Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Cupp | With help from an interpreter, Capt. Jonathan Cheek (right), a platoon leader for...... read more read more
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By Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp
1st Brigade Comabt Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
FIRA SHIA, Iraq – The Soldiers of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment are reaching out in operations to build relationships and trust with people living in the areas in which they patrol.
In one outreach project, the troops from the battery conducted a census to gather an accurate assessment of population size and statistics on the area while at the same time interacting with the local populace July 12.
"We grew accustomed to doing these types of operations in our last area and now we're in a place that is a farming village that hasn't had a lot of direct coalition interaction," said Capt. Robert Callaghan, the battery commander, who hails from Winterpark, Fla. He explained that interacting with the people of Fira Shia also helps in getting information that leads to finding insurgents as well as weapons caches. "We've been very successful in the area so far and the people have been very nice and cooperative."
"We're getting a feel for the population here, seeing how they're doing, and also talking to local leaders," said Sgt. 1st Class Marvin Lancaster, a platoon sergeant from Tuskegee, Ala.
Along with collecting the census, the Soldiers handed out school supplies and Iraqi flags to the children living in the neighborhoods.
"Giving out school supplies is a good step toward defeating extremist ideologies that exist because it gives us the opportunity to reach out to the future of Iraq—the children," said Spc. Mulkey, a medic from New Orleans. "As we continue building trust with the people and make them feel more comfortable around us, they start opening up and are willing to help us find insurgents that may be working in their neighborhoods."
"Being from a country that was built on freedom, we're helping the Iraqi people to achieve their own successes in gaining the same freedoms that we have back at home," said Spc. Andrew Ramos, a field artilleryman who claims Ontario, Calif., as home.
Although the census-gathering operation did not involve participation by Iraqi security forces, Btry. B troops said they have, in fact, been performing a lot more cordon and searches and other joint operations in their areas of operations in a partnership with Iraqi troops from the 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division.
"One of our biggest tasks has been helping the Iraqi Army to transition to doing their own security," said Pfc. Josh Wedding, a field artilleryman a native of Rushville, Ind. "The IAs here have really been doing a great job.
"We went out on one recent mission with them and we were just getting to the objective and they had already accomplished the mission, finding caches and capturing detainees," added Wedding. "They had wrapped things up so quickly that we were really amazed."
Another major recent success for Fira Shia involved local area sheiks coming together to fight sectarian violence and begin the reconciliation process.
"For the first time, a couple of weeks ago, the Sunni and Shia sheiks came together and began discussing business and issues in nahia meetings," said Callaghan. "It's good that they're talking now and it's a great step in the right direction."
"(Working at local levels to solve problems) is something that will help Iraq towards building its own independent nation," said Lancaster. "We're getting involved in helping them serve their area so that they can eventually become self reliant and end the violence that has plagued them for so long."
After taking a census of Fira Shia, the Soldiers drove to a meeting of local area sheiks from the Aqar Qaf neighborhood which encompasses Fira Shia.
Aqar Qaf, which lies in southern Abu Ghraib also overlaps areas for which Soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment are responsible. As such, the neighborhood meeting included Battery B and also involved the participation of leadership from Co. B, 2-5 Cavalry. In addition, the battalion commanders for both the 2nd Bn., 5th Cav. Regt. (Lt. Col. Kurt Pinkerton) and the 1st Bn., 37th FA (Lt. Col. Kenneth Kamper) helped facilitate this particular meeting.
Some topics discussed at the meeting included how the villages can acquire generators that will supply power needs during national grid power outages; hiring contractors for projects within the villages; the hiring of teachers for village schools; the building of an Iraqi police station for the Abu Ghraib area and water pumping stations among many other issues.
"It's good to have the multiple sides with both Shia and Sunni meeting to get the issues out there and say 'these are our concerns' and this is how we're going to go about fixing them," said Callaghan, explaining that the Iraqi leaders in the Aqar Qaf nahia are on the path towards solving their own problems.
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2007 16:18 |
| Story ID: | 11328 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 188 |
| Downloads: | 151 |
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