Joint Security: Airborne troops, Iraqi police working together

Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor | Maj. Jalal Sabri Khmaees, head of the Al-Sulakh Police Station, and Capt. Tim Marzano of Clemons, N.C., commander of A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, walk the streets of Adhamiyah, Baghdad on a patrol Feb. 17. U.S. paratroopers and Iraqi police live and work together at the Al-Sulakh Joint Security Station.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

02.20.2007

Story by Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor 

82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs Office

By Sgt. Mike Pryor
2nd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. Public Affairs

Baghdad - "Together" could be the motto of the Al-Sulakh Joint Security Station in Baghdad's Adhamiyah District, where U.S. paratroopers, Iraqi police, and Iraqi army troops are working closely to provide security in the neighborhood.

"You are there together?" asked a surprised elderly man as local police chief Maj. Jalal Sabri Khamees and U.S. Army Capt. Tim Marzano passed him during a patrol of the area.

"Yes. Together," responded Marzano.

"The JSS is a site that enables coalition forces and Iraqi forces to come together to conduct operations in a unified manner," said Marzano, of Clemons, N.C., commander of Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. Marzano's battery took over security at the JSS in early February.

The facility functions as both a police station and a kind of clearing house for information, where representatives from the different security forces can plan and coordinate operations.

Ensuring maximum synchronization between the different forces in the area is crucial because of the JSS's location. Sulakh is a strategically important area, a kind of hub for anti-coalition forces, said Capt. Mabry Shokes, the battalion's intelligence officer.

"It's right on a fault line, and a lot of (insurgent) activity happens right around that area," Shokes said.

In the past, it was sometimes difficult for U.S., Iraqi army, and Iraqi police forces to coordinate their efforts to disrupt that activity.

"It was a challenge. There wasn't a direct line of communication," said Capt. Eric Tangeman, from Mannheim, Germany, the head of a police training team from the 630th Military Police Company based at the JSS.

Now that the JSS is up and running, coordination is easy. Representatives from the police, the army, and the coalition are at the facility 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The face-to-face contact allows the different units to collect information, plan, and execute missions with maximum coordination and minimum delay.

"It gives us a common operating picture," said Marzano.

The success of the JSS concept was evident during an operation that took place Feb. 16, Marzano said. It began when a person from the neighborhood delivered a tip to the police about a weapons cache in the area. Marzano's paratroopers helped organize the operation to act on the intelligence. The Iraqi army conducted the raid and recovered the weapons.

"It involved all three components very successfully," Marzano said.

At any given time, the JSS is the scene of a level of activity bordering on organized chaos. There are Iraqi police coming in, Iraqi army troops going out, missions being planned and conducted and local residents stopping by to deliver tips and information. The number of concerned citizens supplying information to police has gone up steadily since this battery moved in to provide security, Marzano said.

The presence of Battery A paratroopers at the JSS has given Khamees and his policemen the ability to get out of the station and interact with the local people without leaving themselves open to attack. Khamee's and Marzano's "meet the neighbors" patrol was one of the first instances where they did so. It was an operation that Khamees hopes to repeat often.

"I think that building good relationships with people in the neighborhood is essential," Khamees said when the patrol was over. "I want to prove to the people in the neighborhood that there is law here and we are working with the U.S. forces to help them."

• Date Taken: 02.20.2007
• Date Posted: 02.21.2007 09:04
• Story ID: 9203
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ