Hello everyone,
Things are winding down here in Multi-National Division-North (MND-N) for the 1st Armored Division (1AD) soldiers, which means that they (and I) will be heading home in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, the beat goes on.
I finally spent some time with my Aviation compadres last week and was not surprised by the data that I collected. The Army Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) consists of the whole gamut of aircraft, including attack (Apache), cargo (Chinook), Scouts (Kiowa-Warrior), and utility (Blackhawk). The Cab also uses unmanned aviation systems (UAS). The CAB had aircraft in the air literally 24 hours a day somewhere in the division sector for its entire 15 month rotation. The CAB covered the largest division area in Iraq and they were in the fight during some of the roughest fighting over here, yet their safety record was phenomenal. If you are a pilot who likes to chalk up flight hours, this was the place to be. The proficiency levels of the pilots are at an all time high as far as flying and fighting their aircraft. Like other types of units, the CAB will have to spend a little time at home brushing up on skills required for a more conventional battle.
I also did some work with the 1AD Military Police Company in the past couple of weeks. This MP unit is one of the few which are not performing as a Police Transition Team (PTT), although the unit does work with the Iraqi Police in Tikrit. This MP Company is a “landowner,” which means that the unit is responsible for the security situation in a large chunk of land in Tikrit. I joined the MPs on mission on Halloween Friday. The day began as we relieved a Special Ops group after they conducted a successful early morning mission against some not-so-friendlies out in town. The MPs and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team arrived on scene at the raid and the EOD folks went to work clearing explosives and other IED making material from the front yard of one of Tikrit’s finest insurgents. He and a couple of neighbors were obviously on the wanted list of the special operators, and now that list is a little shorter.
The MPs went to the houses surrounding the scene of the raid to touch bases with neighbors and to make sure everyone knew what was happening and to ensure that they were all OK. This raid got a little noisy so the locals new that something a little different was happening in the neighborhood. The MPs have earned a great reputation in the community from their willingness to keep the line of communication open with the citizens and to keep them informed. Usually the locals know very well who lives next to them, so they aren’t necessarily surprised when the authorities show up bright and early.
After we completed the work at the raid scene, we went to visit a local Iraqi jail. The jail sits on the base on which Saddam’s mother’s palace (from an earlier post) sits. Trust me, the jail is no palace. It is a small building which houses suspects who were arrested by the Iraqi Army (IA) or the IP. I supposed that it is important to keep things in perspective when viewing the jail. The inmates were not hanging by their fingernails and they were not being given acid baths as would happen under Saddam, but the jail certainly does not offer the creature comforts of your average US jail. There are no bars for cells, but a couple hundred people are placed into a couple of rooms that are so full that people have to take turns laying down to sleep. There is one toilet (hole in the floor) per room, and one shower. The prisoners sit back to back in these rooms with a couple hours to go outside per week. According to the guards, some of the prisoners have been in this jail for several years. Fortunately for the inmates, there was a TV in each of the rooms that I saw.
The good news story here is that each of the prisoners has been before a judge within 24 hours of arrest. They may be stuck in the jail for awhile due to delayed court dates because of a continuing shortage of judicial investigators, but the point is, they are (slowly) moving through the judicial process, which is a giant leap forward from the old days in Iraq. The MPs questioned several inmates to see if they had any complaints, and the only issues that anyone had was that they are developing the skin disease called scabies, which is caused, in part, by continuous close contact with others in a not-too-clean environment. The prisoners were all just sitting in these rooms, back to back, watching TV, looking surprisingly content.
The chief of the jail is frustrated because he would like to expand the jail, but he cannot get funding. The base on which the jail is located actually belongs to the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism. Due to the high number of Saddam palaces on the base, the Tourism ministry wants to turn the base into a tourist attraction, so no money is being allocated to improve the jail. I think that the jail would make a great tourist stop to encourage people NOT to need to go to an Iraqi jail. I will admit, sitting around day after day watching TV for a couple of years does have appeal to some people.
After we left the jail, we briefly stopped at an IA base where a recruiting effort was underway. There is always a recruiting effort for the IP and IA. The line of volunteers was long, as is common. No more forced service in the army as in Saddam’s day.
Before heading back to Speicher, we stopped in an area where there had been a high threat of a RKG-3 attack. The RKG-3 is an anti-armor grenade, and the Sunni criminals in MND-N have used them too frequently. We patrolled on foot through the area and stopped and visited with several shop keepers during the patrol. The MP Commander bought chicken for his troops from a local shop and a couple other MPs grabbed a broom and swept the sidewalk in front of another shop. It is apparent that the locals in that area have a good relationship with the MPs, and the better that relationship, the more likely someone will rat out those who toss the RKG-3s. Believe it or not, there is a pool hall at the end of a row of shops along grenade alley, and the owner invited us in to play pool, smoke cigarettes, and drink Pepsi. The smart shop owners know that the Americans will come in and spend money in their shops, but there were several owners who clearly did not want us in their stores, especially the guy with the RKG-3 hanging out of his pocket (just kidding). After we wrapped up our visit, the squad headed over to the local hospital to ensure that the staff had stopped giving patients water that came straight from the Tigris River. The sickness was getting a little out of hand, and it took the MPs to point out the cause to the highly trained hospital staff.
The scenery is beginning to change here at Speicher. Those wearing the Old Ironsides patch on their shoulders are beginning to pack up and the Tropical Lighting patch of the 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii is beginning to arrive by the hundreds. Although the 25th does not take charge until next month, our Commanding General gathered us all up for a few minutes to give us a Veteran’s Day message and to say farewell to the 1AD troops who are starting to head home. I will share some statistics with you in my next and final note from in country, but 1AD already made some history as being the first command to deploy to war with none of its own brigades. The Army has developed Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) which some people refer to as “plug and play” units. While the Division used to be the source of support for its brigades, the BCTs are designed to operate somewhat independently with the Division providing somewhat less support but taking on other command and control and combat tasks. Anyway, the CG pointed out that this speaks well of the standardized training of the Army as a whole when BCTs from different divisions can plug in and pick up the fight with a whole separate division. MND-N is a large area, and the 1AD and its component BCTs had some impressive accomplishments.
The first attached picture is me with some hard core Tikrit kids. I only deal with the hardest criminal elements. I knocked on their door for trick-or-treat and they tried to play dumb with me so I had to get tough. You can see how scared they are of the Americans. This was actually at a house in the vicinity of the raid, and the MPs were checking in with the family.
The second picture is obviously the pool hall. No country music playing and no beer flowing, but the table is supposedly always in use. Finally, the last picture is of the chicken vendor in grenade alley. He insisted that I take his picture, so I guess he wants me to plug his shop. So, if you ever happen to be driving through Tikrit and you crave fresh roasted chicken…By the way, the guys in the pool shop wanted to take a picture of me standing among them after I took my picture of them, so if you are surfing through your favorite AQI web site and there is a picture of me being “captured” by some local terrorists, it’s probably not true.
Everyone take care and here’s hoping that you have a blessed Thanksgiving
Things are winding down here in Multi-National Division-North (MND-N) for the 1st Armored Division (1AD) soldiers, which means that they (and I) will be heading home in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, the beat goes on.
I finally spent some time with my Aviation compadres last week and was not surprised by the data that I collected. The Army Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) consists of the whole gamut of aircraft, including attack (Apache), cargo (Chinook), Scouts (Kiowa-Warrior), and utility (Blackhawk). The Cab also uses unmanned aviation systems (UAS). The CAB had aircraft in the air literally 24 hours a day somewhere in the division sector for its entire 15 month rotation. The CAB covered the largest division area in Iraq and they were in the fight during some of the roughest fighting over here, yet their safety record was phenomenal. If you are a pilot who likes to chalk up flight hours, this was the place to be. The proficiency levels of the pilots are at an all time high as far as flying and fighting their aircraft. Like other types of units, the CAB will have to spend a little time at home brushing up on skills required for a more conventional battle.
I also did some work with the 1AD Military Police Company in the past couple of weeks. This MP unit is one of the few which are not performing as a Police Transition Team (PTT), although the unit does work with the Iraqi Police in Tikrit. This MP Company is a “landowner,” which means that the unit is responsible for the security situation in a large chunk of land in Tikrit. I joined the MPs on mission on Halloween Friday. The day began as we relieved a Special Ops group after they conducted a successful early morning mission against some not-so-friendlies out in town. The MPs and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team arrived on scene at the raid and the EOD folks went to work clearing explosives and other IED making material from the front yard of one of Tikrit’s finest insurgents. He and a couple of neighbors were obviously on the wanted list of the special operators, and now that list is a little shorter.
The MPs went to the houses surrounding the scene of the raid to touch bases with neighbors and to make sure everyone knew what was happening and to ensure that they were all OK. This raid got a little noisy so the locals new that something a little different was happening in the neighborhood. The MPs have earned a great reputation in the community from their willingness to keep the line of communication open with the citizens and to keep them informed. Usually the locals know very well who lives next to them, so they aren’t necessarily surprised when the authorities show up bright and early.
After we completed the work at the raid scene, we went to visit a local Iraqi jail. The jail sits on the base on which Saddam’s mother’s palace (from an earlier post) sits. Trust me, the jail is no palace. It is a small building which houses suspects who were arrested by the Iraqi Army (IA) or the IP. I supposed that it is important to keep things in perspective when viewing the jail. The inmates were not hanging by their fingernails and they were not being given acid baths as would happen under Saddam, but the jail certainly does not offer the creature comforts of your average US jail. There are no bars for cells, but a couple hundred people are placed into a couple of rooms that are so full that people have to take turns laying down to sleep. There is one toilet (hole in the floor) per room, and one shower. The prisoners sit back to back in these rooms with a couple hours to go outside per week. According to the guards, some of the prisoners have been in this jail for several years. Fortunately for the inmates, there was a TV in each of the rooms that I saw.
The good news story here is that each of the prisoners has been before a judge within 24 hours of arrest. They may be stuck in the jail for awhile due to delayed court dates because of a continuing shortage of judicial investigators, but the point is, they are (slowly) moving through the judicial process, which is a giant leap forward from the old days in Iraq. The MPs questioned several inmates to see if they had any complaints, and the only issues that anyone had was that they are developing the skin disease called scabies, which is caused, in part, by continuous close contact with others in a not-too-clean environment. The prisoners were all just sitting in these rooms, back to back, watching TV, looking surprisingly content.
The chief of the jail is frustrated because he would like to expand the jail, but he cannot get funding. The base on which the jail is located actually belongs to the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism. Due to the high number of Saddam palaces on the base, the Tourism ministry wants to turn the base into a tourist attraction, so no money is being allocated to improve the jail. I think that the jail would make a great tourist stop to encourage people NOT to need to go to an Iraqi jail. I will admit, sitting around day after day watching TV for a couple of years does have appeal to some people.
After we left the jail, we briefly stopped at an IA base where a recruiting effort was underway. There is always a recruiting effort for the IP and IA. The line of volunteers was long, as is common. No more forced service in the army as in Saddam’s day.
Before heading back to Speicher, we stopped in an area where there had been a high threat of a RKG-3 attack. The RKG-3 is an anti-armor grenade, and the Sunni criminals in MND-N have used them too frequently. We patrolled on foot through the area and stopped and visited with several shop keepers during the patrol. The MP Commander bought chicken for his troops from a local shop and a couple other MPs grabbed a broom and swept the sidewalk in front of another shop. It is apparent that the locals in that area have a good relationship with the MPs, and the better that relationship, the more likely someone will rat out those who toss the RKG-3s. Believe it or not, there is a pool hall at the end of a row of shops along grenade alley, and the owner invited us in to play pool, smoke cigarettes, and drink Pepsi. The smart shop owners know that the Americans will come in and spend money in their shops, but there were several owners who clearly did not want us in their stores, especially the guy with the RKG-3 hanging out of his pocket (just kidding). After we wrapped up our visit, the squad headed over to the local hospital to ensure that the staff had stopped giving patients water that came straight from the Tigris River. The sickness was getting a little out of hand, and it took the MPs to point out the cause to the highly trained hospital staff.
The scenery is beginning to change here at Speicher. Those wearing the Old Ironsides patch on their shoulders are beginning to pack up and the Tropical Lighting patch of the 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii is beginning to arrive by the hundreds. Although the 25th does not take charge until next month, our Commanding General gathered us all up for a few minutes to give us a Veteran’s Day message and to say farewell to the 1AD troops who are starting to head home. I will share some statistics with you in my next and final note from in country, but 1AD already made some history as being the first command to deploy to war with none of its own brigades. The Army has developed Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) which some people refer to as “plug and play” units. While the Division used to be the source of support for its brigades, the BCTs are designed to operate somewhat independently with the Division providing somewhat less support but taking on other command and control and combat tasks. Anyway, the CG pointed out that this speaks well of the standardized training of the Army as a whole when BCTs from different divisions can plug in and pick up the fight with a whole separate division. MND-N is a large area, and the 1AD and its component BCTs had some impressive accomplishments.
The first attached picture is me with some hard core Tikrit kids. I only deal with the hardest criminal elements. I knocked on their door for trick-or-treat and they tried to play dumb with me so I had to get tough. You can see how scared they are of the Americans. This was actually at a house in the vicinity of the raid, and the MPs were checking in with the family.
The second picture is obviously the pool hall. No country music playing and no beer flowing, but the table is supposedly always in use. Finally, the last picture is of the chicken vendor in grenade alley. He insisted that I take his picture, so I guess he wants me to plug his shop. So, if you ever happen to be driving through Tikrit and you crave fresh roasted chicken…By the way, the guys in the pool shop wanted to take a picture of me standing among them after I took my picture of them, so if you are surfing through your favorite AQI web site and there is a picture of me being “captured” by some local terrorists, it’s probably not true.
Everyone take care and here’s hoping that you have a blessed Thanksgiving
3 comments:
Thanks for your work and sacrifices. My family appreciate you guys even though in my opinion the American public has lost it's mind. I'd like to ask if it's ok that I link your blog to mind. Gotta ask first.
Pete, thanks for your support. You may absolutely link this blog to yours. Hope you and your family have a great Thanksgiving.
Just found your milblog a few days ago and really enjoy your posts. I have linked to your "Winding Down" on my milblog but couldn't get a trackback figured out yet.
Continue to be safe. All the best to you and your family for your service to our Nation. On every mission know that we support you and are with you.
Cheers
Patrick
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