By Sgt. Rick Rzepka
1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA)
TIKRIT, Iraq – Col. Michael S. McBride, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division commander, recently held a stateside press conference via satellite, Sept. 4, 2008.
McBride addressed the Pentagon press corps in regards to the overall improvements in the Salah ad Din province, of which McBride's "Bastogne" brigade is responsible. McBride, whose Soldiers have been deployed for 12 months, stressed that although the security situation in the province has dramatically improved and attacks have fallen, there is still a determined enemy here who must be pursued.
"We still have work to do," said McBride to Beltway reporters. "There's still an active enemy out there that we are pursuing and going after every day, and all indicators across the board, economic, governance and development of our Iraqi security forces is getting better," he said.
McBride acknowledged that while some of Iraq's army brigades are able to operate autonomously, others continue to develop.
Since the "Bastogne" brigade assumed security of the northern province in October, 2007, Iraqi army units in the region have conducted more than 130 combined operations, 40 of which were run independently.
Today, Iraqi soldiers are clearing the remote desert regions of the province of waning insurgent networks.
"Right now we have an Iraqi army brigade in the eastern desert of this province near the border of Diyala. They've been out there now over 30 days in support of the government of Iraq's operation in the Diyala province. They have been totally self-sustaining. We haven't supported them logistically with anything. And they are continuing to operate and continuing to fight. That brigade could fight on its own today. They do not need us," said McBride.
While the IA brigades in the Salah ad Din province are each at different stages in their development, they each posses the willingness to fight Iraq's enemies, said McBride.
Another critical component to Iraq's security successes has been the volunteers who call themselves the Sons of Iraq.
More than 7,000 SoI are spread throughout the province, manning checkpoints and securing their neighborhoods against extremism. In recent weeks, concerns have been raised about the volunteer's role in safeguarding the streets of Iraq.
"No warrants have been issued for any of our Sons of Iraq," said McBride. "They understand and their leadership understands that they work in support of and subservient to their respective governments. So what I think we've done fairly well is partner them with either Iraqi police or Iraqi army, so they are working together, and their communities see them working together. But we haven't had those kind of challenges here. I think it's honestly the exact opposite," he said.
Some of the progress that has been made in the province has come from doing the opposite of what many would think is the obvious answer.
"We've taken kind of a counterintuitive approach," said McBride referring to opening up economic lines of communication in the region.
Since the brigade has eased congestion on a major highway known as route Tampa, improvised explosive device attacks have been down and Iraqi people feel safer, he said.
"The population is moving on those highways," said McBride. "Economic commerce is moving. I think it's helped the economy, and the people believe they're safe on those highways."
Typically, coalition forces would shut down stretches of roads like Tampa that are littered with IEDs to reduce the threat to both coalition and Iraqi civilians but the 1st Brigade prefers the road less traveled.
"We'll take an IED hit every once in a while, and the MRAPs have helped us, we've got great protection, they don't effect us. And we're certainly not going to go back to where we were, to where we lock down highways and take the roadways away from the population," said McBride.
Since opening the economic lines, the brigade has seen the province make great strides. More than one million dollars of micro-loans has been given to small business owners, while business and factories continue to spur fiscal growth, said McBride.
As the "Bastogne" brigade looks to wrap up its third deployment to Iraq, McBride is certain that the pressure on Iraq's enemies will not end anytime soon.
| Date Taken: |
09.12.2008 |
| Date Posted: |
09.12.2008 05:52 |
| Story ID: |
23549 |
| Location: |
TIKRIT, IQ |
| Web Views: |
183 |
| Downloads: |
164 |
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This work, Brigade Commander: 'Work to be done still', by Rick Rzepka, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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