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6-9 Cav. makes presence known

Photo By Sgt. Armando Monroig | An overturned tank is used as a blocking position on a bridge that is a key route of...... read more read more

MUQDADIYA, IRAQ

11.19.2006

Courtesy Story

5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BY Sgt. Armando Monroig
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

MUQDADIYAH, Iraq (Nov. 19, 2006) -- When there's a new sheriff in town, he wants to make himself known. The 6-9 Armored Reconnaissance Squadron did just that when they launched their first squadron-sized operation of the deployment Nov. 19 in Muqdadiyah.

Soldiers rolled out for an early morning operation that included blocking a supply route used by insurgents, route clearing, speaking with key leaders at the Joint Coordination Cell, and searching for weapons caches.

All in a days work for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division unit out of Fort Hood, Texas. Their tour is just getting started but when their year is complete, they will have had an impact by helping bring law and order to the streets of Muqdadiyah.

The operation began with the Iraqi Army blocking off a portion of the area of operations to attempt to corral any insurgents who might be in the vicinity, said Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Thompson, squadron command sergeant major, a Middleburg, Ohio, native.

Coalition Soldiers then pushed forward in the direction of the blockade and cleared the road of any improvised explosive devices they found along the way, said Thompson.

Then, two blocking positions were set up, one on each of the two bridges most used by anti-Iraqi forces, said Thompson.

The bridges were blocked to keep insurgents from bringing any vehicle born improvised explosive devices into Muqdadiyah, said Thompson.

"We cleared that route and started to knock down a wall that was on one side of the route. There were four kilometers of that wall they use to initiate ambushes, IEDs, and throw grenades over," said Thompson.

Following the wall demolition, the cavalrymen cleared a suspected Al-Qaeda training camp. Three caches and two kidnapped victims were found inside the camp. No enemy forces were found.

"Some good came out of it," said Thompson of the operation. "We retrieved some weapons and two people who otherwise would have lost their lives."

In addition, four suspected insurgents were captured.

Despite the limited success of the operation, Thompson said improvements need to be made on the Iraqi forces side, particularly the Iraqi Police.

"The (Iraqi Army) around here has been trained pretty well. They operate very well, have fairly good leadership and are very aggressive. They do a really good job," Thompson said. "The (Iraqi Police) are not quite where they need to be."

Thompson said operations like this are good training for the Iraqi police. He said they will try to integrate them in more of these operations to continue to assist in training them and their new QRF team.

Thompson said an operation of this magnitude makes a statement to the enemy.

"We're telling them we're going to go exactly where we want to go, when we want to go there," Thompson said. "If they try to interfere with us, they're going to suffer."

Accomplishing their mission here will be a challenging task, said Thompson, but compared to the last time he was in Iraq, the locals are friendlier and want the coalition forces to be here.

"They, both Sunni and Shia, want us here. They just want all this to end.

They're doing what they can do to help us bring it to an end," added Thompson. "And we owe them that."

Spc. Bryan Hartung, a Virginia Beach, Va. Native, who is a combat medic assigned to Troop A, 6-9 ARS, has seen first-hand the struggles of helping the Iraqi people establish a stable government. This is his second deployment.

"We're just trying to get the Iraqi Security Forces up and running and at the same time keep the city safe," said Hartung.

Hartung said his unit's efforts are effective as they are keeping the streets safe for the locals and for his fellow Soldiers. He and his battle buddies are out clearing the streets of IEDs daily.

"The ultimate goal is to get the Iraqi government and country on its feet, get IP and IA working so we can eventually leave."