Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Saturday, January 15, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

DISPATCH IRAQ

By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs

CAMP CALDWELL, Iraq — The most powerful image of Col. Dennis Adams’ first month of command in an Iraq combat zone is a 3-year-old girl with a nearly year-old bullet still lodged between her skull and her spine. Photos of the girl’s recent visit here for treatment are the first pictures the leader of the 278 th Regimental Combat Team shows from a massive computer file of digital photos.

"She won’t survive with it in there," said Col. Adams as the smiling girl filled up his laptop screen. "I’ve seen the X-rays. It’s a terrible thing."

This type of interaction with Iraqis has convinced Col. Adams that the Tennessee based 278th can make a difference here.

Despite a challenging transition month of growing familiar with new terrain, climate and people, the regiment has shown already that it is here to stabilize its sector’s 15 cities, Col. Adams said.

So far the 278 th has done more than 650 combat patrols in which units have uncovered 56 weapons caches, discovered 50 homemade roadside bombs and captured between 60 and 70 insurgents.

"The insurgents know there is a new sheriff in town," said Col. Adams, a former coach and schoolteacher at Daniel Boone High School in Johnson City, Tenn., who describes his new job here as a diplomat, combat commander and city manager rolled into one.

The 278th hasn’t spent its first month unscathed. About 10 roadside bombs have exploded on 278th convoys, and patrols have received sporadic direct fire on four occasions, but no soldier has been seriously injured.

"We have fought our way through all of this without any casualties," Col. Adams said. "As a commander, it doesn’t get any better than that."

Col. Adams said good intelligence gathering has prevented major casualties. The 278 th’s history as an armored cavalry regiment trained for reconnaissance missions enabled the unit to canvass a 200-mile sector along the Iranian border for weapons and hinder the insurgents’ ability to arm themselves for battle, he said. "The insurgents have been testing us, but they haven’t stood up and fought us as a group," Col. Adams said. "We are preventing them from massing their forces because we keep getting their stuff. We’ve stayed one step ahead of them."

Maj. Martin Basham, the executive officer of the regiment’s 1 st Squadron, said the 278 th’s ability to survive the first month relatively unscathed is due to a lot of prayers back home. He also said the regiment’s arsenal of tanks, artillery and heavily armored infantry have kept the insurgents at bay. "If you show you are willing to fight, they think twice about attacking you," Maj. Basham said. But Maj. Basham said he expects the resistance to pick up with Iraq’s elections just two weeks away.

That possibility keeps Col. Adams up at night. He said the first thing he does each morning is check the night log to see if anything happened.

"You are walking on eggshells every day," he said. "I still have that itchy feeling. I don’t feel secure yet."

Col. Adams said the fact that the Jan. 30 elections are coming so soon after the regiment’s arrival here means little rest for any of his soldiers.

The regiment is helping Iraqi officials fend for themselves by establishing four Joint Command Centers in the area.

Like a disaster response headquarters, the centers provide a central location for police and fire departments to respond to emergencies. They are also a key component of the security strategy for this month’s elections.

"We will provide a quick-reaction force in several locations throughout the province," Col. Adams said of the election day. "We will be ready to go, but our charge is to let the Iraqis do 95 percent of this."

Col. Adams predicts that, after the voting, the insurgents will change their tactics from attacking the Iraqi security forces to going after the elected parties. But he said he expects most Iraqis in the Diyala Province here to cooperate with coalition forces.

"The normal Iraqi citizen wants the cycle of violence to end here," Col. Adams said. "They are helping us find the bad guys, the weapons caches and the (roadside) bomb makers."

Maj. Basham said during training back in the United States, the regiment was not able to get a clear picture of the typical Iraqi. He said most of his soldiers now have learned that citizens in the area are good people who want better lives, just like most Americans.

"We were expecting a lot more resistance from the normal people of Iraq," he said. "Our job is to allow them to live the life they want to live and not let the few rule the many."

Col. Adams said most of the violence is coming from former leaders of Saddam Hussein’s government and foreign fighters from other Islamic countries there to fight U.S. forces.

The regiment will continue monitoring the border to prevent such insurgents from crossing into Iraq, he said. This border area in the 278 th’s sector also is where insurgents already in the country come to rest, relax and refit before heading back to more volatile towns such as Fallujah, Mosul and Baqubah.

The regiment’s members also will work on quality-of-life projects such as bringing water, sewer and electricity to the villages.

"We have a lot of pokers in the fire," Maj. Basham said.

But Col. Adams said his first priority would remain protecting the 278 th soldiers. That is good news to Lt. Matt Carr, 25, of Knoxville, whose platoon experienced its first hostile fire Tuesday.

The 2001 University of Tennessee graduate said his unit was traveling in a convoy north of Baghdad when it received direct fire and responded with shots of its own. The incident lasted no more than two minutes, but Lt. Carr said it left a lasting impression on his men.

"We know it is definitely a combat zone," he said. "Every time you go outside the gate, you have to be on your toes because the consequences could be your life or your buddy’s life."

Despite the sporadic violence, Col. Adams said he sees hope for a thriving democracy here fueled by the country’s oil resources and its potential for farmland nurtured by its vast river network. He also sees tourism potential once the country stabilizes because of its roots in religious writings.

"The Old Testament is right here in Iraq," he said.

But he mainly sees promise in the hardworking Iraqis he has already met and shared meals with — Iraqis who welcome the 278 th as friends rather than resenting them as occupiers.

"It reminds me of going to my grandmother’s house where you can’t leave without eating," Col. Adams said of the warm hospitality he has experienced during his first month of leading the 278 th in Iraq.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

BY THE NUMBERS

The 278 th Regimental Combat Team’s first month in Iraq:
650: Number of combat patrols performed
56: Number of weapons caches uncovered
50: Number of homemade roadside bombs discovered
60 to 70: Number of insurgents captured
Source: 278 th Regimental Combat Team

U.S. Army Photo by Capt. Alan Mingledorff - Col. Dennis Adams, commander of the 278 th Regimental Combat Team, recognizes the Iraqi National Guard at a New Year’s Eve dinner.

Story Copyright to Chattanooga Times Free press