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NEWS CALL
12/01/2005
IRAQ UPDATE
The Department of Defense has announced the next major units to be deployed to Iraq. They include:
- Division Headquarters and 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
- 13th Corps Support Command, Fort Hood, Texas.
- 1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota Army National Guard.
- 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), Schweinfurt, Germany.
- 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
- 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
- 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.
Individual services will announce smaller, supporting units to deploy for the upcoming rotation.
Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) are returning to Iraq. In a ceremony at Fort Hood, Texas, on October 28, the division cased their colors, marking the official beginning of the deployment. More than 20,000 4ID soldiers will be deployed by Christmas.
During Operation Iraqi Freedom I, the division was headquartered in Tikrit and conducted operations throughout the Sunni Triangle. This time, the division will deploy to Baghdad and will focus on training the Iraqi army to assume responsibility for the country’s security.
In other Iraq news, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) formally took control of the southwestern Baghdad area of operations from the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade Combat Team on October 31.
Along the Iraqi-Syrian border, 2,500 U.S. marines, soldiers and sailors, as well as 1,000 Iraqi soldiers, launched Operation Steel Curtain in Husaybah on November 5. The town is a transit point for foreign fighters, equipment and money into Iraq. Iraqi soldiers and U.S. marines have encountered and eliminated significant pockets of resistance.
Elsewhere, coalition forces foiled a terrorist ambush along a canal northwest of Baghdad on October 29. Ground forces from 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, responded and AH-64 Apache helicopters arrived at the scene as well. Coalition forces killed at least six terrorists in the operation and wounded and detained five others.
On October 15, Iraqis voted on the new constitutional referendum with 78 percent of voters approving the document. Preemptive raids conducted by U.S., other coalition and Iraqi forces in and around the Iraqi capital before the referendum helped limit insurgent attacks on voting day. “We knew that the insurgents were going to try to step up the level of violence to overthrow the government or at least to discourage people from participating in the referendum,” Army Maj. Gen. William G. Webster Jr., commander of Multinational Division Baghdad, told reporters. Because of aggressive action by coalition forces, there were only 12 enemy attacks in Baghdad. In contrast, there were 103 enemy attacks in Baghdad during the January 30 election.
U.S. soldiers continue to help the people of Iraq. In Tall Afar, coalition forces, in cooperation with local residents, constructed and opened a soccer field at a local school on November 5. Elements from the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment aided elements of the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion in the construction.
At least 55 soldiers were reported killed in Iraq from October 1 to November 1. Most were killed by improvised explosive devices and small arms fire.
CLASHES IN AFGHANISTAN
The Army continues to clash with enemy forces in Afghanistan. During offensive operations on October 27 near Deh Rahwod in Uruzgan province, Afghan National Army (ANA) and U.S. forces were attacked with mortars and small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. One U.S. servicemember and an ANA soldier were wounded.
In a second contact with the enemy near the first location, one ANA soldier was killed and another three were wounded. During another offensive operation north of Dah Rawood, two enemy fighters were killed after they fired upon coalition forces. Thirteen insurgents were killed in the three engagements. Coalition aircraft and attack helicopters provided close-air support for the operations.
Five soldiers were reported killed in Afghanistan during October. PFC Joseph Cruz, 22, and Spc. Scott J. Mullen, 22, died from noncombat related accidents on October 16 and 13 respectively. SSgt. Troy S. Ezernack, 39, died on October 9 from injuries sustained from an enemy attack. PFC Benny S. Franklin, 19, died on October 7 from injuries sustained when he stepped on a land mine during a patrol. SSgt. John G. Doles, 29, died on September 30 during a patrol from enemy fire.
ARMY ASSISTS IN PAKISTAN
After Pakistan was struck by a devastating earthquake on October 8 that killed an estimated 80,000 people, U.S. Army units joined in relief efforts to aid the victims.
Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, who leads Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan, flew to Islamabad to oversee
the initial U.S. military response to the disaster. Army CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Combined Joint Task Force 76 took off from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and ferried supplies and injured people to and from the earthquake-stricken areas. Coalition personnel are working with Pakistan military officials to determine where help is most needed.
Units deployed to the area include the 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, the 160th Forward Surgical Team and the 123rd Main Support Battalion, 1st Armored Division, to assist in medical relief efforts and set up a water purification site. The 66th Military Intelligence Group provided translators. Soldiers from the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment; the 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (Reserve); the 2nd Battalion, 6th Cavalry Regiment; and 50 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 227th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, all deployed with helicopters. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Afghanis-tan Engineer District assessed damage and evaluated roads and bridges leading to the areas in most need of relief.
NG ASSISTS WILMA VICTIMS
National Guard soldiers from the Carolinas and New York provided air and communications support to Florida in the wake of Hurricane Wilma. More than 3,000 Florida National Guard members were mobilized as well.
Aircrews airlifted hospital patients in the Florida Keys, and communications teams provided satellite, video and radio communication capabilities to assist emergency workers in their operations. The communications packages enabled emergency workers with incompatible communications equipment to talk to one another.
The storm was responsible for at least six deaths and knocked out electrical power to roughly 6 million people in southern Florida.
SOLDIERS REIMBURSED
Reimbursed. Certain servicemembers who bought their own protective gear will be reimbursed under a new Department of Defense policy. The directive only covers the period from September 10, 2001, to August 1, 2004. Reimbursements can be claimed “by either the member or by another person on behalf of the member for the member’s personal use in anticipation of, or during, the member’s deployment for operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom.”
Soldiers who can produce a receipt will be reimbursed for the purchase price plus shipping of the equipment. The reimbursement cannot exceed $1,100 for any one piece of equipment. Those claiming reimbursement must turn in their privately purchased gear.
The list of reimbursable materials includes the complete outer tactical vest or equivalent commercial ballistic vests as well as individual components of the vest—groin protector, throat protector, yoke and collar assembly, collar protector, ballistics inserts and small arms protective inserts. Kevlar helmets, ballistic eye protection and hydration systems are also included.
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