Habbaniyah in the news

While we were in Ramadi, there was a big recruiting push to recruit Iraqis from the al-Anbar province into the IAs and IPs. And holy @(*&, some of them have actually completed training and are about to hit the streets. Hopefully - in-sh'allah - some of them will go to 3-2-1. Go to the link below to see pictures.

http://www.blackanthem.com/TheAllies/military_2006050201.html


The Sons of Al Anbar Graduate
Blackanthem Military News, HABBANIYAH, Iraq, May 02, 2006

The 1st cycle of Sunni Iraqi Army (IA) recruits graduate Combat Basic Training at East Camp Habbaniyah.Nearly one thousand local men graduated IA Combat Basic Training Camp Sunday morning at forward operating base (FOB) Habbaniyah, 20 kilometers east of Ar Ramadi in the Al Anbar province. They are the 1st cycle of the "Sunni 5000" that volunteered during local IA recruiting drives held monthly in Ar Ramadi, Al Fallujah and Al Qaim. It is expected that by mid-fall November time frame, the "Sunni 5000" will be hard at work in the Anbar province.The Iraqi Ministry of Defense (MOD) has been awaiting a surge in Sunni IA recruits for quite some time. Many feel that Sunni men have been reluctant to join the national army and this serves as a significant step towards building a cohesive and diverse security force, representative of the Iraqi people. The Ministry’s plan is to first, successfully integrate the increasing number of Sunnis into the Iraqi Army and moreover, implement measures to assign these Soldiers to units with areas of operations (AO) within their representative residences. The goal of the Iraqi MOD is to bolster the public’s confidence and support for local Iraqi Army .
Iraqi Army salute during the pass and review.
Over the course of five weeks, the new recruits learned the basic Soldiering skills necessary to ensure the safety and protection of the citizens of Al Anbar. Iraqi Army Instructors, similar to Coalition Force Drill Sergeants, train the new recruits in military customs and courtesies, basic rifle marksmanship, first aid procedures and various squad tactics, each essential for patrolling and conducting security operations. Furthermore, the MOD hopes to incorporate a follow-on school for select recruits specializing in emergency medical care, vital to the sustainment of IA combat power. The Chief Iraqi Combat Basic Training Instructor commented on the 1st rotation of Sunni recruits. Three weeks into the training cycle he stated, "Unlike prior rotations I have led, many [of the new recruits] are former Republican Guard Junud (Soldiers). They have military experience and are progressing fast." Chief Fadel views the influx of Sunnis into the Army as a positive step towards building a more diverse and capable military. With over eight rotations as Senior Instructor under his belt, Chief Fadel is proud to be a part of the new Habbaniyah training facility, the 1st of its kind in the Anbar region.
Sunni grads put on a show, forming a pyramid and announcing "Asha Al Iraq" Demonstrating their national pride to all the guests in attendance."
Lt. Col. Steven Greaf, Coalition Forces IA Combat Basic Training Senior Advisor, expressed his satisfaction with the way things are moving ahead. "It is honorable that these brave Sunni men are coming forward and I am pleased to witness their dedication to serving the people of Al Anbar province."Among the guest speakers at the graduation was Al Anbar Governor Ma’moun Al Awani. Governor Ma’moun spoke to the 978 new graduates lining the parade field, extending his gratitude for their dedication to the security of Al Anbar. He reassured the men that they represent the future of Anbar and have set the stage for Sunni prosperity in Iraq. Following Governor Ma’moun, 1st Division IA Executive Commander, General Baha shared his thoughts with the audience. Fellow Junud, Iraqi Police, Anbar key leaders and Coalition Forces alike cheered for the new graduates as they marched by the VIP stage conducting the traditional pass and review. Honor graduates from each Company were awarded certificates. General Sha’aban Muhammed Samier, the Al Anbar Provincial Police Chief, focused on the importance of providing support to all three prominent cities in Al Anbar (Al Qaim, Ar Ramadi, and Al Fallujah). He motivated the new graduates to take on their new positions with honor and dignity and reminded all of the desired end state - to stabilize the nation of Iraq. "Asha Al Iraq."

By 1LT Antonia T. Greene 2ND BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM / 28TH INFANTRY DIVISION (M)

SSgt D down at OP Hotel on 4 Oct 05, the day after the attack.

The next day - 03 Oct 05

Sorry again. Been busy living the dream here in Austin, TX.

Back to the rest of the story…

03 October 05. Mere hours before, about 2230 on 02 Oct, 3-2-1 and 2-69 had been hit with a complex attack, resulting in about (3) KIA and (35) WIA. We were all bushed. Because of an early morning mission set for the next day, about half the Drifter team had already gone to bed before the leave convoy had left, and had been left alone during the mass casualty event. We made that call based on the fact that the remainder of the team was able to do what had to be done that night, namely, getting the wounded to Combat Outpost. The team needed to be rested for that upcoming mission.

I was up again at about 0630 to make sure that the mission was still a GO and that the IA were moving. 2-69 was awake, all had been quiet after the enormous furball the night before, and they would have two M1A1s and armored trucks staged at Camp Tiger for a 0700 roll time for the mission. This mission wasn’t expected to be any big deal, just a short drive up to ECP-5, about 2 km to the northwest. The IA platoon going would go on an extended patrol, come back to the ECP, and remain up there until the evening when the trucks would bring them back down. No MTTS would be on this patrol; it was sort of a “milk run” and our first experiment with the IAs going out with along with the coalition partner (2-69), but not us. (NOTE: by the time we left Ramadi, this was the SOP for ALL of our missions, as part of the “taking the training wheels off” phase). There was another mission later in the morning that the MTTs would be participating in, not this one.

The IAs were NOT up; psychologically, they had had the wind completely knocked out of their sails. This was something that had kind of caught us off guard as advisors. Whereas we, as professional American, western military men - regardless of service – would have sucked it up and pushed through the shock to accomplish the mission, the IAs turned out to be surprisingly fragile. We MTTS were just beginning to see this. Habbaniyah had been a cakewalk for us until SSgt Walsh’s IED. Ramadi was the real deal, plus the Iraqi pay system was malfunctioning, leave was on hold indefinitely, and they had lost four KIA and 35 WIA in two weeks. They were on their heels.

They were also in bed. I started knocking on doors, and they began to begrudgingly get ready. Very, very frustrating to us, and we as advisors would have to step back and analyze exactly WHY they were resisting and how could we make this THEIR priority and not just ours. But I digress. At the time, I was simply pissed off. I went down to the radio in our office and called 2-69; the IAs were moving slowly, I would stay up on the net, and have them out to the trucks as soon as I could. About 0650, the tanks and trucks arrived, the trucks coming into out compound, the tanks remaining out on Route Michigan, tubes trained across the street. I went out to talk to the drivers and let them know what was going on. It looked like the IAs wouldn’t be ready until about 0730.

About then, we started to hear small arms fire from the northwest. Actually, from the vicinity of ECP-5, which is where our guys were supposed to be, right then. The fire began to increase. Exponentially.

Again – just as I had only hours before – I ran into the office and got onto the radio, this time to listen. ECP-5 was under attack and Blocking Position (BP)-4 (about a mile away) was as well. They were sustaining heavy small arms and machinegun fire from the north and east, and had sustained at least one US WIA. 3/7 in west Ramadi was also being engaged, and we could hear large explosions and see smoke from near the Ramadi Hospital (a large building to the northwest which the enemy would regularly use to engage the Marines). After about 30 minutes, when it became clear that this was not a “driveby” and that the insurgents were actually going to maintain contact (unheard of at that point), the tanks and trucks returned to Camp Corregidor and Combat Outpost to stage for whatever would come next. It was the biggest firefight that we had heard, and for better or worse, Drifter and the IAs were all on the sidelines for this one.

Except for SSgt DeCamillo. We were at that time still keeping a MTT down at OP Hotel with the IA platoon we would rotate out there. (OP Hotel rates its own blog entry, but for now, suffice it to say that OP Hotel is a former hotel in downtown Ramadi which, because of its height and location, now serves as a key terrain for the US and IA to secure Rt. Michigan). While we were all stuck on Camp Tiger, up on the roof now preparing for what we thought would be an inevitable attack on our camp as well, SSgt D was out doing his part at OP Hotel, helping to coordinate communications with the US Army platoon there and the IA, and, to paraphrase the British, “enforcing Rule 5.56” in downtown Ramadi. We got him on the Motorola at some point just to make sure that he was OK. (In all honesty, he was just fine, and I think having the time of his life, but you have to know SSgt D to understand).

The firefight continued. 2-69 called in mortars (120mm from Combat Outpost) and artillery (155mm from Camp Ramadi), then more mortars and artillery. This is the first and only time while I was there that I heard a radio call that friendlies were about to go “black” on ammo, specifically 7.62 link, I think. This means that they had been firing so much, for so long, that they were about to run out of ammunition for their 240B machine guns, and were requesting and emergency resupply via Bradley. When you hear a call like that, with heavy firing in the background as the platoon commander is calling it, your first instinct is to go get your gear on and get up there, no questions asked. But again, we were fully on the sidelines for this one. Animal Company – the American force at ECP-5 – determined that fire was coming from a mosque, and called for and received clearance for a helicopter gun run. When the 7.62 machine guns didn’t do the trick, the request for a Hellfire missile shot went up and was approved. Subsequent to the missile shot, the enemy broke contact, and Ramadi was again – tenetively – quiet.

When 2-69 did the math afterward, they estimated about 15-25 enemy KIA (some had been carried away by the insurgents). A sustained, coordinated (east Ramadi, west Ramadi, Habbaniyah) attack, coupled with the ambush the night before, this was something new, and it meant that the enemy were upping the ante, perhaps leaning into the 15 Oct parliamentary elections. The end result for us was that the IA leave was cancelled until after the elections, Rt. Michigan was declared “black” and closed for coalition travel, and we began to prepare for what we thought would be the next step: escalating and bolder enemy attack.

One good thing was that our tower guards were now wide awake (at least for a day or so).

For the team, we decided that, in the event we were attacked and mooj got into the compound, the safest place for us Ameriki would be on the roof. Not that we weren’t ready for a fight, but to be running around, at night, with out own IA yelling and shooting at other Iraqis yelling and shooting… That would just not be a good place for one or three or even all of us to be. Better to pull to the roof, defend, and call for the cavalry (2-69). To facilitate this, shortly after this firefight, we staged a PALCON - a medium, lockable storage box – up at the top of the stairs at the doorway on to the roof. We loaded it with frag grenades, pyro, about 50 loaded 5.56 magazines, a couple of Benelli shotguns, high-power laser pointer, radios, a M249 SAW, first aid stuff, MREs and water.

And we waited for the attack to come.

Things are jumping in Ramadi

All,

From Reuters today. If accurate, this is a LOT of bad guys coming out of their holes.

US, Iraqi forces kill over 100 insurgents in Ramadi

02 May 2006 10:27:52 GMTSource: ReutersBAGHDAD, May 2 (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces killed more than 100 insurgents last week in the town of Ramadi in the rebel heartland of Anbar province, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.
Two Iraqi soldiers died in the fighting and no Americans were killed, the military said in a written response, confirming a media report. It did not provide more details.
Reuters witnesses in Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles), west of Baghdad, said there were heavy clashes last week between U.S. forces and insurgents inside Ramadi but could not independently confirm such a high number of insurgents killed.
Ramadi is a stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgents fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces and the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad.