Iraqi Army and U.S. Marines uncover insurgent cache 

An Iraqi Army and U.S. Marine patrol operating on the outskirts of Barwanah discovered a cache Jan. 14. Iraqi Army soldiers and U.S. Marines with 2nd Platoon, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment made their discovery late Saturday afternoon and soon realized the cache site was too large to uncover that day. They secured the site overnight and resumed excavation early Sunday morning.The cache was first noticed by the Marines’ translator, who accompanies them on patrols with their Iraqi Army counterparts. After the initial site was found, 10 additional hastily buried caches were discovered.When all 11 caches were uncovered, they contained 137 artillery rounds of various sizes, 56 mortar rounds of various sizes, 47 122mm rockets, 14.5mm armor piercing incendiary rounds, and 1900 pounds of propellant.The Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Marines labored to collect up the munitions so they could be safely detonated. In all, 4,000 pounds of high explosives were detonated by the explosive ordnance disposal team.