Golden Dragons Takes Pride in Quest: Capturing Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leaders
Story by Ken Griffin
Posted on 11.24.2008 at 05:47AM
By Ken Griffin
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division
TARMIYAH, Iraq — A masked, nervous man walked into the joint security
station, scared for his life, with the kind of information a commander
might pray for: he knew where an al Qaeda in Iraq leader was hiding –
and was willing to tell.
Abu Ghazwan, the al-Qaeda in Iraq northern belt emir, had been dead
nearly two weeks, and his subordinates were scrambling to fill his
shoes while Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers from 1st
Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment “Golden Dragons” tracked their nearly
every move and prepared to kill or capture anyone who stepped up.
“These guys are smart. They’re wily, and they’re good at hiding … but
they can’t hide indefinitely,” said Capt. Kurt Pressell, a Simone,
Ohio, native, who commands Company A, 1-14th Inf. Regt., 2nd Stryker
Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
And he should know. Thanks to informants like the mystery Iraqi citizen
and other intelligence methods, his unit has made life a living hell
for the extremists. Company A alone has captured 265 extremists since
arriving in December. Tarmiyah used to be an extremist stronghold, but
AQI is finding more and more that they’re unwelcome – as evidenced by
the growing number of citizens coming forward with information.
Ali, a local Sons of Iraq leader, sat with the informant and unit
leaders. He was part of mass celebrations in the streets of Tarmiyah
after a member of his SoI group shot and killed Ghazwan Nov. 6.
“It’s true – nobody here supports AQI anymore,” Ali said.
With Ghazwan dead, Ali now poured over maps and contributed last-minute
details with the informant as he prepared for an operation to capture
or kill Ghazwan’s likely successor.
In the tactical operations center, the room buzzed with excitement.
Radios relayed priority messages around the room as Soldiers put on
their body armor and slung weapons. A few Soldiers double checked ammo
and made last minute adjustments. Whoops and hollers rose above the
chatter as they prepared themselves mentally and physically for what
they thought would be an exciting night.
“If you haven’t seen the plan yet, we’re moving down these two paths
simultaneously to the Tigris River. There used to be a bunker here, and
we believe it’s active again,” said 1st Sgt. David Dougherty, the
unit’s senior enlisted member, as he pointed and dragged his finger
along a map for a couple stragglers.
After explaining a few more details, the plan was in motion. Stryker
vehicles in a single column sped through the dark toward the objective.
Once there, squads consolidated and moved stealthily down the
pitch-black trails while looking through the green glow of night-vision
goggles. The assault force moved swiftly but deliberately, cautious of
booby traps. The Soldiers saw everything in great detail through the
trademark green glow of night vision – a serious advantage on dark
nights like this one.
A few short minutes into the movement, Pressell received a call on the radio.
“We’re on the objective. No sign yet. Still searching. Over,” the voice said.
The rest of the tactical column moved up as Soldiers in front poked
around in bushes, brushed aside bundles of palm fronds and searched for
weapons and bad guys. At the river, they looked for fresh tracks and
scanned the horizon for any movement.
“He could be there six of seven nights, and you go on the one night he isn’t there,” Pressell later explained.
Fortunately, at the moment the Soldiers concluded no one was there, new
intelligence came to light: the extremist they suspected would take
Ghazwan’s place was in a house less than a kilometer away. The source,
along for the ride and still masked, confirmed this was a possibility.
Shortly after that, the unit had surrounded their new objective. An
interpreter shouted over a bullhorn in animated Arabic. He informed
neighbors to stay in their houses and demanded anyone inside the
surrounded house exit immediately.
“Someone’s coming out! They’re coming out!” another Soldier yelled.
The unit had showed great restraint – and it paid off. Instead of an
extremist, three women with their children exited the house.
The women, covered in hibayas and blankets, were hurried to an area
outside the perimeter by Sgt. Amber Gil, a female member of the team.
Gil, a Dallas native, is an armorer by trade and is attached to Company
A to search and interact with females.
With the civilians out of the house, Pressell considered lethal options
but again decided to show restraint. After a quick conference with his
leaders, he sent in a robot from the Explosives Ordnance Disposal Team.
“We’ve had three suicide bomber incidents in the city – two suicide
vests and a moped. Every mission we go on, we take SVEST mitigation
very seriously,” Pressell explained, after the robot, followed by
Soldiers, cleared the house. “I really felt he was in there – I know he
was at some point.”
So far the unit had been unlucky but that was about to change.
“Okay it has to be this third house,” a few of the Soldiers agreed. “He’s in there – definitely.”
With momentum on their side, a squad stacked on the house but an older
man quickly exited. He told an interpreter his son was upstairs. It
turned out it wasn’t the AQI member they were looking for, but, as luck
would have it, he was a couple rungs below in the rank structure.
The informant confirmed the man’s identity and his involvement in
extremist activities. A sensitive site search by the Soldiers indeed
turned up contraband, and that was enough for the commander.
“Alright, get him flex cuffed. Get him in the Stryker,” Pressel said over the radio.
Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Wessling, a platoon sergeant, got the call and relayed the order to his men.
“I’ve been here before. I know this is a bad guy, and we’ve been
looking for him,” Wessling said. “But this is my backyard. They can’t
hide from me.”
The suspect and contraband were then on their way to an undisclosed
location, and at about 5 a.m., the Soldiers were finally on their way
back to base to get some rest.
But with their main objective still on the loose, they could easily
expect to do it all over again tomorrow. As one leader is killed or
removed, another eventually steps up to take his place – although each
replacement is generally less skilled and less respected, according to
the unit’s leadership.
“Nobody wants to step up because there is no sanctuary,” concluded Lt. Col. Tom Boccardi, 1-14th Inf. Regt.’s commander.
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