U.S. deaths in Iraq dropped to their lowest level in over a year last month
BY MICK WALSH
The recent report that U.S. combat deaths in Iraq are dwindling isn't really breaking news for Lt. Col. Jack Marr.
The commander of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, doesn't have to be reminded that his unit has lost six soldiers since its arrival in Iraq in March. After all, he wears a bracelet with the names of the dead inscribed on it.
But he also knows that the 1-15 hasn't suffered a combat death since late June.
And he's pretty sure he knows the answer why.
"It's because our guys are living among the Iraqis," said Marr, who concluded his R&R visit to Fort Benning last weekend.
With the arrival of the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery, from its earlier posting to the Camp Bucca prison facility in southern Iraq, the majority of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team is now stationed at Forward Operating Base Hammer.
But not the 1-15. Its personnel remains scattered at outlying combat outposts throughout the Baghdad area, the kind of bases even MapQuest would have a tough time locating.
That the death toll ended soon after COPs Cahill, Cashe and Cleary became operational throughout the Baghdad area is no real surprise to Marr.
"We've been able to build trust between us and the Iraqis because of the fact that we're living where we are," he said. "When they notice something of a threatening nature, such as campers or trucks that may not be seen before in that area, they let us know. Their antennas go up. They're actually glad we're here."
Tips from the locals have led to the arrest of dozens of suspected insurgents and the interception of several caches of weapons.
As Marr awaited the birth of his fifth child over the past weekend, news from Baghdad showed that U.S. deaths in Iraq in September had fallen to their lowest level in over a year.
Two of the 64 killed last month were from the brigade -- Spc. Javier Paredes and Spc. Keith Nurnberg, both of the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment. One brigade soldier was killed in August, also a member of the 2-69.
During the first four months in Iraq, the brigade lost 18 soldiers.
"One of the reasons for that is that we're the first U.S. troops to occupy the area we're in now," said Col. Wayne Grigsby Jr., the brigade commander, who was in town for the birth of his first grandchild. He was referring to FOB Hammer, which was built from scratch last spring.
Soon after the brigade's arrival, the 1-15 was dispatched to smaller bases, each of which was named for a 2005 casualty of the war.
"We talked to the family members of the three (Capt. Joel Cahill, Staff Sgt. Alwyn Cashe and 1st Lt. Michael Cleary) before we named the outposts," Marr said.
Currently, the 1-15's A, B and C companies are at Cleary; and the Headquarters Company is at Cahill. The 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, now occupies Cashe.
One of the early responsibilities of the battalion was to patrol the mean streets of Salman Pak, a snakepit of a town near the Tigris River. It was there that seven brigade soldiers, five from the 1-15, died during April and May.
Marr's troops work closely with the local Iraqi Police detachment.
"We certainly would not have had the success we've had without their help," he said. Using football terminology, he said the IP's have been the battalion's "blockers" over the past few months.
The slowdown in U.S. deaths is a continuation of a four-month decline in combat casualties.
The last time the U.S. death toll was this low was in July 2006, when 43 troops died, 38 of them in hostile action.
This year, deaths peaked in May, when 126 troops died, 120 of them in hostile action. Since then, the number of troops killed by hostile action has fallen each month, despite predictions from American commanders that they would rise once the U.S. troop buildup was completed and the U.S. began more aggressive action. That buildup was completed in June.
The decline parallels a drop in casualties caused by roadside bombs, the No. 1 cause of deaths for Americans in Iraq.
"We are finding more of the bombs primarily because of the relationships we've built with the locals," Marr explained. "We get tips from concerned citizens."
According to the Web site http://icasualties.org, only 27 American troops died from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, in September, down from the year's peak of 88 in May. The last month when IED casualties were that low was February, when IEDs claimed 27 American lives; 81 U.S. troops died in Iraq that month.
Those statistics include explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, which can pierce armor. Top military commanders in Iraq have said those devices are coming from Iran.
The U.S. began increasing the number of troops in Iraq in February, adding five combat brigades in a so-called "surge" strategy that was completed in June.
BY MICK WALSH
The recent report that U.S. combat deaths in Iraq are dwindling isn't really breaking news for Lt. Col. Jack Marr.
The commander of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, doesn't have to be reminded that his unit has lost six soldiers since its arrival in Iraq in March. After all, he wears a bracelet with the names of the dead inscribed on it.
But he also knows that the 1-15 hasn't suffered a combat death since late June.
And he's pretty sure he knows the answer why.
"It's because our guys are living among the Iraqis," said Marr, who concluded his R&R visit to Fort Benning last weekend.
With the arrival of the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery, from its earlier posting to the Camp Bucca prison facility in southern Iraq, the majority of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team is now stationed at Forward Operating Base Hammer.
But not the 1-15. Its personnel remains scattered at outlying combat outposts throughout the Baghdad area, the kind of bases even MapQuest would have a tough time locating.
That the death toll ended soon after COPs Cahill, Cashe and Cleary became operational throughout the Baghdad area is no real surprise to Marr.
"We've been able to build trust between us and the Iraqis because of the fact that we're living where we are," he said. "When they notice something of a threatening nature, such as campers or trucks that may not be seen before in that area, they let us know. Their antennas go up. They're actually glad we're here."
Tips from the locals have led to the arrest of dozens of suspected insurgents and the interception of several caches of weapons.
As Marr awaited the birth of his fifth child over the past weekend, news from Baghdad showed that U.S. deaths in Iraq in September had fallen to their lowest level in over a year.
Two of the 64 killed last month were from the brigade -- Spc. Javier Paredes and Spc. Keith Nurnberg, both of the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment. One brigade soldier was killed in August, also a member of the 2-69.
During the first four months in Iraq, the brigade lost 18 soldiers.
"One of the reasons for that is that we're the first U.S. troops to occupy the area we're in now," said Col. Wayne Grigsby Jr., the brigade commander, who was in town for the birth of his first grandchild. He was referring to FOB Hammer, which was built from scratch last spring.
Soon after the brigade's arrival, the 1-15 was dispatched to smaller bases, each of which was named for a 2005 casualty of the war.
"We talked to the family members of the three (Capt. Joel Cahill, Staff Sgt. Alwyn Cashe and 1st Lt. Michael Cleary) before we named the outposts," Marr said.
Currently, the 1-15's A, B and C companies are at Cleary; and the Headquarters Company is at Cahill. The 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, now occupies Cashe.
One of the early responsibilities of the battalion was to patrol the mean streets of Salman Pak, a snakepit of a town near the Tigris River. It was there that seven brigade soldiers, five from the 1-15, died during April and May.
Marr's troops work closely with the local Iraqi Police detachment.
"We certainly would not have had the success we've had without their help," he said. Using football terminology, he said the IP's have been the battalion's "blockers" over the past few months.
The slowdown in U.S. deaths is a continuation of a four-month decline in combat casualties.
The last time the U.S. death toll was this low was in July 2006, when 43 troops died, 38 of them in hostile action.
This year, deaths peaked in May, when 126 troops died, 120 of them in hostile action. Since then, the number of troops killed by hostile action has fallen each month, despite predictions from American commanders that they would rise once the U.S. troop buildup was completed and the U.S. began more aggressive action. That buildup was completed in June.
The decline parallels a drop in casualties caused by roadside bombs, the No. 1 cause of deaths for Americans in Iraq.
"We are finding more of the bombs primarily because of the relationships we've built with the locals," Marr explained. "We get tips from concerned citizens."
According to the Web site http://icasualties.org, only 27 American troops died from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, in September, down from the year's peak of 88 in May. The last month when IED casualties were that low was February, when IEDs claimed 27 American lives; 81 U.S. troops died in Iraq that month.
Those statistics include explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, which can pierce armor. Top military commanders in Iraq have said those devices are coming from Iran.
The U.S. began increasing the number of troops in Iraq in February, adding five combat brigades in a so-called "surge" strategy that was completed in June.
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