Tikrī t S A L A H A D D I N Sā marrā ' PACESETTER ANACONDA B A G H D A D Al Fallū jah A L A N B A R K A R B A L A Balad Euphr<strong>at</strong>es River Karbalā ' Al Hindī yah DUKE An Najaf A N N A J A F WARHORSE - Abbā s al 'Amir BAGHDAD Al H¸ illah Al Kū fah Ba'qū bah Salmā n Pā k 0 0 B A B I L Tigris River TASK FORCE ARROW Ad Dī wā nī yah April–June 2004 D I Y A L A An Nu'mā nī yah SCANIA Axis of Movement 50 Kilometers A L Q A D I S I Y A H W A S I T 50 Miles I R A N Al Kū t Map 3
Cavalry; Company C, 52d Infantry; and Company C, 276th Engineers, minus one pl<strong>at</strong>oon. <strong>The</strong> 5th B<strong>at</strong>talion, 20th Infantry’s Company A, minus one pl<strong>at</strong>oon, would also remain behind. Functioning as a separ<strong>at</strong>e force, it would secure the Hammam al Alil training facility while Captain Be<strong>at</strong>y’s Company C, 5th B<strong>at</strong>talion, 20th Infantry, continued oper<strong>at</strong>ions in Tall Afar. <strong>The</strong> 2d B<strong>at</strong>talion, 3d Infantry, and the 1st B<strong>at</strong>talion, 23d Infantry, would meanwhile shift their boundaries within Mosul to cover the areas vac<strong>at</strong>ed by the units joining TF arrow. Reed’s task force would comprise elements of his own headquarters company commanded by Capt. <strong>To</strong>bias O. Vogt; Capt. Bart G. Hensler’s Company A, 1st B<strong>at</strong>talion, 23d Infantry; Capt. Jeffrey C. Bryson’s Company B, 2d B<strong>at</strong>talion, 3d Infantry; Captain Mason’s Company B, 5th B<strong>at</strong>talion, 20th Infantry; and a logistics team from the 296th Brigade Support B<strong>at</strong>talion. <strong>The</strong>se units joined Reed on 10 April <strong>at</strong> FOB regulars, thirty miles south of Mosul near Qayyarah. Upon arrival each took position in a convoy preparing to move south, but an intense if brief outbreak of violence around Mosul delayed the deployment for a day. Responding to RPG and small-arms fire th<strong>at</strong> erupted during an unplanned demonstr<strong>at</strong>ion outside Mosul’s city hall the previous day, coalition troops killed three insurgents. Shortly afterward, the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry, detained two suspected rebels near Tall Afar and possibly killed a third. During th<strong>at</strong> same period, near Al Thub<strong>at</strong>, a Stryker p<strong>at</strong>rol from the 1st B<strong>at</strong>talion, 23d Infantry, received fire from a truck carrying men armed with RPGs. As the vehicle sped away the Americans scored a direct hit with a wire-guided missile, killing all twelve enemy aboard. Despite the surge in violence, the situ<strong>at</strong>ion seemed more or less in hand by 11 April. Assured th<strong>at</strong> TF olympIa could handle any foreseeable outbreak of violence in the near future even in the absence of its departing b<strong>at</strong>talions, General Ham gave the go-ahead for TF arrow to head south. <strong>The</strong> force’s initial destin<strong>at</strong>ion was FOB warhorse, 35–40 miles northeast of Baghdad near Baqubah, where it would join Colonel Pittard’s <strong>brigade</strong> team. Reed sent three officers ahead for initial coordin<strong>at</strong>ion with the colonel’s staff: his b<strong>at</strong>talion oper<strong>at</strong>ions officer, Maj. Thomas W. O’Steen; the b<strong>at</strong>talion adjutant, Capt. Curt L. Rowland, Jr.; and a represent<strong>at</strong>ive of the b<strong>at</strong>talion oper<strong>at</strong>ions section, Capt. Jeremy R. Smith. <strong>The</strong> three went by helicopter to Logistics Support Area (LSA) anaconda, sixty miles north of Baghdad near Balad, where they hitched a ride to Pittard’s headquarters <strong>at</strong> warhorse. <strong>The</strong>y arrived just in time for a briefing on the oper<strong>at</strong>ions order th<strong>at</strong> would guide their efforts. As soon as it concluded, Major O’Steen provided Colonel Reed with a synopsis of the briefing via a secure s<strong>at</strong>ellite phone. 37
- Page 1: From TransFormaTion To CombaT The F
- Page 4 and 5: CMH Pub 70-106-1 Cover: Soldiers of
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- Page 36 and 37: 0 0 S Y R I A Sinjā r Tall Kū jik
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- Page 42 and 43: S.Sgt. Francisco J. Pinedo and his
- Page 46 and 47: Just as Pittard’s brigade began i
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- Page 50 and 51: approached the town, Captain Hensle
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- Page 56 and 57: Tall Afar, Iraq The Stryker Brigade
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- Page 81: Bibliographical Note Primary Source