2 Schofield Barracks soldiers wounded
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
KIRKUK, Iraq — A 21-year-old private from Schofield Barracks was shot in the arm and a 35-year-old staff sergeant received an eye injury in attacks in northern Iraq this week, officials said.
The injuries are among the most serious since about 4,000 25th Infantry Division (Light) soldiers recently arrived in the country for a year-long tour of duty.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade out of Italy, which has been in the Kirkuk region for the past 10 months after parachuting in March 26, will formally hand over responsibility for the region on Thursday.
Schofield soldiers have been taking part in joint missions with the 173rd and the 4th Infantry Division, including raids, cordon and searches and sweeps for "improvised explosive devices," or bombs.
The 25th Division's area of responsibility, meanwhile, has more than doubled in size. With a region added to the east that includes 700 miles of Iranian border, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team has the biggest area of responsibility for a U.S. brigade-sized element in Iraq.
The area used to be about the size of New Hampshire. Now it's that, plus Vermont and Massachusetts.
The oil-rich and ethnically diverse city of Kirkuk, with nearly 1 million people, is at the center of the 25th's mission focus.
"You always have a steep line curve in the beginning as you get new guys on the ground, but we'll be starting at a higher level because of the work they (the 173rd) have done," said 2nd Brigade commander Col. Lloyd Miles. "The troops are very savvy, and they can adapt to do these different types of missions."
Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery at Schofield are operating in the east, monitoring border traffic with Iran in a nontraditional role and maintaining U.S. authority in the area of Kurdish Peshmerga influence.
The two injuries, neither of which was life-threatening, occurred in the western operating area around the city of Al Huwijah and forward operating base McHenry, a largely Arab section at the upper tip of the so-called "Sunni Triangle" where many attacks have occurred on U.S. forces.
Both soldiers were sent to Landstuhl, Germany, for treatment. Family had been notified of the injuries, officials said.
On Tuesday, Pfc. Chris Tenayuca, 21, from San Antonio, Texas, was shot in the bicep during an Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry cordon and search in Al Huwijah, said Capt. Nathan Minami, 2nd Brigade assistant operations officer.
The McHenry base had been receiving mortar strikes for the past several nights, and Alpha Company was looking for the source.
As the company arrived, a man was spotted with a rocket-propelled grenade, Minami said. Shots were exchanged with the man and three others. The men were captured with two AK-47 assault rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade, bomb-making material, and a shotgun, Minami said. One of the men had a leg wound and was treated at Kirkuk Air Base.
The second injury occurred Wednesday south of the McHenry base during a bomb sweep of major routes. Staff Sgt. Christopher Hendry, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas, received an eye injury when a bomb exploded at the right front of the Bradley fighting vehicle he was riding in with soldiers from the 4th Division out of Fort Hood, Texas.
The soldiers with Schofield's Bravo Company, 1-27, were heading back to base when the SA-2 surface-to-air missile exploded, hitting Hendry and a 4th Division soldier with debris.
Nine people were detained and brought to Kirkuk Air Base, including one with a rocket-propelled grenade, Minami said.
