The Patriot Call: Iraq Edition, Vol 1, Issue 3

The Patriot Call: Iraq Edition
Volume 1, Issue 3
May 3, 2007

Includes:

'Amid the Iraqi People': by LTC Gregory D Gadson

'Troops Making Progress': by 1SG Frederick Johnson

'Patriots Receive Combat Patch': pictures

'Proud Americans Carry on Tradition of the Big Red One': 1LT Charles E Bloomfield

'Communication During Deployment': CH Troy Parson

'Building the JSS': 1SG John Ruiz

'A Look Into the Alpha Battery CP': 1LT Neal Rice

'Unsung Warfighters': 1LT Quinn Robertson

'Tip of the Spear': CPT Adam Wojcik

'Tribute to Mothers': CH Troy Parson

'Regimental Color Handover': CPT Jason Alexander

The ‘Patriot Pool’

The ‘Patriot Pool’
Daggers Edge Magazine Volume 1, Issue 12
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Richard Jones
May 3, 2007

There I was, standing in a small, square piece of desert with a swamp in the middle. A member of the Camp Liberty Mayor Cell told me that for a small price this could all be mine. My future home looked bleak, but we had trucks coming and vehicles to fix. It was time to get busy, so the mechanics got to work establishing the “Patriot Pool” for 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment.

After receiving 130 vehicles and 30 large shipping containers in a period of only four nights, the maintenance platoon quickly established repair facilities for the Patriots. The two maintenance tents were erected in no time, but lacked the necessary concrete pad for a floor. The search was on for aluminum Air Force pallets, and with the help of the Mayor Cell, we found enough to establish hardstand floors in both tents. Finally, the toolboxes came out and the Gladiators of Golf Forward Support Company were ready for action.

Action is what we got as the battalion had signed for an additional 18 HMMWV’s from other units on Camp Liberty. These trucks lacked additional armor and had been previously used only on the base. It was our mission to get these vehicles up to standard and back in the fight. 11 of the vehicles came to us in Non-Mission Capable status, with faults ranging from brakes and ball joints to air conditioners and engines. I issued the challenge and the mechanics were ready to meet it. Spc. Crane and the PLL crew quickly learned their way around the Victory Base Camp as they set out to chase down parts. Within just a few days, the list of deadlined trucks began to shorten. But as that challenge went away, another presented itself. The next task was to execute a regeneration process to refit and re-arm vehicles returning from combat patrols and make them ready to fight again on a moment’s notice.

The Gladiators had developed a system at the National Training Center, and now it was time to put the plan to use. The distribution platoon established Class I, Class IV, and Class V issue sites and the maintenance platoon manned the “Jiffy Lube” for checks and services. The Communication’s Shop set up an area in the motor pool to address all communication issues. Diagrams were drawn and briefed to key leaders and the maintenance battlefield was prepared. We were ready.

When combat patrols complete their daily tour of duty on the dangerous streets of Baghdad, their first stop is the motor pool. The vehicle crews are required to complete an after-action maintenance check and resupply their trucks with everything from ammunition to MREs. The mechanics move in, poised to handle any issue that might have developed during operation. At first, the vehicle crews were a little disgruntled since all they wanted after missions was to shower and hit the rack. Maintenance was the last thing on their minds. However, after seeing that regeneration ensured the timely repair and return to duty of their equipment by the next day, they realized the program was the way to go.

From receiving equipment, unpacking shipping containers, and setting up their maintenance fox holes, Golf Company has prepared for any mission that the Proud Americans and the Dagger Brigade sends their way. So bring your broken equipment and hungry Soldiers, because the Gladiators are ready to “Sustain the Fight!”

Moving troops into small Iraq bases adds risks

Moving troops into small Iraq bases adds risks
MSNBC.com
by: Associated Press
May 2, 2007

BAGHDAD - The roof is like many others in western Baghdad, except for the American soldier hiding behind sandbags, training his rifle on the street below.

Outside the house, Iraqi children weave their tricycles between rolls of barbed wire. Inside, U.S. and Iraqi troops plot raids and collect information on their new neighbors.

The United States hopes that placing troops on small, discreet outposts like this one in the heart of one of Baghdad’s toughest neighborhoods will pay off in goodwill from the public and tips on militant activity.

But there are risks: Two suicide bombers killed nine Americans at one such base north of Baghdad in April.

“We could build a fortress around ourselves that no one can penetrate, but then we will have lost,” said Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, who commands the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery. His unit belongs to one of the five U.S. brigades sent here as part of President Bush’s plan to stabilize Baghdad.

‘We get threats all the time’
It’s only a matter of time before insurgents attack, he fears. “We get threats all the time,” said Gadson, 41, of Chesapeake, Va.

Gadson’s troops set up what the military calls a Joint Security Station two weeks ago in Baghdad’s Yarmouk area, within only yards of residents and suspected insurgents. About 50 Americans and 10 Iraqis live at the base. From here, they fan out on foot patrols, handing out flyers with the number of a telephone hot line to report militant activity anonymously.

Installations like the Yarmouk station are part of America’s new strategy here. Nearly three months on, U.S. ground commanders cite slow, but tangible, progress.

Before the arrival of Gadson’s soldiers, the U.S. military had a sparse presence in Yarmouk, an upscale Sunni Muslim area that was once home to members of high-ranking officials from Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Many homes were abandoned, looked after now by distant relatives or hired caretakers while the owners wait out the war in Jordan or Syria. The Yarmouk outpost is in one such house. The U.S. military is negotiating the rent with a former Iraqi army general who is in Jordan for medical treatment.

Driving away militants
When Gadson’s troops first walked these streets two months ago, it was a garbage-strewn ghost town, they said. Residents peered quizzically from second-floor windows at U.S. patrollers below. Fear kept the area’s mostly Sunni residents from cooperating with Iraq’s Shiite-dominated military.

But with a U.S. outpost in the area, residents believe militants will find someplace else to operate, said Capt. Jose Henderson, 31, of Milwaukee. And residents trust they won’t be mistreated by Shiite soldiers while Americans are watching, he said.

Bodies used to turn up on these streets daily — the likely victims of Shiite death squads who murdered Sunnis execution-style in the night. U.S. officials have cited a decrease in such sectarian killings since the Baghdad security plan began Feb. 14.

While Yarmouk is still largely shuttered, some shops have begun opening and families allow their children to play in the streets. The U.S. military hired a local man to organize community garbage pickup.

“That’s my sense of accomplishment, when you can see tangible changes,” said Henderson. “We all want to be able to answer that question when we go home: ‘Do you think you helped?”’

The troops tightened security after the deadly April 23 attack against the similar outpost in Diyala, which was hit by two dump trucks laden with explosives, Henderson said.

“Before that attack, we were letting vehicular traffic basically right up to our back door,” he said. Now, large concrete barriers keep traffic more than 50 yards away.

Some electronic security measures also were added, Henderson said, but he declined to comment further for security reasons.

“It’s all about risk management, and determining how much risk is worth our relationships with the local population,” he said.

For troops, preferable to barrackss
Most of the 50 American troops at the Yarmouk outpost said they preferred it to their barracks at Camp Liberty, a huge U.S. military complex near the Baghdad airport. Soldiers typically rotate four days at Liberty and four days at the Yarmouk station, which has no running water, food service or laundry.

“If someone blindfolded you and plopped you down on (Camp) Liberty, you could be on any U.S. military installation anywhere. You might not know you were in Iraq,” said Gadson, who studied Arabic and Middle East history at West Point in the 1980s and is now on his first tour in Iraq.

At the Yarmouk outpost and others like it, “you’re just so much closer,” he said.

“Torch” Lighting the Way for Mansour Security

“Torch” Lighting the Way for Mansour Security
Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System
By 1st Lt. Charles Bloomfield; 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment
April 30, 2007

"Torch" Lighting the Way

BAGHDAD — Construction of Joint Security Station “Torch” was completed and it was officially opened April 21, in the Mansour district of the capital city.

Planning and securing such a location does not come quickly or without proper preparation. In March, members of the Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) and the Iraqi army began nominating locations for the station.

Iraqi army troops and Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, conducted a recon of the area April 12, and plans for construction began in earnest. A concept brief took place the following day and a final synchronization meeting with all the elements involved from the 2nd “Dagger” Brigade ensued a couple days later.

Plans were made for barrier emplacement, concertina wire, sandbags, overwatch positions, checkpoints, waste removal, and many other logistical details. Pieces began to fall into place for building, securing and making the site habitable.

The construction operations began as scheduled, but that was not the only mission Soldiers from the 2nd “Proud Americans” Battalion, 32nd FA, had in mind.

JSS Torch is located on the corner of a city block and would definitely have an impact on the local residents of the community. On the first day of construction, the ‘Good Neighbor Plan’ went into effect and Capt. Jose Henderson, Capt. Brian McCall, and Capt. Jayson Morgan visited each of the houses surrounding the newly-acquired property.

They introduced themselves and offered a gift, including candy, a picture of the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Gregory Gadson, Col. Ali, the 2nd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army commander, and Lt. Col. Rahim, the 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army commander. They also hand-delivered a letter to introduce and explain the current project.

Soldiers placed the first barrier of JSS Torch into place on the morning of April 16. Soldiers throughout the Proud American Battalion, as well as those from 9th Engineer, 20th Engineer, and 299th Forward Support battalions, worked tirelessly day and night to complete the project on time, keep it secure, and to get it fully operational.

Construction was completed on April 19.

JSS Torch officially opened for business the morning of April 21. Iraqi security force liaisons occupied the building that morning and the JSS became a center for combined forces.

Later in the day, Maj. Gen. Abdul Al-Ameer, commander of the 6th Iraqi Army Division, arrived for a brief on the JSS, a tour, an awards ceremony and a traditional Iraqi lunch. After the awards ceremony, Ameer addressed everyone and specifically reminded the Soldiers of their duties.

“Be good to the citizens and they will trust you,” he said. “Remember that your loyalty is to Iraq; not for the party, not for the tribe, not for sect or religion. The party will go away; the tribe will go away; the religion might go away, but Iraq will stay.”

Gadson echoed the Iraqi Army general’s remarks, and told the Iraqi and U.S. troops assembled why he had chosen the name “Torch” for the JSS. He said it not only honored the Proud American’s combat experience in 1942, but this JSS and Iraqi Army represent “the light in the future of the Mansour district.”

With the formalities over, the first southeast Mansour security meeting, representing the real work of the JSS, occurred the next day. The meeting outlined ideas to conduct coordinated combined operations with Iraqi security forces and coalition forces.

Future goals include building a common operating picture for the combined forces to work with and to secure support for the civil authorities. Through this way ahead, Iraqi security forces will eventually take control of security and the civil leaders will be empowered to improve the living conditions within their neighborhoods.