Golden Dragons

A note from LTC Boccardi

Aloha Dragon Families,

We are approaching 5 months since we’ve left you, and though our rendezvous with destiny still continues our reunion with you still awaits. As many of you already know (see attached note), President Bush announced his decision to return to twelve-month theater deployments. Unfortunately, this decision will not affect the Golden Dragons. It will affect units deploying after 1 August 2008. I know that all of you held hope that there would be some reprieve bestowed onto our families, but what you need to know is – this decision was made possible by your Golden Dragon. It was by their hands that security improved in Tarmiyah, Iraq and the fruits of precious family time are given to others so they may RESET before return.

This type of selfless sacrifice is an uncommon attribute among the world today. The average citizen getting a latte at Starbucks does not comprehend the profound sacrifice that you and your soldier endure. It is a fact, we Dragons are enduring the unendurable; our entire families are selfless servants to the Nation’s Mission – Provide security and stability to the people of Iraq, notions of freedom for those who may otherwise never experience these tenets.

Now, the battlefield calculus is enabling sustainable security. We are doing this through two means - Securing the population where they sleep and developing Iraqi Security Forces (both Army and Police). We are fighting, too. When the International Zone (IZ) was pounded by dozens of rockets from Sadr City, thus killing and injuring both Iraqi and Coalition civilians, we were called upon to fight the Jaysh al Mahdi uprising in Sadr City and Bravo Company (Bushmasters) fought magnificently. In four hours, Bushmaster assembled from the most distant location in our battle space, rearmed and deployed to Sadr City. Many of you have seen their exploits on CNN, CBS and in the NY Times…these boys are the real deal. What you need to know is their success kept the Government of Iraq (GoI) intact. Sadr wanted to displace the GoI from the IZ, thus delegitimizing it. I well up with emotion when I talk about them.

As I noted to you before, we must develop “waypoints.”  The best waypoint is R&R Leave. We are 10% complete. Each month we will push 10% home and our program will end in November. I use a colorful analogy with the men to illustrate just how important block leave is – it’s like swimming out to a life buoy, you have to battle the ebb and flow of the tide, but you know when you get there you can rest before you swim back. Please ensure your team is developing routine contacts in the form of weekly mail, phone calls on the speakerphone, or a monthly VTC. Any method you choose…it’s all about contact. Notes and Photos are every bit a morale boost as a big care package. Sound Familiar?

I am astonished by a group called “Soldiers Angels.” This organization is unbelievable. It’s cared for by great Americans with true character that empathize with our sacrifice. They send me packages and mail that I deliver to our Dragons out on Patrol Bases. It impacts soldiers. I’ve seen them stop what they are doing, sit on their cots and start reading their cards from a complete stranger that simply says – “Thank You” in their own words. It’s because of you and the people of Soldiers’ Angels that we endure the unendurable. I will close with a note from a Soldiers’ Angels Card – “May No Soldier Go Unloved.”

God Bless You - Golden Dragons!
“Right of the Line”

LTC Thomas D. Boccardi

Spc Buck

U.S. Army Spc. Rebecca Buck watches the street as she provides perimeter security outside an Iraqi police station in the Tarmiya Province of Iraq, on March 30, 2008. Buck is an Army medic from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.    DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. William Greer, U.S. Air Force. (Released)

Safe Passage

MND-B Soldiers Save Lives by Keeping Route Safe

By Sgt. Jerome Bishop
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer, 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – In mid-January, the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad lost its first Soldier during this deployment to Iraq.

He was killed when an improvised explosive device struck the Stryker he was riding in on a road referred to by the locals as “Death Road.”

Today, military and civilian traffic flows freely down this road northwest of Baghdad, linking the villages of Mushadah and Tarmiya, uninhibited by the threat of buried IEDs. This safe passageway can be attributed to the concerted efforts of MND-B Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd SBCT.

"Route Coyotes, within six or eight months ago, was referred to by the locals as 'Death Road,’ said 1st Lt. Daniel Laakso, a South Bend, Ind., native who serves as the platoon leader for the 1st Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment. “It was very seldom travelled by the locals, due to the threat of IEDs. It was a very dangerous road to travel on. There were IEDs going off on a very regular basis. If you drive up Route Coyotes today, you can see craters just lining the sides of the streets."

The Soldiers of Company C took action to secure Route Coyotes, exercising both kinetic and non-kinetic means to achieving their goals and securing a vital lifeline in the area.

Since the arrival of the 2nd SBCT, only one IED has gone off on Route Coyotes. Down the road from the location where the unit had its first casualty, Soldiers from Company C set up a patrol base in an old chicken coup, which the Soldiers refer to as Forward Operating Base Chicken, in order to maintain a constant presence in the area.

"Before we stood up this patrol base, Route Coyotes was my platoon's sector, and now it's more of a company effort,” said Laakso.

Laakso said his platoon conducted dismounted patrols daily, walking east and west, 25 to 300 meters north or south of the road, cleaning up command wire and displaying a presence in the area. The amount of wire they policed up was astounding.

"I'd say about at least once or twice a week we find something of some importance," said Spc. Eric Thorn, a native of Carmel, Ind., who serves as a team leader with 1st Plt., Company C.

"A lot of what we get is not from tips - it's just us getting out there and getting our hands dirty," he added.

While patrolling through the area to actively hunt and destroy enemy activity on Route Coyotes, the Soldiers of Company C also adopted a proactive non-kinetic approach by listening to the security concerns of the local citizens. This approach, such as a March 15 village assessment of Dawud al-Hasan, a village north of the route, allows the locals to pepper the Soldiers with their needs and develop a relationship with those ready to help.

"We did a village assessment, and I asked some of the standard questions about the sewage, water, electricity, and we stopped by the school and took notes of the area," Laakso said. "That really is more of the second order effect type of mission - going into a village, putting on a positive face on the coalition forces, letting them see the Iraqi army working with us, and letting the citizens know we're concerned in a face-to-face way, not just us driving up and down the road. It really gets the citizens involved in securing the area."

Although it's usually the senior leadership of the platoon getting face time with the locals, the rest of the Soldiers in the platoon know the importance of establishing good relations with the Iraqi population in the area.

"I think it's necessary," said Thorn. "In order to have security on Route Coyotes, you need to have sensing sessions with the villages around here. You need to know what their mindset is and what's going on with them. They're so close to the route, most within a kilometer or a kilometer and a half of Coyotes, and, if they aren't in good standing with us, then it's really easy for them to harbor either directly or indirectly AQI (Al Qaida in Iraq), and that impacts a great deal of safety on Route Coyotes."

Soldiers from Company C realize the hard work it takes in securing the route and acknowledge that a major reason that they are able to accomplish this task is due to their partnership with the Iraqi security forces.

Checkpoints are manned along Route Coyotes by Iraqi police and Sons of Iraq (Abna al Iraq) members, and Iraqi army soldiers patrol the area with coalition forces, ensuring that a concerted effort is ongoing to rid the area of IEDs and other criminal acts.

“They're actually pretty motivated to take over,” Laakso said, “so I'm going to grow who I can when I'm in contact with them so one day I can turn this area over to them.”

The past for Route Coyotes was a perilous one, but with the efforts of 1-14th Inf. Regt. and the ISF, the future of the road and Iraq is wide open.

Operation Forgiving Dragon

Detainees Released to Tarmiya, Taji

Thursday, 27 March 2008

By Maj. Allen Hing
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs

CAMP  TAJI — Twenty-two detainees were released as part of Operation Forgiving Dragon, March 19.  Seven of the detainees were released back to the city of Tarmiya and the remaining 15 to Taji.  Both cities are located northwest of Baghdad. 

The Iraqi Army, Iraqi police and local leaders joined forces with Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, to assist in taking the men back home.

Sheik Sa’ad Jassim warmly welcomed the seven former detainees back to Tarmiya. His words were firm to them.

“Some of you have done wrong, but it is time to put that in the past,” he said. “We thank the Americans for allowing you to return to Tarmiya – to your family. Your time in prison is done. It is time to move forward.”

With unanimous nods, the seven looked knowingly to their leader with acknowledgment that it was time to move forward.

Col. Tawfiq al Janabi, the chief of police, also welcomed the men back to Tarmiya.

“You have paid the price (for your transgressions),” he said, “and you have been given a second chance. It is time for you to be part of the ‘Tarmiya Family.’ Do as your pledges say – with honor and loyalty.”

Each man was required to sign an agreement that they would honor and follow the rule of law and commit no crimes against the government of Iraq or Coalition forces.

“I offer my hand in friendship,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Boccardi, a native of Colorado Springs, Colo., who serves as the commander of 1st Bn., 14th Inf. Regt., 2nd SBCT. “You will see me. I live here. Together, we can move forward.”

The seven stood and readily took his handshake. Among the applause and hugs, the men then joined their families.

“The release of these men today reflects the improving security conditions in this community,” said Col Todd McCaffrey, a native of Hudson, Ohio, and commander of 2nd SBCT. “Iraqi leaders and security forces are now capable of ensuring these returned men abide by the rule of law and can effectively reintegrate into this society.”

Spc. Craig Vandermaden: Why I fight

I'm U.S. Military And This's What I Fight For #One 03'23'08

By AmericasNewsToday.Org staff

U.S. Army Spc. Craig Vandermaden looks at a student's lesson book at a school in the Meshahadah province of Iraq, March 16, 2008. Vandermaden is assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's Company C,1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

Picture provided by the U.S. Department of Defense.
DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. William Greer, USAF.

“The Chicken Coop.”

Chickens fly the coop, and U.S. troops move in   

By James Warden, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, March 22, 2008

TARMIYAH, IRAQ — Most soldiers call this growing patrol base simply “The Chicken Coop.”

That’s not just colorful military lingo. About a week ago, the base was exactly that. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment arrived here to find feathers, feeding troughs and other chicken waste.

Rough as The Chicken Coop is, it’s an important part of the battalion’s expansion into the rural areas northeast of Taji, said 1st Lt. Calvin Kline, the battalion’s information and operations officer. This area is a longtime refuge for insurgents “dubbed the arms room of al-Qaida.” Prior units saw fierce fighting here. The insurgents even managed to shoot down an Apache helicopter in 2005.

The fighting and roadside bombs were so bad that the area’s main east-west road was mostly off-limits to coalition forces. Just as bad, attackers were chasing “Sons of Iraq” guards from their stations, putting a dent in American security initiatives.

Sgt. Erik Helms, a 1-14 Stryker commander, was stationed south of Taji in 2005. The road’s reputation made it tense the couple of times he had to drive it during that deployment. It had gaping holes, including one large enough to hide a coffin, that made perfect places to hide the roadside bombs Americans feared so much.

“It wasn’t a good road back then,” he said. “We felt real vulnerable, I guess you could say.”

Succeeding units managed to tamp down the violence and gradually started to weed out al-Qaida from the general population. But when a roadside bomb took out a U.S. vehicle, 1-14 leaders decided to reclaim the route for good.

On the first few nights at the base, set up not far from that bomb site, soldiers had to pull security at night without the reassuring presence of walls or concertina wire, said Spc. James Ebert, a 23-year- old from Carmel, Ind.

That changed quickly, though. Contractors ringed most of the base with concrete walls within days and placed towers on the perimeter.

Now The Chicken Coop allows the Americans to maintain a constant presence midway between Taji and Tarmiyah. They patrol the area around the base several times a day, and American convoys regularly drive the road.

U.S. soldiers share the base with an Iraqi army unit, to whom 1-14 leaders plan to hand over the base. With one Iraqi soldier for every American, the 1-14 soldiers have more ability to work with them and hasten the handover. The Iraqi platoons usually approach the Americans when they want to do a patrol or reinforce one of the checkpoints.

Feathers notwithstanding, the progress is something for the 1-14 soldiers to crow about.

“We actually love this,” said Staff Sgt. Efren Nila, a 26-year-old squad leader from Manassas, Va. “We are actually out here doing patrols, not just sitting around.”

(click on the link for pictures of Dragons at the Chicken Coop)

(H/T Maj Jim Craig, XO, 1-14 IN,Camp Taji Iraq)

Dragon videos

Click on the links below to see videos of our Dragons at work in Iraq.

Dragons work with Iraqi Soldiers to hand out humanitarian aid bags to displaced families. More here

Package made from "Joint Security Station Mushada" about Company C, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team "Warrior" Soldiers providing security at Joint Security Station Mushada in Iraq. Produced by Spc. Elliot Valdez. Longer video here.

Interviewed:

• Sgt. 1st Class Steve Purvis (Lexington, NC, US), Platoon Sergeant
• Sgt. Matthew Vecchione (Brooklyn, NY, US)
• Spc. James Ebert (Indianapolis, IN, US)

Junkyard Dragons

Baghdad Troops Sweep Junkyard for Potential Munitions

By Sgt. Jerome Bishop
2nd Striker Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs,
25th Infantry Division,
Multi-National Division - Baghdad

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Soldiers from 4th Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, along with members of the Iraqi army, began a five-day operation, March 11, near a vital route to secure all possible improvised-explosive device parts from a junkyard.

The goal is to remove munitions available to enemy forces.

“The bad guys tend to go to the junk yard and take a lot of empty rounds along with them,” said Staff Sgt. Ralph Haney, a native of Syracuse, N.Y., who serves as a squad leader for 4th Pltn., Co B. “It makes it easy for them to grab a couple, take them back to their houses, pack them full of explosives and put them back on the road.”

Because of the danger that the empty canisters pose, it is the job of the MND-B and IA soldier to “grab the majority of the ones that are easily accessible so it makes it more difficult for them,” Haney said.

Along with the IA, the Soldiers of 4th Pltn. took off into the junkyard, along with Explosive Ordinance Disposal technicians and K-9 teams, to locate, sort and remove the mostly empty munitions from the dump. While the majority of the rounds found didn't contain any explosives, they still present a danger to MND-B Soldiers and Iraqi security forces.

It was probably 95 percent empty rounds, said 1st Lt. Samuel Adam Miller, a Cameron Park, Calif., native who serves as the platoon leader for 4th Pltn., Co. B.

“A lot of it is empty stuff, but there's still some live stuff in there. The main goal of this is to get this empty stuff so they can't take it and pack it full of explosives and use it against us,” he added.

What set this mission apart from similar missions, where raids and searches produce weapons caches, wasn't the amount but the content of what was found.

“This is much more significant than a cache find because this junkyard has a lot of ordinance that's been produced but not filled,” said Miller. “It's mass quantities of empty ordinance, whereas in a cache, you'll find much smaller numbers of rounds full of high explosives.”

In the junkyard, he explained, there are a lot of empty rounds that were produced and just dumped out. However, some of the munitions were dumped with full rounds as well.

While the mission marked the first day, it is expected to last to the end of the week. The Soldiers of 4th Platoon said they are confident of the impact their actions will have in helping save lives in the future.

“Our battalion has done a great job of locking down the roads so they can't hit us with IEDs, but we're in a lull right now in terms of (al-Qaida in Iraq's) actions. Right now, while they're being passive, we can start taking away their resources so if they become more active, we've taken away a big chunk of stuff they could use against us.”

Miller called the first day of the mission a success.

“Overall, we've located the big dumps of ordnance, which was one of our main goals today. Find out where most of the stuff is at, and then we can start pulling it out on day two, day three and day four. I call it a success,” said Miller. “We've located all the major stuff and we've taken a little piece of it away with us today as well.”

At the close of the first day, the Soldiers of 4th Platoon left with a little more than they arrived with. They took more than just a haul of empty, rusted munitions, they also took with them a resource used by those who would use them to disrupt the growing security in Iraq.

The Enemy of My Enemy

Following on the heels of Riding to Tarmiya, the Columbia Journalism Review, publishes another piece by Paul McLeary featuring the 1/14th in Iraq

Captain Christopher Loftis, commanding officer of C company, 2/25 in Tarmiya, was trying to feel out a group of Iraqi men who hoped to join the Sons of Iraq movement. The men were standing around a checkpoint that flew the yellow flag of the Anbar Awakening movement at an intersection a few miles outside of town, and he was asking them how things were going.

The response was the same each time: “more weapons” to fight the insurgents. Loftis would smile, shake the man’s hand, and move on. It was the usual request, always denied, but given that these men weren’t even under contract to provide security, the plea was a little premature. The captain had come out to this checkpoint in front of a former Saddam-era uranium processing plant not just to meet these men, but the men who organized them, along with about six hundred others who wanted a contract with the American Army to provide security.

The Sons of Iraq program, begun in the spring of 2007 and funded by U.S. taxpayers to the tune thus far of $123 million and counting, is basically a private militia—80,000 strong at this point—hired by the American military to help fight the insurgency. Not surprisingly, the success of the SOI has produced conflict with the Iraqi government. At a meeting the day before with the local Iraqi police commander, the police complained that two people had been kidnapped and released by an “illegal checkpoint” manned by the SOI the night before, and that some of the men at these new checkpoints were wearing masks. The police commander wanted to make some arrests, which brought the American civil affairs officer assigned to Tarmiya, Major Guidry, to the edge of his seat. “Just get their names and give them to us,” Guidry warned. “We don’t want to put you in a position where you’re in conflict with Abna al-Iraq [Arabic for Sons of Iraq],” The police colonel frowned, but agreed not to do anything drastic.

Read the whole thing

Dragons host GoI Representatives

Lt. Col. Thomas Boccardi, a Colorado Springs, Colo., native, shakes hands with Sheik Sa'id Jassem, a local leader, outside a Tarmiya meeting hall, March 10, before the start of a meeting between local leaders, government of Iraq representatives and Multi-National Division - Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team members. Boccardi serves as the commander of the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

GoI Representatives Visit Tarmiya

By Sgt. Jerome Bishop
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Members of the government of Iraq, along with members from the Multi-National Division – Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team, took the first steps in reuniting the people of Tarmiya with the government sworn to serve them, March 10, at a meeting hosted by a leading sheik at a meeting hall in Tarmiya.

Sobei Mashabani, the head of the rural services committee for the GoI, made the first visit by a government official to Tarmiya in more than eight months to attend a meeting of sheiks, hosted by Sheik Sa'id Jassem, to discuss issues such as security, reconciliation and essential services.

"Part of this was a reception hosted by Sa'id Jassem, the leading tribal leader here in the Tarmiya area," said Col. Richard Welch, a McConnelsville, Ohio, native who serves as chief of the reconciliation program for MND-B.

"They hosted a meeting here to talk about the needs and the issues in Tarmiya. Sheik Jassem invited all of the tribal leaders and various government officials to talk to the provincial council about what they need," he added.

Jassem and Mashabani took to the floor several times during the course of the meeting to address the audience, which consisted of more than 50 sheiks from the Tarmiyah area, to discuss issues of importance to local leaders.

"(Mr.) Mashabani was pleading to the people about how important it is to bring security," Welch said. "He said all this sectarian violence and personal hatred that ripped Iraq apart in 2006 has to stop, and it has to stop with us – the people in the community.”

Mashabani’s speech was one of hope. He said he hopes the Iraqi people can go back to their homes and be safe. He wants the neighborhoods back together.

While nothing was directly agreed on during the meeting, the foundation was laid to begin holding future meetings where concerns can be addressed more directly and yield results, said Welch.

The return of members of the GoI was in part due to the efforts of MND-B soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, and their predecessors.

"It's been attributed to the security. Tarmiya was not an area you could come to," said Lt. Col. Thomas Boccardi, a Colorado Springs, Colo., native who serves as the battalion commander for the 1-14 Inf. Regt. "It was an (al-Qaida in Iraq) stronghold. It was a known 'arms room,’ as what it's been referred to, and it was an area where AQI was projecting attacks into Baghdad.”

Since removing AQI forces from Tarmiya and the surrounding areas, the resulting increase in security not only led to the reopening of markets, schools and business, but the safe environment also allowed Mashabani and other key figures in the reconstruction effort to visit.

"Twenty years ago, Tarmiya was a thriving river-side town. It was a beautiful place where people went to go on vacation. It had great big markets and great new infrastructure. Since the war, it has completely deteriorated," Boccardi said.

While the meeting may not have resulted in anything clearly definitive, it fostered a promise of hope, in which every resident of the town and surrounding areas will be able to enjoy.