8 posts tagged “centcom”
CJTF-101
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (April 24, 2008) – Elementary school children from the U.S. and Afghanistan met each other Wednesday over a video teleconference facilitated by the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, as part of a partnership program and cultural exchange. CJSOTF-A has been working with village elders, teachers, parents and students of the Jan Qadam elementary school, outside the gates of Bagram Air Field, to enable the school to become a more effective center of education. Coalition troops have been able to supply more than 1,200 students with notebooks, pens, pencils, backpacks, rules and glue to get them started on a good school year, with the help of Calvert City Elementary School in Calvert City, Kentucky.
The Jan Qadam students used a conference room on Bagram Air Field while the Calvert City students used a conference room at Fort Campbell, Ky. Young Afghan girls wearing black dresses and white scarves excitedly whispered to each other, about the pretty, colorful shirts and long loose hair of their American counterparts. The Afghan boys, dressed similar to any American child with jeans, shirts and baseball caps, fidgeted as they waited their turn to talk and answer questions.
One of the highlights of the conference was when a young, confident Afghan boy stood up and read a letter he wrote to the American students in almost perfect English. At the end of the letter he said he hoped the American students would try to learn Dari and talk to him some day.
“We have been enriched by this program,” said Phyllis O’neill, Calvert City Elementary School Principal. O’neill said she encourages her students to do volunteer work and explore other cultures to gain an understanding of those cultures. This is important for the U.S. students because it really shows them it’s not easy for other students to go to school and get an education, O’neill said. “I appreciate all the students for sending these items,” said the Jan Qadam headmaster. “We are relatively poor and all the kids here are really happy for the supplies.”
Most students wanted to know simple things about each other. They asked about school, choice of favorite foods, sports, and animals and what activities they do during recess. Some of the Afghan children tried to stump the Calvert students with riddles and they clapped joyfully when the answers came over the airwaves. However, this is not the first communications these students have had. A few months ago, some of the Calvert City students wrote letters to the Jan Qadam students and their Afghan peers are in the process of writing them back.
According to a coalition representative, the goal is for the relationship between these schools to continue in order to enrich all of the students and show the importance of education. The partnership is meant as an exchange that will continue for years; enriching the lives of both sets of students.
Students and teachers from the Jan Qadam elementary school in Bagram clap at the answer a U.S. school child gave to a riddle they asked, during their first video teleconference. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marie Schult).
by SFC Stacy Niles
214th Fire Brigade PAO
FOB DELTA, Iraq (April 24, 2008) – The El Salvador Cuscatlán Battalion X rotation distributed 125 wheelchairs to disabled children and adults at the al-Rhama Disabled Association in al-Kut, Iraq, April 18. “I was shocked by the large number of children,” said Col. Walter Arévalo, commander of the Cuscatlán Battalion. Many of the wheelchair recipients suffer from conditions such as epilepsy, heart disease, migraines and eye and skin disorders, said Arévalo.
Hussein Kase, a 12-year-old who received a wheelchair, is mute and suffers from a skin condition in addition to being paralyzed. The chair will give him mobility, said his father Kas Salaman. “I’m very happy about this gift,” Salaman said. “It will help him move and be able to play with the other children.”
More resources are needed to increase the quality of life for these individuals, said Arévalo. People had traveled from as far away as Basra, he said, to receive assistance. “It is important for us to run this type of activity,” Arévalo said. “We like to be able to give hope to the people.”
In addition to the wheelchairs, the Salvadoran soldiers distributed 125 packets of food and school supply kits.
Salvadoran Soldiers from the Cuscatlán Battalion X rotation distributed 125 wheelchairs, food packets and school supply kits at the al-Rhama Disabled Association in al-Kut, April 18.
by Tami Hillis
4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
FOB KALSU, Iraq (April 25, 2008) – At about 12:46 p.m., Jan. 10, everything changed for one Iraqi Army special forces platoon leader. While on a joint mission with coalition forces, the 8th IA Division Soldier was struck by an improvised explosive device as he crossed a pedestrian footbridge on the east side of Route Minnesota in the Chaka Four Region. First Lt. Mohy Ali lost his right foot and sustained trauma to his right wrist in the attack.
A little more than three months later, Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, are helping the 42-year-old soldier get his life back to normal, one step at a time. Capt. Jacob Turnquist, the 4th BCT surgeon, identified a clinic near the Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, where Mohy was originally treated, that specializes in getting prosthetics for Iraqis. The IA Surgeon General’s Office Prosthetics Clinic is run by Iraqis, with American civil affairs support. Turnquist contacted the clinic and spoke with Chris Cummings, a retired Army medic and a prosthetist in the prosthetics clinic. Cummings, who is also an adviser for Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq, assisted the unit with the process.
The next step was linking Mohy up with coalition forces in his area, which was done through Staff Sgt. Alfonza Chatfield, a medic with the 31st Military Transition Team, 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, in al-Hillah, Iraq. Mohy was escorted to the Green Zone, Baghdad, on April 21 by Chatfield, an 18-year veteran and Georgia native, to the prosthetics clinic. Cummings checked Mohy’s limb to ensure it had healed properly. Cummings then manually measured different parts of the limb. Next, with the use of a computer-aided design program, he created a three-dimensional view of Mohy’s limb on a computer. Between the manual measurements and the program, Cummings generated a close representation of the limb. With the information gathered from this first trip, Cummings will create a prosthetic foot for Mohy, which will be fitted during the next visit.
“I’m a commander and I want to get back with my soldiers,” Mohy said. “I want to be able to walk and run again.”
Chris Cummings, a prosthetist in the IA surgeon general's office prosthetics clinic in Baghdad, runs some tests on 1st Lt. Mohy Ali's limb during an initial visit on April 21. Mohy, an IA soldier, lost his foot during an IED attack on Jan. 10 while on a joint mission with Coalition forces. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Tami Hillis).
by Sgt. David Turner
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
FOB KALSU (April 30, 2008) — Two Iraqi poultry farmers received 3,000 chicks each April 27 in a bid to jump-start their industry in Hawr Rajab, a rural community south of Baghdad. The farmers, Mohammed Hussein and Amman Kameers, accepted the chicks from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division and the Baghdad-7 embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team. “It’s meant as a start-up packet,” said Mike Stevens, the ePRT agriculture adviser. “It’s just to cut back on their input costs so they can make a profit and become self-sustaining.”
Poultry farming in Hawr Rajab, once a thriving industry, suffered at the hands of insurgents. Stevens said insurgents came to the area and stole chickens and destroyed chicken coops as a way to threaten the farmers. “We had a lot of losses,” said Sheikh Majid Wiese, chairman of the local farmers union. “Since we started working with the (Sons of Iraq) and Coalition forces, we’ve gotten rid of those insurgents. Now we’re gearing toward agriculture.” Distributing chicks to farmers is just one part of the program, said Stevens. In the coming months, the 2nd BCT and the ePRT will distribute feed and more than 12,000 egg-laying chicks to Hawr Rajab farmers. They are also working to secure funds to complete refurbishment of the al-Ra’ad Poultry processing plant in Hawr Rajab, which could provide much-needed jobs to the region.
Increased capacity in poultry farming is intended to have a trickle-down effect in the local economy, Stevens said. Hatcheries in Baghdad will be able to sell more chicks to farmers, who in turn can supply more poultry products to local markets. “Providing these chicks will help to increase our capacity about 25 percent,” said Rarad Abd Jalel Rashed, a poultry representative of the farmers union. “If we can get up to 50 percent, we will be able to be on our own and not need any assistance from anybody else.”
First Lt. Michael Falk rescues a chick while poultry farmers load 6,000 of them onto trucks in Hawr Rajab, April 27. (Photo by Sgt. David Turner).
by Kerensa Hardy
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – Coalition forces provided training on April 24 to local citizens employed at the new radio station on the Iraqi army compound in Mahmudiyah. The Mahmudiyah IAC received new radio station equipment on April 12 to increase communication means in the area, in conjunction with Operation Marne Piledriver. The new station, 106.5 FM, will be used as a conduit to keep the community informed. The inaugural broadcast will air April 27. During the training, employees learned the program clock, types of broadcast, equipment familiarization and how to create scheduling calendars for future events. Iraqi army soldiers from 25th Brigade, 6th IA Division also received training on the equipment from Company A, 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, attached to 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). The Iraqi soldiers may fill in if regularly scheduled employees are unable to travel. Soldiers from 3-320th FA are working to inform local Iraqis about the new station and available services offered by Operation Marne Piledriver.
by Gerry Gilmore
DefenseLink.
BAGHDAD (April 28, 2008) – Iraqi security forces fought and performed well during recent battles against insurgents in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Basra, a senior U.S. military officer posted in Iraq said Monday. “We’ve had significant achievements in the fight against criminal groups over the last several weeks,” Navy Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, a Multi-National Force - Iraq spokesman, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. “In Basra and Baghdad, Iraqi security forces have demonstrated bravery and professionalism and have made great strides in securing those areas where Iraqis were held hostage by those who oppose the rule of law and commit acts of violence that endangered innocent Iraqis.”
Iraqi and coalition security forces have cleared hundreds of roadside bombs and other deadly ordnance from the streets and byways of eastern Baghdad’s Sadr City sector, which houses 3 million Iraqi residents, noted Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, an Iraqi military spokesman who accompanied Driscoll at the news conference. The roadside-bomb removal improves safety and security and also “alleviates the traffic jams and also provides more freedom to the citizens to move from one neighborhood to another in Baghdad,” Atta said.
About two weeks ago, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki directed his security forces to confront illegal militias in the southern city of Basra. The fighting in Basra then spread to eastern Baghdad, primarily in Sadr City, the home to thousands of followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Recent anti-insurgent efforts by Iraqi and coalition forces in Basra and eastern Baghdad have improved security in those two areas, Atta reported. The Iraqi government has earmarked more than $100 million for reconstruction needs in Basra and $150 million for redevelopment in Sadr City, the Iraqi general said.
Security in Basra has “improved dramatically over the last several weeks,” Driscoll observed, noting the Iraqi security forces have driven out criminals and have moved into the city’s neighborhoods to ascertain citizens’ needs. The Iraqi Interior Ministry reports that Basra’s citizens are returning to their marketplaces and the city’s children are going back to school, Driscoll said.
Capacity has been expanded at Basra’s civil military operations center. Basra’s CMOC team manages reconstruction efforts across the city and includes Iraqi, U.S., and other-agency participation, he said. “This will help facilitate the quick delivery of essential services, get business going again, and provide basic aid to the populace,” Driscoll explained. In addition, coalition forces are reprioritizing funding to accelerate Basra reconstruction projects such as sewage services, new street lighting, medical care and business incentives, Driscoll reported. Similar reconstruction operations are taking place in eastern Baghdad, he noted.
“Once again, this is the process we’re hoping for, where security is established, and then that will allow us to bring in the services I’ve mentioned and also let people get back to a normal life,” Driscoll said.
by Cpl. Chadwick deBree
2nd Bn., 3rd Marines
KARMA, Iraq (Aprl 28, 2008) – The small Iraqi city street clamored with singing, dancing and rejoicing. It was a time of celebration. Marines of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1 and local Iraqi security forces and community officials celebrated the opening of al-Tareq Ela al-Salaam, which translates to “The Road to Peace,” here, April 14.
Karma Mayor Kamal Abd Al Salam Abd Al Wahid, spoke to the crowd of people including local Iraqi security forces, Iraqi government officials, and Marines. Sheikh Mishan, the preeminent sheikh in the area, then blessed the road as the Iraqi police moved the barriers that have been there for approximately three years. “Due to the (observation post) being so close to the road, in the past there was a great threat of (vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices) and (suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices),” said Capt. Phil Dykeman, commanding officer, Company F, 2nd Bn, 3rd Marines. “The road needed to be closed to protect the Marines that lived and operated out of OP Omar.”
In order to reopen the road to the local population, the situation in the area had to be stable enough so the risk was minimal, and combat engineers had to make new entry control points so Marines could enter and exit the observation post in a way that was safe for both service members and local Iraqis. Engineers attached to 2nd Bn., 3rd Marines, worked tirelessly day and night to make sure that the opening of the road would go off without a hitch.
“Opening (the road) wasn’t as easy as you would think,” said 2nd Lt. Kevin Ritchie, platoon commander, Engineer Platoon, Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Bn., 3rd Marines. “We made countless round trips delivering dirt and gravel. It took about a week to build new posts and reorganize the barrier structure. The platoon was up there until the day prior making sure everything was in place. We also received help from (Combat Logistics Battalion 1) and (Combat Engineer Battalion, RCT-1). They loaned us personnel and equipment, and Trucks Platoon lent us drivers and vehicles to help us get this accomplished. It was a lot of organizations coming together to help get this done,” said Ritchie.
With the mission in Iraq now focused on turning the country over to the Iraqis, the reopening of the road is just one of the many steps to return life back to normalcy and bring stability to the region. “We’re at the point where our convoys can pass alongside civilian traffic on (the road),” Ritchie, a native of Worcester, Mass., said. “Now the local civilians can drive through Karma like anywhere else without taking a long detour. It’s good to see that kind of consistency.”
This project was a main priority for both the local Iraqi government and the battalion. When the road was closed, local Iraqis were forced to take a detour that was narrow and dangerous for large vehicles and added more time for them to get to their destination, Dykeman said, and the Iraqis were happy that it was opened up to them. “The Iraqis were very happy that the road is open,” said the native of Central Square, N.Y. “There was music and dancing. The first vehicle through the road was an Iraqi Police vehicle, which is symbolic since they are instrumental in the security.”
The Island Warriors and ISF are working side-by-side on a daily basis in order to bring stability back to the region. This is all part of the mission the Marines are charged with during their deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
MND-SE
BASRA (April 29, 2008) — As part of ongoing operations to secure the Hyyaniyah district in Basra, Iraq, Iraqi Security Forces searched the area of criminals and weapons caches last week. The ISF involved were Soldiers from 1st Division, 14th Division; the 26th Brigade attached to the 1st Division; a Battalion with the National Police from Baghdad; and elements from an Emergency Police Battalion.
“It went rather well considering the threat and many different organizations that were involved,” said U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Robert Washington, military advisor for the 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Division. Additionally, the major said the Iraqi Army found a large weapons cache in a school during the search. In the two days, they found substantial amounts of 60 mm mortars, 105 mm mortars, 120 mm mortars, rocket-propelled grenade rounds, RPG tubes, artillery shells for use as improvised explosive devices, homemade grenades, heavy machine guns, various rockets, including a 220 mm rocket, large amounts of small-arms ammunition and various mortar tube sizes. “We were told it was a stronghold,” Washington said. “Possible threats were IEDs, small-arms fire, snipers and a house-borne IED where they rig a house to blow up when searched,” he added. “The Iraqi Army worked well. They met timelines and controlled their forces.
“They are continuing their efforts in humanitarian aid and intelligence gathering with the local populations,” Washington said.
