America's North Shore Journal

MNF-I
By Capt. Allison Flannigan, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT)
Multi-National Division – Center PAO

Iraqi army and Multi-National Division – Center Iron Rakkasan Soldiers discovered four weapon caches in Yusufiyah Feb. 18.

Troops from 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and Company C, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) acted on a tip from a local citizen who was questioned by the IA.

The man admitted to being a member of al-Qaeda in Iraq and told IA Soldiers the location of the caches. The four caches were located within a square quarter-mile area.

Each cache had several large plastic tubes, between two- and four-feet long, buried vertically in the ground and loaded with munitions.

The caches contained approximately 400 60 mm mortar rounds, 300 82 mm mortar rounds, 50 120 mm mortar rounds, a complete 60 mm mortar system, seven ski masks, hundreds of mortar parts, 100 pounds of unknown bulk explosives and instruction manuals.

After collecting the munitions, the Soldiers talked with a number of people who live near the cache sites. One citizen said he had something to show the Soldiers.

“I had heard that there might have been spider holes in the area and I mentioned that to the people we were talking to,” said 1st Lt. Casey Zimmerman, 3rd Platoon leader, Co. C, 3-187th Inf. Regt. “Sure enough, one of the farmers told me there was a spider hole on his farm.”

The Soldiers originally thought it was a small hole, barely large enough to hide two adults. Once they started digging, however, they found a room that was 10 feet by 12 feet, complete with an aluminum ceiling.

With the help of the local populace, Iron Rakkasans of Co. C, 3-187th Inf. Regt. and their IA partners have found seven caches in the last three weeks.

“Counterinsurgency operations are fundamentally driven by the relationship between the IA and coalition forces soldiers and the local citizens,” Zimmerman said. “Everyone is working together for the security and future development of the community.