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3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment pushes out insurgents in Operation Rubicon

Marines here are hitting insurgents with an iron fist while offering an open hand of assistance to local villagers.

Pfc. Justin R. Carman watches Lance Cpl. Alfred J. Lomando's back above a rooftop in Husayba, Iraq during Operation Rubicon, Aug. 27. Marines, U.S. Army soldiers and a sailor assigned to K Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment were on a combat mission of clearing houses of insurgents and looking for weapons. Carman is a 19-year-old rifleman assigned from Tampa, Fla. Lomando is a 21-year-old machine gunner from Miami, Fla. Both Marines are currently serving a seven-month deployment in the Habbaniyah area under Regimental Combat Team 5

Marines of K Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment began a main effort to drive out insurgents and protect Iraqis in this area west of Habbaniyah. It's called Operation Rubicon.

Marines pushed out into areas that have rarely seen Coalition Forces. They established a permanent forward operating base and are hunting down terrorists who haunted locals here and used their villages to launch attacks.

The battalion is serving in Iraq with Regimental Combat Team 5.

"Our goal is to get the locals established and weed out the insurgents here," said Staff Sgt. Timothy P. Hanson, a 30-year-old from Piedmont, Ala., who serves as a platoon sergeant with K Company.

Marines traveled under the sun's sweltering rays for several days pursuing insurgents in regions that were once terrorist strongholds. They cleared cars, rooms, stairs and rooftops looking for anti-Iraqi Forces. Some platoons found them.

"We had two detainees and small-arms fire the first day," Sgt. Earnest F. Murphy, a platoon guide assigned to K Company.

The 32-year-old machine gunner from Evergreen, Ala., said it all occurred when his platoon was patrolling the area. His Marines were attacked by enemy gunfire. They turned their march in the attackers' direction.

Marines stopped at a nearby house to refocus their efforts, not knowing the house held the suspected insurgents.

"Something seemed fishy," Murphy said.

So he and his team looked around the house. Murphy's senses were right.

They found freshly-shot weapons, a large amount of money and improvised explosive device-making materials. That was all the Marines needed to take the suspected insurgents into custody.

Read more at: http://192.156.19.109/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/CF76EAD14F248AC9852571DC003103E4?opendocument

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