Dear Interested Reader,
Cpl Adam Cross exemplifies "Year of the NCO." Spc Greg Moreland fulfills Jacob's wish. Visions are shared for restoration of ancient cities. Recycling provides jobs and healthier lifestyle. 1st "Ironhorse" BCT takes the reins at JSS War Eagle. Army Reserve Lt Col Jeffrey Wallace exchanges Judge's gavel in Oregon for gavel in Balad. Humanitarian aid gets delivered to Attica Prison. In Afghanistan, an all female Marine team interact with Afghan women. SMART program advances medical training for Afghan military.
Joanna
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March 25, 2009
81st Heavy Brigade Combat Team RSS
Corporal Exemplifies ‘Year of the Non-commissioned Officer’
Q-WEST
Cpl. Adam Cross, with 81st BSTB, 81st BCT, Washington Army National Guard, gives an Iraqi child a ride on his shoulders during a visit to a local village.
Cpl. Cross poses with Iraqi children during a visit to a local Iraqi village, where he passed out candy and soccer balls.
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3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs RSS
Fulfilling Jacob’s Wish
Photos by Staff Sgt. Alex Licea
BELADIYAT
Spc. Greg Moreland, assigned to 3rd BCT, 82nd Abn Div, gives a handful of candy to a group of students at the Abuthare and Rufayda Elementary School, March 16, in the 9 Nissan District of eastern Baghdad. Students from the Summit Cove Elementary School in Summit Cove, Colo., donated a large assortment of candy for Moreland to hand out.
Spc. Moreland, a Paratrooper with 3rd BCT hands a stuffed animal to an Iraqi girl. The toys were given to the children on behalf of his penpal Jacob Poehls, 8. Jacob donated his toys to the children of Iraq.
Students and faculty of the Abuthare and Rufayda Elementary School, and Paratroopers hold a sign thanking Jacob and the citizens of Summit Cove, Colo., for their generous donation.
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MNF-I
Sharing Visions for Restoration of Ancient Cities
Abdul Hamdani, left, dir. of the Inspectorate of Dhi Qar, shares his visions for the restoration of the ancient cities in Iraq with Qahtan Jubouri, minister of tourism and antiquities, center, and Brig. Gen. Jefforey Smith, right, MND-C and 10th Mtn Div dep. comm. gen. of support.
(Photo by PFC. Jasmine N. Walthall)
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Multi-National Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342
Recycling provides jobs, hope for Iraqi people
Sonia Parker, budget analyst and recycling programs coordinator for 10th Mtn Div, observes a demonstration by Hryar Markossian, engr at the recycling center on Liberty Base, of the operation of a machine that sorts and crushes aluminum cans. Parker has been working with the recycling center since June to improve services.
(Photo by Sgt. Frank Vaughn, MND-C Journalist)
CAMP VICTORY – Soldiers eating at Coalition Dining Facility stop to deposit plastic bottles into one bin, aluminum cans into another and trash into a third before exiting the building. This 3-step process, while seemingly inconsequential, has enabled service members here to do their part in improving the local environment.
“Iraqis didn’t think anything of just throwing bottles and cans out of car windows,” said Doug Harger, dir. of central Iraq’s business development for First Iraqi Contracting Co. “It would rain, and that stuff would wash into the sewer system and back up treatment plants.” Bottles and cans that made it to trash dumps presented a major environmental problem as well.
Sonia Parker said other methods of material disposal create health risks. “Burning this stuff creates toxic fumes,” Parker said. “When it rains, that stuff that burned into the air comes right back down.”
Harger said education has been key in turning this problem around. “50% of Iraq’s population is under the age of 20,” he said. “They have had to be taught to take better care of their environment for the sake of health and convenience of basic services.”
Today, many Iraqis have found employment opportunities because of this effort to clean up the environment and improve basic services, Harger said. “Our recycling center here has around 40 Iraqi employees. Most of them fit that under-20 demographic.” These workers have been collecting bottles and cans for a while now, but their work has recently expanded to include collection of cardboard and ink cartridges.
“We ran an experiment with collecting cardboard recently,” Harger said. “We started with the post exchange at Liberty, and in 1 week, we collected over 4 metric tons of the stuff.” Parker added that the reuse of ink cartridges also will help eliminate needless waste. “The less we have in trash dumps, the better,” Parker said. “Reusing ink cartridges will help a lot in this effort.”
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1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs RSS
Ironhorse Takes the Reins
Story by Cpl. Shejal Pulivarti
Col. Tobin Green (left), cmdr of the 1st “Ironhorse” BCT, 1st Cav Div talks about future plans in partnering with Iraqi SF and the GoI after the mission assumption ceremony, March 21, at JSS War Eagle.
CAMP WAR EAGLE – Ironhorse Soldiers uncased their colors and officially assumed the task of further securing their operating environment. “This BCT is here to assist and support the Iraqi SF and the GoI in protecting the Iraqi people and advancing the quality of their lives,” said Col. Tobin Green, the Ironhorse Bde cmdr.
The ceremony was filled with local sheikhs, Iraqi NP, IA, and other Iraqi dignitaries that the Ironhorse Bde will closely work with in the coming months. “Together we will provide for the safety of the people of Baghdad and ensure a prosperous future for Iraq,” confidently stated Green.
Col. Green (left), and Command Sgt. Maj. James Norman (right), senior NCO for the bde, uncase the bde’s colors signifying the assumption of mission.
Local sheikhs watch while the color guard post the uncased colors.
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American Forces Press Service
(From a 3rd Sustainment Command news release)
Face of Defense: Judge Exchanges Gavel for Gun to Serve in Iraq
Army Reserve Lt. Col. Jeffrey Wallace, judge advocate general for the 304th Sust. Bde., serves as circuit court judge for the state of Oregon. At 59 he is currently deployed to Joint Base Balad.
"My role as the bde judge advocate is to provide the bde cmdr and subordinate cmdrs with timely and accurate legal advice, so that they can make an informed decision," said Wallace, who has served for more than 30 years with the Oregon Army National Guard and Army Reserve.
As a judge, he sits on all types of cases ranging from traffic violations to murder trials.
"My role as a judge is to listen to all the evidence and then make a decision based upon the law," said Wallace, who is due to retire at the end of this deployment.
"It's a different role for me [in Iraq] than when I am an Oregon judge. Here, I have a client, the cmdr, and the govt." In addition to his duties as bde judge advocate, Wallace also is the deputy staff judge advocate at the consolidated legal center here. He assists the 3rd Sust. Command staff judge advocate in supervising the other JAGs and paralegals.
"We handle all types of legal matters at the legal center, everything from military justice, administrative law and claims, to legal assistance and trial defense," Wallace said. "You might consider it a one-stop legal center."
When he was first told of his deployment last April, Wallace looked at it as an opportunity to "pay back" his country for all of the benefits and training he had received over the course of his 30-year career.
"I had never been deployed before and thought that this would be an opportunity to end my military career on a high note," Wallace said. "I can always go back to being a judge, but I would never again have the chance to serve in a combat theater. It was an opportunity that would only come once for me."
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Multi-National Division - Center PAO
2nd BCT Soldiers drop off humanitarian aid to prison
CAMP ECHO -
SSgt. George Chang, Co B, 445th CAB, attached to 2nd STB, 2nd BCT, 4th ID, unloads supplies for prisoners at Attica Prison in Diwaniya, March 18. Soldiers delivered blankets, mattresses, clothing and hygienic items to the prison.
(AF photos by Senior Airman Eric Harris)
SSgt. Kimberly McGinness, 110th MP Co, attached to 2nd STB, shares a laugh with an Iraqi policeman, and provides security.
SSgt. Chang unloads mattresses for prisoners.
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MNF-I
Female Marines interact with Afghan women
By Lance Cpl. Monty Burton
Special Purpose MAGTF
Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Johanna Shaffer shares a cookie and a smile with an Afghan child while under the watchful security of Marines assigned to 3rd Bn, 8th Marine Regt, during her all-female team's first mission in Farah province, Feb. 10.
FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan (March 10, 2009) – Marines of the 3rd Bn, 8th Marine Regt — the ground combat element of Special Purpose Marine Air Ground TF Afghanistan — now have a special group of people to help them complete their mission in Afghanistan.
The task force’s all-female Marine team is interacting with the Afghan female population in southern Afghanistan — a task considered culturally unacceptable for the male Marines operating there.
A similar program has been used in combat ops in Iraq, but this is the first time Marine forces in Afghanistan have employed the concept, officials said. Marine Capt. Mike Hoffman, comm. officer of 3/8’s Company I, said the all-female team is an important asset for his Marines. “The team provides us access to half of the population that we normally do not have access to,” Hoffman said. “They did extremely well interacting with the female villagers.”
Marine 2nd Lt. Johanna Shaffer, the team leader, said their first mission, a cordon-and-search op in support of Op Pathfinder, was very successful. “We were accepted by both the men and women villagers, and were able to obtain valuable info about the way they lived, and what they thought about the Marine Corps operating in the area,” Shaffer said.
During the mission, the female Marines donned brightly colored head and neck scarves as a sign of cultural respect to the Afghan women. “The scarves showed the Afghan women that we were women too, and we respect their culture,” Shaffer said. “They automatically felt more comfortable with us. They showed us their homes, and even though they didn’t have much, they were still very generous to us. They accepted us as sisters, and we’re glad that we were here to help them.” Although Afghan women tend to be more reserved than Afghan men, they still have a large influence on their children, Shaffer said, so engaging with them is important. “If the women know we are here to help them, they will likely pass that on to their children,” she said. “If the children have a positive perspective of alliance forces, they will be less likely to join insurgent groups or participate in insurgent activities.”
The concept employed by her team varies greatly from the program in Iraq, because of differences in Afghan culture, Shaffer said. “The cultural background here is completely different than that of Iraq,” Shaffer said. “Women here are more timid than in Iraq. There is less of a chance that an Afghan women would try to harm us, because they understand that we are here to help them. “We also do not know much about the daily life of Afghan women,” she continued. “This provides us not only the opportunity to learn about the women, but also to build and maintain faith and trust of the Afghan women.”
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Combined Joint TF 101
SMART program advances medical knowledge of Afghan military
By Pvt. Melissa Stewart
TF Spartan Journalist
Two 5th Kandak Support Bn, Afghan NA soldiers perform tactical field care they have learned during their training in the Spartan Medical Afghan National Army Readiness Training (SMART) Program, run by Soldiers of C Co, 710th BSB, 10th Mtn Division. The soldiers had to work as if they were under fire in this simulated training exercise.
BAGRAM AIRFIELD – Afghan soldiers are saving lives on the battlefield thanks to some valuable training from 10th Mn Div medics. Although many of the medics attending the program have had previous medical training, the Afghan NA had no standard first aid training for their soldiers. According to Sgt. Amanda Marion, medical training NCO in charge, 3rd BSTB, the program’s goal is to provide basic combat life saver training for ANA soldiers, and more advanced training for medics and doctors.
“The U.S. has learned a great deal in the course of our conflict about battlefield trauma and the things which injure and kill Soldiers most on the battlefield,” said Maj. Matthew Pantsari, 710th BSB surgeon. “We’ve been able to use that knowledge and share it with them. They have learned preventative medicine on the battlefield – simple things like hand hygiene and dental hygiene, things that contribute to disease and nonbattle injuries,” Pantsari said. “As the week progressed, we went into field care – if a soldier is injured, the type of care that’s appropriate at the point of injury. Then we transitioned to tactical field care, and take that care one step beyond to a level 1 or 2 treatment facility.”
In the final training lane, soldiers performed what they had learned in a simulated “treatment under fire” situation, while they were observed by instructors. First, they had to retrieve a casualty from a vehicle that had been damaged in combat. They are taught all they can do with a casualty under fire is apply a tourniquet. Soldiers then carried the casualty to a “secure location,” where medics could perform tactical field care, including basic treatment of injuries, and administering an intravenous tube. Soldiers had to work quickly, just like they were in a real combat situation. Finally, they had to evacuate the casualty to a level 1 or 2 treatment center, where medics and doctors gave further treatment to the casualty.
The SMART program has not only provided ANA with standardized first aid training, but it has also helped build working relationships and close friendships. “One of the most heartwarming things that has come out of training is the close friendships that have been formed between the Spartans and the 5th Kandak,” Pantsari said. “We have enjoyed many cups of tea, many games of cards after the training was done. It’s developing more than just a collegial relationship; it’s a friendship.”
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