THE TENSION: Combat Camera: US and Iraqi Troops Conduct Air Assault into Southern Diyala Province

G Troop, Task Force 1-35, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. (Photographer: Sgt. Eric C. Hein, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division Public Affairs.)

U.S. Army soldier from Task Force 1-35, 2nd Brigade Combat Team aboard a CH-47 Chinook ride to their landing zone for the opening assault of Operation Knight Pursuit on July 25, 2008. (Photographer: Sgt. Eric C. Hein, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division Public Affairs.)

U.S. Army soldiers from 1st Platoon, G Troop, Task Force 1-35, 2nd Brigade Combat Team move out on patrol in search of weapons cache with an attachment of Iraqi army soldiers during Operation Iron Pursuit on July 28, 2008 in 7 Nissan village, Diyala province, Iraq. (Photographer: Sgt. Eric C. Hein, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division Public Affairs.)

Dispatches from the Front:

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq, Aug. 7, 2008 -- Soldiers from the 8th Iraqi Army Division and Task Force 1-35 conducted a massive air assault operation into the southern Diyala province of Iraq on July 26, 2008.

The air assault was the first operation of its kind for the 1st Armored Division during this Operation Iraqi Freedom rotation and allowed the movement of a large body of soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division, coalition forces and supplies to an area of Iraq left untouched and untamed for years.

In the darkness of the early morning hours of July 26, soldiers from TF 1-35 AR and 8th IA Div. made their final preparations for the operation, ready for whatever lay ahead.

The mission was to rid the area of al-Qaida and other extremists who had free reign of the area for years intimidating and killing the locals.

As the soldiers sat in the Chinook helicopters flying to the objective their minds were filled with thoughts of what lay ahead. The mood was eerily silent and every soldier had an intense, serious look on his face.

The gunner called out one minute and the soldiers repeated his call. The soldiers turned on their night vision goggles and inspected their equipment in final preparations.

Thirty seconds from landing the gunner called out the time and everyone repeated his call in unison. The soldiers locked and loaded their weapons with ammunition and waited for the bump of the helicopter signifying tierra firma.

As the Chinook helicopters landed the soldiers understood they needed to do whatever was necessary to support the Iraqi army in establishing lasting security in the area, permanently denying AQI and other extremist’s sanctuary or bases of support in the area.

The ramp dropped and the Iron Soldiers and the 8th IA Div. soldiers quickly operated in unison exiting the aircraft, scanning the area for any dangers or threats before quickly securing the field used as their landing zone.

The soldiers exited the aircraft, stumbling through the dry, uneven canal, full of dry vegetation and canals.

The desert heat weighed upon the soldiers, each carrying an excess of 75 pounds.

The soldiers set up hasty fighting positions creating a secure perimeter on the landing zone to allow the safe insertion of follow-on soldiers and supplies.

Once the landing zone had been cleared and secured, the joint force established a checkpoint along the road entering a nearby village. They wanted to ensure that no one entered or departed the village.

In the morning darkness the soldiers moved forward, working as a team clearing nearby abandoned buildings and remnants of old houses in an effort to secure a base of operations.

Once the building had been cleared, a second group of soldiers pushed forward to the building with supplies.

As daylight began to break across the horizon, the soldiers of Bravo Co., 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regt., began their first sweep through the nearby village, alerting the area of their presence and talking to residents. Simultaneously, the medics and physicians of the 2nd BCT, 1st AD, began building their forward aid station.

The aid station, staffed by well trained medics and the 2nd BCT surgeon, offered the treatment and care of any health issues which may arise, providing shade, cots, food, water and a wide range of medical supplies to the soldiers.

The sun reached its peak before the soldiers of TF 1-35 AR returned from their foot patrols, all drenched in sweat and dangerously low on water.

Even under the near unbearable circumstances, not a single soldier complained. After grabbing what little water was available, the few soldiers not plagued by fatigue and dehydration took up fighting positions on the rooftop, providing security and offering their comrades a chance at a short but much needed rest.

For the first time in two days, soldiers of TF 1-35 AR were given a chance to sleep and recover, though few men were able to do more than lay down, grateful to relax but unable to sleep.

The break was short-lived. Seemingly quicker than it had started, it was a thing of the past. At a moments notice, the soldiers donned their gear to venture deeper into the villages that lay ahead.

TF 1-35 AR is assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, and deployed to the southeast Baghdad province of Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in April, 2008.
(Story by Pfc. Michael Schuch, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division.)