2-32 Field Artillery: 'Iraqi Freedom' Deployment: 2007-07-29

Sight Unseen: Artillery Soldiers Search for Elusive Enemy
Digital Video and Imagery Distribution
Story by Spc. Leith Edgar
Posted on 07.30.2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Over six months into his deployment, artilleryman Pfc. Brandon Tripp has yet to move his howitzer, let alone fire it. His M-4 rifle, on the other hand, has not received a day off since its owner set foot in Baghdad.

On patrol in the western section of the capital, Tripp stops to speak with residents, play with children and look for anything to indicate signs of the elusive enemy. The out of sight antagonist hides within a few million citizens in an urban jungle making capture more difficult than finding the proverbial needle.

Tripp, a 26-year old native of Jackson, Ohio, is not alone. Soldiers working throughout Baghdad to improve security face an enemy who does not fall under a flag, wear a uniform or fight under an organized command structure.

This morning, Tripp’s eyes are on the watch for any sign of danger as he walks down the streets of Hateen, a neighborhood within Baghdad’s Mansour District, with his unit, 4th Platoon, Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment. The mission is to search the homes of residents with the assistance of troops from the 6th Iraqi Army Division, said the battery’s commander, Capt. Brian McCall.

By the end of the operation, the Soldiers had searched approximately eight blocks of the neighborhood and confiscated a few contraband weapons. Simply removing a few rifles and hand guns off the streets did not necessarily make the mission a success. But the time the Soldiers used to talk with residents about helping them expel the enemy in hiding was, said McCall, a native of Junction City, Kan.

“By getting out and talking with the local populace, we’ve been able to build a good rapport and as a result they’ve passed us tips, which have helped us find IED’s and guys who are causing trouble,” McCall said. “A lot of times people are nervous talking to us on the street. So, we’ll quietly hand them a card in a handshake. It doesn’t look like they’re being complicit but they’re encouraged to call.”

McCall said his phone rings off the hook thanks to tip cards and the signs attached to the battery’s Humvees, which advertise an email address and phone number for information.

To improve the chances of residents making a call or sending an email, the troops frequently hit the sweltering streets.

Operating in Hateen for more than seven months, Tripp takes every opportunity on patrol to make small talk with residents, he said.

“A lot of people in the neighborhood remember our names,” he said. “I think that helps.”

Yet, no matter how much Soldiers like Tripp think they know the people; they are never really certain who is truly a friend or foe. The unauthorized weapons the Soldier’s routinely confiscate could be for defending the home or killing Soldiers.

“We talk to them once a week and then all of a sudden, we go in on a raid, and find 10 AK(-47)s in their house,” Tripp said, explaining that many Iraqis feel the need to stockpile weapons for protection. “You just don’t know who to trust.”

Under such conditions cultivating trust is an uphill battle. But fortunately many of Hateen’s educated residents understand violence is not the way ahead for Iraq, McCall explained.

However, there are groups opposed to progress in Hateen. Cells of al-Qaida in Iraq and Jaish Al Mahdi, commonly referred to as JAM, a militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr, operate in Hateen, he said.

As Tripp and his fellow artillery Soldiers were patrolling the streets of Hateen, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the commander of Multi-National Corps-Baghdad, recently told reporters Iraqi and coalition forces are making progress against insurgents and extremists in Baghdad.

“The surge of coalition forces had an impact in denying sanctuary to al-Qaida in Iraq and Shia extremists,” Odierno said.

According to McCall, Hateen is one of those sanctuaries.

The neighborhood is very affluent, composed primarily of educated Sunni residents and professionals such as engineers, doctors and schoolteachers. But it also houses financiers and planners, who masquerade as professionals, but are essentially the brains behind many operations against the government of Iraq and coalition forces, McCall said.

“They’re very quiet and they don’t do very many things in their own backyard per se. We have not found any large caches in our area. Nor has any intelligence led us to believe there are large groups of fighters (in Hateen),” McCall said. “It makes it a lot harder to find (them) because they are smart and can cover their tracks.”

In addition to the insurgent and extremist cells bent on destabilizing Hateen, Tripp and his unit are also combating sectarian violence.

A dispute between two families in the neighborhood has caused sectarian strife. Violence between the families has escalated to reprisal killings, bombings and collateral damage, McCall said.

“They’ve started to fight amongst each other,” he said. “While it may not be al-Qaida or JAM, it’s still violent action in our neighborhood that’s causing problems. So we’re trying to bring the killers to justice.”

In addition to policing the neighborhood, artillerymen like Tripp, are asked to work toward the reconstruction of Hateen’s essential services, including the restoration of electricity, sewage and trash pickup, McCall said.

“We’re artillerymen, so we’re used to firing howitzers.” McCall said. “But our howitzers haven’t moved out of the motor pool the whole time we’ve been here.”