Cops helping cops – Wyoming's cowboys train Iraqi detectives to police their own

Photo By Sgt. Michael Alberts | Staff Sgt. Terry Cheairs, PTT chief and squad leader, 2nd Battalion, 300th Field Artillery Regiment, Wyoming Army National Guard, attached to the 25th Infantry Division's 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, poses for a photo near a recent discovery of weapons outside of Kirkuk, Iraq, March 3.  

KIRKUK, IRAQ

03.15.2007

Story by Spc. Michael Alberts 

3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division

By Spc. Mike Alberts
3rd Brigade Public Affairs

KIRKUK, Iraq – The Iraqi detective had been cultivating a relationship with his informant for some time. The informant knew where weapons were buried, weapons to be used against Iraqi security and coalition forces. When the informant finally agreed to reveal the location of the cache, the Iraqi detective's investment of time was about to pay-off.

Lt. Delear Omer Ahmed, a detective with Kirkuk's Major Crimes Unit (MCU), relayed the tip to his coalition force counterparts. Together, the informant led them to the find - a rocket propelled grenade booster, several rocket propelled grenades and mortar rounds. A few days later, another of Delear's informants provided intelligence leading to a similar discovery hidden in a field.

That's exactly how law enforcement is supposed to work - and is working - due in large part to the MCU's partnership with Soldiers of the Wyoming Army National Guard.

Commonly known as the "Powder River Cowboys," a nickname derived from the Powder River that runs across a large portion of their state, Police Transition Team (PTT) Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 300th Field Artillery Regiment, currently attached to the 25th Infantry Division's 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team have been training police detectives with Kirkuk's MCU in northern Iraq since December 2006. Several on this select PTT team are in law enforcement back in their home state. As such, this Wyoming-based unit is perfectly situated to help stand-up Kirkuk's MCU.

The MCU is a special investigative unit that operates in the Kirkuk Province and exclusively investigates major crimes such as terrorism, kidnapping, extortion, and forgery of government documents and currency, among other things. The MCU currently employs 12 detectives, along with a compliment of senior law enforcement leadership.

According to Staff Sgt. Terry Cheairs, PTT chief and squad leader, 2-300th FA, it was a mission and unit that required a lot of attention. Just two months before Cheairs' team arrived, a catastrophic car bomb demolished the MCU offices in downtown Kirkuk.

"When we showed up, MCU detectives were in a bombed-out building with an arms room for securing weapons and one office. The hallway where investigators were forced to work was open to the city – a sniper's dream. They had two couches, a chair, a coffee table and a single phone stand. It was a bleak situation," said Cheairs. "It was so bad that they were managing case files from paper bags out of the trunks of their personal vehicles," he continued.

Cheairs, of Gillette, Wyo., is a father of two who, when not deployed, serves his community as a detention corporal with the Campbell County Sheriff's Department. He empathized with these Iraqi police officers, so he and his team immediately identified new working space, coordinated the purchase of new furniture and equipment, and got down to training.

While the MCU still needs more vehicles and an on-site detention facility, their case management, evidence collection, crime scene responsiveness and security have markedly improved since partnering with Soldiers of the Wyoming Army National Guard.

"These guys are seasoned investigators that deal with horrendous crimes," said Cheairs. "From a stateside viewpoint, we, as law enforcement, all train for mass casualty scenarios. But these detectives actually work it every day; they deal (with the) unimaginable on a daily basis with limited resources, and they do it very well."

Cheairs' colleagues agreed.

"The MCU is quite advanced compared to Iraqi police at other IP stations," said Spc. Joseph Mangus, 2-300th FA. Mangus, like Cheairs, is in law enforcement and serves his community in Lander, Wyo., as a deputy sheriff. He worked as a jailer and now works patrol in Lander, and is serving his second tour in Iraq.

"(The MCU) has investigators that are actually willing to go out there and get their shoes dirty to solve cases," said Mangus. "They have really come a long way and Lt. Delear's work with his (confidential informant) is just one of many examples of that," he said.

"I was really surprised at the number of talented detectives," said Spc. J. Thor Fiedler, 2-300th FA. Fiedler, serving his first combat tour, is also a deputy sheriff with the Laramie County Sheriff's Department back in his hometown of Cheyenne, Wyo. Fiedler is a detention officer.

"They have some really smart detectives, and they want to do the work," said Fiedler. "They get called at all hours and it has really been a relief to us because they are unique in their level of enthusiasm that they have for their job. That's refreshing in this environment."

• Date Taken: 03.15.2007
• Date Posted: 03.15.2007 11:02
• Story ID: 9451
• Location: KIRKUK, IQ