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

104 3rd Infantry Division Operations
responsibility on July 15th. As part of Operation Marne Piledriver,
the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne assumed responsibility
for the hard won ground in Arab Jabour. The Spartans
had been the last of the "surge" brigades. It fought and cleared
terrorists from Arab Jabour. It restored governance in Arab
Jabour, its government center emerging like a Phoenix from the
ashes. It pushed south from Baghdad; clearing its sector of the
"Baghdad Belts" thereby setting conditions for Iraqis to retain
control of neighborhoods with newly founded SoI groups. Under
the Spartan Brigade, eight schools opened in Arab Jabour,
two with some renovation. A fuel station was opened and 57
micro-grants were issued to local businesses. Hawr Rajab and
Arab Jabour would no longer serve as a safe haven for Sunni
extremists thanks to the men and women of the Spartan Brigade.
The 3rd CAB was scheduled to transfer authority to another
CAB in August. The 3rd CAB had delivered mountains of
supplies and moved a division's worth of manpower. It battled
relentlessly with insurgents from the time it landed in Iraq until
it passed over the horizon in July of 2008. To the enemies of
Iraq on the ground, the sound of 3rd CAB's rotor blades foretold
certain doom. To the innocent, the Falcons were protectors
descending from the skies delivering safety and security.
In May of 2008, the 4th BCT was responsible for the southernmost
sector of MND-C's area of responsibility. It had
conducted consecutive operations and was set to continue the
successes of the 3rd Infantry Division beyond the departure of
her sister brigades and the division headquarters. In its area of
responsibility, vocational schools were educating Iraq's future
technicians. In Iskandariyah, the industrial complex, home to
two great state-owned manufacturing companies, employed
over 2,000 workers and was on its way to returning to full