Forward Operating Base Paliwoda

Last updated

FOB Paliwoda or Camp Paliwoda was a US forward operating base (FOB) in Balad, Iraq. The base was named for Captain Eric Paliwoda, an Engineer Officer and West Point Graduate from Farmington, Connecticut serving with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, who was killed in an enemy mortar attack in Balad on 2 January 2004; it had formerly been called FOB Eagle.

Contents

History

FOB Paliwoda, formerly known as FOB Eagle, was established in 2003 by 1-8 Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Carson, CO. The base was renamed FOB Paliwoda in memory of Captain Eric Paliwoda who was KIA on 2 January 2004. Captain Paliwoda was in his command post in Balad, Iraq when it came under mortar attack. He was assigned to 4th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized).

American M109 firing in Iraq. c.2007 1-10 FA Blasts the Big Guns (Image 2 of 2) - DVIDS 50760.jpg
American M109 firing in Iraq. c.2007

During Operation Iraqi Freedom II (2004), the camp was occupied by elements of the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division, 1st Battalion 18th Infantry, Charlie Company, 2nd Platoon Warpigs. 1-77th Armor Regiment (United States)|77th Armor Regiment]]). It was during OIF II (2005) that the Balad Joint Cooperation Center (B-JCC) was established by TF 1-77AR. OIF III saw 3rd U.S. Army Infantry Division elements (Task Force 5-7 Cavalry, consisting of Bulldog, Combat, Devil and Headhunter Troops), commanded by Lt. Col Jody Petery and under operational command of the 42nd Infantry Division, occupied the post. Serving as the main counter battery and route security between samara and North Baghdad (Al Taji) some major actions that happened included The fall of 2005 coordinated insurgent bombing attack on the city of Balad that resulted in approximately 125 local civilian deaths including the District Police Chief, and 100 wounded, due to 3 VBIEDs detonated in coordination with a 60mm mortar attack as a major mosque was ending its service, overflowing the local medical treatment centers and causing massive casualty evacuations by both US and Iraqi forces. Over 130 counter battery missions were fired by 1-41 Artillery in support of Samarra, LSA Anaconda, Fob Dragon, Fob Paliwoda, and Fob Orion within 30 km of the M109A6 Paladins stationed 24/7 at Paliwoda to combat constant indirect fire threats in the area.

On October 2006, as part of Task Force Lightning under the umbrella command of the 25th Infantry Division, elements of the U.S. 3rd Battalion 8th Cavalry Regiment (Warhorse), 1st Cavalry Division took control of FOB Paliwoda. The Warhorse Battalion was charged with monitoring and clearing the Jabauri Peninsula, a hot bed for terrorists fleeing from places like Syria, Iran, and Pakistan. On October 2007, 3/8 CAV, 1CD turned over control to elements of 1/32 CAV, 1st BCT, 101st Airborne Division. On October 2008, the 101st conducted Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority (RIP/TOA) with 3-4 CAV (Nightraiders), 3BCT (Broncos), 25ID (Tropic Lightning). Early in 2009, Bravo and Charlie Troops, 3-4 CAV would leave the FOB and live on Joint Base Balad (JBB). The HHT elements of 3-4 CAV (including both the SCO and SCSM) and Apache Troop, would remain on FOB Paliwoda until October 2009, when they turned over control of the FOB to HHC, 1-28 INF, an Infantry Battalion from 1st Infantry Division based out of Fort Riley, Kansas.

Forward Operating Base Paliwoda is a former training base for Saddam Hussein's elite fighters. The base is shaped like a fat horseshoe; its perimeter is 1½ miles long. On the north side is a road and the entrance. On the south there's a canal, on the east a mosque, and on the west a school soccer field. In the middle, behind giant chain-link fences, is housing still occupied by the families of former Iraqi soldiers. One side of the horseshoe used to be a school, but it is now the battalion headquarters. The other side used to be a training camp for Saddam Hussein's guerrilla fighters. The FOB itself has numerous towers that outlines the edge of the base, and these towers were used as guard towers on 24/7 shifts. The FOB also contained makeshift motor pools, makeshift mechanic areas, and a concrete slab utilized as a landing pad for helicopters. On the northeast corner of the FOB is a compound used exclusively by a Special Forces ODA Team. Security on the FOB is provided by the Private Security company "Sabre", who primarily contract Ugandan citizens.

Forward Operating Base Paliwoda, like many bases in Iraq, has portable shower units for soldiers to use. But at Paliwoda, persistent problems with the makeshift electrical system installed by an Iraqi contractor mean the water often is cold if it is running at all. The MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) building at Paliwoda began with about 15 computers and 10 telephones for soldiers to communicate with family at home, a second-hand ping pong table, a television, and a few board games; it has since been reduced to the telephones and computers. Once a day a convoy delivers food from the Kellogg, Brown and Root chow hall at Anaconda, unless the unit in control of the FOB has cooks attached to them. There is also a gym with weight lifting equipment.

Current use

On 15 June 2009, during a ceremony, U.S. soldiers lowered the American flag and Iraqi soldiers raised the Iraqi flag at the handover of Forward Operating Base Paliwoda to Iraq, as the Balad Joint Coordination Center. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Infantry Division (United States)</span> Active US Army formation

The 4th Infantry Division is a division of the United States Army based at Fort Carson, Colorado. It is composed of a division headquarters battalion, three brigade combat teams, a combat aviation brigade, a division sustainment brigade, and a division artillery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment</span> Military unit

The 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery battalion assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Carrying the lineage of Battery C, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, the battalion carries campaign streamers from World War I, World War II, and Vietnam, and has served with the 4th Infantry Division and 8th Infantry Division. The unit's nickname is "Rolling Thunder", and their motto is "Macte Nova Virtute". The battalion is composed of a headquarters and headquarters battery (HHB), three cannon batteries, and has an attached Forward Support Company, Company F, 15th Brigade Support Battalion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balad, Iraq</span> City in Saladin, Iraq

Balad, also transliterated Beled or Belad, is a city in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of the national capital, Baghdad. It is the capital of Balad District. Located in Iraq's volatile Sunni Triangle, between the towns of Al Dhuluiya, Yathrib and Ishaqi, Balad's inhabitants are primarily farmers who work mainly on grape and date farms and as citrus growers.

The 12th Cavalry is a cavalry regiment of the United States Army. It is currently stationed at Fort Cavazos, formerly known as Fort Hood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th Cavalry Regiment (United States)</span> Military unit

The 9th Cavalry Regiment is a parent cavalry regiment of the United States Army. Historically, it was one of the Army's four segregated African-American regiments and was part of what was known as the Buffalo Soldiers. The regiment saw combat during the Indian and Spanish–American Wars. During Westward Expansion, the regiment provided escort for the early western settlers and maintained peace on the American frontier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th Infantry Regiment (United States)</span> Military unit

The 8th Infantry Regiment of the United States, also known as the "Fighting Eagles," is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. The 8th Infantry participated in the Mexican War, American Civil War, Philippine Insurrection, Moro Rebellion, World War I, World War II, Vietnam War, and Iraq Campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multi-National Corps – Iraq</span> Military unit

Multi-National Corps – Iraq (MNC-I) was a formerly multinational, later U.S. only, army corps created on 15 May 2004, fighting the Iraq War. Its superior body, the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) had replaced Combined Joint Task Force 7 on May 15, 2004. The change was made due to "concerns that had existed for some period of time, that the Combined Joint Task Force 7 headquarters was not sufficient to handle the range of military operations in Iraq, including peace support, civil military operations, and at the same time conduct strategic engagement such as talking to the sheiks and talking to the political authorities."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraq War order of battle, 2009</span>

Below is an estimated list of the major units deployed within the Multi-National Force – Iraq and other United States military units that were operating in Iraq under the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) in 2009, during the Iraq War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th Cavalry Regiment</span> United States Army Cavalry Regiment

The 8th Cavalry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army formed in 1866 during the American Indian Wars. The 8th Cavalry continued to serve under a number of designations, fighting in every other major U.S. conflict since, except World War I, when it was not deployed to Europe because it was already engaged in the Punitive Expedition in Mexico from 1916 to 1920. It is currently a component of the 1st Cavalry Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp Taji</span> Human settlement in Iraq

Camp Taji, also known as Camp Cooke, is a military installation used by Iraqi and Coalition forces near Taji, Baghdad Governorate, Iraq. The camp is located in a rural region approximately 27 km (17 mi) north of the capital Baghdad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp Speicher</span> Military air installation in Northern Iraq

Majid al Tamimi Airbase, officially known as the Tikrit Air Academy and formerly as Al Sahra Airfield is an air installation near Tikrit in northern Iraq. The installation is approximately 170 kilometers north of Baghdad and 11 kilometers west of the Tigris River. Prior to 2003, Al Sahra Airfield was the main base of the Iraqi Air Force Air Academy. The Marines from Task Force Tripoli captured the base from the Iraqi Army during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and turned it over to the United States Army who used it as the headquarters of the United States Division–North. The airfield is served by two main runways measuring 9,600 feet (2,900 m) long with a shorter runway measuring 7,200-foot (2,200 m). The Americans named the airfield after Captain Michael Scott Speicher, a United States Navy pilot who was killed in action in Iraq during the Gulf War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division</span> One of three basic maneuver units of the 1st Cavalry Division, US Army

The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division is a combined arms armored brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division based in Fort Cavazos, TX. Major equipment includes the M1A2SEP Tanks, M2A3 & M3A3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M109A7 Paladin howitzers, and M1114 up-armored Humvees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment (United States)</span> Military unit

The 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery is a unit of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, United States Army. The battalion is currently garrisoned at Fort Carson, Colorado.

82nd Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army. The regiment has been involved in American conflicts dating back to the Mexican Civil War, as well as modern operations such as the War on Terrorism. There are two active and three inactive battalions in the regiment. Traditionally, the regiment has been aligned with the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Cavazos, Texas and Fort Bliss, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forward Operating Base Kalsu</span>

Forward Operating Base Kalsu, also known as 'FOB Kalsu', COS Kalsu or simply Camp Kalsu, was a U.S. Military installation in Iskandariya, Iraq, 20 miles south of Baghdad. It was officially closed by members of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, on December 12, 2011 as part of the US Army's withdrawal from Iraq.

Forward Operating Base Duke is a base of the Iraqi Armed Forces located 20 km northwest of Najaf, Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">20th Infantry Regiment (United States)</span> Military unit

The 20th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry regiment. Currently only the 5th Battalion of the 20th Infantry still exists. Stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and part of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, 5-20 Infantry was one of the original battalions selected to take part in the testing and fielding of the U.S. Army's then-new Stryker vehicle. During the Vietnam War, elements of the regiment carried out the My Lai massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">151st Cavalry Regiment</span> United States Army cavalry regiment from 1947 to 2015

The 151st Cavalry Regiment was a United States Army cavalry regiment represented in the Arkansas Army National Guard by 1st Squadron, 151st Cavalry Regiment, headquartered in Warren, Arkansas, an element of the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment was a United States infantry battalion, headquartered at Warren, Arkansas, assigned to the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Arkansas Army National Guard until it was deactivated on 5 September 2005. The history of the 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry as an individual battalion begins with the reorganization of the 39th Infantry Division in 1967 and the creation of the 39th Infantry Brigade (Separate). For history of the 3rd Battalion prior to 1967, see 153rd Infantry Regiment and 39th Infantry Division.

Kirkush Military Training Base was a United States Army installation near the city of Balad Ruz in Diyala Governorate, Iraq.

References

  1. "FOB Eagle Now FOB Paliwoda".