Persistent Observation Video
Persistent Observation Video Transcript
^B00:00:12
>> We have learned from other sources that Colonel Hort's ground troops were supported by a secret special ops unit called Task Force 17. Using their own Predators, along with Iraqi undercover operatives and eaves dropping, it was able to take out some of the militia leaders who were based north of the wall hiding among the civilian population. With the help of the drones and their high-powered cameras, army commanders were able to see, or map, the entire theater of operations and figure out the enemy's tactics and patterns with so-called persistent surveillance.
>> And in some cases we would wait four, six, even ten hours to do the engagement because we didn't want to kill the guy...
>> [Inaudible]
>> We wanted to go after the whole group, the company, chain of command if you want to call it that, where they would actually pick up the rail, drive in their vehicle, go to another location and do an after action review on what they did.
>> In other words, after a long skirmish, all the individual militia rocket teams would rendezvous in a large group with their leaders. In this video, you can see how Colonel Hort's men would be tracking as the militia fighters went to a set location for a battle assessment and their new assignments.
>> So once they got to that sight, that's when we would do the engagement. Sometimes that six, eight, ten hours to wait, and that's what Predator allowed us to do. It truly preyed on the enemy.
>> Can I ask if they -- they had no idea? How far away...
>> The Predator's about -- well, it flies about 10,000 feet?
>> Yes, sir.
>> It's a UAV...
>> And no noise.
>> It's so high up, they can't -- they have trouble hearing it.
>> They can't hear it. Wow.
>> Sometimes they can, but it's pretty hard. It's very difficult.
>> Can't hear anything.
>> This was the first time UAVs were used this way at the brigade level, allowing soldiers on the ground to manage and synchronize the information themselves. They call it "Find, Fix, and Finish."
>> All of this was pushed down to the Brigade commander and used in this fight and primarily focused North against the rocket teams.
>> Colonel Hort and his men were able to watch in real time as the enemy planted over 300 armor-piercing roadside bombs, or IEDs. And so they made the decision early in the battle to use tanks and Bradleys fortified with thick, reactive tiles. They were so effective, said Colonel Hort, that even while they actually struck 120 IEDs, the crews were all protected.
>> It went from literally 60 attacks down to three or four attacks. And that was because...
>> [Inaudible] a day, a week? Or...
>> 60 attacks a day.
>> So the Battle of Sadr City was won with a combination of high tech and no tech, lasers and electronic eyes in the sky, and cement. ^E00:03:10
