Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor | 1st Lt. Josh Rowan, of College Station, Texas, a platoon leader with B Battery, 2nd...... read more read more
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By Sgt. Mike Pryor
2nd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. Public Affairs
BAGHDAD – Based at Combat Outpost War Eagle in Rabi, the 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment "Black Falcons" are targeting insurgents, criminals, and violent militia groups with direct action, while simultaneously trying to win over the population by building up the local infrastructure, economy and political institutions.
The Black Falcons recently found information usually gained from raids or tactical questioning but not handed out over tea and chocolate. But in Baghdad's Adhamiyah security district, paratroopers from the 2-319th are learning to fight a new kind of battle where diplomacy and dialogue are as effective as force.
Abu Muhanned, an Iraqi local, provided them with information only after serving the troops dinner.
"My wife was up all night cooking this," Muhanned said proudly, as he spooned out huge plates of rice, chicken, and vegetables.
Chai tea was served after the meal and no information was given until the tea was finished. He casually told his guests that he had information about a violent kidnapping.
"Our traditional Soldier tasks...that's our night job," said 1st Lt. Josh Rowan, of College Station, Texas, a platoon leader with B Battery, 2-319 AFAR. "During the day, we have to be police officers and diplomats."
It's a balancing act that Rowan compared to "walking a tight rope on a piece of fishing wire," but it's one that 2-319th paratroopers have had to quickly adapt to since arriving in Adhamiyah in early February. The battalion was part of the "surge" of forces pushed into the capital to implement the new Baghdad security plan.
The combined approach is one of the basic principles of counter-insurgency theory, said 1st Lt. Brook Carrier, the battalion's civil military operations officer. Rowan's long lunch at Muhanned's house, Feb. 19, was a typical example of how small-unit leaders in the 2-319th are applying the theory out in the streets of Adhamiyah.
Rather than appearing silently out of the dark, as they would on a combat operation, Rowan's paratroopers arrived like celebrities hitting the red carpet. As soon as they dismounted their trucks, they were surrounded by an entourage of singing, clapping, and cheering children.
The boisterous crowd followed the paratroopers down winding roads until they reached Muhanned's house. Muhanned is the chairman of the Rabi Neighborhood Advisory Council. The local NACs are one of the political institutions the Black Falcons want to empower, and Muhanned, a Shiite married to a Sunni and a vocal critic of militia groups in the area, is a man with a lot of influence.
"He's kind of like the mayor of Rabi," said Rowan.
The purpose of the lunch was to discuss plans for a new school, a clinic, and a bridge linking Rabi with a neighborhood across the Tigris River. The projects serve an obvious humanitarian need. But they also have strategic importance, both for the Black Falcons and Muhanned. The underlying goal of the projects for the Black Falcons is to help win the loyalty of the people over to the Iraqi government and undermine the insurgency's power base by supplying jobs.
"Everyone sitting in there had a vested interest," said Rowan.
But those motivations remained hidden under the surface during lunch. Instead, it was an hour of polite chit-chat and good food. Yet, that hour laid the groundwork for making progress on a dizzying array of objectives.
"On the surface, the talking, the eating, the tea - all that may seem like a huge waste of time. But in order to get to that point where (an Iraqi) trusts you enough to give you information, you have to build a relationship," said Rowan.
In the end, the success of the Black Falcons' mission will depend as much on the strength of such relationships as it will on how many raids they conduct or rounds they fire.
"This is going to be the big factor in how Iraq is going to turn out in the next five years," said Staff Sgt. Antonio Alverado, a squad leader with B Battery. "We have to make an impact."
| Date Taken: | 02.23.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 02.23.2007 14:31 |
| Story ID: | 9225 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 492 |
| Downloads: | 289 |
This work, Building Relationships: Troops build foundation of trust in Adhamiyah, by SSG Michael Pryor, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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