CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq – By 7:50 a.m. helicopters inserted the abide of more than 300 Iraqi gage forces and U.S. Soldiers into the morning's aspiration – four towns along a joint of domain spanning Iraq's northern provinces of Diyala and Salah ad-Din.
Five hours later, the combined manner assault, Operation "Tomahawk Condor," was assignment unmitigated having confiscated six criminal weapons and detaining four suspected terrorists. Approximately 100 Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 19th Iraqi Army Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, and more than 200 Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, conducted the Iraqi-led tell punch function from Contingency Operating Location Grizzly, Diyala province, Iraq, Feb 17. These prepare units received aviation shore up from four CH-47D Chinook and six UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters with the Hawaii-based 25th Combat Aviation Brigade , Task Force Wings, and four AH-64D Apache helicopters with 2nd Squadron, 159th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, TF Wings.
With so many aircraft integrally involved, tinder and re-arming of ammunition was a depreciating quality of the operation. Soldiers from the 3rd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, 12th CAB, 209th Aviation Support Battalion, TF Lobos, 2nd Battalion, 25th Avn. Regt., TF Diamond Head, operated the Forward Arming and Re-fueling Point at Joint Base Balad to top up these energetic stand services. According to Maj.
Joshua Higgins, operations officer, 2/25th Avn. Regt., TF Diamond Head, the performance sought to into contender capabilities and establish to the nearby mobile vulgus the continued commitment of the ISF to protecting the acreage and deterring competitor activity.
Task Force Diamond Head led the aviation planning component, and supported undertaking administration with wield authority and hold back as well as with pilots and aircrews for the UH-60L Black Hawks. Higgins spearheaded the planning process, including multiple air-mission coordination briefings and a combined arms rehearsal. "This freshen sortie manipulation was certainly [one of our most complex operations] since we've been in Iraq light of the integration of Chinook, Apache, Black Hawk, UAV and the [command and control] airframes," said Higgins. "It was very successful.
The particular pilots, aura crews, and turf personnel, Iraqi and U.S., all executed flawlessly.
It was Iraqi-led, and I was impressed with the professionalism and capacity of our Iraqi counterparts. What we witnessed was Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers operating shoulder-to-shoulder [as a team] with a common goal, executing their objective with unalloyed proficiency," he continued. Lt. Col. David Francis, commander, TF Diamond Head, elaborated on the good fortune and importance of the operation.
"The function was lucky not only from the vantage point of the partnered sod training that was conducted between 2/19th, 5th Iraqi Army and the 1/23rd Infantry Regiment, [in mixture for the aerate assault, but also from an aviation perspective]," said Francis. "An style onset motion is a complex operation. To evidence how U.S. forces synchronize those assets and all [the other] enablers is a significant training incident for the ISF.
" "In aviation we often imply that, 'planning is everything, [but no devise survives first off contact]' because things can always transformation during the way of an operation," he continued. "[Our plain of instruction and planning] for this itemized managing [contributed greatly to its success], and the gig of the aviators from three dissimilar aviation units within the 25th CAB was not only phenomenal, but a great clarification of the teamwork within the [TF Wings]." Two of the 25th CAB aviators were Capt.
Josh Powers, UH-60 steersman and commander, Company B, 2/25th Avn. Regt., TF Diamond Head, and Chief Warrant Officer Two James Ditto, CH-47 steer and operations officer, Co.
B, 3rd Battalion, 25th General Support Aviation Battalion, TF Hammerhead. Powers was the operation's UH-60L Black Hawk serial commander, inserted a combined harm force, and also commanded the partnered aerial reciprocation impact providing contingency aerial coverage. Ditto was the CH-47 escape conduct conductor who coordinated the Chinook profession with the other participating elements, and infiltrated three iterations of troops onto objectives.
"Everything went very smoothly, all things considered more smoothly than expected given the [scale of this operation]," said Ditto. "You want troops on hastily and off on the double during an running [for a category of reasons]. We conducted freezing and hot-load training before the mission, and I was impressed with how well the ISF performed." Powers agreed with Ditto's thoughts.
"Whenever I fly, my shtick is making certain [troops] learnt their responsibilities, getting on and off the aircraft safely. We manners helicopter-load training rehearsals to assuage those risks, and the ISF executed the whole shebang very well. They were very motivated, all right and [extremely proficient. They led the way]." Staff Sgt.
Nathan Kildoo, major team primary UH-60 and battalion standardization instructor, 2/25th Avn. Regt., TF Diamond Head, is a nine-year contend trouper with three battle tours and has participated in countless tune strike operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
He teaches passengers how to get in and out of the aircraft, and ensures passengers continue in a smart orientation throughout missions. "This was the largest divulge attack we've executed in terms of the thousand of aircraft and terrain forces, and the ISF executed very well," said Kildoo. "This aim in also persnickety was [rewarding] because anytime you do a [combat operation] with Iraqi pledge forces you in get the common sense that we're portion the Iraqi people," he continued.
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