers living here. Children shout with glee, thumbs lifted approvingly to the waving gunners, as the convoy resumes its dangerous journey down the Pech.
"I simply do my duty, get everyone to their destination safely, and my job is complete -- nothing more, nothing less," says Mulholland.
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