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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=687
U.S. Marines In Iraq Find Multiple Weapons Caches
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sep. 4, 2006 – U.S. Marines from Regimental Combat Team 5 found hundreds of weapons recently during Operation Rubicon in Mushin, Iraq, west of Habbaniyah, U.S. officials reported.
The Marines, assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment and 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, seized more than 500 mortar rounds, nearly 100 artillery rounds, more than 130 rocket-propelled grenades, an excess of 120 grenades, 22 mines, 10 mortar tubes, 20 rifles and machine guns, 18 sets of body armor and various other items including binoculars and bayonets.
“This area was definitely an insurgent stronghold,” said Cpl. Brandon M. Stair, 25, a team leader assigned to 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, who was among the group that discovered the cache sites.
The insurgents, Stair said, had stored “stuff for the long fight, and they had stuff for tomorrow.”
One cache yielded 500 blasting caps, each one capable of detonating a single improvised explosive device. Another cache yielded mortars. Another was a stash of sniper rifles.
“Every cache was a separate set-up,” explained 35-year-old Gunnery Sgt. Kenneth A. Westgate, assigned to 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion.
“We usually find just mortars or just guns. These had a mix of everything.” Sgt. Joshua D. Cross, a 26-year-old reconnaissance team leader, said.
A local Iraqi thanked the Marines for helping to clear the area of insurgents, Cross said. “He was real grateful for what we were doing there,” the Marine said.
(From a Multinational Corps Iraq news release.)
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=688
Iraqi Police Kill Insurgent Kingpin in Rawah Shootout
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sep. 4, 2006 – Iraqi police killed one of the most wanted insurgent leaders in the Euphrates River Valley during a Sept. 2 counterinsurgency operation in the city of Rawah, U.S. officials reported.
Sadam Shihab Ahmad had played a key role organizing local anti-coalition operations, officials said. He also was suspected of involvement in the beheading of a Rawah policeman earlier this year.
When Ahmad, along with an accomplice, saw Iraqi police approaching their position in Rawah, the two suspects attempted to flee in a vehicle, but the police blocked their escape route.
A policeman ordered Ahmad and his passenger to exit the vehicle with their hands up. Refusing the order, Ahmad pointed an assault rifle at the policeman, who then fired several rounds at Ahmad, killing him.
Immediately after the shooting, Ahmad’s passenger exited the vehicle and threw a hand grenade at the policeman, but it failed to explode. The policeman then shot and wounded the suspect. The wounded insurgent was taken to a U.S. military medical facility, where he was reported to be in stable condition. The police also detained a third suspect.
The Rawah operation illustrates how the Iraqi police are fast-becoming a viable law enforcement organization, said U.S. Marine Maj. Lowell F. Rector, officer in charge of the police transition teams in western Anbar province.
“The Iraqis are gathering their own intelligence, following up on leads, executing what they’ve been taught by coalition forces and are catching the bad guys,” said Rector, a 42-year-old reservist who’s a police officer in Columbus, Ohio.
The Marines’ 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 7, is responsible for training and mentoring the Iraqi security forces in Rawah.
RCT-7 also is responsible for western Anbar province, a 30,000-square-mile-area that stretches from the Jordanian and Syrian borders hundreds of miles east to Hit, a city about 70 miles northwest of Ramadi.
(From a Multinational Corps Iraq news release.)
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=689
Apaches Blast Terrorists’ Vehicles in Western Baghdad
By Sgt. 1st Class Reginald Rogers, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service
BAGHDAD, Sep. 4, 2006 – Two Longbow Apache helicopters provided air-to-ground support to American soldiers by blasting enemy vehicles during action in western Baghdad yesterday, U.S. officials reported.
The flight of choppers from Multinational Division Baghdad’s Combat Aviation Brigade teamed up to assist U.S. ground forces from the division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
The combined effort resulted in one terrorist killed, four captured and two terrorist’s vehicles destroyed, officials said.
The Apache crews were conducting a combat air patrol mission when they received the call to assist. At about 4:45 p.m., the pilots noticed two abandoned vehicles near where the attack was reported.
“The vehicles were staged for the (terrorists), who tried to engage the infantry guys,” explained Army Maj. Byron Needum, one of the Apache pilots assigned to the CAB’s 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment. “When we got there, the infantry had already got the best of them and detained three.
“They were still looking for more (terrorists),” Needum continued. “That’s when we found the vehicles, and vehicles didn’t fit the situation.”
Apache teams rarely have to engage the enemy once they arrive on the scene, Needum said.
“Normally when we get there, people don’t want to ‘play’ anymore,” he explained. “Even if we don’t engage the enemy, our presence alone helps the ground guys out.”
Helicopter crews have a picture-window view of enemy activity on the ground, Needum said. That advantage, he said, is often used to support U.S. ground forces.
“We have a different vantage point, and we can see farther than you can on the ground,” said Needum, who is also the company commander for his battalion’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company. “I don’t think they would have seen those (enemy) vehicles without us.”
According to Chief Warrant Officer Scott Quaife, who piloted the second of the two Apaches, his team spotted the two vehicles upon arrival to the location, but could not engage without receiving confirmation that they belonged to the terrorists.
“We spotted the two Bradleys, and they had already opened fire on the canal with their 25 mm guns,” Quaife explained. “They said there were two possible (terrorists) running in the canal, but we didn’t find anybody.”
Then, Needum’s helicopter crew noticed the two vehicles, Quaife recalled, “so we investigated the vehicles. We called the (ground unit) and told them we thought the vehicles were the enemy’s.”
Quaife said the ground unit sent personnel to investigate, and once confirmation was given, the helicopters attacked the enemy vehicles.
“The ground unit’s leadership approved the Apaches to destroy the vehicles to keep its soldiers safe,” Quaife said. The ground unit reported that the two vehicles contained loaded AK-47s, he said, and possible improvised explosive device-making materials.
The Apache team fired on the vehicles with at least 150 rounds from its 30 mm machine guns and shot four rockets, Quaife said. The barrage, he said, destroyed both vehicles.
“The lead vehicle blew up and caught on fire after being engaged by Needum’s helicopter,” Quaife said, noting his chopper crew “shot two rockets to help destroy the other vehicle.”
Officials said a post-engagement assessment showed that the ground unit had killed a terrorist, wounded another and detained three. The soldiers also found a weapons cache containing four rocket-propelled-grenades, two RPG launchers, an AK-47 rifle, three machine guns with 100 rounds, a pair of flares and numerous rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition.
(Army Sgt. 1st Class Rogers is assigned to the 4th Infantry Division’s Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs Office.)