From TransFormaTion To CombaT The First stryker brigade at War

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from Company A, 2d Battalion, 3d Infantry. One American was slightly wounded. The next night the enemy fired thirty-five mortar rounds without effect at FOB aggIes near Hammam al Alil. Responding to the attack, a Kiowa located two 60-mm. mortar tubes and a parked truck. It destroyed the vehicle and then guided a patrol from the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry, to the site. The unit’s troopers took possession of both mortars and secured several rounds of ammunition lying nearby. Mosul, Iraq The fighting in mid-September 2004 at Tall Afar was the last significant combat action for the Stryker Brigade in Iraq, but the enemy in Mosul remained extremely active. The insurgents aimed most of their attacks at the Iraqi security forces and police, and they continued their attempts to inflict casualties on the brigade whenever they sensed an opportunity to do so. On 27 September separate roadside bomb attacks resulted in the destruction of a Stryker from Company C, 1st Battalion, 23d Infantry, and damage to another belonging to the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry. One American was slightly wounded. On the following day, Company A, 2d Battalion, 3d Infantry, suffered six wounded when a roadside bomb damaged a Stryker. On 30 September the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry’s Scout Platoon was subjected to a coordinated assault in Mosul. Five U.S. soldiers were wounded and two Strykers damaged by a roadside bomb that served as the trigger to an ambush. The scouts killed two insurgents who were shooting at them from behind a wall; fired on a civilian car attempting to flee the scene, killing four more rebels; and succeeded in recovering their damaged vehicles and evacuating casualties without further incident. In all, during September, in addition to the losses inflicted on the enemy during the failed ambush, the brigade’s soldiers killed four other insurgents, wounded a fifth, detained 114 suspects, and captured significant quantities of arms and ammunition. Relief in Place Toward the end of September Colonel Rounds and his soldiers began preparing to transfer authority at Mosul to Col. Robert B. Brown’s incoming 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, another Stryker unit. Even as they did, however, Multi-National Force–Iraq, which succeeded CJTF–7 in May 2004, called upon the unique capabilities of the Strykers. During the first week of October 2004, a task force consisting of 62
A Stryker from the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry, heads toward Mosul after searching the countryside for insurgents. The 25th Infantry Division unit assumed responsibility for a portion of the 3d Brigade, 2d Infantry Division’s former area of operations. elements from Colonel James’ 1st Battalion, 23d Infantry, and Troop C, 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry, was dispatched to Babil Province, just south of Baghdad, to assist the I Marine Expeditionary Force. Colonel James’ unit was to secure the Jurf Kas Sukr Bridge spanning the Euphrates River, a favored corridor for insurgents moving into and out of key cities, including Baghdad and Fallujah. Once it had control of the bridge, it was to begin searching for enemy arms caches hidden throughout Babil Province. In sharp contrast to the urban areas the 1st Battalion, 23d Infantry, had previously operated in, this region consisted of open desert dotted with small towns. The adaptability of the Stryker soldiers and the mobility of their vehicles made them a highly visible presence in the region, and they uncovered two large enemy arms caches. The flexibility of the brigade was further demonstrated by the fact that even as the 1st Battalion, 23d Infantry, aided the marines, the remaining units continued their preparations to redeploy to Fort Lewis. 63
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From TransFormaTion To CombaT The F
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CMH Pub 70-106-1 Cover: Soldiers of
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Acknowledgments Many individuals no
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Illustrations Stryker with Mobile G
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progress among command posts, logis
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Stryker Brigade Combat Team SBCT Br
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and the number of maintenance perso
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General Shinseki speaks to soldiers
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need for spare parts to a minimum w
Page 20 and 21: Soldiers with the 5th Battalion, 20
Page 22 and 23: than any vehicle they had previousl
Page 24 and 25: igade to a California port where it
Page 26 and 27: the brigade’s staging area in nor
Page 28 and 29: transports that carried Abrams tank
Page 30 and 31: Two days before Ivy BlIzzard began,
Page 32 and 33: A sniper assigned to Company C, 1st
Page 34 and 35: equipment caches. On the evening of
Page 36 and 37: 0 0 S Y R I A Sinjā r Tall Kū jik
Page 38 and 39: General Ham (left) and a senior Ira
Page 40 and 41: four insurgents firing from a nearb
Page 42 and 43: S.Sgt. Francisco J. Pinedo and his
Page 44 and 45: Tikrī t S A L A H A D D I N Sā ma
Page 46 and 47: Just as Pittard’s brigade began i
Page 48 and 49: A Stryker platoon takes up local se
Page 50 and 51: approached the town, Captain Hensle
Page 52 and 53: additional combat power for any ass
Page 54 and 55: loaded trucks north while the other
Page 56 and 57: Tall Afar, Iraq The Stryker Brigade
Page 58 and 59: ight front; then the entire interse
Page 60 and 61: Operating 1,500 yards from the scou
Page 62 and 63: 500 500 � Tall 'Afar B SCT 0 0 I
Page 64 and 65: Kiowa Warrior shortly after recover
Page 66 and 67: September 2004, the 5th Battalion,
Page 68 and 69: On the northeast side of Tall Afar,
Page 72 and 73: Soldiers pull local security during
Page 74 and 75: At the conclusion of their deployme
Page 76 and 77: joint-force lines so that it functi
Page 78 and 79: Compared with the battle that occur
Page 81: Bibliographical Note Primary Source
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