By Sgt. Jennifer J. Eidson
22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
FORWARD OPERATING BASE O'RYAN, Balad, Iraq -- Coalition Soldiers from Task Force Liberty's 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment conducted a joint operation with Iraqi army soldiers near Forward Operating Base O'Ryan, Balad, Iraq, May 14, in order to monitor the Iraqi army Soldiers" improvements and proved them with some operational experience.
While out on the patrol the Iraqi Soldiers from 4th Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Division, Iraqi army, observed the Task Force 1-128 Soldiers and participated in a variety of missions throughout the day.
Task Force 1-128 is composed of Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment, Wisconsin Army National Guard, and Troop K, 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Tennessee Army National Guard, who are actively working to train and prepare the Iraqi army to take control of military operations in Iraq.
Before the Iraqi army soldiers go out on missions, the Coalition Soldiers and Iraqi army leaders, make sure they have all of their equipment and that it is functioning properly, said Spc. Scott Turk, a combat medic with Company A, Task Force 1-128 and a native of Prairie Du Sac, Wis.
"What we are doing is some on the spot corrections," Turk said. "If we see something that is not right we will tell them "Hey, you shouldn't do this, because it could actually injure one of your guys." or "If you do it this way it will make things a lot easier and it will make your guys more combat ready.""
The Coalition Soldiers always hold the Iraqi soldiers to high standards, said Sgt. 1st Class Todd Kuchelmeister, platoon sergeant for 2nd Platoon, Company A, TF 1-128th and native of Milwaukee, Wis.
"We try to hold them to our standards," Kuchelmeister. "When we first started doing this they would come up to us and saying, "We need water. We need food," and we had to start saying, "No this part of your (pre-combat checks) and (pre-combat inspections).""
The Iraqi soldiers however do not take their missions lightly, said Cpl. Michael Geiger, a team leader for 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, Company A and native of Deer River, Minn.
"They are taking it really seriously," said Geiger.
"They see us taking our job seriously, so they do the same thing. I think they will be ready to take over when the time comes. We are just going to take it slow though and make sure they have everything they need to do the job."
Walking patrols through the small city they visited named Fifty Dar, near Balad, will soon become solely the responsibility of the Iraqi army, Kuchelmeister said.
During this visit to the town, the soldiers provided funds for a school in need of improvements, checked on a water treatment facility and looked in on a young girl and elderly man in need of medical care.
Kuchelmeister said that these missions are important, and bringing the Iraqi soldiers on mission like this allows the locals to see that their country's security forces care about their well being.
"It is important to show the Iraqi forces are here to help," Kuchelmeister said. "The people (need to) know they are there to assist and help them and they are not going to be against them."
Before returning back to base the Iraqi army soldiers set up two traffic control points, where they stopped local traffic and checked for identification and inspected vehicles.
In conducting missions such as this the Iraqi soldiers have proven that they are capable of taking over military operations in Iraq, Turk said.
"At first I was a little apprehensive about training with these guys, but they have actually shown me that they can do their job," he said.
"They want to take care of their country and that is why we are here. We are here to train them up, so we can go home."