L. The LRS owned the night - looking into the darkness at FOB Buzz near Rutbah, Iraq.

All photographs courtesy of Mike Gifford  Copyright Mike Gifford & Defensewatch Magazine 2005

During the summer of 2003 an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) took the life of Captain Joshua Byers, the company commander of Fox Troop, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) at Ramadi, Iraq. His driver, Specialist Tim Buskell, was formerly a soldier in my Army reserve unit, the 94th Regional Readiness Command (RRC), years before. Luckily Tim only had a few small shrapnel wounds from the explosion that killed his friend and commander only a foot and a half away. It was time for payback.

Within a week, the US military would know who was responsible for it.

L., Members of the 94th MP Co. investigate a premature explosion at the site of a suicide bomber's car.

I belonged to the 94th Military Police Company, from the same RRC that Buskell had once belonged. Our Second Platoon was stationed at "Junction City" in Ramadi, tasked with the 24-7 mission of keeping the main highway around Ramadi clear. I was with the one squad from first platoon that had been posted near Hit when the call came in; our unit had been personally requested by Killer Troop of the 3rd ACR for a joint operation with Special Forces Detachment Alpha in a mission to capture Captain Byers' killers. My name is Gifford.

The commander of the Third's "Killer Troop," Captain Andrew Watson, had called us the day before the raid and asked for our assistance. The brutally effective troop of killers was to team up with Special Forces for a raid in Ramadi to nab the eight men known to be responsible for the IED. In what would be considered one of the most successful joint operations of the preceding six months--involving the massive conventional machinery of the ACR and the quiet intensity of the "SF"--the Army Reserve MP company from New Hampshire that would find itself right in the middle of it all. 

The Alpha detachment of SF had been working in Ramadi for some time now, and had developed an impressive network of informants. They were working out of a small compound just across the Euphrates from the 82nd Airborne's headquarters called "Champion Main." It was one a strange to drive by their post and not see a soul, yet we could feel the weight of their presence. They kept a low profile, but after a few weeks our common enemy knew who they were. On one occasion, a few insurgents foolishly try to approach the compound on foot, only to end up shot to pieces by men in plain clothes laying in wait and armed to the teeth. Mortars would often rain down at night near their post, but most would splash harmlessly into the warm water of the Euphrates River. They were not to be trifled with.

The men of Alpha were dangerously efficient in their work and their covert activities were the stuff of legends. On one occasion it almost proved deadly in a near miss friendly fire incident when members of our own third platoon responsible for gate security at Champion, fired a few warning shots at Alpha's SUV late one night as it silently crept up the road with its lights off. 

A few soldiers from Alpha calmly exited their vehicle with their hands up and shouted, "don't shoot, we're Special Forces!" After reaching the gate--a little relieved no doubt--they explained to our troops that they were sick of their food and wanted to hit the "midnight chow" on Champion for a tastier meal. I guess you could honestly say that at least a few people thought the Army's food was to die for.

Alpha had a good relationship with the premier "spooks" in the region--the SF long-range surveillance, or LRS team. These were the men who could infiltrate into an area undetected, gather intelligence using a unique blend of camouflage and stealth, and then slip off into the shadows of Iraq's alleyways only to disappear. After the Alpha team had a bead on who was responsible, the LRS team was dispatched to watch their every move, to track their behavior and discover identifiable patterns of the eight-man enemy force. 

The LRS team was extremely effective at its task. Operational security prevents writing any more about how they managed to move into place, it is enough to say that they did. The LRS team had managed to come within 20 yards of the oblivious insurgents and observe them for days, invisible in the community around them.

Alpha team had been tipped off the enemy's involvement by their Iraqi informant thanks to that age-old human frailty called vanity. While the Iraqi men who were responsible for the IED were very good at concealing explosives, they were horribly bad at keeping their mouths shut. The fragile ego of the enemy would prove useful in their identification--after the IED incident that took Byer's life they couldn't help but brag about what they'd done to their friends, neighbors, and anyone else who was listening. Fortunately for us, Alpha detachment's informant was all ears. 

R. Successful prisoner snatches are dangerous and require complex, perfect coordination to succeed without casualties.

Over a few days leading up to the raid, the LRS team observed that the "leader" would stop outside his house and fire his AK just before daybreak, the signal for his minions to gather. After a few minutes, they'd all eventually make their way to the leader's house and shuffle off to another hideout, no doubt to plan more attacks against Coalition soldiers. 

After that bit of intelligence, Alpha devised the capture plans and the ACR was now officially involved. While it was formally a Special Forces mission, they'd need the hardware of the ACR to secure their target area, a fairly dangerous section of Ramadi. The ACR, having worked with us before in Hit, knew our capabilities and requested elements of both 2nd platoon and ours for the assignment. We didn't get much notice--maybe about 12 hours--but that's how war works sometimes. After hearing about how they'd pinpointed the men responsible for a soldier's death, we were more than eager to take the job.

Part II - The Snatch

Guest Contributing Editor Mike Gifford is currently an inactive reservist with the US Army in Chicago, IL. A graduate of Union College (New York) and former intelligence officer, he's currently working on a book that chronicles his experiences in Iraq with the Military Police Corps. All profits will be donated to families of those killed or injured serving in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Gifford can be reached at giff94@hotmail.com. Send Feedback responses to­ dwfeedback@yahoo.com.