• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

'BULLDOG MAMMOTH' USES MAMMOTH FORCE, NETS MAMMOTH RESULTS

V Corps Release

Release Date: 12/10/2003

By Sgt. Christopher Stanis 1st Armored Division Public Affairs Office

ABU GHURAYB, Iraq -- The 3rd Brigade Combat Team of V Corps' Task Force 1st Armored Division recently led one of the largest operations in Iraq since the declared end of combat operations in May.

Last week, the team -- the Fort Riley, Kansas-based element of the division -- commanded a brigade-sized element for the cordon and search of an apartment complex in this area northwest of Baghdad.

The operation was aptly named Operation Bulldog Mammoth.

"Cordon and searches are normally at the platoon and company level," said Maj. Dale Ringler, 3rd BCT operations officer. "Very rarely do we (include) two battalions (plus supporting units) and make it a brigade-sized operation."

A total of more than 1,400 troops were involved in the five-and-a-half-hour operation, Ringler said.

The forces on the ground for the operation ranged from infantry to military intelligence, with major players coming from the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armored Regiment and the Fort Bragg, North Carolina-based 1st Bn., 325th Airborne Infantry Reg., joined by more than 300 Iraqi Civil Defense Corps personnel and an Estonian platoon -- all conducting the search of the 2,400-apartment complex and 53 additional buildings.

Two companies from the corps' 709th Military Police Bn. provided an outer cordon, while the 1210th Tactical Psychological Operations Team broadcast messages to the complex residents about the coalition's objective.

Two explosive ordnance disposal teams were on site, and a platoon of AH-64 Apache helicopters provided air support for the duration of the operation.

This operation was the wrap-up of a trilogy of large-scale cordon and searches planned by the brigade. The first two were conducted during Operation Iron Hammer.

Reports show the Abu Ghurayb area to be a dangerous place for coalition forces, and additional intelligence reports over the past several months pointed to the apartment complex here as a haven for anti-coalition forces.

"These are the guys supposedly attacking us," said Spc. Travis Morrone, Company A, 1-325 AIR, who was part of the operation's search element. "We had to come take their (weapons) from them."

There was a lot to take. The search revealed more than 220 AK-47 assault rifles, along with a number of machine guns, pistols and other rifles; five rocket-propelled grenades and 15 RPG sites; 10 grenades; 12 mortar sites; various electrical components associated with the construction of improvised explosive devices; Russian-made night vision devices; chemical protective masks; 24 plates of body armor and a U.S.-made protective vest; paraphernalia associated with Saddam Hussein, and 16 cases of U.S. military Meals, Ready to Eat.

The operation also resulted in the detention of more than 40 suspects, including three from 2/70th's "black list," who Ringler said were caught in the outer cordon while trying to escape the area.

One of those suspects may be responsible for the Oct. 26 mortar attack against the old Abu Ghurayb police station that killed Pfc. Rachel K. Bosveld, a female MP assigned to the corps' 527th MP Company, Ringler said.

Despite the mammoth nature of the operation, Morrone said these missions are just another day at the office.

"For a while we were doing (cordon and searches) every other day," he said. Now they're being done less frequently, he added, but with larger forces.

The overall success of Operation Mammoth is a tribute to the proficiency of U.S. troops here, said Col. Russ Gold, the 3rd BCT commander.

"Our soldiers have become a seasoned combat force," said Gold. "The two battalions conducting this offensive operation also participated in the ground war.

They know how to use finesse and brute force, and when to use what means. They are a professional and extremely competent group of soldiers that will act with precision and exactness with little to no guidance."

The key in an operation like this is to give the residents the peace of mind that the coalition is there only to weed out the bad guys, Gold added. While the troops were prepared to take action if they found themselves in danger, no shots were fired during the operation.