Headhunter: 5-73 CAV and Their Fight for Iraq's Diyala River Valley by Peter C. Svoboda

Author:Peter C. Svoboda [Svoboda, Peter C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Iraq war(2003-2011)
Publisher: Casemate Publishers (Ignition)
Published: 2020-09-25T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Marathon

The background that Alpha Troop had provided was the first step in the intelligence preparation of the battlespace. In Brett Sylvia’s effort to keep the Ancient Greek heritage to the operational forefront, the first operation would be named Marathon. A series of zone and area reconnaissance missions were to be conducted. In order to develop a campaign plan for the Diyala River Valley detailed information concerning all routes, obstacles, terrain, and enemy forces had to be found. Al Qaeda, Sunni and Shia extremists had all had free rein in Diyala since Alpha Troop had left back in November. Operation Marathon was the first operation conducted by Task Force 300 to further degrade Al Qaeda.

Alpha Troop worked the western and northern portion of the battlespace. They stayed on the west side of the river and worked to the east. Several IEDs were discovered. Charlie Troop had the eastern and southern portion of it. They linked up with an Iraqi army outfit at a small base in a town called Al Abarrah. The Diyala River snaked its way through the center. Charlie Troop started to recon south from that Iraqi base. They began making heavy enemy contact as they moved to the south towards a place called As Sadah. It was telling of what was to come.

One of these 24-hour missions was being run by a four-truck platoon-size reconnaissance element moving down the canal road between Zaganiyah and As Sadah. The patrol’s assignment was to watch a dangerous stretch of road in the hope of catching insurgents placing IEDs. The paratroopers had been out all night and had captured several insurgents. On the way back to the patrol base, the patrol took a detour to observe a nearby town that was supposedly controlled by Al Qaeda.

On the outskirts of town, the lead truck got stuck in a mud hole and began to sink. Doctor Larry Robinson, “Doc Rob”, the squadron surgeon, was riding in the right rear seat. Doc Rob observed angry villagers approaching the column armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and a few rocket-propelled grenades. The .50-caliber machine gun turret on the lead truck had malfunctioned and wouldn’t swivel. The gun truck was pulled clear and the decision was made to report and disengage rather than confront this group of unknown belligerents.

Doc Rob wounded (Brad Rather)

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