Photo By 1st Lt. Sophia Volz | 2nd Lt. Shawn Crabtree, a military policeman assigned to Special Troops Battalion, 4th...... read more read more
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq — An Iraqi visitor accepts a badge from a Soldier in exchange for his Jensiya, a national identification card.
"Do not lose this," the Soldier warns, referring to the badge.
The Iraqi is one of several hundred people who will go through the Visitor Control Center at Contingency Operating Base Adder this day. The line stretches far behind him, and many have already entered and are waiting for their escorts. Most are local nationals. They work for a variety of companies, the U.S. military and private contractors.
2nd Lt. Shawn Crabtree, from Kansas City, Mo., and Sgt. 1st Class Chad Leake, from Zanesville, Ohio, are the officer-in-charge and non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the VCC.
"The VCC and the entry control points are the first line of defense for the COB," said Leake.
Crabtree and Leake manage the VCC and several ECPs. The duo is responsible for the guards, interpreters, security equipment operators and U.S. Army escorts. Between searching, fingerprinting, badging and providing a place for visitors to wait for escorts, the VCC is almost always busy, particularly in the morning.
"It's part of the job," said Crabtree. "There's something new every day. It's never boring."
The hours are long. Sometimes Crabtree and Leake spend the whole night at the VCC, but they love the job and its challenges.
"The most interesting part is getting to meet the Iraqi police who sometimes escort the convoys. We have to communicate through an interpreter, but it's worth it," said Crabtree, a military policeman.
Having to overcome the language barrier is a small inconvenience in a rewarding job.
"Working at the VCC is a great opportunity to deal with and understand another culture," said Leake.
| Date Taken: | 06.26.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 06.26.2009 04:35 |
| Story ID: | 35647 |
| Location: | TALLIL, IQ |
| Web Views: | 209 |
| Downloads: | 139 |
This work, Soldiers operate Contingency Operating Base Adder Visitor Control Center, by 1LT Sophia Volz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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