KENNETH R. KASSNER
Patriot, Chapter 1919
Marine Corps, IRAQ
**Ken Kassner, a periodic contributor to the
Patriot Bulletin,
was twice wounded in Iraq
in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
In July 2008, he assumed command of 3d Light Armored
Reconnaissance Battalion.
He and his Marines are currently deployed to the
Ninewa Province, Iraq.**
Dear Fellow Patriots,
In June 2008 I completed my tour of duty as the Chief
of Training at the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization
(JIEDDO), where my principal focus of effort was training and supporting
coalition forces to combat improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Shortly after my departure from JIEDDO, I assumed command of 3d
Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion in Twentynine Palms,
California.
3d LAR Battalion—better known as the WOLFPACK—is one of three LAR
units in the active component of the Marine Corps, and it’s the battalion in
which I previously served and fought during two deployments in support of
Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF).
Indeed, the opportunity to
command the WOLFPACK is my distinct honor and privilege, and it’s a
responsibility that I don’t take lightly. The Marines and Sailors of this
magnificent organization are among the finest in our Corps, and each of them
has distinguished himself in peace and war and greatly added to the rich and
proud heritage of the battalion. Quite simply, my pride in returning to the
ranks of the WOLFPACK and leading this battalion during combat and security
operations in Iraq
continues to surpass expression.
Briefly stated,
the mission of the Light Armored
Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion is to shape
the battlespace by conducting reconnaissance, security, economy of force,
limited offensive and delaying operations.
These types of missions collectively form the core competencies of
the LAR battalion.
Scheduled to deploy again to Iraq in early 2009, 3d LAR Battalion embarked on
an aggressive pre-deployment training schedule to enhance these fundamental
skills as well as further develop its ability to conduct counter-insurgent
(COIN) operations, which predominantly characterize the current fight in Iraq.
Highlights of the WOLFPACK’s predeployment training included a
combat readiness exercise in November 2008, a combined-arms, live-fire
maneuver exercise in December, and a three-week long deployment in January
2009 to the Army’s National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin,
California, where the battalion conducted
full spectrum operations in a COIN environment.
To be sure, the training that the Marines and Sailors of the
battalion received throughout this predeployment timeframe effectively
prepared them to conduct myriad tasks in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
More to the point, as an armored reconnaissance
force, the WOLFPACK possesses great mobility and superior firepower in its
fleet of light armored vehicles, or LAVs.
In addition to the crews that operate the vehicles, infantry
scouts ride aboard the LAVs and bring to the fight a dismounted capability.
Combining this mounted and dismounted capability with the
versatility and mobility organic in a LAR unit makes the battalion a force
of choice for combating enemy forces throughout the expansive deserts of Iraq.
In March 2009 the battalion began
its fifth deployment to
Iraq
in support of combat and security operations.
3d LAR Battalion first deployed to Iraq in
2003 during the invasion to liberate the country from the hands of the
former Saddam Hussein regime, and the WOLFPACK has repeatedly distinguished
itself in combat during its successive rotations to OIF, conducting missions
throughout Al Anbar’s formerly restive province in places such as Walid and
Trebil on the border with Syria and Jordan, respectively; in the cities of
Al Qaim, Akashat, Ar Rutbah, Haditha, Hit, Ramadi, Fallujah, and Habbaniyah;
and in many unnamed villages and Bedouin encampments along the western
Euphrates River valley.
On 7 April 2009, the Marines and Sailors of
the newly designated Task Force (TF) 3d LAR assumed responsibility of their
assigned area of operations (AO) in Iraq’s
Ninewa
Province from
1st Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion.
Indeed, the Highlander warriors of 1st LAR
Battalion—our brother battalion in 1st Marine Division at
Camp Pendleton,
California—ensured
a seamless battle-handover to the WOLFPACK.
Our mission in the Ninewa
Province is to conduct reconnaissance
and security operations to interdict and disrupt enemy activity throughout
our assigned battlespace, which has been compared in size to nearly twice
the land mass of New Jersey.
Major population centers in this area include Sinjar, Bi’aj,
Bulayj, and Rabiah, which is the port of entry (POE) between Iraq and Syria
in northwestern Iraq.
Key metropolitan areas adjacent to the WOLFPACK’s AO are Tal Afar
and Mosul.
Given the expansive desert, farmlands, hilly terrain, and
predominantly dried watercourses that characterize the landscape in our AO,
the WOLFPACK, as an LAR unit, is ideally equipped and trained to conduct
operations in this still volatile region, which includes remnants of Al
Qaeda cells and criminal networks that engage in lethal smuggling to support
the insurgency and use the wide-ranging, open desert to hide their insurgent
activities and illicit trade.
In addition to the landscape, what
further distinguishes this northern region of the country from other parts
of Iraq is the
unique geopolitical situation, as the Government of Iraq (GOI) and the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) continue to negotiate politically
dynamic issues, such as oil revenues and future political boundaries.
The KRG is the officially recognized ruling body of the
predominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq,
sometimes referred to as Kurdistan.
It has constitutionally assumed the role of government in this
federal region of Iraq,
including portions of
Ninewa
Province, where the
WOLFPACK operates.
According to the Iraqi constitution, the country will divide into
federal regions that will manage their own domestic affairs while the
central government in Baghdad will focus
primarily on international relations and global issues.
Although the KRG has legal, governing autonomy of the region,
several disputes remain with the GOI.
Regardless of the politics, TF 3d LAR, in close cooperation and
partnership with coalition and other local security forces, will conduct its
assigned missions to further
sustain security conditions in western
Ninewa
Province,
facilitate the development of local and regional institutions, and promote
governance and rule of law.
For updates on Task Force 3d LAR’s
deployment in
Iraq,
visit the WOLFPACK website at
www.i-mef.usmc.mil/div/3lar.
In patriotism,
Ken Kassner
Commanding Officer
Task Force 3d LAR
Sahl Sinjar, Iraq
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