Active Unit News

3rd Brigade Combat Team staying on the move
Date: 06/30/03
Byline: JOHN DIEDRICH; THE GAZETTE
Fort Carson's 3rd Brigade Combat Team has been a unit on the move. During its first 10 weeks in Iraq, the brigade's 4,400 soldiers packed their rucksacks and moved at least seven times, shifting among cities north of Baghdad. Duties included raiding former military bases, hunting for at-large Baath Party members and outlawed weapons and showing a security presence in the heavily looted and unstable cities. Units expect to move, but 3rd Brigade seems to be on the go more than other Army outfits in Iraq since the end of major combat was declared in late April. Its higher headquarters, the Texas-based 4th Infantry Division, has moved the brigade to perform raids or because of intelligence that foreshadowed violence, said Capt. Kory Brendsel, a brigade spokesman who returned to Colorado Springs this month. Last week, the brigade prepared to move again, this time to the Balad area, a hotbed for anti-coalition fighters who have attacked convoys, Brendsel said. The moves have caused problems. Mail and supplies have taken longer to reach soldiers, and troops often haven't settled in before it was time to pack again. The moves also had an upside, said Capt. Grant Banko, supply officer for 1/12 Infantry Battalion of the brigade, who also recently returned to Colorado Springs. "Moving kept guys busy," Banko said. "You feel like you are doing something when you are moving." Banko, Brendsel and a small number of other troops from the brigade and other Fort Carson units are back in Colorado Springs preparing to move on to other Army jobs. The Army requires soldiers to move even if their unit is deployed. Otherwise the promotion system would stall. Most of the roughly 12,000 soldiers from Fort Carson in Iraq won't come back until their units return. No timetable for that has been set. The brigade and the rest of 4th Infantry Division received orders in January but didn't leave until April. The division was supposed to enter Iraq through Turkey, but the country wouldn't allow it. Most of the brigade was in place north of Baghdad by mid-April. Its infantry, armor and support soldiers conducted raids on military bases, in some cases encountering hostile fire. The 3rd Brigade soldiers faced a small number of disorganized Iraqi fighters. They didn't seem to have any commanders and folded quickly, Brendsel said. "There were guys just randomly firing out of the back of trucks," he said. There were few injuries and no deaths during those raids, Brendsel said. Some brigade soldiers were disappointed they arrived too late for full-fledged combat. "Everything was a dry hole. There was no resistance," Banko said. "But we didn't take anything for granted." Commanders were happy their soldiers seized targets without much of a fight, but it made them wonder, Brendsel said. "You think in the back of your mind, where did they go? " he said. "You didn't see them where you expected to see them." Iraqi soldiers may have melted back into the civilian population and could be responsible for attacks in recent weeks against coalition forces. The brigade hasn't seen as many attacks as soldiers in Baghdad and west of the capital city. The brigade has lost one soldier, Sgt. Keman Mitchell, an engineer, who drowned in an aqueduct May 26 near Kirkuk. The drowning is being investigated. Brendsel, who worked with soldiers trying to restore basic services to Iraqi cities, said the Iraq mission is different because soldiers are fighting attackers and helping the local population simultaneously. Soldiers may raid a house, help at a hospital, visit the mayor's office and blow up leftover ammunition, all in a day. The soldiers have faced hot, buggy living conditions with few amenities. They have lived at an airfield, a former barracks, a hospital and a house owned by Ali Hassan al Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," a general in charge of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons. The house, one of several Ali owned near Kirkuk, had a swimming pool and orchards. Banko said it could fetch $1 million in Colorado Springs. The house and every other building soldiers have bedded down in have been heavily looted. All electrical fixtures, door and window frames, pipes, fences and anything else of value were gone. Wires were ripped from light switch to outlet. "They were pretty resourceful people," Brendsel said. "If they could use metal, wood or rubber for anything, they would take it." The brigade had it better than some because it was north of Baghdad, where temperatures reached only into the 90s or low 100s. Temperatures elsewhere topped 120. The only relief from heat has come from highpowered sandstorms, which sometimes blow to 50 mph or more. The soldiers have had to deal with tenacious flies during the day and equally determined mosquitoes and sand fleas at night. Some soldiers slept on cots, others on their vehicles, all hoping for relief from the bugs. Quality-of-life improvements arrived slowly. The unit contracted with locals to get running water and electricity and tried to buy refrigerators. As the unit moves again, they may have to look anew to make those improvements. Despite the hardships, Brendsel didn't hear griping. "Nobody complained," he said. "Because when you looked around, you could see everyone had it just like you."

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