Operation Arrowhead Ripper is not the only major operation being undertaken by Coalition Forces in Iraq. Now that the last of the "surge" troops are on the ground, major operations are happening in Baghdad and the "belts" around Baghdad. One such operation is "Commando Eagle"
A joint operation geared toward curbing terrorist activity southwest of Baghdad is yielding results almost immediately.
Operation Commando Eagle, a mix of helicopter-borne air assaults and humvee-mounted movements, included Soldiers from several battalions of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division. The operation, which began today, targeted a series of houses which locals indicated were being used by al-Qaida cells to intimidate locals and launch attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces.
Troops of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT, detained three men when their truck was found to contain documents requesting rockets as well as a spool of copper wire, commonly used to build improvised explosive devices.
Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, IA Division found a cache containing four AK-47s, a 60mm mortar tube with three rounds, an SKS rigged with sniper optics, three bolt-action rifles, a camcorder with tapes, a roll of copper wire, 20 homemade grenades, four ski masks, 75 CDs of propaganda and terror techniques, methods to commit kidnappings and to shoot down coalition helicopters, and various other IED-making materials.
Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd BCT discovered multiple series of caches during the operation.
The first cache complex contained five AK-47s with three magazines, a roll of IED wire and a shotgun.
A second cache included seven AK-47s.
The third complex included an anti-tank mine, an anti-personnel mine, two rocket propelled grenade rounds, an RPG launcher and multiple pounds of TNT.
Task Force 2-15 detained 16 individuals.
Company A, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment detained nine men and Troop B, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment detained four, all wanted for terrorist attacks or for possessing illegal weapons.
Commando Eagle was named after the 2nd BCT, known as the Commandos, and the 4th Bde, 6th IA, called the Baghdad Eagles.
This operation was timed in conjunction with a larger Multi National Division-Center operation, coined Marne Torch.
The caches were seized and disposed
The detainees are being held for questioning.
And Operation Commando Eagle Razor II
A Coalition Forces and Iraqi Army air assault operation resulted in the detention of 13 Iraqis suspected in terrorist activities and the confiscation of several weapons caches at a propaganda facility south of the Qaa Qaa weapons facility May 29.
Companies from 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment (Strikers), and the 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division went into an area between Iskandariah and the Euphrates River searching for Soldiers missing since a May 12 attack...
Soldiers of 1-23 Inf. detained four local national men within the first hours of the search. One of the men had a knife and an illegal 9mm pistol in his possession. The men were detained while fleeing from Coalition Forces.
Soldiers from 1-23 also found three AK-47s with magazines, two hand grenades and several blasting caps.
Company A, 2-15 discovered a cache of six fertilizer bags of homemade explosive and other materials for construction of improvised explosive devices. Other teams from the company discovered four cans of 30mm anti-aircraft rounds, two spare anti-aircraft machine gun barrels and a cache of IED-making materials, including copper wire and washing-machine timers.
Nine other individuals were detained in connection to separate incidents of small arms fire exchanged between the Coalition Force and local insurgents.
A very primitive bunker complex built of bricks and camouflaged with dirt and dead vegetation was searched and destroyed.
A terrorist propaganda cache containing a large number of pamphlets, some labeled “How To Kill Americans,” a CD writer, 1,800 blank rewritable CDs, and 300 cassette tapes.
The explosives were destroyed in place; the propaganda was seized for further investigation by Coalition Forces.
One coalition Soldier was slightly wounded from an enemy gunshot. He was treated and released back to duty.
The men were taken to a detention facility for questioning.
