'Operation Commando Hunter' Team Finds 75 Weapons Caches

By Staff Sgt. Angela McKinzie, USA

U.S. soldiers continue to find multiple weapons caches, some with improvised explosive devices, for a seventh day as part of Operation Commando Hunter. The soldiers from 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, seized 21 caches Oct. 13, bringing the total to 78 caches seized in the area located near Yusufiyah, 20 miles southwest of Baghdad.

The 21 additional weapons caches consisted of three blocks of dynamite, 21 120 mm mortar rounds, five 60 mm mortar rounds, 80 7.62 mm rounds, an AK-47 assault rifle, three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, five RPG rounds, an improvised rocket launcher, a Meals, Ready to Eat bag with explosive materials in it, 54 20 mm anti-aircraft rounds, three 105 mm artillery rounds, seven 82 mm mortar rounds, an improvised-explosive device air compressor, a sniper rifle, four 82 mm mortar tubes, a 14.5 mm receiver barrel, 17 rigged and ready-to-use IEDs, an anti-aircraft gun and various bomb-making materials.

On Oct. 11, Operation Commando Hunter soldiers from 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, seized 12 caches near Yusufiyah, 20 miles to the southwest of Baghdad.

Those 12 weapons caches consisted of two anti-aircraft guns, 35 60 mm mortar rounds, two 500-pound aircraft bombs in shipping crates, 57 82 mm mortar rounds, two Dragonov sniper rifle scopes, 200 Dragonov sniper rounds, two rocket-propelled grenade launchers, eight RPG rounds, two 60 mm mortar tubes, a 120 mm mortar tube, three 120 mm mortar rounds, 42 home-made hand grenades and various bomb-making materials.

Operation Commando Hunter is a 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, operation intended to deny terrorists sanctuary near Yusufiyah, south of Baghdad.

(Army Staff Sgt. Angela McKinzie is assigned to 2nd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs, 10th Mountain Division.)