3-1 Cav. Regt. Finds Two Caches in Two Days

A Soldier from the 789th Ordnance Company prepares a cache of 120 mm mortars for a controlled detonation, Jan. 18, near Jisr Diyala, Iraq.

Soldiers from the 789th Ordnance Company pose for a picture with a cache of 120 mm mortars, Jan. 18, near Jisr Diyala, Iraq.

By Sgt. Natalie Rostek
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Soldiers of Company D, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, found two separate caches tallying 75 120 mm mortar rounds, one bag of mortar propellant and one bag of mortar fuses, Jan. 17, and 18 near Jisr Diyala, south of Baghdad.

Company D Soldiers responded to two similar reports from Concerned Local Citizens, according to 1st Lt. Daniel Bell, from San Antonio, Texas, executive officer for Company D.

Bell explained local citizens found the caches and reported them to the Concerned Local Citizens, who in turn informed Company D.

“This is definitely a step in the right direction,” Bell said. “We have good people in the area that are very proactive in finding things that they know need to be cleared out of their communities. They are not just doing it for themselves. They are doing it for the betterment of their country.”

Company D, 1-15 Inf. Regt. is attached to the 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment and is assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Benning, Ga. The unit has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March, 2007.