thedrifter
01-02-07, 03:29 PM
War watch: Troops try to make inroads with Iraqis
By John Conroy
Plattsburgh Press-Republican
BAGHAD— The small convoy of four armored, turreted Humvees turns off Tampa, the main four-lane highway southwest of Baghdad and enters the lower corner of the Shakariyah Triangle.
To U.S. troops working this area of Iraq, it is better known as “the Triangle of Death.”
Col. Mike Kershaw, commanding officer of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, is in the lead vehicle.
Today’s mission has the colonel checking on his many troops that are spaced out among various FOBs (forward operating bases) in his area of operations.
Kershaw is a graduate of West Point, Class of ‘84, and while this is his first, full-year tour of duty in Iraq, it’s his third mission to this country. He also fought in Kuwait during the first Gulf War. He spent his first years in the military as an Army Ranger, and his great interest is counter-insurgency.
“We’re operating somewhat like the U.S. Marines in I-Corps during the Vietnam War,” he said. “They formed Civil Action Platoons, which were made up of Marines who lived in and secured hamlets in the countryside in areas that were either controlled by or heavily influenced by the VC (Viet Cong).”
The program run by the Marines in Vietnam was one of the few successes there, and apparently Kershaw feels a similar program would work here.
News reports from the Al Faw Palace, which is located nearby and was the site of the news conference given by new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, indicate that the new U.S. policy for Iraq might be the opposite of counter-insurgency.
The newest idea seems to be to pull the troops in from the smaller bases to a few large strongholds and operate from there. Securing Baghdad appears to be deemed the immediate and most important issue.
It’s beginning to look like the chicken and the egg. Which comes first, the city or the countryside, or are they both equally important?
The convoy proceeds through countryside that resembles the flatlands of Vietnam. Palm trees along side canals that are lined with bull rushes, small vegetable farms and a generally green countryside, with no desert in view.
Oddly enough, Kershaw’s area of operations, which covers 330 square miles, includes what was once the high-rent district of Baghdad. Waterfront property along the shores of the Euphrates River and throughout the river valley, the original Garden of Eden, was highly sought after by members of the Ba’ath Party and friends of Saddam Hussein. Apparently, they were rewarded for their loyalty with properties in this area.
Checkpoints along the highway now are manned by the new Iraqi army. Passing them, the convoy enters the town of Mahmudiyah and stops along the central market.
Kershaw exits his Humvee with his interpreter, Frank, a Baghdad native and civilian contract worker with the U.S. Army. They begin talking with members of the local population.
The rest of the soldiers from the convoy take up defensive positions — front, rear and both sides. They continually scan the crowd, vehicles and rooftops for possible snipers.
“He loves stopping at the market and talking with the people on the street,” said First Sgt. Allan Williams, who recently bought a house in Alexandria Bay. “They are beginning to warm up to us and are gradually identifying the ‘bad guys’ among the locals, as well as those from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.”
These Army personnel prefer an interpreter who has learned English in the States or Europe since they are able to translate a more precise interpretation of Arabic into English.
While some people are quite reticent to open up among their contemporaries on the street, they are willing to reveal a great deal of useful information in the privacy of their homes.
After taking a break for a hot lunch and giving Kershaw time for a short briefing at Forward Operating Base Yusafiyah, the convoy continues on toward Rushdi Mullah. “This is the area where the 101st lost three helicopters and took many KIAs (killed) and WIAs (wounded),” said Kershaw.
“We suffered one of the greatest losses of this operation so far. Our unit has already lost four men, and the IAs have also lost a few since I took over in the middle of September.”
By the next morning, one more of Kershaw’s men will have lost an arm and leg from stepping on a mine during a foot patrol near here.
Soldiers stopped the convoy at the next BP, which included a concrete watch tower, near the entrance to Patrol Base Rushdi Mullah. An improvised explosive device had been identified along the highway just ahead, and traffic was halted until an Explosive Ordinance Disposal team arrived.
This area had been one of the main routes of infiltration for foreign fighters who help make up the insurgency here in Iraq. It’s thought that most routes of infiltration through this area have now been sealed off.
Capt. Chris Vitale describes his operation of rotating platoons. One is used for base security. Two are used to staff the BP and checkpoints along the highway, and the fourth is used for foot patrols through the countryside.
“It’s the only way to really keep the larger area beyond the confines of the FOB free of insurgents,” he said, noting that explosive devices “are a danger even in the fields and foot paths, and we’ve got snipers to deal with, as well.
“They will fire at us from the rushes on the far side of a canal, then disappear by the time we can cross the water and make it through the rushes into the open.”
These teams help with medical emergencies, and many other health problems among the indigenous population. They’ve also secured most of their area enough so the schools are beginning to re-open. In most areas of Iraq, schools haven’t functioned since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.
Operations of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, under the leadership of Col. Mike Upshaw, are beginning to look more and more like a duplication of scenarios from the war in Vietnam.
As Maj. Web Wright, the brigade public affairs officer, said, “It’s all about getting the people on our side and keeping them there.”
Perhaps, this time, if the winds of war swing back toward the infantry in the field, the troopers on the ground who live and work among the local people will have a lasting, positive effect.
John Conroy writes for the Plattsburgh (N.Y.) Press-Republican.
Ellie
By John Conroy
Plattsburgh Press-Republican
BAGHAD— The small convoy of four armored, turreted Humvees turns off Tampa, the main four-lane highway southwest of Baghdad and enters the lower corner of the Shakariyah Triangle.
To U.S. troops working this area of Iraq, it is better known as “the Triangle of Death.”
Col. Mike Kershaw, commanding officer of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, is in the lead vehicle.
Today’s mission has the colonel checking on his many troops that are spaced out among various FOBs (forward operating bases) in his area of operations.
Kershaw is a graduate of West Point, Class of ‘84, and while this is his first, full-year tour of duty in Iraq, it’s his third mission to this country. He also fought in Kuwait during the first Gulf War. He spent his first years in the military as an Army Ranger, and his great interest is counter-insurgency.
“We’re operating somewhat like the U.S. Marines in I-Corps during the Vietnam War,” he said. “They formed Civil Action Platoons, which were made up of Marines who lived in and secured hamlets in the countryside in areas that were either controlled by or heavily influenced by the VC (Viet Cong).”
The program run by the Marines in Vietnam was one of the few successes there, and apparently Kershaw feels a similar program would work here.
News reports from the Al Faw Palace, which is located nearby and was the site of the news conference given by new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, indicate that the new U.S. policy for Iraq might be the opposite of counter-insurgency.
The newest idea seems to be to pull the troops in from the smaller bases to a few large strongholds and operate from there. Securing Baghdad appears to be deemed the immediate and most important issue.
It’s beginning to look like the chicken and the egg. Which comes first, the city or the countryside, or are they both equally important?
The convoy proceeds through countryside that resembles the flatlands of Vietnam. Palm trees along side canals that are lined with bull rushes, small vegetable farms and a generally green countryside, with no desert in view.
Oddly enough, Kershaw’s area of operations, which covers 330 square miles, includes what was once the high-rent district of Baghdad. Waterfront property along the shores of the Euphrates River and throughout the river valley, the original Garden of Eden, was highly sought after by members of the Ba’ath Party and friends of Saddam Hussein. Apparently, they were rewarded for their loyalty with properties in this area.
Checkpoints along the highway now are manned by the new Iraqi army. Passing them, the convoy enters the town of Mahmudiyah and stops along the central market.
Kershaw exits his Humvee with his interpreter, Frank, a Baghdad native and civilian contract worker with the U.S. Army. They begin talking with members of the local population.
The rest of the soldiers from the convoy take up defensive positions — front, rear and both sides. They continually scan the crowd, vehicles and rooftops for possible snipers.
“He loves stopping at the market and talking with the people on the street,” said First Sgt. Allan Williams, who recently bought a house in Alexandria Bay. “They are beginning to warm up to us and are gradually identifying the ‘bad guys’ among the locals, as well as those from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.”
These Army personnel prefer an interpreter who has learned English in the States or Europe since they are able to translate a more precise interpretation of Arabic into English.
While some people are quite reticent to open up among their contemporaries on the street, they are willing to reveal a great deal of useful information in the privacy of their homes.
After taking a break for a hot lunch and giving Kershaw time for a short briefing at Forward Operating Base Yusafiyah, the convoy continues on toward Rushdi Mullah. “This is the area where the 101st lost three helicopters and took many KIAs (killed) and WIAs (wounded),” said Kershaw.
“We suffered one of the greatest losses of this operation so far. Our unit has already lost four men, and the IAs have also lost a few since I took over in the middle of September.”
By the next morning, one more of Kershaw’s men will have lost an arm and leg from stepping on a mine during a foot patrol near here.
Soldiers stopped the convoy at the next BP, which included a concrete watch tower, near the entrance to Patrol Base Rushdi Mullah. An improvised explosive device had been identified along the highway just ahead, and traffic was halted until an Explosive Ordinance Disposal team arrived.
This area had been one of the main routes of infiltration for foreign fighters who help make up the insurgency here in Iraq. It’s thought that most routes of infiltration through this area have now been sealed off.
Capt. Chris Vitale describes his operation of rotating platoons. One is used for base security. Two are used to staff the BP and checkpoints along the highway, and the fourth is used for foot patrols through the countryside.
“It’s the only way to really keep the larger area beyond the confines of the FOB free of insurgents,” he said, noting that explosive devices “are a danger even in the fields and foot paths, and we’ve got snipers to deal with, as well.
“They will fire at us from the rushes on the far side of a canal, then disappear by the time we can cross the water and make it through the rushes into the open.”
These teams help with medical emergencies, and many other health problems among the indigenous population. They’ve also secured most of their area enough so the schools are beginning to re-open. In most areas of Iraq, schools haven’t functioned since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.
Operations of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, under the leadership of Col. Mike Upshaw, are beginning to look more and more like a duplication of scenarios from the war in Vietnam.
As Maj. Web Wright, the brigade public affairs officer, said, “It’s all about getting the people on our side and keeping them there.”
Perhaps, this time, if the winds of war swing back toward the infantry in the field, the troopers on the ground who live and work among the local people will have a lasting, positive effect.
John Conroy writes for the Plattsburgh (N.Y.) Press-Republican.
Ellie