Washington Times Article: Stryker patrol teams on front line in Iraq

Stryker patrol teams on front line in Iraq
By Sharon Behn
The Washington Times

Fear or friendly faces


BAGHDAD — Sunlight is just beginning to filter onto the trash-strewn streets of Amariyah, a neighborhood within the Sunni district of Mansour, when the soldiers pile out of their vehicles, weapons pointed into the cool morning air.

The streets are deserted as the morning curfew is still in effect, making it easier to check buildings.

Apart from searching for weapons caches and insurgents, the soldiers are trying to send a message to the residents: They are there to secure their neighborhood.

While patrolling, and later clearing houses, the soldiers are also trying to pick up "atmospherics," or information, and gain a better understanding of ordinary Iraqis' concerns.

"For the most part, people want us there," said 1st Lt. John Lowe of Bravo Company, 2nd Platoon.

The morning started at 2:30 a.m. with operations officers of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team sitting around a plain table in one of the camp's tents staring at a detailed aerial map of Baghdad.

They all stand as Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Barry Huggins walks in with Command Sgt. Major Alan Bjerke, then sit down to listen to the latest intelligence reports and plans for the day.

Routes are checked, weather checked, maps are checked, and the day's mission is made clear.

Outside, soldiers start throwing on their body armor, grab their helmets and whatever snacks they brought and climb into the back of their 19-ton, eight-wheeled armored vehicles for another 15-hour day of patrolling Baghdad.

By early morning, the team heads toward an abandoned house reportedly used by insurgents, where they meet up with their Iraqi army counterparts. The troops find a propane gas tank bomb and propaganda leaflets strewn inside the filthy house, piled high with dirty clothes and old photographs.

The Iraqi soldiers proudly pull everything onto the street, not understanding the U.S. request that they leave the scene untouched until it can be photographed — evidence that will be needed if anyone is detained in connection with the bomb.



A "different fight"

Once the house is cleared and secured, the two forces start asking the neighbors who used the house and where they have gone. Many are unwilling to say anything. But one man welcomes the soldiers into his home, waits until the Iraqi army has left, then opens up to the U.S. soldiers.

"Everybody is scared of the Iraq army," says the man, watching the U.S. soldiers as his wife brings in small glasses of sweet tea. "When you leave, they will come here and ask us what did we tell the American forces."

Back outside, the Stryker patrol team clears the streets and waits on a rooftop for the explosives experts to detonate the propane bomb. Suddenly, the quiet is broken by the sound of gunfire. The soldiers scan the horizon, seeing nothing. Across the street, an Iraqi man sits unflinching on a yellow-patterned sofa-swing, holding his child.

The patrol goes back to work, stopping again just briefly at the sound of a loud bang to watch the smoke rising into the air from a distant car bomb. It's 9:30 a.m.

For 24-year-old Spc. Carl Moore of Bravo Company, 2nd Platoon, this Baghdad is utterly changed from the city he encountered on his first deployment.

"It's a completely different fight," he said. "The threats are from so many directions, and intimidation [of the people] is a big thing, it's huge."

The fight, he said, is "all an intelligence battle now. It's frustrating more than anything."

The first attempt to detonate the bomb has failed, and the patrol moves on to clear some abandoned buildings near the main street. The soldiers pile into a dusty three-story apartment complex, kick down the door to a first-floor apartment, smash the glass out of the balcony windows facing the street and position themselves.

Then comes the call. Explosives experts are about to try again to detonate the propane tank bomb. Everyone gets behind a wall and waits. "Fire in the hole" crackles over the radio, followed by a terrifically large explosion.

The soldiers file out of the building one by one to the waiting Strykers, hugging the outside walls. Suddenly there is a high-pitched whine and a pop: Sniper fire, right above their heads. Some duck back into the building, while others try to figure out the direction of the fire. The sniper is never located.