Courtesy Photo | Pfc. Joshua Ingraham (center), a 19-year-old rifleman from Bradenton, Fla., prepares...... read more read more
Subscribe
By 2nd Lt. Jack Pinney
4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs Office
FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq — Take a platoon of deployed U.S. Soldiers, add 100 Iraqi national policemen, then mix in a mission to search 400 houses and temper it with just one interpreter – and the dynamic challenges speak for themselves; and to overcome this potential dynamic, blend in one motivated American Solider familiar with the Arabic language – everything comes out great.
Such was the case June 20 when Soldiers from Multi-National Division – Baghdad's Company C, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light), aided Iraqi Security Forces during a clearance mission in Hay Nassir, a volatile Baghdad district of eastern Baghdad.
During the mission, Soldiers from the company's 1st Platoon worked hand in hand with their ISF partners to search for illegal weapons and explosives. Thus, with only one interpreter available, Pfc. Joshua Ingraham's previous experience of serving side by side with Iraqi security forces proved invaluable.
Ingraham is a 19-year-old rifleman from Bradenton, Fla. For a few months, he was assigned to "Team ISF," a platoon of Co. C Soldiers especially dedicated to operating with ISF partners.
"I went over to JSS (Joint Security Station) Beladiat for about two months, where we could live next door to the national police," explained Ingraham, who credited his understanding of the Arabic language to the extensive amount of time he spent with his ISF counterparts. "We would go on missions with them at least twice a day. We would eat chow with them, (and) we would watch movies with them. For some reason, they like romantic movies."
During the clearance mission, the platoon could not always have an interpreter available to explain every situation between the Soldiers and policemen. Ingraham was able to use his understanding of Arabic to position the national policemen so the MND-B Soldiers could better assist them.
"It motivated them a little better," said Ingraham. "They want to work with you more because it's not just some guy yelling at them and pointing in some foreign language."
The squad leaders from the company said they have used Ingraham's abilities to communicate on many different occasions during this deployment, said Sgt. Kevin Pack, a Knoxville, Tenn., native.
On one example, during the Hay Nassir mission, Pack was searching a house with five national policemen when he sensed the occupants were concealing something.
"(In) one house, we were having trouble with getting a weapon, (and) Ingraham came over and helped me with the ISF partners to find the weapon and confiscate it," explained Pack.
Ingraham's ability to communicate with Iraqi citizens and ISF is a key reason why his unit has had successful clearance operations, attributed Pack. "It helped us perform our task to clear the muhalla," he said.
The Hay Nassir mission was not the first time Ingraham's Arabic speaking ability has helped his unit. Staff Sgt. John Roeder, a non-commissioned officer from his unit, who hails from Cottage Grove, Ore., cited another situation that allowed the squad to locate and maneuver on the enemy.
"We were taking contact and using Ingraham as (an interpreter)," said Roeder. "I was able to determine from the NPs where the contact was coming from."
Any way one slices it, Ingraham and his language skills are the perfect ingredients to serve up mission success and leave a bad taste in the mouths of evil militia, "al Militiaat al Sharrirah," foreign fighters and extremists in eastern Baghdad.
| Date Taken: | 07.04.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 07.04.2008 08:52 |
| Story ID: | 21178 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 97 |
| Downloads: | 54 |
This work, Soldier speaks Arabic, serves up success, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
