Thin Ice
Deployable Units:
2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division "Spartans"
Alpha Company, First Battalion 30th Infantry Reg, 3rd Infantry Division
3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division
Coalition Support elements (ANDSF, US Forces)
Territory Name: Diyala is a province in Iraq located in the NW of Baghdad, extending to the border with Iran. This location saw intense fighting in the second Gulf War, and has been an epicenter of conflict between 2006 and 2008.
Territory Intel: Diyala is a province in Iraq. Since 2006, Diyala has served as the stronghold of Al Queda in Iraq. It boasts the tallest radio antenna in Iraq, and serves as a central media hub for Islamic propaganda and state-controlled media. It has a population of nearly 1.2M people, dominated the Shia and Sunni faiths. In 2008, US-led coalition forces, primarily comprised of the Iraqi Army, seized control of the province and stuffed out all remaining insurgent fighters. In 2012, Iranian-backed Qud’s Forces began operations within Diyala in order to control the media centers and boost support of Shia dominance in the area. Reports suggest that there is a significant threat of Qud-supported organizations operating from Diyala into the neighboring provinces. The fear is that Iranian control in there area will provide a strategic route into Iraq to supply further Quds destabilization operations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diyala_Governorate
https://www.google.it/maps/place/Diyala,+Irak/@33.9507589,45.5347153,9z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x15561c753edcdbf9:0xec1dc207253b450f
Territory Factcheck:
Size: 8,192 x 8,192 Km
Gridsize: 2048x2048
Cellsize: 4
Real Terraindata, Satimage, Roadnetwork, Elevationdata
Satimage: 16384 x 16384px.
10 different groundsurfaces
8 km long River
Ponds
irrigation canals
big Airport
some cities
many villages
525.000 Objects placed (all placed with MapBuilder)
Development time about 180-365 days
Background Timeline
1979: Iranian revolution
The US-backed Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, is forced to leave the country on 16 January following months of demonstrations and strikes against his rule by secular and religious opponents.
Two weeks later, Islamic religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini returns from exile. Following a referendum, the Islamic Republic of Iran is proclaimed on 1 April.
1979-81: US Embassy hostage crisis
The US embassy in Tehran is seized by protesters in November 1979 and American hostages are held inside for 444 days. The final 52 hostages are freed in January 1981, the day of US President Ronald Reagan's inauguration.
Another six Americans who had escaped the embassy are smuggled out of Iran by a team posing as film-makers, in events dramatised in the 2012 Oscar-winning film Argo.
1985-86: Iran-Contra scandal
The US secretly ships weapons to Iran, allegedly in exchange for Tehran's help in freeing US hostages held by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
The profits are illegally channelled to rebels in Nicaragua, creating a political crisis for Reagan.
1988: Iranian passenger plane shot down
The American warship USS Vincennes shoots down an Iran Air flight in the Gulf on 3 July, killing all 290 people on board. The US says the Airbus A300 was mistaken for a fighter jet.
Most of the victims are Iranian pilgrims on their way to Mecca.
2002: 'Axis of evil'
In his State of the Union address, President George Bush denounces Iran as part of an "axis of evil" with Iraq and North Korea. The speech causes outrage in Iran.
2000s: Nuclear fears and sanctions
In 2002 an Iranian opposition group reveals that Iran is developing nuclear facilities including a uranium enrichment plant.
The US accuses Iran of a clandestine nuclear weapons programme, which Iran denies. A decade of diplomatic activity and intermittent Iranian engagement with the UN's nuclear watchdog follows.
But several rounds of sanctions are imposed by the UN, the US and the EU against ultra-conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government. This causes Iran's currency to lose two-thirds of its value in two years.
2013-2016: Closer ties, and a nuclear deal
In September 2013, a month after Iran's new moderate president Hassan Rouhani takes office, he and US President Barack Obama speak by phone - the first such top-level conversation in more than 30 years.
Then in 2015, after a flurry of diplomatic activity, Iran agrees a long-term deal on its nuclear programme with a group of world powers known as the P5+1 - the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany.
Under the accord, Iran agrees to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.
2019: Tension in the Gulf
In May 2018, US President Donald Trump abandons the nuclear deal, before reinstating economic sanctions against Iran and threatening to do the same to countries and firms that continue buying its oil. Iran's economy falls into a deep recession.
Relations between the US and Iran worsen in May 2019, when the US tightens the sanctions targeting Iran's oil exports. In response, Iran begins a counter-pressure campaign.
In May and June 2019, explosions hit six oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, and the US accuses Iran.
On 20 June, Iranian forces shoot down a US military drone over the Strait of Hormuz. The US says it was over international waters, but Iran says it is over their territory.
Iran begins rolling back key commitments under the nuclear deal in July.
2020: Qasem Soleimani assassination
On 3 January 2020, Iran's top military commander, Gen Qasem Soleimani, is killed by a US drone strike in Iraq. Iran vows "severe revenge" for his death and pulls back from the 2015 nuclear accord.
Main Story Line
On 06Jan2020 roughly 4,000 troops of the 1st brigade combat team of the 82nd Airborne Division based out of Fort Bragg, N.C., have deployed to parts of Kuwait and Iraq. They are part of the division’s global response force, kept on standby for particular emergencies. A senior United States military officer said the deployment of the 82nd Airborne paratroopers and other ground forces was defensive, meant to position more troops in the Middle East who could be quickly deployed to defend or reinforce American embassies, consulates and military bases. The deployment comes in the wake of five U.S. airstrikes on Sunday Dec 29th, 2019, that targeted an Iran-backed militia known as Kata’ib Hizbollah — a group U.S. officials have blamed for a recent spate of rocket attacks against Iraqi bases housing coalition troops. 12JAN2020, The First Battalion 30th Infantry Reg, 3rd Infantry Division received orders to start remobilization training with intent to deploy to support the 82nd Airborne Division in the event of Iran’s continued attacks of US personnel in Iraq.
National Training Center - Ft. Irwin
Platoon FTX Training:
19JAN20 - Company wide requals with the M16 (Go/ No Go) and Tactical Road March
19JAN20- Company wide focused training on Battle Drill 1-6 (Go / No Go)
26JAN20 - Compnay wide focused training on Convoy Security (Go / No Go)
Squad Training Focus: Pre-combat inspections (PCIs) are inspections performed by squad leaders prior to the execution of operations. Every soldier has heard of or taken part in PCIs, yet current Army doctrine does not clearly define or identify them. FM 6-0, Command and Control, simply states unit preparation includes pre-combat checks and inspections to ensure units, soldiers, and systems are fully capable and ready to execute. FM 7-10, The Infantry Company, states inspections must be used to supervise and refine troop-leading procedures, and gives a list of items to inspect to include weapons, equipment, soldiers’ knowledge, and communications. At the platoon level, FM 3-21.8 (FM 7-8, Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad) states squad leaders should conduct initial inspections shortly after receipt of the warning order. It continues with the platoon sergeant conducting spot checks throughout the unit’s preparation for combat, and the platoon leader and platoon sergeant making a final inspection.
They should inspect:
• Weapons and ammunition
• Uniform and equipment
• Mission-essential equipment
• Soldiers’ understanding of the mission and their specific responsibilities
• Communications (Clear Radio Freq set from FTL, SL, P-Staff)
• Deficiencies noted during earlier inspections
Given this lack of definition and the clear importance of such inspections, the need to define a PCI is apparent.
Squad Training should focus on:
Completion of PCI - Pre-Combat Inspection on all soldiers assigned
Soldiers has mods updated and XML in working order
Soldiers has combat loadout saved via arsenal (can be quickly loaded)
Completion of Battle Drills 1-6 at squad level
Completion of Convoy Security at squad level
Remember: Not Inspected, Oft Neglected - Pre-combat inspections are an important tool to help ensure mission success. Current doctrine does not specify the format, time allocated, or content of PCIs. Those units that do not conduct PCIs have problems during mission execution. Some even risk mission failure.
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