U.S. Marines’ teamwork in Iraq gets the “big gun” in the air, supports infantry on the ground
AL ASAD, Iraq (Nov. 29, 2006) - U.S. Marines have brought in the "big guns" to combat insurgents in Iraq"s western Al Anbar Province.
http://www.imef-fwd.usmc.mil/imef/imef-public.nsf/sites/rct7
Story by Staff Sgt. Jim Goodwin, Photos by Staff Sgt. Jim Goodwin and Gunnery Sgt. Michael Q. Retana, Regimental Combat Team 7
Utilizing a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, Marines airlifted an M198 Medium Howitzer canon from this sprawling U.S. airbase to an undisclosed location in western Al Anbar Province.
The Marines plan on using the extra firepower to provide support in the province, where the southern Calif.-based Regimental Combat Team 7 began synchronized clearing operations to rid the region of insurgents.
RCT-7 is the Coalition Forces unit responsible for providing security and mentoring Iraqi Security Forces in western Al Anbar Province, a 30,000 square mile region which stretches from the Jordan and Syria borders, hundreds of miles east to the Euphrates River.
"We"ve never lifted a Howitzer before," said Lance Cpl. Ronald J. Butler, a 19-year-old Marine from Merrill, Wis. "(We"ve lifted) cargo and stuff, but never anything that big."
Butler was part of the team of Marines on the ground - called a "Helicopter Support Team" - who helped prepare and actually hooked the 16,000-pound piece of artillery to the helicopter.
"This was pretty motivating," added Staff Sgt. Jerry Dominguez, the 29-year-old enlisted Marine in charge of the helicopter support team.
Moreover, the feat of getting the Howitzer safely to its destination required the combined efforts of multiple Marine Corps commands currently deployed to Iraq - a concept the Marines call a "Marine Air-Ground Task Force," which employs three separate elements to make up a force: a ground combat element, an air combat element, and a combat service support element.
RCT-7, the ground combat element, provided the canon and helped coordinate the lift, while the Miramar, Calif.-based 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), the air combat element, provided the helicopters. Dominguez" team is part of the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward) - the combat service support element - which provides all logistical support to the thousands of Coalition Forces serving in Anbar Province.
Dominguez said his team conducts three to four lifts a week, providing an assortment of cargo - everything from ammunition to water and food to medical supplies - to troops throughout Al Anbar Province.
But while toting a canon from point A to point B via helicopter was a new feat for the Dominguez" team, transporting cargo in the air is not. In fact, air lifting supplies to U.S. troops operating throughout Al Anbar Province keeps one less supply convoy off Iraq"s dangerous roads, said Dominguez.
"This saves troops" lives," said Dominguez, who added that the more convoys out on Iraq"s roads, the more chance a U.S. military vehicle could hit an improvised explosive device. "It"s the IED factor. Instead of a convoy, we can just drop (the supplies.)"
As the helicopter hovered just yards above the Howitzer, Butler and half a dozen other Marines guided the helicopter"s crew from the ground, hooked the behemoth cannon to the helicopter"s underbelly, and gave the "thumb"s up" for take off.
In a matter of seconds, the helicopter flew off into an early morning sky, toting the Howitzer - the largest ground-based piece of artillery in the U.S. military"s arsenal - underneath.
Thirty minutes later, the massive weapon reached its destination, which can"t be divulged to protect the security of on-going U.S. military operations in the province.
For the "grunts on the ground," transporting the canon by helicopter greatly reduces the amount of time it takes for infantrymen to receive the extra firepower the Howitzer can provide, according to Maj. William P. MacNaughton, a 36-year-old Marine from Birmingham, Ala.
Utilizing a helicopter vice a military convoy to transport the "big gun" not only kept additional Marines off Iraq"s roads for their own protection, but also "freed up combat power to do other things aside from convoy security," said MacNaughton, who coordinates air support for RCT-7"s forces throughout Anbar Province.
"The whole purpose is to keep Marines off the road whenever possible," he said.
In the distance, the "wump wump" sound of the rotary blades of two incoming helicopters grew louder as Dominguez, Butler and the rest of their team began preparing the next load of supplies to be air-lifted - ammunition for the Howitzer.
"We"re getting the Marines what they need," said Butler. "It"s getting the mission done. It"s mission accomplishment."
Email Staff Sgt. Jim Goodwin at: goodwinjm@gcemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil.
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