ARTILLERY SOLDIERS FROM V CORPS' 1ST ARMORED DIVISION 'ADJUST FIRE' FOR UNORTHODOX MISSION IN IRAQ
V Corps Release
Release Date: 3/29/2004
By Cpl. Benjamin Cossel 122nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Force protection, information operations and information delivery are not the sort of tasks one typically thinks of when considering the mission of a brigade Fire Support Element.
Just as many Soldiers have done during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Soldiers of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division FSE have "adjusted fire" and learned to take on new and sometimes never-expected missions.
Calling for fire support from artillery, naval gunfire, and close air support are the FSE's normal missions. However, with Operation Iraqi Freedom's major combat operations completed, the need for those skills has diminished.
The team now finds itself engaged in non-lethal missions, including the delivery of Baghdad Now, a community newspaper produced for the residents of Baghdad; working with division's public affairs experts to determine public reactions to the media, and assisting reporters. They go into the community with civil affairs teams, analyze data with counterintelligence specialists to determine a community's mood, and provide installation and convoy force protection.
"We've added a whole new level to our arsenal," said Sgt. 1st Class Darrin M. Domko, brigade fire support sergeant.
These artillery Soldiers now fight on the information battlefield.
"Now we can write articles for the local papers," Domko said.
With 150 non-lethal missions and 253 hours of road time logged since their arrival in May 2003, the FSE Soldiers have adapted well to their new missions, but some of the troops say the transition hasn't always been easy.
"It's definitely been a total change in how we not only work, but how we think about our mission," said Sgt. Thomas Grigsby, fire support sergeant.
Without field manuals or official training programs to guide them, the team adapted as their varied missions required, integrating with unit and staff sections they've never worked with before. And because "information operations" doctrine that has worked well in other theatres has proven its worth only as a basic template in Iraq, the section has had to adapt as it goes.
But while the FSE Soldiers' missions are non-lethal in intent, the section has faced it share of dangerous moments.
One night a rocket-propelled grenade that struck within inches of the section's two Humvees.
"We were out making our weekly newspaper deliveries in front of the Aadhamiya Mosque," said Staff Sgt. Korey Hinkle, assistant brigade fire support sergeant. "Everything seemed normal. We're talking to the residents in the area when all of a sudden they all begin leaving and it gets very quiet."
Hinkle said the Soldiers were trying to figure out what was happening when "all of a sudden we hear a boom and turn towards the mosque to see a rocket coming straight for us."
Time seemed to slow down as a line of fire passed between Hinkle's and the team's second vehicle.
"A foot to the left, a foot to the right and both of us would have been in a world of hurt," he said.
Nothing in their previous training or unit exercises completed before deploying to Operation Iraqi Freedom formally prepared them for the mission and assignments they now face, but Domko says they've adapted well.
"This team has pulled together and really done an outstanding job," he said.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
