Coalition Forces Seize Rockets Aimed at Army Base

by Maj. Joe Sowers
3rd Headquarters Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Concerned citizens called Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment with a simple message: we know where rockets are, and they are aimed at you.

Soldiers from Troop A secured four rockets aimed at their base, Patrol Base Assassin, east of Baghdad, Oct. 27 as a result of the Concerned Local Citizens’ tip.

Soldiers from Battery A, 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment and the 789th Ordnance Company transported the four rockets to FOB Hammer for investigation and proper disposal.

Capt. Justin Gerken, from Red Wing, Minn., commander of the 789th Ord. Co., said the rockets match descriptions and historical data that explosive ordnance specialists use to verify information from captured weapons; he said the rockets appear to be Iranian-made.

The 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, operating east of Baghdad in the Mada’in Qada, has seized 44 Iranian-made rockets since an attack on FOB Hammer July 11. The brigade’s area of operation is bisected by the Al-Kut Highway, a major road that runs southeast from Baghdad to Al-Kut, eventually hitting the Iranian border.

The 3rd HBCT, 3rd Inf. Div., is from Fort Benning, Ga., and has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March. The 789th Ord. Co. is also from Fort Benning.