Uncle Sam
02-11-2004, 11:09 AM
http://www.usarpac.army.mil/news/alaska_oef_bigfish.asp
AFGHANISTAN – Soldiers of Task Force 1-501 Airborne have recently captured weapons caches and an al-Qaeda member who's been called "a big fish" by one NCO.
The Geronimos spent the two weeks of Operation Blizzard doing cordon and searches of villages in the mountains along the Khowst-Gardez Highway where coalition forces' convoys and contracted trucks had been attacked.
Apart from the searches, Operation Blizzard was also successful in gathering intelligence. Local residents told the U.S. Soldiers where they could find more weapons, as well as men wanted by coalition forces.
One of these leads took Company A to a village where, according to Staff Sgt. Jason Gray, a teenage boy misdirected them to a farmer and not the al-Qaeda member they were looking for. The Geronimos held all the males in the area for questioning, including the teenager.
To help her son, that boy's mother gave up the information they needed to capture the man they were after.
"When we caught the guy and found out he was a big fish it was a real motivator," said Gray, a squad leader with Co. A. After that, he said his guys didn't mind as much getting wet, sleeping in the snow or having to walk up the hills or wadis.
"Even down to the lowest-ranking Soldier, they're able to see how their work at detaining an individual is helping drive future missions," said Maj. Kyle Lear, the task force executive officer. "They see how one person can give up information that can lead to bigger payoffs."
The searches were fruitful from the start. On their first day, Company B Soldiers found several thousand rounds of ammo, rockets and mortar rounds, and held several people for questioning.
"It was a big motivator for my guys to find such a big cache at the first place that we went to on the first day," said Capt. David Hale, Co. B commander. "If we hadn't found anything in the first couple days, it would have gotten tedious." His Soldiers didn't have to worry about that.
The following day, in a village a couple ridges from where they found the rockets, they found a recoilless rifle, radios, a mortar spotting scope and more rounds.
"What has surprised me is the condition and where we are finding the stuff," said Spc. Chad Cuccaro, a task force engineer attached to Co. B for the operation. "Although some of it has been old, most of it has been new, still in the bags and stashed away in little rooms."
All contraband confiscated by the task force was identified and logged by type and location found. The rounds and any explosives found were blown up by task force engineers.
"What we found is definitely going to put a dent in what they can do to us," said Cuccaro. "Everything we blow up or take is just that much less for them to use against us."
The enemies of Afghanistan lost something else thanks to the watchful eye of a Delta Detachment Soldier.
While in the second-to-last vehicle of a convoy, the Soldier noticed wires on the side of the highway. Closer inspection showed the wires were connected to an improvised explosive device.
Lear credited the success of the operation to the task force's time in Afghanistan. December's Operation Avalanche was the crawl/walk phase and Blizzard was the run phase.
"During Avalanche, we were shaking out how to work together as a unit. It was like a rehearsal," said Lear. "The infantry guys are now used to having heavy armored Humvees with them and we are finally operating at full speed as a combat task force.
"We will only continue to get more comfortable with every operation that we conduct – and there will be many more to come," he added.
AFGHANISTAN – Soldiers of Task Force 1-501 Airborne have recently captured weapons caches and an al-Qaeda member who's been called "a big fish" by one NCO.
The Geronimos spent the two weeks of Operation Blizzard doing cordon and searches of villages in the mountains along the Khowst-Gardez Highway where coalition forces' convoys and contracted trucks had been attacked.
Apart from the searches, Operation Blizzard was also successful in gathering intelligence. Local residents told the U.S. Soldiers where they could find more weapons, as well as men wanted by coalition forces.
One of these leads took Company A to a village where, according to Staff Sgt. Jason Gray, a teenage boy misdirected them to a farmer and not the al-Qaeda member they were looking for. The Geronimos held all the males in the area for questioning, including the teenager.
To help her son, that boy's mother gave up the information they needed to capture the man they were after.
"When we caught the guy and found out he was a big fish it was a real motivator," said Gray, a squad leader with Co. A. After that, he said his guys didn't mind as much getting wet, sleeping in the snow or having to walk up the hills or wadis.
"Even down to the lowest-ranking Soldier, they're able to see how their work at detaining an individual is helping drive future missions," said Maj. Kyle Lear, the task force executive officer. "They see how one person can give up information that can lead to bigger payoffs."
The searches were fruitful from the start. On their first day, Company B Soldiers found several thousand rounds of ammo, rockets and mortar rounds, and held several people for questioning.
"It was a big motivator for my guys to find such a big cache at the first place that we went to on the first day," said Capt. David Hale, Co. B commander. "If we hadn't found anything in the first couple days, it would have gotten tedious." His Soldiers didn't have to worry about that.
The following day, in a village a couple ridges from where they found the rockets, they found a recoilless rifle, radios, a mortar spotting scope and more rounds.
"What has surprised me is the condition and where we are finding the stuff," said Spc. Chad Cuccaro, a task force engineer attached to Co. B for the operation. "Although some of it has been old, most of it has been new, still in the bags and stashed away in little rooms."
All contraband confiscated by the task force was identified and logged by type and location found. The rounds and any explosives found were blown up by task force engineers.
"What we found is definitely going to put a dent in what they can do to us," said Cuccaro. "Everything we blow up or take is just that much less for them to use against us."
The enemies of Afghanistan lost something else thanks to the watchful eye of a Delta Detachment Soldier.
While in the second-to-last vehicle of a convoy, the Soldier noticed wires on the side of the highway. Closer inspection showed the wires were connected to an improvised explosive device.
Lear credited the success of the operation to the task force's time in Afghanistan. December's Operation Avalanche was the crawl/walk phase and Blizzard was the run phase.
"During Avalanche, we were shaking out how to work together as a unit. It was like a rehearsal," said Lear. "The infantry guys are now used to having heavy armored Humvees with them and we are finally operating at full speed as a combat task force.
"We will only continue to get more comfortable with every operation that we conduct – and there will be many more to come," he added.