News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.
In their own words:
Sergeant Grumpy: New Map of Iraq - Finally, here is a map of Iraq that makes sense. Quick update here is that we have relocated somewhere where we wait before catching the freedom bird to Kuwait, where we will promptly wait again. And that is how it goes in Army these days, we go from busting-your-ass busy to nothing to do. I don't think I will be posting much more, as I shouldn't have to many stories of interest - "there we were building our pallets, when out of no where one of the Conticos flew off and hit Johnson in the head..." Of course there is a lot idiocy around here, and far to many REMFs who have nothing better to do than look for uniform violations on troops returning for combat. (READ MORE)
LT Nixon: Iraq News (23 April) - The Good: Depending on where you get your news, the conference with Maliki and countries in the region could either be a smashing success or a total bust. This Saudi newspaper seems stoked that Maliki is finally taking on the Shi'ite militias that have their mitts all over the place in Iraq, but if you get your news from the WaPo, you're going to get the impression that it was a big waste of time. Only time will tell, but even Iran is pleased with the crackdown on Shi'ite militias. It's looking like Sadr is becoming more and more isolated diplomatically. More detainees have been released from Camp Bucca (the biggest US-run detention center), which is viewed as an important part of the reconciliation process as most of the detainees are Sunni. (READ MORE)
Yellowhammering Afghanistan: Rice still cooking - My cerebral love affair with fellow Alabama native and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continues as she and her office show a genuine understanding of what Afghanistan needs. They are also addressing those needs with some creative solutions that I believe have a lot of merit. While Pres. Bush and the State Department recently confirmed their commitment to building roads, schools, wells, bridges, clinics and the like through the military Provincial Reconstruction Team, they also recognized more is needed here. The White House wants to create a "reserve force" of civilian Americans with expertise in banking, law, education and other areas, who are willing to travel the world and share their experience with needy communities. (READ MORE)
ETT PA-C: The Wall - The "Wall." No, not Pink Floyd or the Runner's. Not the Chinese Great one or your local bar. Not the Wailing Wall or the Vietnam Memorial one. Not the Berlin Wall or the one in New York that causes us great pains at the gas tank. Not Hadrian's Wall or the one's that fell around Jericho (albeit they may be closer than I think). Not even Fenway's Green Monster or the Wall of Troy. I'm naming a new wall. The Soldier's Wall. The one I've come close to many times over the last 15 months but have now become intimate with and thus my move from what's become home away from home to another. (READ MORE)
Badger 6: Questioning Assumptions - One of the tenets of Counter Insurgency I imparted upon my Platoon Leaders and senior N0n-Commissioned Officers was the idea what we always needed to question our assumptions about the situation we were in; whether those assumptions were about the enemy, the local populace, the weapons status, our equipment's capabilities, whatever affected our mission we needed to question those assumptions. That lesson was not the wisdom of Badger 6, rather it was my attempt to impart the lessons of Lieutenant Colonel John Nagl from his book Leaning to Eat Soup with a Knife. (BTW - an assumption is something that is necessary and valid for planning where you do not have the fact to fill the void. Questioning your assumptions helps validate or invalidate your facts for planning.) (READ MORE)
IN-iraq: Soldiers of the 1st/151st prove themselves under attack - It was a quiet afternoon. Soldiers of First Platoon of Alpha Company of the 1st/151st Infantry Battalion were escorting a team of Army tractor-trailers on a five-day mission to deliver Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles(MRAPs), the military’s safest, to an outlying post where U.S. soldiers help train the Iraqi Army. This is still Iraq. It's amazing how quickly a good day can turn bad. “We were just driving down the road,” said Specialist Joshua Baugh, 24, the turret gunner in the lead truck, “And next thing I hear a boom, and I saw a flash on the right side. The windows on my turret spider-webbed.” (READ MORE)
Cheese's MilBlog: ETS? - Well, according to my contract, I've been out of the Army for about twenty days. Funny, you'd never have noticed! It's not that I'm bitter about being stop-lossed...In fact, if you'd asked me six years ago if I thought I be in Afghanistan (on my second tour no less) when my contract expired, I'd probably have been pretty excited about the idea. More than anything, having ETSed has made me think a great deal about what the Army has done for me over the past six years. As anyone who knows me can attest, the military has, for better or worse, formed much of the man I am today. This has become even more obvious to me as I reflect on the person I was six years ago, and all the the Army has offered me since. (READ MORE)
Back Stateside but still writing:
Bill and Bob's Excellent Afghan Adventure: Back In The USA - Coming home is an adventure all its own. The final flight out of Afghanistan, for us, was on a C-130. The C-130, a four-engine turboprop whale, is a slow and torturous ride to go the distance from Kabul to Qatar, where we boarded a C-17 for the short hop to Kuwait, from where we embarked on a civilian charter that took us through Germany and then to New Jersey and finally Kansas. In Kansas the whirlwind of out processing started in earnest. There were briefings followed by a welcome home ceremony in a gymnasium attended by a few officers and NCO's who had been responsible for training us to go to Afghanistan and the few families who had been able to make the trip to Ft Riley. (READ MORE)
News from the Front:
Iraq:
Iraqi and Coalition forces destroy criminal weapons caches, detain six - BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi and Coalition forces destroyed multiple weapons caches and detained six suspected criminals near Khan Bani Sa’ad, north of Baghdad. Acting on intelligence gathered from previous operations, Iraqi and Coalition forces moved into the area and immediately stopped a suspected criminal’s vehicle trying to escape. They discovered numerous weapons and detained three individuals, one of whom allegedly received weapons training in Iran and was involved in numerous attacks on Coalition forces and Iraqi Security Forces personnel. (READ MORE)
MND-B Soldiers capture RPG war heads during ongoing clearing operations - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, seized three anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launchers and ten high-explosive RPG rounds at approximately 7:30 p.m. in the Rashid district in southern Baghdad April 21. Soldiers from Company C, 4-64 AR, with help from their Iraqi Security Forces counterparts from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, discovered the weapons cache. (READ MORE)
MND-B Soldiers kill 15 criminals - Baghdad Soldiers engaged and killed 15 criminals in separate engagements in Baghdad April 22. At approximately 6:15 p.m., Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, witnessed a criminal emplacing an improvised explosive device in northeast Baghdad. Soldiers shot and killed the criminal. Unmanned aerial vehicle operators from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, spotted two individuals with a mortar tube. They loaded the weapon into a vehicle and drove off in northeastern Baghdad at approximately 7:25 p.m. (READ MORE)
Suicide bomber attacks IP station, kills 18 - TIKRIT, Iraq – A female suicide bomber attacked an Iraqi Police station killing seven Iraqi Police at approximately 6 p.m. April 22 in Diyala Province. The blast also killed ten Iraqis civilians and one Kurdish civilian. Two IPs were wounded in the attack. “Crimes against the Iraqi people will not be tolerated,” said Maj. Lisa Garcia, Multi-National Corps – Iraq spokeswoman. “The people of Iraq, and their allies, will not let these kinds of brutal attacks sow the seeds of fear and intimidation in this country.” (READ MORE)
Grants help rebuild Iraqi street - BAGHDAD – Iraqi shop owners received grant assistance April 20, after proving the money would be put to good use renovating their businesses. “Today we made final payments for microgrants to property owners in the Haswa area,” said Maj. Eric Kerr, 415th Civil Affairs, attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. Kerr also works with the brigade’s embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team. (READ MORE)
SoI member leads Soldiers to EFP cache - BAGHDAD – A member of the Sons of Iraq led Multi-National Division – Center Soldiers of 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment to a weapon cache containing two explosively-formed projectiles near Jisr Diyala, Iraq, April 21. One of the EFPs had a makeshift stand for adjusting elevation. Both EFPs were turned over to an explosive ordnance disposal team for further exploitation. (READ MORE)
New Wing for Saedi School - FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH — The Saedi School in the Mahmudiyah Qada officially received the funding to add a new wing with six classrooms and a pump to produce fresh water on the school grounds during a small ceremony April 20. “Education is once again becoming a top priority in Iraq and sectarian violence in Mahmudiyah is on a rapid decline,” said Sheikh Sammi Obead Alwan, director of education for the Saedi School. (READ MORE)
Iraqi National Police Apply Pressure to Enemy in Southern Baghdad - BAGHDAD — Iraqi National Police from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd NP Division, working in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad, seized a weapons cache and detained a suspected criminal during a security patrol April 20. Conducting simultaneous raids at two different sites, 3rd Bn., 5th Bde., 2nd NP Div. officers captured two heavy machine guns with 1,800 rounds, a sniper rifle and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and detained a suspected criminal operating in the Risalah neighborhood of West Rashid.(READ MORE)
Iraqis Displaced from Homes Now Returning in Droves - BAGHDAD — With security improving, local economies flourishing and community reconstruction underway, Iraqis who once fled their South Baghdad homes in fear are now returning to the villages they deserted. This is a good sign, said Maj. Mark Bailey, the officer in charge of the Multi-National Division – Center governance cell. “Once people are convinced that security is good in their area, they come back,” said Bailey, who is with 401st Civil Affairs Battalion, attached to 3rd Infantry Division. (READ MORE)
Meeting Signals to Soldiers in Bayji that Iraqis are Primed to Shift Focus - BAYJI — After several months of combat operations in the northern Iraqi city of Bayji, tribal leaders and local officials have shifted their focus. Full-scale U.S. and Iraqi-led operations have cleansed the area of numerous “high-value individuals,” crippling terrorist organization’s capacity to operate here. The result of these combined operations has led to positive economic and infrastructure changes for one of Iraq’s biggest oil hubs. (READ MORE)
Increased Security Brings New Commerce to Hawijah, Iraq - HAWIJAH — A young man beginning a business to support his new family is not necessarily headline news. However, for Kusai, 24, his dream would be realized in the heart of what was once considered an extremists’ stronghold only six months prior - Hawijah, Iraq. Hawijah, located approximately 60 miles south of Kirkuk City in the Kirkuk province, historically held center stage to the region’s worst violence against civilians, Iraq security forces, and coalition forces by extremists. The residents here faced anywhere from 10 to 15 attacks per day, according to military records. (READ MORE)
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