Dear Interested Reader,
Deployment brings brother, sister together.  Rough Riders challenge IA on the soccer field.  Troops train Iraqis on forensic evidence, medical techniques.  U.S. tankers mentor Iraqi counterparts.  Coastal Border Guard make waterway drug bust.  1st Sqdrn, 7th Cav Regt conducts school assessment.
In Afghanistan, U.S. says new troops push Taliban away from Kabul.  SSgt Kevin Sanders awarded a medal for saving a child from electrocution.
Joanna
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April 20, 2009

Special to American Forces Press Service

Face of Defense: Deployment Brings Brother, Sister Together

By Army Sgt. Rodney Foliente

Army Sgt. Jordane Lovin, right, shares a joke with her older brother, Army Pfc. Robert Lovin, at Camp Echo, April 6, 2009.

CAMP ECHO – Typically, deployment marks a separation from family.  It can be a difficult sacrifice that walks hand in hand with selfless service to answer the nation’s call.  Occasionally, however, circumstances bring family members together and strengthen the bond between them.
Army Sgt. Jordane Lovin, a Special Troops Bn signal intel analyst with the 4th ID’s 2nd BCT, received a visit April 4 from her brother, Army Pfc. Robert Lovin, a 10th Sust Bde quartermaster specialist.
The siblings had not been able to spend time together since Jordane Lovin graduated from high school in 2003 and joined the Army. “I honestly thought Iraq would be the last place I would see her,” said Robert Lovin, who has been stationed at Victory Base Complex in Baghdad since May. When he found out his sister was coming to Iraq, he tried to coordinate to see her.  He took the request to his chain of command, and was approved for a 4-day visit to Camp Echo. When he found out, he said, he couldn’t contain his excitement.  “I went outside and actually started jumping up and down for joy when I found out,” he said.  His sister responded to the mental image by making fun of him.  After a shared laugh, she admitted that she also was excited when she learned his unit would let him visit.
“I’m very grateful that they did,” she said. “Since I’m a late deployer, I don’t get to go home on leave, so I was very happy that he came down to Camp Echo.  It was pretty awesome.”  The 23-year-old sgt said she was very excited for her brother to see how much she has changed, but she admitted being a bit anxious for the same reason.  Jordane Lovin has been in the Army for more than 5 years, and her brother joined 18 months ago. Robert Lovin said he respects his sister’s experience and military knowledge, and often asks her for advice in Army matters.  His goal, however, is to match her in rank one day, which she claims will never happen.
“Her joining made me want to join,” the 24-year-old soldier said. “I’m glad I took her advice and joined the Army.” He said the Army is taking care of his family, and he doesn’t have to worry about his wife, Amy, their 4-year-old son, Dustin, and daughter, Haley, 3.  Robert recently re-enlisted for 6 years. Jordane re-enlisted last year for 4. Both said the Army has been good to them and that they plan on staying in for awhile.
“I think we’re pretty close,” Jordane said of the family relationship. The 2 soldiers have 7 siblings, including 4 step-siblings.

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Multi-National Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342

Rough Riders challenge IA on the soccer field

COB ADDER - For the second time during this deployment, Iraqi and American transportation units competed for bragging rights on the soccer field.  U.S. Soldiers assigned to 27th BSB, 4th BCT, 1st Cav Div 'Rough Riders,' challenged the IA's 10th Motorized Transport Regt to a re-match at Camp White Horse near the operating base here recently.
"Today is a very happy day for me because of our friends and brothers from the U.S.," said Lt. Col. Hamid, a senior officer in the 10th MTR. "This memory will last forever, and we will remember it every day."
The game predictions favored the 10th MTR by a wide margin, considering the 5-1 loss the Rough Riders endured last October.  However, the Americans prepared for weeks to give the Iraqis a worthy challenge.
The Rough Riders engineered a comeback during the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half and tied the game at 3, but the MTR team came right back to score another goal to take a one-point lead.  As the time was beginning to expire, Sgt. Rogelio Brown broke away from the pack and evened the score for the 2nd time in the game.  Time elapsed and the teams were forced into a shoot-out.  The Americans lost the shoot-out by 1 goal and the Iraqis secured another victory. The soccer players seemed truly amazed at how a sport can connect people from very different parts of the world.
"It was a great day to strengthen our relationship and make it stronger," said 2nd Lt. Ahmed from Al Hilla. "It will also strengthen our cooperation between the U.S. and Iraq."

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American Forces Press Service

Troops Train Iraqis on Forensic Evidence, Medical Techniques

Capt. Ghissan Towman, IP dept forensic examiner in Hillah dusts a CD for fingerprints under the supervision of Jessica Janisch, Joint Expeditionary Forensics Facility 1 certified latent print examiner.
(Army photos by Pfc. Bethany L. Little) 

WASHINGTON – CF in Iraq increasingly are working to develop the country’s nonmilitary capabilities, such as its criminal justice and medical systems.  In recent weeks, that has meant training the Iraqis in forensic science and medical practices.
Troops assigned to the coalition’s Joint Expeditionary Forensics Facility 1 began training IP outside FOB Kalsu in southern Iraq, April 2.  While the U.S. court system relies on forensic science to convict criminals, the Iraqi court system does not accept forensic evidence to determine guilt or innocence. The coalition team is trying to help forensic science evolve in Iraq. "We hope to not only train the IP, but also the Iraqi judges, and try to get their court systems to accept forensic evidence," said Jessica Janisch.
To start the training process, JEFF 1 staff members visited Capt. Towman, Hillah Police Station forensic examiner, at his laboratory. "We had the opportunity to see how his lab is set up and what type of equipment he has," Janisch said. "We found out that the lab has a lot of equipment, but the examiners don't know how to use it."  The JEFF 1 staff members decided to train Towman in collecting, processing and documenting forensic evidence.
"Today is my first day of training, and I'm very happy and honored to have this opportunity," Towman said. To demonstrate collecting forensic evidence, Towman dusted and lifted fingerprints from a compact disc.  Towman and Janisch then moved to a device that looks like a microscope, but actually is a camera suspended above a flat surface, surrounded by lights.  Placing a small ruler next to the fingerprints, Janisch taught Towman how to take a scaled picture to show the actual size of and measure the details within the fingerprints.  Janisch then demonstrated how to download the picture onto a computer to document and compare it to possible suspects' fingerprints. "I hope to learn everything," Towman said. "Everything I learn here, I can go back to my laboratory to put the knowledge to use, teach my colleagues and capture every criminal."
CF are conducting similar training sessions in Iraq’s medical community. The 41st Fires Bde’s combined medical engagement team visited the Hawraa Clinic in Kut to share knowledge and conduct joint medical screenings with Iraqi medical personnel, April 2. The visit was part of Op Gunner Med, a joint medical civil-military op between the Wasit dir. gen. of health and 41st Fires Bde, designed to restore medical service capacity in Wasit, and bring medical care up to regional standards.
"It's very rewarding to know that we're going out and helping people with their problems," said Army Maj. Deydre Teyhen, a physical therapist with the 10th Combat Support Hospital at nearby FOB Delta. The visit was Teyhen's first trip to an Iraqi clinic in support of Op Gunner Med, and said she brings a different type of medicine to patients.  "Medication may not always provide the answer to pain problems," Teyhen said. "Sometimes, manipulating the spine can relieve the pain."  Along with helping people with their backs, Teyhen also helps patients determine what kind of assistive device a patient might need to help with a muscular or skeletal problem.
"We try to identify what solutions we can provide to them for long-term health problems that will enable them to get around in their communities," she said.
During this visit, the team delivered 2 wheelchairs to the Hawraa clinic, and the team has received about 500 more to distribute to clinics throughout Iraq’s Wasit province.  Wasit has suffered a critical shortage of female
medical practitioners, as many physicians fled Iraq in 2003. "Treating the women was very rewarding - being able to help them with their neck, back and knee pain - it was nice to be able to help," Teyhen said.
The medical team and Iraqi doctors discussed clinical practice standards, patient info and managing patient care, seeing more than 180 Iraqi patients during the visit.
Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, Army medics from the 1st Cav Div’s 2nd BCT recently trained IA medics in Kirkuk on medical trauma and sustainment. The training was designed to develop the students’ skills so they can train other Iraqi soldiers, said Army 1st Lt. Sean Spencer, a medical plt leader with 8th Cav Regt. The training was equivalent to the U.S. Army Combat Lifesaver Course and Tactical Combat Casualty Care, courses that include classroom instruction and practical exercises on medical tasks such as properly bandaging a wound, treating patients for shock or fractures, and administering intravenous fluids.  "During the training, the IA medics and infantrymen were involved at all levels," Spencer said.  The Iraqi soldiers progressed from asking questions to answering questions, from being students to being instructors, and from being evaluated while undergoing trauma lanes to establishing and running trauma lanes. "This training offered every IA soldier involved, the ability and confidence to assess and treat soldiers on the battlefield," Spencer said.
Overall, 21 Iraqi soldiers attended the 1-week course and graduated with the knowledge to establish their own medical training programs.

(Compiled from MND-S and MND-N news releases. Army Pfc. Bethany L. Little  and Army Sgt. 1st Class Joe Thompson, contributed to this report.)

Capt. Ghissan Towman and Jessica Janisch, compare fingerprints collected from a CD to a training exercise fingerprint card.

Army Maj. Deydre Teyhen provides physical therapy for an Iraqi patient.
(AF photo by Staff Sgt. Rasheen Douglas) 

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Multi-National Division – Baghdad

U.S. Tankers Mentor Iraqi Counterparts 

By Sgt. Joshua Risner

SSgt. Norbert Ferrell explains the finer aspects of an M1A1 Abrams tank to IA Soldiers at FOB Hammer, April 11. (Photo by Sgt. Joshua Risner)

BAGHDAD — The M1A1 Abrams tank is one of the newest additions to the IA arsenal. U.S. Army armor Soldiers and contracted civilians are assisting the 9th IA Div with getting their armored crewmen trained on the new equipment at FOB Hammer.
"We're here basically to help with mentoring the Iraqis with maintenance and with understanding of how a tank plt is supposed to run on a day-to-day basis," said 1st Lt. Michael Pesano, a plt leader with the 8th Cav Regt.
While the contracted civilians teach the Iraqis how the Abrams works, the armor Soldiers teach them how an Abrams crew operates. "We start with the Iraqi leadership; we try to get them to understand the American style of tanking, as opposed to the old Soviet style," Pesano explained. "It's not just one individual commanding everything, it's a team effort. We're trying to instill that in them. Everyone has to work together."
A major hurdle for Iraqi tankers is abandoning previous concepts of how a tank crew operates. "In the days of the old Iraqi army, if you were a driver, you could spend 20 years as a driver and never do anything else," said Sgt. 1st Class John Hise, a master gunner with 16th Cav. "We're teaching them how to be a tank crewman; you know every job in the tank and you can do every job if need be."  At first, the Iraqis were resistant to these new ways of training and the Abrams itself, but they changed their way of thinking as the training progressed, Hise added.
"They thought the T-72 was a manly tank and the Abrams, not so much," he quipped. "But once they got in it, started working with it and saw the accuracy of the Abrams, they loved it."
So far, one class of Iraqi tankers has graduated the course, with another class underway. The first set of graduates are now going through the training again, this time learning to be instructors so they can eventually teach the class themselves without the aid of U.S. troops and contractors, Pesano said.

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Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq

Border Guard Makes Waterway Drug Bust       

By Maj. Kim Layne

SHATT AL ARAB — The Iraqi Directorate of Border Enforcement (DBE), Coastal Border Guard (CBG) recently made a large drug interdiction here. “This was a significant event,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steven Oluic, Ministry of Interior Transitional Team.  “An individual was caught smuggling 71kg of hashish via the waterway.”
This multi-leveled op began via intel channels, Oluic said.  Oftentimes DBE border units observe ships offloading cargo to smaller boats which then cross into Iraqi waters to offload, he added.
“There're also situations when we see larger ships departing home ports with one flag, then replacing their flags with Iraqi flags in order to cross into the port of Al Falus,” he said.
Over the past month, the CBG has conducted 2 to 4 joint ops with the IA on Umm Rasas Island, just south of Abu Al Falus.  The coordination was at the command level with info filtering down to tactical units hours before the start of the op. “There's a strong working relationship with the IA along the borders,” he said.  “The CBG provides boats to transport the IA to the island, while the IA completes search ops, then upon completion the DBE transports the IA back to the mainland.”
The use of improved technology is making a major difference in this region, and the Iraqi DBE and CBG will move toward real-time interdiction to achieve the next step in this new frontier. “These intrusions could be more easily tackled when the CBG gets equipped with more powerful armored patrol boats to ensure they are able to compete with larger, better armed and equipped vessels,” said Oluic.  "we're working together to bring the last pieces of that puzzle together.”

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Multi-National Division Baghdad RSS

1st Sqdrn, 7th Cav Regt Conducts School Assessment

(Photo by SSgt. Mark Burrell)

SSgt. Daniel McHenry, cavalry scout squad leader assigned to 1st Sqdrn, 7th Cav Regt, stands near a window as an Iraqi student peers out at his classmates playing in the courtyard, April 13.  McHenry and his unit were visiting the school in Boob al-Sham to assess what supplies the school might need.

SSgt. Tim Winn, a section sgt cavalry scout  assigned to 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div, stands guard with an Iraqi NP at Akdha high school and Abu Alkaseb elementary school. The school is divided into 2 separate shifts throughout the day – one shift for the elementary school and the other for the high school.

Combat medic, Spc. Caleb Eckart shakes hands with students. "The teachers come to class and feel safe, and children can walk to school and back again without any worries now. The Iraqi and American soldiers are very good," said Dhahi Ahmed, headmaster for the high school.

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Final Lesson

An instructor at the Mosul Public Service Academy demonstrates his skills in hand-to-hand combat during a graduation ceremony, April 8. The recruits that he taught are among the last to complete the Iraqi Ministry of Interior's requirement for 100% train-up throughout Iraq.
(Photo by Pfc. Sharla Perrin)

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U.S. says new troops push Taliban away from Kabul

By Jonathon Burch

FOB SHANK, Afghanistan, April 15 (Reuters) – An influx of new U.S. troops near Kabul this year is reclaiming the Afghan capital's outskirts from the Taliban.  The U.S. has rushed about 3,000 troops to Logar and Maidan Wardak provinces to defend the capital's southern and western borders this year, the first phase of a planned increase that will almost double the U.S. presence in the country.

Colonel David Haight, cmdr of the new bde of U.S. troops in the 2 provinces, said his force's arrival since January had begun to turn the tide. "I'm not ready to stick my saber into the ground and declare victory here yet on the security situation, but things are improving," he told Reuters April 14. "We were 300 soldiers here before ... but they weren't able to project combat power out very much. With a magnitude of 10, we're now able to spread through the battle space and dominate the battle space," he said.  Haight's soldiers are part of a wave of 3,500 dispatched in January by outgoing Pres. George W. Bush.  Since then, new Pres. Obama has promised 21,000 more as Washington switches its focus from Iraq to Afghanistan.

NORTH TO SOUTH

The new U.S. troops have been conducting ops in both provinces largely from north to south in an attempt to push militants away from the capital, Haight said.  He rejected claims the insurgents were encroaching on the capital.
"The truth is, the Taliban doesn't have the technology; it doesn't have the amount of soldiers it needs; it doesn't have the capacity to really go into Kabul and take over Kabul.  Not even close," Haight said.
One of the troops' main priorities has been to secure the 2 major highways that run south from Kabul through both provinces.  Three FOBs and around half a dozen outposts have been erected on and around both routes.
"I believe that we're going to see enemy activity increase for a while.  The enemy is going to make a play for this area because it's still important to him, and he would like to have influence in this area," he said.

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3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division RSS

Infantryman Awarded Soldiers Medal for Saving Child From Electrocution

Story by Staff Sgt. Adora Medina

1st Sgt. Michael Klein of 3rd BCT, 1st ID, congratulates SSgt. Kevin Sanders, Soldiers Medal recipient, for his achievement.  The award ceremony was held at FOB Fenty, April 14.

JALALABAD AIR FIELD - Army SSgt. Kevin P. Sanders believes that he was born to be an infantryman.  After 5 deployments, he understands the sacrifice and bravery that go along with combat, so when he witnessed an Afghan boy near death, his instincts immediately came into play.
"I didn't think about it, I didn't think anything," said Sanders. "What I saw was my son when I looked at this little kid, and when his body went limp I thought 'oh God please do something,' and I didn't say it out loud, I was talking to myself, and that's when I lunged forward and I grabbed the kid and I pulled him off."
The young boy, who according to Sanders was no older than 6, had touched exposed wires from an electrical box that had been tampered with on the side of the road near where Sanders and his team of infantrymen were pulling security last October.  Sanders said he heard buzzing and didn't realize that it was the sound of electricity searing the boy's skin until he thought it was too late.  He remembers the boy helplessly looking at him and then going limp as if he had given up. "I thought he was dead," Sanders said. "It all happened in the span of 5 seconds."  He knew he had to do something, so he acted fast with no regard for his personal safety.  He pulled the boy toward him, risking the chance of getting electrocuted.
"I jumped towards him and I snatched him up by the back of his neck and I pulled him straight up to me and he was still shaking profusely," Sanders recalled.  "I turned around and I kicked my medic's door 3 times and I said 'I need a medic!' as loud as I could scream it." Still shaken up by the incident, he held the child in arms as he quickly explained the situation to the medic on patrol, who acted immediately to bandage the child's burns while Sanders' team retrieved an interpreter to explain to the child's father that he needed to be taken to a nearby hospital.
Nearly six months following the incident, while on patrol, Sanders was relieved to see the young boy playing with his little sister around the same area.
"Putting me in for an award as high as this is," Sanders paused to think. "I'm humbled, it's almost overwhelming. I'm not used to being credited for anything that I do."  Sanders is currently a team leader for the Personal Security Detachment of the 3rd BCT, 1st ID's cmdr, Army Col. John Spiszer.  He said he plans to continue on in his military career, explaining that it's the structure he's always needed in his life. "They're going to have to throw me out of the military," he said jokingly. "I've been doing this job for 8 years and I wouldn't give it up."
Sanders emphasized the importance of his job as a Soldier and why he chose the infantryman's path. "I do what I do not because of the man to the right and to the left of me.  I do what I do not because of college, not because of the things that people see you for.  I don't do it for glory, honor, or integrity and I don't do it for my country," Sanders said assertively.  "I do it for my countrymen and women, but not so much in the sense that you would think.  I do it so they won't have to."

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, Combined Joint TF - 101 cmdr presents SSgt. Sanders with the Soldiers Medal.

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