Photo By Rick Rzepka | Together the Iraqi policemen and Soldiers from the 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st...... read more read more
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By Sgt. Rick Rzepka
1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division
SALAH AD DIN PROVINCE, Iraq- Whooping and whistling like children on a roller coaster ride, Iraqi policemen soared through the sun-soaked July sky on their way home from a successful mission. Their enthusiasm was not borne of the high-speed helicopter ride, but of the hard day's work, which helped save the lives of countless Iraqi civilians.
In the predawn hours of July 12, Iraqi policemen, along with Soldiers from the 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, conducted an air assault into the arid farmlands north of Balad. Throughout the burning July morning, the Iraqi SWAT teams moved with speed and discipline, to clear a suspected enemy hideout in the area.
The combined air assault mission resulted in the capture of six men with ties to the local insurgency, three of whom were known to be members of al Qaeda in Iraq. A thorough search of the area resulted in the discovery of two vehicles wired with explosives and a substantial amount of ammonium-nitrate; a chemical compound used to make homemade bombs. The vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, which have been used with devastating results in the past, were destroyed by coalition forces, along with the explosives. The operation aimed to deny enemy extremists the ability to carry out future terror operations against innocent Iraqis and coalition forces in the Salah ad Din province.
"Countless lives were saved today as a result of seizing and destroying these VBIEDs before al Qaeda could use them," said Lt. Col. Thomas Hauerwas, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division executive officer. "There is no way of knowing how many innocent people would have been killed or injured by these cold-blooded killers."
Increasingly, coalition forces are seeing Iraqis take the lead in the fight against extremists in the province of Salah ad Din.
Iraqi security forces actually outnumbered coalition forces on this air assault, said Maj. Phillip Borders, 1st STB operations officer. Borders said he believes that Iraq's success lies in the hands of the ISF.
"If we don't work with the (ISF), there is no mission success," he said. "You can catch all of the bad guys in the world but until we get the Iraqis to do it, the old standard is still there."
With every combined mission, the ISF are honing their ability to plan for and execute these types of missions autonomously. Their experience is extensive, considering that a fair number of the ISF have been battling the insurgency for a number of years, alongside their coalition allies.
Through the fight against a common enemy, a bond has formed between some ISF and their American counterparts. The Iraqi SWAT members often try to mirror their American counterparts in every aspect, from the way they clear a room, to the way they wear their kneepads. Their willingness to learn from 101st Airborne Division Soldiers is part admiration and part respect. No longer are the ISF seen as greenhorn troops by their mentors.
"Their sense of duty and their sense of patriotism are undeniable," said Hauerwas. "What they lack in equipment, such as communications and mobility, they make up for in sheer will," he said.
The Iraqi police force participates in a majority of the 1st STB's combat operations in and around Tikrit and are becoming more skillful everyday. "We are out of the crawl phase and are into the walk phase," said Borders, referring to the training paradigm of 'crawl, walk, run.'
The two forces now walk side by side, through city streets and dusty roads in the fight against terrorism in the Salah ad Din province.
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 07.18.2008 15:50 |
| Story ID: | 21628 |
| Location: | SALAH AD DIN PROVINCE, IQ |
| Web Views: | 187 |
| Downloads: | 150 |
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