budanski
07-16-2004, 12:09 PM
Cavalry Scouts in Iraq Perform Old Mission
theLedger.com (http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040716/API/407160555)
By CHRIS TOMLINSON
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq
Standing on a high bridge over a railroad track northwest of Baghdad at dusk, cavalry scout Capt. Will Hickok VI scans the horizon, looking for insurgents planting bombs or preparing mortar and rocket attacks.
"This is what I like, just scouting," said Hickok, of Dillsburg, Pa. "Sitting out here, spying, watching out, it's relaxing ... it's almost like cowboys and Indians."
A distant descendant of Wild Bill Hickok, the 33-year-old Army officer commands an elite unit that also traces its ancestors to the 19th century, using traditions of speed and stealth to seek out the enemy and ambush them.
Instead of horses, the soldiers of D Troop, 9th Cavalry Regiment use armored Humvees to speed through a rural area northwest of Baghdad, home to thousands of farmers, most of whom follow a conservative form of Islam.
Insurgents frequently launch rockets and mortars at a nearby U.S. military base from the open fields and the residents are openly hostile to U.S. troops, who consider it "one of the dark places," Hickok said.
At least twice a day, six Humvees covered with camouflage netting roll out of the base's front gate to begin the hunt. The platoon splits into two groups and either prowl the dusty roads or find places to hide and look out over the fields.
Next to the heavy machine guns mounted on the Humvees roof is a large box with a strange, cantaloupe-sized lens in the corner that allows the gunner to spot a person with a weapon more than four miles away or use a laser beam to calculate the exact location of a target 18.5 miles away.
Sgt. William Jones of Birmingham, Ala. said at first he didn't like the LRAS-III because it got in the way when he fired his .50 caliber machine gun. Now, when he uses it tell the difference between a man planting a bomb and children playing several miles away on a moonless night, he says: "I love it."
In combat, the scouts' job is to drive far ahead of the Army's tanks and armored vehicles to make sure the path is clear and find enemy units preparing ambushes. In Iraq, the scouts do the ambushing.
On many nights, the scouts take with them infantry sniper teams. Cutting across fields, driving through palm groves and circling irrigation canals, the scouts drop off the sniper team in a designated area.
On a recent night, the snipers were dropped off near a cache of mortar rounds to ambush any insurgents who might try to use them. On other nights they watch farmhouses and mosques where the soldiers suspect the insurgents meet.
When the sniper team is on the ground, the scouts watch over them from a distance to make sure they are safe.
When a mortar or rocket is launched, the scouts move quickly to set up roadblocks to catch the guerrilla fighters trying to escape. They have one of the highest success rates among 1st Cavalry Division units around Baghdad in counter-insurgency operations.
"One you've got your mission, there ain't nobody else," Williams said, describing his favorite thing about being a scout. "You've got more freedom."
But that solitude comes with risk. Hickok and Jones have been hit by four roadside bombs since March with numerous other near-misses.
"I never said I ain't scared," Jones said with a laugh after sounding macho. "I'm scared every time I roll out the gate."
Jones spent last summer in Baghdad with the 1st Armored Division and has scouted in Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia during his 10 years in the U.S. Army.
Hickok, who was an enlisted tank crewman during the Gulf War in 1991, said he enjoys working the rural areas outside Baghdad as a cavalry scout commander.
"We can be proud that we're out here doing our job," Hickok said. "In our case, it's getting out into the bad places ... we can have a little swagger in our step."
theLedger.com (http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040716/API/407160555)
By CHRIS TOMLINSON
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq
Standing on a high bridge over a railroad track northwest of Baghdad at dusk, cavalry scout Capt. Will Hickok VI scans the horizon, looking for insurgents planting bombs or preparing mortar and rocket attacks.
"This is what I like, just scouting," said Hickok, of Dillsburg, Pa. "Sitting out here, spying, watching out, it's relaxing ... it's almost like cowboys and Indians."
A distant descendant of Wild Bill Hickok, the 33-year-old Army officer commands an elite unit that also traces its ancestors to the 19th century, using traditions of speed and stealth to seek out the enemy and ambush them.
Instead of horses, the soldiers of D Troop, 9th Cavalry Regiment use armored Humvees to speed through a rural area northwest of Baghdad, home to thousands of farmers, most of whom follow a conservative form of Islam.
Insurgents frequently launch rockets and mortars at a nearby U.S. military base from the open fields and the residents are openly hostile to U.S. troops, who consider it "one of the dark places," Hickok said.
At least twice a day, six Humvees covered with camouflage netting roll out of the base's front gate to begin the hunt. The platoon splits into two groups and either prowl the dusty roads or find places to hide and look out over the fields.
Next to the heavy machine guns mounted on the Humvees roof is a large box with a strange, cantaloupe-sized lens in the corner that allows the gunner to spot a person with a weapon more than four miles away or use a laser beam to calculate the exact location of a target 18.5 miles away.
Sgt. William Jones of Birmingham, Ala. said at first he didn't like the LRAS-III because it got in the way when he fired his .50 caliber machine gun. Now, when he uses it tell the difference between a man planting a bomb and children playing several miles away on a moonless night, he says: "I love it."
In combat, the scouts' job is to drive far ahead of the Army's tanks and armored vehicles to make sure the path is clear and find enemy units preparing ambushes. In Iraq, the scouts do the ambushing.
On many nights, the scouts take with them infantry sniper teams. Cutting across fields, driving through palm groves and circling irrigation canals, the scouts drop off the sniper team in a designated area.
On a recent night, the snipers were dropped off near a cache of mortar rounds to ambush any insurgents who might try to use them. On other nights they watch farmhouses and mosques where the soldiers suspect the insurgents meet.
When the sniper team is on the ground, the scouts watch over them from a distance to make sure they are safe.
When a mortar or rocket is launched, the scouts move quickly to set up roadblocks to catch the guerrilla fighters trying to escape. They have one of the highest success rates among 1st Cavalry Division units around Baghdad in counter-insurgency operations.
"One you've got your mission, there ain't nobody else," Williams said, describing his favorite thing about being a scout. "You've got more freedom."
But that solitude comes with risk. Hickok and Jones have been hit by four roadside bombs since March with numerous other near-misses.
"I never said I ain't scared," Jones said with a laugh after sounding macho. "I'm scared every time I roll out the gate."
Jones spent last summer in Baghdad with the 1st Armored Division and has scouted in Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia during his 10 years in the U.S. Army.
Hickok, who was an enlisted tank crewman during the Gulf War in 1991, said he enjoys working the rural areas outside Baghdad as a cavalry scout commander.
"We can be proud that we're out here doing our job," Hickok said. "In our case, it's getting out into the bad places ... we can have a little swagger in our step."