Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Like I’ve said, keep a close eye on the Iraq province of Diyala and its capital Baquba. It’s the last spot in the country where Al Qaeda can re-develop a foothold.

MNF-I:

HADID — A dim blue light pierced the darkness as someone yelled “one-minute out”, but the voice was drowned out by noise from the rotating blades of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter.

The helicopter, carrying Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, approached its landing zone near the town of Hadid, 65 miles northwest of Baghdad.

As the light went out, the Soldiers braced themselves for a hard landing. Threats of anti-aircraft guns hidden in the palm groves surrounding the landing zone forced the helicopter pilots to land faster than they normally prefer to land.

Once the helicopter was on the ground, the Soldiers immediately dismounted and the helicopter began its return trip to pick up more Soldiers.

In a single,silent motion after the dust in the air settled, the Soldiers stood up from where they were lying in the field and began moving toward their first objective; securing a palm grove just outside the town.

“It was a tough mission. Bayonet Company had the main effort of the assault,” said Capt. Duane Bailey, commander of Company B, 1-38th Inf. “We cleared the town and really focused on target houses, looking for al-Qaida operatives.”

The Soldiers had already begun clearing the palm groves by the time the sun appeared over the horizon. They looked for improvised explosive devices (IED) and weapon caches. By the time the sun was completely in the sky, the Bayonet Co. Soldiers were ready to assault their first target house, looking for a man accused of placing IEDs on the nearby roadways.

After the Soldiers completed a thorough search of the house, they determined the man was not there and no weapons were found. The Soldiers were given five minutes to rest before moving to the next house down the road where they searched for another man wanted for placing IEDs.

The Soldiers were greeted kindly by local citizens as they went from house-to-house through the village of Hadid. The men of the houses constantly offered to make chai tea and cook flat bread for the Soldiers who found refuge from the heat in their living rooms and on their patios.

After a short break, the Soldiers continued with their mission of capturing wanted individuals and removing weapons from the town.

“It was nice to be greeted so nicely; the children are friendly and everyone is smiling and waving,” said Sgt. Johnny Walker, a team leader in Bayonet Co.

The Soldiers continued moving from house-to-house looking for weapons, contraband and IED making materials, only taking breaks if they finished clearing their room before their counterparts.

Toward the end of the day, the Soldiers returned to a central meeting location to give their detainees to the military police (MP) officials. The MPs verified the identities of the detainees and transported them to a secure holding area on Forward Operating Base Warhorse.

After the detainees were dropped off, an informant from the town offered to help the Soldiers find wanted men who used fake identification cards and to find weapons that may have been missed.

The Soldiers went house-to-house again with the informant, who pointed out the men that were wanted. The informant also gave information on a possible weapons cache.

After the informant was done giving information, the Soldiers took the newly captured detainees to the MPs for identity verification and transportation to FOB Warhorse.

While the detainees were being processed, the Soldiers started looking for a place to sleep. Some of the Soldiers found refuge in a nearby house while others slept outside in Stryker vehicles and wood lines keeping watch for their fellow team members.

After a short rest, the sun started looming over the horizon and the Soldiers packed up their gear to load it onto the Strykers that were parked in front of their sleeping areas.

Once their gear was loaded, the Soldiers linked up with Iraqi Army Soldiers, who helped the exhausted Soldiers clear the remaining part of Hadid.

On the second day of the mission, an al-Qaida in Iraq training camp was found. While searching the camp, Company B Soldiers found two suicide vests that were completely made and ready be put on, grid coordinates of Iraqi police stations in the area, grid coordinates of Coalition force bases and combat outposts in the area, 18 large-caliber mortar shells filled with explosives and three fire extinguishers filled with explosives.

The Soldiers also found five potential car bombs in the town of Hadid and took in a total of 13 detainees.

“The mission was a huge success, several IEDs were taken off of the roadways and there were no casualties on the Iraqi side and on our side,” Bailey said. “The mission will be a bigger success when the Iraqi police force and the Iraqi Army can setup fighting positions to keep the town secure.”

(Story by Pfc. Kirby Rider, 2nd Infantry Division)