Without a single shot being fired, more than 3,000 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Bastogne Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, detained 154 terror suspects and seized more than 350 semi-automatic and automatic rifles, a variety of pistols and mortar rounds, as well as a large number of materials used to make Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) during Operation Gaugamela (gaw'guh-MEE-luh), a search for suspected al-Qaeda terrorists in the cities and areas surrounding Hawija and Riyadh, just west of Kirkuk, Iraq. Operation details Following a request from local Sunni Arab leaders to rid the area outside of Kirkuk of terrorists, and as reports indicated a rise in the number of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQIZ) moving into the area, the 10-day operation, covering 25 cities and villages spanning more than , began with a series of smaller Iraqi Army operations targeting 20 objectives with a history of terrorist activity in the Rashad area, southwest of Kirkuk. Using their own intelligence information, soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division planned and conducted the missions, detaining nine terror suspects and seizing a cache of weapons. "This was the first time the Iraqi's in our area have self-sustained during an operation," said Captain Krista Jekielek, the Bastogne Brigade's logistics representative to the Iraqi Security Forces. "It was a significant validation, showing they are capable of moving the necessary personnel and supplies required to perform their mission." Once the Iraqis had completed their searches and attention was drawn to the areas southwest of Kirkuk, operations quickly shifted to the Hawija and Riyadh areas. "It was my intent to disrupt insurgent operations and to deny them sanctuary in these communities," explained Colonel David R. Gray, commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team. "To do this, we made it look as though we were focused on the south, and then used the element of surprise to help us clear and control the areas to the north." A combined U.S. and Iraqi force simultaneously set a security perimeter on the city of Hawija, preventing escape, while more U.S. and Iraqi forces air assaulted from nine UH-60 Blackhawk and eight CH-47 Chinook helicopters into the city and maneuvered quickly to the market at the city center. Once there, they immediately started a door-to-door search of every building in the city. Meanwhile, approximately away, another combined force set a security perimeter on