Operation in Al Doura market 'sweeping' success for 2-12 Inf.

Photo By Spc. Alexis Harrison | A Soldier from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division keeps watch over his comrades while they search a building in the Al Doura marketplace in Baghdad Dec. 23.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

12.27.2006

Courtesy Story

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

By Spc. Alexis Harrison
2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – It doesn't rain often in Iraq. When it does, the ground turns to a sloppy mess of mud that attaches itself to anything it comes in contact.

Despite being rained on and covered in mud up to their ankles, Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, braved more than the weather to make sure "Operation Gladiator" was a success. Not just for them, but for the locals counting on the businesses and shops to reopen.

The operation centered its effort in the ever-dangerous Al Doura marketplace in central Baghdad, the site for almost a third of the murders accounted for in the capital city. Soldiers from 2-12 have already been patrolling the streets for several weeks, and they've already had their share of adversity.

Dozens of roadside bombs, mortar attacks and small-arms fire fights have erupted in the same area where hundreds of businesses used to be.

However, despite the dangerous conditions, the infantry battalion rose to the challenge.

According to their battalion commander, Lt. Col. Stephan Michael, the market used to be a place where business flourished until sectarian violence dispersed the locals living and working there. He said that his battalion's mission is as simple as taking the area back from anti-Iraqi forces and bring it back to life.

"Right now it's an abandoned area," Michael said. "It's been an area thought to harbor insurgents. There have been more than 20 IEDs found and 15 murders there just since we've been here. We're hoping to root out the insurgents and establish security."

The Soldiers left Forward Operating Base Falcon while a driving rain poured into the hatches on their Humvees.

Their first stop was at the Iraqi National Police Headquarters, whose policeman accompanied the troops on missions. While staging their vehicles, mortars rained into the police base making it clear that insurgents were in the area.

Staff Sgt. Dominic Nolan, a squad leader with Company C, 2-12, said mortars were nothing new to him. His vehicle had been destroyed a few days earlier by three of them. Fortunately, he and his crew came away from the incident unharmed - unlike their truck.

The Soldiers rolled out with their Iraqi counterparts to the market. As soon as they arrived, the work began.

They had to check every room in every building on the block they were assigned. Though they didn't know what to expect, they did know what they were looking for. Before they could clear the first block, they found several signs of insurgent activity.

Three unexploded artillery rounds were found inside one of the stores. As quickly as they found it, they cleared the building and called the explosive ordnance disposal team to come pick it up.

Nolan's squad kept moving and searching the vacant buildings where once a busy network of bartering and haggling took place. Not long after they found the ordnance, a family was found still living in one of the dismal-looking apartments above an empty shop.

The team found a suspicious bottle with wires coming out of it, but it turned out to be nothing. The family was allowed back into their home, and the Soldiers moved on.

The Company C, "Chosen," made quick work of the block they were assigned to clear. Without missing a beat, the company moved on to the next block, then the next, until they completed almost five blocks of searching. It was five times the amount they had planned on doing, but the Soldiers finished nonetheless.

Nolan remarked that it was one of the longest missions he'd ever been on.
Although it was arduous, his squad kept vigilant and completed the task.

"These guys did what they were supposed to do," Nolan boasted about his squad. "It may not have been as glamorous as finding Saddam, but we found what we were looking for, and no one got hurt."

Sgt. Gordon Wade, an Andover, Mass. native and team leader in Nolan's squad, said that long missions like Gladiator can be difficult for Soldiers, especially this time of year.

Nolan was just married before he deployed with 2-12. He hopes to be home on leave in a few weeks to be with his wife for the birth of their first baby girl. He said that although he's not home for the holidays, he'll be happy just to know his daughter comes into this world healthy.

After more than 12 hours on the streets of the Al Doura marketplace, the troops' mission was complete and was deemed a success by their commander.

"One of the toughest parts now is getting in contact with the civic leaders and business owners to let them know things have changed," Michael said. "Once people see that it's safe, they'll start to come back."

• Date Taken: 12.27.2006
• Date Posted: 12.27.2006 12:57
• Story ID: 8688
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ