THE TENSION: Combat Camera: Assault in Al Bawi, Iraq

Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, pull security during an assault in Al Bawi, Iraq, a small village outside of Salman Pak, Dec. 11. During the mission, 1-15th Inf. Regt. Soldiers killed two insurgents, seized a weapons cache and destroyed an enemy stronghold that was being used by insurgents. (Photo/Sgt. Timothy Kingston, 55th Combat Camera)

Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, prepare to enter a building during an air assault in Al Bawi, Iraq, a small village outside of Salman Pak, Dec. 11. The building, which was later destroyed by rockets called in by Company B Soldiers, was an abandoned farmhouse being used by insurgents to stage attacks on Coalition Forces. (Photo/Sgt. Timothy Kingston, 55th Combat Camera)

Capt. Todd Barrett, from Huntington Beach, Calif., the scout platoon leader in Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, left, speaks with Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Blout, from Hampton, Va., the platoon sergeant of the scout platoon, during an air assault in Al Bawi, Iraq, a small village outside of Salman Pak, Dec. 11. During the mission, 1-15th Inf. Regt. Soldiers killed two insurgents, seized a weapons cache and destroyed an enemy stronghold. (Photo/Sgt. Timothy Kingston, 55th Combat Camera)

CH-47 Chinook helicopter lands in Al Bawi, Iraq, a small village outside of Salman Pak, Dec. 11 to pick up soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment following an air assault mission. During the mission, 1-15th Inf. Regt. Soldiers killed two insurgents, seized a cache and destroyed a building that was being used to stage attacks on Coalition Forces. (Photo/Sgt. Timothy Kingston, 55th Combat Camera)

Dispatches from the Front:

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2007 -- Using information provided by Concerned Local Citizens, Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion,15th Infantry Regiment, killed two insurgents, seized a weapons cache and destroyed an enemy stronghold during a nighttime air assault in Al Bawi, a small village outside of Salman Pak, Dec. 11.

The cache contained mortars, grenades, improvised weapon making materials and an unknown explosive compound.

"The soldiers performed well,” said Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Blount, from Hampton, Va., the scout platoon sergeant, Headquarters Company, 1-15th Inf. Regt. “They executed the plan as we rehearsed it. The biggest part of this and every other mission is the rehearsal. I tell my guys, ‘This isn’t our first air assault, but treat it like it is. Every mission is different. Don’t get complacent’."

Insurgents had been using the farmhouse of a displaced family to stage attacks on Coalition Forces and rival insurgent factions. At the direction of the Company B commander, Capt. Rich Thompson, from West Palm Beach, Fla., Soldiers from Battery C, 2nd Battalion, 4th Field Artillery, fired three 210mm rockets from an M270 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System to destroy the building with the cache inside. The 2-4th FA is out of Fort Sill, Okla.

"This air assault helped us support the Concerned Local Citizens and will help them occupy check points," said Capt. Todd Barrett, from Huntington Beach, Calif., the scout platoon leader in Headquarters Company, 1-15th Inf. Regt. "These checkpoints will help control extremist activity."

Battalion leaders expressed their satisfaction with the successful mission.

"Our operations are having a profound impact on our area of operations and the extremist who try to operate within the area, said Maj. Steven Delgado, from Los Angeles, the 1-15th Inf. Regt. executive officer. “We have greatly reduced the number of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) within Task Force 1-15’s area of operations, detained or killed many extremist leaders, market areas are thriving and people are no longer afraid to leave their homes."

The 1-15 Inf. Regt. is part of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga., and has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March.

(Story by Spc. Ben Hutto, 3rd HBCT Public Affairs.)