Bits From Iraq

FORWARD OPERATING BASE COURAGE, MOSUL — On Oct. 13, 2004, while serving in Mosul, Maj. Charles R. Soltes Jr. and Lt. Col. Mark P. Phelan were killed when their convoy was attacked with an improvised explosive device (IED). Soldiers from Task Force Freedom gathered at the Civilian Military Operations Center (CMOC) here, to rededicate the CMOC to Maj. Charles R. Soltes Jr.

Phelan was also commemorated. He deployed to Iraq, with the 416th Civil Affairs (CA) Battalion in January 2004, and had extended his tour to work with the 443rd CA Battalion.

After a prayer by Chaplain (Maj.) Gordon R. Furbay, Maj. Brian Anderson and Maj. Darius Gallegos then spoke.

“Charles and I had known each other for many years,” said Gallegos. “He was the type of person that had a contagious smile. After he died, I was deployed to Mosul with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. I went on a routine convoy one day and was at the very same spot where his convoy was hit by an IED. I called his wife to let her know that I was there where he died.”

Soltes graduated from Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., with a bachelor of science degree in 1990. He received his doctorate in optometry from the New England College of Optometry in 1994. In his civilian life, he was self-employed as an optometrist in Garden Grove, Calif.

Soltes joined the 426th CA Bn., an Army Reserve unit based in Upland, Calif., in February 2004 and deployed to Iraq with them in August. He served as a preventive medical officer in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and helped to start the CMOC on FOB Courage. The CMOC has helped several Iraqi civilians receive medical aid, both here and in the United States.

At the end of the ceremony Anderson and Gallegos unveiled a plaque dedicated to Soltes that was inset in the CMOC’s outside wall. On it was written, “In memory of Maj. Robert Soltes. Killed in action Oct. 13, 2004; husband, father, and Soldier.”

Iraqi, U.S. forces disrupt terrorist operations

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq Army and Task Force Baghdad Soldiers disrupted terrorist cells, seized weapons caches and stopped several anti-Iraqi forces from carrying out attacks during operations in the city Nov. 14-16.

The Iraqi Army took the lead in a cordon and search designed to ferret out anti-Iraqi forces cell leaders tied to the development, distribution and emplacement of improvised explosive devices. During the operation in Sadr City, the Soldiers from 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 2nd Iraqi Army Brigade, along with U.S. Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, detained 23 individuals and seized weapons, ammunition, and terrorist propaganda materials.

This is just one example of the Iraqi Army’s ongoing presence throughout Baghdad as its Soldiers thwart terrorist activities in local neighborhoods. During the three-day period, Iraqi Army units conducted more than 1,250 patrols.

In another cordon-and-search operation Nov. 15, a platoon from 1st Battalion, 2nd Iraqi Army Brigade nabbed five members of an anti-Iraqi forces cell who were planning an attack on the Italian Embassy in Baghdad. The Iraqi Soldiers also seized two vehicles which the terrorists had planned to use in the attack.

U.S. Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division conducting operations in southwestern Baghdad conducted a knock and search of a house Nov. 15. When the owner appeared reluctant to open a shed on his property, the Soldiers grew suspicious and searched the building. Inside, they found wires, computer parts, timers and 14 magazines for AK-47 assault rifles. The individual was detained for further questioning.

An alert Iraqi Police officer discovered an improvised explosive device in a black bag near a bus stop in west Baghdad Nov. 16. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division responded to the incident. An explosive ordnance disposal team summoned to the scene confirmed the bag contained an anti-tank mine wired to a detonation device. The EOD team recovered the explosives and rendered the area safe.

In other operations, Task Force Baghdad Soldiers captured suspected terrorists who were seen loitering around attack sites.

After a convoy from 1st Bn., 87th Inf. was hit with a small IED in west Baghdad Nov. 15, another Task Force Baghdad unit in the area reported spotting an individual on a nearby roof. The suspect was watching the IED strike and talking on a cell phone. The two U.S. elements joined in a search of a nearby house where they caught the rooftop lurker and detained him for further questioning.

Another Task Force Baghdad unit on patrol on a road west of Baghdad Nov. 15 discovered an IED before it detonated. An EOD team disarmed the device and cleared the site. As they were doing so, Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 11th Cavalry Regiment, attached to 1st BCT, 10th Mountain Div., detained two suspicious individuals who were loitering around the IED site as the EOD team dismantled the device. Military officials later determined they recently handled explosives.

Soldiers from 2nd BCT’s 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry came under attack from small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The Soldiers pursued the attackers, returning their fire and killing three terrorists. The unit searched houses in the area and detained eight suspects. There were no U.S. casualties or equipment damage in the incident.

Soldiers from 2/101st Airborne Div. discovered a weapons cache of 22 60-millimeter mortar rounds and 18 fuses Nov. 15 during a search of a farm in south Baghdad. An EOD team later destroyed the munitions in controlled detonation.

101st Soldiers find weapons cache west of Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq - After receiving a tip from a local resident, Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division uncovered what turned out to be a large weapons cache west of Baghdad.

The unit initially found a small cache consisting of two rocket-propelled grenades and one AK-47 assault rifle Nov. 14.

After uncovering this weapons cache, the Soldiers of 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment expanded the search of the area, resulting in one of the largest of 17 weapons cache discoveries by 2nd BCT, 101st Airborne Div. to date.

After receiving the informant’s tip, the Soldiers started their search by using a metal detector. They began to dig up munitions and weapons at 3 p.m. and the dig continued until after midnight Nov. 16.

When an explosives ordnance disposal team arrived at the site, the Soldiers were still discovering more weapons caches buried in the field.

“After we found the smaller cache, it just kept going,” said Staff. Sgt. Joel Killian, 1st Platoon, B Troop, 1/75th Cavalry. “First we would find a mortar plate, then we would find the tube. Next, every side road was filled with weapons, so we just continued to search and continued to discover more and more weapons buried in the field.”

As of Nov. 16, the weapons cache consisted of 150,000 7.62 rounds of ammunition, 600 propellant charges, 500 blasting caps, 400 artillery fuses, 150 hand grenades, 150 120-millimeter rounds, 125 rockets, 100 primer charges, 85 82-millimeter mortar rounds, 68 60-millimeter rounds, 50 plastic grenades, 35 anti-tank mines, 13 20-millimeter rockets, 12 RPG launchers, multiple barrels and bags of small-arms ammunition, seven unknown type of missiles, seven rolls of copper wire, three 60-millimeter mortar systems, three 55-gallon drums of fertilizer, three rolls of detonation cord, two 82-millimeter mortar tubes with bases, and one 82-millimeter mortar system.

“This is a great step in removing capability, the means with which terrorists execute their indiscriminate and cowardly violence,” said Col. Todd Ebel, 2/101 commander. “I am very proud of all the Soldiers involved with this cache find. These Soldiers and others like them across this Brigade Combat Team are making a difference in the safety of south Baghdad.

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq — Sandstorms, improvised explosives and terrorist attacks cannot keep the Marines from 2nd Platoon, Company B, Amphibian Assault Battalion, 2nd Marine Division and their armored assault vehicles out of the fight.

“The work flow can be strenuous,” said Gunnery Sgt. Alvin Beard. “At any given time, we can work 18- to 20-hour days. A normal AAV rotation or hours/miles on these vehicles are 400 to 450 miles in five years; we did that in about 60 days.” The average for the company has been about 832 miles for the first month and 897 for the following months.

Beard is one of the senior noncommissioned officers for 2nd Plt., B Co. He ensures his mechanics keep B Co.’s AAVs combat ready.

Keeping the AAVs combat ready has come with a price. The company had lost one of its mechanic brothers. On June 6, Lance Cpl. Jonathan L. Smith was bringing hot chow to the field when the AAV he was in hit an improvised explosive device.

“[Terrorists] are getting smarter, bigger mines and bigger IEDs,” Beard said. “The repairs are getting more intensive. In the last two weeks, we repaired six tracks and 12 in the last month,” said Beard.

Referring to an AAV nicknamed “Diablo 4” being repaired, Beard pointed to where a rocket-propelled grenade went through the rear ramp window. “Two Marines were wounded when that happened,” he said. Looking at the window, Beard said “it was miraculous that no one was killed, and it is still [in operation].”

Not only do they repair the tracks, the mechanics also have to assist B Co. with a myriad of duties. “We are tasked with convoy operations, patrolling, security and stability operations,” said Beard.

Additionally, they attach a mechanic plus one communications operator or radio man and a communications technician to each platoon. “We are down manning strength by about a quarter,” said Beard. The company has 22 enlisted Marines and one officer; the loss of personnel has been hard.

“It has been very maintenance-intensive — pretty much non-stop since we arrived,” said Beard.

When B Co. deployed, it had three or four trained mechanics with little experience in the company, Beard explained. They received the rest of their mechanics freshly trained from school and with no real-world experience.

Sgt. Jason Groves, one of the mechanics assigned to B Co., was watching an AAV crew he was assigned to working on one of the road wheels.

“Most of the stuff I do, they already know how to do,” said Groves.

The men repairing the AAVs have not gone unnoticed. Beard said his Marines were submitted for awards ranging from the Navy Achievement Medal to letters of achievement, and he feels confident they will be recognized.
**Well done to the Russians on this, one more islamonazi to be flushed down the nearest crapper

KHANKALA, November 18 (Itar-Tass) - Russian secret services destroyed a senior al Qaeda representative in Chechnya, head of the regional headquarters in control of the anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus Col-Gen Arkady Yedelev told reporters here on Friday. The operation was carried out by an army elite reconnaissance unit near the village of Avtury, Shali district, on November 11. The militant, identified as Jaber, was reportedly al Qaeda's mastermind and financier of recent high-profile terrorist attack in the republic, Yedelev said. Jaber organized terrorist attacks in Znamenskoye and Grozny, and is behind the attack on the village of Roshni-Chu in August. "Illegal armed group received a large financial injured recently, which is directly linked with the gangs' attempt to unsettle the situation in the republic ahead of the parliamentary election," the General added. Jaber has headed a group of foreign mercenaries from 2001, which smuggled gunmen from Georgia's Pankisi Gorge into Russia. Jaber was the successor of Abu al Walid, an Arab mercenary who in turn, took over from Khattab. All the militants were killed in special operation by Russian secret services. Coalition Forces identify captured terrorist BAGHDAD, Iraq - Coalition forces acting on multiple intelligence sources and tips from concerned citizens raided a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist safe house in Baghdad Oct. 31 capturing an al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist named Uthman Faruq Muhammad Abd-al-Hamid (aka Abu Ibrahim). Abu Ibrahim was a technology expert, advisor and supplier to al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists and leaders in Baghdad. Abu Ibrahim was a computer store owner, a programmer and part owner in an engineering company in Baghdad. Abu Ibrahim admits he supplied hundreds of triggering devices for improvised explosive devices, as well as other technology items, to the al Qaeda in Iraq military commander in Baghdad on multiple occasions. These items include hand-held radios, cellular telephones, wireless telephones, computers, software and computer parts and electronic components. Abu Ibrahim was also associated with the al Qaeda in Iraq Baghdad propaganda cell. He provided his expertise in the procurement of video equipment, video editing equipment, and computer programs. He was directly connected to the al Qaeda in Iraq propaganda emir and well as other senior terrorists such as Dr. Muhsin, who was detained in June. Abu Ibrahim also admits to being connected to Abu Hassen who was detained last month. Abu Ibrahim provided Abu Hassen with computers and software to make false identifications. Abu Hassen admitted to making false weapons permits, identification cards and press credentials for various al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists as well as the senior al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist leadership in Baghdad. These identifications would be used by terrorists to conceal their true identities if stopped by Iraqi Security and Coalition forces. The forgeries also provided a way to openly carry weapons while conducting terrorist activities. These activities could include attacks, kidnappings, and murders. The false identifications would also provide a means of entry as media representatives to various events to reconnoiter them for potential terrorist attacks. Search of cache turns up more weapons, munitions BAGHDAD, Iraq — After discovering a large weapons cache Nov. 16, Soldiers of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division uncovered even more weapons buried beneath the original cache after a controlled detonation the next day. The Soldiers of 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment began their search of this site Nov. 15 and the excavation continued through Nov. 18. While exploiting the site Nov. 17, the Soldiers received information from an Iraqi citizen that there was going to be an attack by Anti-Iraqi Forces on the American forces securing the area. At 10:30 a.m. Nov. 18, B Troop, 1/75th Cav. conducted a cordon and search of a house identified by the informant, resulting in the capture of five individuals suspected of being the AIF terrorists planning to attack the cache site. Since the discovery of the original weapons cache, the Soldiers have uncovered an additional three 120-millimeter mortar rounds, 1,000 rounds of 7.62-millimeter ammunition, 60-millimeter mortar system, one 60-millimeter mortar and various homemade explosives.

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