Soldiers find weapons caches on Euphrates island

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Nov. 30, 2005) -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers found multiple weapons caches on an island in the Euphrates River Nov. 28.

Military officials had been monitoring suspicious activity near the Euphrates River southwest of Baghdad for a couple of weeks. When conditions were right, Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division sprung into action.

“The timing was right to attack the target,” said 2nd BCT Commander Col. Todd Ebel. “The pieces of the puzzle fit close enough.”

Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment secured the objective and discovered three significant weapons caches.

Soldiers also searched surrounding homes and facilities, detaining two suspected terrorists.

In total, the Soldiers uncovered 11 500-pound bomb shells, C4 explosives, welding equipment, mortar rounds, miscellaneous bomb-making material, 57mm rockets, 40 bags of fertilizer, 12 directional charges, five 155mm rounds, 100 feet of detonation cord, three rocket-propelled grenades, eight bags of 20mm rounds and other munitions and explosives.

An explosive ordinance disposal team was called to the site to conduct a controlled detonation of the caches.

“The large bombs and welding material are critical,” Ebel said. “It is likely this material was used for improvised explosive devices and possibly vehicle-borne IEDs that threaten Iraqi citizens and Coalition Forces. I could not be more proud of these 2/101st Soldiers. They do this every day to help bring peace. No one could ask more of them.”

Task Force Baghdad Soldiers teamed up with Iraqi Security Forces to conduct Operation Thunder Blitz in southern Baghdad the next day, Nov. 29, resulting in the capture of 33 terror suspects.

Moving rapidly into the area, hundreds of U.S. Soldiers from 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and Iraqi forces from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Commando Brigade (Wolf Battalion) took the enemy by surprise by securing seven different objective areas along the Tigris River.

Operation Thunder Blitz was focused on removing weapons and terrorists from the streets prior to the Dec. 15 elections.

(Editor’s note: Pfc. Kelly K. McDowell serves with the 2nd BCT, 101st Airborne Division PAO. Maj. Alayne Conway, 4th BCT PAO, 3rd Infantry Division, also contributed to this story.)

"Heck, in the past 5 years I've seen at least one article on U.S. civil war ordnance (C.S.A.) from the 1860's being discovered in the South!"

Understand. Sadly this time around much of the stuff may have been buried prior to the invasion for supporting the Saddamist resitance. One things for sure having an estimate forth or fifth largest ordanance supply of all nations they sure have a lot of stuff still probably still buried. Let alone what may be buried in the form of chemical pre-cursors for nerve gas etc..

"What I can't figure out is how they got there and when they were established. Is it all Iraqi army surplus, or trucked in? Again - how and when?"

I think we have to bear in mind, Saddam over those fifteen years procured huge amounts of stuff from the EU, Russia, and Russian satelites. He had the oil to use as a bargaining chip. And I am sure he made sure whatever was used during their war with Iran, was replaced and added unto over a long period of time.
Over the past few years on occasions we have encountered articles indicating prior to and just after the invasion, Iraqi special army units where relocating large caches throughout Iraq. For example, a school would be told to not allow children to come to the school for lets say three days.
Upon returning to the school. One would see a large concrete cap in the play ground that was not there before. We have to bear in mind Saddam made it clear that if we invaded there would be a price to pay. And clearly he eluded to a long term resistance effort that would take place. So naturally it is fair to assume they where buring stuff up the gazo, in order to wage a long insurgency.
And we must remember the "looting binges" that went on after the tanks rolled into the capital. We did not send huge numbers of conquering forces into the thousands of towns and cities throughout Iraq. So this left the door open for Saddam's goons to convoy stuff from armories and ordnance depots for burial elsewhere. Apparently while our troops where invading and prior to the invasion, Saddam's units where busy preparing for a follow up insurgency. And when one considers the literally hundreds of depots they had, it would have been impossible regardless of the number of troops sent in to in any way stop them from relocating stuff to hidden sites.

" But I'm still blown away by the quantity we've recovered."

Yes. Just think 600,000 tons of bombs, rockets, mortar rounds. It takes four 500lbs to make a ton. Perhaps 1000 rockets, 1200 plus mortar shells. The EU sold Iraq literally hundreds of thousands of tons of ordance over an extended period of time. Those French 155mm artillery shells they now use for making IED's, filled ordnance depots to the brim. And perhaps as much as a quarter of the stuff is still buried, hidden in buildings etc..
It is going to take a long time to rid the country of stuff that they can no longer use in their new army.

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