Anbar-based brigade commander visits troops in northern Iraq

By Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod
1st BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. PAO

	Photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod/1st BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. PAO Colonel Mark R. Stammer, commander of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, center, visits paratroopers of B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, at Joint Security Station Heider, Iraq, on the Syrian border, May 5.

CAMP RAMADI, Iraq — It wasn’t a rent-to-own plan when an 82nd Airborne brigade loaned 3rd Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment to 3rd Infantry Division to cover down on the Tal Afar area of northern Iraq.

The airborne, light-infantry reconnaissance battalion, or “squadron” in cavalry-speak, left Anbar-based 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, in late 2009 to lend a hand in northern Iraq. There, the sometimes competing interests of Arabs, Yezidis and Kurds, and the threat of smuggled goods and foreign fighters across the Syrian border warranted their movement, they were told.

Relationships between military divisions, brigades, battalions and even companies can be as complex and dynamic as real estate, from ownership to leasing to “renting” by the hour. Functionally speaking, whereas the 82nd “owns” 3rd Sqdn., 73rd Cav. Regt., 3rd Inf. Div. has operational control over them, much like a rental relationship without any money changing hands.

Colonel Mark Stammer, commander of 1st BCT, 82nd Abn. Div., paid a visit in early May to his loaned squadron of cavalry scouts at their home base at Forward Operating Base Sykes, just outside of Tal Afar in Ninewa province, Iraq.

“Thanks to U.S. Division–North and Colonel Sexton, we got some helicopters, some great weather and got around to see all of the troops at their company firebases all throughout Ninewah, from Rabiyah, over Mount Sinjar, down into a brand-new camp outside of a little village called Zumar,” said Stammer, a native of South Dakota who was previously deployed with 173rd Airborne Brigade to Afghanistan.

“While we’ve had the brigade command sergeant major up here a couple times, this was my first opportunity and most likely my only one,” he said.

Ninewa province lies on the opposite side of the Jazirah Desert from arid Anbar and in many ways, it resembles parts of the American West, with green pastures and cattle, irrigation canals brimming with water for crops that cover the open spaces to the foot of barren, hardscrabble mountains. Trees resemble the cedars, pines and water-loving willows from the States. There is birdlife and wild, coyote-like jackals, and plenty to eat for sheep and goats.

The cavalry unit has a uniquely complex and challenging mission, according to squadron commander, Lt. Col. Scott Hooper.

“We operate in a supporting role with our Iraqi security force partners, which includes Iraqi army, police, border police, Kurdish Regional Guards Brigade, customs and port of entry security, and oil protection forces,” Hooper explained.

Not only do his paratroopers conduct combined border interdiction operations, reconnaissance and surveillance, and combined targeting of threat networks, they also maintain an advise-and-assist role that includes the development and professionalization of their partnered forces.

Lastly, they directly support the efforts of the western Ninewah provincial reconstruction team, as well as military efforts to improve civil capacity in terms of economic development, governance and Iraqi rule of law initiatives.

With their redeployment coming soon, the paratroopers of 3rd Sqdn., 73rd Cav. Regt. were able to show their home brigade commander what they have accomplished while wearing the All American combat patch.

“I know he’s got his own stuff to worry about down there in Anbar, but it’s good to see him up here to show him what we’ve been doing to make the 82nd proud,” said 1st Lt. Kyle Robinson, a platoon leader with A Troop at Firebase Khan-a-Sur, west of FOB Sykes.

Robinson’s platoon is one of several that helps man a combined checkpoint, as part of a tri-partite joint venture between Iraqi, Kurdish and U.S. security forces to ensure equal
treatment and freedom of movement for all Iraqi citizens.

“We actually have Iraqi police, Iraqi army, Peshmerga (Kurdish military), and starting tomorrow, the emergency response police,” said Sgt. Richard McNull, who was pulling guard at the security checkpoint.

Robinson said the small firebase has had many distinguished visitors, including Fox News.
“I think (Stammer’s) visit probably means the most to them because he is our brigade commander, and he is someone they can all relate to,” said Robinson.

The CCP was only a few weeks old when the troop arrived in February. Initially, his men saw the difference between how the Iraqi army and Peshmerga treated Arabs and Kurds, but now they have established one standard so that everyone is following the same rules, he said.

Ganim Darwish, a master sergeant with the Peshmerga from nearby Kahn As Sur, and Nayf Taalosh, a Yezidi sergeant from Sinjar serving with the Iraqi army, both agree that, since the Americans arrived, the multi-ethnic security team has acted as one unit.

“There is no distinction,” said Darwish. “The checkpoint is operated to the letter of the law, and with respect to all people.”

Taalosh’s children in Sinjar are happy that their father helps to keep the area safe alongside his Kurdish coworkers. He expects little to change anytime soon. “Because we are in control of it, we don’t see anything changing when the U.S. forces leave,” he said.

At Khan As Sur, tiny Firebase Zumar and Joint Security Site Heider on the Syrian border later that day, Stammer promoted paratroopers, pinned on various awards and handed out coins of excellence to deserving Soldiers. He also answered many questions.

At Zumar, he told the paratroopers of C Troop to expect a summer return to Fort Bragg, with immediate participation in the Army’s reintegration programs, followed by block leave. After that, they could expect classical paratrooper training once again, including forced entry airfield seizures rather than an advise-and-assist curriculum.

At JSS Heider, squadron physician Capt. Daneil Hankes took photos of Stammer pinning an Army Commendation Medal on the lapel of one of his line medics, Pfc. Tristan Murphy of B Troop.
Before boarding a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter for the ride back to Ramadi, Stammer thanked Hooper for a great tour.

“It was absolutely fantastic to see the 3-73 ‘Thunderbolt’ paratroopers getting after business here in Ninewah,” he said.

“The phrase, ‘Sleep well tonight ... the 82nd is on point,’ holds true along the Syrian border with Iraq,” Hooper said.