Photo By Maj. Mark Citarella | Staff Sgt. Devon Setzer (left) a Portland, Ore., native, and Sgt. William Thomas...... read more read more
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BAGHDAD — Iraqi leadership and their American counterparts have been meeting throughout Iraq on a regular basis. Many feel the partnership and combined efforts are vital to the future of Iraq. Those joint meetings and planning sessions would not be possible without the help of the security platoon from Headquarters Support Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 25th Infantry Division. With missions ranging from escorting personnel to route reconnaissance, the security platoon also serves as the personal security detail for the division.
Each day platoon members prepare themselves for ground transportation missions to all parts of the greater Baghdad area and beyond to help bring together American leadership with their Iraqi brethren.
“We are like the spearhead for the division as far as doing missions with the Iraqis,” said Sfc. Jimmy Ha, a native of Pago Pago, American Samoa, platoon sergeant for the security platoon.
With the end of combat operations in Iraq, these soldiers are one of the few units within HHBN, 25th Inf. Div. who get outside the wire on a daily basis. With that responsibility, the platoon conducts multiple missions daily. Those missions change frequently based on the personnel schedule demands and weather. When helicopter flights are grounded because of wind or storms, the security platoon is there to pick up the slack. The ever-changing mission times can be grueling.
“It gives you some stress but the Soldiers go with it. They really handle it well,” said 1st Lt. Jason Gremillion, platoon leader for the security platoon and a Mandeville, La., native.
But, the soldiers still love the opportunity to do their jobs.
“We love getting out,” said Gremillion.
The long hours and the demands on their time make the coordination and planning of the security platoon missions a consistent challenge.
“The schedule changes every day, so we have to be on our toes,” said Ha. “It’s a lot of planning.”
The platoon leadership does their own mission planning and analysis. Constant changes means changes to the plan.
An additional challenge for the unit is that the soldiers had little time together prior to deployment.
“We only had two months to put everyone together from different brigades and get them trained prior to deployment,” Ha said.
While continuing to advance their mission-specific training, the platoon still has to make sure the soldiers meet all other required training, including physical fitness and weapons qualification.
“This is the biggest challenge I’ve ever had in the Army,” Ha said. “Essentially you have to be a platoon sergeant, first sergeant and sometimes a platoon leader.”
The platoon members have little downtime. The soldiers are continually training and honing their skills. “Our soldiers are ahead of their peers,” said Gremillion.
“I have the confidence in all of my guys to take the patrol out. They are learning the next step higher,” Ha said. “The guys are more confident to lead the platoon.”
| Date Taken: | 03.11.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 03.15.2011 04:24 |
| Story ID: | 67068 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 174 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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