Cutting Insurgent Weapon Supply Lines
After a two-hour patrol searching for IEDs (improvised explosive device) and finding nothing, Staff Sergeant Eric Moroge turns to his driver Private First Class Zachary Lindsley. "[The insurgents] must be running low on materials," says Moroge.
Moroge's Humvee has already been hit with multiple IEDs over the last five months. Private First Class Zack Gardner, Morgoe's original driver lost a substantial part of his foot when shrapnel from an IED blew through the Humvee. Gardner became the second soldier in his platoon sent home due to injuries from an IED blast.
As the American military combats an elusive enemy that relies predominately on IEDs to inflict causalities, the Army has been trying to stop the insurgency by cutting the supply lines that provide weaponry and explosives.
Working on an operation to remove a massive collection of weapons caches near Balad, Staff Sergeant Derek Bayne says, "It's the first time I've seen the primary focus on finding the equipment for making IEDs rather than the person responsible." Serving his second tour of duty in Iraq since the war started in 2003, Bayne is among many who believe that cutting insurgent supply lines will reduce their ability to operate effectively.
"This is a war of attrition against black market arms," says Specialist Matt Roberts.
Caches, which contain everything from assault rifles to artillery rounds, generally consist of old weapons. The majority of the insurgent weapons were looted from unsecured Iraqi arsenals shortly after the initial invasion in 2003 or left over from the Iran-Iraq War. A small number of weapons appear to be newly purchased from unknown sources.
"I think that a lot of this stuff was seized after the fall of Saddam, because it was there and nobody knew. I think there were some good Samaritans who took the stuff off the street so kids wouldn't play with it, other people procured it and now they're selling it because it's a business, other people were going to fight the occupation so they took that as part of munitions and supplies," said Lieutenant Colonel Tom Fisher.
Caches are usually buried in fields and orchards. American forces use intelligence and often times intuition to lead them to possible sites and search with metal detectors and shovels. Using these methods searches can last all day. In the midst of one such search, Sergeant Jesse Trumpore joked, "I feel like I'm on a treasure hunt. X marks the spot."
On the Jabouri Peninsula, a heavily Sunni area near Balad, American forces spent several weeks uncovering massive weapons caches in March and April. Usually buried in plastic fifty-five gallon barrels--common of caches across Iraq--the caches consisted of small arms, mortar rounds, RPGs, ammunition, IED making materials and other weapons paraphernalia.
While the removal of the caches pleased everyone, Iraq's internal violence made soldiers question the weapons' intended use. "It's equipment that could be used against [coalition forces], but that will more than likely be used for a future conflict," said Captain Tim Knoth, commander of the company who lead the cache search. However, Knoth stressed that this was a move towards stabilization rather than disarming Sunnis on the Jabouri Peninsula. "If there is going to be sectarian fighting or an all out civil war I don't want to think that I'm disarming one side," said Knoth.
It's generally acknowledged that a cache of mortar and artillery rounds will be used for making IEDs that target Coalition Forces or Iraqi Security Forces, but in a country where almost every household has at least one AK-47 assault rifle, small arms caches are more difficult to understand. Iraqi law permits every household to have one AK-47 with thirty rounds for personal protection, yet some Iraqis like to amass vast amounts of ammunition and extra weapons to protect their homes.
Musing on the caches' possible links to sectarian violence Fisher, who commands the 1-68 Combined Arms Battalion in the Diyala Province, said, "Are people hording caches because there's going to be sectarian violence? I would say that fear could be there now. I doubt when they got the stuff two or three years ago that was foremost in their minds." Since mid-December 1-68 CAB has found sixteen caches, nearly one a week.
A platoon under Captain Mark Beckage's command arrested two men from a house that had two assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition buried behind in the backyard. Though the men claimed the ammunition was for personal protection, soldiers were suspicious as it was enough ammunition to carry out military operations. Ultimately, soldiers relied on the local law to guide them.
"We have these rules in place and they need to be enforced," said Beckage. "The more weapons and military grade machine guns we take off civilians will make Iraq a safer place."
Whatever the intended use, most soldiers are relieved to get more weapons off the streets.
After uncovering a cache of artillery rounds that were likely being used to emplace IEDs on a highway commonly used by Coalition Forces, Staff Sergeant Shane Carvella said, "This is going to save lives, regardless of whether they're Iraqi, American, or British. Every little bit that we take away is one step closer to democracy in this country." The day after the cache discovery, the highway, which normally had one to three IEDs planted daily, was IED free.
Still, soldiers question the value of cache finds. After his platoon found their first major cache in early February, Specialist Val Schafer read a news article quoting a platoon mate saying that every artillery round they'd found was one less IED for American troops. The remark resonated with Shafer, "If IEDs target Americans, would the threat exist if we weren't here?"
Private First Class Brian Hunsuck, who injured his leg in an IED blast shortly after his unit removed a massive cache from the area, doesn't see an end to the insurgent supply lines. "If we find the cache, but not the person then they can always find a way to buy more stuff."
During his first tour of duty in Iraq in 2003, Sergeant Joseph Garcia said his unit sometimes found entire fields full of artillery rounds and weapons out in the open. "They have so much stuff in the country that (finding caches) doesn't really set them back all that much," said Garcia. "I don't think caches are going to stop anything. We have to catch people in the act."
"We could keep finding stuff everyday, and they'll still find a way to get more. But we'll keep taking it off the streets," said Lieutenant William Brown.
After a two-hour patrol searching for IEDs (improvised explosive device) and finding nothing, Staff Sergeant Eric Moroge turns to his driver Private First Class Zachary Lindsley. "[The insurgents] must be running low on materials," says Moroge.
Moroge's Humvee has already been hit with multiple IEDs over the last five months. Private First Class Zack Gardner, Morgoe's original driver lost a substantial part of his foot when shrapnel from an IED blew through the Humvee. Gardner became the second soldier in his platoon sent home due to injuries from an IED blast.
As the American military combats an elusive enemy that relies predominately on IEDs to inflict causalities, the Army has been trying to stop the insurgency by cutting the supply lines that provide weaponry and explosives.
Working on an operation to remove a massive collection of weapons caches near Balad, Staff Sergeant Derek Bayne says, "It's the first time I've seen the primary focus on finding the equipment for making IEDs rather than the person responsible." Serving his second tour of duty in Iraq since the war started in 2003, Bayne is among many who believe that cutting insurgent supply lines will reduce their ability to operate effectively.
"This is a war of attrition against black market arms," says Specialist Matt Roberts.
Caches, which contain everything from assault rifles to artillery rounds, generally consist of old weapons. The majority of the insurgent weapons were looted from unsecured Iraqi arsenals shortly after the initial invasion in 2003 or left over from the Iran-Iraq War. A small number of weapons appear to be newly purchased from unknown sources.
"I think that a lot of this stuff was seized after the fall of Saddam, because it was there and nobody knew. I think there were some good Samaritans who took the stuff off the street so kids wouldn't play with it, other people procured it and now they're selling it because it's a business, other people were going to fight the occupation so they took that as part of munitions and supplies," said Lieutenant Colonel Tom Fisher.
Caches are usually buried in fields and orchards. American forces use intelligence and often times intuition to lead them to possible sites and search with metal detectors and shovels. Using these methods searches can last all day. In the midst of one such search, Sergeant Jesse Trumpore joked, "I feel like I'm on a treasure hunt. X marks the spot."
On the Jabouri Peninsula, a heavily Sunni area near Balad, American forces spent several weeks uncovering massive weapons caches in March and April. Usually buried in plastic fifty-five gallon barrels--common of caches across Iraq--the caches consisted of small arms, mortar rounds, RPGs, ammunition, IED making materials and other weapons paraphernalia.
While the removal of the caches pleased everyone, Iraq's internal violence made soldiers question the weapons' intended use. "It's equipment that could be used against [coalition forces], but that will more than likely be used for a future conflict," said Captain Tim Knoth, commander of the company who lead the cache search. However, Knoth stressed that this was a move towards stabilization rather than disarming Sunnis on the Jabouri Peninsula. "If there is going to be sectarian fighting or an all out civil war I don't want to think that I'm disarming one side," said Knoth.
It's generally acknowledged that a cache of mortar and artillery rounds will be used for making IEDs that target Coalition Forces or Iraqi Security Forces, but in a country where almost every household has at least one AK-47 assault rifle, small arms caches are more difficult to understand. Iraqi law permits every household to have one AK-47 with thirty rounds for personal protection, yet some Iraqis like to amass vast amounts of ammunition and extra weapons to protect their homes.
Musing on the caches' possible links to sectarian violence Fisher, who commands the 1-68 Combined Arms Battalion in the Diyala Province, said, "Are people hording caches because there's going to be sectarian violence? I would say that fear could be there now. I doubt when they got the stuff two or three years ago that was foremost in their minds." Since mid-December 1-68 CAB has found sixteen caches, nearly one a week.
A platoon under Captain Mark Beckage's command arrested two men from a house that had two assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition buried behind in the backyard. Though the men claimed the ammunition was for personal protection, soldiers were suspicious as it was enough ammunition to carry out military operations. Ultimately, soldiers relied on the local law to guide them.
"We have these rules in place and they need to be enforced," said Beckage. "The more weapons and military grade machine guns we take off civilians will make Iraq a safer place."
Whatever the intended use, most soldiers are relieved to get more weapons off the streets.
After uncovering a cache of artillery rounds that were likely being used to emplace IEDs on a highway commonly used by Coalition Forces, Staff Sergeant Shane Carvella said, "This is going to save lives, regardless of whether they're Iraqi, American, or British. Every little bit that we take away is one step closer to democracy in this country." The day after the cache discovery, the highway, which normally had one to three IEDs planted daily, was IED free.
Still, soldiers question the value of cache finds. After his platoon found their first major cache in early February, Specialist Val Schafer read a news article quoting a platoon mate saying that every artillery round they'd found was one less IED for American troops. The remark resonated with Shafer, "If IEDs target Americans, would the threat exist if we weren't here?"
Private First Class Brian Hunsuck, who injured his leg in an IED blast shortly after his unit removed a massive cache from the area, doesn't see an end to the insurgent supply lines. "If we find the cache, but not the person then they can always find a way to buy more stuff."
During his first tour of duty in Iraq in 2003, Sergeant Joseph Garcia said his unit sometimes found entire fields full of artillery rounds and weapons out in the open. "They have so much stuff in the country that (finding caches) doesn't really set them back all that much," said Garcia. "I don't think caches are going to stop anything. We have to catch people in the act."
"We could keep finding stuff everyday, and they'll still find a way to get more. But we'll keep taking it off the streets," said Lieutenant William Brown.
posted by Tom | 4:58 AM
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