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FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq (April 28, 2008) - After
months of intensive training at Fort Benning, Ga., and a rotation
to the National Training Center, in Fort Irwin, Calif., the 3rd
Heavy Brigade Combat Team deployed here in March 2007, prepared to
accomplish their mission.
Their mission in Iraq has been to prevent "accelerants" from
coming into Baghdad, said Army Col. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., from
Prince George's County, Md., the brigade's commander.
"I'd say we were very successful doing that. In addition, we
came to the Madain qada and helped stop the criminals that were
harming the good people here," he said. A qada is an area or region
in Iraq.
The 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, also known as the
Sledgehammer Brigade, captured 43 high-level enemy leaders and
killed more than 160 enemy fighters.
"We have been very effective along all lines of operations,"
Grigsby said.
Army Command Sgt. Major James Pearson, from Philadelphia, the
unit's senior noncommissioned officer, also is pleased with the way
his troops conducted operations.
"We have been phenomenal for over a year," he said. "I can look
at what is happening in Baghdad and see an improvement. Since our
arrival, attack levels have dropped to a very low point. I believe
that is proof that we have been accomplishing our mission."
The 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team inherited a battle space that
had very little coalition forces presence prior to 2004. Citizens
of the Madain qada routinely were intimidated by extremist groups,
and the local economy was a shell of its former self. Shops and
markets were boarded up and vacant. The local government had been
forced underground, and the judges who provided rule of law had
fled to Baghdad. Seeing the situation, Grigsby and Pearson said,
they were optimistic, but cautious, in their expectations.
"The deployment went like I expected it to," Pearson said. "We
had to fight in the beginning and establish ourselves in the area.
We were very much in an expeditionary fight in the beginning. After
we established order, we were able to build up all of the other
areas."
Pearson credits the brigade's training as a key reason that his
soldiers have been so successful.
"I have always emphasized the basics when it comes to training,"
he said. "Our NCOs worked hard on teaching our soldiers core
warrior tasks that they would need. … Our soldiers knew how to
fight and survive before they came out here. Once we had our
fighting skills down, everything else fell into place. We were
prepared to fight. All we needed to do was adjust our [tactics,
techniques and procedures] based on what we were experiencing."
Grigsby said that even though the initial fighting was difficult
and progress was slow, the brigade's persistence and discipline
remained constant.
"I cannot explain how proud I am of our soldiers," he said. "No
matter what happened, they showed up every day ready to accomplish
the mission. I didn't hear any complaints or whining a single time
this deployment. Much of that goes to our leaders who provided
direction and kept our soldiers focused on what they were doing,
but you have to give most of the credit to our soldiers and their
commitment to serving their country."
Grigsby said he has seen tangible results of his troops'
performance.
"Security has increased ten-fold from when we first started
going outside the wire here at Hammer," he said. "We were getting
attacked an average of three or four times a day when we first
arrived. Now we average less than one attack per day."
After capturing the enemy leaders, the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat
Team eliminated those who menaced good citizens. In finding and
eliminating weapons caches and roadside bombs, they eliminated
another major threat. They detained 600 suspected criminals and
helped rebuild the government in the area.
"The mayor and the qada council have returned and are helping
the people of the Madain qada," Grigsby said. "All of these things
weren't here when we arrived. I think it's a testament to the hard
work of our soldiers, the local leaders, our Iraqi security force
partners and the people in this area."
Pearson credits much of the unit's success to veterans of the
brigade. He estimated that more than 60 percent of the brigade's
soldiers were serving in their second or third deployment.
"More than anything, our veterans helped instill a sense of
confidence in our first-timers," he said. "As operations started,
our younger guys had someone who had seen combat and could ready
them for what was about to happen. They were able to show our
soldiers what right looked like and prepare them."
Grigsby said his veterans' professionalism was as important as
their experience.
"Our veterans were smart and professional enough not to fight
the same fight twice," he said. "They realized that this was a
different war from [Operation Iraqi Freedom] I and III. They were
open-minded and adapted what they knew to help in the current
fight."
Pearson said he believes that his first-time deployers also were
instrumental to the brigade's success.
"When our first-timers rolled out of the gate, they brought a
heightened sense of awareness to our patrols," he said. "To watch
them conquer their initial fears and go out and contribute was a
lift for all of our leaders. They allowed us to see the battlefield
with new eyes, which is always good."
As the 3rd HBCT's deployment continued, the brigade worked to
help establish "Sons of Iraq" citizen security groups throughout
the area to build on security gains. The groups manned checkpoints
and provided the 3rd HBCT and Iraqi forces with vital information
on what happened inside neighborhoods.
"The establishment of the Sons of Iraq put more pressure on
extremists operating in the area," Grigsby said. Their
establishment provided jobs to citizens who might have otherwise
emplaced IEDs for money. … It gave the men of this qada the
opportunity to help better the places they lived and worked by
providing security. As a result, local economies prospered. … I
think it was one our greatest successes of this deployment."
The initiation of the Sons of Iraq citizens security groups, the
gains in security, the re-establishment of governance and the
strengthening of the local economy are some of the many victories
that the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team achieved in helping the
Madain qada during the deployment, but they have come with a cost,
Grigsby noted.
"We lost 32 great soldiers to accomplish the great things we
have done," he said. "We had 192 wounded to accomplish our mission.
They will live with me forever, and I will never forget what they
have done for this brigade and our country.
"I feel it is important that none of them is forgotten by this
brigade or the people back home," he continued. "That, to me, is
the most important thing. As their commander, I take full
responsibility for all of their deaths. I look forward to meeting
their parents and spouses and grieving with them. These soldiers
were all heroes, and I feel it is important that we never let the
greatness of what they did for their country be forgotten."
Pearson also credits two battalions that were separated from the
brigade at the beginning of the deployment. The 2nd Battalion, 69th
Armor Regiment, and 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery, both were
assigned to different units away from the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat
Team area of operations. The 1-10th Field Artillery eventually was
reunited with the 3rd HBCT here, but Pearson said is proud of how
they conducted operations in other areas of Iraq.
"It is always emotional when you lose units," he said. "When you
train as a team, you want to deploy and fight as a team. When we
found out we were losing both 1-10 and 2-69 it was a blow, because
we knew what both of them brought to the fight. I knew that both of
them would do well apart from us, though. I have heard nothing but
good things about their performances while detached from the
brigade."
As the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team's deployment draws to an
end, both leaders want their troops to return home proud of what
they have done.
"Since 2001, soldiers have volunteered to be a part of the
global war on terror and to leave their homes and families to serve
their country," Pearson said. "I want all of them to be proud of
their accomplishments. I want them to be proud of their service.
History calls the World War II soldiers the greatest generation. I
believe that when we look back 20 years from now, these soldiers
will be looked at as one of the greatest generations as well.
"What we are doing with an all-volunteer Army is amazing," he
continued. "Every one of our soldiers stood up, raised their right
hand and answered the call of their country during a time when they
were needed. I think it says something about them and the type of
people that make up our service."
Grigsby agreed.
"I wake up every day just honored to be able to serve with the
great soldiers of the Sledgehammer Brigade," he said. "This has
been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. The
soldiers of this brigade have helped create a world that will allow
my recently born grandson to grow up safely and enjoy all of the
freedoms that we have enjoyed.
"I mean it when I say they have fought to preserve our country
and our way of life," he said. "When my grandson asks me about this
war, I will tell him I served in a brigade of heroes, because that
is what everyone in this brigade is."
The 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, from Fort Benning, Ga., has
been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March
2007.
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