Posted on 10/18/2005 3:55:32 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar
t's not unusual for the soldiers of the Alaska-based 172nd Stryker Brigade to seize weapons caches while patrolling the streets and villages of Iraq. But the stockpile they unearthed outside a chicken coop Tuesday set a record.
It took three days to blow up.
"Without a doubt, this was a significant find and certainly crippling to the (anti-Iraqi forces) operating in my sector," Lt. Col. Mark Freitag wrote by e-mail this week from Rawah, Iraq, where his cavalry unit, from Fort Wainwright, is stationed.
Stryker brigade commander Col. Michael Shields said the cache is the largest one the 172nd has uncovered since the 3,800-person brigade arrived in Iraq in early September.
The action started early Tuesday morning with a raid on a chicken farm near Anah, a remote desert village southeast of Rawah.
"We had reason to believe that the chicken farm was being used to store weapons and ammunition," Freitag wrote, without going into further detail.
Freitag's C Troop commander, Capt. John Hawbaker, 28, led a raid on one of the farm's chicken coops, but found it empty. Then, one of his "industrious" enlisted men, 31-year-old Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Mestas, eyed several depressions and dirt piles behind the chicken farm, Freitag said.
What happened next was described in an official Task Force Freedom press release this way: "Thanks to the diligence and innovation of a soldier they were able to get on-site excavation equipment operational and uncover the munitions."
In other words, Freitag explained in his e-mail, "(Mestas) 'hotwired' a backhoe that was on site and began digging."
Mestas, a Colorado native, first uncovered a military van filled with ammunition and weapons. He found more stockpiles as he continued to dig, Freitag said.
Freitag, 39, said it is not uncommon for his soldiers to find small caches of ammunition hidden away in buildings and culverts.
In the city of Mosul, where another large part of the 172nd is stationed, commanders have reported uncovering guns and rockets in vehicles and homes. Just recently, for example, an Alaska platoon in Mosul uncovered a half-dozen improvised bombs while on patrol, according to an article this week in Newsweek magazine.
But this was a "huge find" and Freitag called in reinforcements to help with the excavation. The assisting units brought two bulldozers with them (not hot-wired).
Pictures of the site show a metal trailer buried deep in the sand in an area that is flat and dusty as far as the eye can see. Explosive munitions of all shapes and sizes line metal shelves inside the windowless container. Large cloth sacks full of something sit nearby.
In the end, the team uncovered a chilling array of weapons: 220 rocket-propelled grenades; 40,000 7.62mm armor-piercing rifle or machine-gun rounds; 100 2.75-inch diameter rockets; 10 mines; 1,000 .50-caliber rifle or machine-gun rounds; 68 mortar rounds; 100 shotgun shells; 20 improvised claymore mines; 1,959 artillery projectiles; one rifle; a mortar bipod; four 122mm rocket engines; one mortar tube; 3,000 feet of detonation cord; 37 40-pound bags of red and black explosive powder; and 100 1-ounce primers.
The munitions were blown up, or "reduced," in military lingo, over three days by an ordnance disposal unit.
"It was the picture of a successful combined and joint operation," Freitag said.
On Friday it was unclear if anyone was living at the chicken farm or was wounded or detained in the raid. Freitag could not be reached for follow up questions because of the 12-hour time difference between Alaska and Iraq.
The Task Force Freedom press release concluded on this hopeful note:
"Anyone with information on anti-Iraqi insurgent activities should call the Joint Coordination Center's telephone numbers at 513462 or 07701623300."
Very confusing title.
Yep easy three or four day drill.....
Recon, Recovery, ID, Prep or transport if area is not safe and then theres the new contractural requirements with commercial civy made up of old retired EOD troops that get the big shots unless immediate safety / securiy is an issue.
ie; a small SF team sneaking and peaking would put charges on this pile and depart to watch the kickouts and sh*t and go blind panic from the terrorists. A fun kind of day per se...But a large engineer unit with engineers, large protective force and EOD troops will take their time and use the info as discovered.....:o)
As this was found it'll be a slow process as security is established and the stuff can be transported to an ASP or established demolition site for safe disposal.
BTW this title is kinda confusing. I read about this yesterday yet this one led me to believe a cache was found IN ALASKA......SLB pinged me on it I believce
The unit was deployed from alaska.......LOL !
The Alaska brigade left for Iraq a couple months ago. Lots of energy, enthusiasm, competence.
Yeah, I was thinking it was a cache in Alaska, too.
Not that it would be the first time. Friends of mine that have served in Alaska tell me that they find 'stuff' from time to time along the shorelines that don't belong to the US military.
Yep I have personally rendered safe old Jap and SIno soviet sea mines washed up on shore not to mention the horrific weather beacons er two....:o)
Lots of old ordnance and even some goodies miners left behind found all the time up there to BIB !
Hope yer well Sir....are ya back in or still out ?
Why would they destroy all of it? Maybe the homemade bombs, but the ammo could just be turned over to the Iraqi army for their use? 50 cal is about $1 a pop, if were talking BMG. Instead we'll destroy THIS ammo, and buy them some new ammo? Someone just wanted to see something go boom, I think!
Lessons learned LOOOOOOONG ago, that mucking around in the enemy's ammo dump can be unhealthy....
They are frequently booby trapped to prevent THEIR ammo from becoming YOUR ammo....
What little may be of common useage -- is probably not worth the risk --- in a time of "plenty"..
Semper Fi
Oh look, a chickin!
I remember taking piles of 37MM apart only to find a RDG5 grenade placed to go or other caches being dismantled to find the boobytraps and altered uxo designed to get "me".
Thus the reason I say this can be a 72 plus hour operation depending on it's size and location etc etc ....
Hope yer well RR !
Stay safe my Friend !
Dinner time already ?
I've heard of Alaskan military patrols finding rafts, rations, and batteries. Obviously they were left behind because someone wanted them to be found.
I'm involved in stateside hurricane recovery projects. Sorta mundane stuff. But I've definately got the itch. Talked to some folks in Kuwait last weekend but the $$ isn't there. I really need to wait until after the first of the year to go back.
Understand....BTW Lil Bro was down there in NOLA as a "gun" for Ted Kopple and ABC nooooze crews for a few weeks......big moneys dried up and he's off to better climes.
For us adhd mathematicians, this is the height of humor.
Whenever I fade out, my kids hollar, "Oh, look! A chicken!"
it cracks me up.
I guess that was what evet was getting at ?....bizarre !
You mathmaniacs scare me.....:o)
Whew! Thought you meant they found it in Alaska!
We each have our place....LOL
LOL......Attention to detail and a high degree of paranoia will get ya through the day.....
Those must be Zaxby's nuclear wings! Good stuff, if you can handle the occasional fallout.
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