Mission evolving for soldiers in Baghdad

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2nd Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment soldiers on patrol in Baghdad last month.


Mission evolving for soldiers in Baghdad
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, December 5, 2007

BAGHDAD — Soldiers deploying to Iraq should expect a different fight than they’ve experienced on past missions, according to the Baghdad-based commander of the 2nd Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment.

Col. John RisCassi, whose brigade combat team-sized force out of Vilseck, Germany, has been fighting in Baghdad since September, said Thursday that battle conditions are changing fast in the Iraqi capital.

“If you were here six months ago, it is great to have that experience, but it is definitely different. Rely on your experience, but it is a different enemy,” he said in an interview on Thursday in Baghdad.

For example, 2nd Cav spent its first month in Baghdad fighting a dug-in al-Qaida in Iraq force in the Hadar neighborhood, he said.

“We went through a very kinetic fight for the first 30 days we were down here. We had to clear out a significant AQI stronghold,” RisCassi said.

Al-Qaida fighters had fortified Hadar and civilians fled the neighborhood before 2nd Cav began Operation Dragoon Talon, which aimed to clear the insurgents from the area, he said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50730