Photo By Kimberly Hackbarth | An Iraqi army soldier kicks in the door to a building on an IA compound near the Taji...... read more read more
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CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Rain moistened the dirt under the boots of Iraqi Army Soldiers, policemen and U.S. Soldiers as they patrolled a street in Taji, Feb.26.
The patrol, part of a three-day training course taught by the Mobile Tiger Team from 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, is helping transform the working relationship between IA and IP into a true partnership, something uncommon in the Iraqi security forces' past.
"The big change is that they were willing to work together- period," said Staff Sgt. Eric Lockhart, a platoon sergeant with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Bn., 23rd Inf. Regt. who, on his previous deployments to Iraq, never saw ISF from different services work so close together.
The collaboration between the IA and IPs is exactly what the battalion leadership is looking for to ensure the safety of Iraq.
"First and foremost, our mission is to synchronize the security environment between the various ISF elements...and close any security gaps," said Capt. Val Moro, commander, HHC, 2nd Bn., 23rd Inf. Regt.
Every group who came through training, however, didn't immediately work as a unit. There was a pattern in the interaction between IA and IP.
On the first day, IA and IP day showed up and were cordial to each other, but they sat in segregated groups. It wasn't until the patrol tactics taught on the second day that the two forces began to forget what uniforms they were in and started to intermingle.
Rain or shine, the group trained basic Soldier skills including searching vehicles and personnel, clearing buildings and conducting field sanitation, bonding along the way.
The students learned to communicate using hand and arm signals while moving in a formation, ones that can be used regardless of whether it is a Soldier of police officer alongside them.
"We've noticed by end of the second day [the IA and IPs] sit down and they're not sitting in their groups anymore; they're sitting among each other," said Mora.
On the third day, the students showed up and automatically sat down next to each other, joking and conversing and not distinguishing who belonged to what organization.
"Once they start doing the patrol, the classes are IA or IP led and they actually run the patrol, so they really figured it out on their own," said Mora. "At the end of third day, you couldn't even tell they were part of a different unit."
By watching the strengthening bond between their ISF counterparts and experiencing the bond themselves, the MTT Soldiers learned that there's more to a deployment than combat operations.
"Our biggest lesson is realizing that it's not always about coming into and area and immediately conducting operations and going after the bad guys," said Mora. "That stuff's important if it needs to be done, but it's just as important to go in and form that relationship with your ISF partner."
MTT Soldiers now look forward to an Iraq with U.S forces no longer in the picture.
"What we see now is not us forming that partnership with the ISF, it's the ISF elements forming that partnership with each other," said Mora. "That's the next step."
| Date Taken: | 02.26.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 03.16.2010 15:09 |
| Story ID: | 46760 |
| Location: | CAMP TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 292 |
| Downloads: | 225 |
This work, Iraqi army, Iraqi police work together during Tiger Team training, by Kimberly Hackbarth, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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