30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team

Story by Spc. Ruth McClary

BAGHDAD – U.S. and Iraqi soldiers work together on missions to make the streets safer here in Iraq.

But every month or so, a group of Soldiers trade their weapons for wrenches at Forward Operating Base Falcon to help their Iraqi army counter parts make the Iraqi vehicles safer for the road.

Soldiers of Company B, 230th Brigade Support Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, taught humvee maintenance techniques Soldiers of 17th Iraqi Army Division's Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance section.

The Iraqis received hands-on instruction for repairing front and rear brakes, radiators, and replacing tires on a vehicle that had not been driven in three months.

"This training is so important to these guys, who are not mechanics and are usually left to fend for themselves," said Capt. Chad Zinnecker, an advisor with the 17th Iraqi Army Military Transition Team, from Austin, Texas. "Without this training they wouldn't have vehicles that are mission capable. This allows them to be more self-sufficient."

The focus of most missions for the U.S. troops revolves around maintenance work in a specific area around Baghdad, and the IRS soldiers fall within that area. Their compound is about a mile from FOB Falcon, which puts it in close enough proximity to easily exchange parts and receive the ongoing training necessary to keep the vehicles running. Before, they shopped the local populace to get parts and paid out of pocket for repairs.

"They repaired the front and back brakes during two days of this training," said Spc. Tony Cline, of Lincolnton, N.C. "It would cost them about $100 at the marketplace, now it will cost $20 in parts and they can do the repairs themselves."

Zinnecker said the Iraqi soldiers not only have problems getting parts, they also can't get supporting products such as petroleum oils or lubricants to maintain the life of parts, which usually leads to them having to find a way to buy the parts again.

"We try to talk them through it or give them literature to take back for those problems, that way they can teach the other Soldiers at their compound too, said Cline.

"There is no better way for them to learn than to work through the problems they have on the vehicles," said Zinnecker.

"Safety first" is one lesson Cline is determined to teach the Iraqi Soldiers. Lessons, he said, they unhappily learn through trial and error.

"Yesterday they didn't use drip pans. I made them clean the whole bay. Today they asked for drip pans as soon as they got here."

Zinnecker said they also teach the Iraqis resourceful ingenuity, such as using dish detergent in place of lubricants to get humvees to run.

"We supply Iraqi solutions to Iraqi problems," said Zinnecker. "Helping them work out issues to get it fixed themselves is the main objective."

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