Soldiers of 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, and Company D, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, detained five suspected insurgents and found four weapons caches July 5 near Jisr Diyala. The operation resulted in the largest cache seizure for the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team since beginning operations southeast of Baghdad in late March. Unit leaders said Soldiers conducted the five-phase operation to deny enemy sanctuaries and seize caches. Soldiers from 3-1 Cav. and Company D, currently attached to 3-1 Cav., secured and searched four target locations simultaneously during the operation.
Each cache found and destroyed decreases the munitions and improvised explosive device making materials available for insurgents to use against the populace and Coalition Forces, said Capt. Jimmy Hathaway, from Columbus, Ga., commander of Headquarters Co., 3-1 Cav. “Ultimately, this mission was a step in the right direction towards making Iraq a more secure and safe region,” Hathaway said. “The mission established the standard that Coalition Forces are not going to stand for anti-Coalition Force activity,” said 1ST Lt. Donovan Duke, from New Cumberland, Pa., a platoon leader with Company D, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, from Fort Benning, Ga. “We are here to establish a safe environment in cooperation with the Iraqi Security Forces for the Iraqi citizens.”
The following was seized from the four caches: 8 fuses, four artillery rounds, three rockets, nine hand grenades, 56 mortars, 10 rocket propelled grenades, more than 15 pounds of C4 explosives and miscellaneous bomb-making materials and unidentified explosives.