Iraqi Tankers Take on First Mission

CAMP TAJI — Iraqi Army tankers took the lead on their first real mission by conducting a mounted patrol in their T-55 tanks on a major highway near Kem, Iraq Thursday.

IA Soldiers from the1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division (Mechanized) went on a joint mission with U.S. Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment and searched for insurgents who would endanger the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians.

Leading up to the patrol, the Iraqi Army tankers received training for more than three months from Soldiers of the Company C “Cobras” from 2-8 Cavalry.

The training included maintenance on T-55 tanks; instruction on how to drive the tanks, gunnery on all the various tank weapons systems, and other instructions concerning combat operations.

(Photo: An Iraqi Army officer (left) with the 2nd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division (Mechanized) shows tankers from Troop D, 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, which is attached to the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, the insides of an Iraqi T-72 tank April 2 at Camp Taji, Iraq during a partnership day event. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.)

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