News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.
In their own words:
Armed and Curious: Positive leadership - I think I have mentioned before that I was fortunate to have worked for General Petraeus when he was commanding as a three-star in Baghdad in 2005. I was reminiscing about those interesting days as he prepares to take command of CENTCOM this Friday and stumbled onto some of my notes from our morning meetings. Throughout my career I have always chuckled at the things we soldiers will say and have always had the habit of scribbling down the funnier quotes as I hear them. It's always fun to roll them up later and present them as memories for everyone. Anyone who has known GEN Petraeus knows that he can snap off some pretty good one-liners that can sting you, stun you or just make you chuckle depending on if you are the target of the shot or not. As he prepared to leave us in September of 2005 I strung together some of his best lines from our meetings and threw them up as my portion of his last morning update. Here are a few of my favorite quotes with context added...enjoy. (READ MORE)
Eric Owles: Live Blogging an Embed: Q&A With the Marines - FORWARD OPERATING BASE TASH, Iraq (5:51 p.m. Iraq time) — I’ve asked the members of E Company, First Regimental Combat Team, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines to respond directly to some questions sent in by readers. They discuss the lower level of violence, political corruption and how they feel about having a reporter live with them. I will answer some questions as well. Q. Are the marines seeing improvement, a return to social normalcy in the daily lives of families? Are children returning to school? Are the marines seeing improvement in the infrastructure so needed? Water and power supply not as threatened? What are the political bodies actually promising the populace? What are the political platforms these tribal leaders convey? – Susan Audet (READ MORE)
Lt. Col. Paul Fanning: Feeling the loss of fallen friends - Among our losses over the last two weeks are three National Guard Soldiers – one from New Hampshire, one from New York and now one from Illinois. Two were killed by improvised explosive devices in the south and the other was killed by a suicide bomber up north. Corp. Scott Dimond from New Hampshire was killed on 13 October when the armored vehicle he was riding was struck by an IED. All the other occupants of the “Cougar” Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle escaped with only minor injuries and bruises when the truck was flipped by the explosion. Dimond was the gunner in the turret on top. He didn’t escape and died immediately. He was a remarkable man, having served 20 years as a local police officer and then joined the National Guard. He left his wife and four children back home in Franklin. He volunteered to come to Afghanistan with about 17 others from his state, including a cousin. (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: Iraqi troops find EFP factory in Sadr City - Iraqi troops uncovered a massive weapons cache and factory inside the northeastern neighborhood of Sadr City. The cache contained 34 of the deadly explosively-formed penetrators, the weapons that are the hallmark of the Iranian-backed Shia militias. This is the third large cache found in Sadr City since Oct. 20. The raid was conducted in the northern area of Sadr City, the former stronghold of Muqtada al Sadr's Iranian-backed Mahdi Army. Iraqi troops from the 44th Brigade of the 11th Iraqi Army Division conducted the operation after receiving tips from residents in Sadr City. The find is "significant as it included the machines used by the enemy to manufacture explosively-formed penetrators – the number one killer of our US soldiers," said Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover, the chief Public Affairs Officer for Multinational Division Baghdad. (READ MORE)
Two Brothers, Two Countries, One Army: Too soon... - Hello, and thank you to all of you that continue to show your support for my brother and I! Thank you! Too soon....Earlier today I stopped by my room to send out a couple of emails. But oddly I took time to write a post on here. I don't normally do that...matter of fact that's the first time I've done that I think. Just like I said, we don't use the word 'quiet' around here....I did today just playin around....well....the rest of the day wasn't to quiet...unfortunately. I felt really guilty later this afternoon....like I was the reason that some stuff happened...but that's not right, I shouldn't feel that way. I can't blame myself for something like that. I'm not supersticious (sp?) and never really have been...but today I felt partially responsible....why? I don't know. I talk to myself quite a bit and after a while of convincing myself that what I wrote on here has nothing to do with the series of events that took place. (READ MORE)
Up Country Iraq: EOD - Hello everyone, The drought has ended, at least for a couple of days. Army won three out of its past four football games. Oh yeah, and it rained here, too. It rained a steady rain all day on Sunday, and it cleared the air enough that it was actually raining and not mudding. Of course the ground can’t handle all of that water at once, so everything turns to a thick muck out here, and the ground releases quite an interesting smell. Life is good. A couple of months ago I wrote about route clearance patrols and how those patrols go in search of IEDs. Those patrols are conducted by Combat Engineers, which really is not a core mission of theirs. They have traditionally cleared minefields, but they just blow those up and clear a path. The soldiers who are officially tasked with dealing with explosives of all kinds are the soldiers who work in the field of Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or EOD. (READ MORE)
Big Tobacco: Hit a Jew Day - [Author's Note: My new banner is composed of the offending picture from my essay: "A Tale of Two Titties." This woman is safely in the US. Also note that my brother-in-law has not spoken to me since the day he sent that email. He's not a bad guy, he'd just rather get on the boxcar than fight.] I wrote this while smoking a Fincks Maravilloso. Of course my wife was mortified. “He’s four, B----,” she said. Gabora always calls me BT, only slipping into my first name when she is angry or in the heat of lovemaking. We weren’t making love. “If I’m going to keep a gun in the house, he needs to know how to use it.” “That’s fine. Maybe when he’s 11. But he’s four.” “He’s almost five,” I counter. “He’s four.” What is it about Jews and guns? At what point did Jews become so averse to firearms that they would shrink from them like they were tools of evil as opposed to tools of freedom. The nation of Israel wasn’t founded by asking the Arabs politely. (READ MORE)
News from the Front:
Iraq:
Coalition forces capture four wanted men, detain four more suspects - BAGHDAD – Coalition forces further debilitated al-Qaeda in Iraq networks during operations Wednesday and Thursday, capturing four wanted men and detaining four additional suspects. Forces in Mosul targeted AQI’s communication lines Wednesday night. A wanted man believed to be an AQI courier associated with multiple regional leaders was captured along with three suspects during the operation. (READ MORE)
Amarah SWAT detains criminal leader in Maysan - BALAD, Iraq – Amarah Special Weapons and Tactics unit arrested a suspected criminal leader on an Iraqi Army warrant in Basrah on Oct. 25. The individual is believed to be the second-in-command of Special Groups in the Maysan Province. Iraqi Security Forces seized US$2,500 and 1.4 million in Iraqi Dinar during the operation. (READ MORE)
ISF captures 2 suspected terrorists in northern Iraq - BALAD, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces captures two suspected terrorists in separate operations in northern Iraq Oct. 28. In an operation in Khatoon, Baqubah Special Weapons and Tactics captured a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq cell leader. The individual is said to be responsible for planning and coordinating attacks against ISF. (READ MORE)
ISF pursues criminals, militants in separate Iraq operations - BALAD, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces captured seven suspected criminals and militants in separate operations in central Iraq Oct. 24-28. On Oct. 28 in Rashid, Iraqi Special Operations Forces arrested a suspected criminal military cell leader on a Ministry of Interior warrant. (READ MORE)
ISF, CF continue to improve security in Mosul - MOSUL, Iraq — As the 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division becomes more self-sufficient, security in the Palestine neighborhood is the best it has been since Iraqi Security and Coalition forces joined together and established Combat Outpost Rock. During the past several months, the residents are noticing a decrease in the patrols focused on physical or combat-related missions and are getting to speak with the Soldiers as they talk about what is needed to continue to improve the lives of the residents in this southeastern Mosul neighborhood. (READ MORE)
ISF capture 15 suspected terrorists in separate operations - BALAD, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces capture 15 suspected terrorists in northern Iraq during three operations Oct. 26-27. On Oct. 27, Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured six suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq cell members northwest of Mosul in Barzan. The cell members are suspected of bombing the Barzan Iraqi Police station earlier this month, and attacked the Badoush Prison in Mar. 2007. (READ MORE)
Citizen’s tip leads NP to weapons cache - BAGHDAD – Policemen from 1st Battalion, 8th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, seized the cache in the Shawra Wa Um Jidir area of the New Baghdad district in eastern Baghdad, which consisted to three 81 mm mortar rounds, three 60 mm mortar rounds, four rocket-propelled grenade launchers, five RPG warheads, three RPG fuse assemblies and approximately 400 rounds of 7.62 ammunition and a Dragonov sniper rifle. (READ MORE)
Local renovations to benefit village residents - MOSUL, Iraq – Renovations to a government office building to improve services offered to residents of Muhallahbiyah, a village outside of Mosul, are scheduled to be completed Oct. 31. The Al-Jansia office, a city administration building, will soon reopen and allow citizens to apply for much needed services from the government. (READ MORE)
Iraqi Security Forces Increase Footprint in Southern Baghdad - WASHINGTON — Iraqi forces in southern Baghdad once needed the help of nearly 10,000 American troops to maintain security, but by next month, the number of Coalition troops there will drop to fewer than 1,800, a military official posted in Iraq said yesterday. The “professionalization” of the Iraqi Army is perhaps the greatest achievement of Coalition forces in southern Baghdad, Army Col. Dominic Caraccilo, commander of the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, known as the Rakkasans, told Pentagon reporters via teleconference. (READ MORE)
Iraqi, U.S. Soldiers Conduct Food Drop - FOB GARRY OWEN — Waiting in line, Ahmed al-Zahra, a local Iraqi citizen of Majarr al-Kabir, in southern Iraq, looked to his left and right as he observed the people in front of him also waiting to receive their fair share of food. He asked one of the Soldiers from the 10th Iraqi Army Division if there was enough food for everyone, considering his place at the end of the line. The Soldier reassured Zahra that there would be plenty for everyone during the non-governmental organization food distribution by the al-Yaq Dha al-Thaka Pia Foundation, Oct. 25. (READ MORE)
Women Working to Expand Iraq’s Water Treatment Capacity - THI QAR PROVINCE — Residents in a southern Iraqi city will soon receive more drinking water thanks to the efforts of three women with remarkable stories. In Fadiliya, the community of 10,000 people currently receives only 60 percent of its water needs from existing infrastructure. A new 200-cubic-meter-per-hour treatment facility is under construction and expected to be complete by the end of the year. (READ MORE)
Soldiers Help Create Public Park from Abandoned Carnival - BAGHDAD — “As I drove by the Army canal every day, I saw this park, and I said this is something we can do to help the citizens,” said Col. John Hort, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Dover Park, as it is known by Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, sat abandoned for years; located in the Qahira neighborhood of the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad, its carnival rides were unusable and the land was overgrown with weeds. (READ MORE)
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