DVIDS Hub works best with JavaScript enabled

The Future Face of Iraq

Photo By Sgt. Linsay Burnett | Staff Sgt. Justing Evans, weapons squad leader, 1st Plt., C Co., 1-327th Inf. Regt.,...... read more read more

HAWIJA, IRAQ

08.07.2006

Courtesy Story

1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

Spc. Linsay Burnett
1st BCT Public Affairs Office
101st Airborne Division

HAWIJAH, IRAQ (July 31, 2006) - One of the primary missions for coalition forces stationed in Iraq is the training of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). The development of a disciplined and commanding force is essential for protecting the reconstruction process and ensuring stability throughout the country. As coalition forces develop plans for withdrawal from the country, it is essential they ensure provisions are in place to continue this training. Spotted throughout the country, platoons of highly skilled Iraqi Army soldiers are assuming responsibility for the training of their country's soldiers.

One such program just wrapped up operations at Forward Operating Base McHenry, located near Hawijah, Iraq, home to Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). Soldiers from the 24th Scout Platoon, 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army, conducted a three week training course for soldiers from the 2nd Bde., 4th IA. During the three weeks, soldiers cover an array of topics including weapons maintenance, basic rifle marksmanship, reflexive firing, basic infantry skills and urban terrain combat tactics. The final test of their training is the execution of a series of raids in the Hawijah District.

Arriving at the range around 9:30am, the instructors prepare for the day. With arms swinging to a 90 degree angle in front of them, soldiers from the 2nd Bde., 4th IA high step in time up the dusty road to the range. Following the range briefing, the soldiers line up to receive magazines and earplugs.

Magazines in hand, the enthusiastic students line up facing their paper targets. Lying down in the prone, they wait for the command to lock and load. As the students engage their targets, the instructors watch carefully providing on-the-spot corrections. When the firing stops, the instructors make their way down range to inspect the pox-holed targets. Markers in hand, they identify shot groupings and make minor adjustments on the various weapons to tighten up the students' accuracy. As shot groupings become more precise and consistent, the students progressively receive passing marks and move off the range.

The next skill tasking is reflexive firing. The students turn their attention to 1st Sgt. Dani Ali Risheed, 1st Sgt. for the 24th Scout Plt., 2nd Bde., 4th IA, as he demonstrates the proper posture and technique necessary to effectively execute this drill.

The students line up on the 50m mark, face their inanimate adversaries and load their magazines. "Haya! Arme!" "Ready! Fire," yells Muhammed, one of the instructors, with commanding vibrancy. The students execute. This repetitive exercise continues on at the 100m, 150m and 200m markers, and their shots become steadier and form sturdier.

At the end of the day, Risheed stands before the formation, relaying some observations from the day, tips for improvement, and expectations for the remainder of the course. In a quiet voice underscored by regimented authority, the students listen with faces of inquiring exhaustion, eyes squinting into the blazing sun that profiles Risheed as he speaks. Finally the students are released back to their chain of command and the day is at an end.

As the days progress so to do the students. "The soldiers are getting much better and we have had no real problems," comments Risheed (through a translator). Cpt. Hussein Ali Hammed, one of the students and also commander of the special forces platoon, 2nd Bde., 1st IA, is incredibly pleased with the training (through a translator). "The instructors are teaching us skills we didn't know before and are helping us improve. From the first day until now [the final day of training] everything has been perfect."

The final element of the training is urban terrain combat skills. The group moves from the range to the adjacent fabricated "shoot house." The students break up into groups of nine. Forming a line on the outside wall of Hescos, the first man in the line runs his hand around the outside of the door. Moving back into the line he signals the number five man who charges up, kicking in the door then immediately moving to the side to provide external security. The remaining eight soldiers storm the house, splitting into groups of four going left and right into the respective rooms. They engage paper targets placed in various locations in the room. Once they confirm that the targets have been neutralized, they stack up again and storm the adjacent room. As errors are observed, the instructors halt the training, point out the mistakes, and make them start again until the execution is perfect.

With this final piece of training complete, the students are ready to take their training to the streets. With the three-quarter moon overhead providing a muted light, tan and brown humvees with the Iraqi flag painted on either sideline up in the gravel lot near the tents. The soldiers mount up; gunners adjusting the weapons in their turrets and truck commanders performing radio checks. The convoy rolls out the gate of the FOB and makes its way down the deserted two-lane road into the streets of Hawijah.

They reach the first target house. One vehicle reeves its engine and rams the metal gate separating the house from the street, ripping it from the hinges and contorting the metal under the massive weight of the tires. The soldiers dismount and storm the residence. The flash of weapon mounted tack lights and headlamps guide their way as they methodically move from room to room, rounding up the residents and searching for any suspicious or illegal items.

Once the house is secured, questions answered, and any potential suspects detained, the soldiers regroup and exit the house. The mission continues on with several more houses and concludes just as the sun pierces the horizon. With no violent incidents, the soldiers return to the FOB with a satisfying fatigue.

As the soldiers prepare to return to their units and pass on this training to their fellow soldiers, they are eager about the future. "My soldiers and I are proud of the coalition forces for everything they have done for us and we will never forget them," asserts Hammed. As Iraq slowly matures away from coalition assistance, this type of training is a cornerstone for developing an Iraq able to govern and protect itself. Hammed avows that "We are getting stronger and this three week course taught by Iraqi instructors shows that we are almost to a point were we can start taking things into our own hands."