Posted on 01/22/2004 1:50:36 PM PST by Cannoneer No. 4
MOSUL, Iraq - Three Stryker brigade soldiers were injured when insurgents detonated a roadside bomb as their convoy rolled down a highway Wednesday morning.
One soldier was hit in the abdomen by shrapnel and was reported in satisfactory condition after surgery at an Army field hospital. His wounds were not considered life-threatening, but he will require further surgery after he's flown home to the United States, brigade officials said.
The other two suffered minor injuries and were returned to duty after treatment. The soldiers are from B Battery of the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment.
The attack was the first in Mosul to injure Stryker brigade soldiers since their move north from the Samarra area earlier this month.
Another soldier suffered superficial cuts Friday when his truck was hit by a roadside bomb on the way to Tall Afar, west of Mosul. The officer in the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment was cut on the face by flying gravel but was otherwise unharmed.
Wednesday's attack occurred just after 8 a.m. as a five-vehicle convoy drove along a major east-west thoroughfare on the west side of the Tigris River, officials said.
The blast occurred a little more than a half-mile east of the Yarmook traffic circle, a major intersection, on a stretch of highway that runs between two cemeteries.
Ordnance experts believe the bomb was fashioned with a pair of 155 mm artillery rounds hidden in an old vegetable container and detonated by remote control, said Maj. Yvette Hopkins, the brigade intelligence officer.
The blast could be heard - and felt - three or so miles away at the brigade headquarters at the Mosul presidential palace compound.
Brigade commander Col. Mike Rounds said the explosion blew the rear axle off a Humvee with extra armor protection and damaged another Humvee, a standard gun truck.
The vehicles had to be hauled away from the scene, Rounds said. He added he hadn't learned yet whether either could be repaired and returned to service.
Two of the wounded were riding in the vehicle with extra armor.
Had it not been for the vehicle's additional armor, the soldiers' injuries might have been far worse, said the brigade surgeon, Maj. John Glorioso.
The up-armored Humvees come with bullet-proof glass and additional armor installed at various points around the vehicle.
One of the soldiers was hit between his nose and his eye by a large splinter of wood, narrowly missing his eyeball, the surgeon said.
The other was hit by shrapnel in the back of his neck and buttocks. The metal in his neck was removed, but as for the other, Glorioso said, "there's not much you can do about that. It's deep muscle tissue. He'll just have to be careful around metal detectors."
The injured soldiers were riding with troops from the 101st Airborne Division, who have been showing the Stryker soldiers around as they prepare to take over for the 101st in Mosul and the rest of northern Iraq.
The blast occurred about 8:07 a.m. In just over an hour all three wounded had been taken by ground ambulance to a nearby 101st base and then flown by helicopter to the hospital at Mosul Airfield, officials said.
Rounds directed his staff to review the incident to consider how the response might have been better or how it might have been avoided in the first place.
"You don't want these things to happen, but you want to learn from them," the commander said.
Combat engineers in Mosul conduct daily sweeps of areas where roadside bombs are likely to be planted, as they do all over Iraq where U.S. forces are operating.
The bombs - "improvised explosive devices," or IEDs - remain one of the most persistent threats to coalition forces.
One other brigade soldier suffered a broken foot and ankle in an IED blast that set fire to a Stryker in Samarra on Dec. 13. The fire destroyed the vehicle. Another Stryker was hit by an IED a week later, also in Samarra, but was returned to service after repairs to the left front wheel. No soldiers were injured.
The 5,000-strong brigade from Fort Lewis is best known for taking more than 300 of the medium-weight, eight-wheeled Strykers into combat for the first time. But it also has hundreds of other vehicles with less protection and firepower, including Humvees and trucks.
Rounds said he is trying to convince higher commanders to give the brigade more of the up-armored Humvees, particularly for the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment. The battalion will mostly be working like an infantry unit, protecting the brigade's operating bases and convoy routes.
Mosul is considered to be much more stable than other parts of Iraq but still sees attacks on coalition forces.
On Monday, insurgents fired at least one rocket-propelled grenade at the palace camp. On Tuesday, three mortar rounds landed near the front gate.
There were no injuries in either attack, which occurred just before sunrise.
News Tribune staff writer Michael Gilbert is embedded with the Stryker brigade in Iraq. Reach him at mjgilbert41@yahoo.com.
For regular reports on the brigade, sign up for an e-mail newsletter at www.tribnet.com/ registration.
(Published 12:01AM, January 22nd, 2004)
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
MOSUL, Iraq - The Stryker brigade's headquarters staff was ready to roll out its best red carpet Monday for Gen. John Abizaid, the four-star in charge of the U.S. Central Command.
They spiffed up the tactical operations center, located in an elegant side building on the Mosul palace grounds, and prepared a thorough briefing on their work so far to take over for the 101st Airborne Division.
As it turned out, Abizaid spent most of his four-hour visit with the 101st and never made it over to the brigade TOC.
But the brigade still got to take the general and many from his entourage on a quick Stryker convoy downtown.
Spc. Michael Marks, who drives brigade commander Col. Mike Rounds' Stryker, had Abizaid and 101st commander Maj. Gen. David Petraeus on his truck.
Marks said his passengers enjoyed the speedy run down the highway along the Tigris River, during which they reached speeds of 60 mph and more.
"They all want one now," he said.
The plan had been just to drive around the palace grounds, known as Forward Operating Base Freedom. But when Abizaid allowed as how he had a bit of time before he had to fly out, Rounds ordered up the off-campus dash.
Brigade officers said they would have liked the chance to tell their story to the U.S. military's senior commander for all operations in the Middle East.
But then visits from top generals are getting to be a routine. Earlier, at Camp Pacesetter, they heard a fiery address by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.
And just before they were deployed, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, and the Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Peter Schoomaker visited them at Fort Lewis.
The coalition bases in Mosul aren't attacked nearly as often as some of the places Stryker troops stayed in Central Iraq. But it still happens.
A rocket-propelled grenade hit near a guard tower about 6 a.m. Monday. It caused no damage or injuries.
Most soldiers were still asleep, but several said they were awakened by either the explosion or the sound of the rocket zipping over the living area.
"I heard it go overhead," Spc. Jody Raplee said.
Like ziiinnngggg?
"No, like WHOOOOSSSHHH!" he said.
Brigade officials said troops in the tower reported they saw two men with an RPG launcher on a bridge near the base just before the attack.
It wasn't clear why the soldiers in the tower didn't fire on them. Stryker troops have been trained to consider Iraqis with RPGs as hostile and are cleared to shoot them, if necessary.
The towers are usually manned by at least one soldier from the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and one from the 101st Airborne. Stryker troops will soon replace those from the 101st as the brigade takes over for the division.
The brigade's mission in Iraq hasn't attracted quite the amount of news coverage that officials thought it might, but that may change soon.
National Public Radio, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters and the BBC are all lining up visits, said the brigade public affairs officer, Lt. Col. Joseph Piek. The New York Times is also planning a return trip - a reporter spent a couple days with the brigade back at Camp Pacesetter - as is a reporter-photographer team from the Army Times.
But it won't be a real media circus until Geraldo Rivera shows up. Piek said Rivera has inquired about coming through perhaps next month.
Staff writer Michael Gilbert is embedded with the Stryker brigade in Iraq. He was embedded with the 62nd Medical Brigade in Mosul last year. Reach him at mjgilbert41@yahoo.com.
(Published 12:01AM, January 20th, 2004)
Stryker driver Spc. Michael Marks, left, gets an attaboy from Gen. John Abizaid.
MOSUL, Iraq - Three Stryker brigade soldiers were injured when insurgents detonated a roadside bomb as their convoy rolled down a highway Wednesday morning.
One soldier was hit in the abdomen by shrapnel and was reported in satisfactory condition after surgery at an Army field hospital...
The other two suffered minor injuries and were returned to duty after treatment. The soldiers are from B Battery of the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment.
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Prayers going out for the comfort and healing of our wounded Soldiers, and for the continuing protection of the Stryker Brigade. 
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How they manage to keep planting these bombs without getting caught is beyond me.
1st Brigade, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
M1114 Up-Armored HMMWV
These guys, I believe you pointed out.
Thank you. (^:
Yes, it is. Keep in mind that the Stryker Brigade is already making it far more difficult for our enemies in Mosul. They've captured many weapons, with the help of local Iraqis, and just the other day a Ba'athist leader surrendered to them.
Two of our three Stryker brigade Soldiers returned to duty. The other will be flying home for more surgery, and needs your prayers.
Our enemies should not take any comfort from this report.
The artillery battalion does not have Strykers.
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