|
| |
Tiger prowls urban jungle
By Capt Michael Brooke
Edition 1172, August 9, 2007 |
| |
|
 |
|
Night watch: An OBG(W) 3 soldier stands guard on one of the bridges secured in An Nasiriyah.
Photo by LS Phillip Cullinan |
|
UNDER cover of darkness, Overwatch Battle Group (West) 3 has conducted a rapid penetration into the urban sprawl of An Nasiriyah, the provincial capital of Dhi Qar in southern Iraq, as part of a coalition security operation.
The security task on July 13 was the most challenging for OBG(W)3 – also known as Battle Group Tiger – since it deployed to the province in late May and one of the largest undertaken by Australians in southern Iraq since they arrived in 2005.
Combat Teams Sabre and Courage, supported by the Battle Group Reserve and UAV assets, secured two bridges on the Euphrates River during Operation Hindmarsh, the Australian contribution to Operation Crimson Advance.
The operation enabled the King’s Royal Hussars (KRH) Battle Group to reposition from Maysaan province to Basrah. With three of the four provinces in the south of Iraq having transferred to Provincial Iraqi Control, 1 (UK) Mech Brigade had made the decision to merge KRH Battle Group’s area of operations. This required KRH to drive its Scimitars and Land Rovers some 150km south.
Op Hindmarsh’s success highlights the Australian Battle Group’s ability to support major coalition security operations involving UK and US ground forces, as well as combat aircraft, Apache helicopters, Australian Army UAVs and RAAF Orions.
CO OBG(W)3 Lt-Col Jake Ellwood said all coalition partners contributed to the operation’s success, but it was “particularly noteworthy that the Australian Battle Group played a vital role securing two important bridges”.
Fifteen Italian soldiers were killed trying to seize the same bridges during bitter fighting with the Mahdi Army – followers of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr – in 2004.
OC Combat Team Courage Maj Ash Collingburn said securing “Delta” bridge allowed KRH to cross the Sweet Water Canal and reach the northern outskirts of An Nasiriyah. Weeks earlier the city had been the scene of fierce fighting between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi Security Forces.
“Combat Team Courage used shock action and controlled aggression to seize vulnerable points before guiding the KRH through An Nasiriyah,” Maj Collingburn said.
In An Nasiriyah, KRH’s Scimitars and Land Rovers quickly reached “Charlie” bridge on the Euphrates River, which had been secured by Combat Team Sabre.
OC Combat Team Sabre Maj Troy Ramage said the bridge was “hard up against the urban clutter of the town and militants had engaged coalition troops from that location before”.
“We put infantry on the ground to make things difficult for the insurgents. The soldiers of Combat Team Sabre did a great job and I am proud of their efforts that night,” he said.
After crossing the Euphrates, KRH connected with Route Jackson, which put it an hour away from Australia’s Camp Terendak, at Tallil Air Base. The Battle Group Reserve, positioned on the southern fringe of An Nasiriyah as the Quick Response Force, guided the UK battle group to Tallil.
After KRH reached the safety of Tallil, its vehicles were loaded on to transporters and driven to Basrah, while the troops were flown by Hercules aircraft.
Lt-Col Ellwood said part of the success of Op Hindmarsh could be attributed to the coalition aviation assets that were overhead throughout the night.
OC Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Maj Russ Hamsey said OBG(W)3’s ScanEagle UAV “provided real-time imagery of the bridges, as well as a bird’s-eye view of any threats”.
“If anything went wrong we also had gunners on the ground with the combat teams to call in fast air and attack helicopters.
The sound of American AH-64s circling overhead was probably a welcome sound for the guys on the bridges,” he said.
Lt-Col Ellwood said the mission was achieved without a single shot fired in anger.
“The belligerents, who potentially could have attacked the convoys with RPGs and machineguns, were undoubtedly dislocated by the battle group’s speed and night operating capabilities,” he said.
“There could be no better ending to a coalition operation of this scale or undertaking.”
|
|
