Operation Devil Clinch Nets Insurgents, Weapons

Operation Devil Clinch Nets Insurgents, Weapons

By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mark Bell
372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 24, 2004 — During a midnight raid Feb. 21, more than 250 paratroopers from the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, went out and got exactly what they came for - bad guys and things that bad guys have that they aren’t suppose to have.

Rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortar sights, improvised explosive device making materials and more than $23,000 in U.S. and Iraqi currency were seized during Operation Devil Clinch.

Assigned to the 1st Armored Division Artillery Combat Team in southern Baghdad’s Al Rashid District, the paratroopers simultaneously raided six targets catching the suspected insurgents.

At mission’s end, six suspected insurgents and their tools of the trade were taken off the streets. Their weapons will be destroyed.

Division artillery leaders said Operation Devil Clinch was one of the unit’s most successful operations since the task force took responsibility for the district less than a month ago.

“The paratroopers are disciplined, aggressive and highly-motivated,” said Maj. Scott Bisciotti, team operations officer. “You can see that in every member of the battalion. The success of this most recent mission is attributed to their dedication and ability to deliver accurate intelligence and a refined targeting process.”

Bisciotti said the paratroopers were able to perform precision operations because they used sophisticated intelligence targeting techniques.

“They have great leaders and initiative,” he said. “They were extremely creative in capturing the enemy off guard. That’s why they came back with what they went out to get.”

Passing an occasional onlooker and with the distant sound of barking dogs in the background, the paratroopers arrived at their objectives confident they found what they came looking for: six suspected terrorists.

Silently, the paratroopers dismounted their vehicles and hid behind trees, walls and anything else to keep them shielded from possible automatic gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades.

Using small tactical radios to communicate among squads and infrared lasers mounted on their M-4 weapons pointed toward the objectives, the paratroopers gained the tactical advantage thanks to their previous day’s reconnaissance of the area.

Each paratrooper silently moved into position before the “green light” was given to strike.

A paratrooper from 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Division Artillery Combat Team, 1st Armored Division stands ready with a 50-caliber machine gun during Operation Devil Clinch. U.S. Army photo

“Our intelligence reports were solid,” said Maj. Pet Minalga.

Continuing operations, increased patrols and searches throws the enemy’s instinct off, Minalga said. “We are disrupting their communications, coordination and execution of their attacks,” he said.

Surprise was the key element of success for this mission, he said.

Spc. Brad Roche, a rifleman with C Company, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, said catching the enemy off guard reduces the chances of hostile reaction to the raid.

“They can’t get to their weapons and that’s definitely a good thing,” he said. “If they are sleeping when we kick down the doors, they have no chance of reacting.”

Roche has spent his military career deployed. Previously serving in Afghanistan and now Iraq, Roche’s intense training and combat experience prepared him for this mission, he said.

Using good intelligence reports, the “White Devils” were able to capitalize on the moment and gain the edge over the insurgents.

The captured suspects were interrogated by the military intelligence soldiers and Iraqi translators.

“Who better to understand the Iraqi people than the Iraqi people themselves,” Minalga asked. “They truly understand the cultural and environment we are operating here. We’d be stupid not to use them.”

With the detainees loaded onto trucks, paratroopers all accounted for and the illegal weapons cataloged and out of the hands of terrorists, the task force quickly slipped back into the nighttime darkness.

There was more work to be done back at Forward Operating Base Steel Falcon before the paratroopers concluded the night’s mission. Captured weapons and money were counted and recounted. The detainees were interviewed and the postoperational paperwork completed.

The paratroopers returned to their base knowing their extra preparation and effort paid off in a successful operation. “It’s a great thing we are doing here,” said Roche. “We are actually making a difference and doing something to make people’s lives better.”

Rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortar sights, improvised explosive device making materials and more than $23,000 in U.S. and Iraqi currency were seized during Operation Devil Clinch.

Division artillery leaders said Operation Devil Clinch was one of the unit’s most successful operations since the task force took responsibility for the district less than a month ago.

“The paratroopers are disciplined, aggressive and highly-motivated,” said Maj. Scott Bisciotti, team operations officer.

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2-504th PIR, White Devils

Hoo ah!

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