Archives » Tuesday, July 22, 2008
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David Botti
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Jul 22, 2008 02:02 PM
A soldier from Charlie Company on patrol. Photo: David Botti
After
spending time with a platoon of soldiers in Charlie Company 2-30, it’s
clear that one of the main aspects of U.S. policy in Iraq, to train
Iraqi security forces, may ultimately be affected not by generals and
diplomats, but by how well a twenty-something soldier gets along with
his or her Iraqi counterpart.
This particular platoon is
nicknamed “Team ISF”–the “ISF” standing for Iraqi Security Forces, with
whom the soldiers are tasked with running joint operations in the
Beladiat area of eastern Baghdad. Unlike the rest of Charlie Company
living in the relative comfort of a nearby forward operating base, Team
ISF resides in two medium-sized rooms of an Iraqi National Police
headquarters.
Charlie Company saw a good deal of fighting in
late March when Iraqi Army incursions into Basra and Sadr City lead to
an intense round of violence that the soldiers here called “March
Madness.”
“We really had to take a deep breath,” First Sergeant
Brian Disque said of the time when the violence died down. “It was
like turning off a switch. It stopped, it just stopped.”
Today
things are relatively quiet in Team ISF’s area of operations. They’ve
got the Internet, a few phones, bunk beds, and air conditioning but
otherwise live a spartan existence packed in close enough that the
option for privacy is totally absent.
An open roof looks down to
an indoor courtyard just outside the soldiers’ living quarters. Here,
all through the day, a mix of Iraqi National Police and U.S. soldiers
come and go. There are few extended conversations between the two
groups. Still, the occasional joking around and conversations
conducted with a mix of sign language, broken-English, and
broken-Arabic, showed there is little overt tension on either side.
“[The
relationship] is pretty good,” said Team ISF staff sergeant Mario
Garcia. “The guys who stay here permanently are on good terms with the
Iraqis. Some of them, not everybody. For example, you know how Iraqis
kiss each other, we started doing that no problem. I mean, I do.”
Garcia looked over to Sergeant Eric Chan sitting next to him, and smiled.
“Yeah, I’m not really in to doing that kind of thing,” Chan said.
First
Sergeant Disque, who splits his time between the police station and
Charlie Company’s main headquarters, spoke candidly about his first
impressions of the National Police. Plain and simple, for about two to
three months, he didn’t trust them. But then heavy fighting began, and
sentiments changed.
“Once these guys started getting shot and getting hit, I knew they were with us,” Disque said.
The
main face of the National Police for these soldiers is Sergeant Major
Ali Mahdi, a former Iraqi Army special forces soldier who found himself
out of a job once Saddam fell. He’s a tall, imposing man who speaks
with a powerful staccato voice. When he’s talking business he rarely
smiles, A small bald spot at the back of his head was caused by
shrapnel when a roadside bomb exploded near him two years ago.
And
then there is the other side of Mahdi: the amused expression he has
when he comes around the soldiers’ room asking for a few cans of energy
drinks. Or, the affable way he sits with the soldiers and smiles at
their conversations – even though he doesn’t know what they’re saying.
For
Garcia, Team ISF’s partnership with the National Police is an evolving
process that’s seen the Iraqis gradually taking the lead more and more.
“I see a big improvement with the guys on how they work and how
they conduct patrols and all of that,” he said. “They can go on
patrols alone and have no problem. Every raid I’ve been on with those
guys they do just fine. The only problem is some of these guys will
bunch up too close together.”
Team ISF soldiers watch for trucks capable of launching IRAM's. Photo: David Botti
A
common mission for Team ISF is one that occurred on a recent Friday as
they traveled to a main highway interchange to post warning signs.
The
signs tell drivers of large trucks not to slow down, or they could risk
being shot at by security forces. The fear is that trucks slowing down
may be carrying IRAM’s (Improvised Rocket Assisted Mortars). These are
said to be the remaining militia members’ new weapon of choice, and are
often launched from trucks customized to act as a launching platform
for the rockets. Those firing the rockets will often park the truck,
light the rockets, and disappear from the scene just as the rockets
fire.
As his soldiers hammered the signs into the ground, and
inspected passing vehicles, Disque pointed to a nearby overpass where
just months before militia members were launching RPG attacks against
the soldiers. It was, the first sergeant said, one of the most
dangerous spots in the platoon’s area of operations. Today the threat
of small arms fire is no longer a primary concern, but he’s still very
much weary of IED’s. It’s because of this that only when he’s driving
that Disque said he feels the most on edge.
In fact, going on
patrol with these soldiers you’ll often see them pause and inspect a
suspicious rock or piece of garbage worrying it may mask an IED.
“[The militias] adapt, we adapt,” Disque said. “It’s like a never ending whack-a-mole.”
Team ISF soldiers erect a sign warning drivers to slow down / Photo: David Botti
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