Army Quietly Begins Pounding ISIS in Syria from New Fire Base

Who writes this stuff?  How do you "quietly" pound ISIS with giant artillery?

A U.S. Army artillery unit is pounding Islamic State fighters inside Syria from a remote desert camp just inside Iraq.

Soldiers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment artillery unit have been operating alongside Iraqi artillery units at a temporary fire support base in northwest Iraq near the Syrian border for the past several weeks, according to a recent Defense Department news release.

Artillery.  The God of the Battlefield.

U.S. soldiers, Marines and sailors helped Iraqi forces build the camp by as part of Operation Inherent Resolve's support of Operation Roundup, a major offensive by Syrian Democratic Forces aimed at clearing the middle Euphrates River Valley of entrenched, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria fighters.

Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force units provided planners, personnel and equipment to create the austere base, built on a bare patch of desert and raised by hand. Coalition partners from several different nations participated in the planning and coordination of the complex movement of supplies.

"Supplies were delivered from both air and ground by the Army, Air Force and Marines, and include delivery platforms such as medium tactical vehicles, UH-60 Black Hawks, CH-47 Chinooks, CV-22 Ospreys, C-130 Hercules and a C-17 Globemaster," 1st Lt. Ashton Woodard, a troop executive officer in Task Force Longknife, said in the release. "We receive resupply air drops that include food, water, fuel, and general supplies."

One of the most vital missions involved setting up a security perimeter to provide stand-off and protection for the U.S. and Iraqi artillery units.