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

The Surge 39
Marne Torch. The CAB was given an area of operations much
like the maneuver brigades on the ground, code named Tactical
Area of Operations (TAO) "Plymouth."
Plymouth ran west along the Tigris River from the town of
Suwayrah to the town of Salman Pak. At the time, there were
insufficient Iraqi Security Forces to clear or hold the area and
both the 2nd BCT and 3rd HBCT were committed. To give
the aviation led operation a ground element, B Company, from
3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry was attached to the brigade. Infantry
would be key to conducting sensitive site exploitation,
the investigation that followed a successful attack, and in the
effort to detain prisoners for interrogation. These forces were
also critical in the detection of caches and IED laced structures.
That enabled the CAB to destroy targets with planned strikes or
close air support precision bombs without endangering Iraqis or
coalition forces and their equipment.
During Marne Husky, the CAB used unmanned aerial systems
teamed with manned aircraft, Multiple Launch Rocket
Systems (MLRS), and joint strike packages. Pilots seated in a
land based station miles away maneuvered drone aircraft silently
above embattled neighborhoods around the clock, watching
and waiting for the enemy. When the enemy was spotted,
another aircraft manned by CAB warriors would vector onto
targets long enough to deliver a death blow from thousands of
feet away. This teaming kept roads clear of IEDs, countered
mortar teams, and pushed snipers and insurgent leaders out of
their hiding places where they could be captured or killed.
The CAB killed 63 of the enemy and captured 193 others.
Of those captured, one was considered a high value individual
(HVI), meaning that the man's absence would severely degrade
the enemy. It found and destroyed five weapons caches and
destroyed 24 boats. Intelligence reports indicated that some