Riverine patrols target Hadithah Dam hotspot

Navy Secretary Donald Winter rides with members of Riverine Squadron 2 on a Thanksgiving Day patrol near Hadithah Dam in Iraq.

By Zachary M. Peterson - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Nov 25, 2007 16:22:46 EST

HADITHAH DAM, Iraq — Riverine sailors are actively patrolling the lake behind the Hadithah Dam on the Euphrates River in Anbar province five miles from the city of Hadithah, a place where insurgents have been known to store and transit explosives.

Cmdr. Glen Leverette, commanding officer of Riverine Squadron 2 out of Little Creek, Va., told Navy Times here Thanksgiving Day that he has the majority of his riverine patrol boats — seven of 12 — near the dam. Most of the boat traffic on the lake behind the large dam consists of small fishing vessels, Leverette explained, but the area is a known pathway for insurgent-sponsored smuggling of goods and people, as well as a storage place for weapons caches on the shoreline — the proximity to the water makes them more difficult for Army and Marine units to locate.

However, since the unit took over for Riverine Squadron 1 in October, Leverette said, the weapons caches are “not as common anymore.”

A handful of seemingly abandoned fishing boats line the rocky shore near the dam.

“Those are boats we confiscated,” Leverette said, adding that the boats were taken from those who failed to register their vessels under a new regulation requiring all boats on the water to be registered with the local government. Riverines are helping to enforce this ordinance, but the policy was instituted by local civic leaders, the commander noted. If the boat’s owners return with proof that they have since registered their watercraft, their vessel is returned to them, he added.

A recently approved local law also established a curfew that requires all vessels to be off the water between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m., Leverette said. The ban on nighttime boating has helped to cut down on illegal smuggling as well, he added.

Riverine units are not new to the Navy, but for nearly three decades following Vietnam, the Navy let the Marine Corps conduct this mission. Beginning in February of this year, the Navy took back the brown-water mission; it sent its first riverine unit to Iraq the same month.

“We’ve got a lot of support and advice from Vietnam vets,” said Command Master Chief Daniel Adley of Riverine Squadron 2.

The first-of-its-generation mission has drawn sailors with a wide range of rates and military specialties.

Leverette, who is a surface warfare officer, said that between 10 and 15 different rates are represented in his squadron, such as Adley, a submarine electronics technician by training.

“We represent a good cross section of the naval community,” he said.

Though trained in combat weaponry, riverine sailors have yet to fire a shot in Iraq, Leverette said.

“We have guys who can shoot, move, communicate and handle weapons,” he said, noting that the physical requirements for riverine sailors are higher than for other jobs, excluding SEALs. A riverine must be physically fit above Navy standards and must be able to swim above standard as well, he said.