Marines keep Rutbah trouble free
RUTBAH, Iraq – When dawn broke over the desert, the parked silhouettes of armored personnel carriers were visible in the distance, vehicles that had not been there the night before. With that first light, the sound of fists knocking on doors echoed through the community Coalition Forces had dubbed, “Germantown.”
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Cpl. Chris Stankiewicz
4/10/2007
Lines of Marines filed through the streets of the small, gated community outside Rutbah, the last major Iraqi city before the Jordanian and Syrian borders. Guards established lines of fire at strategic intersections as snipers scaled collapsible ladders to rooftops. Under their watchful gaze, they approached homes carrying door-breaching equipment and metal detectors, an explosives sniffing military working dog trailing behind. Iraqi Highway Police vehicles patrolled the streets, stopping when uniformed officers needed to speak to locals or investigate a mosque. This was a standard search for contraband and weapons caches, an operation known as a cordon and knock. Perimeters were established and houses systematically searched.
“We’re searching for standard weapons caches, (improvised explosive devices), IED-making material and anyone who comes up on our biometrics automated tool set as a potential terrorist.” said 2nd Lt. Justin Coons, platoon commander for Company B, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, attached to Task Force Tarawa.
The operation was mirrored in the town of Ramalia to the north, both areas lie outside the normal patrol boundaries set for the small forward operating bases that dot Rutbah. Despite a history of hospitable reception and cooperation from locals, the community of approximately 50 homes had yielded caches of arms and explosives on several occasions. The early morning search gave Marines of Task Force Tarawa, a detachment of Marines and other military assets from Regimental Combat Team 2, a chance to familiarize themselves with an area of operations they had assumed from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) only weeks prior.
“It’s been a pretty docile environment,” said Coons. “Basically, it has the same atmospherics as in Rutbah itself. The people are relatively friendly. Everything we’ve experienced today is definitely very compliant and very friendly toward us. The biggest thing is, we just haven’t had a patrolling effort out here. So, we wanted to come through and double check and make sure the area is swept and clear before we give it the thumbs up that we can move on and move to other areas.”
Aside from the odd locked or empty building where Coalition Forces were required to make a forced entry, homeowners opened their doors to searching Marines, cooperating with requests to gather families into one room during searches. This was nothing new to the locals, the 15th MEU (SOC) had conducted similar searches throughout their tenure in Rutbah.
“The 15th MEU came in here with a pretty hard push and got a lot of the insurgents out of the area or detained,” said Coons. “The quality of life has been significantly improved after that push, so they’re definitely more compliant because of that.”
The morning yielded few surprises. Men owning AK-47s were questioned, though none exceeded the legal limit of one rifle per household. The lack of contraband in no way meant the operation was a failure, Coons asserted. The presence of Coalition Forces alone sent a positive message to the residents of Germantown.
“The biggest concern (is) we’re looking out not only for our welfare, but their welfare, and getting that message out to them,” said Coons. “Sometimes, we have to do things that might inconvenience them for the time being, but we’re fully confident that the ends justify the means. We’ve certainly been working toward that end, and I think the people of Rutbah understand that.”