An Operation Forsythe Park (also: ''Operation Forsyth Park'') in Albu Bali,Michael E. Silverman: ''Awakening Victory: How Iraqi Tribes and American Troops Reclaimed Al Anbar''
Google Books located 15 kilometers northeast of

Ramadi Ramadi ( ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate which shares borders with Syri ...

, was completed on Wednesday 5 May 2007 in Ramadi, Iraq by approx 450 Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces.

Mission

Al Anbar Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...

Provincial Security Force 2,

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...

demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

experts and U.S. Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Task Force Pathfinder (with elements from the 321st Engineer Battalion and C company 397th Engineer company) conducted the weeks long clearing operation, targeting one of the remaining hotspots in the brigade's area of operations. TF Pathfinder spent long hours conducting route clearance, often on mission for more than 24 hours at a time, clearing IED threats so that Provincial Security Force 2 could complete their mission. Operation Forsythe Park started in the early morning hours of 26 April with multiple Coalition Soldiers being injured in the opening minutes of the Operation by IED's that had been emplaced in strategic areas such as land bridges over canals, with command executed detonations. One such firing point was traced out at over 600 meters and had to be dug out with a pick. This is a prime example of the insurgents having placed these devices months, even years in advance in certain areas designed to keep Coalition Forces out of the area. "We had seen an increased amount of enemy activity in this region over the last three weeks", said Col. John Charlton,

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

for 1BCT. "Once we set the conditions and built sufficient combat power, we took the fight to the enemy and provided much needed relief to the population". "During the operation, Coalition forces were attacked almost daily by rocket propelled grenades, small arms fire, IED's ranging in size from 10 pounds to 150-200 pounds of explosives. There was also the constant threat of snipers, heavy machine gun fire, and improvised rockets." Said Master Sergeant David Johnson of B Co 321st Engineer Battalion, TF Pathfinder. "We would take over for another team that had been working on clearing the roads, and we would have vehicles blown up by an IED that had been dug into the sides of the elevated roads, that left no visual clues, before we had reached the limit of advance from the previous route clearance team. Speed was a killer, 1-2 miles an hour was a good pace and the Soldiers in the lead vehicles got very good at their jobs of spotting thin copper wire, or what was referred to as a 'snail trail' in the dirt roads, or cracks in paved portions."

Result

The multiple day operation marks the eighth large-scale operation for the brigade this year. The police and soldiers discovered multiple weapon caches, including 28

improvised explosive devices An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

, three 14.5 mm anti-aircraft guns, five

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

, 300 pounds of homemade

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

s, 2200

gallons The gallon is a unit of volume in British imperial units and United States customary units. The imperial gallon (imp gal) is defined as , and is or was used in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, including Ireland, Canada, Australia, ...

nitric acid Nitric acid is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but samples tend to acquire a yellow cast over time due to decomposition into nitrogen oxide, oxides of nitrogen. Most com ...

and 200 blasting caps. Six

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

service members, several Iraqi Soldiers and police, along with multiple insurgents were killed during the operation.

Units

;United States Units *3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division *Firepower Control Team 6, Detachment F, 4th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, II Marine Expeditionary Force (FWD) *Task Force Pathfinder ( 321st Engineer Battalion, C/397th Engineers) ;Iraq Units *Provincial Security Force 2, Iraqi Army *7th Division Iraqi Army Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Company *7th Division Iraqi Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company

References

External links

Release RELEASE No. 20070504-17 Official Website of the Multinational Force - Iraq
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsythe Park Military operations of the Iraq War in 2007 Military operations of the Iraq War involving the United States Military operations of the Iraq War involving Iraq Military operations of the Anbar campaign (2003–2011) April 2007 in Iraq May 2007 in Iraq

Mission

Result

Units

See also

References

External links