.Guard soldiers serve the 'most dangerous' mission in Iraq
The commander of two combined battalions currently deployed to Iraq - one of which includes soldiers from Crookston and other surrounding towns - said this morning that one of the soldiers' main missions, providing security for convoys and searching for improvised explosive devices (IEDs), is the "most dangerous thing we do over here."
Illustrating the danger level, Lt. Col. Gregg Parks said in a conference call with Minnesota reporters, three soldiers in the battalion were injured in a recent IED attack. Two received medical treatment and returned to duty, Parks explained, but the third suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries and was transported to a medical facility in Germany on Wednesday. It's likely, Parks added, that the injured soldier will likely not return to duty and will instead go home.
"We knew coming in that Iraq is a very dangerous place and that casualties would occur," he said, adding that due to privacy issues he was not able to provide any more details on the injured soldiers.
Parks is commander of two combined battalions, one of which is the 2nd Battalion 136th Infantry that includes Crookston soldiers and about 2,600 other Minnesota Guard personnel that are deployed with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division. The battalion is stationed in the Anbar Province in western Iraq, at a U.S. Marine Corps base. There are currently more than 100 Marines serving with the battalion under Parks' command, known as the BearCats.
The BearCats have been on the ground slightly more than a month. Going by their original deployment orders, Parks said that should mean they'll start coming home sometime in the spring of 2007.
In the meantime, while acknowledging that he's not able to provide a lot of details for security reasons, Parks said the soldiers have had a successful first month on the ground.
"We're taking it to the enemy and have been very effective," he explained. "We've reduced the number of IEDs in our sector."
Even with the IED attack that injured the trio of soldiers, Parks said there were success stories. For one, the armor the soldiers were wearing and the armor that protected their vehicle likely saved lives, he said. And the medical treatment they received from their fellow soldiers in the crucial moments after the explosion was a tribute to the soldiers' training.
"They gave life-saving care," Parks said. "Through their training they were able to do an outstanding job and act in a crisis."
The soldiers' training continues even on the ground in Iraq, he said, especially when it comes to keeping up with ever-changing IED technology and tactics.
"We don't just sit back and wait for an IED to go off; we teach our soldiers the techniques necessary to defeat the enemy's new techniques," Parks explained. "We're searching for IEDs every day and we're detaining and arresting people and going after the life cycle of the IED."
More often than not, he said, that means tracking the money that finances the assembly of the IEDs themselves and the people who bury them and detonate them.
"They're not in it because of ideology, they're in it for the money, so if we can track the money we can go right after them," Parks said. "There's an endless supply of IED placers who are out there for the money. Our job is to stop that."
The Crookston Times
Illustrating the danger level, Lt. Col. Gregg Parks said in a conference call with Minnesota reporters, three soldiers in the battalion were injured in a recent IED attack. Two received medical treatment and returned to duty, Parks explained, but the third suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries and was transported to a medical facility in Germany on Wednesday. It's likely, Parks added, that the injured soldier will likely not return to duty and will instead go home.
"We knew coming in that Iraq is a very dangerous place and that casualties would occur," he said, adding that due to privacy issues he was not able to provide any more details on the injured soldiers.
Parks is commander of two combined battalions, one of which is the 2nd Battalion 136th Infantry that includes Crookston soldiers and about 2,600 other Minnesota Guard personnel that are deployed with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division. The battalion is stationed in the Anbar Province in western Iraq, at a U.S. Marine Corps base. There are currently more than 100 Marines serving with the battalion under Parks' command, known as the BearCats.
The BearCats have been on the ground slightly more than a month. Going by their original deployment orders, Parks said that should mean they'll start coming home sometime in the spring of 2007.
In the meantime, while acknowledging that he's not able to provide a lot of details for security reasons, Parks said the soldiers have had a successful first month on the ground.
"We're taking it to the enemy and have been very effective," he explained. "We've reduced the number of IEDs in our sector."
Even with the IED attack that injured the trio of soldiers, Parks said there were success stories. For one, the armor the soldiers were wearing and the armor that protected their vehicle likely saved lives, he said. And the medical treatment they received from their fellow soldiers in the crucial moments after the explosion was a tribute to the soldiers' training.
"They gave life-saving care," Parks said. "Through their training they were able to do an outstanding job and act in a crisis."
The soldiers' training continues even on the ground in Iraq, he said, especially when it comes to keeping up with ever-changing IED technology and tactics.
"We don't just sit back and wait for an IED to go off; we teach our soldiers the techniques necessary to defeat the enemy's new techniques," Parks explained. "We're searching for IEDs every day and we're detaining and arresting people and going after the life cycle of the IED."
More often than not, he said, that means tracking the money that finances the assembly of the IEDs themselves and the people who bury them and detonate them.
"They're not in it because of ideology, they're in it for the money, so if we can track the money we can go right after them," Parks said. "There's an endless supply of IED placers who are out there for the money. Our job is to stop that."
The Crookston Times
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