USD-C Soldier promoted by Iraqi Army general

Photo By 1st Lt. David Spangler | Staff Lt. Gen. Ali Hamiday Taher (right), the Iraqi Army commander for the Karkh area, places a patrol cap with captain rank on Capt. Thomas Marlatt, platoon leader of the personal security detachment for the stability transition team with 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, United States Division – Center, and a Somerville, S.C., native, Oct. 2, during Marlatt’s promotion ceremony at Joint Security Station Muthana.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

10.04.2010

Story by Pfc. Emily Knitter 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

BAGHDAD—The soldiers all stand at attention as the promotion orders for 1st Lt. Thomas Marlatt are read out loud. The room is almost silent. As with any regular promotion ceremony, a chosen person steps forward to change the rank on Marlatt’s uniform. After shaking hands, he steps back and a round of applause breaks the silence.

But unlike a regular promotion ceremony, the person chosen to place captain rank on Marlatt, Oct. 2, at Joint Security Station Muthana was staff Lt. Gen. Ali Hamiday Taher, the Iraqi Army commander for the Karkh area.

Marlatt is the platoon leader of the personal security detachment for the stability transition team with 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, United States Division – Center, and a Somerville, S.C., native. His platoon works with Iraqi Army soldiers from the Karkh Strike Team on a regular basis.

Marlatt said having Taher promote him would bring the relationship the two units have forged during this deployment full circle.

“After doing countless missions with them, being staged with them (and) pulling security, a mutual respect formed,” Marlatt said. “Each time we worked with them, our bond (has grown) stronger and stronger.”

The Karkh area IA soldiers worked with another American unit before 1st Bn., 41st FA Regt., but Marlatt’s team has done exceptional work in helping to polish their knowledge so they will be able to operate on their own.

“When we first got them, another team had been working with them,” Marlatt said. “They continue to progress each day as they pick up new techniques that we use. It is pretty (rewarding) watching them take the lead in everything that we do.”
Asking Taher to participate in such a time-honored military tradition seemed like the best way to show that progress.

“I am very proud to be chosen for this and, as you know, we are one team,” Taher said during a speech after the ceremony. “There are no differences between us, and we are working together to achieve the same goals.”

Now, the goal for both units is to ensure the Iraqi soldiers are as prepared as possible to take control of their country.

Marlatt thinks they are ready.

“You can just tell from their demeanor they have a pretty good grasp of what is going on,” he explained. “We are just here to advise and assist and give them any extra help they might need. We (were at the) range the other day and gave them the instructions, but we didn’t know how well they were going to do. It was a reflexive fire range and they executed it flawlessly. They could have been American soldiers out there.”

• Date Taken: 10.04.2010
• Date Posted: 10.11.2010 09:50
• Story ID: 57888
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ