BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 28, 2004 — With hustle and enthusiasm, two Iraqi National Guard teams conducted a cordon and search July 14, supervised by a six-man quick reaction force team of U.S. soldiers with Company D, 15th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.

The search, conducted in the heat of the day when temperatures rose above 110 degrees, took place north-east of Camp Black Jack in a gathering of villages that occupy a portion of the battalion's patrol-zone.

“Our operation was a cordon and search looking for possible weapons caches,” said 1st Lt. Edward Wharton, a platoon leader with the company. “It was completely Iraqi-led, we just sat back as advisers while they executed the mission.”

Although the “Daredevil” quick reaction force team has worked with Iraqi National Guard soldiers before, they had not had the chance to work with these particular Iraqi National Guard troops.

“They’ve been working with the 91st [Engineer Battalion, 1st Cav. Div.] for a while, doing raids and such with them,” Wharton said. “Today, their mission was in our sector so we went along to observe and help out where needed.”

Not much help was needed however, as the 24 Iraqi National Guard soldiers proved more than up to their task, despite the oppressive heat and the amount of ground they had to cover.

“When the 91st Engineers handed off the duty of supervising the [Iraqi National Guard] , they pretty much told me to just take a back seat and let them work,” Wharton said.

The search itself was comprised of several neighborhoods clustered along a stretch of highway to the north-east of Camp Black Jack.

“The teams were just leapfrogging from village to village,” Wharton said. “It was supposed to be just a cordon and search today, but it was more like a blitzkrieg; I really wasn’t expecting to cover as much ground, search as many villages as they did today.”

Aside from part of a rocket-propellant piece, no weapons had been found by the mission’s end and most of the Iraqi villagers had been cooperative with the Iraqi National Guard during their “blitzkrieg.”

“It’s comforting to see how organized and professional [the Iraqi National Guard soldiers] are,” said Spc. Jeremy Barton, a Daredevil team-member from Tooele, Utah.

“I was definitely impressed with how they kept themselves and handled the operation,” Wharton said. “I told [my commander] after we got back from the mission that, hands-down I’d work with these guys again.”