2 posts tagged “security”
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.
Friday, 25 April 2008
By Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON — Knocking on doors; greeting the family; talking about politics, the neighbors or just the weather over a hot cup of overly sweet chai – a pleasant side of operations for Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers who have operated in the southeastern Rashid District for the past eight months.
For Soldiers of “Fox,” Company F, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B, interpersonal relations, consensus information and the pictures they create are the biggest contributors to the safety and security of the citizens living in the Saha and Abu T’shir communities of southern Baghdad.
“We want to build a relationship to give the people a normal life – to bring the resources into the community,” said Lt. Col. Scott Reineke, commander, 2nd “Cougars” Sqdn., 2nd Stryker Cav. Regt., MND-B. “This is about building relations in Abu T’shir and Saha,” said Reineke to his commanders and staff officers during the unit’s final rehearsal for a three-phase operation that began, April 16, in support of 1st BCT’s Operation Raider Typhoon.
Stationed at Vilseck, Germany, and deployed as part of the “surge” force sent to reinforce security in support of MND-B and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Stryker infantry unit, will handover their areas of responsibility [AOR] to the troops of 7th Sqdn., 10th Cav. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., in May.
In the meantime, the Soldiers of Co. F, occupying a combat outpost in northeast Rashid, want to take a few more bad guys off the streets before they leave Baghdad. “We are conducting point operations to improve security for the people of Iraq,” said Capt. Kevin Ryan, commander, Co. F, 2nd Sqdn., 2nd Stryker Cav. Regt. “Once security improves, we can focus on improving the quality of life for the people of Abu T’shir and southeastern Rashid.”
The ongoing clearing operations are part of 1st “Raider” BCT’s first effort since assuming its mission, April 13, to deny terrorists and criminal elements a safe haven in the area that is home to approximately 1.2 million citizens in Baghdad. The three-phased operation is reminiscent of the same work that the squadron has undertaken since the unit assumed responsibility for the area in August, said Ryan, a native of Quincy, Mass., and a graduate of the Citadel Military Academy, S.C.
Soldiers conducted pinpoint raids, April 16-17, acting on military intelligence and information from Sons of Iraq (Abna al-Iraq), to capture some of MND-B’s most wanted terrorists and criminals, said Ryan, who is on his third deployment to Iraq.
The units then transitioned into the second phase of their operations, conducting ongoing atmospherics in the neighborhoods, working with the SoI, the sheiks, and members of the local community, to gather data with the intent to build better relations with the predominately Shia and mixed Sunni-Shia communities, he explained. “People who are sitting on the fence, and don’t know which way to go, will go our way just because we talked with them,” Ryan explained. “If we do this right, we will build relationships with the people which will empower them to be able to keep these bad guys from coming back into their neighborhoods.”
Conducting census operations, checkpoint inspections, joint patrols, combined operations and traffic control points with Iraqi security forces is nothing out of the ordinary for the Stryker Soldiers, said Sgt. 1st Class Roberto Huie, a platoon sergeant assigned to Co. F, 2nd Sqdn., 2nd Stryker Cav. Regt. “Us walking through the neighborhoods – that is an everyday thing,” he explained. Early morning operations hunting down 1st BCT’s most wanted criminals is just an added bonus for the ‘Fox’ Soldiers, said Huie, a 19-year veteran, who hails from Brooklyn, N.Y., and is the company’s acting first sergeant while his senior non-commissioned officer is on environmental leave.
“Our preferred method is to knock, and 90 percent of the people are more than willing to let us in,” stated Huie. “Conversely, if we find a house that looks suspicious to us, or a family that looks suspicious to us, and they don’t want to let us in their house, sometimes we have to cut their locks. “We may not see the results in the next three weeks, but I think this (operation) is going to generate a lot of tips and a lot more leads … and eventually we will get them,” added Huie. “Whether the people like it or not, we are coming through their whole neighborhood to get these criminals off the streets.”
The company’s mission has varied greatly during their time as a “surge unit” operating in southern Baghdad since August of 2007, said Huie. The Fox Soldiers have worked throughout Saha and Abu T’shir in southeastern Rashid to assist with essential services, force protection for Iraqi contractors to fix sewage or electricity issues in the Iraqi mulhallas (neighborhoods), as well as providing over watch for ISF and SOI manning checkpoints, providing security for the local communities, he said.
Staff Sgt. Scott Campbell, squad leader, Co. F, 2nd Sqdn., 2nd Stryker Cav. Regt., said that he hopes to see more changes for the better as the unit prepares to leave Baghdad for the unit’s future mission in Baquaba. “There’s a better peace now, than there was before the ‘surge,’” said Campbell, a native of Orlando.
Campbell a veteran of 11 years, said that in three deployments in support of OIF, from 2003 to today, he has seen many changes, especially in the security situation around southern Baghdad. “I think that when we go around and meet the locals and get to know them better on a personal basis, they become more at ease with us,” he explained. “The more we get to talk with them the better they trust us; the more they like us.”
Campbell said that in addition to improving security, units must continue to work to improve the infrastructure to better meet the needs of the Iraqi people. “They need to improve faster,” he said. “Iraqis need to start pushing a lot more effort into rebuilding their infrastructure; power, water, medical treatment, jobs, ways to create jobs. Stuff that could be making them money is not making them money right now, and I believe that we need to pursue those endeavors more.”
The Cougars will begin their third phase of the operations in May, as they begin to transition the Abu T’shir and Saha neighborhoods to 7th Sqdn., 10th Cav. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B.
Freedom Facts: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ $288.5 million hospital program includes 25 renovation projects at 20 hospitals that focus on children’s and maternity care. Two new hospitals also are being constructed in Basrah and Maysan provinces. Currently, we have completed 17 of the projects, with the remaining eight (8) renovations expected to be completed by May 2008.
Source: Multi-National Force - Iraq.
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