By Spc. David Hodge
1st Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division-Baghdad
FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers enjoyed a backseat ride as the Iraqi national police led a community medical engagement (CME) at Joint Security Station Doura May 18-21 to treat all sects of Iraqis in the Doura community, located in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad.
Soldiers from the 7th Brigade, 2nd NP Division, NP Transition Team, have worked continuously to enable the Iraqi security forces to complete CMEs, from start to finish, and now provide little oversight throughout the operation.
"This event is unique in the fact that the ISF led, planned, coordinated and operated the CME event," said Lt. Col. Michael Allen, 7th Bde., 2nd NP Div., NPTT chief. "We are really getting to see the fruits of our labor."
Through the course of working with local ISF, Allen said the NPTT has slowly backed off and provides less guidance in all areas of operations.
"I've watched everything transfer over, and now we're in an oversight position," said Allen, who hails from Auburn, Neb. "We provide guidance and instruction as needed."
The national police medics assist in screening patients, operating the pharmacy, and escorting patients around the clinic, said Allen. The 2nd NP Div. also employs doctors at the medical exams during the CMEs.
Dr. Luoqman Mohammed Sulayman, a gastro-intestinal specialist, is one of the doctors employed by the national police at JSS Doura. Sulayman also owns a private practice in north Baghdad.
"I'm happy to help the people," said Sulayman, a graduate of Baghdad University and Bilkent University in Greece. "They are all my friends, brothers and Iraqis. I do it for the sake of humanity."
The medical visits are open to all Iraqi residents.
"The staff working at the clinic treat people regardless of their religious beliefs," explained Allen, an infantry officer with 20 years of military service. "That's progress."
The goal of the medical outreach program was to treat as many patients as possible during the four-day operation. By the end of the second day, approximately 57 patients had been screened, treated and released.
Yass Thdoier, a medic assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Bde., 2nd NP Division, screens patients when they enter the clinic. He takes the blood pressure, pulse rate and temperature readings for every patient before seeing a doctor.
Treating people comes natural to Thdoier, who said he believes that helping the Iraqi people makes a positive difference in their minds.
"When the civilians see us treating them, they thank us for it," Thdoier explained. "They will give more respect to us out in the city."
Medical engagements such as these help to build confidence and trust between the Iraqi citizens and the police, said Capt. Yuri Rivera, a physician's assistant assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B.
"We are going to be gone at some point, so they have to rely on themselves," said Rivera, a native of Hollywood, Fla.
The CMEs have great potential, explained Rivera, and hopefully, in the near future, the clinic will see more than double the amount of the patients they are seeing now.