The Gazette April 18, 2005
Carson regiment in bases ringing southern Baghdad
By Tom Roeder
Fort Carson's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment has had a lucky first month at war.
The regiment is patrolling the dangerous southern suburbs of Baghdad, where enemy attacks have been frequent. But the unit's most serious injury happened before it arrived in Iraq. A soldier broke his ankle during horseplay in a tent in Kuwait.
Soldiers have settled in at bases ringing the southern edges of Baghdad; most live at heavily guarded compounds around Baghdad International Airport.
The regiment made its full arrival in Iraq official on Wednesday, when the unit flag was flown near the airport on the city's southwest side.
Col. H.R. McMaster, the regiment commander, gave a brief speech.
"Many years from now when your grandchildren ask you what did you do or where were you during the global war on terrorism, you'll be able to tell them you were not at home watching it on television or placing a yellow ribbon on your bumper," McMaster said, according to an e-mail sent by the regiment. "You can tell them you were here on the ground fighting the war on terror."
The flag was unfurled within a few days of the first anniversary of the regiment's homecoming from its first tour in Iraq. About 60 percent of the soldiers in the regiment are on their second yearlong tour with the 5,200-soldier unit.
Last time, the regiment battled mostly in Iraq's western desert, a dry and barren land that included Ramadi, an insurgent hot spot.
In Baghdad, the unit is in an urban area with an estimated 6 million inhabitants. The region includes the cities of Mumadiyah and Salman Pac.
Some of the area controlled by the regiment hasn't been regularly patrolled by occupation forces since the capital fell two years ago, Maj. Mark Solomon told soldiers' families in a Fort Carson meeting Thursday.
The soldiers are adapting quickly to urban fighting, conducting house-to-house searches and uncovering roadside bombs.
Regiment spokesman Maj. Gary Dangerfield said the soldiers have made their own luck. "I don't believe in omens," he said by telephone Friday from Baghdad. "I believe in great training."
Speculation abounds on what the next 11 months hold for the regiment.
Bush administration officials show increasing confidence that the war against Iraqi insurgents is beginning to wind down.
Gideon Rose with the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank in Washington, D.C., said he's been skeptical of the war, but he increasingly believes that the fledgling Iraqi government and improved military tactics might be succeeding.
But others say the lull in fighting that was marked by a steep decline in U.S. casualties last month might not signify anything.
"We don't know if we have the insurgents on the ropes or whether they are readying for a spring offensive," said John Pike, executive director of the defense think tank GlobalSecurity.org.
A clear objective of the 3rd ACR is to hand off much of the fighting to Iraqis. Now, the regiment is training Iraqi police and military units to take on guerrillas.
"Our partnership with the Iraqis is right on track," Dangerfield said.
Apart from the stresses of combat, life isn't bad for the regiment, he said. Soldiers have access to telephones, the Internet and plenty of good food. "If you're not careful, you'll gain a lot of weight," he said.
Even as the soldiers grow accustomed to their surroundings, they know their location might not be permanent.
"All I can tell you," Solomon said, "is there is a likelihood the regiment will move."
© Copyright 2005, The Gazette, a division of Freedom Colorado Information
