Photo By Sgt. Daniel West | Lt. Sabah Abdul Hussein, commander of Iraqi forces at Joint Security Site One, and...... read more read more
By Sgt. Daniel T. West
41st Fires Brigade Public Affairs Office
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq – "If tomorrow you [American Soldiers] leave, what will my Soldiers do? Sleep?" said Brig. Gen. Abed Gabr Masloum, 32nd Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division commander.
"Put them to work."
Abed was looking around the IA's living quarters during a visit to Joint Security Site One, near Jassan, Sept. 6, 2008, at Soldiers relaxing before their shift started at the JSS's Traffic Control Point. He wanted to know why his Soldiers weren't constantly training, preparing themselves to take sole control of the site.
Capt. Jarrod Ison, commander of American forces at the JSS, said he was pleased with the quality of the troops and their leadership. Abed agreed, but said he wanted his Soldiers to be training harder.
"I want each soldier held personally responsible," he added to both Ison and Lt. Sabah Abdul Hussein, commander of Iraqi forces at the JSS.
Iraqi soldiers agreed it was important to be engaged in learning from their American counterparts and said they appreciated the opportunities to train together.
"Discipline and experience are most important as Soldiers," said Sgt. Fa'az Ali. "I have learned how to better perform my duties from the Americans. They have given us a wide variety of weapons training. Even when they are not training us, we pay attention to how they perform their duties and learn from them."
"They have given us valuable training with weapons, in vehicle search techniques and how to react immediately to incidents," agreed Pfc. Hamid Atwan Mohammed. "It's a good thing to work with the American Army."
Sabah said his men benefited greatly from their time with the Soldiers at the JSS, learning everything from Soldier skills to performing their duty even when dealing with adversity.
Still, he said Abed's speech left a big impression on him and his men.
"He is our commander," he said. "If he gives an order, we will comply. This squad is rotating in [from the traffic control point] now. They are going to go back, get in the proper uniform and start training to learn new principles of discipline and Soldier skills."
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 09.10.2008 04:35 |
| Story ID: | 23439 |
| Location: | AL KUT, IQ |
| Web Views: | 264 |
| Downloads: | 240 |
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