U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Jeff Globis
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Jeff Globis’ split-second decision to verbally warn near-by Marines and Iraqi soldiers of an approaching suicide bomber while he was standing post at a military outpost in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province allowed others to avoid a potentially life-threatening explosion. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Roe F. Seigle)
By Sgt. Roe F. Seigle - 1st Marine Division
BAGHDADI, Iraq, Aug. 29, 2006 — A Marine’s quick thinking, coupled with a series of well-aimed shots, saved lives July 27, according to Marines and Iraqi soldiers serving here.
Cpl. Jeff Globis’ split-second decision to verbally warn near-by Marines and Iraqi soldiers of an approaching suicide bomber while he was standing post at a military outpost here allowed others to avoid a potentially life-threatening explosion.
Manning an observation point at the combat outpost, the 23-year-old infantryman saw the speeding truck break through the base’s protective barriers. Globis opened fire on the vehicle, which was loaded with hundreds of pounds of explosives, and warned others to take cover – acts which many here said saved their lives.
Globis, a team leader assigned to the Hawaii-based Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, said he knew the truck was a suicide bomber as soon as it turned a corner and attempted to drive through the outpost’s protective barriers.
“I only had a few seconds to act, so I fired four shots through the windshield as soon as he crashed through the first protective barrier,” said Globis, a native of Winthrop Harbor, Ill. “When the truck stopped, I warned all the Marines and soldiers to move as far away from the front of the building as possible.”
Globis’ determinations were soon confirmed – the truck detonated and part of the roof of the outpost collapsed. No Marines or soldiers were killed because they had time to move away, avoiding the brunt of the blast, thanks to Globis’ warning.
However, Globis, a 2002 graduate of Zion Benton High School, refuses to take credit for saving the Marines and soldiers that day because he “was just doing what any Marine would have done in that situation.”
Staff Sgt. Richard Charley, 29, disagreed and said that many Marines and soldiers are still alive because of his quick thinking.
“Globis saved several peoples’ lives that day,” said Charley, a platoon sergeant. “He eliminated the driver of that vehicle before he could penetrate further into the compound and completely destroy the building.”
Globis will be awarded for his actions that day, but it is undetermined which award he will receive, said Charley, a native of Bishop, Calif.
This is not the first time Globis has potentially saved other Marines’ or soldiers’ lives since he deployed to Iraq in March.
A few weeks prior to the suicide bombing, Globis was riding in a Humvee during a patrol through the city. Moments before the Humvee drove over a pressure-detonated improvised explosive device, Globis said he noticed it from the corner of his eye and had the driver stop.
Upon inspection, Globis and the other Marines noticed the front tire of the vehicle was literally inches away from the roadside bomb.
“Globis has been exposed to a lot of danger since he arrived in Iraq, but he has remained dependable and mature,” said Charley. “Because of this, his subordinates and I have the utmost confidence in him.”
Recently, Globis was selected to be an infantry advisor for the Military Transition Team here. Now he spends his days training Iraqi soldiers – who are making notable progress as they continue to move towards operating independent of his unit’s support, he said.
“The soldiers are stepping up and taking charge when we are on patrol,” said Globis. “They want to succeed.”
“Ahmed,” a soldier who was slightly injured in the blast from the suicide bomber said Globis is a great leader and motivates the soldiers to fight the insurgency. He also said that he is alive today because Globis saved his life that day.
“I would have been killed if Globis did not give that warning,” said Ahmed. “Marines like Globis have earned our loyalty and respect and we feel privileged to fight alongside them.”
Globis said he enjoys working with the soldiers and has learned good leadership skills, like patience and mentoring, because there is a language barrier between them and sometimes he has to teach the soldiers the same task more than once.
“The reason we selected Globis to work with the soldiers is because he is one of the most dependable and mature Marines in the company and accomplishes difficult missions, like leading soldiers on patrols, with little or no supervision,” said Charley.
Globis, and the rest of the Marines in 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, also known as “America’s Battalion,” are scheduled to return to Hawaii this fall and be replaced by another Hawaii-based unit.
GIs in Ramadi working to root out behind-the-scenes operators
A soldier attached to the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division examines an Iraqi family’s computer disks during a series of searches in eastern Ramadi recently. (Monte Morin / S&S)
Capt. Jeffrey Kersey, 30, of West Palm Beach, Fla., scans neighborhood rooftops for possible gunmen while preparing to wrap up a series of searches in eastern Ramadi recently. (Monte Morin / S&S)
By Monte Morin - Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
RAMADI, Iraq — For Capt. Jeffrey Kersey and the rest of Company C, it was one of those minor victories that U.S. troops are often left with when waging a counterinsurgency war.
On paper, the plan called for the capture of no fewer than four high-value insurgents in eastern Ramadi’s notorious Ma’laab district — an area that saw some of Ramadi’s heaviest fighting after it was inherited by the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, almost nine months ago.
In a series of simultaneous raids, U.S. troops, Iraqi army soldiers and Navy SEALS were to capture the leader of an intimidation-and-beheading cell, a deadly sniper and two other undesirables as they slept in their safe houses several hours before dawn.
In the end, though, the Iraqi army soldiers took a pass on the operation and the SEALS struck out.
Kersey’s men nabbed the suspected sniper — although they failed to find a weapon that would give them an airtight legal case.
“This happens,” said Kersey, 30, of West Palm Beach, Fla. “The operation looks good on paper, but it’s only as good as the information we get from people. Sometimes that information is kind of, well, not the best.”
As U.S. and Iraqi army troops wage a renewed campaign to neutralize insurgents in this restive, Sunni Arab city, soldiers such as Kersey have found themselves in a sometimes exasperating cat-and-mouse contest to root out top-tier insurgents.
While troops under the command of Lt. Col. Ronald P. Clark have killed many insurgents in heavy fighting throughout eastern Ramadi over the last nine months, identifying and capturing those enemy figures who work behind the scenes is a little more difficult, particularly when insurgent threats and intimidation have scared much of the general population into silence.
Such was the case recently when the Baumholder, Germany-based “Commando” Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division set off in search of a sniper who had killed or wounded a number of Iraqi army soldiers at east Ramadi outposts.
As Kersey’s troops worked their way down a city block, searching homes and questioning residents, they eventually picked up the trail of a short, stocky sniper suspect known as Majid. When they finally tracked him down to a living room in his family’s home, the target — not surprisingly — told Kersey they had the wrong man.
“I’ve spent the whole year running away from the insurgents,” the suspect said through an interpreter. “Look at my back. I have marks where the mujahedeen hit me for swearing.”
As the suspect was blindfolded and told that he was being taken into custody, he began coughing and spitting on the floor. Then he lay down on the ground.
“They do this,” Kersey said as a medic examined him. “When they realize you’re taking them into custody they start acting like they’re sick.”
When the medic failed to find anything wrong, the man was helped to his feet by soldiers and walked to a Bradley fighting vehicle.
“I wish we could find a weapon,” Kersey said. “That would just complete this day.”
None was found. Still, Kersey said the suspect might be able to offer interrogators useful information that might lead to subsequent and more successful raids.
“We’ve been looking for this guy for three months,” Kersey said. “Just knowing that he’s a player is something. Hopefully, he’ll be able to lead us to somebody else.”
Kersey’s company is one of the more recent arrivals to Ramadi, and is part of that element of the 1st Armored Division that spent six months in Kuwait before deploying to Iraq.
What they found waiting for them at Combat Outpost Corregidor was an isolated outpost mired in deep, flourlike dust. When tanks and Humvees roll through, the resulting milky-colored mist blocks out the sun like a partial eclipse.
What they also found was Clark’s Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 1-506th — a collection of infantry, armor and Navy SEAL units that had been battling insurgent attacks since the beginning of the year. Attacks have dropped significantly from the time of their arrival, when insurgents would step out into the street and launch rocket-propelled grenades into the camp or lob mortars from just a kilometer away.
“That doesn’t happen anymore,” Clark said.
For the units, success has meant the establishment of a series of combat outposts and traffic checkpoints that spread their reach deeper into the eastern part of the city, just as troops with the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division are working to establish similar outposts in the western part of the city.
“We used to have to fight our way into the Ma’laab any time we went there. Now we’ve got an observation post there,” Clark said.
Another key outpost stands beside a notorious soccer stadium that served as a place for insurgents to hide their weapons and launch mortar attacks.
“Today, we own the stadium,” said Maj. David Womack, operations officer for the 1-506th. “There are people playing soccer in the stadium now.”
Now, with just a few months remaining before the 1-506th returns home, commanders say they can identify with what 1-1 AD units like the 1st Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment are going through as they battle insurgents in the south central part of Ramadi.
“They’re going through a lot of the same stuff we went through six months ago,” Clark said.
An Iraqi interpreter working with the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division questions a resident of east Ramadi while searching for a suspected sniper recently. (Monte Morin / S&S)
Soldiers with “Commando” Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division scale a wall during a series of house searches in east Ramadi recently. They are currently attached to the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. (Monte Morin / S&S)
‘Blue Spaders’ test rapid deployment process
By Mark St.Clair - Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
The first portion of Dagger Brigade to deploy in the present rotation in Iraq has made it to Baghdad.
The “Blue Spaders,” or 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, left Schweinfurt, Germany, as the lead unit from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, and arrived in Kuwait in early August.
In Kuwait, the Spaders were given up-armored vehicles and crew-served weapons, along with logistical and medical equipment. According to a press release from Multi-National Force-Iraq, it marked the first time a unit drew prepositioned equipment since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“They … were able to leave for Iraq before their equipment from Germany even arrived,” said Capt. Jacob E. White, the rear detachment commander. White did not know whether the 1-26 will continue to use the prepositioned equipment for the remainder of the deployment.
After the more than 800 soldiers went through mandatory gunnery skills training, they began moving into Iraq in mid-August to support Iraqi Security Forces operations.
The decision to send the 1-26 before the rest of the Dagger Brigade was made partly to ensure that the Army has the capability to rapidly deploy units from their home stations to Iraq on short notice, the release said. Another first for the Spaders, it was the first test of the rapid deployment process in Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the release.
“They’re kicking butt out there,” White said of his unit. “So far, they’ve met and surpassed all their expectations. … We’re not a quick reaction force like the 101st or 82nd (airborne divisions). We’re a heavy brigade … not designed to move quickly, but we’ve been able to.”
Iraq strikes peace deal with militia as 155 killed
29 August 2006
Diwaniyah, Iraq -- Hard-pressed Iraqi government forces were forced to strike a truce with Shi'ite militia fighters on Tuesday, as fierce fighting followed by a pipeline explosion left 155 people dead.
Officials said that 81 people died in Diwaniyah in Monday's clashes between security forces and militiamen and that on Tuesday, a few hours after a peace deal was reached, a fire at a fuel pipeline outside the town killed 74 more.
Hamid Jaathi, the head of Diwaniyah's health department, said that another 94 people were injured in the blast, which a defence official said was caused by looters sabotaging a disused fuel pipe to hunt for petrol.
Meanwhile -- as Iraq reeled from a three-day bout of bloodshed -- sectarian and rebel attacks left at least 14 people dead, including four members of one family who were killed when mortar bombs hit their house in south Baghdad's mainly Shi'ite neighbourhood of al-Amel.
Since Saturday, when Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki hosted a peace conference for tribal leaders, Iraq has been battered by fire fights, murders and bombings, in one of the most violent periods of recent months.
Scores of Iraqi troops and civilians have been killed along with 12 United States soldiers, and government forces had to battle to retain control of the mainly Shi'ite city of Diwaniyah, 180km south of the capital.
"We reached a settlement with Mahdi Army forces to end the confrontation," town councillor Sheikh Ghanim Abid said, as shops in Diwaniyah reopened and water and electricity supplies were turned back on.
"We killed 50 gunmen in the clashes and this incident resulted in the deaths of 23 of our soldiers and injuries to 30 of them," Maliki said.
Jaathi said eight civilians were also killed in Monday's 12-hour gun battle, and that 61 wounded bystanders had been treated.
The army has agreed not to enter residential areas for three days, while the Mahdi Army will withdraw its fighters and a militia commander who was arrested at the weekend will be brought to court within 24 hours, Abid said.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/&articleid=282398
-- AFP