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CAMP VICTORY, Iraq (January 24, 2007) - Just days after a
precision air strike rooted out al Qaeda in Iraq operatives in the
Arab Jabour area, south of Baghdad, combat engineers arrived to
build Multinational Division Center's newest combat outpost.
On Jan. 15, soldiers with 535th Equipment Support Company, 479th
Engineer Battalion, convoyed from Camp Stryker, in Baghdad, to
Zambraniyah, 15 miles southwest in southern Arab Jabour, to begin
construction on Combat Outpost Meade. Coalition air strikes hit
more than 40 targets Jan. 10 to secure the area in support of
Operation Marne Thunderbolt.
Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, Multinational Division Center
commander, visited the area Jan. 16, stopping at Combat Outpost
Meade, Patrol Base 2 and a former al Qaeda safe house that was
captured and converted to a coalition forces observation point.
"I just want to tell you I'm proud to be here with you," Lynch
told the combat engineers gathered around him at Combat Outpost
Meade. "You all have had more impact than you'll ever know. ... The
whole world is turning right here right now at Combat Outpost
Meade. We'll fight the global war on terrorism here so we won't
have to fight it back home."
After rallying the troops, Lynch handed out commemorative Task
Force Marne pocket knives and his personal coins.
On site for less than two days, the engineers already had graded
the ground, and a significant proportion of the outer wall was
completed. Soldiers built the wall with Hesco barriers --
wire-framed, fabric-lined containers filled with dirt.
Army Pfc. Charles Brosnahan, from Granton, Wis., explained his
unit's mission. "We're just trying to build up a spot so the
infantry can come in, clean house and keep their sweep going to
push the terrorists further away," he said. "(Soldiers) can't do
that without a place to live, so we come out here first and build
it up."
Combat Outpost Meade is being cut out of an empty field in the
vast rural community. Surrounding land is relatively flat, with a
smattering of date palm trees and dry shrubs. Homes are spread out
over a checkerboard of colorless, sandy fields and thriving green
farmland.
Abrams tanks from 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, attached
to 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and Bradley fighting
vehicles from 6-8 Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 3rd Infantry
Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, stood guard around the
perimeter of the new base.
In what is known as "terrain-denial fire," Kiowa helicopters
from the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade fired
munitions in the distance at passages leading into the area. The
overall scene sent a strong message to any lurking al Qaeda
elements that coming back was an impossible proposition.
The terrain denial fire blasts occurred several times per hour.
Though startling at first, they blended into the din of heavy
equipment construction as the day wore on. The combat engineers
went steadily about their work, unfazed by their job shaping land
so close to frontline fighting just days before.
The 535th was joined at Combat Outpost Meade by soldiers of
Company C, 864th Engineering Battalion. While the 535th got a head
start on horizontal engineering -- working the land, the 8-64th
will be responsible for vertical engineering -- building the
structures.
The new base is scheduled for completion by mid-February, said
Master Sgt. Joe Constante, from Kerrville, Texas, the division's
engineer noncommissioned officer in charge. Multinational Division
Center has built 16 bases since March.
Army Spc. Richard Kunard, from El Paso, Texas, a combat engineer
with the 535th, echoed Brosnahan's remarks on the purpose of Combat
Outpost Meade.
"Ultimately, it will push the insurgents out of this area," he
said. "If they have no place to stay, they're always going to be
moving, and it will be easier for us to pick them off or locate
them and deter any further attacks."
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