Putting Iraq Out Front: Soldiers aid Iraqi Police with missions
Multi-National Division – North PAO
By Spc. Eric A. Rutherford, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

QAYYARAH, Iraq – A joint Iraqi police and Coalition Forces operation netted a counterfeit document production facility in Qayyarah, Iraq, Sept. 13.

The site included a printing press, printer plates, gold leaf used to reproduce official gold seals on documents, ID cards, and ink and accessories used in creating false documentation.
Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 82D Field Artillery of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, assisted the IP with the raid.

The mission was to detain suspected counterfeiters who were facilitating Al Qaeda in Iraq supporters, and seize and disrupt their activities.

“We got intelligence from a local informant,” said Capt. Daniel Lloyd, HHB’s Commander. “The IP were in front, primarily the IP in coordination with the Iraqi Army. The two targets were suspected of facilitating AQ-I through financing, and producing counterfeit documents, IDs, money and government fuel coupons.”

The Soldiers, deployed out of Fort Bliss, Texas, alongside the IP, conducted a cordon and knock in the neighborhood, and questioned residents about the operation. The suspect residence was located, and a Sensitive Site Exploitation search began.

The IP and Soldiers from the battery’s White Platoon provided security and helped search the residence and detain and question the suspects. After the exploitation, the Soldiers and IP loaded the two detainees and all of the seized equipment into IP vehicles and trailers provided by the battery’s Red Platoon which provided the quick reaction force during the raid.

The IP and White Platoon then moved into the marketplace in Qayyarah to search the suspect’s photo shop.

“We got the key from the owner, and made soft entry,” Lloyd said. “We got more hard drives and printers. This mission specifically was targeting people that are facilitating foreign fighters and Al Qaeda. We are trying to stop the money going to the terrorists funding, the financial path. It is a crime operation and they are making money from the whole thing, but at the same time, that money and the services they provide aid to the terrorist to operate in the area freely.”

During the raid, Cpl. Mason Radcliff conducted searches and provided security for the mission. Radcliff feels that working alongside the IP is helping to make a difference.

“It is important to work with the IP,” said Radcliff of Prattville, Ala. “The Iraqi people will see coalition forces, but they also see the IP out there doing good things to help catch bad people in their community. With the IP, they [Iraqis] see us working with them -- it is kind of like bonding with them. It lets the Iraqis know that we are there to help.”

That help came in the form of having a suspected terrorist financier and illegal document forger being removed from their neighborhood. For this raid, the intelligence definitely pointed in the right direction.

“We got a lot of information, so I think they will be going away for a while,” said Radcliff. “It was a big success.”

Lloyd agrees with the mission being a success, and points out why it helps the Iraqis.

“Obviously it’s like anything -- you are going to have bad guys in your neighborhood,” said Lloyd. “If bad guys are in your neighborhoods, then foreign fighters and Al Qaeda are going to be coming into Qayyarah because they know they are getting their help from that area. We are cutting the jugular right there, if we get rid of the facilitators, then they are not going to come to Qayyarah to try to get money, passports, or documentation, to legitimize themselves. As a whole, operations like this help out the public because we are pulling bad guys out of the city. If the bad guys aren’t there to create documents and aide in operations of the safe houses, they have to move somewhere else, or cease to exist.”

During the raid, in which no shots were fired and no injuries occurred, Soldiers of HHB once again helped build rlationships with not just the people of Iraq, but with the IP as well, by allowing their Iraqi counterparts to lead, and by taking a supporting role in the mission.

“We transitioned from unilateral to bilateral operations almost immediately after we got here,” said Lloyd. “We immediately adopted the whole idea of Iraqis in the lead. They are going to be the ones that actually control the operations. We are going to be there to aide and facilitate in the operations.”

Iraqi Police with an interpreter and a Soldier from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 82D Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division question a local Iraqi about a terrorist counterfeiting operation going on in his neighborhood in Qayyarah, Iraq, September 13. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford)

Soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 82D Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and Iraqi Police question local Iraqis in a neighborhood of Qayyarah, Iraq, about a suspected counterfeiting operation in the area during a pre-dawn raid September 13. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford)

Cpl. Mason Radcliff communicates with Soldiers on the ground, while providing over watch security from a rooftop during a raid with Iraqi Police to detain suspected counterfeiters who were supporting terrorists in the area of Qayyarah, Iraq, September 13. Radcliff, of Prattville, Ala., is a Soldier of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 82D Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, which is currently deployed out of Fort Bliss, Texas. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford)

A Soldier of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 82D Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division inspects a printing press believed to be used in a terrorist counterfeiting operation. The press, along with 10 other printers, five computers and three cell phones were all seized by the soldiers and Iraqi Police during a raid to disrupt terrorist funding activities in Qayyarah, Iraq, September 13. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford)

Soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 82D Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division load a printing press believed to be used in a terrorist counterfeiting operation, while other Soldiers provide security in Qayyarah, Iraq, September 13. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford)

Iraqi Police, along with Soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 82D Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, provide security during a cordon and knock mission outside of Qayyarah, Iraq. The September 13, raid netted two suspects believed to be supporting terrorist activities by running a counterfeiting operation. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford)

Iraqi Police, along with Soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 82D Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, provide security during a cordon and knock mission outside of Qayyarah, Iraq. The September 13, raid netted two suspects believed to be supporting terrorist activities by running a counterfeiting operation. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford)

Local Iraqis go about their business while Soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 82D Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division and Iraqi Police search a photo shop believed to be connected to a terrorist counterfeiting operation in the market place of Qayyarah, Iraq, September 13. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford)

Making Progress

Making Progress: Unit relationships with Iraqi locals pays off
Multi-National Division – North PAO
By Spc. Eric A. Rutherford, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment


SAMARRA, Iraq – As the much anticipated Iraq Report was released this month, one unit is finding that they are making progress.


An Iraqi teenager who was an informant for coalition forces 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 Aug. 27.

“They kidnapped him, beat him and then made him promise to never come to this area again or work with coalition forces,” 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 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 that 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-Qaida in Iraq forces, and raids are producing results.


“We found the targets,” King said. “Several things we were looking for were: 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 continue 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, 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.”

Sgt. Eldon Garhart guards detainees during a raid in a village south of Samarra, Iraq August 27. Garhart, of Spearfish, S.D., is a forward observer with 3rd Platoon, Company A 2-505th Parachute Infantry Regiment out of Fort Bragg, N.C. The raid was part of Operation Reciprocity II, an operation to arrest suspected kidnappers and Improvised Explosive Device implanters in the area. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford)

Soldiers from 3rd Platoon, Company A, 2-505th Parachute Infantry Regiment out of Fort Bragg, N.C., prepare to provide security for detainee extraction during a raid in a village south of Samarra, Iraq, August 27. The raid was part of Operation Reciprocity II, an operation to arrest suspected kidnappers and Improvised Explosive Device implanters in the area. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford)

Soldiers from 3rd Platoon, Company A, 2-505th Parachute Infantry Regiment out of Fort Bragg, N.C., load onto a CH-47 Chinook helicopter after conducting a raid in a village south of Samarra, Iraq, August 27. The raid was part of Operation Reciprocity II, a mission to arrest suspected kidnappers and Improvised Explosive Device implanters in the area. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford)