thedrifter
06-01-07, 09:53 AM
Stumbling Into Success
Written by JD Johannes
Friday, 01 June 2007
"He says he knows who planted the IED," the interpreter said.
Captain Gregory stood there dumbfounded...
Operation Copper Landing kicked off like a lot of the company sized missions--at midnight.
Starting at midnight gives the Army paratroopers of the 3-509 a tactical advantage against the would be snipers of Kharma and it is only 90 degrees at night compared with 115 degrees during the day.
The mission was a sweep along the south bank of the Kharma river.
A day earlier some Iraqi Police officers stumbled upon a suspected weapons cache and exchanged a few rounds with some AQIZ operatives.
As is often the case, the IPs did not immediately report what happened and even then the IP, like most Iraqis, have difficulty with spatial relationships, maps and directions.
Iraqis tend to know only one unit of measure--one kilometer. Everything is one kilometer, even if it is 200 meters or 2000 meters, it is one kilometer.
With a location figured out the paratroopers of Able Company 3-509 walked out of OP Delta in the middle of the night to search a wide swath of the area south of the river.
After taking the dogs and metal detectors over fields, canal berms and houses for 4 hours, the platoons were joined by a group of Iraqi Police and PSF led by Lt. Mokmoud and a Marine infantry squad.
The Marine unit is not a Police Training Team. They are grunts tasked to adopt the IP and PSF of Kharma.
The IP Lieutenant was talking with a friend of his, a retired officer from the Iraqi Army in the old regime when Captain Matthew Gregory, Commanding Officer of Able Company asked about the IED planted on the Subayot road.
It seemed everyone--the retired officer, the IP Lieutenant, the PSF--everyone but the Army and Marines knew who planted the IED.
The soldiers and Marines stood there for a moment in stunned silence.
After a few minutes of questioning and getting a few more details the Marine Lieutenant told the IP to go down there and get the guy they said planted the IED.
There was some hesitation and some hemming and hawing. It is a dangerous part of town, it is night...
The Marine Lt. had no sympathy, "You have 45 minutes to get this guy."
About an hour later the call came over the radio for an Explosive Ordinance Disposal team to come out.
The guy who planted the IED had 20 pounds of TnT, blasting caps, detonators and various other pieces of military hardware.
As the sky began to turn a light blue in the eastern horizon, the paratroopers found the holes--big enough for 55 gallon drums--where the weapons cache was.
The primary objective of the mission was not achieved--the intended cache was not siezed. But AQIZ operations were disrupted, a bad guy was detained and IED making materials were taken off the street.
All because Captain Gregory asked the right question and this happens often. An IED will go off or something will happen and the IP and PSF say Jamil, or Whalid did it. And it often turns out that Jamil and Whalid did do it, leading American officers to ask why they waited to tell us after the fact.
The answers, like many things in Iraq, are convoluted or just plain bizarre.
But, inshalla, the PSF and IP will catch the guy. Sometimes they operate for 96 hours straight catching known AQIZ operatives. Other times they can't be moved for anything other than tea, cigarettes and Maxim Magazines.
As T.E. Lawrence wrote of the Arab Army of WWI in Revolt in the Desert, 'No English officer would work so hard, to get so little out of so many.'
Ellie
Written by JD Johannes
Friday, 01 June 2007
"He says he knows who planted the IED," the interpreter said.
Captain Gregory stood there dumbfounded...
Operation Copper Landing kicked off like a lot of the company sized missions--at midnight.
Starting at midnight gives the Army paratroopers of the 3-509 a tactical advantage against the would be snipers of Kharma and it is only 90 degrees at night compared with 115 degrees during the day.
The mission was a sweep along the south bank of the Kharma river.
A day earlier some Iraqi Police officers stumbled upon a suspected weapons cache and exchanged a few rounds with some AQIZ operatives.
As is often the case, the IPs did not immediately report what happened and even then the IP, like most Iraqis, have difficulty with spatial relationships, maps and directions.
Iraqis tend to know only one unit of measure--one kilometer. Everything is one kilometer, even if it is 200 meters or 2000 meters, it is one kilometer.
With a location figured out the paratroopers of Able Company 3-509 walked out of OP Delta in the middle of the night to search a wide swath of the area south of the river.
After taking the dogs and metal detectors over fields, canal berms and houses for 4 hours, the platoons were joined by a group of Iraqi Police and PSF led by Lt. Mokmoud and a Marine infantry squad.
The Marine unit is not a Police Training Team. They are grunts tasked to adopt the IP and PSF of Kharma.
The IP Lieutenant was talking with a friend of his, a retired officer from the Iraqi Army in the old regime when Captain Matthew Gregory, Commanding Officer of Able Company asked about the IED planted on the Subayot road.
It seemed everyone--the retired officer, the IP Lieutenant, the PSF--everyone but the Army and Marines knew who planted the IED.
The soldiers and Marines stood there for a moment in stunned silence.
After a few minutes of questioning and getting a few more details the Marine Lieutenant told the IP to go down there and get the guy they said planted the IED.
There was some hesitation and some hemming and hawing. It is a dangerous part of town, it is night...
The Marine Lt. had no sympathy, "You have 45 minutes to get this guy."
About an hour later the call came over the radio for an Explosive Ordinance Disposal team to come out.
The guy who planted the IED had 20 pounds of TnT, blasting caps, detonators and various other pieces of military hardware.
As the sky began to turn a light blue in the eastern horizon, the paratroopers found the holes--big enough for 55 gallon drums--where the weapons cache was.
The primary objective of the mission was not achieved--the intended cache was not siezed. But AQIZ operations were disrupted, a bad guy was detained and IED making materials were taken off the street.
All because Captain Gregory asked the right question and this happens often. An IED will go off or something will happen and the IP and PSF say Jamil, or Whalid did it. And it often turns out that Jamil and Whalid did do it, leading American officers to ask why they waited to tell us after the fact.
The answers, like many things in Iraq, are convoluted or just plain bizarre.
But, inshalla, the PSF and IP will catch the guy. Sometimes they operate for 96 hours straight catching known AQIZ operatives. Other times they can't be moved for anything other than tea, cigarettes and Maxim Magazines.
As T.E. Lawrence wrote of the Arab Army of WWI in Revolt in the Desert, 'No English officer would work so hard, to get so little out of so many.'
Ellie