Army finds weapons cache in new AO

Courtesy Photo | Capt. Christopher Caiozzo, commander of Company G, 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, dusts off a weapons cache found during a weapons search in the village of Heschel, Feb. 20. Soldiers of Battery B, 1st Platoon, Company G, conducted a joint search with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division. They detained two suspected insurgents and uncovered a weapons cache during the search. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)  

02.20.2007

Courtesy Story

5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment   

By Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

HESCHEL, Iraq – Members of the 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, detained two suspected insurgents and uncovered a weapons cache, Feb. 20, in a rural Iraqi village located in the Qayarrah region, between Baghdad and Mosul.

The area of the raid, a stopping point between Baghdad and Mosul, could be a logistical staging area, and recruiting area, for insurgents, said Capt. Christopher Caiozzo, Company G commander.

Black Dragon Battalion Soldiers assumed security responsibility of the Heschel village area earlier this year, said Lt. Col. Robert McLaughlin, battalion commander.

The mission in Heschel is the first foray by the field artillery Soldiers into the village to hunt for weapons. Soldiers of Battery B and Company G conducted the joint search with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division. They uncovered a 105mm artillery round, one sniper rifle, three AK-47s and binoculars, and a few hundred rounds of ammunition. They also detained the man who owned the property where the weapons were found, and his brother, as possible suspects.

The search for weapons took the coalition forces to a small farm to look for a needle in a haystack.

Soldiers found one weapon in a room full of hay and animal feed. That find led the Iraqi army and coalition soldiers to search other areas more thoroughly, including a mud building full of logs and an animal corral with the carcass of a dead donkey lying in the ground.

"While we moved the logs out we discovered a crate buried in the dirt," said Spc. Franklin Filmon, 3rd Platoon, Company G. Filmon headed the search with the Iraqi army soldiers moving from one mud lean-to to another looking for weapons.

The crate contained the rest of the weapons cache.

Iraqi army soldiers then questioned and arrested the two suspects.

"I'm hoping we saved some lives," said Filmon, a native of Pinellas Park, Fla. "With everything we found; the guns, the artillery round and all the rounds that they had, I'm hoping we saved some lives."

• Date Taken: 02.20.2007
• Date Posted: 03.20.2007 09:27
• Story ID: 9510