Pat Dollard | Young Americans

SAMARRA — As the much-anticipated Iraq report was released this month, one unit is finding that they are indeed making progress.

An Iraqi teenager who was an informant for the Coalition force in Samarra was kidnapped by insurgents and held for several days. He was beaten and moved to different locations. The teen managed to escape, ignoring the death threats of his captors for talking with Coalition forces, and after his escape, he went straight to Forward Operating Base Brassfield-Mora to ask for help.

That help came from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, which kicked off Operation Reciprocity II.

“They kidnapped him, beat him and then made him promise to never come to this area again or work with the Coalition,” said Capt. Adisa King, Alpha Company commander. “The kid agreed, went into his house, took the AK that he had and shot at the guys who kidnapped him, then took their truck and came here and told us about the whole thing. So he was a hero to us and that’s how we got the information that led up to Reciprocity.”

Reciprocity II, a pre-dawn raid in the areas south of Samarra, was built off intelligence from the teenage informant based on what he saw as a captive.

King, of Jackson, Miss., said the informant is about 16 years old and very intelligent, being able to read maps and help them find insurgent targets, many of whom were aiding foreign fighters in the area. According to the informant, they were also part of an improvised explosive device (IED) cell that emplaced culvert bombs in the area. Alpha Company was gathering information on locals in their area from the time they arrived, just over a year ago. This helped to identify who the kidnappers were and where they lived.

Alpha Company launched a ground and air assault that consisted of over 100 personnel on three objectives, including a tank element from 2nd Platoon, Company D, 3rd Combined Arms Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment. During the assault, Alpha Company Soldiers detained 17 suspects and found one IED consisting of two 155 artillery rounds buried under the road.

During the raid, elements of 3rd Platoon assaulted one of the houses and detained eight suspects. Like the rest of the elements, 3rd Platoon suffered no casualties.

“The mission went well. We found a good amount of personnel and we feel the evidence pointed towards them being anti-Iraqi forces,” said Sgt. Eldon Garhart of Spearfish, S.D., a forward observer with 3rd Platoon. “Of course, as always, it was a great mission as everyone returned back safe and unharmed.”

The mission demonstrated the success of the troops in the area. Locals are trusting Coalition forces enough to inform on suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq forces, and raids are producing results.

“We found the targets,” King said. “Several things we were looking for were: al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) facilitators and the bunker that the kid was supposedly taken to during the kidnapping and thrown in. We didn’t find that, but we did find a lot of information about the travel of their groups in that area, and that was the best thing about going through and infiltrating that. Hopefully we got a lot of people responsible for the culvert bombs. It is a good thing that we’re still going after them.”

With just a few months left of their deployment, Alpha Company plans to continue going after insurgents, not slowing down their pace, even if they are on the home stretch, King said.

“Just like in a football game or any sport you’re in, if you start slowing down, hanging back, guys get lax. ‘Ah, you know, we only have 15 more days or 30 more days until we go home,’” King said about his company, which continues to go on missions without losing momentum. “You start thinking that way when you’re out there, then you forget about the fact that there’s still somebody out there right now who is planning and who is waiting for the opportunity to kill you, to take you out. So if you’re not on your A-game when you’re out there, that’s a problem. The barn door’s not open yet … you’re not there.”

When it comes to building relationships with the Iraqi people, Alpha Company has been working with the Iraqi Army and locals throughout its tour to build relationships. It appears to have paid off.

“We’re getting to know the people,” King said. “We talk about winning hearts and minds, but you find out after working with the IA (Iraqi Army), as Coalition, we don’t really need to win hearts and minds. I truly believe that because to this day I’ve had several Iraqis come up to me and say, ‘We know you guys are merciful. We know you’re not mean. We know you won’t abuse people.’ They know that, but they’re afraid because they know we’re going to leave. Sometimes it’s the Iraqi forces we need to work with and say ‘Look, this is how you do it.’ Iraqi forces are really the ones who need to win hearts and minds. And we are there helping them out to do that, taking them on missions and putting them in the forefront.”

(mnfi)