.As war changes, so do troops
EDINBURGH, Ind. -- When it comes to searching Iraqi homes, the "soft knock" is in for the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The "hard knock" is out.
The days of kicking down a front door and crashing through with rifles ready are mostly over. The approach has been widespread for much of the fighting in Iraq, but now the war has changed, and Indiana's National Guard troops are changing with it.
As the men and women of the 76th head to Fort Stewart, Ga., for their final two months of training, they'll be preparing for an Iraq that appears to be less volatile though still far from stable.
They'll be learning some Arabic and honing their soft-knock skills, relying on a simple rap or call from the street to open doors. When a soldier does enter, it will be without a bullet ready to fire in his rifle, a contrast to the lock-and-load mentality that, for now at least, is passe.
Such tactics could give any insurgents waiting in ambush an upper hand, but Lt. Col. Burt Owens of the 76th says the approach is key to winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis. "It means we're taking more chances," Owens says.
There are other new twists for the brigade as it prepares for duty in Iraq. From shorter rifles for close-in combat to fire-retardant uniforms that help protect against the searing blast of roadside bombs, the soldiers have gear tailored to the fighting in Iraq.
Even some Guard units that went to Iraq in 2003 have been reorganized to meet the needs of a changed war, adding aerial drones and highly skilled snipers.
Nation in the balance
In Iraq, bloodshed is at its lowest level in nearly two years.
The key to lasting calm, military planners think, is increased political and economic opportunity, as well as restoration of the country's infrastructure and public services. But that can't happen amid violence.
"Security is still very, very important," says Michael O'Hanlon, a researcher with the Brookings Institution and an expert on the current situation in Iraq.
Hence, the 76th's task is considered vital. The brigade will be broken up into units of about 100 soldiers to provide security for convoys and guard towers at bases. Such work "will be crucial to building on the momentum of 2007," O'Hanlon says.
The Indiana soldiers expect to be up close with Iraqis while patrolling or on special missions. They'll be on guard, constantly, for suicide bombers, car bombers, roadside explosives and snipers, as the lull in violence could show itself to be temporary.
To that end, the soldiers of the 76th are learning rudimentary Arabic. They've had a few classes at Camp Atterbury and will have more in the coming days at Fort Stewart.
They're being instructed not to use the word "Haji." Just as there were slang, derogatory names for foes in wars past, Haji has become the term in this one.
"You hear it a lot over there," says Col. Corey Carr, who commands the 76th and has made two recent trips to Iraq to survey the scene. "I discourage it. A lot of the emphasis is turning responsibility over to the Iraqis. Our guys will be talking with Iraqi police officers and Iraqi soldiers, and it's important we show respect."
About 70,000 Iraqi men, many of them Sunnis and at least some of them thought to be former insurgents, have applied for jobs with the Iraqi police, according to recent news reports. It falls to the U.S. military to help them or risk facing them later when they're desperate, hungry and armed.
"There's more to this mission," says Carr, "than just military might."
Self-contained
The Pentagon's top brass, confronted with a long war in Iraq and the prospect of other similar conflicts around the globe, has reorganized the army into smaller, more nimble units. Where it once was "division-centric," it is now "brigade-centric."
A division is a mighty force typically 10,000 strong, three times the size of a brigade. It's an appropriate tool to fight against a comparable conventional army, a "peer" foe, but unwieldy in dealing with a disjointed group of guerrilla forces such as the Iraq insurgency.
Previously, such heavily equipped U.S. military units played into the insurgents' hands, especially with their huge demands for fuel and other supplies. Supply lines are vulnerable to guerrillas, and tanks and armored vehicles isolate soldiers from the Iraqi people they are supposed to help.
"We had to become more agile, easier to deploy, lighter in composition -- lethal, but in a different vein," said Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, the adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard.
They bring with them their own support services: medical, transportation, communications, military police, mechanics.
Today's brigade "is a little self-contained army," Umbarger says.
Instead of tanks, artillery or other heavy equipment, the brigade relies chiefly on ground pounders.
One battalion of about 600 soldiers has been converted for use in reconnaissance and scouting. Based in New Albany, the 1st Battalion of the 152nd Infantry Regiment is now a reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition squadron bolstered with unpiloted drones to search the battlefield and with other special gear to seek out the enemy.
New gear
To the average grunt, however, it's the little things that matter. New body armor protects as well as the older models but is easier to put on and take off.
The soldiers in the brigade tote a new rifle, too, the M-4 carbine that is a shorter version of the M-16 that debuted in Vietnam.
The M-4's shorter length and adjustable butt make it easier to use in close quarters, and the high-tech scope that comes with it makes marksmanship easier.
And almost every soldier carries a new tool that's critical in the war zone: a strap cutter for slashing through seat belts and freeing people from wrecked or flipped Humvees.
Uniforms are fire-retardant, another recent development, a step to protect against the blast of roadside bombs.
Troops even sport GI-issue silk skivvies for cold nights, another first, and polypropylene long johns for really cold nights.
"The more comfortable the soldiers are," says Maj. Reino Mattson, of the 76th, a logistics expert, "the more alert they'll be, the better able to protect the people and accomplish the mission."
IndyStar
The days of kicking down a front door and crashing through with rifles ready are mostly over. The approach has been widespread for much of the fighting in Iraq, but now the war has changed, and Indiana's National Guard troops are changing with it.
As the men and women of the 76th head to Fort Stewart, Ga., for their final two months of training, they'll be preparing for an Iraq that appears to be less volatile though still far from stable.
They'll be learning some Arabic and honing their soft-knock skills, relying on a simple rap or call from the street to open doors. When a soldier does enter, it will be without a bullet ready to fire in his rifle, a contrast to the lock-and-load mentality that, for now at least, is passe.
Such tactics could give any insurgents waiting in ambush an upper hand, but Lt. Col. Burt Owens of the 76th says the approach is key to winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis. "It means we're taking more chances," Owens says.
There are other new twists for the brigade as it prepares for duty in Iraq. From shorter rifles for close-in combat to fire-retardant uniforms that help protect against the searing blast of roadside bombs, the soldiers have gear tailored to the fighting in Iraq.
Even some Guard units that went to Iraq in 2003 have been reorganized to meet the needs of a changed war, adding aerial drones and highly skilled snipers.
Nation in the balance
In Iraq, bloodshed is at its lowest level in nearly two years.
The key to lasting calm, military planners think, is increased political and economic opportunity, as well as restoration of the country's infrastructure and public services. But that can't happen amid violence.
"Security is still very, very important," says Michael O'Hanlon, a researcher with the Brookings Institution and an expert on the current situation in Iraq.
Hence, the 76th's task is considered vital. The brigade will be broken up into units of about 100 soldiers to provide security for convoys and guard towers at bases. Such work "will be crucial to building on the momentum of 2007," O'Hanlon says.
The Indiana soldiers expect to be up close with Iraqis while patrolling or on special missions. They'll be on guard, constantly, for suicide bombers, car bombers, roadside explosives and snipers, as the lull in violence could show itself to be temporary.
To that end, the soldiers of the 76th are learning rudimentary Arabic. They've had a few classes at Camp Atterbury and will have more in the coming days at Fort Stewart.
They're being instructed not to use the word "Haji." Just as there were slang, derogatory names for foes in wars past, Haji has become the term in this one.
"You hear it a lot over there," says Col. Corey Carr, who commands the 76th and has made two recent trips to Iraq to survey the scene. "I discourage it. A lot of the emphasis is turning responsibility over to the Iraqis. Our guys will be talking with Iraqi police officers and Iraqi soldiers, and it's important we show respect."
About 70,000 Iraqi men, many of them Sunnis and at least some of them thought to be former insurgents, have applied for jobs with the Iraqi police, according to recent news reports. It falls to the U.S. military to help them or risk facing them later when they're desperate, hungry and armed.
"There's more to this mission," says Carr, "than just military might."
Self-contained
The Pentagon's top brass, confronted with a long war in Iraq and the prospect of other similar conflicts around the globe, has reorganized the army into smaller, more nimble units. Where it once was "division-centric," it is now "brigade-centric."
A division is a mighty force typically 10,000 strong, three times the size of a brigade. It's an appropriate tool to fight against a comparable conventional army, a "peer" foe, but unwieldy in dealing with a disjointed group of guerrilla forces such as the Iraq insurgency.
Previously, such heavily equipped U.S. military units played into the insurgents' hands, especially with their huge demands for fuel and other supplies. Supply lines are vulnerable to guerrillas, and tanks and armored vehicles isolate soldiers from the Iraqi people they are supposed to help.
"We had to become more agile, easier to deploy, lighter in composition -- lethal, but in a different vein," said Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, the adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard.
They bring with them their own support services: medical, transportation, communications, military police, mechanics.
Today's brigade "is a little self-contained army," Umbarger says.
Instead of tanks, artillery or other heavy equipment, the brigade relies chiefly on ground pounders.
One battalion of about 600 soldiers has been converted for use in reconnaissance and scouting. Based in New Albany, the 1st Battalion of the 152nd Infantry Regiment is now a reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition squadron bolstered with unpiloted drones to search the battlefield and with other special gear to seek out the enemy.
New gear
To the average grunt, however, it's the little things that matter. New body armor protects as well as the older models but is easier to put on and take off.
The soldiers in the brigade tote a new rifle, too, the M-4 carbine that is a shorter version of the M-16 that debuted in Vietnam.
The M-4's shorter length and adjustable butt make it easier to use in close quarters, and the high-tech scope that comes with it makes marksmanship easier.
And almost every soldier carries a new tool that's critical in the war zone: a strap cutter for slashing through seat belts and freeing people from wrecked or flipped Humvees.
Uniforms are fire-retardant, another recent development, a step to protect against the blast of roadside bombs.
Troops even sport GI-issue silk skivvies for cold nights, another first, and polypropylene long johns for really cold nights.
"The more comfortable the soldiers are," says Maj. Reino Mattson, of the 76th, a logistics expert, "the more alert they'll be, the better able to protect the people and accomplish the mission."
IndyStar
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