LSA ANACONDA, Iraq - During their first three months in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Brad Lahti and his platoon from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 136th Combined Arms Battalion manned an entry control point 24 hours a day, which meant the same routines day after day.
There has been much more variety in their missions over the past five months. The platoon's mission can be anything from providing security for a civil military operations mission to patrolling for insurgents.
"There's no routine. The time frames are all different," said Lahti of Robbinsdale, Minn. "And it gets us out seeing things."
And a combat reconnaissance patrol definitely “sees things.” They patrol the perimeter of the base searching for suspicious individuals and items at all hours of the day.
On a terrain denial patrol, the objective is for these Soldiers to prevent rockets and mortars from being fired at the base. Lahti said his patrol tries to focus on areas where attacks are likely to occur.
"We want to catch them in the act," he said. "(The unit that owns the land or the landowners) like to have us out in that area."
Being in an area also can mean searching several vehicles. During a recent search, the squad discovered motorists with identification cards dating back to Saddam Hussein’s rule. It had a distinct emblem of that era. The civilians turned out to be okay. Photo identification is rare in Iraq and many civilians rely on old ID cards.
A squad will spend the morning on a combat reconnaissance patrol, come back to the base for a while and then head out for another tour.
He said the most challenging part of this new mission is ensuring good relations with the landowners. It is important for his patrol to follow the use agreements with the landowners.
Lahti’s company commander, Capt. Eduardo Suarez of Golden Valley, Minn., said this new mission has given his Soldiers new purpose and a sense that they are really making a difference and contributing more to the fight.
“As a tank company with qualified tankers, the ability to shoot, move and communicate came naturally,” he said.
And with no routines.