U.S., Iraqis Launch 'Operation Swarmer'

[Alex-L]

CNN is reporting, anybody got any more info?

[Beckj]

I know it involves the 101st, but thats about all they are saying

[Noob Brit]

US Air Assault In Iraq
Updated: 15:54, Thursday March 16, 2006

The US military has launched its biggest air assault in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

Operation Swarmer involves more than 50 aircraft, 1,500 Iraqi and US troops, and 200 tactical vehicles.

The target is suspected insurgents operating in Salahuddin province near the town of Samarra.

A statement said the assault was launched this morning and is expected to last several days.

Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, was the site of a bombing attack last month on a Shi'ite shrine.

The attack sparked a wave of sectarian violence that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.

More follows...

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1215594,00.html

[ed316]

http://a.abcnews.com/images/site/_t.gifBreaking News

U.S. AND IRAQI FORCES LAUNCH THE LARGEST AIR ASSAULT SINCE THE INVASION, TARGETING INSURGENT STRONGHOLDS NORTH OF BAGHDAD (http://abcnews.go.com/)

BAGHDAD, Iraq Mar 16, 2006 (AP)— The United States on Thursday launched what was termed the largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said.
The U.S. military said Iraqi troops also were involved in the operation aimed at clearing a "suspected insurgent operating area northeast of Samarra."
"More than 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft participated in the operation," the military statement said.
Samarra is 60 miles north of Baghdad.
The military said the operation was expected to continue over several days against insurgent targets in Salahuddin province.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may

[signatory]

US Air Assault In Iraq
Operation Swarmer involves more than 50 aircraft, 1,500 Iraqi and US troops, and 200 tactical vehicles.



dododo... I had a few minutes to spare.

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/3774/opswarmer8ae.jpg

[He219]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/He219/AP/93c6be4b.jpg

In this handout photo released by the U.S. Military soldiers and aircraft are positioned on the airstrip at Forward Operating Base Remagen in advance of Operation Swarmer, a combined Iraqi and Coalition operation to clear a suspected insurgent operating area northeast of Samarra, Iraq, Thursday, March, 16, 2006. U.S. forces Thursday launched what was termed the largest air assault since the U.S. led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the U.S. military said. The American troops were joined by the Iraqi army. (AP Photo/ Sgt. First Class Antony Joseph, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs)

[Limeyfellow]

AP put over the wire to ABC and various other news agencies...

Largest Air Assault since '03 Begins

U.S., Iraqi Forces Launch Biggest Air Assault Since Invasion; Insurgents North of Baghdad Targeted

BAGHDAD, Iraq Mar 16, 2006 (AP)— The United States on Thursday launched what was termed the largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said.

The U.S. military said Iraqi troops also were involved in the operation aimed at clearing a "suspected insurgent operating area northeast of Samarra."

"More than 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft participated in the operation," the military statement said.

Samarra is 60 miles north of Baghdad.

The military said the operation was expected to continue over several days against insurgent targets in Salahuddin province.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Seraphim]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060316/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_air_assault_8;_ylt=AgUYeU5MrbLrK0qnd.3HBohX6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[BadKarma26]

Death From Above.

[JoaMei]

Death From Above.

No, they just hide their rifles and play harmless farmers as long as the operation goes.

Estimated effect = 0

[He219]

^ Quite the pessimist there ..

Initial reports from the objective area indicate that a number of enemy weapons caches have been captured, containing artillery shells, explosives, IED-making materials and military uniforms.

Troops from the Iraqi Army’s 1st Bridgade, 4th Division and Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team and the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade began conducting a combined air and ground assault to isolate the objective area.

Attack and assault aircraft have been providing aerial weapons support for the operation and are also delivering troops from the Iraq Army’s 4th Division, the “Rakkasans” from 1st and 3rd Battalions, 187th Infantry Regiment and the “Hunters” from 2nd Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment to multiple objectives. Forces from the 2nd Commando Brigade then completed a ground infiltration to secure numerous structures in the area Operation Swarmer follows closely the completion of a combined Iraqi-Coalition operation west of Samarra in early March that yielded substantial enemy weapons and equipment caches

The tag Swarmer was derived from the name given to the largest peacetime airborne maneuvers ever conducted, in spring 1950 in North Carolina. Soon after this exercise, the 187th Infantry was selected to deploy to Korea as an Airborne Regimental Combat Team to provide General MacArthur with an airborne capability.

Source (http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=8697)

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2006/screen_20060316122734_060316-a-7909g-001-20060316.jpg

Soldiers from the Iraqi army's 1st Brigade, 4th Division, and the 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team receive a pre-flight briefing from a UH-60 Black Hawk crew chief prior to the start of Operation Swarmer, the combined air assault operation to clear a suspected insurgent operating area northeast of Samarra, Iraq. Photo by Staff Sgt. Lyle Grose, USA
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/uploads/large/2006/OCPA-2006-03-16-130255.jpg
hires (http://www.defenselink.mil/home/images/photos/2006-03/index/Hi-Res/060316-A-9553J-004.jpg)

U.S. helicopters depart from Forward Operating Base Remagen in support of Operation Swarmer, a combined Iraqi and Coalition operation to clear suspected insurgent operating areas northeast of Samarra, Iraq, March, 16. Operation Swarmer is the largest air assault since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital. Sgt. First Class Anthony Joseph

[ed316]

187 is going to 187 the insurgents

[BadKarma26]

No, they just hide their rifles and play harmless farmers as long as the operation goes.

Estimated effect = 0

Until we find where their rifles are cached and theyre off to a little ass **** vacation at Camp Cropper.



Question: What was the largest AASLT op before this? Was there a big one in the initial invasion? I can't seem to remember. If not, wouldn't this be the biggest AASLT op since the 101st invaded intially in Operation Desert Storm (1991)?

[pathfinder82]

No, they just hide their rifles and play harmless farmers as long as the operation goes.

Estimated effect = 0


do yourself a favor and dont open your mouth.

[Alex-L]

Very nice fellas thanks for all the updates

(thanks for changing the title of the thread too :wink: )

[MK133]

Link to video or audio rather :

http://media2.foxnews.com/031606/031606_stack_swarmer_300.swf

http://media2.foxnews.com/031606/031606_baier_swarmer_300.swf

[MK133]

hi res of this one


from He219http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2006/screen_20060316122734_060316-a-7909g-001-20060316.jpg
Hi Res (http://www.defendamerica.mil/images/photos/mar2006/index/Hires/060316-A-7909G-001a.jpg)

[ed316]

http://a.abcnews.com/images/site/printlogo.jpg


'Operation Swarmer' Expected to Last Days

U.S., Iraqi Forces Launch 'Operation Swarmer' Northeast of Samarra; Parliament Convenes, Adjourns

By ALEXANDRA ZAVIS

The Associated Press


BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces and Iraqi troops launched what the military described as the largest air assault since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion Thursday, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital. The U.S. military said the raid, dubbed Operation Swarmer, was aimed at clearing "a suspected insurgent operating area" northeast of Samarra and was expected to last several days. The Pentagon said 41 people were arrested but it was not clear if suspected insurgents put up any resistance.
Residents in the targeted area said there was a heavy U.S. and Iraqi troop presence and large explosions could be heard in the distance. The U.S. military said there was no firing or bombing from the air and the source of the blasts was not known.
"More than 1,500 Iraqi and coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft participated in the operation," the military statement said.
The U.S. command in Baghdad said it was the largest number of aircraft used to insert troops and the largest number of troops inserted by air, although larger numbers of troops overall have been involved in previous operations.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Venable said no bombs, missiles or other ordnance were fired from the helicopters. He said more than 650 U.S. troops and more than 800 Iraqi soldiers took part in the operation.
Gen. John Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters at the Pentagon the operation was not related to any anticipated outburst of sectarian violence in the area or a significant departure from previous military actions.
Abizaid said it was aimed at al-Qaida in Iraq and other insurgent cells although there was "no specific high-value target that I know of."
"I wouldn't characterize this as being anything that's a big departure from normal or from the need to prosecute a target that we think was lucrative enough to commit this much force to go get," he said.
Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi interim foreign minister, said the attack had been necessary to prevent insurgents from forming a new stronghold such as they had established in Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
"After Fallujah and some of the operations carried out successfully in the Euphrates and Syrian border, many of the insurgents moved to areas nearer to Baghdad," Zebari said on CNN. "They have to be pulled out by the roots."
Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, was the site of a massive bombing against a Shiite shrine on Feb. 22 that touched off sectarian bloodshed that has killed more than 500 and injured hundreds more, threatening to push Iraq into civil war.
It is a key city in Salahuddin province, a major part of the so-called Sunni triangle where insurgents have been active since shortly after the U.S.-led invasion three years ago. Saddam Hussein was captured in the province, not far from its capital and his hometown, Tikrit.
In recent months U.S. forces have routinely used helicopters to insert troops during operations against insurgent strongholds, especially in the Euphrates River valley between Baghdad and the Syrian border. U.S. warplanes are always in the air, ready to strike targets under direction from troops on the ground.
Thursday's assault was launched just hours before Iraq's new parliament was sworn in Thursday, with parties still deadlocked over the next government, vehicles banned from Baghdad's streets to prevent car bombings and the country under the shadow of a feared civil war.
The long-expected first session, which took place within days of the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, lasted just over 30 minutes and was adjourned indefinitely because the legislature still has no speaker.
The military operation, residents said, appeared to be concentrated near four villages Jillam, Mamlaha, Banat Hassan and Bukaddou about 20 miles north of Samarra. The villages are near the highway leading from Samarra to the city of Adwar.
Waqas al-Juwanya, a spokesman for Iraq's joint coordination center in nearby Dowr, said "unknown gunmen exist in this area, killing and kidnapping policemen, soldiers and civilians."
Near the end of the first day of the operation, the military said a number of weapons caches have been captured, containing artillery shells, explosives, bomb-making materials and military uniforms.
It said the attack began with soldiers from the Iraqi army's 1st Brigade, 4th Division, the U.S. 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team and the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade conducting a combined air and ground assault to isolate the objective area.
Air power backed the operation and delivered troops from the Iraq army's 4th Division, the Rakkasans from 1st and 3rd Battalions, 187th Infantry Regiment and the Hunters from 2nd Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment to multiple objectives.
The military said forces from the 2nd Commando Brigade then completed a ground infiltration to secure numerous structures in the area.
In its description of the operation, the 101st Airborne Division used the term "air assault," which refers to the use of attack and transport helicopters to move infantry soldiers to a ground target or group of targets. It does not generally include fixed-wing warplanes like fighter jets or bombers, and there was no early indication that such planes played a predominant role in the assault.
The units of the 101st Airborne that are involved in this operation are equipped with Apache attack helicopters, Black Hawk transport helicopters and Chinook helicopters to are capable of lifting and moving vehicle like Humvees.
In its description of the operation, the 101st Airborne Division used the term "air assault," which refers to the use of attack and transport helicopters to move infantry soldiers to a ground target or group of targets. It does not generally include fixed-wing warplanes like fighter jets or bombers, and there was no early indication that such planes played a predominant role in the assault.
The units of the 101st Airborne that are involved in this operation are equipped with Apache attack helicopters, Black Hawk transport helicopters and Chinook helicopters to are capable of lifting and moving vehicle like Humvees.
Adnan Pachachi, the senior politician who administered the oath to Iraqi legislators in the absence of a speaker, spoke of a country in crisis.
"We have to prove to the world that a civil war is not and will not take place among our people," Pachachi told lawmakers. "The danger is still looming and the enemies are ready for us because they do not like to see a united, strong, stable Iraq."
As Pachachi spoke, he was interrupted from the floor by senior Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who said the remarks were inappropriate because of their political nature.
Even the oath was a source of disagreement, with the head of the committee that drafted the country's new constitution, Humam Hammoudi, protesting that lawmakers had strayed from the text. After brief consultations, judicial officials agreed the wording was acceptable.
Meanwhile, a top Iranian official said his country was ready to open direct talks with the United States over Iraq, marking a major shift in foreign policy a day after al-Hakim called for such talks.
The White House said the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, is authorized to talk with Iran about Iraq, much as the United States has talked with Iran about issues relating to Afghanistan.
"But this is a very narrow mandate dealing specifically with issues relating to Iraq," presidential press secretary Scott McClellan said.
Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator and secretary of the country's Supreme National Security Council, also told reporters that any talks between the United States and Iran would deal only with Iraqi issues.
"To resolve Iraqi issues and help establishment of an independent and free government in Iraq, we agree to (talks with the United States)," Larijani said after a closed meeting of the parliament Thursday.
Larijani said Khalilzad had invited Iran for talks on Iraq.
Washington repeatedly has accused Iran of meddling in Iraq's affairs and of sending weapons and men to help insurgents in Iraq, allegations the Iranians have denied.
A pianist played as representatives of Iraq's main ethnic and religious blocs many in traditional Arab and Kurdish dress filed into a convention center behind the concrete blast walls of the heavily fortified Green Zone for parliament's first meeting.
Hours after the session adjourned, two mortar shells were fired into the Green Zone, Interior Ministry official Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said. No casualties were reported.
The inaugural session started the clock on a 60-day period in which parliament must elect a president and approve a prime minister and Cabinet.

Associated Press military writer Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.


Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures

[Ghetto Defendant]

The way the media has been playing this up, you would have thought Operation Overlord had just started.

[He219]

But wait:
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/B/BAG14103162016-big.jpg

In this hand out photo released by U.S. military, Iraqi Soldiers from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division stand ready with a staged row of Blackhawk helicopters in preparation for Operation Swarmer, in Remagen, Iraq, Thursday, March 16, 2006. U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest airborn assault in nearly three years, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said. The Operation Swarmer was aimed at clearing "a suspected insurgent operating area" northeast of Samarra and was expected to continue over several days. (AP Photo/ U.S. Army, Sgt. 1st Class Antony Joseph)
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/B/BAG14003162007-big.jpg

In this hand out photo released by U.S. military, Iraqi Army Soldiers of 4th Iraqi Army Division exit a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in support of Operation Swarmer in Samarra, Iraq, Thursday, March 16, 2006. U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest airborn assault in nearly three years, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said. The Operation Swarmer was aimed at clearing "a suspected insurgent operating area" northeast of Samarra and was expected to continue over several days. (AP Photo/ U.S. Navy 3rd class Shawn Hussong)
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/B/BAG13903162006-big.jpg
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/B/BAG13803161957-big.jpgWhat are those?

In this hand out photo released by U.S. military, U.S.Army Soldiers of Company C, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division and Iraqi Army Soldiers from 4th Iraqi Army Division exit a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in support of Operation Swarmer in Samarra, Iraq, Thursday, March 16, 2006. U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest airborn assault in nearly three years, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said. The Operation Swarmer was aimed at clearing "a suspected insurgent operating area" northeast of Samarra and was expected to continue over several days. (AP Photo/ U.S. Navy 3rd class Shawn Hussong)

[Ghetto Defendant]

Mortar tubes?

[remo williams]

But wait:
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/B/BAG14103162016-big.jpg

http://hosted.ap.org/photos/B/BAG14003162007-big.jpg

http://hosted.ap.org/photos/B/BAG13903162006-big.jpg
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/B/BAG13803161957-big.jpgWhat are those?
look like mortars,just more manageable,lighter,and with the new travel carry handle.p-)happy hunting gentleman,come back safe.

[ed316]

Mortar tubes?

60mm. I triggered fired it in Squad leader school once.

Indirect fire support. ALWAYS welcomed.

[soprano]

I must admit first thing in the morning when i saw this on the news it gave me a HArd ON!
The 101st is one of my favorite units and a great history this will only add to there legacy!!!!!

"GEt Some""AIr ASsAUlt"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[soprano]

Until we find where their rifles are cached and theyre off to a little ass **** vacation at Camp Cropper.



Question: What was the largest AASLT op before this? Was there a big one in the initial invasion? I can't seem to remember. If not, wouldn't this be the biggest AASLT op since the 101st invaded intially in Operation Desert Storm (1991)?

IF im not mistaken i believe there was a rather large one in Karbala and possibly Najaf!

[BadKarma26]

IF im not mistaken i believe there was a rather large one in Karbala and possibly Najaf!

the news was saying that this was the biggest one since OIF began (then again the news ****s things up a lot)

[Virgil]

The way the media has been playing this up, you would have thought Operation Overlord had just started.
LOL. I thought something similar. I actually don't think that's it's true that its the largest mission since the invasion, but could be I suppose. I heard there's no imbedded reporters on the mission, so if that's true, someone's orchestrated the coverage well.

[Limeyfellow]

It was so hyped because thats what the government told everyone what was going to happen however the latest updates from Operation Swarmer and its even more anticlimatic than could be imagine. Not a single shot fired, no leaders of the insurgency caught. Just one glorious photo op.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1174448,00.html

By BRIAN BENNETT/AL JALLAM

* On Scene: Michael Ware on What's Changed

Posted Friday, Mar. 17, 2006
Four Black Hawk helicopters landed in a wheat field and dropped off a television crew, three photographers, three print reporters and three Iraqi government officials right into the middle of Operation Swarmer. Iraqi soldiers in newly painted humvees, green and red Iraqi flags stenciled on the tailgates, had just finished searching the farm populated by a half-dozen skinny cows and a woman kneading freshly risen dough and slapping it to the walls of a mud oven.

The press, flown in from Baghdad to this agricultural gridiron northeast of Samarra, huddled around the Iraqi officials and U.S. Army commanders who explained that the "largest air assault since 2003" in Iraq using over 50 helicopters to put 1500 Iraqi and U.S. troops on the ground had netted 48 suspected insurgents, 17 of which had already been cleared and released. The area, explained the officials, has long been suspected of being used as a base for insurgents operating in and around Samarra, the city north of Baghdad where the bombing of a sacred shrine recently sparked a wave of sectarian violence.

But contrary to what many many television networks erroneously reported, the operation was by no means the largest use of airpower since the start of the war. ("Air Assault" is a military term that refers specifically to transporting troops into an area.) In fact, there were no airstrikes and no leading insurgents were nabbed in an operation that some skeptical military analysts described as little more than a photo op. What’s more, there were no shots fired at all and the units had met no resistance, said the U.S. and Iraqi commanders.

The operation, which doubled the population of the flat farmland in one single airlift, was initiated by intelligence from Iraq security forces, says Lt Col Skip Johnson commander of the 187 Battallion, 3rd Combat Brigade of the 101st Airborne. "They have the lead," he said to reporters at the second stop of the tour. But by Friday afternoon, the major targets seemed to have slipped through their fingers. Iraqi Army General Abdul Jabar says that Samarra-based insurgent leader Hamad el Taki of Mohammad’s Army was thought to be in the area, and Iraqi intelligence officers were still working to compare known voice recordings and photographs with the prisoners in custody.

With the Interior Ministry's Samarra commando battalion, the soldiers had found some 300 individual pieces of weaponry like mortars, rockets and plastic explosives in six different locations inside the sparsely populated farming community of over 50 square miles and about 1,500 residents. The raids also uncovered high-powered cordless telephones used as detonators in homemade bombs, medical supplies and insurgent training manuals.

Before loading up into the helicopters for a return trip to Baghdad, Iraqi and American soldiers and some reporters helped themselves to the woman’s freshly baked bread, tearing bits off and chewing it as they wandered among the cows. For most of them, it was the only thing worthwhile they’d found all day.

[LordHalbert]

So no enemies were killed ?

The insurgents have either left or melted in with the civilians.

They will stay low until it's over or move somewhere else.

This show of force is probably not going to do much.

[signatory]

So no enemies were killed ?

The insurgents have either left or melted in with the civilians.

They will stay low until it's over or move somewhere else.

This show of force is probably not going to do much.

Maybe they didn't want to put the bar up too high. The Iraqi troops make up 60% of the boots. Coinciding with the swearing in of a new parliament and 3-year anniversary of the invasion, on Monday. Practical reasons behind, the Operation it does look more like a PR operation than anything.

I don't think US forces would sit idly by for a month (of planning) if they knew an area had to be... investigated.

[CROSSHAIR]

I have just finished watching a report about Operation Swarmer by CNN's Nic Robertson that had some footage of artillery explosions and small arms fire. Resistance appears to be very light.