Photo By Rick Emert | Pfc. Nichelle Sauls, an intelligence analyst from 1st Air Cavalry Brigade monitors a...... read more read more
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By Sgt. 1st Class Rick Emert
1st Air Cavalry Brigade Public Affairs
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Pssst.
It's a well kept secret how their contributions save the lives of Soldiers each and every day in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
No, you won't hear the Soldiers from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade's security section talking about their daily adventures, because virtually everything they do is a secret.
The intelligence and terrain Soldiers and U.S. Air Force weather personnel who comprise the brigade security section provide a three-dimensional picture of the battle space for aviators from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. The brigade's pilots are in the skies over Baghdad 24 hours a day, and the security troops give them a daily picture of the threat, the terrain and the weather.
"This is without a doubt the most volatile sector in Iraq," said Chief Warrant Officer Levar Wilson, the assistant brigade security officer.
Just as movie stars need consultants to keep them from making bad career choices, pilots need security Soldiers to advise them on everything from the enemy situation, hiding places for insurgents on the ground and bad weather.
"The number one thing we have to think about is the lives of the pilots," said Sgt. 1st Class Richard Nunnally, brigade security noncommissioned officer and a native of Dewitt, Va. "We give them a clear and concise picture of what the threat looks like on the ground so they can be aware of that threat."
How these security consultants gather that information is, well, a secret, but it is as vital to the aviation mission as the aircraft the pilots fly in.
"We paint the most accurate picture of what the enemy is doing on the ground as it relates to the aviation specific type mission here, because everything that happens on the ground has an equal effect in the air," said Wilson, who hails from Hearne, Texas.
That metaphorical picture includes some actual pictures from the terrain team.
"We study the terrain, but more commonly we provide cartographic overlays on maps," said Staff Sgt. Randall Marks, terrain team NCOIC, who calls Portales, N.M. home. "The threat boundaries can change a couple of times a week or monthly. There is no set pattern."
The brigade security troops provide intelligence to the battalion security sections as well, where the threat situation is briefed to pilots as part of each and every mission.
"We are the conduits between the battalions, the higher headquarters and even lateral headquarters within Iraq," Nunnally said.
Intelligence from the Baghdad area also is pertinent to aviators from other multinational divisions and even Multinational Corps-Iraq, who have to fly into the Baghdad air space, Wilson explained.
The security mission is non-stop, and there is no down time. It encompasses intelligence for missions, operational security and personal security.
"It's 24-7," Wilson said. "As long as we are flying, there's always a fight. We can't let up. We don't know when the insurgents go to sleep."
Since there is no let up, there is not much time for the security Soldiers to take a little breather.
"It's up to the leadership of the section to make sure the Soldiers don't become complacent," Nunnally said. "We keep everybody focused on the mission at hand."
For this section of Soldiers, the mission is made more challenging by the experience level.
"For a lot of our Soldiers, this is the first deployment," Wilson said. "We do more with smaller numbers than previous units have in this same location. We have (privates first class), specialists and young sergeants doing things that were being done by officers in previous units. This is, by far, a great testament of their tenacity and will to learn. The Soldiers and NCOs are who make things happen in this section. (They) work hard, and they accomplish their missions."
And, what exactly are those missions?
They'll never tell.
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2002 |
| Date Posted: | 01.22.2007 11:06 |
| Story ID: | 8874 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 302 |
| Downloads: | 142 |
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