Task Force 2-7 IN Newsletters
ABLE 6 Sends (Oct 07):
Greetings from Camp Korean Village in Area of Operations (AO) Rutbah in the western desert of Al Anbar Province! I apologize for not publishing a newsletter last month, but the past 6 weeks have been very busy for the Cottonbalers. From mid-August thru mid-September, TF 2-7 transitioned our former area of operations in Hit to a battalion of Marines, moved our 800+ Soldiers and 200+ vehicles and equipment over 250 miles west, and then assumed a new area of responsibility nearly 5 times as large. I was proud of how our leaders and Soldiers performed all three tasks with professionalism and without injury, accident, or loss. We’re only just now starting to get our feet underneath us in our new surroundings.
Able 6 and Able 7 prepare to case the unit colors before departing Camp Hit.
Camp Korean Village (or CKV for short) is a small “village” located next to the 6-lane highway which travels east-west across the Al Anbar Province from Syria and Jordan to Baghdad. It was built by Korean contractors to house the Korean laborers who built the highway back in the Saddam Era. With about 30 identical small houses and several larger administration buildings, paved streets, driveways, sidewalks, etc. part of our new home actually resembles a suburban neighborhood. There is even a small, in-ground swimming pool – although it hasn’t been filled with water in some time! Of course, over the past 4 years, Coalition Forces have added many other facilities to the “neighborhood” including a dining facility, laundry point, gym, small helicopter airfield, and about 100 wooden buildings (called “SWA or Southwest Asia Huts” because of their design origin during the first Gulf War) where the majority of the military occupants of the camp live.
Views of Camp Korean Village.
Arguably the most significant difference between Camp Korean Village and Camp Hit is the presence of Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) Logistics Contractors. Here at CKV, KBR provides many of the services and amenities which we provided for ourselves – or didn’t have at all – at Camp Hit. So, in many ways, our overall quality of life has improved. The dining facility prepares 4 meals a day including “midnight rations” from 11 PM – 1 AM for Soldiers whose mission schedule prevents them from making normal meals. The laundry facility provides a 72-hour turn around and actually produces clean, fresh-smelling laundry that is actually folded! They provide a 4-hr turnaround for laundry brought in from our remote sites so even those not living on CKV can enjoy their services. The PX, though small, is still far more robust than the makeshift facility we ran ourselves on Camp Hit. The population here on CKV includes a population of 200 civilian contractors, 150 Marines, and 150 various other occupants for a total camp population of just over 1000. Because it’s no longer “just Cottonbalers” on the camp, the CSM and I have had to implement a few more rules so ironically, many members of the Task Force prefer the more austere existence we had on Camp Hit. Like the saying goes, you just can’t please everyone!
TF 2-7 IN Soldiers enjoying the contracted dining facility on Camp Korean Village
Camp Laundry Facility.
As I mentioned, our new area of operations is quite large and we often operate in sparsely populated areas outside of our zone – making it seem even larger. As a result of the recent successes of both Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces in securing the major urban areas in Al Anbar Province, we’re finding that many insurgents are now living and planning operations from small desert villages well off the beaten path. Some are even living in tents and posing as sheepherders to prevent detection. It’s a rough life, but it’s what they’ve been reduced to over the past 6 months. One of our jobs in this new area is to pay frequent visits to all those remote towns, villages, and tents and take pictures and check identification cards and then let them know we’ll be back again soon. This helps the word get out that there is nowhere to hide – even deep in the desert.
Beautiful sunsets are a daily occurrence. This view is looking west toward Syria along the 6-lane highway in our sector.
Similar to the way we were organized in Hit, we’ll have our task force headquarters and most of F Co and HHC on the main camp at CKV and all but one of our “line companies” will operate out of combat outposts or platoon-sized tactical checkpoints off of CKV. The city of Rutbah (pop ~ 35,000) is our main effort and currently the location of Tm E -- about an hour’s drive from CKV. Tm B is operating out of a combat outpost in the small town of Akashat (pop. ~ 3000) – about a 2-hr drive from CKV. Tm D is operating out of a combat outpost adjacent to the major east-west highway in our area – about a 3-hr drive from CKV. As you can see, the distance between our units is much, much greater and it affects everything from communication (all via satellite communication means now instead of FM) to logistics.
As I’m sure many of you have heard, we have moved platoons around and attached them to different companies as part of this move. We’ll keep the arrangement we have now through October and then change some of the platoons again. This serves two purposes. First, it helps relieve the boredom which results from doing the same thing in the same place for months. When Soldiers get bored, they tend to take shortcuts and might overlook things they shouldn’t. Second, it helps spread the good ideas between our companies and lets our leaders and their Soldiers work in different environments, respond to new challenges, and enjoy a change of scenery every 6-9 weeks. Don’t worry though, as long as you put your Soldier’s name on your packages and letters, we’ll be sure it gets to him/her no matter where their platoon is!
We will continue to partner closely with various Iraqi Security Force (ISF) groups (Iraqi Police, Iraqi Highway Patrol, and Iraqi Army) as their numbers grow in our area. During the next 6 months, we expect we’ll double the number of ISF in AO Rutbah, so we’ll devote significant time and effort in ensuring the quality and professionalism of those forces increase as they grow in size. Equipping and housing many of these ISF will also be a challenge particularly for the Iraqi Army units which will all occupy new or renovated facilities in an area where just getting water is a major concern.
Since the last newsletter, we’ve conducted 3 company changes of command and one 1SG Change of Responsibility. CPT Kelvin Swint relinquished command of A Company on 11 August to CPT Jason Schuerger who came to us from the Brigade Staff. CPT Martin Ojeda relinquished command of E Company on 22 August to CPT Mark Cobos who had previously been assigned as our Task Force Engineer. CPT John Busa relinquished command of HHC on 29 September to CPT Brian Harnden who had previously been our Task Force Fire Support Officer. 1SG Raul Hernandez transferred responsibility as A Company 1SG to 1SG Connie Rounds who came to us from TF 3-69 Armor. CPTs Swint and Ojeda are now working on the Brigade Staff and CPT Busa will assume leadership of a Military Transition Team partnered with an Iraqi Army Battalion. It’s also significant to report that CPTs Swint, Ojeda, Busa and Tavares (C/2-7) were all recently selected for promotion to Major and will pin on their gold oak leaves over the next several months. Additionally, 1SG Hernandez was selected for Sergeant Major and SGM Shawn Cook, our Operations Sergeant Major, was selected for Command Sergeant Major.
CPT Busa relinquishes the HHC Guidon to LTC Crissman during the HHC Change of Command Ceremony as CPT Harnden and 1SG Dartez look on.
1SG Rounds, CPT Schuerger, and 1SG Hernandez during the A Co 1SG Change of Responsibility Ceremony
I am also happy to report that the Task Force exceeded its reenlistment mission in all categories for the fiscal year ending on 30 September. In fact, the 163 Soldiers we reenlisted in the past 12 months account for more than any other battalion in the 3rd Infantry Division. It’s a remarkable achievement and one which says a lot about the dedication of our young Soldiers and Non-Commissioned Officers who are willing to continue to volunteer to serve their country during this busy time for our Army. I’m proud and honored to serve with them and their families.
We continue to be blessed with a tremendous Rear Detachment and Family Readiness Group. Their ability to share information and solve problems at their level is second to none and has allowed us to focus on our jobs here. We thank them for all their hard work and personal sacrifice for our Soldiers and Families.
Until next time....
LTC Doug Crissman...Able 6
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