Dear Interested Reader,
The 1st Stryker BCT, 25th ID take us on their mission clearing a palm grove in Esalwid, and we also accompany Echo Troop on their Op Magnon Al-Wombet. Tikrit ERB serve arrest warrants on terrorist cell members. First tourists since '03 are welcomed. The 521st Airmen provide air-to-ground weapons training.
In Afghanistan, ISAF, Afghan leaders meet to discuss progress. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen gives his assessment and recommendations for Afghanistan.
Joanna
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April 26, 2009
Joint Combat Camera Center Iraq RSS
Palm Grove Clearing in Esalwid
(Photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Walter Pels)
Army Spc. Justin Ellsworth from 2nd Bn, 8th FAR, 1st Stryker BCT, 25th ID, digs a hole where a mine detector identified metal during a palm grove clearing op in Esalwid, April 15.
An Iraqi soldier operates a mine detector while Army Pfc. Justin Chapman from 2nd Bn, provides security.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Sam Cartledge (middle) uses his interpreter to speak with an Iraqi officer about a palm grove clearing op.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Cartledge uses the communications headset of Pfc. William Stokes to give an update to HQ.
Army Sgt. Manuel Quezada (right) shows an Iraqi soldier how to setup a mine detector.
U.S. Soldiers and Iraqi soldiers make their way to a palm grove.
Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Army Sgt. Manuel Quezada inspect an unexploded artillery shell.
Army Sgt. Jose Caraballo provides security.
Army Spc. Michael Burkleo provides security.
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Multi-National Division Baghdad RSS
Operation Magnon Al-Wombet
(Photos by Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell)
SSgt. Brooks Corpening (left), a combat engr squad leader and SSgt. Mason Wood, both assigned to Echo Troop, 1st Bn, 5th Cav Regt, navigate a pipeline used for smuggling contraband into Baghdad, April 10. The Soldiers continually patrol the area to discourage insurgent activity and encourage security in the neighborhood of Shaab.
SSgt. Lee Anthony, a combat engr squad leader waits for Iraqi farmers to cross a canal before searching their bags for weapons in northern Adhamiyah. During Op Magnon al-Wombet, Echo Troop Soldiers made sure people weren't transporting IEDs, weapons or contraband at different locations throughout the neighborhood. The op stifled insurgents smuggling items into Baghdad from the outskirts of the city.
"The locals have been supportive of us, and it's helped a lot with our job of keeping this place as secure as possible," said 1st Lt. Adrian Moreno, a plt leader and combat engr, as an Iraqi farmer explains the security situation.
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Multi-National Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342
Tikrit ERB awakens 'sleeping' cell members with arrest warrants
TIKRIT - Tikrit Emergency Response Battalion (ERB) planned, led and facilitated an op April 13, which led to the arrest of 3 suspected key members of a Bayji-based insurgent cell.
According to Iraqi intel, the cell comprised of members of the former IA led kidnapping raids, and coordinates attacks against ISF and CF. With Tikrit Major Crimes Court-issued warrants, ERB members entered the residences and detained each of the cell members.
"The capture of these individuals should disrupt insurgent ops in Salah al Din, and validates the ability of the Tikrit ERB to gather intel and conduct unilateral ops," said the combat advising cmdr present at the time of the op.
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Iraq Welcomes First Tourists Since ‘03
By Spc. William Addison
BAGHDAD — The Security Agreement between the U.S. and GoI was just one of many steps toward a safe and prosperous Iraq. March 20 marked another step, one that was both unexpected and unique. That was the day the first tourists came to the Int'l Zone since the war began in 2003.
Eight tourists to be exact: 5 from UK, 2 from America and 1 from Canada. The tourists made their way around the country for a 2-week excursion that brought them to Samarra, Mosul, Babylon, Nasiriyah, Ur, Uruk and Basrah before making their way to Baghdad.
Geoff Hann of English-based Hinterland Travel remembers when his company offered multiple tours a year to the area, before the beginning of the war in 2003. "I'd been operating in and out of Iraq for many years, but hadn't been here since 2003. I came out here in November of last year for a tourism conference, and I thought, 'well okay, things have improved, we can do something here,'" he said. Hann, who recently co-authored a travel book about the country, "Iraq, Then and Now; A Guide to the Country and its People," said that while travel in the region is currently difficult, he is glad his tour group is able to show that it is possible. "It's going to take time, but I think if we can work together [the tourist companies and the GoI], it will be alright,” he said.
N.YC.-native David Chung said that he jumped at the chance to visit the country. He was one of the many people on Hann's waiting list to tour the region. "I think it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to come to this country, especially in a time of transition," he said. Watching the war on the news was one thing, but Chung said he was eager to see for himself what he had been hearing and seeing on the news. "My 2 weeks here have been terrific; the Iraqi people have been very hospitable. This is something I will remember for a lifetime," Chung concluded.
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Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Phoenix Base
APO AE 09348
Airmen provide Iraqis air-to-ground weapons training
KIRKUK REGIONAL AIR BASE – U.S. Airmen assigned to the 521st Air Expeditionary Advisor Sqdrn (AEAS) here have begun training Iraqi Airmen to safely and effectively employ precision air-to-ground ordnance using the Hellfire missile capable AC-208 Caravan. The members of Iraqi AF Sqdrn 3 are already fully qualified to fly Intel, Surveillance, Recon (ISR) missions in the Caravan.
The training for the first 2 Iraqi aircrews, each comprised of a pilot and mission sensor operator, is a move toward the Iraqi Airmen’s eventual integration into full combat ops, to include counterinsurgency missions and in defense of IA soldiers conducting ground ops.
“The introduction of precision air-to-ground kinetic ops will be a major milestone in the development of the Iraqi AF,” according to Brig Gen Robert Kane, CAFTT Cmdr.
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Scanning
April 10, 2009. Wilson is a combat rescue officer assigned to the 64th Expeditionary Rescue Sqdrn.
(AF photo by Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.)
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Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force - Afghanistan RSS
Int'l Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Afghan Leaders Meet in Delaram, Farah Province
Photo by Lance Cpl. Brian D. Jones
ISAF cmdr U.S. Army Gen. David McKiernan (second from right) visits with Afghan NP at a police station in Delaram, Farah province, April 17. McKiernan and key leaders from ISAF and Special Purpose Marine Air Ground TF-Afghanistan met with Afghan officials and community leaders in Delaram to discuss the progress of ongoing ops and the future of Afghanistan. The Marines of 3rd Bn, 8th Marine Regt (Reinforced), the ground combat element of SPMAGTF-A, have been working alongside Afghan officials and SF in the area to provide security and services for the Afghan people.
U.S. Marine Lt. Col. David Odom (right) escorts ISAF's Regional Command South cmdr Maj. Gen. Mart de Kruif around FOB Delaram. Odom is the comm. officer of 3/8.
(From left to right) Lt. Col. David Odom welcomes Maj. Gen. de Kruif and Col. Duffy White to FOB Delaram. De Kruif is the cmdr of ISAF's Regional Command South. White is the cmdr of SPMAGTF-A.
ISAF cmdr U.S. Army Gen. McKiernan (second from left) speaks to southern Afghan leaders about security issues during a meeting between Afghan and alliance force leaders.
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Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs RSS
Afghan, Coalition Forces Kill Insurgent, Detain Six Suspects
KABUL - April 22, in eastern Afghanistan's Konar province, in the Pech District, about 50 miles northeast of Jalalabad, the combined force searched 2 compounds to remove a key enabler of the al-Qaida foreign terrorist network in Konar. Afghan and CF conducted a thorough search of one compound without incident, protecting 20 adults and children. They then searched an adjacent compound after Afghan forces called for all noncombatants to come out of the buildings. More than 40 adults and children cooperated with the Afghan forces' instructions and were protected.
One man who was armed with an AK-47 assault rifle disregarded all appeals to surrender and was killed when he threatened the force. A total of 6 men were detained for suspected ties to al-Qaida.
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Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs RSS
Mullen Tours Forward Outposts in Afghanistan
Story by Jim Garamone
COP DEYSIE - Military support "enablers" are Regional Command East's most important need in Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown clearly that the main units "have to be supported by these enablers."
Enablers are units such as engrs, civil affairs, military intel, helicopters, MP, and intel, surveillance and recon assets. "We're looking throughout the system to generate more capacity to support these units as they flow in here," Mullen said.
Cmdrs have had to make hard decisions between Iraq and Afghanistan to get enablers into the country, but they are starting to flow, the chairman said. Some of the units were set to deploy to Iraq, but have been switched to Afghanistan.
The military has to change institutionally to meet this demand, Mullen said. "One of the discussions in Wash. right now is the fiscal 2010 budget," he said. "The big decision in that is to focus on these enablers." Army and Marine Corps leaders have increased the capacity, and though it takes time to train and equip the units, they must do it as quickly as possible, he added.
Part of the purpose of the chairman's trip is to meet with the men and women who are on the leading edge of the U.S. engagement in Afghanistan. "I'm very encouraged with what I see here," Mullen said. "Just the discussions we've had about development, and the local people who are feeling more supported than they did a few months ago."
Mullen emphasized that the Afghan people are the center of gravity in the struggle. "What I'm most heartened by is that our people understand that," he said. "Everything I've heard since I've been here today is focused on the Afghan people, and that's the right answer."
Mullen cited progress here in Paktia province, noting road development that contributes to commerce. But he acknowledged the strategy in Afghanistan will take time to work. "I'm hard-pressed to say whether this is going to take a specific amount of time," he said. "I think we need to make a lot of progress in many areas in the next couple of years." What happens this year and next will give planners a much better idea of how long the campaign will take, the chairman said.
Mullen said he's noticed "significant improvement" since a visit to Afghanistan last summer. "But I can't measure that and say we'll be here 3 years or 4 years or 5 years," he said. "I don't know the answer to that."
U.S., NATO and NATO-allied forces are working to train the Afghan SF, and civilian agencies are sending people to the country to help with the economy and governance. "It isn't all about combat for an extended period of time," the chairman said. "There's a lot more to it than that."
The Taliban in Pakistan are a problem inside Afghanistan. Cmdrs told Mullen that Taliban forces are flowing back into Afghanistan after a winter spent training and refitting in Pakistan. The addition of U.S. combat power in Afghanistan means the Taliban won't find it so easy to come back, Mullen said, and the border issue is getting attention. "I'm comfortable that we understand the challenges of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and that we need to address this challenge regionally on both sides," he said.
Pakistan's Frontier Corps has improved greatly its border security in the past few months, the chairman said. Pakistani units have launched ops on their side of the border, but these have to be sustained, he said. "I believe the Pakistani military has to increase pressure, as pressure increases on this side to stop that insurgent flow," the admiral said. "They have the capacity to do that, but ... switching from a conventional mindset to a counterinsurgency mindset is one of the big challenges the Pakistanis have."
Cmdrs in Afghanistan are interested in the info ops part of the campaign, wanting to get out ahead of the Taliban's message, Mullen said. "To me, that's an important statement and goal," he said. "The whole idea is to provide security for the Afghan people, so they have more confidence in our forces, have more confidence in themselves, and develop more confidence in their own govt. All of our ops are done with Afghan forces. We have the strategy, and the cmdrs on the ground understand it."
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