Felipe Lazen - Page 4

Felipe Lazen - HHC Scout Platoon, 11 December 2000-29 July 2003

[ Editor's note : Felipe Lazen was part of the advance detachments of the 4th Infantry Division which began departing
for Iraq in early 2003. The vehicles and heavy equipment of the Division sailed aboard six vehicle cargo ships
of the US Maritime Administration, acting under orders from the Military Sealift Command.

Felipe sailed aboard the MV Cape Douglas (AKR-5052), a Roll-on/Roll-off ship of the Cape Ducato class,
along with vehicles and equipment from 1-22 Infantry. For this operation the Cape Douglas' code name was "Ship 12".
The Cape Douglas was 680 feet long and had a displacement of over 34,000 tons, making her as big as an early WW2 battleship.
For comparison, the battleship USS Arizona, sunk at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,
was actually shorter and smaller, at 608 feet long and a displacement of 31,000 tons.

The OPLAN called for the Cape Douglas and her sister ships to bring the vehicles and heavy equipment
of the Division to Turkey, where they would be joined by the Division's personnel, who would be airlifted after the ships
reached port. The Division would then spearhead Task Force Ironhorse, launching an invasion of Iraq from the north.

In the event, Turkey refused permission to allow the plan to be implemented, and, after waiting for weeks in the
Mediterranean, the ships were re-routed through the Suez Canal and docked in Kuwait, where the personnel
from the Division (including 1-22 Infantry) joined them in April of 2003. ]