Photo By Master Sgt. Opal Vaughn | Maj. Mickey Thomas and Capt. Brian McCraine, both with Border Transition Team 4312,...... read more read more
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CAMP VICTORY, Iraq - When approaching the border between Iraq and Iran in Diyala province, travelers often find a distinct lack of fences, drawn outlines or even a sign stating that the border is near.
Often the only way of knowing the border is near is by noticing one of the 100 or so checkpoints varying in distances along the imaginary line that delineates the border. Each one of these checkpoints is manned by Iraqi border transition team personnel who stand ready to detain anyone trying to cross over from Iran to Iraq illegally.
Working in conjunction with the Iraqi BTT, U.S. Army Border Transition Team 4312 assists in keeping the borders safe and secure.
"Our job is to track, confirm or deny illegal border access," said Master Sgt. Michael Henle, a team sergeant with BTT 4312. "We strictly work with the Iraqi BTT, but we try to integrate the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police into the systems so they can work hand-in-hand, instead of operating unilaterally."
The first efforts in border control dates as early as 1904, but then, the border patrolmen were called mounted watchmen. The men who patrolled then prevented illegal crossings, just as patrolmen do now. But the dangers of the job were not the same then as they are today.
"Our biggest threat is anti-tank mines along the border, improvised explosive devices - there's not really a big push with a mass on mass fighting or ambush fighting - it's more the IEDs and anti-tank mines that have been leftover from the Iran-Iraq war," Henle stated. "We are making progress though."
The border patrolmen of today's generation still carry on some of the same traditions as the "mounted watchmen" but with a different twist, especially those patrolmen working in Iraq.
"A lot of our missions resemble U.S. border patrol mission," said Capt. Eric Wagoner, with BTT 4312. "There's no way to block off a border - you're more of a deterrent. You can't put the fence up and expect everyone to stop coming across. Our job is to make sure the Iraqi BTT have good methods to sustaining their deterrence and force any possible movements in the areas across the border to move to locations that are easier to catch them."
"Part of our objective about doing this job is to make sure the Iraqi BTT is there with us," Wagoner stated. "We train our Iraqi counterparts even though they are very good at training themselves on their border tasks. They do not have the resources or they do not have the experience in certain areas; those are the parts we are trying to train them in. A lot of these guys are experienced Kurdish fighters so they have experience with these types of things."
Success of each mission is not just dependent upon the BTT, but it is also dependent upon the locals living in the area.
"Border villagers are the guys who live right there and see everything," Wagoner stated. "When we go talk to the people, we want the Iraqi BTT to do it because we want to make sure the local people know that the Iraqi BTT are a legitimate force in the area and that they are recognized."
Utilizing every resource, Wagoner stated, helps to have additional eyes out there. "We have the actual Iraqi BTT guys and their locations; but it's just places we cannot get to that we need to have a couple more eyes out there. We also coordinate a lot of missions with 5-1 Cav. They support us if we need more [soldiers] on a mission for security reasons. We cannot really pull them or task them, but they try to help us out whenever they can."
| Date Taken: | 02.27.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 02.27.2009 05:01 |
| Story ID: | 30522 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 472 |
| Downloads: | 434 |
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