State Guard unit's pleas rejected despite barrage

LOGISTICAL SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, Iraq — This sprawling supply base on a dusty stretch about 50 miles northwest of Baghdad is officially known as a "logistical support area." But some of the thousands of soldiers and contractors who suffer daily mortar and rocket attacks have another name for it: Mortaritaville.

The base, run by Washington state's 81st Brigade Combat Team, an Army National Guard unit, has seen at least a half-dozen soldiers and contractors killed and nearly 100 wounded since April. There have been about two attacks daily since July. Three weeks ago, an airman lost both legs and his right hand when a mortar shell slammed into the base.

Officers at the base said Anaconda, the largest support base in the country, with 22,500 U.S. troops and 2,500 contractors spread over 15 square miles, is also the most frequently attacked. But there is no indication the soldiers will get additional help.

Brig. Gen. Oscar Hilman, commander of the 81st, has asked for an additional 500 to 700 soldiers to provide more patrols. But he said his requests had been denied.

"Because the enemy is persistent, we need additional forces here. We asked twice," said Hilman, of Tacoma. He said he was told that "there are no additional forces" and that U.S. soldiers were needed elsewhere, particularly to battle insurgent forces or cover a large area that fans to the north and includes the embattled cities of Tikrit and Samarra.

The 81st Brigade's top enlisted man, Sgt. Maj. Robert Barr, said that there was "frustration" among the soldiers and that he often heard the same question: "Why aren't we stopping it or killing their guys who are doing it?"

While the 81st Brigade provides security inside the concertina-wire fence that surrounds the base, the task of protection outside the wire falls to the soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, part of the 1st Infantry Division, which is based in Tikrit. In the past week, the division has been part of the effort to take back Samarra from insurgents. Those units, too, are stretched thin.

"They have other operational concerns," said Lt. Col. Harry Gonzalez, a spokesman for the 81st. "There's a lot of real estate."

The 81st arrived in Iraq in March in what was the largest deployment of Washington National Guard troops since World War II. The 4,500-member brigade includes about 3,200 members from Washington in units scattered from Seattle to Spokane. It also includes troops from California, Minnesota and other states. Six members of the brigade, including two from Washington, have died.

Other portions of the 81st have been providing security in and around Baghdad, helping to lay the groundwork for upcoming elections.

Hilman said he twice requested additional forces — once in spring, again in summer — through higher headquarters, in this instance the 13th Corps Support Command, which is responsible for Anaconda and all other multinational supply and transportation facilities throughout Iraq.

Maj. Richard Spiegel, a spokesman for the 13th Corps Support Command, confirmed that Hilman put in the requests for more troops and that the requests were endorsed by the command's top officer, Brig. Gen. James Chambers.

But Chambers "is not the approving authority; the request went to Multi-National Corps — Iraq headquarters," which assesses troop requirements and makes the decision, Spiegel said. The request was turned down, he said. He declined to provide details of the decision.

Sharon Walker, a spokeswoman for U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad, said officials had no comment on why the troop request was not approved.

The Air Force will not base its massive cargo planes at Anaconda because it's considered unsafe, said one officer at the base who requested anonymity. Instead, pilots drop off their cargo with the engines running and quickly take off again.

Officers said attacks were not interfering with the supply flow, thousands of tons a month of spare parts, fuel, clothing and food. "I call [Anaconda] the life support of the theater" of operations, Hilman said.

In the past month, tall concrete slabs have been put in place at Anaconda to protect the sleeping areas from shrapnel. Mortars and rockets have landed near the 81st Brigade's operations center, the mess hall, a mosque and a chaplain's car.

Last Thursday morning, two mortars landed near the south gate, but there were no injuries. Just before dinner, a plume of smoke rose outside the fence from another explosion. A high-pitched siren warned those inside the wire to seek shelter in the bunkers, while contractors in the mess hall stopped serving food and hunkered down.

Sgt. Mark Long, part of Hilman's security detail, said there was a pressing need for U.S. forces to control more of the territory outside the base's fence, a wide stretch of rolling hills, heavy vegetation and small villages. The attackers have been constantly changing tactics and concealing their work. One mortar tube was so carefully concealed that only about 4 inches rose above the ground.

Long, who served with the 1st Infantry Division in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, complained that senior officers were not being aggressive enough in trying to stop the attacks.

An abandoned house near the south gate was the source of two recent mortar attacks, yet it is still standing, Long said.

Some of the attacks come from boats on the Tigris River, which skirts the base, or from the banks on its far side.

Officers said about 24 local men had been arrested for taking part in the attacks, but some were released for lack of evidence.

One officer, who requested anonymity, said some Air Force mechanics and pilots had volunteered to patrol outside the base's fence to stop the attacks. "They're fed up," he said.

But it would take about 20 days to train them in basic infantry tactics and weaponry, and they can't spare the time. "They've got other jobs," the officer said.

One senior officer, who also requested anonymity, said that besides more troops, what was needed was a "psychological-operations" campaign.

Meetings should be set up with local villagers to persuade them to turn in the attackers — or risk losing their homes, the officer said.

Bulldozers could be brought in to open a large swath of land that could be more easily patrolled and would offer less shelter to attackers, the officer said.

In the past month, Hilman, the 81st commander, set up an operations center staffed around the clock to try to combat the attacks.

Soldiers monitor several huge TV screens that show live video from cameras perched in the guard towers and from airborne drones. The operation is designed to pinpoint the locations of the attackers and quickly dispatch helicopters and troops.

Still, the mortars and rockets continue to strike at all hours.

Details about the 81st Brigade were provided by Seattle Times staff reporter Ray Rivera.