Photo By Sgt. Robert Yde | Staff Sgt. Joaquin Villegas, the sergeant-of-the-guard, checks the rifle of Spc....... read more read more
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By Sgt. Robert Yde
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE PROSPERITY, Iraq – As a cook, Spc. Christopher Johnson knew that during his tour in Iraq the only part of the country he would likely see would be the forward operating base where he lived and worked.
Every other month, though, Johnson takes a break from his normal duties in the dining facility and climbs up into one of the towers that line the perimeter of Forward Operating Base Prosperity. During the next 30 days, he will make this climb into his tower almost daily and from there watch over the downtown Baghdad streets that run alongside the FOB.
A native of Baton Rouge, La., Johnson is just one of several Soldiers from the 15th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB), 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, who split their time alternating between their normal duties and pulling FOB security.
"In my normal job, I'd be in the kitchen working crazy hours. Here I work a 12-hour shift, and I have to wear all my gear, which I'm not really used to wearing being in the kitchen, but it's a good chance to be kind of separated from everybody else and see new things," Johnson said. "You get to see a little bit more action from up there. I see how it looks outside the FOB."
Soldiers from throughout the 15th BSB took on the responsibility of guarding the base soon after arriving to FOB Prosperity from FOB Falcon in March. During their month of guard duty, the Soldiers face long days compounded by the weight of their gear, which they wear for hours at a time, and of course, in the extreme heat of the summer.
Despite these ordeals, Johnson said he enjoys his time in the towers. He said that changing jobs every other month helps to break up the monotony of doing the same thing day after day for months at a time.
"It's sort of like a break from your normal job," he explained. "You get away from it. That's how everybody kind of feels about it. You get away from your section for a little bit, and you come back and you feel better."
While force protection may not seem like a typical mission for a support unit, 1st Lt. Anna Rosenberg, the force protection officer-in-charge, said that the battalion started preparing for the duty while still at Fort Hood, Texas, and gained invaluable experience while running the base defense operations at FOB Falcon.
She said that once they arrived at FOB Prosperity they were able to quickly take over the operations of the FOB's towers and entry gate and began making changes to provide better security for the base as well as the Soldiers who were pulling guard duty.
"With the state the (camouflage) screening was in, the Soldiers were visible from the perimeter," said Rosenberg, a Portland, Ore., native. "The first thing that we wanted to do was make Soldiers less visible from the outside and that really became our top priority."
In order to accomplish this first task, they installed sniper screening around the tower, which makes the Soldiers virtually impossible to see from the streets below.
"Getting the sniper screens up was very important," Capt. Michelle Ramos, the Headquarters Company commander for 15th BSB said. "It makes it a little more difficult for the Soldiers to see, but it does its job and you cannot see in. Nobody can tell if there's a Soldier up there or not, and that was the goal. The Soldiers are protected, and they can't be targeted by a sniper or anything else."
Once the sniper screening was in place, the next big project was repairing the floors according to Sgt. 1st Class Cesar Barribaybartolo, the force protection non-commissioned officer in charge. They also added an air-conditioned break room for the guards.
"We've invested a lot of money into these towers just to keep them safe for our guys," said the Gatesville, Texas, native.
"It's not much, and they still have to wear their gear, but it's a break they can take in some cool air and get away from the heat a little bit," Ramos said, adding that the idea for a climate controlled break area in the towers came from the Soldiers.
Ramos said that after the addition of the climate controlled rooms and repairs had been completed to the screening and flooring in the towers, they were able to focus their attention on making improvements to the FOB's entry point.
"The biggest thing that you want to do in security is increase stand off," Rosenberg explained, "so we're pushing the perimeter of the FOB out, and we're moving the personnel and vehicle search area out several hundred meters."
Rosenberg said that while these projects will help to improve security, the bulk of the responsibility still falls on the shoulders of the Soldiers who man the gates and towers, and that is why she and Barribaybartolo do all they can to make sure that their Soldiers are well trained.
"There's different training times set up so that all the guards are properly trained before they go out there," she said.
While the training is important, Barribaybartolo said that keeping the Soldiers' morale up is just as important so they don't lose focus. His sergeants-of-the-guard will constantly check in with the Soldiers on duty to provide ice and water and see if there are any issues that they can help with, and he said that from time to time, officers and senior NCOs from the 15th BSB will randomly choose a tower and relieve the guards for a couple of hours.
"We'll go out there and hang out with them for a couple of hours," he said. "When there are special meals at the DFAC (dining facility), we'll go relieve them so they can enjoy a good lunch or dinner. We talk to them a lot because if we don't we're going to lose the focus on this mission and we can't do that."
Ramos said that improving the day-to-day life of the guards has been an ongoing project, and that ultimately what she would like to see is the shifts being cut down from 12 hours to eight.
"We would love to get to eight hour shifts," Ramos said, "but with other mission requirements it just hasn't been possible and the best we've been able to do is incorporate eight extra Soldiers with each shift now. That way people get a day off every week or so. The Soldiers are happy with it and so far it's working very well."
Although their shifts are long and, as Barribaybartolo admitted, can be boring, he said the Soldiers are making the best out of a tough assignment.
"They're allowed to have study materials and military newspapers up in the towers, and we've actually had an NCO and a Soldier win the boards," he said. "We've had three promotions where Soldier from the towers came out and did very, very well. All that has happened because they're making the most out of their time up there."
"Every shift is a hard shift, no matter what time it is, but they do it and make the best of it," he added. "These guys are the eyes and ears of the FOB and they do the job very well."
| Date Taken: | 07.27.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 07.27.2007 10:13 |
| Story ID: | 11490 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 267 |
| Downloads: | 107 |
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