Photo By Master Sgt. Raymond Drumsta | A soldier of Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division bounds...... read more read more
Staff Sgt. Raymond Drumsta
42nd Infantry Division Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING SUMMERALL, Bayji, Iraq -- Behind the walls of an old British fort here, and in the area around the base, a Pennsylvania Army National Guard unit with roots in the American Revolution is helping Iraq secure its own nationhood - by training, and fighting alongside its soldiers.
Through success, setback and loss, troops of Company A, 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry and Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division have shared the frustrations - and rewards - of this mission.
"They possess the willingness to be in the Iraqi army," said Sgt. James Mostiller, a Company A team leader from Philadelphia. "What they need is more help. One company is not going to do it for Bayji."
"Sometimes you'll train them on task, and they don't seem to get it," said Staff Sgt. Jonathan Flynn, a Company A squad leader from Levittown, Pa. "Then you'll go out on a mission, and they'll do it perfectly. They'll surprise you sometimes."
The Iraqi troops apply the training they receive in the fight against the insurgents. Almost daily, the Iraqi and American soldiers mount humvees and pick-up trucks and roll out of the gate, departing the base to patrol, man traffic- control points, or check infrastructure like power lines -- a new mission recently added to the soldiers" battery of tasks.
Company A began training and performing combat operations with the Iraqi soldiers last December. In May, they certified the Iraqi soldiers in squad-level missions and now they're training them to take on platoon and company-level missions.
"It's frustrating, but you're taking people with literally no experience and training them to be platoon sergeants and squad leaders," said Staff Sgt. Chad Bruckner, a Company A squad leader from Horsham, Pa.
"At a squad level they perform pretty decently ... like building clearing, raids and that type of thing," Flynn said.
In March, with Coalition Forces support, the Iraqi soldiers pulled off a two-pronged raid, netting both targets -- a weapons cache and a known terrorist, said Bruckner.
"They hit the targets simultaneously," said Bruckner. "We got the man and we got the target. I thought, "We can make a difference.""
Other training and tactical milestones followed, including the capture of insurgent Samir Yasin Taha in July - a platoon-level operation whose success is owed entirely to Iraqi soldiering and leadership, Mostiller said.
"They led the briefing and led the patrol," Mostiller said. "We allowed them to do everything. They did a great job and accomplished the mission."
However, refining the Iraqi unit's ability to execute platoon and company-level operations has been hit by difficulties beyond either the American or Iraqi soldiers" control -- like changes in leadership, a developing logistics system and a fledgling Iraqi NCO corps.
"They still have a long way to go," Flynn said. "The NCO corps needs a lot of work. You can't build an American sergeant in a year, and you can't build an Iraqi sergeant in a year, either."
The Iraqis don't have an NCO chain of command like the American Army, said Mostiller.
"Trying to get them to take charge is difficult," he said. "We try to focus our training on their squad leaders and platoon sergeants."
The state of the Iraqi NCO corps is part of Saddam Hussein's legacy, said Bruckner.
"The NCO corps is their biggest challenge," Bruckner said. "They have to step up and take responsibility."
"The biggest thing missing here is NCO leadership," said Sgt. Craig Fisher, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 103rd Armor. "They need to understand what the NCO-corps concept is -- and use it."
Fisher is a medic from Lancaster Pa. Along with medic and fellow unit member Staff Sgt. Jon Siennick of Harrisburg, Pa., Fisher mans the aid station in the Iraqi army compound within the base here -- the old British fort where the Iraqi soldiers train and operate from.
Fisher and Siennick's efforts -- including "correct diagnosis and preventive medicine," Siennick said - strengthened Iraqi ranks by reducing sick-call visits. They also created medical records for the Iraqi soldiers, conducted first aid training and had first-aid tasks translated into Arabic.
"Everything we do here we do so the Iraqi soldiers can do it on their own," Siennick said. "People think Iraq is Arizona -- it's not. There is no healthcare system here."
The medics recently certified nine Iraqi soldiers as combat life-savers. They plan to certify others and are training combat medics.
"We want one combat lifesaver per fire team," said Siennick. "We're training 14 combat medics, which will give them two combat medics per platoon."
Two of the medics they taught used the medical training to treat members of their families, Fisher said.
"That's very rewarding," Fisher said. "They hugged me and thanked me."
"They're very hungry for knowledge and very willing to learn," Fisher said. "They're excited Saddam Hussein is no longer here. They're not stupid -- they just don't do things our way. They're willing to change. They just need help to do that."
In some respects the glass is half-full, and in some respects it's half-empty, Siennick said.
"Our medics here have a great thirst for knowledge, but they run into difficulty because of the Iraqi education system," Siennick said. "About 40 percent of our [Iraqi] soldiers are illiterate."
In addition to the education system, Fisher and Siennick said basic cultural aspects, like differing Iraqi dialects and tribal loyalties, make training a challenge. Company A soldiers use tribal conflicts among the Iraqi troops as a teaching tool about the importance of unit loyalty, Fisher said. Tribal conflict has abated somewhat, he added, but it is an ongoing struggle.
"We've been trying to reinforce that," Fisher said. "We tell them that the Iraqi army is a tribe and that they're a band of brothers. It sounds like a cliché, but it's true."
The Company A soldiers reinforce all the training they conduct and Bruckner said they "conduct remedial training at every opportunity."
"These problems are not any more outlandish than in other armies," Bruckner said. "They may need more work, but their problems are no different."
"The American Soldiers keep repeating the same information until they're sure we've got the picture," said Staff Sgt. Jamal Achmed, of Company C.
Training the Iraqi troops and accompanying them on missions is an advantage, Flynn said. The two build on each other he added.
"That's good because you can see their strengths and weaknesses first hand and get an idea of how they perform overall," Flynn said. "Where they excel is getting in touch with the people in the area and conducting street-level policing."
"It's not a problem," said Achmed. "We train, rehearse, then apply what we learned on the streets of Bayji."
The Iraqi troops' strong suit, Bruckner said, is their ability to gather intelligence - the ace-in-the hole of low-intensity conflicts like the one they're fighting.
"They speak Arabic and they live here," said Bruckner. "I don't care what kind of intelligence specialist you bring in, they're not going to get the kind of intelligence the Iraqis can get."
"The Iraqi soldiers speak Arabic, so they often know better what's going on," said Sgt. Zaban Rady Shbat, a Company C squad leader. "The American soldiers need translators. We want to go out and talk to people, to see how they are, if they need anything, and if they've seen any terrorists."
"We need all Iraqis to work with the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police," said Pvt. Falih Mohamed Gothwey, Company C. "We need information."
"I can speak with the people and I know the area very well," said Achmed. "Getting information is something we need for this job. The way we talk with people helps get us info."
Lanky and confident, Achmed sports a wide grin when he talks. He is 21 years old and joined the Iraqi army early this year.
"I like the army," Achmed said. "All my friends are here in this company. We get great joy from training together and fighting the insurgency together." He was promoted quickly, he added, because he picked up the training fast.
"NCOs guarantee the flow of information in the chain of command," he said. "The NCOs make sure the soldiers get the information and also make sure they're applying it."
Like his American counterparts, Achmed is alert to his soldiers" actions.
"I always observe and note my soldiers" strengths and weaknesses," he said. "That way I can correct them and show them how to do things."
Cpl. Nazhan Ali, Company C, said he finds it easy to lead, and an honor.
"I use experience I've gained here to lead soldiers," he said. "I am showing my skills and doing my duty for Bayji."
Shbat, also 21 years old, is part of Company C's recently formed quick-reaction force, or QRF -- another essential tool in low-intensity conflicts and, like the training of medics and combat life-savers, another step forward for the Iraqi unit.
"If [the patrols] see anything suspicious, or get attacked, we are ready to go, all the time," Shbat said.
"As part of the QRF, I am ready with my weapon and body armor at all times, to go out and catch the bad guys, or fix some wrong," said Gothwey, 19, who is also part of the QRF. "I am not afraid to patrol in Bayji or the surrounding cities at night, because I know those areas. But I am sometimes afraid of the [vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices] in the mornings."
A soft-spoken soldier, Gothwey would not speculate about the upcoming elections.
"God willing, we will see something good," he said. "Maybe in the future we will be able to walk the streets, night or day, without being scared. That's my goal as a soldier."
Ali said he is not discouraged.
"This is my country," Ali said. "I won't allow people from outside to come in and destroy it."
The Company A soldiers know the risks the Iraqi troops are taking.
"Where we patrol, a lot of the Iraqi army soldiers live there," said Mostiller. "They're putting their lives on the line just being in the Iraqi army. They're also putting their families lives on the line."
Mostiller said he is proud of the Iraqi soldiers and lamented the fact that the Iraqi soldiers have to cover their faces while on patrol.
"It's easy for me to be a soldier because I don't live in the towns I patrol," said Mostiller. "They have a lot of spirit and heart. It's a shame that they have to cover their faces for fear that they or their families will be attacked."
Some of the Iraqi soldiers are poor, some are farmers, Bruckner said -- but they joined the army to defend their country.
"They believe in doing something greater," he said.
Ali said the American and Iraqi soldiers get along well.
"We are friends and we are joking with each other all the time," Ali said.
Some of the Americans have learned Arabic words, Achmed said, and soldiers of both nations also communicate with gestures and tones.
"They know what we mean without translation," Achmed said.
"I've gotten pretty close to Iraqi army soldiers," said Bruckner. "The other guys bust on me for hanging out with them, but I have a lot in common with them. They ask me about America and I ask them about their homes in Bayji. They're friendly and outgoing, and that's the way I am. They're very giving. I admire them as well."
Both units have suffered casualties. Company A recently lost four soldiers to an IED near Bayji.
"They came to do this mission, and we leave the base to do missions together," Achmed said. "This is enough to create a strong relationship between us."
Signs of that bond are borne out in the story of Company A soldier Spc. Brian Walczer, from Allentown, Pa., who was driving a humvee hit by an IED attack May 17. Though he escaped serious injury, the Iraqi soldiers in the humvee didn't. Walczer was distraught.
"I felt bad because I was driving the vehicle," Walczer said. "I thought, "maybe if I drove more to the left, they"d still be here."
Walczer calls the day the explosion, coincidentally the anniversary of his enlistment in the Army, a "dark day."
"I remember looking at the wounded and thinking, "I've never seen anything like this before,"" he said.
Though currently part of Task Force Dragoon at the base here, Company A's organic unit back home is 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry, originally organized by American founding father Benjamin Franklin. Their mission here continues, despite difficulties and the loss of both Iraqi and American Soldiers.
Being part of 'the main focus here" is rewarding, Flynn said.
"The goal is to help build a country and build their army," Flynn said. "We've actually taken part in that."
"We all believe in the mission," said Bruckner. "We all put in extra hours."
"We're trying to get as much experience as we can from the American Army," said Achmed, "because they are not going to be here forever."
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 08.18.2005 14:30 |
| Story ID: | 2778 |
| Location: | BAYJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 289 |
| Downloads: | 35 |
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