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Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Steven Petibone | Capt. Ralph Sarmiento makes a condolence payment to a local Sinjar citizen. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Steven Petibone, 138th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, 2 August, 2006.)  

08.08.2006

Courtesy Story

345th Public Affairs Detachment

by Sgt. 1st Class Steven Petibone
138th MPAD

SINJAR, Iraq – Capt. Steven Zimmerle and the Soldiers of Civil Affairs Team-A, Company B, 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion, face bold challenges on a daily basis.

Company B took control of the vast western Ninevah province north of Mosul last April from the 401st CA Bn. Since then, they have spot-check completed well-water projects for operating efficiency, taken bids for new projects and met with local villagers to discuss innovative ideas for other community projects that can benefit the people of Iraq.

"Our civil affairs mission uses various aspects from the civil and military working environment for the benefit of the civil affairs maneuver commander." Zimmerle said. "We work with a combination of local nationals, village leaders, civic and military leaders to secure projects that help to persuade them that there are advantages to working with Coalition Forces."

Inclusive projects that Zimmerle and his team work on are: water-wells, road repair and improvement, maternity ward construction and rebuilding, and elementary school renovations.

"One of our goals is to think long-term; to take care of local-national's immediate needs rather than have them rely solely on Iraq's new government." Zimmerle said. "This process aides Iraqi citizens to show them how their new government needs to work."

Civil affairs teams are not restricted to work on these types of projects. One example is condolence payments. These are cash payments made directly to an Iraqi who demonstrates proof of physical damage to his/her self, his/her family or property by Coalition Forces.

"One of my responsibilities is working jointly with the Judge Advocates Office to determine who gets compensated and how much they are owed." said Capt. Ralph Sarmiento, Company B, 403rd CA Bn. "The program demonstrates that Coalition Forces are willing to make amends."

As with any process, there is an echelon where planning is important. Zimmerle enacts his "long-term" philosophy by meeting with the Mayor of Sinjar and the leader of the local Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Among the topics discussed were road conditions to consider for the coming winter, a more equitable system of local fuel and water distribution and an overall strategy for old and new civil affairs programs.

"I routinely meet with Iraqi Border Police, Iraqi Army Soldiers and local mayors to assess the security issues of civil affairs coming to their villages to start new projects." said Zimmerle. "Our goal is to interact with local nationals to determine emergency situations such as lack of food and water; things that people can have in a reasonable time period."

• Date Taken: 08.08.2006
• Date Posted: 08.08.2006 09:46
• Story ID: 7418