THE TENSION: Combat Camera: 'Copperhead' Soldiers Increase Area of Responsibility as 'Surge' Forces Redeploy

Staff Sgt. Jerod Childs, an infantryman from Texas City, Texas, assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, discusses security with a local Iraqi resident Nov. 11 in the Risalah community of the Rashid District of southern Baghdad. The soldiers of Co. C, an armor company in a combined arms battalion, conduct daily security operations collecting information and distributing Iraqi Hotline Tip Cards to assist Iraqi Security Forces enforcing Baghdad's Rule of Law for the approximately 1.6 million citizens of the Rashid District. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

Spc. Justin Lagos, an infantryman from Houston, assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, sweeps the back of an abandoned house with his AN/PSS-12 Mine Detector, scanning for signs of munitions caches, Nov. 9, in the Risalah community of the Rashid District. The soldiers of "Copperhead" Co. increased their work load spanning operations across two additional muhallahs in southern Baghdad as 'surge' units redeploy after completing a 15-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and MND-B. The soldiers conduct daily security operations with Iraqi army and Iraqi police units in the Hayys Jihad, Furat and Risalah to provide stability for the approximately 1.6 million citizens of the Rashid District. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

Soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, walk door-to-door, house-to-house, during a dismounted security patrol in the Hayy Jihad community of the Rashid district Nov. 11 to support security for ongoing Sons of Iraq payday activities. The soldiers of "Copperhead" Company are responsible for assisting Iraqi Security Forces providing security for the residents of the Jihad, Furat and Risalah neighborhoods as Coalition Forces expand their operations to support ISF units taking over and covering down for units leaving Baghdad. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

Sgt. Sean Gutierrez, an infantryman from Merced, Calif., assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, assists an Iraqi soldier from the 1st Bn., 53rd Bde., 14th Iraqi Army Div., search a car Nov. 9 at a Traffic Control Checkpoint bordering the Shurta and Hayy Jihad communities in southern Baghdad's Rashid district. The soldiers of "Copperhead" Company inspect Iraqi security forces' operations on a daily basis to provide guidance and mentorship to Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police and Sons of Iraq forces working to ensure security for the approximately 1.6 million citizens of the Rashid District. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

An Iraqi citizen of the Hayy Jihad community unlocks the gate to an empty house for Cpl. Bradley Williams, an infantryman from Tyler, Texas, assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad Nov. 11 during house searches in southern Baghdad. The soldiers of "Copperhead" Company search abandoned houses to search for hidden weapons caches as part of ongoing efforts to capture Special Groups Criminals and terrorists hiding in the Rashid District. Company C, commanded by Capt. Christopher Watkins, an armor officer from New Orleans, assumed responsibility for security operations for two additional muhallahs as coalition forces and Iraqi security forces expand operations across Baghdad to replace "surge" units in the process of redeployment. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

Sgt. Sean Gutierrez, an infantryman from Merced, Calif., and Staff Sgt. Ryan Parker, an infantry squad leader from San Antonio, work a pair of bolt cutters into metal twine binding on a steel gate that blocks the entrance to an abandoned building on Nov. 10 in the Risalah community of the Rashid District. The soldiers, who are assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, are members of an armor company, part of a combined arms battalion, which recently expanded its operations across southern Baghdad, as 'surge' forces begin to redeploy after a 15-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and MND-B. The soldiers conduct security operations as they learn the new terrain to support the Iraqi security forces providing security for southwestern Baghdad. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

Staff Sgt. Jerod Childs, an infantryman from Texas City, Texas, hand delivers an Iraqi toddler to his mother, Nov. 10, during a security patrol in the Risalah community of the Rashid district in southern Baghdad. Childs, a squad leader responsible for two teams of infantry dismounts in an armor company, took the baby, who had wandered into the streets, back to his mother. The soldiers of "Copperhead" Company expanded their operations into the Risalah community of southern Baghdad's Rashid district, Nov. 6, when they assumed responsibility for the battle space as 'surge' forces begin to redeploy. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

Soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, patrol through the Hayy Jihad community, Nov. 11, as part of ongoing security operations in southern Baghdad's Rashid district. The soldiers of "Copperhead" Company recently assisted Iraqi Army soldiers of the 1st Bn., 53rd Bde., 14th IA Div., increase security operations during Sons of Iraq payday activities Nov. 10-14. The soldiers of the armor company, part of a combined arms battalion, conduct daily mounted and dismounted patrols, cordon and search operations, checkpoints and target raids to enforce Baghdad's Rule of Law. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

Sgt. 1st Class Pedro Sotomayor (center), an armor crew member from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and platoon sergeant assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, directs a team of dismounts to search houses along a street in Hayy Jihad Nov. 11 during security patrols to assist Iraqi Security Forces operating in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. The soldiers worked with the 1st Bn., 53rd Bde., 14th Iraqi Army Div., to provide security for Sons of Iraq payday activities Nov. 10-14. Sotomayor and the soldiers of "Copperhead" Company maintain 24-hour security operations to support Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police forces working to enforce Baghdad's Rule of Law in West Rashid. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)