|
Blackanthem Military News
|
Last Updated:
Jul 4, 2009 - 6:56:05 PM |
|
|
 |
| Soldiers with Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and Iraqi Army troops review permits for weapons seized during a search of Hayy Al Waziriyah, an industrial neighborhood of the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad June 26. The Soldiers went door-to-door with Iraqi Army soldiers meeting the residents and community leaders of the area while searching for caches of weapons. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. L.B. Edgar, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment) |
Blackanthem Military News, BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Soldiers knocked on the gate anticipating a less-than-kind greeting. Maybe a shotgun blast, perhaps an explosive booby trap or ideally just a stockpile of weapons was waiting on the other side of the threshold. But the young Iraqi boy who poked his head out told them this might not be the insurgent stronghold they were after.
While patrolling the streets of the Wazariyah neighborhood in Baghdad's eastern Adhamiyah District, Soldiers of Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, expected to find abandoned warehouses, vacant factories and idle machinery. What they found, though, were people living in the Hayy Al Wazariyah industrial park June 26.
With an increasing number of residents of Iraq's capital displaced due to security concerns, the district of Adhamiyah and especially its industrial district, Wazariyah, is increasingly a home for refugees, said Lt. Col. Yahya Rasool Abdullah, the commander of 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division.
Unfortunately, other less desirable people are also calling Wazariyah home, including insurgents and terrorists, who use the supposedly abandoned industrial park as a production and storage site for improvised explosive devices. Groups, such as the Islamic Nation of Iraq and Unity in Jihad, bring their terror tactics along with them to Adhamiyah, Abdullah explained.
Hence the Soldiers of Troop A and their brothers-in-arms, the Iraqi troops of 1st "Fighter" Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division, went door-to-door, gate-to-gate and lot-to-lot searching for insurgents and their means to wreak havoc on the Iraqi people.
In addition to disrupting anti-Iraqi forces operating in Adhamiyah, the mission, dubbed Operation Falcon Spur, was also intended to improve cohesion between Soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts, said Capt. Erik Kjonnerod, the commander of Troop A.
"We came together a couple of days ago to make up a plan to clear and search the area for weapons and also show the Iraqi people (that) the American Army and the (Iraqi Security Forces) are committed to working together," said the 30-year-old native of Fairfax, Va. "It's good to start building that rapport with one another."
However, the rapport between the Iraqi Army and the local populace, whether displaced or organic, is equally important for Coalition Forces to cultivate, said Lt. Col. Jeff Broadwater, the commander of 3rd Squadron, which is attached to the 2nd BCT, 82nd Airborne Division.
"We have to gain the trust of the good people and get rid of the bad people," said the native of Radcliff, Ky., to a group of Iraqi and American Soldiers during a rehearsal the day before the operation commenced. "It's a great honor to do this operation with you. Today, I see two groups of Soldiers. Tomorrow, I hope to see one."
By conducting cooperative missions, such as Operation Falcon Spur, leaders like Broadwater and Abdullah, are optimistic residents will gain trust in the Iraqi Army.
"There is a big issue right now; between the military and the people there is no trust," Abdullah said. "If the people want to live in prosperity they must wake up. We're here to help our people."
The Iraqi Army must earn the confidence of the people to beat the insurgency, Abdullah said. Only detaining those he can confirm are involved in subversive activities will hopefully win over the people of the area, he added.
Emphasizing a commitment to the humane treatment of all detainees is something Troop A, like all Coalition Forces, tries to demonstrate at every opportunity, Broadwater said.
As part of Operation Fardh Al Qanoon, commonly referred to as the Baghdad Security Plan, the Soldiers of Troop A are committed to establishing a presence in Wazariyah, Kjonnerod said.
"It was good to get out and talk to people. We talked to a lot of the business leaders in the area. They were very receptive, extremely happy that the Americans were there helping the Iraqi Army do some of the searches," he explained.
Troop A, temporarily based out of Coalition Outpost War Eagle, plans to work with their Iraqi counterparts in Wazariyah over the next year. They've been patrolling in east Baghdad for less than two weeks. Though the relationship with the Iraqi Soldiers is in its infancy, Kjonnerod hopes to lay the foundation for a strong, working relationship with the Iraqi Army.
Through engaging the local populace, Kjonnerod said he hopes Troop A and its Iraqi equivalent, gain the tips from residents necessary to weed out insurgents and thereby provide improved security to vulnerable residents of Wazariyah.
For now, the most pressing concern is security, but next to security the number one priority is putting an Iraqi face on operations. In the future, sooner or later, Iraqi Security Forces will take the lead in security operations as Coalition Forces recede to the background to play more of a support role, he said.
"We're trying to get security to a level where the Iraqi government can continue to grow and develop in the right way," Broadwater said. "Our Soldiers sacrifice every day. One day that you're away from your family is hard to take. Every great reward comes with a cost. We truly are making a positive difference here."
On this day, the Soldiers of Troop A and their Iraqi counterparts attempt to make a difference, however small, when they met an Iraqi boy at his family's gate and politely asked through a translator to speak to the man of the house.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
 |
| New York native Spc. Marcus Adams, 23, a gunner with Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, stops to look at a dental poster while searching for weapons in Hayy Al Waziriyah, an industrial neighborhood of the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad June 26. The Soldiers went door-to-door with Iraqi Army soldiers meeting the residents and community leaders of the area while searching for caches of weapons. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. L.B. Edgar, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment) |
|
 |
| An Iraqi Army soldier cuts a lock to an abandoned building during a search of Hayy Al Waziriyah, an industrial neighborhood of the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad June 26. The Iraqi Army soldiers went door-to-door with troops from Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, meeting the residents and community leaders of the area while searching for caches of weapons. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. L.B. Edgar, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment) |
|
 |
| New York native Spc. Marcus Adams, 23, a gunner with Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, dismounts a Bradley fighting vehicle during a search for weapons in Hayy Al Waziriyah, an industrial neighborhood of the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad June 26. The Soldiers went door-to-door with their Iraqi Army counterparts meeting the residents and community leaders of the area while searching for caches of weapons. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. L.B. Edgar, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment) |
|
|
|
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
