Coalition And Iraqi Troops Mount Operation Iron Boston Attack
Patrol Base Yusifiyah
Acting in unexpected ways, keeping the enemy unsure and off balance was one of the main thrusts in a recent ground and air assault in the Sa’id Abdullah Corridor. Operation Iron Boston was conducted with soldiers from the Iraqi Army and U.S. Army Company D, and Company C, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Tam, 101st Airborne Division.
This was a daytime air assault, led by Captain Michael Starz, Company C Commander. “Every time we do an air assault we like to mix it up, keep it unpredictable,†said Captain Starz.
During the assault the Iraqi Army detained and arrested twenty-four individuals. Five of the detainees were found hiding deep below ground in a spider hole. “It was a well constructed, well entrenched spider hole, and it was big enough to fit at least ten men in a pinch,†said Captain Starz. U.S. Kiowa helicopters prowled the area, providing air cover and close aerial support for ground troops and ensuring the safety of the zone. While the Iraqi and U.S. ground forces went house to house to search for insurgents, the Kiowa’s made repeated low level passes, and fired rockets toward any would be insurgents or at ground defined targets.
“This area, the Sa’id Abdullah Corridor, this was the area that all the different Al-Qaeda leadership operated from,†said Captain Starz. “They directed and controlled the flow of foreign fighters in and out of the region, it was their logistics and control center,†said Starz.
“With our joint Iraqi and Coalition Security efforts here, it no longer is a safe haven or safety zone from which Al-Qaeda can operate from,†said Captain Starz.
