Assassin Troopers Orient on Their Objective

Spc. Nicholas Leuthauser from Brighton, Colo., and serving with Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division assists in unloading equipment prior to map reading training conducted at Al-Taan, Iraq, July 13.

Story by: Sgt. David Dyer

COL SHOCKER, Iraq – Soldiers from Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division have it all mapped out when it comes to performing the advise and assist mission.

On a recent visit to Al-Taan on the Iraq-Iran border July 13, the Assassin Troopers trained their Iraqi partners on the finer points of map-reading.

“We are moving forward with a training program that will assist them in improving current skill levels and developing new skill sets,” said 1st Lt. Frederick Do, a West Covina, Calif., native.

Sgt. Shawn McClellon of Lorain, Ohio, led the map-reading class with the assistance of an interpreter. Most of the students were junior officers or noncommissioned officers from several of the outlying posts and border forts who will pass on the knowledge gained to their subordinates.

“The skills we pass along today will lay the foundation for future and more advanced training later,” McClellon said. “Every piece of information or new skill that we can pass along only helps to improve the security and stability in this region.”

A pair of enlisted cavalrymen shared new skills with their counterparts on the roof of the fort. The troopers had set up a Long-Range Advance Scout Surveillance System and were helping the DBE agents learn its uses.

The LRAS3 enables Army scouts to conduct 24-hour reconnaissance and surveillance missions, remaining outside threat acquisition and engagement ranges.

“The device is extremely useful in helping them [DBE] with their mission of interdicting smuggling operations along the border” said Spc. Nicholas Leuthauser from Brighton, Colo.

Leuthauser spoke on how smuggling operations are counter to the stability and sovereignty of Iraq.

“If we can assist the DBE in stopping just one [smuggler], it helps,” he said.

It was well into the night before the training was over and the cavalrymen of Assassin Troop loaded their vehicles and prepared for the trip back to COL Shocker. The Soldiers and their DBE partners looked forward to the next visit with a desire to build upon the relationship of training and trust in the future.