Update on 1-4 Cavalry Regiment

While we have not received word on any other Marshall residents currently serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, we did get this news on the 1-4 Cavalary Regiment of which 2004 Marshall graduate Spc. Adam Lafferty is a part. What follows was sent by his commander to Lafferty's mother, Tracy Reuss:

Family and Friends of 1-4 CAV,
I have been attempting to carve out some time to provide you all with another update as I received some positive feedback from my last update and know that many of you appreciate it. Fortunately, we have had a couple of reporters with our Squadron who will help provide some third party perspective of what we have been up to. First, we had Mr. Michael Yon who is a very popular blogger and has spent a great deal of time in Iraq and is himself a former soldier in Special Forces. Mr. Yon knows what he is looking at and how to put it in the proper perspective so he is generally well-respected and has a loyal following on the internet. FOX News recently added the link to his website to their own news web site. He published one article on the web about us entitled RUBS #2 (Raw, Unedited, and Barely Spell-checked) which I know that many of you have read. He will publish a much more detailed article with pictures any day now. In fact, by the time you get this email, it may be published. He was great to work with and I hope you enjoy his insight. I have not seen any kind of draft so I am operating on faith here! The second reporter is named Shashank Bengali. He writes for the McClatchey News Group (formerly Knight Ridder). His articles are picked up by several major newspapers to include the Kansas City paper. His focus is on our Combat Outpost as is Mr. Yon’s.
Since my last update, we have completed our move into our COP which will allow us to integrate our capabilities much easier and quicker into our area of responsibility. This was a major undertaking by the entire Squadron as well as a large number of Army Engineers. First, B Troop secured the route we used to get all of our logistical support to the COP. They stood guard along the route 24/7 for a week to ensure we could move safely back and fourth as there was a great deal of US traffic. They did an excellent job as there was not a single hostile act along that route. One interesting side note… We often hand out soccer balls and backpacks filled with paper, crayons, etc to some of the local children and one of our B Troop NCOs was doing so when one child came up to him and slipped him a hand written note in English which said:

Dear Sir,
We ask your help and support us. We want to tell you that there is no electricity in this neighborhood about six months ago and we suffer a lot. People here scare to go to Al Dura station and ask there and there is no other direction just you. Will you make us a favourit to help the citizens of this neighborhood. With appreciation…

After handing him the note, the boy slipped into the crowd of the other kids and walked away. In my own personal interaction with people here I do find that they really believe that we can do anything. I even had one young man ask me if we could fix the broken water pipes in by his home and another man asked us to provide security for him while he loaded his household goods to move. Yet another woman asked me to find out what happened to her husband since he had been arrested eight months ago. For the record, I couldn’t fix the water pipes but we did send a local patrol from C troop into the man’s area while he loaded his possessions and I took the woman’s name and number to our NP battalion commander who I work closely with. He actually called her to try to help. One cannot help but feel compassion.
Back to the COP story… A Troop spent the week set in outer security around the COP while the Engineers emplaced large concrete barriers around an already existing perimeter wall. While we did have some sporadic attacks, no one was injured in large part due to A Troop’s vigilance throughout the week. While on the outer perimeter, A Troop did some excellent interaction with people in the neighborhood. C Troop’s focus was in the building itself. They moved sand bags, collected up furniture and other items in the building into single rooms for safekeeping until we turn it back over. They also secured the building itself from the roof top. The engineers were incredible as they brought large concrete barriers during the evening and emplaced them all day and night. They actually had a day and night shift. With some of the extra wood, SSG Littleton took the initiative to build two quality soccer goals for the kids in the neighborhood and the engineers leveled out a field for them in a huge empty lot close to our COP. Those touches are a reflection of your troopers and while it won’t win the war, it doesn’t hurt. Some of those kids will grow up and remember those acts of kindness I am sure. A and C Troop will work from this COP which our crack staff has named COP Amanche. (Apache + Comanche, the troop nick names). Our Forward Support Company, D/ 610 BSB, has played a huge role in the COP Amanche occupation as well. They brought out all of our building supplies, fuel, sandbags and even out mobile kitchen trailer so that we can all enjoy a hot meal even while away from the FOB.
As I patrolled through the surrounding neighborhoods I found specific examples of families returning because of the added security we would provide. They are not returning in droves yet but it is a move in the right direction. Word will spread. I know A Troop also found families who had returned. So far, the insurgents are the only ones unhappy with our new strategy. This week we will begin work on the Joint Security Station (JSS) that I mentioned last time. B Troop will eventually work from a COP that is co-located with the JSS on the NP Battalion compound. Engineer work begins there this week.
In the mean time, soldiers from all of our troops continue to conduct patrols with our National Police counterparts. They continue to set a spectacular example for them and build a trust between our organizations. This is focused work at the troop and platoon level. One final note, while driving to the COP several guys in our convoy saw what they thought was a dead body on the side of the road. Unfortunately, this does occur here from time to time. We turned around and when we arrived to him I noticed that he was moving some. Cautiously, we got out after stopping traffic on a four lane road and as we all approached we noticed that his fists were clenched and he was very stiff and in the middle of an epileptic seizure. We always have a medic with us (SPC Roden) but today we happened to bring our medic platoon sergeant, SFC Dixon. He and SPC Roden quickly conducted an assessment and had him on his feet in short order. He said that he had run out of his medicine and had been wal king all morning from another part of Baghdad to look for a job. We contacted the police and convinced them (yes, we had to convince them) to take him to a hospital as he would certainly have another seizure if we allowed him to continue to walk down the road. We can only hope that things worked out for him.
In closing, we just completed a picture video for Captain Laybourn to show all of the families at the CAV Family roundup in a couple of weeks. I hope you all enjoy it. Please continue to pray for this organization and keep us in your thoughts. We will never know all of the close calls go our way due to Divine intervention but we are aware of several. Thank you for your vigilance at home. It truly helps us to remain focused and “switched on” over here. God Bless,


LTC Jim Crider
Commander, 1-4 CAV
“Prepared and Loyal”

Editor's Note: At left is a link to Michael Yon Online Magazine which features news of the 1-4 at a link called RUBS (as referenced in the above.)