Three-day camp teaches Iraqi kids basketball
Staff Sgt. Tony M. Lindback, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div.
PATROL BASE LION’S DEN, Iraq – Radwaniyah area children were treated to something a little out of the ordinary when U.S. Soldiers at Patrol Base Lion’s Den held a basketball camp March 20-22.
Holding a basketball camp where Soldiers could teach lessons in teamwork, discipline and hard work, resulted from Staff Sgt. Christopher Dickerson and his company commander, Capt. Sean Morrow, putting their heads together.
Dickerson and Morrow wanted Company B, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), to give back to the community and get the kids in the area together. Their idea captured the support of many company Soldiers, some of whom, like Sgt. Dwight Williams, added ideas and manpower to make the camp a hit.
Williams, originally from Birmingham, Ala., has a brother who holds a basketball camp at home every summer. Williams said he tries to make it to the camp to help each year, but donates $500 to sponsor five children when he can’t be there. “Being over here this time, I got to work with the Iraqi kids and I felt just like I was back at home,” Williams said. “I was able to give back to the community.”
Giving back to Radwaniyah has involved more than just teaching basketball. One sheikh said the security the Americans had established was the first gift to the community.
“Thanks to God, the Iraqi Army and the Coalition forces, the security is very good,” said Sheikh Hameed Shalal Al-Tharib, a local leader in Radwaniyah. “That makes a good situation where our kids can play soccer, or come here and learn basketball.”
Teaching the children basketball, an American game, instead of soccer - a much more common game in Iraq - had its purpose. The Soldiers wanted to share American culture, but they also wanted to get everyone on common ground, starting off as beginners. They brought in Iraqi Army Soldiers and sheikhs to give the youth figures to look to for learning.
“We wanted to bring them in and have the IA with us so they could serve as good role models,” said Atlanta native, 1st Lt. Trivius Caldwell, 3rd Platoon leader for Co. B, 2-69th Armor Regt. “We wanted to teach them basic elements of life – teamwork, discipline, hard work – things of that nature. I think we accomplished that.” Williams said he felt the Iraqi children may have had a misunderstanding of why Americans are in Iraq and the basketball camp was one way to show them what kind of people Americans really are.
“The kids really enjoyed it because they had heard about Americans,” Williams said. “But there’s a big difference between hearing about us and standing there with us and shaking our hands. I think they really enjoyed that more than the basketball camp – getting to interact with us.”
Eighteen children showed up for the first day of the three-day camp, 27 came on the second day and there were 47 by the last day.
“It’s just like spreading the word back home; if one kid likes it, he’s going to tell a friend and then he’ll tell a friend,” Williams said. “We were just glad to have so many kids come out.”
The children formed teams and played a championship game at the culmination of camp, allowing them to show off what they had learned. They were then treated to a cookout and given awards. Twenty-five children got one more thing, something they held dearly as they walked away – their very own Quran.
“In my brother’s camp (in Birmingham) we give out Bibles,” Williams said. “Here, a lot of families don’t have Qurans, so we gave out Qurans … Giving out a Quran is letting them know, ‘I respect your religion, just like I respect mine.’” Local sheikhs happily brought the Qurans in at the request of Morrow.
“It’s a great thing to give the Quran to the children at the end of the basketball camp,” Sheik Al-Tharib said. “We want to teach our kids about more than sports … Since the people here are poor, it’s good that each kid can now have his own Quran – something his family maybe didn’t have before.”
Friday, March 28, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Hillah SWAT captures important individual, discovers large cache
From: 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. PAO
HILLAH, Iraq – Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) police forces, working together with Coalition forces, captured an individual classified as a high value individual and discovered a large weapons cache while conducting patrols in the Hamza and Hashimiyah areas March 22.
The HVI is accused of directing the planting of improvised explosive devices on routes used by Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition forces.
The cache contained multiple rockets of various sizes, anti-personnel mines, hundreds of rocket-propelled grenade rounds, mortar rounds, hand grenades and other materials to include 22 122 mm rockets with 50 complete rail systems, 200 pounds of C-4 explosives, 15 120 mm mortar rounds, 20 Katusha rounds and three RPG launchers.
The find resulted from a patrol consisting of several vehicles to include both Hillah SWAT and Coalition forces during which the HVI was detained. SWAT members conducted a thorough search of the area, finding large amounts of munitions after searching buildings in the industrial area.
There have been several attacks on ISF over the past few years dating back to at least 2004. This has included some complex attacks using a combination of RPGs, IEDs and mortars, which have killed and wounded several ISF members.
From: 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. PAO
HILLAH, Iraq – Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) police forces, working together with Coalition forces, captured an individual classified as a high value individual and discovered a large weapons cache while conducting patrols in the Hamza and Hashimiyah areas March 22.
The HVI is accused of directing the planting of improvised explosive devices on routes used by Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition forces.
The cache contained multiple rockets of various sizes, anti-personnel mines, hundreds of rocket-propelled grenade rounds, mortar rounds, hand grenades and other materials to include 22 122 mm rockets with 50 complete rail systems, 200 pounds of C-4 explosives, 15 120 mm mortar rounds, 20 Katusha rounds and three RPG launchers.
The find resulted from a patrol consisting of several vehicles to include both Hillah SWAT and Coalition forces during which the HVI was detained. SWAT members conducted a thorough search of the area, finding large amounts of munitions after searching buildings in the industrial area.
There have been several attacks on ISF over the past few years dating back to at least 2004. This has included some complex attacks using a combination of RPGs, IEDs and mortars, which have killed and wounded several ISF members.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
TF Marne Soldiers Keep Moving
Patrol Base Summers takes shape
Sgt. Ben Brody, 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. PAO
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – In a bid to establish a formidable U.S. security presence near Suwayrah, Iraq, Soldiers began construction of Patrol Base Summers amid the ruins of a former Iraqi Air Force Base March 15.
In a huge convoy of fighting vehicles and tractor trailers, Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, pushed toward the Tigris River from Forward Operating Base Kalsu, approx 15 miles south of Baghdad.
In stark contrast to the push to set up Patrol Base Kelsey in December, Soldiers encountered almost no resistance and found the destroyed base uninhabited.
“I think there was a ‘shock and awe’ effect on the local people, to see so much combat power arrive so suddenly,” explained Capt. James Browning, Company A commander.
As part of the company secured the patrol base area, Company A’s Red Platoon and Iraqi Army Soldiers swept through a neighboring village, shaking hands and greeting their new neighbors over chai. Their Bradleys and Humvees idling on the main road, Soldiers spent nearly eight hours walking from house to house by the shortest route possible – often through barnyards full of huge cows.
“It’s sometimes tough to tell when you first meet people, but the Iraqis seem pretty receptive to us being here,” said 1st Lt. Stephen Eldridge, Company A fire support officer. “Some people offered us chai and they were all waving to us when we left. We certainly did our best to make a good first impression.”
Soldiers from Red Platoon and Iraqi troops cataloged residents’ personal weapons and met with the village sheikh. During the patrol, a group of children followed the Soldiers around, cracking jokes and trying out their English on the troops.
One boy of about four had a filthy, bloodstained bandage wrapped around his head – his father said he was hit by a rock while playing with other children. Pfc. Vince Richardson, a medic with Company A, set down his 50-pound aid bag and went to work, cleaning the wound and replacing the dressing. The boy winced, but didn’t cry, as Richardson dabbed the wound with antiseptic.
As Red Platoon returned to PB Summers, a small dust storm rolled in, turning the sky a deep red. The Soldiers ate a quick meal and slept in their trucks, waiting for their next mission that night. Around midnight, the platoon set out into the desert surrounding the patrol base and climbed one of the many small ordnance bunkers that dot the area. After some slipping and sliding on the smooth, steeply-angled concrete roof, the troops pulled each other to the top. After a few hours silently scanning the windswept desert, the platoon slid two by two down the bunker and hiked back to Summers.
The next morning, another convoy of flatbed trucks bearing concrete barriers and other fortifications arrived and an Air Force C-17 cargo jet air-dropped 40 pallets of construction materials near the patrol base. As the huge green parachutes floated to the desert floor, a passing Bedouin goat herder jumped up and down, shouting at the sky. Soldiers from 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th BCT, gathered up the pallets with a forklift and trucked them to Summers. “We did the air-drop because we could, not because we had to,” said 2nd Lt. Scott Dyer, the convoy security platoon leader for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 703rd BSB. “The air assets were available, and there’s plenty of space – it’s a good experience for the logistics personnel.”
Soldiers from 703rd BSB will continue to bring supplies and Company A will continue to build up the base during the last two months of their deployment, Browning said.
“By the time we leave, I’d like to see the patrol base fully operational, to the point where a company can come in and set up their operations in 24 hours,” said Browning, who is from Waynesville, N.C.
The base will serve as a launching point for essential services projects to the neighboring communities and Suwayrah, as well as combat operations. “Tactically, this spot is key to controlling the larger brigade’s area of operations – you can stage lots of equipment here and there’s a good standoff distance from civilian roads and houses,” Browning said. “Partnering with the Iraqi Security Forces, we can make inroads into Suwayrah.”
Lt. Col. Majid, commander of Suwayrah’s 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 8th IA Division, sends his troops to work with Company A on joint patrols.
“The big thing here is providing essential services to the people – they’re proud of their communities and fought hard to kick al-Qaeda out,” Browning said. “The farmers here depend on their crops, which means they need water and electricity. With us here, we can help the Government of Iraq provide those services.”
Sgt. Ben Brody, 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. PAO
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – In a bid to establish a formidable U.S. security presence near Suwayrah, Iraq, Soldiers began construction of Patrol Base Summers amid the ruins of a former Iraqi Air Force Base March 15.
In a huge convoy of fighting vehicles and tractor trailers, Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, pushed toward the Tigris River from Forward Operating Base Kalsu, approx 15 miles south of Baghdad.
In stark contrast to the push to set up Patrol Base Kelsey in December, Soldiers encountered almost no resistance and found the destroyed base uninhabited.
“I think there was a ‘shock and awe’ effect on the local people, to see so much combat power arrive so suddenly,” explained Capt. James Browning, Company A commander.
As part of the company secured the patrol base area, Company A’s Red Platoon and Iraqi Army Soldiers swept through a neighboring village, shaking hands and greeting their new neighbors over chai. Their Bradleys and Humvees idling on the main road, Soldiers spent nearly eight hours walking from house to house by the shortest route possible – often through barnyards full of huge cows.
“It’s sometimes tough to tell when you first meet people, but the Iraqis seem pretty receptive to us being here,” said 1st Lt. Stephen Eldridge, Company A fire support officer. “Some people offered us chai and they were all waving to us when we left. We certainly did our best to make a good first impression.”
Soldiers from Red Platoon and Iraqi troops cataloged residents’ personal weapons and met with the village sheikh. During the patrol, a group of children followed the Soldiers around, cracking jokes and trying out their English on the troops.
One boy of about four had a filthy, bloodstained bandage wrapped around his head – his father said he was hit by a rock while playing with other children. Pfc. Vince Richardson, a medic with Company A, set down his 50-pound aid bag and went to work, cleaning the wound and replacing the dressing. The boy winced, but didn’t cry, as Richardson dabbed the wound with antiseptic.
As Red Platoon returned to PB Summers, a small dust storm rolled in, turning the sky a deep red. The Soldiers ate a quick meal and slept in their trucks, waiting for their next mission that night. Around midnight, the platoon set out into the desert surrounding the patrol base and climbed one of the many small ordnance bunkers that dot the area. After some slipping and sliding on the smooth, steeply-angled concrete roof, the troops pulled each other to the top. After a few hours silently scanning the windswept desert, the platoon slid two by two down the bunker and hiked back to Summers.
The next morning, another convoy of flatbed trucks bearing concrete barriers and other fortifications arrived and an Air Force C-17 cargo jet air-dropped 40 pallets of construction materials near the patrol base. As the huge green parachutes floated to the desert floor, a passing Bedouin goat herder jumped up and down, shouting at the sky. Soldiers from 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th BCT, gathered up the pallets with a forklift and trucked them to Summers. “We did the air-drop because we could, not because we had to,” said 2nd Lt. Scott Dyer, the convoy security platoon leader for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 703rd BSB. “The air assets were available, and there’s plenty of space – it’s a good experience for the logistics personnel.”
Soldiers from 703rd BSB will continue to bring supplies and Company A will continue to build up the base during the last two months of their deployment, Browning said.
“By the time we leave, I’d like to see the patrol base fully operational, to the point where a company can come in and set up their operations in 24 hours,” said Browning, who is from Waynesville, N.C.
The base will serve as a launching point for essential services projects to the neighboring communities and Suwayrah, as well as combat operations. “Tactically, this spot is key to controlling the larger brigade’s area of operations – you can stage lots of equipment here and there’s a good standoff distance from civilian roads and houses,” Browning said. “Partnering with the Iraqi Security Forces, we can make inroads into Suwayrah.”
Lt. Col. Majid, commander of Suwayrah’s 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 8th IA Division, sends his troops to work with Company A on joint patrols.
“The big thing here is providing essential services to the people – they’re proud of their communities and fought hard to kick al-Qaeda out,” Browning said. “The farmers here depend on their crops, which means they need water and electricity. With us here, we can help the Government of Iraq provide those services.”
Monday, March 17, 2008
ISF & TF Marne stop rocket attack
Al Hillah school, homes damaged in rocket attack
4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. PAO
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – Eight Iraqi civilians were injured in a rocket attack that hit a neighborhood in the east side of al-Hillah, Iraq, south of the Regional Embassy Office, March 14.
Twenty-nine Katusha rockets were fired, causing damage to one school and three houses, said Capt. Michael Ranado, battle captain for Task Force Sentinel, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces responded to the attack. Nine rockets that were not launched were recovered. “All the credit belongs to the ISF,” Ranado said. “Their ability to pass on key information to Coalition forces and the fact that they found all the rockets within a 30-minute window shows how capable they are. They did a great job last night, not only in finding possible enemies and their equipment, but also watching out and caring for the civilians.”
An explosive ordnance team with the ISF disarmed the un-launched rockets from the location before they could cause further damage.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
TF Marne Soldiers Close "Torture House"
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq -
March 5
Sons of Iraq led Coalition forces to an al-Qaeda in Iraq torture house and prison in northern Zambraniyah. The house was destroyed 10 March by an Air Force strike.
The patrol was conducted based on intelligence provided by an SoI leader in the area, said Capt. Chris O'Brian, troop commander of Troop C, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, currently attached to 2nd BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. "The guy wants to clean up the area," said O'Brian, a native of Herndon, Va. "AQI killed half his family." The SoI leader, who heads a group of 300 SoI, worked with his men in support of Troop C Soldiers on the
patrol. The patrol began early in the morning as Soldiers cleared houses in an
area suspected of harboring insurgents, said O'Brian.
During the initial phase of the mission, the group came under small arms fire. Reacting to contact, the enemy, who was observed wearing black, ran away.
As the patrol continued, the group discovered a man dressed in black in a suspected AQI safe house. The man was detained on suspicion of involvement in insurgent activities and the likelihood that he was involved in the earlier attack. SoIs are pointing out the bad guys in the neighborhood, O'Brian said, adding that they have also provided actionable intelligence. Much of that intelligence indicated that there may be an AQI prison or torture house in the town, O'Brian said, noting that he was receiving reports on the possibility for the past week. That intelligence led Soldiers to a house full of materials used by insurgents for torture.
O'Brian said they discovered hand cuffs, an electrocution system consisting of bare wires linked to an on / off switch running to handcuffs on a window bar, and hanging hooks used for humans. Twelve interrogation books written in Arabic were found along with several sets of female clothing. A bloody handprint was also present.
(( From the 2nd BCT, 3rd ID PAO ))
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