Yesterday morning we hopped on the HMMWVs and rolled down to the U.S. part of the base to link up with the mortar platoon. Their area of responsibility is one of the hotter parts of our sector, and while our battalion doesn't work there, with all the other MiTTs in Baquoba for the foreseeable future, it falls on my team to try and help that battalion as well. Since the mortars know the area and were heading there anyhow, we rolled with them to increase our force protection and to make sure we could find our way. It turned out to be a good thing we went with them, as one of our HMMWVs went down as we pulled in, so we ended up leaving them behind.

The trip to the patrol base was the usual mix of boredom and excitement. It's boring, because the road all looks the same and you see mostly the same things over and over, but that boredom is leavened with the knowledge you could roll up on an IED at any moment, so you get a little frisson of danger every time you roll over a pothole or culvert. It keeps you awake...mostly.

The patrol base was a joint U.S./IA base, so it's pretty well built-up with a solid outer wall and reasonably good security. We spent a little time there meeting with the commander and a few of his men, picking some of them up to come on the patrols with us. From there we rolled into a village to see if we could convince anyone to give us some good intelligence on the Sunni insurgent groups who are attempting to seize control of the area. We spoke with three different families, spending perhaps an hour all told in the village. Iraqis are, as a rule, remarkably friendly, so while I suspect many of them were not thrilled that we were there asking questions, in each home we were invited in, asked to sit, offered water and otherwise entertained as we asked our questions. The tricky part, of course, is seeing past the surface friendliness to try and find people who are willing to offer up information.

That's a tough job, in no small part because these people are risking their lives just by talking to us. Some insurgent groups will kill families if they suspect they are giving up information, and they aren't sticklers for due process. So if we ever are able to find sources, we're going to have to work very hard to protect them, and until then we have our work cut out for us convincing anyone that they should help us. No matter how little they may like the insurgents, the fact is that the insurgents currently have the upper hand in that area and it's hard to ask people to risk their lives when we cannot even guarantee we'll be able to force the insurgents out. There are a lot of brave people in Iraq; when I think about some of the 'problems' I face, it makes me feel pretty silly next to the risks they run.

With the patrols complete and our uniforms soaked through with sweat, we returned to the FOB and spent the afternoon recovering our equipment from the mission and preparing for other upcoming missions.

Today I rolled out to a JSWG: a joint security working group meeting. That's a meeting of local leaders and Coalition and Iraqi security personnel to discuss the security situation for a local community. We do several of them every week, and since the IA have most of the responsibility for security in the area, I plan to attend as many of the meetings as I can in order to increase my situational awareness. It's critical that I understand the security issues in the local area if I'm to help the IA try to resolve them, so I'm going to be spending a lot of time on the road. Fortunately, since other units are going to these meetings as well, I don't have to put the whole team on the road to get the job done.

The meeting itself was quite interesting. Some of the local leaders are corrupt, and a few are working with smugglers; a lot of traffic from Iran passes through our area of operations. But without evidence good enough to convince an Iraqi judge we can't bring them in, so we end up having to work closely with these guys even as we know they're working against us. It's a strange war. But we gained some valuable information about the security concerns this community had, and the meetings should help us resolve some internal conflicts in the Iraqi Army as well.

Hard to believe we've been here a month already. By the time I understand everything here, I'll probably be due to rotate home.

READER COMMENTS

Great commentary. Your blog lets us non-army people understand what you are up against far better than the national news. Really enjoy reading this blog.

Wes

Thank you for your service major. Most folks do not understand that all rights come with cost paid by professionals like you and your people. Hell if our own citizens do not comprehend this imagine what it is like to sell the concept in another country. The seed is there I am sure but it will take a true leader or leaders to get the country behind it.

You mention the lack of actionable intel but you also say that you must go through the Iraqi judiciary if you find the problem. My problem would be with the ROE if you or other US forces could not eliminate the sources of munitions and tactical forces in your OA. The limits, and they do sound like limits, on your operational range to the degree that they were imposed by civilian authority sound vaguely familiar. If I recall they were not very helpful then either.

Until these guys can get it together please keep your head down and your eyes open and come home please. We have to take care of each other. I offer my help at any time.

Earl

Major Olmsted, I believe my son-in-law SFC Will Beaver is with you.

Thank you for taking the time to document your actions and progress. It helps those of us in the US understand the gravity of your mission.

Just reading your comments scares me to death. I can imagine the situation is very dangerous when you can't distinguish friend from foe.

I will be following you and your team, and will keep you in my prayers.

Thank you for your service.

Lynne

Major Olmsted and your team which includes our grandson S

Major Olmsted and team which includes our grandson SFC Will Beaver. We are very grateful to have access to your blog to better understand what is going on over there. Please know that you are in our prayers daily. God bless and protect you and all of our Military.
Gil and Joyce Beaver