'Embedded' Assistance

Courtesy Photo | (Left to right) Walnut Creek, Calif., native Lt. Col. Felix Boston, Ambassador John Bennett from Springfield, Va., both leaders of the 2nd "Dagger" Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division's embedded provincial readiness team pause for a photo with 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion member 1st Lt. Yolanda George during a visit to the Civil Military Operations Center on the Victory Base Complex in Baghdad. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Lon Dimmitt)  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

06.08.2007

Courtesy Story

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs

By Capt. Travis Ammons
2nd BCT, 1st Inf. Div. Public Affairs

BAGHDAD, Iraq—Combat brigades throughout Iraq receive embedded provincial readiness teams to bring a different perspective to the fight.

Early this year, the U.S. State Department came up with the idea to embed 10 Provincial Readiness Teams (PRT) with combat brigades to supplement the 10 non-embedded PRT's established in March 2006.

Embedded PRTs consist of a senior State Department officer as the team leader, a civil affairs officer as the deputy team leader, and up to nine other members with a variety of skill sets. The diversity allows each EPRT to work closely with not only the commanders and Soldiers on the ground, but also with the local community leaders in Baghdad.

The 2nd "Dagger" Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, welcomed one of these EPRTs, April 15, and has been working closely with them to integrate all of the different skill sets into the combat formation.

The Dagger EPRT consists of Ambassador John Bennett from Springfield, Va., who volunteered to come out of retirement as a U.S. Ambassador to be the team leader; Lt. Col. Felix Boston from Walnut Creek, Calif., who agreed to come out of a command assignment in civil affairs to be the deputy of the Dagger team; Ali Ameen from Richmond, Va., who is the bicultural, bilingual advisor; Dr. John Crifield from Falls Church, Va., who works with USAID; Col. Louis Fazekas from Mechanicsburg, Pa., a city planner; and Bob Perry from California City, Calif., an industrial specialist.
The EPRT's goal is to work with the Iraqi government and private sector to help rebuild the country, filling a valuable void at the level between civil affairs, which works at the tactical level, and the Baghdad PRT, which works at the operational level.

"Iraq has come through a very disastrous 50 years," Ambassador Bennett said. "We must have an appreciation for the Iraqis as they constructed one of the world's most impressive cities, Baghdad."

Bennett praised the Iraqi culture for its advances in education and industry, despite the obstacles derived from Iraq's political state over the past 50 years.

During their train up with the State Department in Washington D.C., some of the EPRT members met with President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

"It was an honor to meet and talk informally with the decision makers of our great country," Boston said of his meeting.

The EPRT continues to work with the Dagger Brigade, with each day on the ground giving the team a better understanding of the complexities inherent in western Baghdad, Bennett said. Though there are no easy solutions, Bennett believes that if the Iraqis take the lead, then the answers will meet everyone's expectations.

• Date Taken: 06.08.2007
• Date Posted: 06.08.2007 13:06
• Story ID: 10727
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ