Combat aviation brigade created "on the fly"

Spc. Isaac Mendoza of the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade readies for flight. Photo Allison Batdorff / S&S

BALAD, Iraq - About 700 soldiers in 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, based in Katterbach, Germany, will create a temporary aviation brigade for the 4th Infantry Division when it arrives in Baghdad in December.

This means the new brigade needs to be up and running in two months.

The 12th CAB has been in Iraq at Logistics Support Area Anaconda for a few months, which makes it easier, Col. Timothy Edens, the brigade’s commanding officer, said Friday.

“I think they’ll be able to pick up the mission quicker than starting over again with a new group,” Edens said.

The Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Task Force Storm, and 412th Aviation Support, 4-3 Air Cavalry will move to Camp Taji, while an Army aviation unit from Alaska will cover the home front in Iraq. ...

The new brigade will be temporary, lasting only eight months until 4th ID’s own aviation brigade is ready to deploy again.

And some of the nuts and bolts — like the name of the new brigade — are still up in the air.

I will never leave a fallen comrade

Apache Troop, 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry, 1st BCT, 3rd ID fight off an insurgent ambush after a roadside bomb crippled one of their vehicles on July 26 near Fallujah.

“Some things happen that you just don’t expect,” said [Capt. Charles Randall] Zipperer, 33, of Keystone Heights, Fla. “Our water truck got hit on the hottest day in Iraq in seven years. People were engaged in enemy fire with I.V.’s in their arms and bags strapped to their Kevlar. We didn’t expect that.”

What started as a routine sweep down both sides of a road near the village of Saqlawiyah turned bad early when a roadside bomb blew up one of the vehicles, resulting in an injury.

Red Platoon — on the other side of the canal — found another explosive device and snipped the wires before catching sight of three people about to detonate it, Zipperer said.

Soldiers captured the three men and were waiting to fly them to a detainment facility when someone realized they’d forgotten some evidence and the trucks went back for it, Zipperer said.

In the lead truck were Spc. Jaime Rodriguez Jr., a 19-year-old from Oxnard, Calif.; Spc. Charles Bilbrey Jr., a 21-year-old from Oswego, N.Y.; and Sgt. William Howdeshell, a 37-year-old from Norfolk, Va. They were also carrying all of the water — eight pallets — to last the duration of the troop’s operation.

Though other trucks had crossed that point three or four times already, the lead truck hit the pressure switch of a roadside bomb.

Rodriguez, Bilbrey and Howdeshell were killed instantly.

Pfc. Dylan Marrow, a medic, helped recover the men. The 21-year-old from Houston will be haunted by seeing his friends this way forever, he said.

“I think of it every day,” Marrow said.

But the living soon needed his attention, as the temperature rose and men collapsed. Water was scarce. Men started dropping like flies, shedding their body armor in the oppressive heat.

“All hell broke loose and everybody went down,” Marrow said. “I couldn’t decide who was worse off, so I treated them in order.”

Medics Pfc. Dave Marek, 33, of Madison, Wis., and Spc. Randy Gene Fink, 23, Beckley, W.Va., came from the back of the convoy to help and saw many soldiers suffering from heat exhaustion — a potentially lethal condition.

“There were 20 to 40 guys all lying on the grass without their body armor on,” Marek said. “Usually taking off your gear is a big ‘no’ but we had to do it. It was just too hot.”

Soon, the enemy had arrived and were shooting rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire from houses, reed lines and mosques, Zipperer said.

A Marine air unit evacuated the men from the landing zone and started dropping ice in ammunition cans, as well as “lighting up” the enemy, Zipperer said.

Seeing the insurgents get thrashed was “the morale booster” of the day, Fink said.

And the men fought with IVs in their arms until 7 a.m. the next day.

“They’d go get stuck with needles and go back to the job,” Marek said. “It shows how dedicated we are.”

“We were all tired, we were all taking IVs, but we weren’t about to leave our fallen comrades,” Zipperer said. “We were going to get them home.”

Read the whole thing.

Garry Owen!

"A very special day"

A modern-day "quilting bee" at Ascension Catholic Church in Bowie, MD where 168 blankets for wounded and ill troops were made in 5 hours by approximately 100 volunteers.
"A very special day."

That's how long-time Soldiers' Angels member Matt Dick described this past Saturday when over 100 volunteers converged at Ascension Catholic Church in Bowie, MD to make blankets for the wounded and ill troops at Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany.

Looking at these photos Matt's wife Lisa sent to me, I couldn't agree more. I had called in to give a "pep talk" to the group (during which I of course choked up) and could hear there were lots of people there, but I never imagined anything like this.

Among the volunteers were Ascension Parishioners, Jr. Girl Scout troop 570 from St. Pius X Regional school in Bowie, MD, families from St. Pius and Sacred Heart Catholic churches in Bowie, MD, 2 local Boy Scout Packs from Bowie, MD, and many community members.

Mrs. Bates (seated) encourages her group to keep up the great work.

A den leader gets help from Alyssa Burkhart age 6.
"We had people travel an hour from several cities away just to help out," said Lisa Dodson, who organized the event together with her husband Matthew Dick and with lots of help from their three daughters Amanda, Colleen and Kylie.

The husband and wife team say they couldn't have done it without the help and expertise of Valerie, Alyssa, Ashleigh, and Abigail Potter, a fantastic Mother & Daughters team. Flyers, advertising and many other things critical for the event's huge success were done by Maureen Barber.

Girl Scout Jr troop 570 Bowie, Maryland. Standing left to right Jacquelyn Peters, Megan Snider, Joanna Snellings, Gabi Nelson, Kiersten Baker, Mary Fitzpatrick, Brenna Baker, Samantha Friskey seated left to right Summer Cratty, Janine Corley, Rachel Stewart, Colleen Dick, Elizabeth Allen.

College students Ashley Pezeshkian and Amanda King work with supervision from Kylie Dick age 4
The goal was to beat the 47 blankets made at a similar event last year. But when the group had 168 blankets at the end of the day, even Matt was surprised.

"I had no idea that the response would be so great, the community really came through with the materials and labor to make the blankets. Everyone had a good time, and many have been inspired to join Soldiers' Angels and volunteer for this and other opportunities. It was a very special day"

4-year-old Kylie Dick gives perspective to the blanket pile.
After being blessed by Father Calis of Ascension Church the blankets were packed up and will be on their way to Germany shortly.

On behalf of our wounded warriors at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center I'd like to thank Lisa and Matt for their leadership, the rest of the organization team for their efforts, and all of the participants for their patriotism and their sense of community service.

Another big fish

Al Qaeda financier and foreign facilitator captured in Baghdad

Just one day after the announcement of the capture of Muthanna, a senior al Qaeda facilitator of foreign fighters in the Sinjar region on the Syrian border, Multinational Forces Iraq announced the capture of a major financier in Baghdad. The yet to be named al Qaeda financier was captured by the Iraqi Army in the Baghdad neighborhood of Kindi.

The al Qaeda operative used his leather business to fund attacks inside Iraq and smuggle weapons into Iraq. He "has stores in Fallujah, Syria and Jordan," and "is suspected of traveling to foreign countries to acquire financial support for terrorist activities," Multinational Forces Iraq reported. "He is believed to have received $100,000,000 this summer from terrorist supporters who cross the Iraq border illegally or fly into Iraq from Italy, Syria and Egypt." ...

The financier is also linked to the 2006 destruction of the domes of the Al Askaria mosque in Samarra, and the follow up 2007 bombings of the minarets of the same mosque.

Remember this?

"Now, I believe, myself, that the secretary of state, the secretary of defense -- and you have to make your own decision as to what the president knows -- that this war is lost and that the surge is not accomplishing anything, as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday."

The cult of victimhood

Save your pity for the real victims - those who are victims of their own ignorance.

As Robert Kaplan notes in today's Opinion Journal, "Our soldiers like what they do. They want our respect, not pity." (The links are mine.)

I'm weary of seeing news stories about wounded soldiers and assertions of "support" for the troops mixed with suggestions of the futility of our military efforts in Iraq. Why aren't there more accounts of what the troops actually do? How about narrations of individual battles and skirmishes, of their ever-evolving interactions with Iraqi troops and locals in Baghdad and Anbar province, and of increasingly resourceful "patterning" of terrorist networks that goes on daily in tactical operations centers?

The sad and often unspoken truth of the matter is this: Americans have been conditioned less to understand Iraq's complex military reality than to feel sorry for those who are part of it. ...

As one battalion commander complained to me, in words repeated by other soldiers and marines: "Has anyone noticed that we now have a volunteer Army? I'm a warrior. It's my job to fight." Every journalist has a different network of military contacts. Mine come at me with the following theme: We want to be admired for our technical proficiency--for what we do, not for what we suffer. We are not victims. We are privileged.

Oh, and speaking of wounded service members... here's some of those "victims" for you.

Walter Reed's Military Advanced Training Center

Ross Colquhoun, a fire arms instructor, helps Army Staff Sgt. Ramon Padilla learn to fire using his prosthesis in the Fire Arms Training System at the new Military Advanced Training Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Soldiers can relearn to fire a 9 mm pistol and M-16 and M-4 rifles. Photo by Fred W. Baker III

Cpl. Joshua Bleill, an infantryman with 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, uses the Fire Arms Training Simulator at the Military Advanced Training Center.

The new Military Advanced Training Center for Soldier Amputees opened on 13 September. The 31,000-square-foot, $10 million facility offers some of the most state-of-the-art care found anywhere in the world.

IED Strike/Aviation Engagement

While monitoring the Aerostat Surveillance System as part of Marne Torch II, a Soldier observes 4 unknown individuals in a canal along MSR Tampa (a major convoy route). You will hear him notify the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade that he has positive ID on the 4 individuals who were observed leaving the site of an IED blast.

Apache helicopters arrive, receive permission, and then engage the 4 enemy in the canal with 30mm cannon fire. Coalition Forces later report finding 4 KIA with AK-47s, a cache of 7.62 ammunition, and racks. From September 24, 2007.

29 September Airpower Summary

Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters fly over a C-130 Hercules at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, as it prepares for a mission Sept. 24. (U.S. Air Force photo / Staff Sgt. Joshua T. Jasper)

Iraq
Coalition aircraft flew 72 close-air-support missions. These missions supported coalition ground forces, protected key infrastructure, provided overwatch for reconstruction activities and helped to deter and disrupt terrorist activities.

Afghanistan
35 close-air-support missions were flown in support of the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan security forces, reconstruction activities and route patrols.

Airlift Support, Combined
Air Force C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster IIIs provided intra-theater heavy airlift support, helping to sustain operations throughout Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa. Approximately 150 airlift sorties were flown, 440 tons of cargo was delivered and approximately 3,800 passengers were transported.

Not bad for a day's work.

Source: Air Force Link

Guess they can't ignore the good news any more

Sheesh, what's going on over at the AP? First there was this story this morning:

US, Iraqi forces kill over 60 insurgents

BAGHDAD - U.S. and Iraqi forces killed more than 60 insurgent and militia fighters in intense battles over the weekend, officials said Sunday. The U.S. Embassy, meanwhile, joined a broad swath of Iraqi politicians — both Shiite and Sunni — in criticizing a nonbinding U.S. Senate resolution seen here as a recipe for splitting the country along sectarian and ethnic lines.

The U.S. military also announced the death of an American soldier killed Saturday in a roadside bombing and gunfire attack in eastern Baghdad. There were 62 U.S. military deaths in September, the lowest monthly toll since July 2006 when 43 American soldiers were killed, according to a preliminary Associated Press tally.

And a few hours later, this one:

U.S., Iraqi civilian deaths fall sharply

BAGHDAD - Deaths among American forces and Iraqi civilians fell dramatically last month to their lowest levels in more than a year, according to figures compiled by the U.S. military, the Iraqi government and The Associated Press.

The decline signaled a U.S. success in bringing down violence in Baghdad and surrounding regions since Washington completed its infusion of 30,000 more troops on June 15.

A total of 64 American forces died in September — the lowest monthly toll since July 2006.

The decline in Iraqi civilian deaths was even more dramatic, falling from 1,975 in August to at least 988 last month, a decline of 50 percent, according to an AP tally.

Not from the AP, but more good news. Went out to the smoking section at the Med Hold barracks a couple of days ago where a copy of the S&S greeted me with this huge headline:

Insurgent Body Count Tops 19,000
(headline different at this electronic edition of S&S)

American and coalition troops have reported killing and capturing more suspected insurgents in the first half of 2007 than in any other similar period of the Iraq war, while military officials said so-called “body count” reports are meant to give “scale” to the fight.

Last week, USA Today reported that since June 2003, the U.S. military in Iraq has kept a count of insurgents killed, injured and detained. Those figures were later released by the military to Stars and Stripes. ...

In 2007, the figures show, coalition troops arrested an average of around 100 suspected insurgents each day. Military officials have said both the increased casualty and capture figures are attributed in part to the “surge” and more aggressive tactics by units throughout the country.

There was pizza for the guys at the barracks that night compliments of Soldiers' Angels. I figured ya'll wouldn't mind if I spent some of our funds for that.

Marine takes the fight to the enemy

I was pleased to see this news of last Friday.

A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a defamation case against Rep. John P. Murtha and ordered the Pennsylvania Democrat to give a sworn deposition about his comments alleging "cold-blooded murder and war crimes" by unnamed soldiers in connection with Iraqi civilian deaths.

A Marine Corps sergeant [Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich] is suing the 18-term congressman for making the charge, which the soldier (sic) claims is false. Murtha, who opposes the Iraq war, made the comment during a May, 2006 Capitol Hill news conference in which he predicted that a Pentagon war crimes investigation will show Marines killed dozens of innocent Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005.

And it's about time someone in a position of authority said this:

[U.S. District Judge Rosemary M.] Collyer said she was troubled by the idea the lawmakers are immune from lawsuits regardless of what they say to advance their political careers.

SSgt Wuterich's career with the Marines is ruined, so it will only be fitting if he can take Murtha down with him.