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| A-1-8 Chapter of the 4th Infantry Division |
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President, Americans Remembered, Inc. - http://www.americansremembered.org
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Past President/Historian - Nat'l 4th Inf Div Assn - http://www.4thinfantry.org
babcock224@aol.com
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>From CentCom news release on 2-4-04:
4TH ID’S 24-HOUR ACTIVITY
TIKRIT, Iraq – Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division and Task Force Ironhorse, over the past 24 hours, conducted 194 patrols, three raids and captured 21 individuals. Fifteen of the patrols were joint operations conducted with the Iraqi Police, the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and the Border Guard.
Weapons and equipment confiscated in raids and patrols throughout the Task Force Ironhorse area of operations include one AK-47 assault rifle, one sniper rifle, two machine guns, one shotgun, one pistol, one 30 mm anti-aircraft gun, one 12.7 mm anti-aircraft gun, one rocket propelled grenade launcher, two rocket propelled grenades, one grenade, six mortar rounds, 10 artillery rounds and two improvised explosive devices.
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U.S. Says Iraq Attacks Aimed at Sabotage
By CHRIS BRUMMITT
Associated Press Writer
TIKRIT, Iraq (AP)--A senior U.S. commander said Wednesday that recent attacks in Iraq are the work of groups seeking to sabotage -- or gain leverage in -- a future independent Iraqi government that is due to take power by July.
Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, also predicted that coalition forces would be able to crush the insurgency within a year, despite continued American losses since the Dec. 13 capture of Saddam Hussein.
"There are ethnic issues. People are now positioning themselves to see what their role is in the next government, and they are doing it by force,'' Odierno said after a tour of this city, Saddam's hometown. "They are trying to disrupt the way things are going so they can get a little advantage.''
On Wednesday, an Iraqi insurgent group claimed responsibility for twin bombings that killed 109 people at the offices of two Kurdish political parties on Sunday. The "Jaish Ansar al-Sunna'' said it targeted the "dens of the devils'' because of the parties' ties to the United States.
The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority plans to hand over sovereignty to a provisional Iraqi government on June 30. The United Nations soon will dispatch a team to Iraq to resolve differences between the Americans and the Shiite Muslim clergy over how to choose the new Iraqi leadership.
"We have six to 12 months left of this insurgency,'' Odierno said. "I think constant pressure will bring it down.''
So far, 528 U.S. service members have died since the Iraq war began March 20, including 368 by hostile fire. Forty-five soldiers died in January and three more in the first three days of February. The January toll was five more than in December, despite hopes that Saddam's capture would weaken the insurgency and slow the killings from roadside bombs and other attacks.
Odierno, who is in charge of security over a large swath of north-central Iraq, did not elaborate on how insurgent attacks were aimed at gaining advantage before the power transfer. He also did not offer specific examples of such attacks. However, a recent series of major attacks were clearly aimed at Iraqi targets, raising fears that insurgents were going after those who would play major political and security roles in a future Iraqi government.
On Sunday, two suicide bombers struck simultaneously at the offices of two Kurdish political parties in Irbil, killing 109 people--the biggest confirmed death toll in any insurgent attack since the start of the Iraq conflict last March. Among the dead were many key leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the two U.S.-backed parties that run the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq.
The "Jaish Ansar al-Sunna'', or "Army of the Protectors of the Sunna,'' claimed responsibility for the bombings on Wednesday. Sunna refers to the collective teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.
"Two of our martyrdom-seeking brothers ... broke into two dens of the devils in the city of Irbil in the north of Iraq,'' the group said in a statement posted on a Web site. It said the Kurdish parties were attacked because of their U.S. connections. The claim could not be independently confirmed.
Kurdish television broadcast a photo of one of the bombers Wednesday and offered a reward for information on his identity.
On Saturday, a car bomb killed nine people and wounded 45 at a police station in the northern metropolis of Mosul. A Jan. 24 truck bomb that killed two Iraqis and wounded about 40 other people -- including seven American soldiers -- may have been aimed at disrupting a municipal council meeting, officials said. Other attacks appear to have been targeted against different religious groups.
Last month, a bomb exploded in front of a Shiite Muslim mosque in the predominantly Sunni city of Baqouba, killing five people and wounding dozens of others. A car bomb was found that same day in front of another Shiite mosque in Baqouba but was defused.
Pamphlets allegedly signed by 12 insurgent groups appeared this week in the Sunni Triangle cities of Ramadi and Fallujah west of the capital, warning Iraqis against cooperating with Americans and their occupation allies. The pamphlets warned Iraqis who cooperated with the U.S. military to leave the country when the American troops leave. They claimed "mujahedeen,'' or holy warriors, would take over the two cities when U.S. forces withdraw and impose a three-day curfew to maintain order.
U.S. commanders have said they plan to shift security responsibility to newly trained Iraqi forces, accelerating those moves in coming months when the U.S. military replaces units that have been in the country for months with fresh troops. The pamphlets said Iraqi policemen deemed sympathetic to the anti-U.S. insurgency would continue on the job and urged the public to "prepare food and weapons'' in case they had to defend their homes. It said Iraqis who did not cooperate with the Americans would form new city councils to run the municipalities.
Elsewhere, police arrested nine suspected guerrillas and seized two rockets set up to fire at a U.S. base south of Kirkuk, police chief Torhan Abdul-Rahman Yousif said Wednesday. He said police also raided three villages southwest of the city Tuesday and arrested 13 people, including a former Iraqi army engineer thought to have made and planted roadside bombs. Three U.S. soldiers were killed in the same area Saturday when their convoy hit a hidden explosive.
U.S. troops, meanwhile, arrested a relative of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, and believe he may help in the hunt for the most senior former regime figure still at large, a U.S. officer said Wednesday. The man, who was not identified, was arrested late Tuesday in a raid in Tikrit, according to Lt. Col. Steven Russell, who led the operation.
Russell described the suspect as a "close relative'' of al-Douri, who was the vice chairman of the Baath Party's Revolutionary Command Council and a longtime confidant of Saddam. Al-Douri is No. 6 on the wanted list and U.S. forces have offered a $10 million bounty for his arrest.
AP-NY-02-04-04 1823EST
Copyright 2004, The Associated Press.
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U.S. Army engineer rides Iraq's oil range
TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - Col. Bobby Nicholson's job securing a major part of Iraq's oil infrastructure is a lot like running a sprawling Texas ranch.
The Army engineer has to watch out for predators, hire workers and like the U.S. ranchers of old -- who drove herds of cattle across miles of hostile lands to sell at auction -- make sure every barrel of oil makes it to market from an area in which sabotage remains a constant worry.
The soft-spoken Texan oversees pipelines, refineries, water and power networks across a vast region stretching north from just above Baghdad to the oil city of Kirkuk and east to the Iranian border.
The chief engineer for the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division, Nicholson is responsible for securing and advising those refurbishing the petroleum infrastructure in one of Iraq's most oil-rich regions as well as keeping domestic gas flowing and running regional power and water.
Nicholson told Reuters that restoration work was already producing results with a fairer distribution of energy resources to all Iraqis. Under Saddam Hussein, energy was parceled out to those who were in favor and withheld from those who were not.
"Some of the people complain about not getting enough oil and power, but those are the ones that used to get all they needed and now are getting their fair share," Nicholson said.
According to Nicholson, his area contains around 6.5 percent of the world's oil reserves with an estimated 10 billion barrels. That is about 40 percent of Iraq's known oil.
"DEBAATHIFICATION"
Securing and rebuilding the area has taken a combination of organization, military might and selective hiring, he said, adding that the leap from his training as a forestry engineer to overseeing oil infrastructure was "a big change."
Although Iraq's population is well-educated, few are schooled in the mechanics of running refineries and pipelines. Nicholson has had to rely on foreign contractors and re-hire some of those who worked in oil under Saddam.
"We've had to because there is no one else," Nicholson said. "For a lot of guys, all they have done is change employers."
He said stalwart Saddam supporters were not hired, and that others underwent a "de-Baathification process" to ensure they were no longer part of his political party.
Despite the poor condition of the oil infrastructure, Nicholson said he is impressed with the ability of the Iraqi oil experts to do a lot with a little.
"The North Oil Company is a pretty resilient organization because they were under pressure to produce regardless of the capital investment made or maintenance," he said, referring to the name of the Iraqi national oil company in his region.
Currently, the North Oil Co. is producing about 400,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent, and is refining 200,000 barrels a day of gasoline, kerosene and diesel at the area's main refinery in Baiji, north of Tikrit, he said.
RIDING THE RANGE BY HELICOPTER
Nicholson's team runs helicopter and ground patrols to keep an eye on the miles and miles of oil, natural gas and power lines in the region vulnerable to guerrillas and saboteurs who have been attacking U.S. troops and those who are helping them since major combat was declared over in May.
Working through area sheikhs, Nicholson has even hired local tribes to watch the pipelines and power lines. That is a page taken straight from Saddam and Iraq's colonial history under the British.
"That's the way the British did it before him. But that's not uniform, it's just where we trust the tribes," Nicholson said.
The going rate for protection is $145 a month per mile of pipeline or electric power lines in the tribe's lands, he said, though some haggled for a higher rate.
"What I told them when we went to negotiate is, 'We're going to hold you responsible for what happens on your land, whether or not we pay you."' Nicholson said.
Like his infantry and military police counterparts in the 4th ID, Nicholson and his unit have been training Iraqis to handle security. In his case, it has been separate, specialized units to handle security for the oil, power and water assets.
"The Coalition Provisional Authority decided that each ministry ought to handle its own security," Nicholson said.
That is also similar to the structure under Saddam.
Some of what initially was seen as organized attempts by Saddam's supporters to interrupt reconstruction of the power lines and pipelines often turned out to be simple theft and looting, he said.
Attacks, which were occurring at the rate of about two or three a week in the days just after Washington declared in May that major combat operations in the U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam last year was over, have fallen to about one a month, he said.
02/04/04 08:00 ET
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited.
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Operation Clothes for Kids Reaches Target
By Staff Sgt. David Bennett / 367th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
TAJI, Iraq, Feb. 2, 2004 - As the soldiers walked down the narrow walk, curious children peeked out of their classrooms recently, eying the large cardboard boxes that they were carrying. The grade school children jostled for position in line as shoes, winter coats, denim pants and simple dresses came spilling out of the open boxes.
Standing in the middle of the activity, Lt. Col. Steven A. Maglio, the chaplain for 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) Artillery, has been coordinating Operation Clothes for Kids, which is an effort to bring clothing to needy Iraqi children.
So far, 181 boxes have been collected by family members back in Fort Hood, Texas and sent to the artillery unit. Of those, 150 boxes have been distributed by various battalions operating an area of operation known as Task Force Gunner. The plan has helped fill a social gap where charitable organizations haven’t yet filled, he said.
“Schools are the primary outlet, because we can put the clothes right in the hands of the children," Maglio said.
This day the Beirut Primary School is the beneficiary.
“The children need the clothing,” said Sattar Yissen Abd, the school’s headmaster. “We need everything. My school is very bad.”
The primary school where Abd administers is downtrodden from years of neglect. Cardboard has been tacked up to fill missing windowpanes. The cramped, dark classrooms are barely large enough to contain all the young, energetic children.
Though repairs to the school are still on the planning table, Operation Clothing for Kids seems to have achieved its fundamental goal. “They came out not only with a piece of clothing, but the feeling that American soldiers really care about them,” Maglio said.
http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/feb2004/a020404a.html
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These updates are provided as a free public service to the families and friends of our deployed 4ID soldiers in Iraq by Bob Babcock, President of Americans Remembered, Inc.. We are always looking for donations and volunteers to help our non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation in our efforts to preserve memories of America's veterans and home front workers. If you would like to volunteer or make a tax deductible donation to our efforts, please go to our web site at www.americansremembered.org or email us at info@americansremembered.org or write us at PO Box 682232, Marietta, GA 30068.
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59 Years Ago Today - 4ID in Germany:
5 February 1945 - D+245
The enemy resisted the advance of CT 8 to the northeast with intense small arms, mortar, artillery and rocket fire which showed an increase towards the close of the period. The enemy displayed a poorly organized defense against CT 22. At about 1500, the town of Brandscheid was occupied by CT 22. Tanks and self-propelled guns were reported operating in the vicinity of Brandscheid.
The attack of the Division was renewed against the Siegfried Line fortifications. By the close of the period, the Siegfried Line had been breached on a front of approximately three kilometers.
The 8th Infantry continued the attack at 0830 to the northeast along the Schnee Eiffel. The 2nd Battalion advanced approximately 800 yards against light resistance. The 3rd Battalion was following after it had been relieved by the 1st Battalion of the 12th Regiment. The 3rd Battalion passed through the 2nd Battalion and continued the attack against increasing resistance of small arms and direct fire weapons. Positions were consolidated on favorable terrain.
The 12th Infantry, except its 1st Battalion, maintained and adjusted its positions.
The 22nd Infantry attacked at 0745 with its 3rd Battalion against Brandscheid. The enemy at a crossroad defended stubbornly in pillboxes and bunkers but during the afternoon, this resistance was cleared up and the attack continued into Brandscheid. Initially the fighting in town was very heavy but with the aid of supporting tanks and tank destroyers, the resistance was overcome. The 1st Battalion which was following turned to the east and secured the high ground west of Sellerich. After the capture of Brandscheid, the 90th Infantry Division was ordered to relieve the 22nd Infantry in the town in order that the 4th Infantry Division could continue the attack towards the important road center of Prum.
Thanks to Philippe Cornil at www.revive-it.com.
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What Our Families Are Hearing From Our Soldiers in Iraq:
1) Bob, Thank the mother for sharing those e-mails from her son, 1/10 Cav. Thank you for including them in your update.
2) Our son, also a soldier in HHT 1-10 CAV, was just home for R&R 3 weeks ago. He came home on New Year's Day. Since he was able to come home for R&R on New Year's Day, I felt that things were going to be all right, even though he had to go back. He called us Tuesday night, he tried to sound strong, but it was clear that he was shaken by what happened Sunday with the attack on them. My heart goes out to the family of the soldier that was killed. I feel so bad for our soldiers, that they have to go through this. But, I have not given up hope. My faith in God is unwavering. I know that God is going to pull them through this and bring them back home safe. I will just be glad when it's all over. Very Concerned Mom.
3) Our daughter is with 1/66 AR out of Ft. Hood ...... It has been a long 10 months! She left as an 18 year old kid and will return as a 19 year old woman!! To those of you that have served over there Thank You & Welcome Home, to all the families that
await this Welcome Home give yourself a pat on the back & to all the families that have lost a loved one over there and paid the ultimate price to Keep Us Free -- God Bless And Keep You! You are in my prayers and will remain so -- What they have done there will never be forgotten!! May God keep All Soldiers in All corners of His World safe until they return to those that Love Them!! To those that are deploying --- God's speed and protection and you and your family will be in our prayers-- Hooah!!
4) Thanks for the very good news today. It does mean one thing to me - that my son will be home maybe even a little bit sooner. I will certainly be there on 22 April, it will be a great birthday gift to me. I am really proud to be his mom.
5) Hi Bob, I just wanted to write and say that my thoughts and prayers are with the families of all the First Cav soldiers and their families through out their deployment. I know how they are feeling. I am a wife of a 4ID soldier that is deployed at the moment. But I am also a sister of a soldier in First Cav. that is getting ready to deploy so my worries don't end when my husband gets home, they follow on while my brother is gone also .So I know how it feels to have loved ones deployed. It's a sad thing to say but you learn to adjust to the hardship of being apart from your loved ones. Growing up in a long line of a military family myself I'll tell you it's never easy but you learn to be strong and keep your head up. Remember that they'll keep their mind on their missions as long as they know that you are at home being strong and keeping yourself together. Just remember that they'll be home as soon as they can and be strong so they have minimal worries. My thoughts and prayers will be with them and for the quick and safe return of all the 4ID soldiers.
6) My husband called me this evening with good news! He is with 1-68 C Co out of Fort Carson and they were getting ready to leave ..... to reunite with the rest of the unit in Balad to fix their tanks and get ready to go to Kuwait! This is a major step towards coming home and I was so excited to hear him say, "This will be the last phone call from me for a while because we'll be busy unloading everything and taking care of the last minute things." This is one time when I'm glad that he won't have time to call me! It's starting to get real for me that they're coming home soon! He also got promoted to SSG on Jan 1 and is re-enlisting on Feb 11 for another 5 years with a pretty hefty bonus, which is going to be used to buy him a truck. What a great welcome home gift for him! So far, this has been a great 2004 for us! As long as everything goes as planned with them returning home, it will only get better!
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Families Share R&R Moments:
1) My husband (with the National Guard- 1133rd Trans Co. Iowa,) left yesterday after his short 2 week leave home. In his words, "why they call it R and R, I'm not sure." The 2 weeks was wonderful to have him home, but busy, busy busy! We were blessed to have him home with us for our first wedding anniversary and an early celebration of our son's 1st birthday. Here in the Midwest we got covered with 12-18 inches of snow, so my husband was elated when he got to go and push snow for 16 hours! (he works at a construction company that snowplows in the winter.) He also enjoyed a few hours ice fishing at the neighboring lake! Too bad nothing was biting. All and all, we had a great time. Everything that I have read or heard, people said the goodbyes the second time around was harder. He and I think the opposite. We enjoyed our time spent, and cherish the moments we were together, and with his redeployment within a short 2 months, saying goodbye for us was easier the second time around. I guess the last 10+ months of being apart was worth the wait to see him, hug him, and kiss him again!
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Redeployment Tips
1) I too have gone through long deployments, the best advice given to me as a member of the "Wives Club" and to all Men on board the USS Indy as they returned to port, was to remember things have changed. All the kids have gotten older and more independent, they may not even remember who you are. Take it slowly. The wives are used to being both mother and father, handling everything form sports teams to discipline. Take it slowly as you move back into their lives. The wives are now used to running the house and will resent it if you the returning soldier tries to take over. Take it slowly as you move back into their lives. Wives, remember the men have not driven in a while and may be a little rusty.
2) My advice for couples re uniting, is to have no big expectations. My husband has been deployed for the 5th time now and I found out that at first there is the honeymoon period which can be different lengths. Then there is the adjustment period. For a period of time you were both single people finding a way to do things your own way. Now you are together again and things will be different than before. Be patient and don't expect perfect harmony right away. Do not feel bad if you have friction, thinking I should be happy now that he's/she's back. Another thing, don't push your spouse, they will reveal what they want to talk about in their own time.
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