Reconnaissance Soldiers Scout Desert, Meet Locals
The recon patrol served a dual purpose: look for anti-Iraqi forces
and meet residents of a small, remote village.
By U.S. Army Spc. Jimmy D. Lane Jr.
1st Brigade Combat Team
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DAGGER, TIKRIT, Iraq, April 11, 2005 — Much of the land west of Bayji and Tikrit, to Lake Tharthar is open desert. Apart from a few very small villages, the only thing that can be found here is a handful of houses and farms.
Reconnaissance and control of this part of Iraq falls in the Company C, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment area of operation.
“Our mission today (is) to perform a search and attack out in the western desert portion of my company’s sector, which is a pretty large area,” said U.S. Army Capt. Jason Friedt, company commander. “On a rough guess, I would say it’s about the size of the National Training Center in (Fort Irwin, Calif.)”
“The fact that someone is actually coming out here, paying attention to (the villagers) and asking them about their needs and their problems just makes them feel good,” U.S. Army Capt. Jason Friedt
Both Friedt and Sgt. 1st Class Robert Kloenne, platoon sergeant, said they were there to meet the people residing in this part of the country and gather intelligence on any possible insurgent activity.
“Basically we wanted to come out here to the western desert and look for any (anti-Iraqi) activity, and identify any reasons why we may need to patrol out here,” Kloenne said.
“We do need to patrol more often,” he added. “It’s been very good. We’ve talked to people in a few of the villages beside (Lake Tharthar), and so far, they’ve reported that they haven’t seen any suspicious activity.”
Friedt explained the two reasons for stopping in the towns and talking to the residents there.
“First, it was to introduce the company to the people since we haven’t been out here all that much,” Friedt said. “Second, we were out here to look for some tactical intelligence. (We wanted) to see if the people had seen any (anti-Iraqi forces), or any foreign fighters out here training, staging or even just hiding out.”
If they had any usable information, Friedt said, the soldiers would use it to narrow their search to a smaller area.
Kloenne said since they haven’t shown a presence in this part of Iraq, it was hard to read how the people felt, but overall he said the people’s reaction was positive.
“This is the first time we have been out here, so you can’t really tell from past experiences what their reactions are to this (presence patrol),” Kloenne said. “So far it’s been a very positive reaction.”
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Deliberti, a Company C, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment truck commander, gives candy to a child in a small village near Lake Tharthar, Iraq, March 29, 2005. The village is very small, having a little more than 60 residents and is seldom visited by Coalition Forces. U.S. Army photo
U.S. Army Sgt. James Wotherspoon, a gunner for C Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, scans the horizon for possible anti-Iraqi activity in the desert west of Bayji, Iraq, near Lake Tharthar, March 29, 2005. U.S. Army photo
Kloenne said that most of the patrol has been cross country in order to stay away from roads and avoid traffic, as the insurgents probably won’t have a camp beside a main road and have a tendency to plant (improvised explosive devices) beside the main roads.
“If you spread out … you’re going to be able to cover and see more ground,” Friedt said.
Friedt said he felt that most of the people they talked to were pretty glad to see them.
“The fact that someone is actually coming out here, paying attention to them and asking them about their needs and their problems just makes them feel good,” Friedt said.
Friedt said this patrol was the first of many the company planned to conduct during the deployment. He also said he hoped that with continued friendly presence patrols, the people residing in the area would come to trust the soldiers and eventually provide them with useful intelligence.
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The recon patrol served a dual purpose: look for anti-Iraqi forces
and meet residents of a small, remote village.
By U.S. Army Spc. Jimmy D. Lane Jr.
1st Brigade Combat Team
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DAGGER, TIKRIT, Iraq, April 11, 2005 — Much of the land west of Bayji and Tikrit, to Lake Tharthar is open desert. Apart from a few very small villages, the only thing that can be found here is a handful of houses and farms.
Reconnaissance and control of this part of Iraq falls in the Company C, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment area of operation.
“Our mission today (is) to perform a search and attack out in the western desert portion of my company’s sector, which is a pretty large area,” said U.S. Army Capt. Jason Friedt, company commander. “On a rough guess, I would say it’s about the size of the National Training Center in (Fort Irwin, Calif.)”
“The fact that someone is actually coming out here, paying attention to (the villagers) and asking them about their needs and their problems just makes them feel good,” U.S. Army Capt. Jason Friedt
Both Friedt and Sgt. 1st Class Robert Kloenne, platoon sergeant, said they were there to meet the people residing in this part of the country and gather intelligence on any possible insurgent activity.
“Basically we wanted to come out here to the western desert and look for any (anti-Iraqi) activity, and identify any reasons why we may need to patrol out here,” Kloenne said.
“We do need to patrol more often,” he added. “It’s been very good. We’ve talked to people in a few of the villages beside (Lake Tharthar), and so far, they’ve reported that they haven’t seen any suspicious activity.”
Friedt explained the two reasons for stopping in the towns and talking to the residents there.
“First, it was to introduce the company to the people since we haven’t been out here all that much,” Friedt said. “Second, we were out here to look for some tactical intelligence. (We wanted) to see if the people had seen any (anti-Iraqi forces), or any foreign fighters out here training, staging or even just hiding out.”
If they had any usable information, Friedt said, the soldiers would use it to narrow their search to a smaller area.
Kloenne said since they haven’t shown a presence in this part of Iraq, it was hard to read how the people felt, but overall he said the people’s reaction was positive.
“This is the first time we have been out here, so you can’t really tell from past experiences what their reactions are to this (presence patrol),” Kloenne said. “So far it’s been a very positive reaction.”
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Deliberti, a Company C, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment truck commander, gives candy to a child in a small village near Lake Tharthar, Iraq, March 29, 2005. The village is very small, having a little more than 60 residents and is seldom visited by Coalition Forces. U.S. Army photo
U.S. Army Sgt. James Wotherspoon, a gunner for C Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, scans the horizon for possible anti-Iraqi activity in the desert west of Bayji, Iraq, near Lake Tharthar, March 29, 2005. U.S. Army photo
Kloenne said that most of the patrol has been cross country in order to stay away from roads and avoid traffic, as the insurgents probably won’t have a camp beside a main road and have a tendency to plant (improvised explosive devices) beside the main roads.
“If you spread out … you’re going to be able to cover and see more ground,” Friedt said.
Friedt said he felt that most of the people they talked to were pretty glad to see them.
“The fact that someone is actually coming out here, paying attention to them and asking them about their needs and their problems just makes them feel good,” Friedt said.
Friedt said this patrol was the first of many the company planned to conduct during the deployment. He also said he hoped that with continued friendly presence patrols, the people residing in the area would come to trust the soldiers and eventually provide them with useful intelligence.
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