Photo Information

Marines with 1st Platoon, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team-2 watch the side streets of the city as they roll into the city during a mission here to capture high value individuals and disrupt insurgent activity in the city. The Marines captured 26 detainees during the half-day operation.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Lucian Friel

Lima 3/2 conducts operation in Western Iraq, captures wanted man

25 Aug 2005 | Lance Cpl. Lucian Friel 2nd Marine Division

As the sun beat down on them in the early afternoon, Marines with Company L rolled into the city here to conduct targeted raids and capture high-value targets.The company is part of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team-2, trained to raid, interdict and disrupt insurgents in the city and to gather intelligence from locals. On this operation, they were called to seek out and capture known insurgents and weapons caches.Marines with Company C, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion and 2nd Force Reconnaissance Battalion also played a big role in the one-day operation.The Marines of Company L conducted their specific raids while Force ‘Recon’ conducted similar raids in a different part of the city. Simultaneously, LAR locked down the public buildings to prevent suspected insurgents or terrorists from hiding inside.First Sgt. Joseph W. Rovnak, 37, Company L first sergeant, and his Marines captured one individual on their list and confiscated weapons from him. According to Rovnak, he thinks his Marines did an outstanding job in the operation.“This company was like a well-oiled machine and conducted this mission superbly,” said the Pittsburgh, Pa. native. “I think we have the most professional NCO (non-commissioned officer) corps I have ever worked with.” Although the Marines didn’t find any weapons caches, they were in high spirits because they did nab someone on their list.“It feels good capturing bad guys because it limits insurgent or terrorist activity in this area and it’s something we can be proud of. We’re letting them know who’s in charge, but there are still more bad guys out there and I think eventually we’ll get them all,” explained Pfc. Scotty Sanders, a 21-year-old rifleman from Woodstock, Ala., and a 2003 graduate of West Blocton High School.Altogether, the Marines of Company L, LAR and Force Recon captured 26 detainees during this fast-paced half-day.“These individuals needed to be found, so we went out and got them,” Rovnak explained.