Photo By Capt. Daniel Graves | Maj. Paul Beekman guns his Civil Affairs team's truck during an Iraqi Police patrol in...... read more read more
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by Spc. Cassandra Groce
133rd MPAD.
KIRKUK, Iraq – It's just another blistering day in the city of Kirkuk for the small Civil Affairs team from Buffalo, New York.
The Civil Affairs group monitors the interaction of different maneuver units with their IP counterparts and provides oversight to different units.
This time the team is on an Iraqi Police patrol with Infantry Soldiers from C Company, 3rd Battalion, 127th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
"We see what works in one part of the city, and then we can suggest it to another part of the city," said Army Major Paul Beekman, Team 42 leader in C Company, 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion. "Each maneuver unit is responsible for a different area so we can tell each unit what we see works where."
The Civil Affairs group is also responsible for more traditional jobs in Kirkuk, including infrastructure improvement.
The team is working on projects to sanitize the major animal market in Kirkuk that provides fresh meat to locals.
They also plan to work on a solid waste removal program for the city of Kirkuk and are attempting to decrease the lengthy lines at the Benzene, or gas, stations.
The team of four Soldiers, who all volunteered to come to Iraq, pack a lot of passion for their job in a country frequently portrayed as lacking ambition.
"I believe in the mission and what the Coalition Forces are trying to do in Iraq," said Beekman. "I felt like it was my responsibility to come and do my own rotation."
With such a small group of Soldiers responsible for the civil aspects of over two million civilians, each Soldier is trained at everyone else's job.
Even Beekman has been known to man his truck's gun turret, not a typical place to see a military officer.
"Being a four person team and having a large area of responsibility, we have to divide up different responsibility," explained Beekman. "If a mission is geared to one person's expertise, everyone else falls on a different responsibility to accommodate them."
The team will be in Iraq for a few more months, and so far Beekman has been impressed with his team's performance.
"They put in long hours and have accomplished a lot," said Beekman. "They didn't come to sit around, and I think that is because they wanted to be here."
| Date Taken: | 08.21.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 08.21.2006 11:26 |
| Story ID: | 7511 |
| Location: | KIRKUK, IQ |
| Web Views: | 102 |
| Downloads: | 37 |
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