CAMP RAMADI, Iraq — Engineers with Al Anbar provincial government, Marines and U.S. Army joined forces Oct. 31, to conduct a joint assessment on a major highway bridge recently damaged by insurgents outside of Ramadi, Iraq.
Al Anbar province deputy engineer Mohamed met with engineers of 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), to take key measurements from the damaged bridge, which they later used to calculate the strength of the structure.
The highway is a key thoroughfare between Baghdad and the Syrian border, and has been targeted by insurgents in the past.
"In years past, events like this would have taken days to plan and would have required large amounts of U.S. troops to secure the area so the engineers could conduct their work," said Capt. Brandon Perdue, commanding officer, Company A, 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion.
"With the new security agreement and all the progress the Iraqi security forces have made, the engineers were able to conduct the mission with very little interruption to local Iraqis while maintaining complete safety," said Perdue.
Working with local Iraqi government officials, contractors and civilians, and the Iraqi security forces is the new way in Iraq as American troops are in the back seat with regard to daily operations, he said.
Local Iraqi security forces provided all the security.
Mohamed is a direct link to Iraq's ministry of roads and bridges, the institution that will facilitate the repairs.