FR WAR NEWS! WAR News at Home and Abroad You'll Hear Nowhere Else!
All the News the MSM refuses to use!
Or if they do report it, without the anti-War Agenda Spin!
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
Posted on 12/05/2007 4:25:06 PM PST by SandRat
FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment uncovered a weapons cache, Dec. 1, in Al Ja’ara while delivering kerosene to local citizens.
According to 1st Lt. Matt Barwick, from Lanham, Md., fire support officer for Co. B, Soldiers were delivering 15,000 liters of kerosene to the village sheik. While conducting the transfer they received information regarding the location of a possible weapons cache.
“We went to the location and there was a stack of hay about six or seven feet high,” he said. “Four Soldiers started digging.”
Barwick said Pfc. Mark Hayes, from Louisville, Ky., Pvt. Phillip Crum, from Miami, Spc. Mishael Francois, from Trinidad, Africa, and Pfc. Steven Moya, from Redding, Pa., dug through the entire pile of hay to discover two 75 mm rockets, 17 grenades, 2 mortars, 10 pounds of a stripped propellant, and one two-liter bottle of explosive material.
“Finding this cache is a message to extremists in this area. They are not safe and they can’t hide weapons. We will find them. This also severely disrupts extremist operations in Al Ja’ara,” Barwick said.
Francois said he had an overwhelming feeling come over him when, after digging through the haystack, he touched objects that were not supposed to be there.
“It’s a rush,” Francois said. “I felt like this is what we need to get more information. This is what we need to put these criminals away. We got ‘em! I felt like we were doing the right thing.”
Although excited about his find, Francois was humble.
“It’s what we do,” he said. “We go out there and look for this stuff. If we find it, we find it. If we don’t find it, we go out there next time and try again.”
Co. B, 1-15th Inf. Regt. is assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and has been deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March.
FR WAR NEWS! Along with a needle, I always store my 75 mm rockets in haystacks. Doesn’t everyone?
Good thing we were tipped off.
Praise God, the Iraqis are fighting back. God bless our troops for all they do.
I wonder if she meant Reading, PA, or Redding, CA.
Good thing we were tipped off.
Let's hope the village doesn't pay for this publicity.
In other news, there continues to be absolutely no way Saddam Hussein could have been working on nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons because none have been found. Oh, and Bush Lied.
Brigadier General Edward Cardon
Deputy Commanding General (SUPPORT)
3RD INFANTRY DIVISION
Brigadier General Edward Cardon was born in El Paso, Texas, and raised in Watsonville, California. He was commissioned as an Engineer officer from the United States Military Academy in 1982.
Brigadier General Cardon’s first assignment was with the 17th Engineer Battalion (Combat), 2nd Armored Division, Fort Hood, Texas, where he was a Platoon Leader and Battalion Maintenance Officer. Upon completion of the Engineer Officer Advance Course, Brigadier General Cardon was assigned to Germany, where he served as a Training Officer in the 130th Engineer Brigade, the Brigade Engineer for 3rd Brigade, 3rd Armored Division, and Commander, C Company, 23rd Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Division. In 1990, he joined Operations Group, National Training Center as a staff officer and the engineer company trainer for the Live Fire Team. His follow-on assignment was as a writer and instructor at the United States Army Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
After graduating from the Naval Command and General Staff College in 1994, Brigadier General Cardon returned to Germany as the Assistant Division Engineer for the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), and as the Executive Officer for the 82nd Engineer Battalion, 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized). In 1996, Brigadier General Cardon became a Staff Geographic Officer for Land Forces Central Europe in Heidelberg, Germany. During this assignment, he was the Chief Geographic Officer in Bosnia-Herzegovina, attended the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia, and returned to Bosnia-Herzegovina as the Chief of the Initiatives Group for the Commander, Stabilization Force (SFOR).
In 1998, Brigadier General Cardon assumed command of the 588th Engineer Battalion, 4th Infantry Division. From 2000 to 2002, Brigadier General Cardon was a Special Assistant (Strategy) for the Army Chief of Staff at the Pentagon. Brigadier General Cardon graduated from the National War College at Fort McNair, Washington D.C. in 2003 and assumed command of the 3rd Infantry Division Engineer Brigade in Fallujah, Iraq on June 26, 2003.
In May, 2004 the Engineer Brigade was deactivated under the Army’s Modularity initiative. Brigadier General Cardon activated the 4th BCT, 3rd ID on May 26, 2004, the Army’s first new BCT under the Modularity initiative. Six months later, the Brigade deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi freedom 04-06 and assumed responsibility for the International Zone and southern Baghdad until January 2006.
Nice find but thank goodness it wasn’t booby-trapped. Prayers for our troops.
Unless the tipster was in on it I wouldn't expect it to be. Not likely one would take the risk of setting up a booby trap on stuff they wanted access to, unless they expected it was likely to be discovered.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.