Photo By Sgt. Daniel Schneider | Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Mooring, an infantry patrol leader takes notes on future...... read more read more
By Spc. Daniel Schneider
BAGHDAD — As the sun set, Dec. 2, at Forward Operating Base Falcon, Soldiers prepared to conduct a meeting with Iraqi federal police, which eventually evolved into a search for a weapons cache in Baghdad's Rashid district.
The mission of U.S. troops with the 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team was to meet with lieutenants of the Iraqi FP and to support the police in dismounted and mounted patrols, said Sgt. Dustin Butcher, a team leader from Wilson, N.C.
However, after talking with the lieutenants, the Americans altered their plan and decided to adjust their route.
U.S. forces are taking a backseat approach, allowing Iraqi forces to take the lead on missions. The Iraqi police share intelligence with U.S. forces about suspicious activity in its area, which in turn allows U.S. forces to assist the federal police in their mission.
Upon arriving at the marketplace in Aamel, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Mooring, an infantry patrol leader from Pine Level, N.C., entered an Iraqi FP station that militia groups once used as a headquarters.
Mooring said the willingness of the FP officers to share this information shows the progress of trust in its U.S. counterparts.
"At the beginning of our time working with the IFP, we were only getting bread crumbs of information," Mooring said. "Now, the fact that they are willing to give us vital information is proof that they are ready to trust us with more crucial information to go on. They are keeping us in the loop now."
The FP are generating a sense of security among the residents of Aamel by showing members of al-Qaida in Iraq and other criminal groups that the FP are active in the Rashid district.
During the patrol, an Iraqi man approached the FP and told them about observing a truck dropping people and materials off into a field from which insurgents had previously used to fire rockets into his neighborhood. With that information, the American Soldiers and the FP scoured the field for a possible weapons cache, but to no avail.
Following the search, the FP officer urged the man to call the police if he saw the truck in the area in the future.
Despite the fact that the search yielded nothing, it demonstrated to the residents of the area that the FP and U.S. forces are working together to keep them safe.
| Date Taken: | 12.02.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 12.06.2009 12:38 |
| Story ID: | 42376 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 296 |
| Downloads: | 240 |
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