CLC Tip Leads to Massive EFP, Explosives Cache

Story by Staff Sgt. Russell Bassett

KHAN BANI SA’AD, Iraq – Working off a tip from a concerned local citizen, coalition forces discovered a massive weapons cache, Oct. 23, during the raid of a home in Sa’ada village, Iraq. The cache marks the largest discovery of explosively formed penetrators ever found in Iraq at one location.

The cache included 124 fully-assembled EFPs, 159 copper disks of four different sizes used in making EFPS (including 12-inch disks – one of the largest ever discovered in Iraq), 600-plus pounds of C4 and other explosive materials, 100 mortar rounds of various caliber, 31 107 mm rockets, two mortar tubes and 20 claymore-type mines.

Soldiers of Troop B, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Fort Lewis, Wash., detained the cache owner in the raid.

“My first concern was for my Soldiers,” said Capt. Jason Rosenstrauch, B Troop commander. “I was worried that the room was unstable because it smelled like explosives and nitric acid.

“A find like this helps keep my Soldiers morale up because they know they’ve made a difference,” Rosenstrauch continued. “It makes them feel good that they are saving Soldiers lives through their work.”

Sa’ada Village is located approximately five miles south of Khan Bani Sa’ad, a city in Diyala province with a population of approximately 100,000 – half Sunni and half Shia. Six weeks ago, Iraqi security forces planned and executed Operation Justice League, clearing many al-Qaida in Iraq and anti-coalition militia members out of Khan Bani Sa’ad. Before Justice League, CF, ISF and Iraqi civilians were regularly attacked by enemy insurgents, and local citizens were afraid to work with CF for fear of reprisals.

Rosenstrauch said the citizens of Khan Bani Sa’ad are now working closely with coalition forces to keep insurgents out of the city.

“We have a lot of peace in the city center now,” Rosenstrauch said. “We have had a ton of CLCs reporting on enemy activity. The people are turning on the insurgents and telling us where they are.”