3rd Battalion, 6th Marines augmented by civil affairs teams are continuously working with Fallujah City Council members, local tribal leaders and local citizens to carry out projects in an effort to improve the city’s infrastructure.

Civil affairs leaders and Army Corps of Engineers met with the city council’s director generals today, to talk about projects that will provide key services throughout the city, such as improving the water distribution systems.

The city is now in the planning stages of establishing a new water distribution network. 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines recently approved a project to purchase needed parts for a water treatment facility, which will service the majority of Fallujah. Right now, the facilities have inoperable pumps and other parts that are in a state of disrepair. The installation of new pumps and filters at the Azerghia water treatment facility will bring the facility back to its previous prewar output capacity.

“The initiative to solve all water problems for Fallujah lies in the pipe network,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane Duhe, Civil Affairs Team 5 team leader. “When the pipe network works properly, the water treatment plants already established along the Euphrates River will certainly be able to support all of the city’s needs.”

Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams introduced reverse-engineering concepts to the directors that are currently being developed. Reverse engineering concepts that the Army Corps of Engineers use will spare the expense of rebuilding existing facilities, thus saving money and labor time.

Another high priority on the Fallujah City Council’s list is the Telecommunications Headquarters in the city. Up to 45,000 citizens will benefit from having land line telephone service at their disposal.
“Over the past five years, many services have been degraded,” Duhe said. “Phone services are important to all citizens in Fallujah because they need to be able to call emergency services and police hotlines. This has a direct impact on local security.”

Civil affairs teams continue to work on projects to facilitate the reconstruction of basic needs such as water, sewage and electricity. Their mission is to assist in transition by working with the local Iraqi government to build strong infrastructure for Fallujah.

DVIDS
By: Cpl. Chris Lyttle
Regimental Combat Team 1

The halls remain empty, the sirens are silent, the only thing collecting on the floor is dust from the staff walking in and out; boredom is consistent, and no one is complaining.

This is the state of one of the U.S. forces most actively used hospitals in Iraq, Fallujah Surgical. Fallujah Surgical, once a frequent stop for combat casualties, is no longer treating many injured warriors in combat due to the sharp decrease in violence in al Anbar province, but is instead a clinic treating common day-to-day injuries. The sign outside the emergency entrance, although minute, has big meaning… “No blood needed at this time.”

According to reports, May of 2008 held the lowest number of coalition casualties since 2004. Much of that can be contributed to the combined efforts of local sheiks, Iraqi police, Iraqi soldiers, and coalition Forces in quelling the violence.

Gen. David Petraeus, commanding general of the Multi-National Forces – Iraq, stated during his report to congress, Sept. 10, 2007, that the most significant development in Iraq was the rejection of al-Qaida by tribal leaders, and how it has shown dramatic changes in al-Anbar.

“A year ago the province was assessed ‘lost’ politically,” he said “Today, it is a model of what happens when local leaders and citizens decide to oppose al-Qaida and reject its Taliban-like ideology.”

Tribal leaders realized that al-Qaida was lying to them about American forces wanting to occupy their land and destroy their mosques, spawning “The awakening” amongst 41 tribes.

“The awakening was not our move,” said Lt. Col. Bill McCollough, the regimental tribal engagement officer, with the Regimental Combat Team 1. “The tribal leaders and people stood up and said, ‘we cannot tolerate what al-Qaida is doing to us any more.’ We had made overtures to them, but they had to come to the final decision to join us in the fight against al-Qaida. Once they did, we built a partnership to rid al Anbar of the murder, terror and lawlessness of al-Qaida.”

The Marines in Fallujah through recent months have been progressively pulling out of the city leaving only a small contingent of Marines mentoring and assisting the Iraqis to help take control over the city of Mosques. These changes have helped make Fallujah a much safer place for coalition forces and the citizens of Fallujah, leaving coalition hospitals a much more mundane place of employment spent waiting rather than acting.

“The no blood sign is a dramatic change from last year, we don’t need any blood, we don’t have any patients that need it,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Leticia Ruenas, a 30-year-old hospital corpsman at Fallujah Surgical from Pico Rivera, Calif.

Ruenas worked at Fallujah Surgical from September of 2006 to March of 2007.

“We put that sign up last year because we were in constant need of blood. I looked at the log book from last year, for a period of time it was either everyday or every other day that we needed to tap into the blood bank. Since we got out here we haven’t had to use it once,” she added.

In a job where boredom is looked at as a good thing, the hospital staff is stuck in a difficult spot, wanting to utilize there skills they have trained on for months prior to their deployment in Iraq, but also hoping never to have to use them.

“I was expecting a lot more before I came out here, but once I got out here I saw how slow it was,” said Hospitalman Oscar J. Castillo, a 20-year old-corpsman at Fallujah Surgical from San Francisco.

Instead of treating mass amounts of combat casualties, the hospital staff trains constantly just incase their skills are needed by one of the many warriors patrolling the streets of Fallujah.

“We haven’t had nearly as many chances to utilize our skills compared to those before us, but we just try and do some surprise drills to keep our guys skills up,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Alisha L. Munoz, a 30-year-old hospitalman at Fallujah Surgical from Yakima, Wash.

Munoz deployed to Baghdad in April 2006 to October of 2007 and received weekly reports concerning the action at Fallujah surgical and can remember avoiding Fallujah and taking alternate routes around it because of the violence.

“It has definitely slowed down a lot since the last time I was here. The young guys were expecting to come out here and be mopping up blood, because Fallujah always had action and always had casualties, but they aren’t seeing anything, ,” she added.

Unfortunately for some, the images of a blood soaked hallway are not images they expected to see, but images they were forced to see when combat was high and Fallujah was overrun by insurgents.

“As far as between now and the last time I was here, it is definitely more relaxed, from having a possibility of a casualty coming in compared to knowing that you were definitely going to see it,” said Fleet Marine Force Chief Jose E. Perez, a 36-year-old hospitalman, from Rio Hando Texas, Fallujah Shock Trauma platoon.

“It was almost every day we had a combat casualty coming through the door. We had one day when patients outnumbered the staff and we had 115 people on staff. I think we had approximately 117 casualties come in that day.”

Since the summer of 2007 and the formation of the Anbar Awakening, monthly coalition troop casualties have been steadily declining; about two-thirds since the summer of 2007, according to Department of Defense records. An RCT-1 unclassified intelligence report revealed incidents in and around the Fallujah area have dropped drastically from around 250 reported incidents in December 2006, to less than 10 in December 2007. Iraqi army and police units have been working hand-in-hand with coalition troops. Iraqi forces have even started to command and control their own operations.

Maj. Gen. John F. Kelly, commander of Multi-National Force – West said he’s amazed by vast improvements across Anbar province, with a sharp drop in violence and continued progress among Iraqi security forces.

“It’s stunning to me how low (violence levels) are,” Kelly told Pentagon reporters from a video-conference center in Baghdad on, March 10.

“When I left here three years ago, you could not go into the cities — Fallujah, Ramadi, places like that — without a rifle company of Marines, and it was a gunfight going in and a gunfight going out,” Kelly said.

However, coalition forces still remain vigilant in their mission at hand, the number of attacks against them have decreased, but haven’t disappeared.

Just as in combat, complacency is never tolerated and one must remain ever vigilant to perform his duties if the situation calls for it.

“You could get real complacent out here; it gets boring sometimes, so we do what we can to keep us busy. It’s a good thing, it means no one is getting injured,” said Castillo.

DVIDS
By Cpl. Stephen M. McGinnis
Regimental Combat Team 1

Coalition and Iraqi security forces are diligently working together to aid Iraq in its pursuit of becoming an independent state. Progress is being made daily with keeping al Qaida in Iraq at bay and transferring security responsibilities to the Iraqi people, allowing coalition forces to transition to tactical overwatch.

An example of such progress is the demilitarization of Fallujah’s new bridge by the Marines of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, on April 24. Formerly used exclusively for military traffic only, the bridge has now opened its roadways to the rest of city’s populace.

“We’re opening the bridge and the roads up to give the people of Fallujah a sense of normalcy back,” said Staff Sgt. Thomas A. Pieratti, platoon commander, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine’s Jump Platoon.

Opening the bridge has also freed up one of two roads that led from concrete barriers and frequently congested traffic. The barrier removals became a major improvement for local commuters traveling in and out of the city.

Col. Faisal Ismail al-Zobaie, Fallujah’s chief of police, joined the Marines at the bridge opening at 10:30 a.m. and civilian traffic began flowing shortly afterward.

“We’re getting these people back on track to return to their normal lives,” said Sgt. Maj. Rodney A. Robinson, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines’ Sergeant Major.

With Fallujah police manning a guard-shack on the bridge, Col. Faisal showed Lt. Col. James B. Zientek, 3rd Bn. 6th Marines’ commanding officer, where other policemen would stand post and how they will take the lead in security.

The transition of operations from coalition forces into the hands of the Iraqi security forces is an important step in restoring security to the country. Simple feats such as opening up bridges and roads to the local citizens are a positive sign of a country progressing towards normacly.

“When we give more of the country back to the people, it gives them a sense of pride in that country,” Pieratti said. “That pride will make them more likely to fight for their country.”

That pride is evident through the people of the once war-torn city of Fallujah. With its flowing Iraqi flags at every turn and Iraqi soldiers and policemen in uniform congregating in the city streets amongst the people, the city is showing its hopes for a brighter future.

DVIDS
By Cpl. Sean P. McGinty, Combat Correspondent

Commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Col. Michael McBride, speaks with a shop owner at a Samarra city market in January.

After completion of a recent operation reconnecting old economic partners, the people of the northern-Iraqi city of Samarra can breathe again.

The “Bastogne” Soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, recently finished conducting multiple operations that cleared al-Qaida fighters and other enemy extremist from the desert areas west and south of Samarra, including the southern portion of the city.

Over the past year al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) has had a chokehold on the “Fallujah Road”, the main road between al Anbar province’s population centers and Samarra.

They have operated freely on and around the Salah ad Din Province portion of the route, restricting travel between the two areas.

Al-Qaida had forced civilian traffic to alternate routes, choking this critical economic line of communication. The enemy did this by hijacking and kidnapping drivers; preying upon helpless travelers and truck drivers in the secluded areas of the desert away from security forces.

According to Maj. Jim DeOre, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment operations officer, “this had many Iraqis traveling considerable distances out of the way, forcing them to use a great deal of fuel and energy in the process.

“The restriction of travel on this route strangled the economic growth of the city and its surrounding towns and villages,” said DeOre. “Opening this road displays to the Iraqis that Iraqi security (ISF) and coalition forces (CF) are making positive gains in their efforts to remove AQI’s criminal influence over the people.”

These enemy extremist had smothered this passageway by kidnapping, murdering, and extorting money from any civilians traveling on the route. The emplacement of improvised explosive devices (IED) ultimately made civilian travel on this thoroughfare almost non-existent, according to DeOre, whose battalion controls the area where most of the route runs.

The opening of the route offers more convenient travel for people looking to drive between Salah ad Din and Anbar. This freedom of movement for Iraqis and is attributed to the construction of checkpoints along the route and the establishment of the Sons of Iraq (SoI) groups manning them.

By having a 24-hour, 7-day a week over watch on the route, Iraqi and coalition forces can ensure AQI doesn’t return to the area and terrorize the local populace.

“These security positions deny use of the road to the criminal activity of AQI fighters, thereby making the area safer for people traveling on the road and those who live in the area,” DeOre said.

Captain Nathan Hicks, commander of Delta Company, 2-327, said SoI members in his unit’s area are pointing out hiding places AQI use to conceal their bombs and dangerous weapons. Hick’s unit, responsible for most of the route running into Samarra, routinely speaks with SoI groups in its area seeking out information leading to weapons caches and enemy hideouts.

“The greatest effect the SoI have on the people here is making their homes and towns safer,” said Hicks. “Brave men are standing up SoI groups to deny AQI sanctuary there.”

If coalition forces are correct in their assessment that this route will stimulate the economy of Samarra, thousands of people will see and feel the positive impact. The transport of goods and services will allow the economy growth of the city of Samarra, and the surrounding areas along the route. It will also improve the quality of life for thousands of Iraqi citizens.

One day during the first week of the route opening, a coalition force patrol had counted over 240 fuel trucks traveling on the road.

“Agricultural and fuel trucks travel this route by the hundreds everyday,” said DeOre. “We believe there is no doubt that this movement of goods between the provinces will stimulate the economy of large and small towns along the entire length of the road as well as the cities that are now linked by its opening.”

DVIDS
By Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Doheny
1st Brigade Combat Team,
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Public Affairs

It looks like a nice place to visit. For that, you can thank the United States Marines.

A truck loaded with goods drives onto the infamous “Blackwater” bridge. The bridge once the sight where insurgents hanged the bodies of mutilated American contractors, now acts as a gateway into a thriving marketplace.

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