SCHOFIELD BARRACKS — The Army commander of 3,500 aviation brigade soldiers and more than 180 aircraft in northern Iraq acknowledged the ferocity of this month's violence, but said Iraqi security forces on a daily basis continue to increase their numbers and effectiveness.

"The past month has been especially violent and costly for our nation's service members," said Col. A. Thomas Ball Jr., the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade commander. "However, the violence during the Ramadan period is not new, and this is not the first year where violence occurred during this religious holiday period."

At least 96 U.S. service members have been killed in Iraq this month. According to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, which tracks Iraq statistics, 96 U.S. troops were killed in October 2005. That compares to 63 for the same month in 2004.

The Schofield Barracks commander, talking with reporters in Hawai'i yesterday via video teleconference from Contingency Operating Base Speicher in Tikrit, said since mid-August, the brigade has flown more than 3,000 missions and logged more than 20,000 flight hours across a region north of Baghdad the size of Pennsylvania.

Soldiers have moved more than 19,000 passengers and 36,000 tons of supplies throughout the area.

Resupply, reconnaissance, surveillance and raids have been conducted with four battalions from Schofield, two battalions from Fort Bragg, N.C., a company from the West Virginia Army National Guard and a Marine Corps element.

Ball's aviation resources include Apache, Kiowa Warrior, Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. A total of 98 helicopters from Schofield Barracks are operating in northern Iraq and represent the majority of choppers there.

"Our soldiers have worked around the clock to complete these aviation missions while others have been working day and night to ensure they have the supplies, parts and tools necessary to make this effort successful," Ball said.

The combat aviation brigade has lost two soldiers. Capt. Matthew Mattingly, 30, died Sept. 13 after he flew into a volley of ground fire in his OH-58D Kiowa Warrior on the northwest side of Mosul, Ball said.

The Ohio man was struck by a bullet. The co-pilot was able to recover the aircraft and fly it back to base.

Spc. Timothy Fulkerson, 20, of Kentucky, was killed when a mine detonated Oct. 8 during a convoy operation outside COB Speicher.

Both soldiers were with the 82nd Airborne Division and were attached to the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade.

"Both losses, of course, were very hard to take," Ball said. "I spoke to the family members personally."

Mattingly had been a lieutenant at Schofield Barracks when Ball was a battalion commander.

Ball said the amount of surface-to-air fire paralleled that seen last year during Ramadan, but none of his aircraft has been downed.

"Every aircraft that has been hit by ground-to-air fire has in fact been repaired, and all of my aircraft are flyable today," he said.

Gen. George Casey, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, thinks it will take at least 12 to 18 months or longer before Iraqi security forces will be completely capable of taking over security responsibility — with some continuing level of U.S. support.

Ball said he's most concerned about the time between now and his brigade's departure from Iraq, "but in general, I think that the timetable as it has been described by our leadership is realistic, judging from what I've seen on the ground."

The brigade's helicopters operate out of bases in Tikrit, Mosul, Tall Afar, Kirkuk and Balad.

Areas including Mosul and Hawija — both Sunni Arab strongholds — have been particularly hostile to aviation soldiers, Ball said.

Less than two weeks ago, more than 60 Iraqis were killed in Balad just north of Baghdad in a 96-hour period as a result of sectarian violence, and the city continues to be of concern.

Across northern Iraq, the capabilities of Iraqi forces vary, "and there are certain Iraqi units that have assumed their battle space and the Americans are in an overwatch position only," Ball said.

Others are conducting operations in concert with U.S. forces, and still others remain in a "training type phase," he said.

"I think by the time we leave here, the map in terms of as we color code it, which Iraqi units are in full control, which ones we're still assisting, that may well look very different than when we first arrived here, because they are making rapid progress," Ball said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.