The nerve center of Balad

Photo By Lt. Col. Christopher Belcher | An Iraqi policeman works on his computer in the Balad Joint Coordination Center near Forward Operating Base Paliwoda, Balad, Iraq.  

BALAD, IRAQ

09.01.2005

Courtesy Story

22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment   

By Maj. Chris Belcher
22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORWARD OPERATING BASE PALIWODA, BALAD, Iraq --Every city has a nerve center that ties together the services citizens need for everyday safety.

The Joint Coordination Center for Balad, Iraq, located on the Iraqi army compound near Forward Operating Base Paliwoda, is the nerve center tying Balad and the surrounding area together.

The JCC has a simple function in the Balad area.

"The JCC is primarily a communications center between the populace of Balad and the surrounding small cities with Iraqi army, the fire department, the police," said 1st Lt. Brian Mumper, civil-military operations officer, Military Transition Team, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry, Task Force Liberty. "It's their version of a 911 center."

To be effective, the "911 center" is equipped with the tools allowing it to communicate outside the walls of the building.

"They have a phone center here," Mumper said. "They have Internet access."

This allows the officers and civilians working here to talk to their fellow Iraqis and to search for answers to their questions.

"The JCC is a new idea in Iraq, they never had it before." said 2nd Lt. Ali Salih Ibrahim, Iraqi Traffic Police liaison, Balad JCC.

"We're still doing a lot of training with the police and (the) people here because this is a new concept to them," added Mumper.

"They've never had a response center for the populace," he said. "This is an opportunity for them to call in or come in on their own without having to worry about backlash from the government."

The JCC wouldn't do any good if no one knew where to find it, call it or that it even existed, so Coalition Forces have been advertising its existence using posters, leaflets and other ways to get the word out.

"They do advertise (it)," Mumper said. "They have posters (and) they had stickers for a while."

The new concept is proving to be effective here.

"It's very successful. It's easier to communicate and prevent any problems," said Ibrahim.

"It's quicker than a person sitting in an office over (in Balad) and the other one sitting in a different office," he added. "They're all together here. Communication is quicker."

Ibrahim says it combines the work of the civilians with the authorities in charge allowing them protect the citizens of Balad from danger.

This represents one more step in the Iraqi Security Forces fight against those who would terrorize the civilians of Iraq by giving them quick access to emergency services.

• Date Taken: 09.01.2005
• Date Posted: 09.21.2005 14:44
• Story ID: 3078
• Location: BALAD, IQ