Striker 'FECC' provides eyes for battlefield in northern Baghdad

By Sgt. Philip Klein

3rd BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WAR EAGLE, Iraq - The Striker Fire and Effects Coordination Cell played a vital role in the fight against Special Groups militants during the uprising in Sadr City between March and May.

The FECC's job is to track the points of origin for indirect fire attacks in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division's operational environment, confirm the IDF with Multi-National Division - Baghdad and with the units on the ground, and conduct counter fire to deal with the threat.

"Once we acquire a possible IDF attack, we contact MND-B for a quick analysis, and once they confirm, we contact our battalions on the ground for conformation and initiate a search for criminals with our aerial weapons team assets," said Sgt. Justin Buck, a native of Wilson, Okla., who is a fire support specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div.

Sgt Justin Buck, a native of Wilson, Okla., and a fire support specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, tracks indirect fire and improvised explosive devices emplacements on the battlefield for 3rd BCT operational environment Sept. 3.

During the fighting in Sadr City, as Soldiers were under constant attack on the Al Quds Road barrier wall construction, the FECC team was kept busy tracking attacks from Sadr City launched mainly against the International Zone.

Traditional counter-fire methods were adapted to make use of aerial weapons teams, which were re-directed to the sites. The MND-B troops then provided counter-fire in the form of Hellfire missiles from AWTs or Guided Multiple-Launch Rocket System rockets launched from more than 40 kilometers away.

"We modified our typical counter-fire drills to take advantage of assets we had in place, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, Predators and other types of AWT," said Master Sgt. Terrance Overton, the operations noncommissioned officer for the brigade's Fire and Effects Coordination Cell.

Master Sgt. Terrance Overton, the operations NCO for the Fire and Effects Coordination Cell for 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, tracks indirect fire and improvised-explosive devices emplacements on the battlefield for 3rd BCT operational environment Sept. 3. Overton is a native of Philadelphia.

Overton, a native of Philadelphia, coordinated with MND-B's Fire and Effects Cell to ensure the Striker Brigade received all the assets required to accomplish the mission.

"Essentially, we were in two fights: the (Al Quds Road) wall build and the fight to prevent the indiscriminant fire of indirect weapons against civilian and Coalition Forces," said Overton.

In order to protect the Soldiers conducting the barrier emplacement mission along Al Quds Road, the Striker FECCers identified buildings used by criminals and snipers to engage coalition forces, using a graphical reference grid to facilitate a quick engagement against enemies engaging ground units.

"During the fight, we began to track the enemy launch sites and their trends, such as time of day, to be able to pre-deploy AWT assets to better cover the battlefield and react quickly to threats that we, or units on the ground, were able to identify," said Overton.

During the Sadr City fight, we received multiple acquisitions of IDF daily - we were the eyes for our Brigade's OE," said Buck.

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