2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq – Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment completed the hardening of fuel stations in the Zafaraniyah section of eastern Baghdad Aug. 8, emplacing T-barriers to serve as a line of defense against vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attacks.
Besides the barriers, Iraqi security forces are also providing additional protection, as part of an overall plan to disrupt insurgent activity in the area. The improved security in the area has not gone unnoticed.
"Force protection was a good idea. If you look around Baghdad and see the problems the other stations were having, it was because of lack of protection," said neighborhood advisory council member Fawzi Alsa'edi. "The Iraqi army presence at the gas station has been a big help to security."
Due to the barriers and combined U.S. and Iraqi security force presence, insurgents have not been able to use the gas station and pocket money from black market sales. The loss of funds is aimed at reducing the manufacturing of explosively-formed penetrators and car bombs, as well.
Car bombs have been a regular weapon of choice for the insurgents and every barrier that goes up makes their work more difficult, according to Chicago native 1st Lt. Robyn M. Jacobs, the Fort Carson, Colo.,-based 2-17th's civil military operations officer.
"These barriers will not only help mitigate VBEID and IED (improvised explosive device) attacks, but will also enable Iraqi security forces to better control black market activities by stopping fuel smugglers from line-jumping," she said.