GOOD NEWS THURSDAY

Freedom Facts ::
In 2006, medical care improved in Iraq with the renovation of 15 hospitals. Each completed facility sees approximately 500 patients per day for a total of 11,000 patients nationwide

Making a difference: Soldiers get to know locals in Fira Shia
Thursday, 19 July 2007
By Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp
1st Brigade Comabt Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

FIRA SHIA — The Soldiers of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment are reaching out in operations to build relationships and trust with people living in the areas in which they patrol.
In one outreach project, the troops from the battery conducted a census to gather an accurate assessment of population size and statistics on the area while at the same time interacting with the local populace recently.
“We grew accustomed to doing these types of operations in our last area and now we’re in a place that is a farming village that hasn’t had a lot of direct coalition interaction,” said Capt. Robert Callaghan, the battery commander, who hails from Winterpark, Fla. He explained that interacting with the people of Fira Shia also helps in getting information that leads to finding insurgents as well as weapons caches. “We’ve been very successful in the area so far and the people have been very nice and cooperative.” (Read More)


Iraqi informants lead U.S. Soldiers to weapons, IED caches
July 19, 2007
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO Multi-National Division – Center PAO

RUSHDI MULLAH, Iraq — Iraqi informants led Coalition Forces to three significant caches north of Rushdi Mullah, Iraq, July 18.
Accompanying the informants were Soldiers of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., who helped seize the caches just 20 miles south of Baghdad.
“Over the last several weeks, the number of Iraqis who have been sharing tips with us is astounding,” said Maj. Web Wright, a spokesperson for the 2nd BCT. “There has been a turning of the tides against al Qaeda in this area. The people are tired of them and are turning their backs on AQI.”
All three caches were found buried in 55-gallon drums within 100 meters of one another.
The contents of the caches included 13 rocket propelled grenades, 150 bags of Russian mortar propellant charges, two 57mm mortar rockets, an armor-piercing rocket propelled grenade, four cylindrical explosive charges, two square explosive charges, two hand-launched star cluster flares, a Russian fragmentary hand grenade, 25 mortar propellant charges, 100 12.7mm DiSHKA heavy machine gun rounds, 20 25mm rounds, a 75-rounds Ak-47 ammunition drum, three sniper rifle scopes, two mortar sights, 10 cell phone chargers, five radios, a pressure plate, a machine gun lower receiver, two 7.62mm machine gun barrels, two bottles of glucose, four vehicle cell phone chargers, an improvised explosive device command wire initiator, a hands-free telephone headset, an eight-battery holder, four cell phone batteries, a 4.8 voltage rechargeable battery, a seven-piece antennae, two flip-open cell phones, four Motorola talk-abouts, a cordless phone, a cordless phone base, a toy cell phone IED initiator, two phone cords, an antennae extension, two keyless-entry devices with IED initiator switches, two magnets, two circuit boards and various nuts and bolts.
The radio and cell phone accessories are commonly used to detonate IEDs.
The ordnance was destroyed by an explosive ordnance disposal team.