Knee Deep in the Hooah!

Cortoba School Celebrates Completion
Saturday, 25 October 2008

Excerpt
BAGHDAD — Teachers, children and Coalition forces celebrated the completion of construction and renovation projects at the Cortoba school in Muhallah 603 of the Mansour District of Baghdad, Oct. 21, 2008.

The projects included building a new bathroom for the students, replacing tile floors, fixing lighting and electrical problems and a fresh coat of various shades of blue paint.

“For this school, we would come here about once a week to ensure that the quality control was up kept,” said Capt. Tom Mcinnis, who serves as a civil affairs team leader with Company A, 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion. Mcinnis and his team oversaw the project and ensured the work of local contractors was up to par with the agreed upon standards. “This is certainly not a new school, but it is much better than it was.”

With improvements in security throughout Baghdad, the focus of U.S. and coalition efforts shifted from fighting, to seeking out areas in which improvements were sorely needed, such as schools, and then seeing those projects through from start to finish.

“With schools, they’re such a bang for the buck because everyone sends their kids to school, and no one wants their kids to be in an environment where they’re not able to learn or focus on learning,” said Mcinnis. Read more…
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Bridging the Gap
Posted on 10.21.2008 at 07:21AM
By Spc. Andrea Merritt
1st Sustainment Brigade PAO

Excerpt
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – For years, coalition forces have been training and advising Iraqi forces with the goal of helping the once war-torn country become a more stable, independent and self-sustaining country.

Through the help of interpreters, who sometimes help coalition forces at the risk of their own personal safety, training and advisory teams are able to be more effective in the way they teach the Iraqis.

“For the most part, they can make things flow a lot faster,” said Capt. Jeffrey Stukey, an Englewood, Ohio native and a member of the Force Protection Training Team from the 1st Squadron, 152nd Cavalry Regiment, an Indiana National Guard unit attached to the 1st Sustainment Brigade.

In the 1st Sustainment Brigade, there are 11 interpreters who aid the Brigade’s training teams in their mission. Although interpreting provides a source of income for them and their families, many do this job because they simply believe in what they do.

“I believe in the changes in my country brought by the U.S. I do this to help my country and my people and to support my family,” said Johnnie, an interpreter assigned to the 1st Sust. Bde. Read More
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General Says Economic Progress Now Tops Anbar Priorities
Friday, 24 October 2008
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Excerpt
WASHINGTON — With life returning to normal in Iraq’s Anbar province, the way forward now is driven more by the economy than security, the commander of Multi-National Force – West said yesterday.

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. John F. Kelly spoke to Pentagon reporters from his headquarters in Fallujah (Transcript). He said Coalition forces continue to mentor Iraqi security forces, but the Iraqis are in the lead and have become more capable and confident.

Anbar has been under provincial Iraqi control since the beginning of September, and the Coalition and Iraqi forces are putting in place policies that minimize the military disruption to life in the province.

“We started a share-the-road program, where no longer would Iraqi traffic have to do anything particularly different when they came upon military convoys,” Kelly said. The command also moved most of the convoys off the roads during the day. The long lines of military vehicles and civilian big rigs now travel between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Read More
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Iraqi Air Force Supports Training Exercise
Friday, 24 October 2008
Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq

Excerpt
NEW AL MUTHANA AIR BASE — The Iraqi Air Force reached another milestone Oct. 22 when an all-Iraqi flight crew took to the air in the King Air Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft for the first time in support of an Iraqi special operations forces training exercise.

The air crew, connected via radio link to the special operations forces on the ground, provided reconnaissance and over-watch surveillance for convoy operations as the special operations forces conducted their training.

The Iraqi Air Force also provides ISR support to the Iraqi Army, intelligence services, the directorate of border enforcement and the ministries of oil and electricity.

Mission sets for the Iraqi Air Force ISR include battlefield reconnaissance, urban security, support to ground forces’ operations, surveillance of oil infrastructure for oil leaks and pirating, electrical infrastructure for damage and national border security. Read More
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Iraqi Police Train to Replace Army in Urban Areas
By Tim Kilbride
Special to American Forces Press Service

Excerpt
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2008 – U.S. advisors are working with Iraq’s Interior Ministry to move the Iraqi police into a “primacy role” in securing urban areas, a coalition training commander said yesterday.

The Iraqi army currently works alongside coalition forces in providing security for most of Iraq’s major cities and towns, Army Col. Chris Fulton told military bloggers during a conference call. Fulton is chief of staff for the Directorate of Interior Affairs, Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq.

Under the command’s joint campaign plan, the Iraqi police will develop the capabilities to gradually assume the responsibility for safeguarding these areas, Fulton said.

“Nobody wants the army in the cities,” he said. “You want police in the cities. You want [the] army conducting defense of the nation, not defense of the neighborhood.”

Toward that end, MNSTC-I trainers and advisors work daily with the police force and Interior Ministry officials to improve both capabilities and support functionality, Fulton said.

He identified four main areas where the coalition is supporting the police: force generation, training to operate independently with minimal coalition assistance, development of a professional and non-sectarian force, and logistics. Similarly, Fulton said, his team supports the ministry staff in managing budget and finance, strategic planning, and administration, among other functions.

The goal is to make Iraqi security forces self-reliant “so we can come home,” he said.

With close to 400-percent growth in the police force over the past several years, the ministry has experienced growing pains, Fulton said.

“You can imagine a very large corporation grows by 400 percent – you’ve got to have the administration and all the pieces that facilitate that,” Fulton said. “We help them with that.”

Logistics remains a perennial trouble area for the Iraqis, Fulton said, due to their unique system. He said his team is working to streamline and maximize benefit from the Iraqi model. Read More
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Volunteers Form Critical Link in Balad Hospital’s ‘care Chain’

Story by Staff Sgt. Don Branum
Posted on 10.25.2008 at 06:12AM

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By Don Branum
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters descend on the Patient Administration and Disposition landing zone, their blades kicking up dust as they blows air outward at speeds of 50 mph or more. Noise from the Black Hawks’ rotors drowns out any attempts at conversation, so the helicopter crews and PAD staff use hand signals to communicate with volunteers, who approach with caution.

The volunteers take up positions beside the door of one helicopter and carefully unload a litter carrying a patient and medical equipment onto a waiting gurney. They wheel the patient through Hero’s Highway and into the Air Force Theater Hospital’s emergency room. Without their efforts, a critical link in the Air Force’s “care chain” would suffer.

Staff Sgt. Angelica Pinkney is the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Support Squadron’s night shift PAD boss, which puts her in charge of training and coordinating the PAD’s many volunteers. A native of Freeport, Texas, she joined the Air Force in 2002 because she wanted a job in the medical career field. She deployed here in September.

“I don’t want to be anywhere else,” said Pinkney, who is deployed from Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. “We’re helping people here. What we do gives me a real sense of accomplishment.”

On average, about 200 people volunteer at the PAD each month, contributing anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 total volunteer hours. Read More
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Volunteers Form Critical Link in Balad Hospital’s ‘care Chain’
Story by Staff Sgt. Don Branum
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing

Excerpt
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters descend on the Patient Administration and Disposition landing zone, their blades kicking up dust as they blows air outward at speeds of 50 mph or more. Noise from the Black Hawks’ rotors drowns out any attempts at conversation, so the helicopter crews and PAD staff use hand signals to communicate with volunteers, who approach with caution.

The volunteers take up positions beside the door of one helicopter and carefully unload a litter carrying a patient and medical equipment onto a waiting gurney. They wheel the patient through Hero’s Highway and into the Air Force Theater Hospital’s emergency room. Without their efforts, a critical link in the Air Force’s “care chain” would suffer.

Staff Sgt. Angelica Pinkney is the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Support Squadron’s night shift PAD boss, which puts her in charge of training and coordinating the PAD’s many volunteers. A native of Freeport, Texas, she joined the Air Force in 2002 because she wanted a job in the medical career field. She deployed here in September.

“I don’t want to be anywhere else,” said Pinkney, who is deployed from Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. “We’re helping people here. What we do gives me a real sense of accomplishment.”

On average, about 200 people volunteer at the PAD each month, contributing anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 total volunteer hours. Read More
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Al Kendy School Opens in Qahira
Posted on 10.25.2008 at 03:54AM
By Maj. Mike Humphreys
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Public Affairs Office

Excerpt
BAGHDAD – Students, teachers, local leaders and interested Iraqi citizens gathered in the freshly paved and swept courtyard of the newly refurbished school in the Qahira neighborhood of the Adhamiyah district of Baghdad for the official opening of the school Oct. 19, 2008.

On display this day was the white-washed Kendy School, trimmed in pink and blue that shined on the sunny day, waiting to be filled with Iraqi children anxious to learn.

The school underwent a three-month renovation that included updating old and faulty wiring, new plumbing, painting inside and out, landscaping and new desks and chairs for the students and teachers, said Lt. Col. Michael Pappal, commander of the 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

“It’s important to help improve the [Iraqi] government’s ability to educate future generations of Iraqis and to really take Iraq to the next level,” Pappal said. Read More
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Students at Fahama Primary School Cheer Brighter Beginning
Posted on 10.25.2008 at 01:32AM
By Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Public Affairs Office

Excerpt
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Students, teachers, government officials and Soldiers gathered at the Fahama Primary School in Istaqlal, northeast of Baghdad, to celebrate a brighter beginning Oct. 23, 2008.

Workers recently completed an approximately $200,000 facelift for the school, to include structural repairs, rewiring, windows, doors and painting. The project was funded by Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Irfan Khudair Abas, school headmaster. The Fahama Primary School was first built in 1955 and has not received major repairs since its opening.

The more than 250 students and 35 teachers who use the building stopped classes to participate in the celebration.

Students and teachers expressed their joy at the ceremony through song, poems and vigorous clapping.

“We are very happy with the renovations,” said one of the 35 teachers. Read More
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SWAT: Scorpions Sting at the Heart of Criminal and Terrorist Activities in Iraq
Posted on 10.24.2008 at 02:05PM
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Mike Meares
Combine Joint Special Operations Task Force – Arabian Peninsula Public Affairs

Excerpt
BALAD, Iraq – A group known as the “Scorpions,” symbolized by a scorpion holding a dagger, are successfully stinging at the heart of criminal and terrorist activities in central Iraq.

The Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics team is disrupting insurgent activities throughout the province and bringing them to justice. Through a foreign internal defense partnership with Coalition Soldiers, these Iraqi Soldiers are working to rid the communities of anti-Iraqi forces that threaten the peace and prosperity for their families and countrymen.

The partnership with Hillah SWAT has a long history explained a coalition forces Soldier, “There is a lot of trust between the two units.”

The partnership establishes a professional relationship between the Iraqi security and coalition forces where the training builds capable forces. The Soldier said working side-by-side with the SWAT teams, both in training and on missions, has provided the Iraqi soldiers the chance to observe how to act and move as a team.

The mission of SWAT is to conduct operations throughout the Iraqi theater of operations to prevent, deter and respond to terrorism and insurgent activities.

Hillah SWAT is trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside the abilities of regular patrol officers, including serving high-risk arrest warrants, hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, and engaging heavily-armed criminals. SWAT teams are often equipped with specialized firearms, equipment and vehicles. All the equipment employed by SWAT is designed to help mitigate inherent risks and execute precision-targeted operations. Read More
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Sons of Iraq Arrest Known Special Groups Criminal in Aamel; Tips Lead Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers to Caches in Baghdad
Courtesy Story
Posted on 10.24.2008 at 12:21PM
By the Multi-National Division – Baghdad Public Affairs Office

Excerpt
BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers gained control of a special groups criminal after members of the Sons of Iraq detained the individual, Oct. 23, 2008, in the Aamel community of southern Baghdad.

Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B, took control of the criminal at approximately 4:30 p.m. A patrol delivered the criminal to a coalition forces base for processing.

“The SoI play a tremendous role in the security of the Rashid District,” said Maj. Dave Olson, 1st BCT spokesman, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B. “Soldiers from the 1st ‘Raider’ Brigade are systematically moving into a tactical over watch in many of the communities and neighborhoods and continue to teach, coach, mentor and train members of the Ir