3rd Infantry Division Operations - Fort Stewart - U.S. Army

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Chapter 5 Sledgehammer Brigade - First Marne Brigade of Surge The 3rd (Sledgehammer) Brigade, consisting of 1-15 Infantry, 3-1 Cavalry, the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, and the 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, moved north from Kuwait in the first week of April. For the time being, two battalions were detached from the brigade. Most of 2-69 Armor deployed to Rustimayah. The 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery was tasked to secure Camp Bucca, a prison that held thousands of the most hardened criminals in Iraq. It returned to the 3rd BCT in October. Sledgehammer took up camp on the east side of the Tigris River in the open desert at an abandoned range complex called "Besmaya." Iraqi Army checkpoints secured an otherwise undeveloped military compound. The wind-swept desert offered little protection. Across the floor of the desert lay unexploded ordnance covered with inches of talcum-like sand. Temperatures had climbed to 120 degrees Fahrenheit and
26 3rd Infantry Division Operations promised a punishing summer. Dust choked electronic equipment and wind storms cut visibility. The desert had a furnace hot feel. The little rain that came quickly turned roads to a soupy muck. Conditions were miserable but troops soldiered on. With the help of the Air Force’s 557th Expeditionary Red Horse Battalion construction engineers, the base camp was transformed into a fully functional operating base named for its hearty occupants, "Forward Operating Base Hammer." Sledgehammer adopted the tactic of positioning Soldiers in the communities so that they could protect the population. Logic followed that if the people felt secure, infrastructure would be repaired and the economy would improve. The conditions would be set and essential services, government, law and order, would be restored. Commanders partnered with the Iraqi National Police leaders in the area. East of Baghdad, the 1st and 3rd National Police Brigade showed promise as a viable Iraqi led security force. It was woefully undermanned, poorly equipped, and barely trained. Still, the need for security was paramount and true security meant participation by Iraqi forces. Foot patrols in Salman Pak were combined with members of 1-15 Infantry and the Iraqi National Police. Success followed with the discovery of caches containing artillery rounds and other seeds used by insurgents to grow misery for the community. For the time being, the Sledgehammer brigade held positions at a patrol base called Assassin, a Joint Security Station in Salman Pak, and three Combat Outposts: Cashe, Cahill, Cleary and FOB Hammer. Life at one of these forward bases was tough at first. Like FOB Hammer, outposts required substantial work. COP Cleary had been a government building and was adjacent to a rundown greenhouse. Cashe was located in Tuwaitha, south of Jisr Diyala. Cahill, the smallest of the three, had been a hunting club
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Page 5 and 6: Table of Contents Chapter 1 - Trans
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Page 9 and 10: 4 3rd Infantry Division Operations
Page 13 and 14: Chapter 2 1st Brigade Joins the 1st
Page 15 and 16: The Surge 11 of forming wedges with
Page 17 and 18: Chapter 3 A Change in Strategy, a C
Page 19 and 20: The Surge 15 fort for the northern
Page 21 and 22: Chapter 4 Building the Multinationa
Page 23 and 24: The Surge 19 through muddy banks, t
Page 25 and 26: The Surge 21 overplayed its hand. S
Page 27: The Surge 23 rorists exploded a car
Page 31 and 32: Chapter 6 Operation Commando Razor
Page 33 and 34: Chapter 7 Spartan Brigade Begins Op
Page 35 and 36: The Surge 33 manders massed additio
Page 37 and 38: The Surge 35 With success, the comm
Page 49 and 50: Chapter 11 The Rise of the Sons of
Page 51 and 52: The Surge 51 with it a certain degr
Page 55 and 56: Chapter 13 Marne Torch II September
Page 57 and 58: The Surge 59 It had been a long hot
Page 67 and 68: Chapter 16 Marne Courageous The 3rd
Page 69 and 70: The Surge 73 also cleared, along wi
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Chapter 19 Rock of the Marne Serves
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The Surge 89 The Outlaws started an
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The Surge 91 responsibility in the
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The Surge 93 Forward Support Compan
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Chapter 20 Return of the Raiders On
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Chapter 23 Sustainment of the Marne
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The Surge 109 Multi-National Divisi
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The Surge 111 battalion commanders
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3rd Infantry Division Operations - Fort Stewart - U.S. Army

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