DISCOVERED CACHE - Soldiers with 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, uncover a huge cache of spent and unused munitions, west of Owesat, Iraq,Feb. 25, 2008. Photo by 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division Public Affairs

Labels: 101st Airborne Division, 3-187 Infantry, 3BCT, Iraq, Owesat, photos, weapons cache

Weapons and ammunition lie on the floor of an Iraqi residence captured during a raid by Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment in Baghdad’s Rashid district March 30, 2007. U.S. Army Courtesy photo




By Multi-National Division
Camp Victory, Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 9, 2007 — Baghdad forces seized a large weapons cache in southwestern Baghdad, March 30, after observing suspicious activity around a residence.

Infantrymen of Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry (The Black Lions) silently established an outer cordon around an Iraqi house and moved in. The inner cordon element, led by 1st Lt. Michael Sheer, entered the building with a squad of heavily armed Black Lions. Shortly after, Capt. Bret Hamilton, Attack Company commander, monitoring the unit radio heard Sheer say, “We have found a cache.”

"There is no doubt that the 25mm chain gun on our Bradley platoon made a dramatic impression on the enemy tonight."
-- 1st Sgt. Jeffery Griffith

The house under search was located in an insurgent-dominated neighborhood, and Attack Company immediately received enemy small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire.

“The enemy did not want to surrender this sizable cache without a fight, but our soldiers had rehearsed this operation and were prepared for multiple contingencies,” Hamilton said. The first sighting was of several weapons in the living quarters of the residence. A search uncovered a hidden room, which served as massive enemy weapons and demolitions storage site within the home.

The cordon and search was intended to disrupt enemy actions. The unit was supporting an Iraqi army forward-operating base that had been under enemy attack for 36 hours. Seizure of “Target-2,” this large weapons, ammunition, and demolitions cache struck an immediate blow to an insurgent attack on Forward Operating Base Lion, the Iraqi army facility nearby, said an officer at the scene.

“The enemy lost the initiative when the sniper rifles and mortar systems were seized by Attack Company,” Maj. Will Cotty, Iraqi army training team chief, said. “Capt. Hamilton's team and the Iraqi army have developed a strong partnership in a short period of time.”

As the battle raged on in the Baghdad neighborhood, Attack Company with the Black Lion explosive ordnance detachment began to remove the cache from the residence. Attack helicopters prowled the sky overhead looking for enemy movement around the Black Lion perimeter, keeping insurgent fighters at length. The insurgents that attempted to take down the Attack Company soldiers were met with overwhelming fire.

“There is no doubt that the 25mm chain gun on our Bradley platoon made a dramatic impression on the enemy tonight,” said 1st Sgt Jeffery Griffith from Company A. Significant weapons removed from the enemy’s possession include AK-47s, sniper rifles, machine guns, mortar systems, rocket propelled grenades, 107mm rockets, TNT, C-4 plastic explosives, bulletproof vests and a 240mm Soviet rocket.

“Operations developed with actionable intelligence, like tonight, allow us to keep the enemy off-balance,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jamil Gutierrez from Company A. “My platoon was proud to remove these weapons and demolitions from the enemy's hands.”

Labels: 1-28th Infantry, Al Rashid, Baghdad, Black Lions, Good News, Iraq, photos, weapons cache, weapons search

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR# 030807-01
March 8, 2007


MUQDADIYA, Iraq – Soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division supported by Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 505th Infantry Regiment, attached to 6-9 Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, discovered three caches and two improvised explosive devices while conducting routine patrols in Muqdadiya, Iraq, Thursday.

“The weapons and supplies found during this patrol have multiple uses, however, the primary reason for their use is to disrupt the future of the Iraqi people living in the Diyala province,” said Col. David W. Sutherland, 3-1 Cav. commander and senior U.S. Army officer in the Diyala province. “The people in the province are choosing reconstruction, stability, and development. The choices being dictated to them by the terrorists are fear and oppression. The Iraqi Security Forces are committing themselves to removing the terrorists’ tools.”

The caches consisted of improvised explosive device making materials including approximately 20 propane tanks and several mortar rounds.

A Coalition Forces’ explosive ordnance disposal unit conducted controlled detonations of the caches and the IEDs.

The unit also detained three individuals riding on a motorcycle with a mortar round prepared to explode. The detainees will be processed for further questioning.

Labels: 1-505th Infantry, 1st Cavalry Division, 3BCT, 5th Iraqi Army Division, 6-9 armored Reconnaissance Squadron, Iraqi Security Forces, Muqdadiyah, Operation Iraqi Freedom, US Army, weapons cache

NOTE: Emphasis added to portions of this release by me. --Pam

Discovery
An Iraqi Police officer from Jadidah, Iraq, and a Soldier from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, unearth a large improvised explosive device cache discovered near Baqubah, Iraq, Saturday.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR# 022507-01
Feb. 25, 2007

BAQUBAH, Iraq – An informant’s tip led Iraqi Police officers from Judidah, Iraq, and Coalition Forces from the 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, to a large improvised explosive device cache in the Baqubah area Saturday.

The cache consisted of:

· 2 explosively formed projectiles in various stages of assembly

· One completed improvised mine and more than a dozen others in various stages of construction

· More than two dozen mortar rounds and 15 rockets

· Over 130 disks capable of producing as many individual EFPs

· Six rocket launchers

· Five anti-aircraft rounds

· Over two dozen RPG warheads

· More than 400 plastic and steel containers in various stages of fabrication for IED construction

· Large quantities of IED-making material such as detonation cord, C4, blasting caps, fuses, EFP launching tubes, bags of ball bearings and voltage regulators

"The vigilance of the Iraqi Police and the willingness of the people of Diyala to end the cycle of violence led to this discovery,” said Col. David W. Sutherland, 3-1 Cav. commander and senior U.S. Army officer in Diyala province.

A Coalition Forces explosive ordnance disposal unit safely disposed of some of the munitions with the majority of the cache being transferred to Forward Operating Base Warhorse.

"The terrorists and sectarian fighters who use these explosives have no other desire than to stop the progress of the country,” Sutherland said. “Their hatred manifests itself in the weapons that these supplies would have been used for. The people realize this and understand that progress is impossible without stopping the violence.

"The people are choosing, and they are choosing progress and development by
providing information," he added.



Cache, Cache 2
Iraqi Police officers from Jadidah, Iraq, in partnership with Coalition Forces from 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, discover a large improvised explosive device cache containing supplies for explosively formed projectiles near Baqubah, Iraq, Saturday.

Labels: 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, 3BCT, Baqubah, Good News, Iraq, Iraqi Police, Operation Iraqi Freedom, photos, weapons cache