Found one MIA, now KIA, others unknown

The other day the news came, and I could not write about it. I don't know how to spell his name, and this is Memorial Weekend. The headline says it all, though, doesn't it? And the fight goes on, as it should. Rest in peace, my dear neighbor. Godspeed, comfort and healing to your family.

Air, ground units continue search for missing Soldiers

21 May 2007
U.S. Army story by Spc. Nathan Hoskins
1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs Multi-National Division-Baghdad PAO.

BAGHDAD - Soldiers continue 24 hour full spectrum air and ground operations dedicated to the search and rescue of three missing Soldiers, today.

Since May 12, pilots and Soldiers from 3rd “Spearhead” Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, – a UH-60 Black Hawk battalion – have been conducting air assaults and air movements of Soldiers and cargo around the clock supporting the search for the missing Soldiers, said Maj. Gail Atkins, operations officer for 3-227th.

Spearhead also assisted in an information campaign by dropping leaflets onto the battlefield in an effort to recover information about the missing Soldiers’ whereabouts from the locals, said Atkins.

“Both the air to ground integration and also the air to air integration has worked well and I hope it has provided the support that they’ve needed,” she said.

Along with 3-227th, the 4th “Guns” Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, an AH-64D Apache attack helicopter battalion, is providing support to the recovery effort, as well.

“Ultimately, we support the ground guys. If they need our support, that’s our top priority,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Terry Eldrige, an Apache and maintenance test pilot from Company B, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment.

Since their first response to the attack May 12, 4-227th has kept two teams of Apaches in the air to support the mission 24 hours a day, said Capt. David Roman, battle captain and Apache pilot for 4-227th.

Because the Soldiers searching on the ground are stretched throughout a large area, not only do they need supplies taken to them, but they need help relaying information to their headquarters, said Roman.

“One of the best ways we’ve been combat enablers for them is through reconnaissance and radio retransmissions – being able to talk to them and enable their communications,” he said.

Both air and ground Soldiers are committed to finding their comrades at all costs.

“Coalition forces are currently using every means at our disposal to find the missing Soldiers, and we will continue these efforts until all are accounted for,” said Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesperson.

Photo: Spc. Theron Williams keeps an eye out for terrorists during a spring rainstorm May 16 while searching for three Soldiers who went missing after a May 12 attack. Williams, a rifleman with Company B, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., was one of over 4,000 Soldiers searching for the missing comrades. U.S. Air Force photo.

Baghdad ‘Surge’ Moves Forward as Search for Missing Troops Continues

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service.

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2007 – As the troop surge continues in Baghdad, search efforts continue for three 10th Mountain Division soldiers who remain missing following a pre-dawn attack south of the city, the Joint Staff’s deputy operations director reported today.

“A massive effort is under way to locate three missing American soldiers,” Army Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins told reporters during a Pentagon briefing.

The soldiers, members of Fort Drum’s 4th Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, were abducted about 20 miles south of Baghdad at 4:45 a.m. May 12. Four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi army interpreter were killed in the incident.

Wiggins said credible intelligence points to al Qaeda or an associated group as the abductors.

He described the scope of the search for the missing troops, which includes thousands of U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts. “We are using all intelligence resources at our disposal, including aerial platforms and human intelligence teams,” he said.

In addition, checkpoints set up throughout the area are helping focus the search and prevent the captors from attempting to transport the missing soldiers, he said.

Wiggins declined to give additional specifics about the search that could jeopardize the operation but assured reporters no stone will go unturned until the soldiers are found.

“It is important for the American people to know that we are using every asset and resource available to the United States and Iraqi partners in our efforts to find our soldiers,” he said.

“As a soldier myself who has commanded in Iraq, I can assure the American people, particularly the families of the missing soldiers, that we are committed to the soldier’s creed of never leaving a fallen comrade,” Wiggins said. “And I know that every soldier involved in the search is living by that creed as well and doing everything they can to find these brave soldiers.”

Meanwhile, the troop surge continues in an effort to reduce violence in Baghdad and stabilize the city, Wiggins said. “Our objective in Baghdad, partnered with Iraqi security forces, is to improve security and stability so that the necessary political and economic progress can take place,” he said.

The fourth of five U.S. Army brigade combat teams that constitute the surge has arrived and started operations in the northern part of the Baghdad, he reported. This unit, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, includes about 3,700 soldiers and their Stryker armored vehicles.

These troops are working hand in hand with Iraqi security forces to clear, control and hold key areas of the city. Wiggins said ground commanders welcome the unit’s capability and the tactical range and mobility the Stryker vehicles lend to the effort.

The fifth brigade in the surge, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, is completing its arrival in Kuwait and is expected to be fully operational in the Baghdad area by mid-June, Wiggins said.

These reinforcements will bring the U.S. troop strength there to about 155,000 by mid-June, up from about 133,000 in December, he said. Wiggins emphasized that troop numbers fluctuate regularly as units rotate in and out of the country.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces continue to mature as they grow in numbers and capability, he said. The Iraqi army now has about 140,000 troops trained, equipped and on the ground. Currently 80 battalions have taken the operational lead and nine are working independently, Wiggins said.

As they operate, Wiggins emphasized that the troops go to great lengths to avoid killing or hurting innocent civilians and prevent collateral damage. This is in stark contrast to the “barbaric nature of the enemy we face,” both in al Qaeda in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

These groups kill indiscriminately and actually target civilians, he said. Pointing to a specific example where al Qaeda set up “a premeditated death trap” at a girl’ school north of Baghdad, Wiggins said the insurgents’ action “shows humanity at its lowest point.”

U.S. and Iraqi troops found and dismantled the operation before it could inflict any damage, he reported.

Search for missing Soldiers continues

15 May 2007
Multi-National Division – Center PAO.

BAGHDAD – Coalition and Iraqi Forces have been working around the clock since a pre-dawn attack Saturday that left one Iraqi and four U.S. Soldiers dead and three other U.S. Soldiers missing.

Every asset has been brought to bear in the hunt for the missing troops, who belong to Multi-National Division-Center, including search dogs, trucks with speakers, unmanned aerial vehicles, law enforcement advisers, and both U.S. and Iraqi troops.

Personnel monitoring Iraqi tip call-in lines have also been busy. Thousands of leaflets were dropped requesting information leading to the return of the Soldiers. The leaflets list telephone numbers for tip lines, and the information given is routed to units in the area.

Maj. Kenny Mintz, a native of San Diego, Calif., and the brigade operations officer for the 2nd BCT, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), out of Fort Drum, N.Y., said the 2nd BCT’s participation in the search for the Soldiers is continuing by all available means.

“Right now our focus is on searching for the missing Soldiers, and we’re trying to isolate the areas where we think they could be,” Mintz said. “The (captors) don’t have freedom of movement; if they have the Soldiers, they can’t move them from where they are. We’re doing a deliberate search of the areas for the people responsible for the Soldiers we’re looking for.”

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, an Multi-National Forces-Iraq spokesman, was the first to speak about the incident.
"Make no mistake,” Caldwell said Saturday. “We will never stop looking for our Soldiers until their status is definitely determined.”

General Cites ‘Massive Effort’ Under Way to Find Missing Soldiers

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service.

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2007 – The U.S. military, coalition partners and Iraqi security forces are making a “massive effort” to find three American soldiers missing in Iraq since May 12, a senior U.S. military officer said today.

“We are using every asset and resource available to the United States and our Iraqi allies in these efforts,” Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, said during a videotaped release broadcast on the Pentagon Channel today.

A convoy carrying seven U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi army interpreter was ambushed by enemy forces as it traveled west of Mahmudiyah, Iraq, during a search for roadside bombs, U.S. officials reported. The attack site is located about 20 miles south of Baghdad.

Positive identification has been made of three U.S. soldiers killed in the attack, Caldwell said, and of the Iraqi interpreter. Identification of the fourth U.S. soldier killed in the ambush is pending, he said.

However, “we still have three missing American soldiers,” Caldwell said, noting their current duty status is classified as “whereabouts unknown.”

“We are doing everything we can to locate our soldiers,” Caldwell emphasized, adding that Iraqi citizens are providing tips to help find the missing troops.

Caldwell said credible intelligence information indicates that the U.S. soldiers have been abducted by al Qaeda or an affiliated terrorist group operating in Iraq.

Intelligence teams, manned and unmanned aircraft, and an array of other U.S., coalition and Iraqi assets are being employed in the search operations, Caldwell noted.

Information now being disseminated about the missing soldiers is intentionally limited, Caldwell noted, so as not to jeopardize ongoing search operations. The missing soldiers’ families are receiving all available information, he said.

Caldwell said the U.S. military’s thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the missing soldiers and to those families who have suffered the death of a loved one as a result of the attack.

Thousands of U.S. troops are combing the area where the missing soldiers were last seen, Caldwell said, noting everyone involved is “doing everything we can to find these brave and courageous soldiers.”

The U.S. Army is pledged to honor its tradition of never abandoning a comrade on the battlefield, Caldwell pointed out.

“We live by that creed,” the two-star general said.
WASHINGTON, May 14, 2007 – The U.S. military, coalition partners and Iraqi security forces are making a “massive effort” to find three American soldiers missing in Iraq since May 12, a senior U.S. military officer said today.

“We are using every asset and resource available to the United States and our Iraqi allies in these efforts,” Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, said during a videotaped release broadcast on the Pentagon Channel today.

A convoy carrying seven U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi army interpreter was ambushed by enemy forces as it traveled west of Mahmudiyah, Iraq, during a search for roadside bombs, U.S. officials reported. The attack site is located about 20 miles south of Baghdad.

Positive identification has been made of three U.S. soldiers killed in the attack, Caldwell said, and of the Iraqi interpreter. Identification of the fourth U.S. soldier killed in the ambush is pending, he said.

However, “we still have three missing American soldiers,” Caldwell said, noting their current duty status is classified as “whereabouts unknown.”

“We are doing everything we can to locate our soldiers,” Caldwell emphasized, adding that Iraqi citizens are providing tips to help find the missing troops.

Caldwell said credible intelligence information indicates that the U.S. soldiers have been abducted by al Qaeda or an affiliated terrorist group operating in Iraq.

Intelligence teams, manned and unmanned aircraft, and an array of other U.S., coalition and Iraqi assets are being employed in the search operations, Caldwell noted.

Information now being disseminated about the missing soldiers is intentionally limited, Caldwell noted, so as not to jeopardize ongoing search operations. The missing soldiers’ families are receiving all available information, he said.

Caldwell said the U.S. military’s thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the missing soldiers and to those families who have suffered the death of a loved one as a result of the attack.

Thousands of U.S. troops are combing the area where the missing soldiers were last seen, Caldwell said, noting everyone involved is “doing everything we can to find these brave and courageous soldiers.”

The U.S. Army is pledged to honor its tradition of never abandoning a comrade on the battlefield, Caldwell pointed out.

“We live by that creed,” the two-star general said.