 Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, prepare to enter a building during an air assault in Al Bawi, a small village outside of Salman Pak, Dec. 11. The building, which was later destroyed by rockets called in by Company B Soldiers, was an abandoned farmhouse being used by insurgents to stage attacks on Coalition forces. Photo by Sgt. Timothy Kingston, 55th Combat Camera. The cache contained mortars, grenades, improvised weapon making materials and an unknown explosive compound. “The Soldiers performed well,” said Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Blount, from Hampton, Va., the scout platoon sergeant, Headquarters Company, 1-15th Inf. Regt. “They executed the plan as we rehearsed it. The biggest part of this and every other mission is the rehearsal. I tell my guys, ‘This isn’t our first air assault, but treat it like it is. Every mission is different. Don’t get complacent’.” Insurgents had been using the farmhouse of a displaced family to stage attacks on Coalition forces and rival insurgent factions. At the direction of the Company B commander, Capt. Rich Thompson, from West Palm Beach, Fla., Soldiers from Battery C, 2nd Battalion, 4th Field Artillery (FA), fired three 210mm rockets from an M270 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System to destroy the building with the cache inside. The 2-4th FA is out of Fort Sill, Okla. “This air assault helped us support the Concerned Local Citizens and will help them occupy check points,” said Capt. Todd Barrett, from Huntington Beach, Calif., the scout platoon leader in Headquarters Company, 1-15th Inf. Regt. “These checkpoints will help control extremist activity.” Battalion leaders expressed their satisfaction with the successful mission. “Our operations are having a profound impact on our area of operations and the extremists who try to operate within the area, said Maj. Steven Delgado, from Los Angeles, the 1-15th Inf. Regt. executive officer. “We have greatly reduced the number of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) within Task Force 1-15’s area of operations, detained or killed many extremist leaders; market areas are thriving and people are no longer afraid to leave their homes.” The 1-15 Inf. Regt. is part of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga., and has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March. (Story by Spc. Ben Hutto, 3rd HBCT Public Affairs) In Other Recent Developments Here: FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY — Soldiers with the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, captured 17 suspected extremists during operations Dec. 11 in the New Baghdad district of the Iraqi capital. BAGHDAD — Multi-National Division – Baghdad forces arrested a suspected sniper during ongoing stability operations in the Rashid district of the Iraqi capital Dec. 10. |
