Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment working with their Iraqi army counterparts in the 3rd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division (Mechanized), uncovered two weapons caches and detained two suspects near the villages of Kem and Al Dhabtiya. The weapons were found thanks to information provided by local citizens. Photo provided by 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.

Troops from Battery B, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, attached to the 1st BCT, acting on a tip from a neighborhood watch volunteer, recently uncovered an improvised explosive device (IED) cache near the town of Sab Al Bor.

The cache included five complete IEDs and 12 incomplete IEDs. Also found were 20 munitions of varying sizes, 100 pounds of homemade explosive, one can of nitric acid, some command wire and the tools necessary to manufacture IEDs.

Acting on another tip, Soldiers of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, also of 1st BCT, found a 100 mm projectile, ten 80 mm mortars, six IED timers, two rocket-propelled grenades and an accompanying booster.

In two separate incidents, information garnered from volunteer sources led to Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, working with their Iraqi counterparts from the 3rd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division (Mechanized), finding two caches and detaining two suspects. In the first, while draining a canal, engineers from 2-8 Cav’s Sapper Company found three 60 mm mortar rounds, two 82 mm mortar rounds, one 120 mm mortar round and one 122 mm projectile near Kem.

In the second find, during a cordon and search, 2-8 Cav. troops and Iraqi troops found one sniper rifle with two scopes, one AK-47 assault rifle with five magazines, a 9 mm Glock pistol, and a hand grenade. Two suspects were detained in connection with the cache near Al Dhabtiya.

All of the finds were further evidence of Ironhorse Soldiers’ success in working with Iraqi communities and volunteers to root out insurgents and extremists alike, according to Lt. Col. Peter Andrysiak, 1st BCT’s deputy commanding officer.

“Cooperation by citizens and their volunteer security roles is what will turn the tide in securing Iraq,” said the Austin native. “We have the largest reconciliation and volunteer movement in Multi-National Division-Baghdad. We fully support Iraqis taking an active role in securing their neighborhoods, towns and villages to stop the violence which hinders the government’s delivery of essential services and an environment that enables small business opportunities and growth.”

Local Iraqis have grown tired of the al-Qaida stranglehold and they are taking back their communities and their lives, he added.

“Their efforts, along with that of the coalition and Iraqi security forces, may prove to be the turning point.”