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

34 3rd Infantry Division Operations
For troops on the ground, the first order of business was to
establish two platoon-sized patrol bases. Until now, the coalition
presence in the central corridor consisted of four Patrol
Bases (PB). They were named Dog, Enduring Checkpoint 20,
PB 2, and PB Red. The plan called for the establishment of two
new bases named Whiskey 1 and Murray. Soldiers also maneuvered
"picket lines" and created temporary traffic checkpoints
on roads so that insurgent Lines of Communication were cut or
disrupted.
Opening the new patrol bases was only part of the battle.
Hardening them to protect forward deployed troops would
require the 26th BSB to move a mountain of material. The
enemy had demonstrated his ability and willingness to launch
complex attacks on forward bases. One technique he'd already
used was to crash into walls at forward bases with trucks loaded
with explosives and then assault with dismounts supported by
indirect fire.
Countering these attacks required sizable permanent fortifications
meant to withstand a long fight. Carried forward by Army
logisticians and engineers, giant, pale-gray concrete walls,
prefabricated towers, concertina razor and barbed wire, ammunition,
food, fuel, and water marched forward along dangerous
highways in support of infantry. What could be moved by air
was delivered by Chinook helicopters at night and lowered to
the ground from slings on hovering aircraft.
Continuous bombing raids by US Air Force airplanes cut
roads and destroyed illegal bridges. Aircraft dropped over 150
Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) in support of the Spartan
brigade. East of the Tigris, the Sledgehammer blocked the
enemy and interdicted illegal traffic on river and road traffic.
"Excalibur," a new precision guided artillery round, was used to
destroy one of the enemy's House Borne IEDs.