Sons of Hope: Rhode Island Army National Guard, 3Rd Platoon, Delta Company, 3-172 Mountain Infantry, Iraq 2005–2006

Copyright © 2013 Jeffrey Ahern.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-3912-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-3914-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-3913-2 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012913363

iUniverse rev. date: 04/03/2013

Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword BY MAJ William Tuttle IV

Introduction

Part I: The Mountain Company Goes to War.

Fort Stewart, Georgia

NTC Fort Irwin, California

Good-Bye, America; Hello, Wasteland

The First Missions

Bounty Hunters

Midsummer in Baghdad

Summer’s End

The End in Sight

Good-Bye, Baghdad

Part II: Al Asad

The Armpit of the World

The First East-West Missions

The North-South Missions

Spring Break 2006

The Mountain Company Comes Home

Afterword

Glossary

Baghdad Proper

AO Bounty

East West Missions

North South Missions

For

Sergeant James J Dubs Dube

1985-2006

and

Sergeant Dennis Weichel

1982-2012

Forever in our hearts

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would first like to thank the members of Third Platoon Delta Company, Third Battalion, 172nd Infantry, their families, and the rest of Delta Company who shared with us many of the memories at Fort Stewart, Fort Irwin, Kuwait, Iraq, and hundreds of dirt roads and paved highways. I decided to write this book for the memories we all shared together before they are forgotten by us and those we served with. As things change in the world and the US Army, I wanted these memories to be written down so that we can share them with future generations when we are asked what we did in the War on Terrorism.

In addition, I would like to thank the Rhode Island Army National Guard as a whole. The Rhode Island units that served during Operation Iraqi Freedom before and after us included:

All these units went above and beyond the standards expected of a National Guard unit, when thrown into a large-scale combat mission alongside our active-duty brothers and sisters. Truly the state of Rhode Island has a lot to be proud of in Iraq.

I would like to acknowledge my platoon and company leadership, especially SFC Wayne Oldroyd, SSG Brian Lancey, and SSG Harry Segerstrom. In addition to his service as my third squad leader, I would also like to thank SSG John Sampson for sharing his point of view during two events in this book I was not present for. Our company commander, CPT William Tuttle IV, and 1SG Joseph Klostermann put together a team fit for deployment, ready and willing to face any challenge and succeed. I am thankful to them for their leadership, mentorship, guidance, and motivation.

I would also like to mention the families of Third Platoon and of Delta Company. Your constant support, understanding, and care for us while we were deployed are a debt none of us can ever repay. This book is written for you as well, just a small way to say thank you for all you endured from January 2004 to May 2006.

Personally, I would like to thank my mother, father, brother, and family and friends for their support and guidance through this deployment and the four-year process of writing this book. I would also like to thank my wife, Jen, for her love and support. Many thanks to Robert Siliato Photography for assisting me in developing and editing the pictures in the book.

In closing, to the soldiers of Third Platoon and the entire Delta Company, 3-172 Mountain Infantry, this is your story. Remember it and always be proud of your service. I speak for the other officers in the company when I say it was an honor to be one of your leaders during these events. Your loyalty, service, and sacrifice during the good times and bad times will never be forgotten.

FOREWORD

BY MAJ WILLIAM TUTTLE IV

Detachment 2, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Third Battalion, 172nd Infantry (Mountain) was the formal name of our unit. We were the specialty platoons for our infantry battalion located in Vermont. As such, we had three different training-mission philosophies to prepare for combat in the traditional sense of a deployment for an infantry battalion: scout, anti-armor, and mortar. We would soon learn that our combat experience would be anything but traditional.

The soldiers that filled the ranks of each element were all tactically and technically proficient within the scope of each platoon mission set. Collective training revolved around basic soldier skills and mountain operations. Due to the variance of each mission focus, we predominantly trained separately and were very comfortable with that. Due in part to the Mountain mission and coupled with the outstanding officer and NCO leadership assigned to the unit, we enjoyed a 125 percent fill rate composed of absolutely great Americans. These men all volunteered to train in a highly specialized, technically advanced National Guard Infantry unit in challenging operating environments that would meet the enemy on the forefront of the battlefield.

In a post 9/11 posture, we watched units ramp up for deployment in a seemingly perpetual moment in time. To conceptualize this, the Rhode Island Army National Guard would hold the title of second most deployed state in the country. In early 2004, I had an informal sit down with our chief of staff, COL Brain Goodwin, to outline the preparedness of our unit and request deployment tied to Operation Iraqi Freedom. I knew my soldiers were anxious, and some wondered if we would get a deployment opportunity at all. As we waited for our chance to join the fight, we moved soldiers to other units that did get the green light to mobilize and move into the war theater. I would be remiss if I did not mention that before I assumed command, this unit lost most of its primary leadership to an embedded training team mission to Afghanistan. We did have a family readiness group. That group was strong and tight knit, and proved to be an instrumental support tool throughout our journey.

In mid-2004, I received word that a possible alert order would be arriving for our unit. It seemed that COL Goodwin did not let us down. By this time, the soldiers of the unit were even more pensive about their prospects of being deployed. I would always tell them that it was not a matter of if, but a matter of when. Answering the when was the hard part. Training toward it was easy. I implemented a high concentration of collective training and even provided for my soldiers the very best officers within our state inventory, so they could all be Ranger qualified.

Most importantly, 1SG Joseph Klostermann and I deeply entrenched ourselves in the shaping of the backbone of our organization—the NCO corps. Together, we mentored and trained our NCOs through counseling, allowing them to develop into their own leaders without micromanaging. This elite group of leaders would evolve into one of the top-performing war-fighting organizations that the army had to offer.

One day in early October, our brigade commander, COL William Babcock, requested I report to his office. He asked me one simple question: Bill, how is your southern accent? He went on to say that the 48th IBCT in Georgia needed an additional infantry company, and we had been selected to move out in January 2005. So the word of deployment had finally arrived and the real work began. It later became apparent that the preparation for deployment was just as challenging as the deployment itself. The obvious exception was the absence of bullets buzzing by and bombs exploding around us. We would transform into a motorized rifle company, mobilize as a separate company, and become a maneuver asset for the 1-118th Field Artillery, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. We would be mobilizing out of Fort Stewart for five months and deploy for a year into the insurgent-saturated world of Operation Iraqi Freedom III.

My preliminary question was, at first glance, quite basic, but it soon outlined my naïveté in this unique restructuring process. It revolved around what the unit would look like. I received a piece of paper labeled Motorized Rifle Company. The document was a compilation of pictures of antiquated vehicles and 120 cartoon soldiers with assorted weapons placed in various positions.

The traditional landscape had changed in the ever-evolving operating environment in Iraq’s counterinsurgency operations. Our unit, catapulted into this emerging fighting arena, moved swiftly to adapt. This initial inquiry was full of complexity and became our first major challenge. There was no standard equipment to reference, so equipment assignment and personnel positioning was somewhat of a mystery. My senior leaders and I quickly realized we would have to build this company from the ground up.

That is exactly what we did. I like to define this action as a whirlwind that swept across our traditional positions within the specialty platoons and reorganized everyone into four extraordinary, well-rounded platoons. We had a blend of scout, anti-armor, and mortar trained personnel in each platoon. I also added four-man sniper sections to each. Equipment assigned to our unit was intertwined with our previous unit structure. To ensure troop sustainment, soldier survivability, and overall mission success, we examined what we could utilize from this force package and developed far more with the use of an operational needs statement (ONS). This was roughly a ten-page list of essential equipment and the justification for each that was submitted for approval through HQDA (Headquarters, Department of the Army). We were limited only by our imagination as it pertained to our future mission. To our amazement, our unit received virtually every item that we requested.

Quite interesting, it was, to have been afforded the illustrious opportunity to create a new organization such as this. It shaped us into an infantry company that was far more advanced than that of any traditional infantry organization in the entire army inventory. I certainly feel privileged to have been part of this unique, historical innovation. I was also very proud of all my leaders who collectively assisted in this time-consuming transformation of force structure. From that point forward, we were designated as D Co, 3-172nd IN (MTN).

Key leadership was placed on orders on December 1, 2004, and the main body reported to the unit six days later. During this time, the soldiers of the mountain company refreshed common soldier skills, conducted driver training, and qualified in combat lifesaver. After providing direction to our company executive officer, 1LT Alan Dufresne, the 1SG and I pushed to Georgia to meet and greet with our new go-to-war leadership. When we returned, the unit completed all premobilization training, packed all equipment, and we conducted our farewell ceremony.

Emotions were flying and tears were flowing, but as I peered into the eyes of my soldiers, they exuded confidence, motivation, and a patriotic intensity that instilled in me an incredible feeling of pride. Colonels and generals made wonderful speeches that touched the hearts of our beloved family members. Our distinguished speaker, Chief Justice Frank J. Williams, was a combat infantryman from the Vietnam War. He provided an inspirational reflection on his experiences during war and relayed words of encouragement and confidence in us.

The reader will become intimately familiar with our company’s journey, as it is wonderfully presented here through the eyes of first-hand experience. Jeff’s book, Sons of Hope: Third Platoon, Delta Company, 3-172 Mountain Infantry recounts the story of third platoon during its time in Baghdad and the transitions to the company as it reunited in Al Asad. It is a true testament to the dedication, loyalty, camaraderie, and pride of the Mountain Infantry soldier who was ever present then and still lives on today.

Ascend to victory!

MAJ William Tuttle

Commander, Delta Company, 3-172 Mountain Infantry

Operation Iraqi Freedom III 2005-2006

INTRODUCTION

Steel 26, this is Steel 16. What’s your status? Over.

Steel 16, this is 26. Ready to roll. Over.

I heard the radio call and knew I was next to go. Just like that, it came quicker than expected.

Steel 36, this is Steel 16. What’s your status? Over.

Steel 16, this is 36. Good to go. Over, I said as I wiped the sweat out of my eyes.

The sun was beating down on us as we waited on the side of the dirt road just outside the village of Ali Assed. Our mission was to go in and conduct a search of a building that possibly held weapon caches for the insurgents in the area. My platoon was designated as the main effort, and the first and second platoons would provide inner and outer security around the objective. We were traveling in a company convoy of about thirty vehicles.

I had been in command of the platoon for less than two weeks as we mounted up and waited for the word to move out. I was instructed not to move on the building unless we had gotten permission from the sheik or we received hostile fire from the target. I planned the assault in three phases. Third squad would break the outer wall using grappling hooks to clear it of booby traps, first squad would then move in to clear the first floor, and second squad would move in and clear the upstairs and search for the cache. But we knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

All Steel elements, this is Steel 16. Convoy is moving toward OBJ.

It was the voice of LT David Disi, who was the leader of the first platoon. His unit would be responsible for setting up the outer cordon to prevent access into or out of the village. Also inside the village with me would be the second platoon led by my college friend, LT Christopher Ahlemeyer. Ahlemeyer and I had attended ROTC at Providence College back in the good old days when life was easy, fun, and we had nothing to worry about.

All Steel elements, this is Steel 5, said our company executive officer, 1LT Alan Dufresne. Alan was second-in-command and was in charge of giving us updates on the activity in the town. Be advised. Crowds are gathering in the objective area and are becoming hostile. Make contact with the village leader and restore control.

We continued toward the town, and I could see through the smoke the target building. My gunner began pounding his feet on the floor of the Humvee, obviously feeling the adrenaline pumping. As we rode closer to the village I reminded my driver, Specialist Thomas Salvail, to keep a safe distance from the next vehicle and be ready to dismount once we stopped. Roger, sir, was his reply. He was a young soldier and had been in my old anti-armor platoon. Now he was my driver. I could remember when I was leading that platoon and how we had thought we would never go to war. How we never had anything to be afraid of.

Steel 1 in position outside of the village. Steel 2, move in.

Steel 2 moving in. Steel 3, prepare to dismount.

Roger. Steel 3 is ready.

The convoys of the second and third platoons came to a halt fifty meters in front of the building. We quickly dismounted and took up positions watching the target as the second platoon cordoned off the building for our attack. Once we were all in position, the word came over the radio.

All Steel elements in position and 16 is moving to make contact with the sheik.

We could see the crowd gathering on the other side of the building, and we could see LT Disi and his security unit walking over to the sheik. I looked toward the western buildings and saw Ahlemeyer give me the thumbs up. Now all we had to do was wait for the signal.

Crack, crack, crack. The sound of AK-47 fire exploded from the second floor of the building.

Steel 5, this is Steel 36. We are taking fire from the objective. Request permission to engage and enter the building. Over.

Steel 36, this is Steel 5, LT Dufresne responded over the radio. Attack, attack. Move into the objective. This crowd is getting crazy. We’ve got to move now!

Roger. Steel 3 moving.

I dropped the hand mike and turned to my platoon, crouched behind the vehicles as the gunfire from the building grew to a deafening noise. My heart pumped with the same adrenaline and fear I saw on the faces of my thirty-three soldiers, all of them looking at me for the next move. I yelled, Open Fire! and the whole platoon, along with the second platoon, unloaded into the building. I threw my yellow smoke signal to let everyone know the breach team was moving up. The signal was to shift fire so none of my guys were hit by friendly fire.

As the firing died down, I saw the squad move through the smoke to the outer wall of the building. Once they hit that point, they tossed the grappling hooks over the gates and pulled them down to clear the entrance of any booby traps. Once it was clear, I yelled over to my first squad leader to move into the first floor. SSG Segerstrom hustled his squad through the concealing smoke and into the first floor. The moment they entered, shots in bursts of one to three rounds boomed out of the windows and doors. After a minute, I received the word on the radio.

Steel 36, this is 31. First floor secure. Three enemies KIA, no friendly casualties. Move in the second floor.

Steel 31, this is 36. Roger. Second team moving in.

I called on the second squad to enter the building, to clear the second floor and search for the cache.

The second squad received heavy resistance from the second floor. They also almost ran into a trip wire on the stairs, but luckily it was spotted by a team leader. If they had tripped the wire, enough C4 would have detonated to blow the house up and bury my platoon in the ashes. We never realized how safe we used to be.

Steel 36, this is 32. Second floor secure. Three enemy KIA, looking for cache. Over.

This is 36. Good, copy. Send out signals, watch the windows, and let me know when you find that cache.

All Steel elements, I continued. This is Steel 36. Building is secure, beginning search.

Steel 36, this is Steel 5. Over. It was Dufresne again.

Steel 5, this is 36. Go ahead.

Roger. I need you to move one squad to assist with the crowd in the square as soon as possible. It’s getting bad out here.

Steel 5, this is 36. Roger.

I headed toward the entrance to the building, passing through my security squad, which was watching the outer gates to prevent the crowd from entering the building. As I reached the door, I screamed the password to those inside.

Steel 36 coming in! Don’t fire.

The order was acknowledged, and I entered the room. Bodies of the enemy insurgents lay on the floor, their AK-47s next to them, as my soldiers searched the room. I told SSG Lancey to take his squad outside and link up with LT Ahlemeyer to assist in crowd control. He quickly moved out, and I ordered a team from first squad down to the first floor to secure it. A loud boom exploded from the square, the concussion almost knocking us off of our feet.

All Steel elements, this is Steel 5 we have mass casualties by the post office. We had one suicide bomber. I say again, mass casualties near the post office. Send what you can, move back to the vehicles, prepare to mount up.

Roger, I replied. This is Steel 36 moving.

Almost immediately a soldier told me that the cache had been discovered, and was prepped and ready to be blown. I called in the demolition team and we primed the charge. Within two minutes we were out the door. The second floor of the house blew out, and I could hear the RPG rounds burning and exploding in the flames. We returned to our vehicles and set up our casualty collection point for the many casualties we knew we were about to have.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw them coming, a large mob of Iraqi civilians chanting and throwing rocks at our convoy. We formed a line, turning toward the crowd. As the two lines clashed, all went to hell. The Iraqis were chanting something about our president, my men were pushing them back as the Iraqis yelled at them, spat at them, and reached for anything that didn’t look tied down.

"All Steel elements, this is Steel 5. Red, red, red."

Red was the signal I’d been waiting for. It was the code word for my platoon to fall back to our vehicles and get out of the area. We fell back, and I discovered that the entire squad I had sent over to assist the second platoon had become casualties in the blast. We received word that all had been evacuated and were heading back to the forward operating base (FOB) for immediate medical treatment. Once we were ready to move, I gave the word and the convoy sped away. In thirty minutes the mission was over. As we drove farther away from the village, I closed my eyes and let the hum of the motor be my solace for the excitement we had just experienced. It was going to be a long road and I knew it, but this was a reality check.

All elements this is Steel 5, end of exercise. Return to the village for after-action review.

ENDEX was the end of the exercise we had been planning here at the Fort Stewart MOUT (military operations in urban terrain) site for three days now. We had rehearsed and rehearsed, and all seemed to have gone smoothly. This ended the first of the many exercises that would prepare the company to go off to war. It seemed so long ago that it had all begun for me back in December 2004.

*     *     *

December 15, 2004, 0130 Hours

Camp Merrill, 5th Ranger Training Battalion, US Army Ranger School

Dahlonega, Georgia

The rain fell softly on my quivering, exhausted, and hungry body. I was chilled to the bone, my teeth chattering and blisters on my hands from the cold of the past nine days. I sat there on my rucksack, holding my weapon and waiting for the word that would decide my future. I would soon discover if my dream would become a reality or just fade away. Closing my eyes, I thought of my family back home. Mom and Dad were for sure getting ready for Christmas and my homecoming, and here I was so far away and at one of the tensest times in my life.

It was December 15, 2004, in Dahlonega, Georgia, and we had just returned from our dreadful and challenging nine-day field training exercise in the Tennessee Valley Divide along the Appalachian Trail. My body had been pushed to the limits in pre-Ranger and in the Benning phase, but not to the point where I wondered how I had the strength to sit up and move when my name was called. The silence was indescribable. All of us knew some would go on to the Florida phase, but the word was that at least half of our company would stay here in the mountains. Still, it was comforting that in less than a week we would all be home on Christmas holiday with our friends, family, and loved ones. I knew I would not get recycled because the company was heading to Fort Stewart to begin mobilization training for the war in Iraq. I wondered where I would be a year from now. All I knew for sure was that it wouldn’t be cold, it wouldn’t be wet, and I wouldn’t be this exhausted.

The Ranger instructor suddenly yelled at us out the window of the headquarters building, his voice like an awakening boom. All right, Rangers, wake the fuck up. Now is the time. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves and stand up!

We all tried to rise to our feet, and I used the butt of my M4 rifle to lift myself of my rucksack.

Roster number 50, 51, 53,106, 111, and 139, move in here, the Ranger instructor ordered.

I realized after a buddy nudged me that I was actually sleeping standing up. My number had been called and I didn’t know what the outcome would be as I stepped into the long hallway with the other men, lining up outside the sergeant’s office. I watched as student after student walked out the door with either a frown or smile on his face. Then I was called in.

I sat down as the sergeant first class looked over my records and my performance over the past few weeks. I drifted off until he held out his hand and said, Congratulations, Ranger. Have fun in Florida.

My stomach dropped and I shook his hand. Thank you, Sergeant. Rangers lead the way.

I walked out of the building and into the pouring rain, knowing that I would be going home with only the Florida phase to worry about. As I entered the barracks I saw that half of the bunks were empty. Of the fifty-one people in Alpha Company, only twenty-two of us would be moving on to Florida in January to finish the task and earn our Ranger tabs. But I knew the military would be close by as I returned home for Christmas, because the company had begun deployment preparation, and I had a lot to do during my time off.

The next few weeks passed quickly. There was a lot of sleeping, eating, and drinking as much as I could possibly handle. Through it all I never thought