Photo By Sgt. Mike MacLeod | An Al Anbar provincial security force gun truck stands sentinel beneath the new...... read more read more
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SAQLAWIYA, Iraq — On a floating bridge aside the stump of a modern concrete highway span under construction, two middle-aged men talk through an interpreter about the job before them.
One is Najee Hamed, shift supervisor for the Iraqi policemen who are manning traffic control points and providing security for the bridge and new construction. A large, heavyset man, Hamed is a former first sergeant of an Iraq army artillery battery who was wounded by rocket fire in the Iraq-Iran War.
The other is a first sergeant of U.S. Army paratroopers here to provide security for an Army dive team that is removing debris from a destroyed bridge so that Iraqi contractors may finish a new government of Iraq bridge project. First Sgt. Scott Thomas is on his fifth deployment. Military service is in the Suwanee, Ga., native's blood, with forbearers in the Civil War (Mosby's Rangers) and the Revolutionary War. His unit is Company C, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade).
The 504th PIR was the first infantry regiment in the Army to be designated airborne; now it is part of the newest tool in the Army's arsenal developed for this kind of mission, the advise-and-assist brigade.
"Locals are glad the Americans are here because the Iraqi contractors were getting slowed by the old pontoons in the river," says Hamed. "Our concern is to minimize the time this bridge is closed to the public while divers are in the water."
A man pushing a bicycle nods in agreement. He works in construction where time is money, and he has been waiting 30 minutes to cross the Euphrates.
Another man stops to voice his opinion. His name is Saaed Moshref, and he is a math teacher. He has lived in the area 30 of his 40 years and crosses the bridge to visit friends. "I want the bridge done tomorrow," he says, smiling, "but at least it's getting done, and at least it is safe to be here."
Locals look forward to the additional food and services that will become available when the project is complete, says Hamed. "Above everything, they are most concerned with their economic survival."
No one can argue that, compared to years past, the security situation at the bridge site is very good. "Two years ago, we could not cross the bridge without getting shot at," says Hamed.
Divers from the 86th Engineer Dive Team have found five pontoons from an old float bridge blown up by an improvised explosive device in 2004. At least two of the pontoons lie out of the way. A third is dragged downriver by the riverside bulldozers and tank wrecker provided by engineers of the 50th Multi-Role Bridge Company out of Joint Base Balad. The dive team expects the reclamation to take a few weeks.
With a five-knot current, depths up to 40 feet and ink-like visibility, the surface-supply diving is done completely by feel. Mapping the river bottom is done by trigonometry — evenly-spaced knots in the diver's tether line indicate the length of the hypotenuse, his depth gauge gives the second leg of a right triangle for which the third leg (horizontal distance from the float bridge) can be calculated.
"The conditions are right on the edge of what is possible," says 1st Lt. Joe Lunn, commander of the dive team.
The divers work two at a time. The work is cold, slow and unnerving, says Staff Sgt. Matthew Hawkey, a father of two who has dived for the Fort Eustis, Va., based company for eight years. Because of the intensity, a two-hour dive seems like ten minutes, he said.
The divers prefer to dive for no more than two hours at a time. Because of the amount of time involved in preparing to go into the water, they are only able to conduct two dives per day. At the deepest, swiftest point in the channel, it takes a diver 30 minutes to traverse seven feet. It is time the divers cannot afford.
Lunn asks the paratroopers to shift security to the far bank so the divers can avoid the middle, and the paratroopers swing into motion. As Iraqi police check the flow of traffic, provincial security forces stand by with a gun truck and a patrol of paratroopers sweeps the far shore and sets up observation points.
Sgt. 1st Class David Schimant, a platoon sergeant with the 50th MRBC, is glad to have the support of such a highly-regarded unit. On some projects, his company of bridge builders provides their own security. The presence of the 82nd paratroopers lets them concentrate on supporting the dive team with their boats, dozers and bridging expertise.
As with U.S. forces throughout Iraq, the 50th MRBC is teaching Iraqis to do for themselves for when the Americans are gone. In September, the 50th trained up an Iraqi bridging company on a joint project in the Taji area spanning the Tigris. They named it Partnership Bridge.
On the seventh day of Operation Neptune, IP reported that a prominent Imam in nearby Saqlawiya had been assassinated by a magnetic IED attached to his vehicle, and the day following, an IED targeted his mourners. The IP and PSF were handling both attacks on innocent civilians although U.S. forces were prepared to provide assistance.
Since his last deployment, 1st Sgt. Thomas' paratroopers have noticed a marked improvement in ISF professionalism.
"Last time, they knew if something happened and they did nothing, we would come solve the problem," says Sgt. 1st Class Jose Guzman, a platoon sergeant for 1st Platoon, over-watching the bridge from a guard house with two policemen bearing assault rifles. "Sometimes, they would even leave their posts or fall asleep. Not now."
"The IPs are doing a great job keeping us informed, and everything is running smoothly," agrees Thomas.
Just up the road, a platoon from Thomas' company has been training with the 8th Iraqi Brigade, 3rd Iraqi Division. At the request of the Iraqi sergeant major, paratroopers are assisting Iraqis to develop their noncommissioned officer corps through classes and teaching materials on tactical and leadership skills, said Thomas.
"We are calling it 'Strike Training,'" he said. It includes a full spectrum of soldier skills and strives to lay out standards for field techniques, hygiene, physical fitness and even rudimentary expectations such as being on time. Currently, Iraqi officers must handle those sorts of tasks, handled in U.S. forces by NCOs such as Thomas and Guzman.
"I want to see Jundis want to be like their NCOs," said Thomas. "I see that every day in our ranks, but first, they must empower their NCOs."
Like Hamed, Muhammed Jabber Hawal joined the police to protect his family and neighbors. "It's nice to save people," he says nonchalantly. From the town of Saqlawiya, he's been a policeman since the U.S.-led invasion. Like Hamed, he agrees that finishing the bridge is important to the town's economic development, and ultimately, its long-term stability.
"If you want to go to Ramadi or Fallujah, this is the best way," he says, waving a hand at the soon-to-be finished span. Twenty-nine-year-old Hawal has a friend who lost a leg in the violence of years past. Another lost a hand. Still, he is unafraid to stand sentry at the new bridge with the Americans.
"This is my home," he says.
| Date Taken: | 10.14.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 10.14.2009 08:29 |
| Story ID: | 40088 |
| Location: | SAQLAWIYA, IQ |
| Web Views: | 418 |
| Downloads: | 313 |
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