A Soldier with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3-2 SBCT, and an Iraqi army soldier search a car outside a suspected insurgent's house in the neighborhood of Tahreer in Mosul.
The raid was a joint effort between Iraqi Army Soldiers and Iraqi Police with Soldiers of Company A, 2-3 Inf., 3-2 SBCT, of Fort Lewis, Wash. and Soldiers of the 549th Military Police Company, of Fort Stewart, Ga., providing back-up security and operations overwatch.
“We had reports that a couple of different neighborhoods across our battalion’s (area of operations) were potentially staging points for (anti-Iraqi forces) coming from out of town in preparation for mid-Ramadan surge operations,” said Capt. Jim Harbridge, commander, Company A, 2-3 Inf. Reg., 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.
Based on that information, the Stryker Soldiers met with Iraqi soldiers of 1st Battalion, 4th Iraqi Army Brigade and made final coordination, which included Iraqi policemen from the Abi Tamaam district and Soldiers with the 549th MP Company.
Despite the fact that four separate units were involved in the operation, their interaction was efficient. Iraqi Security Forces worked well with Coalition Forces, who were confident in their Iraqi counterparts, due in part to the Iraqis’ positive attitude.
“The Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police have really bought into the whole mentality that an attack against anyone of us is an attack against all of us,” Harbridge said.
Three men were detained by Iraqi police during the raids in Tahreer, which were part of a larger scale simultaneous operation that spanned two other Mosul neighborhoods.
More importantly, Harbridge said, the raids let anti-Iraqi forces know there is no place in Tahreer for terrorists to hide.
During the operation, Company A’s fourth platoon also searched a school in the neighborhood. Although the search netted no weapons caches, Harbridge said it deprived terrorists any space that they might try to use as a staging area for their activities.
“It really was another way to disrupt the area, disrupt anybody with plans, and deny them the use of that school,” Harbridge said.
Harbridge feels the joint effort was a success.
“It feels good anytime you can find somebody that you have been looking for a while, and you know that he is a bad guy hurting people,” Harbridge said.
Detaining their target also boosts the confidence of Iraqi Security Forces and lets the people of Iraq know they have forces capable of keeping them safe.
“It is a gratifying feeling, not only for us, but I think more importantly, for Iraqi Police and Iraqi Army because they know that they went after a target and they found him,” said Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Kleinholz, second platoon sergeant, 549th MP Company.
Kleinholz also feels the operation was a success. Not only did Coalition Forces come together with Iraqi Security Forces and perform well, but Iraqi police and Iraqi army, who are known to hold some animosity toward each other, also worked together effectively, he said.
“They are, everyday, growing closer together and they are working together as a team to help provide a free, stable environment for the Iraqi civilians,” Kleinholz said.
Kleinholz said he was impressed with the persistence of Iraqi Police, who did not initially find their target, but nonetheless kept searching the neighborhood.
“They had a never-quit attitude,” he said.
It is that sort of attitude that assures Coalition Forces that, once they are gone, Iraqi Security Forces will be able to keep the Iraqi people safe.
U.S. Army Soldiers went along merely to provide expertise as the ISF conducted the bulk of the operation.