2006 WVNG Annual Report PDF - West Virginia Army National Guard

West Virginia National Guard Annual Report 20062 nd Battalion, 19 th Special Forces Group (Airborne)During 2006, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) mobilized in supportof Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Battalion's Headquarters, Support and Charlie Companiesare elements of the West Virginia NationalGuard. The 2/19th Battalion's Alpha Companyis an element of the Rhode Island NationalGuard, while Bravo Company is assigned tothe Ohio National Guard.Soldiers of 2/19th started the deploymentwith Pre-Mission Training at CampGuernsey, WY. Soldiers conducted live fireexercises with a variety of small arms weapons(handguns and rifles), crew served weapons(machine guns), anti-tank weapons, mortarweapons, and demolitions.Support Company members also conducted a Special Forces Basic Combat Course.Soldiers were instructed in small arms tactics, close quarters battle, and convoy operations.Other courses in Arabic language training and combat lifesaving techniques were taught tomake soldiers more proficient for the Iraqi Freedom mission.During Pre-Mission Training Alpha, Bravo and Charlie Companies, assisted by SupportCompany and members of 10th Special Forces Group, completed a Special Forces AdvancedUrban Combat Course at Red Devil training area at Ft. Carson, CO. Here they conductedreal world urban live fire training.When 2/19th SFG mobilized to Iraq inJanuary 2006, the Battalion was attached to10th Special Forces Group. Headquarters andSupport companies were assigned atRadwaniyah Palace Complex in Baghdad.Here the convoy cell completed over 100convoy operations. The Battalion lost only onevehicle to a roadside bomb during the entirerotation, in spite of engaging enemy terroristsmultiple times.Bravo Company B-team served as TaskForce Exploitation at Radwaniyah PalaceComplex, successfully developing many casesagainst terrorists and gathering information forfuture successful operations. Bravo Company was successful in keeping many terroristsbehind bars and developing cases against other terrorists that successfully led to criminalprosecution by the court system in Iraq.46