Photo By Sgt. Joshua Risner | Parkersburg, W.Va., native Sgt. Eric Baum, assigned to B Troop, 1st Battalion, 150th...... read more read more
BAGHDAD — Night was a dark shroud as Soldiers of B Troop, 1st Battalion, 150th Armor Reconnaissance Squadron, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, assisted by Iraqi army soldiers, set up a traffic control point on the outskirts of Yusifiyah, here, Aug. 16.
As U.S. Soldiers waited for traffic to appear, illumination rounds from artillery cast orange light over a neighborhood some two miles down the road.
The illumination rounds were intended to funnel potential insurgents through the checkpoint as they fled from the illuminated area, according to, assigned to B Troop.
"The primary goal of the blocking position was to put everybody that tried to go through the checkpoint into HIIDES [Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment System]," said Staff Sgt. Charles Hubbard, a native of Pittsburgh.
As vehicles made their way to the checkpoint, they were greeted with a hasty search by one contingent of B Troop Soldiers and guided through to the next station, where IA soldiers would take it from there.
"The IA with us would do a more thorough search of the people and the vehicle and we'd assist them of course," said Hubbard. "Then we'd line them up and load them into HIIDES."
As the people were scanned, B Troop Soldiers made a conscious effort to be polite and courteous. They used an interpreter to relay messages of thanks to the people for their patience and understanding.
For Hubbard, a little kindness when dealing with the Iraqis is just common courtesy.
"We try to look at it as if it was ourselves going through a checkpoint," he said. "We were hoping to pick people up and the HIIDES would do that work, so we just worked on the assumption that everybody was trying to go home."
The mission was just another step toward making Iraq a safer place for its citizens by deterring insurgent activity.
| Date Taken: | 08.16.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 08.19.2009 03:52 |
| Story ID: | 37682 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 168 |
| Downloads: | 119 |
This work, 150th Armor Reconnaissance Squadron Soldiers assist in security efforts, by SGT Joshua Risner, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
