Photo By Chad Menegay | Military police at Contingency Operating Base Marez conduct perimeter sweeps, patrol,...... read more read more
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CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE MAREZ, Iraq – Surrounded by Mosul, Iraq, an ethnically diverse city of 2 million people, Soldiers who protect Contingency Operating Base Marez employ a myriad of methods and force protection technologies to maintain security.
"It's a constant, everyday-changing environment," said Capt. Brian McCord, force protection officer-in-charge for COB Marez and COB Diamondback, with Regimental Fires Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and a Seymour, Tenn., native.
Force Protection at COB Marez is dynamic and made up of many moving parts.
For instance, McCord describes one such part, the quick reaction force, as made up of three tiers. First, is the military police that perform tasks like speed mitigation, escorting and raids. Tier two consists of measures like patrols outside the base, anti-terrorism tasks and security procedures inside the base. The third tier includes "the big guns," said McCord, and vehicles like tanks and Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles.
The RFS base defense operations center communicates with these tiers, the COB towers, observation points, the search areas, entry control points and the surveillance equipment of early warning systems.
Communication is the key to securing the base successfully, said Spc. Rebekah Stricker of Poplarville, Miss., a military policeman for the 114th Military Police Company out of Clinton, Miss.
Some high-tech equipment comes into play while pulling together information and communicating it.
McCord said that Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment towers from Raytheon and Mobile Eagle Eye elevated sensor systems keep a view around and in the COB.
"Anytime something happens, the cameras have the ability to scope in on something really good," he said. "We get a pretty good idea of what's going on outside the perimeter."
Used together, Biometrics Automated Toolsets and Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment allow security personnel to capture and apply biometric data to identify people of interest trying to gain access at the ECPs.
"The database will let you know if they're on a watch list," McCord said.
"We don't see any more of the really bad guys trying to get in here," he said. "They just know that's not going to happen."
McCord said that high-dollar Vehicle and Cargo Inspection Systems scan semi-trucks.
"If somebody's trying to get something in, we'll see it," McCord said. "If somebody's got an apple stuck in the vehicle somewhere, you'll see it. It's that in-depth."
All semis and non-military supply trucks are escorted on and off the base by military police.
Marez MPs cover both adjacent COBs Marez and Diamondback, floating back and forth, at times, in an area that McCord describes as "the biggest post in theater."
"We are the city police department here," said 1st Sgt. Raymond Sands, the special projects non-commissioned officer-in-charge with RFS. "We handle any mischievous activity."
The MPs handle a wide array of responsibilities at COB Marez, to include: perimeter sweeps, searches, escorts, security checks, blocks and redirection of traffic, and raids.
"When we get [intelligence] of a civilian or a Soldier having something, we go in," Stricker said. "We bring in cameras. We bring in drug dogs and bomb dogs."
"The job is very rewarding, because we're the police of this COB," Stricker said. "When a situation is called up, we're the ones that take care of it. We're taking care of the people on the COB."
| Date Taken: | 05.26.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 05.26.2010 00:13 |
| Story ID: | 50269 |
| Location: | CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE MAREZ, IQ |
| Web Views: | 582 |
| Downloads: | 511 |
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