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BASRAH — U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers joined forces to deliver food and supplies to residents of the Faddaqhryah and Bahar communities here, Aug. 18. The U.S. Soldiers from the 17th Fires Brigade (FB) and the 4th Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team helped the Iraqi Army (IA) provide this urgent humanitarian assistance and lay the groundwork for a lasting relationship between Iraq’s Soldiers and its people, said Army Lt. Col. Ross. C. Scott, 17th FB civil affairs officer.

Scott said the IA delivered more than 400 packages, each intended to feed a family of eight for 30 days.

The U.S. patrol, made up of civil affairs and personnel security Soldiers, left here early to link up in the Iraqi villages with their counterparts from the 14th IA Division. In each village, the Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers were met with welcoming, hopeful looks from local elders and heads of families and curious, smiling faces of children.

“This is really helpful to us,” said Abod, one of hundreds of Faddaqhryah residents who lined up to collect food. “Since Ramadan is coming, we thank God for all of this. I have nine family members that all these supplies will benefit greatly.”

The Iraqi Soldiers were pleased to be part of such a mission.

“This is really nice. We’re here helping these people who are poor and need these supplies,” said Krarr Haidar, an IA Soldier. “Also, there are large families where no one in the household is working; these supplies benefit them the most.”

Although the IA was in the lead for the mission, the 17th FB’s personnel security detachment provided additional security for the event.

“It seems as though the [IA] is becoming completely self-sufficient by the way they handled this event in a professional matter,” said Army Cpl. Dale L. Comella, a medic with the 17th FB Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Personnel Security Detachment (PSD). “Overall, I was impressed with the organization of the mission and the gratitude from the [local people]. We are trained to think that the threat is always out there, so to come in contact with these people who were so inviting and welcoming was a whole different experience for me.”

An Iraqi secondary school teacher expressed gratitude for the mission. “We’re so happy that the Soldiers are here to help,” the Bahar resident said.

A PSD squad leader noted how far the Iraqi Soldiers have come.

“The Iraqi Army has made tremendous strides toward providing for their people,” said Army Staff Sgt. Samuel G. Ward. “We used to have to pull a lot of our own security, but now we’re in a supervisory role where we’ll aid them by pointing out something we notice, and they’ll take charge in securing the threat.

“They’re setting up their own operations,” he continued. “They’re clearly running their own show. We’re just here just to point them in the right direction.”

(By Army Spc. Maurice A. Galloway, 17th Fires Brigade)

By Andria Allmond
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing

JOINT BASE BALAD

— U.S. Airmen and Soldiers hosted a Department of State Provincial Reconstruction Team-initiated Health Fair for local Iraqi children at the Oasis Dining Facility here, Aug. 22. More than 40 children from the surrounding Salah ad Din province interacted with service members while learning about basic first aid, the role of emergency medical professionals and nutrition and hygiene.

The Health Fair marked the first time local kids were brought here for a medical outreach program.

“The event served the purpose of educating the children in the hopes they will disseminate the information to their families,” said 1st Lt. Emanuel Pierre, Task Force 421, Multi-functional Medical Battalion civil military operations officer. “We also see this as an opportunity to cultivate good sentiment between the Iraqi people and Coalition forces.”

Maj. David Carnahan, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group chief of medical staff, said his crew is working hand-in-hand with the local community to establish and maintain working relationships with their Iraqi counterparts.

“In the past, our doctors would work alongside Iraqi doctors in treating injured host nationals [at the Air Force Theater Hospital here],” the major said. “As the violence decreases in the area, we don’t have that kind of working relationship anymore. In order to maintain the rapport we’ve built, we need to come together in non-hostility related events such as this. We are trying to support the Iraqi healthcare system by not undermining it, but helping where we can.”

The goal was to teach useful health skills, but the event organizers also built in time for the children to have fun. When the kids first arrived at the dining facility, they got to check out static displays of medical emergency vehicles and some even tried on firefighters’ gear. Then, after the briefings and lunch, they spent the afternoon enjoying sporting events and games at the west side gym.

The six- to 14-year-old participants weren’t the only ones having a good time at the event.

“We love being with the kids and having them here on our base,” said Sgt. Maj. Kellyanne Oneil, Task Force 1st Medical Command senior clinical sergeant major. “You could see everyone smiling and having a great time. It takes [the military members] away from the madness for a little while. Besides having fun, we hope the information and instruction we are exposing them to will ultimately make them safer.”

By 1st Lt. Michele Perez
2nd Marine Logistic GroupCAMP TAQADDUM — As U.S. bases and posts in Iraq continue to consolidate or are transferred back to the Government of Iraq, U.S. military leaders across the country face the challenge of leaving their locations better than when they initially arrived.

Whether it’s through the stabilized security we see here today or the civil affairs projects that have sprouted throughout the country, there are tangible improvements to many of the areas that continue to be or were once occupied by U.S. forces.

One of these improvements was the recent completion of a $50,000 renovation project of a mosque located aboard this camp. The religious structure has actually been closed to the public since 1987, when the area was taken over by the Iraqi Army. But its new face-lift gives hope to local Iraqis that their place of worship will soon be available for use.

Military officials with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) and local Iraqi leaders met here for a small ceremony to commemorate the improvements to the mosque. The completion of the project comes only a few days before the beginning of Ramadan, the month-long Muslim observance that focuses on spiritual character building through fasting, prayers and acts of charity.

One of the local leaders who came on base for the event was Ishmaiel Mahmoud Hammad Al-Khelefowi, a religious leader of Kabani, a small village neighboring Taqaddum. His grandfather actually helped build the first mud structure back in 1945 that served as the mosque for more than 40 years until the area was restricted to Iraqi military personnel. Although the new mosque will remain closed to the public until all U.S. forces depart this camp, Khelefowi knows the local people will appreciate the efforts of the Marines who helped coordinate these improvements.

“They will be very grateful,” Khelefowi said. “I want to show the people how Coalition forces have helped us; show their good side.”

The project was designed and led by a local Iraqi contractor and facilitated by the civil affairs section of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, serving as the security force for the camp.

It took 12 days to complete the renovations with a team of 10 local workers who traveled on and off base every day in support of the project. The work consisted of an entirely new paint job, new windows, light fixtures, electrical work and overall improvements to the infrastructure.

The civil-military operations officer for the battalion, 1st Lt. Christopher J. O’Melia, has worked closely with the local Iraqi villages since his unit arrived to the area in early March. In that time, he has coordinated 52 different projects, coming to a grand total of $1.5 million. The funds for the project came from the Commander’s Emergency Response funds, which are funds available to a commander to help respond to local needs in his area of operations.

O’Melia, who is on his second tour to Iraq, sees a lot of significance in all of the projects he has helped facilitate over the past six months in the 2nd MLG (Fwd)’s area of operations.

“We want the Iraqi people to understand that we’re not occupiers, we’re facilitators,” he explained. “I think as Coalition forces contract and we prepare to turn back pieces of terrain to the Iraqis, we want to make sure the area is better than when we arrived. We want to show them we have been good custodians of their property.”

Marines who have been stationed here on previous deployments can testify to overall improvements they’ve seen in the area. Debris has been cleaned up around the camp and there is less and less military gear and equipment, which has increased tenfold since the recent uptick of drawdown operations. All efforts have brought the Marines stationed aboard this camp one step closer to getting the area ready for the eventual transfer to the Government of Iraq.

By Spc. Naveed Ali Shah
13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)JOINT BASE BALAD — As U.S. forces here prepare for the largest strategic reposturing of forces in 40 years, some Airmen have already started the process.

The Airmen of TF 586, 732nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), have been traveling throughout the Iraqi theater of operations, identifying, collecting and redistributing excess supply items since 2006.

“Our main task is to retrieve excess equipment from Army and Marine locations in Iraq,” said Capt. Rachel Ramos, officer in charge, Mobile Redistribution Team (MRT) 4, TF 586.

Once excess is identified, the teams determine whether or not the material is in working condition. After the equipment is established as serviceable, it is issued to units in theater.

Reusing equipment which is already here on the ground is a cost effective measure as opposed to units ordering more and more material which will further clog up the supply system.

“Redistributing supply items and materials that are already in theater is much cheaper for everybody,” said Tech. Sgt. Vick Williams, the non-commissioned officer in charge of MRT 4. “It gets stuff that’s just sitting around into the hands of Soldiers who can use it.”

The Airmen of the MRTs endured austere living conditions in order to accomplish their mission.

“It was a rough mission, with the sandstorms and heat and bare-bones living conditions; it was tough,” said Ramos, a Texas City, Texas, native. “On top of the weather, some of these places didn’t even have female latrines.”

She said she tried to focus on the mission because she knew she faced even more daunting challenges.

While the Airmen were stationed at Joint Base Balad, the MRTs would often pull back to back missions, leaving them little time to recover before heading outside the wire again.

“We were basically living out of a suitcase,” said Williams, a Melbourne, Fla., native. “After two weeks on mission, sometimes we’d be back less than three days before we’d go out again.”

Despite the harsh conditions, the unforgiving desert environment and magnitude of the mission, Task Force 586 identified, collected and redistributed more than $50 million in excess supply items since February, said Ramos.

In Multi-National Division – Baghdad’s Victory Base Complex alone, $23 million of excess has been identified in less than three months, said Lt. Col. Kenneth Morey, the refit and redistribution chief with the13th ESC.

The MRTs escalated their efforts to retrograde material out of the Iraqi theater, in anticipation of the gradual drawdown.

“Through the next 12 months, the MRTs are going to try to move as much equipment out of theater as possible,” said Morey.

While the date for complete U.S. withdrawal from Iraq draws near, more troops and materials are being sent to their home stations.

As troops are redeployed out of Iraq for good, equipment which would previously have been inherited by their replacements is instead rerouted into the supply system. It is then either given to units which can use it, or retrograded back to units in the United States, said Morey, a Buschwell, Ill., native.

The retrograde of substantial amounts of equipment now will free up transportation assets for troops and their assigned equipment later, he said.

“We want to mitigate the effects of a sudden pull-out as much as possible,” he said. “At the same time we don’t want to leave our footprint in theater.”

As U.S. forces shrink from 130,000 personnel in theater to the August 2010 goal of 50,000 personnel, the MRTs will play an integral role in prioritizing equipment to send home.

“Everybody else is planning for the drawdown,” said Morey. “We’re already doing it. It’s an inglorious job, but they love doing it and they’re good at it.”