Army shows good will toward Iraqi population

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Zane Craig | Staff Sgt. James Owen, the administrative law non-commissioned officer in charge for the 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command and a Mooresville, Ind., native, takes a photograph of an Iraqi citizen who filed a financial claim for property damaged by U.S. forces May 18, East Gate Badging office on Joint Base Balad, Iraq.  

JOINT BASE BALAD, IRAQ

05.11.2011

Story by Spc. Zane Craig 

109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By: Spc. Zane Craig

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – In a cramped, hot room in central Iraq, a group of soldiers huddle around the table as their leader passes a smiling Iraqi man a payment.

This meeting was nothing sinister and its nature was entirely legal.

In fact, the soldiers’ leader is a foreign claims commissioner for the judge advocate general, and the payment to the Iraqi man was a settlement rewarded to him for his septic tank that was accidentally damaged by an American convoy.

Capt. Daniel Rieck, the foreign claims commissioner for the 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command and a Milwaukee, Wis., native, authorized payment to the Iraqi man after a lengthy review May 18 at the East Gate Badging office on Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

“We have decided it is a valid claim, so we will be making the payment today if you accept it,” Rieck said.

The man immediately put the money into his pocket. When asked if he would like an envelope, he replied through the translator that now the money was in his pocket, it was not going anywhere.

The process whereby civilians can file claims for damages to property caused by U.S. forces dates to World War II and is essentially used to convey America’s good will toward the general population, Rieck said.

“We’re not under any legal requirement to pay these claims,” he said. “There is certainly a legal justification, but we’re not required.
Combat losses and anything that happened beyond the two-year statute of limitations are not subject to reimbursement. There must also be sufficient documentation provided by the claimant to prove ownership of the property and that the U.S. military is responsible.
This man is one of the few claimants to meet these stringent requirements in JBB’s area of operations recently.

“I contacted the convoy commander and he was able to verify that it had happened and he sent pictures taken by the Americans and they linked up with the pictures [the Iraqi man] had sent, so I knew it was a legit story,” Rieck said.

Convoys traveling through populated areas generally carry claims forms with a section in English for them to fill out, and an Arabic section for the Iraqi to fill out.

The JAG office meets with potential claimants every first and third Wednesday of the month at the East Gate Badging office so Iraqis can bring these forms and other documentation and the JAG can begin to investigate the claim.

“A lot of times, we have to send them away and ask for them to come back with more proof that they own the land, pictures of the destruction,” Rieck said. “Then we contact the Americans, too, because we need some kind of verification.”

The translator plays a key role in this process. He facilitates both written and oral communication between the U.S. forces and Iraqi civilians, many of whom are not educated.

“Whatever goes on between the Army, the JAG office, and the claimant, I am in the middle,” said John Marogen, a civilian-contracted translator and Toledo, Ohio, native. “I’m the middle man to make sure both parties understand what’s going on.”

The U.S. military’s claims process allows Iraqi civilians to use an established and legal path to gain just compensation for property they lost as a result of the U.S. presence in Iraq.

Rieck said that this claims process is a positive step toward providing the people of Iraq a better overall view of U.S. service members.

• Date Taken: 05.11.2011
• Date Posted: 05.29.2011 02:35
• Story ID: 71265
• Location: JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ