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FOB FALCON, Iraq (April 25, 2008) - For the Soldiers of Company
F, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, interpersonal
relations, consensus information and the pictures they create are
the biggest contributors to the safety and security of citizens in
the Saha and Abu T'shir communities of southern Baghdad.
"We want to build a relationship to give the people a normal
life -- to bring the resources into the community," said Lt. Col.
Scott Reineke, commander of the 2nd Squadron.
"This is about building relations in Abu T'shir and Saha,"
Reineke told his commanders and staff officers during the unit's
final rehearsal for a three-phase operation that began April 16 in
support of Operation Raider Typhoon.
Headquartered in Vilseck, Germany, the 2nd SCR -- currently
operating attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry
Division -- will hand over its areas of responsibility here to the
division in May. In the meantime, the Soldiers of Company F,
occupying a combat outpost in northeast Rashid, say they want to
take a few more bad guys off the streets before they leave
Baghdad.
"We are conducting point operations to improve security for the
people of Iraq," said Capt. Kevin Ryan, F Company commander. "Once
security improves, we can focus on improving the quality of life
for the people of Abu T'shir and southeastern Rashid."
The ongoing clearing operations are part of the 1st BCT's first
effort, since assuming its mission April 13, to deny terrorists and
criminal elements a safe haven in the area that is home to
approximately 1.2 million citizens in Baghdad.
The three-phase operation is reminiscent of the same work that
the 2nd SCR has done in the area since August, said Ryan.
Acting on military intelligence and information from Sons of
Iraq members, Soldiers conducted pinpoint raids April 16-17 to
capture some of Multi-National Division - Baghdad's most wanted
terrorists and criminals, the captain added.
The units then transitioned into the second phase of operations,
working with the SoI, area sheiks, and members of the local
community to gather data that would allow the unit to build better
relations with the predominately Shia and mixed Sunni-Shia
communities, he explained.
"People who are sitting on the fence and don't know which way to
go will go our way just because we talked with them," Ryan said.
"If we do this right, we will build relationships with the people
which will empower them to be able to keep these bad guys from
coming back into their neighborhoods."
Conducting census operations, checkpoint inspections, joint
patrols, combined operations and traffic control points in
partnership with Iraqi security forces is nothing out of the
ordinary for the Stryker Soldiers, said Sgt. 1st Class Roberto
Huie, a Company F platoon sergeant
"Walking through the neighborhoods ... is an everyday thing," he
said. Early-morning operations to hunt down the most wanted
criminals are a bonus, he added.
"Our preferred method is to knock, and 90 percent of the people
are more than willing to let us in," said Huie. "Conversely, if we
find a house that looks suspicious to us, or a family that looks
suspicious to us, and they don't want to let us in their house,
sometimes we have to cut their locks.
"We may not see the results in the next three weeks, but I think
this (operation) is going to generate a lot of tips and a lot more
leads ... and eventually we will get them," he said.
"Whether the people like it or not, we are coming through their
whole neighborhood to get these criminals off the streets."
The company's mission has varied greatly during its time as a
"surge unit" here, said Huie. Its Soldiers have worked throughout
Saha and Abu T'shir in southeastern Rashid to assist with essential
services; to provide force protection for Iraqi contractors to fix
sewage or electricity issues in the Iraqi neighborhoods; and to
provide overwatch for Iraqi security forces and SoI manning
checkpoints, the sergeant explained.
Staff Sgt. Scott Campbell, a "Fox" Company squad leader, said he
hopes to see more changes for the better as the unit prepares to
leave Baghdad and take on a new mission in Baquba.
"There's a better peace now, than there was before the 'surge,'"
said Campbell.
Campbell said he has seen many changes, especially in the
security situation around southern Baghdad, over the course of his
three deployments to Iraq since 2003.
"I think that when we go around and meet the locals and get to
know them better on a personal basis, they become more at ease with
us," he explained. "The more we get to talk with them the better
they trust us, the more they like us."
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