Learning ins, outs of insurgency
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
KIRKUK, Iraq — The 173rd Airborne Brigade's advice: On a house raid for a "high-value target," don't mess with trying to open the iron gates that are everywhere in this multiethnic city.
A Iraqi man opens the front gate to his home as troops from Charlie Company search the street.
Just chain them to a Humvee, pull them off the hinges — and pay for them later if nothing is found.
The Army says it's just a necessary way of doing military business in a city where foe is difficult to tell from friend, insurgents hop fences and hide in a neighbor's house, and C4 explosives or a rocket-propelled grenade might be stashed in a bedroom closet.
The ins and outs of insurgency are lessons the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment "Gimlets" from Schofield Barracks will have to learn in a hurry in Kirkuk.
The 173rd Brigade will soon pull out of northern Iraq after more than 10 months of duty.
For Charlie Company, 1-21, the need to be up to speed is even greater: The company was picked to be a quick reaction force in the city of nearly 1 million and surrounding areas.
The 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry from Schofield is in Tuz south of Kirkuk, while the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry is to the west of Kirkuk.
A taste of what's to come
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On a series of "left seat, right seat" raids with counterparts from the 173rd, Charlie Company team leaders and squad leaders this week searched homes for low-level targets.
Iraqi women wait as the troops search their home.
A platoon from the approximately 140-soldier company will have to be ready on short notice to go by helicopter or Humvee to hot spots in the region.
"We're an available source for a variety of missions ranging from squad all the way up to company level," said Capt. Bill Venable, 36, who commands Charlie Company.
That could mean convoy escort, anti-mortar and rocket patrols, airfield protection at Kirkuk Air Base — where the company is based — and raids to find suspected insurgents throughout the sector.
Among the most wanted: Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, No. 6 on the "deck of cards" list. The former vice chairman of the Baath Party's Revolutionary Command Council may be in the area, 173rd soldiers said.
"We're excited about (the mission)," Venable said. "It's what we were trained to do and what we prepared for."
Concurrently, the company will be responsible for reconstruction efforts in the southwest of the city, a region with 300,000 people.
On a series of day and night raids this week, Charlie Company team and squad leaders got their first taste of what's ahead.
Among the "targets" was a Kurd believed to be involved in ethnic intimidation of Arabs and Turkmen in the Wasiti District.
Other targets often include Saddam Fedayeen, who are a recruiting tool for terrorists, and foreign agents.
"They come in, they're training and they've got financing," said Capt. Bill Bundy, a company commander with the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Infantry, a unit of the 173rd that's been a quick reaction force team. "The resources (for bomb making) are out there if you want to find them — C4 plastic explosives or 105 mm howitzer shells."
Global Positioning System coordinates are used in a raid, and informants provide descriptions of gates and houses.
Expanding the search
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Five Humvees loaded with soldiers pulled up to the target house, but the Kurd being sought wasn't home. So soldiers searched the next two houses because they said suspects often hide in neighboring homes.
Pfc. Benjamin Grieve of Charlie Company looks at a notebook in a house where an assault rifle and portraits of Saddam Hussein were seized.
At the gate of the two-story concrete home next door, where an orange tree and rose bushes grew in the front yard, soldiers were met by a frantic old woman in a black shawl with tattoos on her face and hands.
"It's nothing to worry about. Tell them we're actually looking for the people next door," said Staff Sgt. Jayson Garrison, 27, a 503rd squad leader, to one of three Iraqi interpreters.
With the woman, an old man and three children outside, soldiers searched through cabinets, dressers and closets inside.
Nothing was found, but previous searches in the neighborhood have turned up bomb-making materials.
"The street behind, we found C4 (explosive) on the roof of a house," said Habeeb Nihad, 26, one of the Iraqi interpreters.
Soldiers later conducted night raids in which doors and windows had to be broken to gain entry. Compensation often is paid for damage, and at the company level, commanders are authorized to spend up to $2,500 per incident.
No one was detained, but U.S. soldiers can hold an Iraqi for 15 days. If evidence warrants it, a detainee can be sent to Tikrit for another 30 days for further investigation, officials said.
After one search, soldiers surprisingly were asked to stay for dinner.
Cpl. Joshua Newbrough, 25, a Charlie Company team leader, said having the 503rd soldiers along helped.
"These guys have been doing this for like 10 months now," Newbrough said. "We feel good walking into a situation where they've established themselves."
Newbrough said it was strange "walking into somebody's home saying, 'This is my job; I have to do this.'
"But at the same time, I think they realize you are performing a search that is necessary and removing a threat, and I think they understand that."
At a review of the first raid back at Kirkuk Air Base, 1st Lt. Walt Cartin, Charlie Company's 1st platoon leader, cautioned his soldiers not to feel reluctant about the searches.
"I know it's weird to invade somebody's private space, but (some of) these people are killing American forces," Cartin said.
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Capt. Bill Venable, Charlie Company's commander, listens to a woman being questioned while a house across the street is raided.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser |
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1st Lt. Walt Cartin is briefed before a raid in Kirkuk. Charlie Company leaders searched homes for low-level targets. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser |
