Here are two articles from the military illustrating our efforts to help the Iraqis secure their long border with Iran.

Soldiers from Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment emplace an Unattended Ground Sensor during a nighttime operation Feb. 25. The sensors allow the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement to track potential smugglers and their routes, making sure their illegal cargo does not enter Iraq. Photo by Cody Harding

The border between Iraq and Iran is heavily guarded, with numerous forts on both sides. However, illegal weapons and other dangerous items are still carried into Iraq by smugglers who supply extremists fighting against the Iraqi government.

The Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement is tasked with dealing with security and interdicting smuggling along the border. With the national elections approaching, its job becomes even more important to the security of the voters across the country.

With tactical and technological assistance from A Troop, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, the DBE’s 3rd Battalion, 7th Brigade keeps a watch on the border with Iran in Wasit Province.

Spc. Paul Gauthier, a Cavalry Scout with “Assassin” Troop, said that working with the Iraqis is vital in protecting the border with Iran.

“There’s been talk of a lot of smuggling,” he said. “So we’re working with the Iraqis to try to minimize and cut down on all of the corruption and smuggling that’s going on.”

First Lt. Allan Keefer, A Troop, has patrolled the area several times and said that the Iraqi border guards in the area have been willing to train themselves and work with A Troop.

“They’re well trained; we’ve had a lot of previous MiT [Military Transition] Teams and U.S Border Enforcement agents here,” said Keefer. “So they’re trained on the individual tasks well. We’re working with them now so they can do their collective tasks.”

Gauthier, a Honey Brook, Pa. native, said that working with the Iraqis on stopping smuggling has been a great experience.

“They’re great to get along with,” said Gauthier. “They’re easy to talk to, they’re willing to learn, and it’s been going great so far.”

Keefer, from Mercersburg, Pa., shared similar sentiments.

“The Iraqis that are working on the border are getting better every day,” he said. “Their capabilities aren’t quite where ours are, but they’re using what they have and they’re doing a good job with it. Of course they can always get better.”

“We’ve denied a lot of terrain to the smugglers by dismounted patrols and different systems we use,” Keefer said. “And we’ve done that all with the Iraqis.”

DVIDS
Story by Cody Harding

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Frederick Do of Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment briefs his Soldiers before heading out to inspect Iraqi Guard Towers Feb. 25. The towers, which are used by the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement to help stop smuggling, are placed near the Iraqi border by the DBE. Photo by Cody Harding

The Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement, the Government of Iraq’s primary force for border security and the interdiction of smuggling, continues to keep an eye on the border with Iran.

They pursue and catch smugglers who attempt to cross the border with weapons, drugs or other means of harming the Iraqi people.

With help from A Troop, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, the Iraqi border guards of 3rd Battalion, 7th Brigade, Department of Border Enforcement, have added a new watchtower along Iraq’s border with Iran. The new tower will help trained observers crack down on smuggling and reduce the presence of insurgents.

Sgt. Steven Glatfelter, a non-commissioned officer with 1st Platoon “Assassin” Troop, said that working with the Iraqi DBE is a good mission for the unit.

“It’s like working with any Iraqis,” he said. “There’s challenges like language, but they’re eager to learn and they like working with us. They’re very friendly and engaging.”

The two-story tower, emplaced on the boundary between the 7th Brigade and 8th Brigade of the DBE, was placed in the area due to intelligence suggesting the area to be a possible smuggling route, said Capt. Travis Trammell, Assassin Troop commander.

The experience of working with the DBE is a new one for Assassin Troop, who have worked with the Iraqi Police and Army in the past, but not with the DBE, said Trammell.

“The tactics and techniques of the DBE are somewhat foreign to the troops”, he said. “But it has given them an opportunity to learn and they’ve enjoyed it. It’s an interesting setup that the DBE have and it’s something to see.”

Glatfelter, who is from Kinsers, Pa., said that he has seen substantial improvement in the border guards since his two previous tours in Iraq in 2005 and 2007.

“First time we were here, they were just following our lead”, he said. “It was a fledgling military force we were working with, and now they run the show. We are here now as an advise and assist brigade and that’s what we’re doing.”

DVIDS
Story by Cody Harding

Young men in blue jumpsuits scurried around, pushing wide carts filled with luggage. Thousands of people passed through a metal detector in a single day, many of them coming back to the country they call home, while others visited on religious tours.

Iraqi border police scanned and searched travelers as they crossed from Iran into Iraq, maintaining control of the crowd and ensuring safe travel for everyone.

“We protect the country from outside: from smugglers, from outside weapons,” said Pvt. Osama Samir, an Iraqi guard for the ministry of entrance.

The point of entry sees between 3,500 and 5,000 people cross in both directions each day. With that many people coming in and out of the country, it’s important for the Iraqi border enforcement agencies to maintain security of the operations.

“We try to protect our country… If we do our job faithfully and right, we can do that,” Samir added.

To help the Iraqi border enforcement in Wasit, five border transition teams work alongside them to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Three of the five border transition teams cover the border forts, one covers part of the border that extends into Diyala and another team helps with the inflow and outflow of travelers passing through the point of entry. The BTTs are made up of various Soldiers from 41st Fires Brigade; 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division; 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault); and others.

At Zurbatiyah, the team provides a dog team to search vehicles for bomb-making material, a biometrics database team and oversight for X-raying cargo.

Zurbatiyah is a small town located in northern Wasit province along the Iran-Iraq border. Many of the visitors come through Zurbatiyah to travel to Najaf and Karbala, known for their religious shrines and tourist sites.

“One thing I’ve noticed at this point of entry, it generates so many people, so much tourism, that the Iraqi country makes a lot of money for the economy,” said Sgt. 1st Class Shelby Cross, of Glen Burnie, Md., the non-commissioned officer in charge of the biometrics team at the Zurbatiyah point of entry.

Approximately 90 percent of the incoming visitors are Iranians, while the other 10 percent come from Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Europe.

It’s hard to estimate exactly how much money this point of entry generates in tourism, but it provides approximately 50,000 dollars in tax revenue a day from imported goods alone.

“There is a lot of cargo from Iran that comes into the country as well as fuel,” said Capt. Trond Ruud, a Kansas City, Mo., native and operations officer for one of the BTTs working at the point of entry. “You’ll see once you get out here, it’s quite an operation.”

The BTT trained IPs in searching techniques and crowd control to help in their mission. The teams also continually work with them to provide oversight. However, the BTT makes it very clear who is in charge at the border.

=“They’re [the Iraqi police officers] the direct link. We’re very quick to tell people we’re not the lead here. We support those in the lead,” said Maj. Roy Nickerson, of Radcliff, Ky., a BTT assistant leader.

The only coalition-driven mission at the point of entry is inputting visitors’ biometrics information. The team uses a Biometric Automated Toolset that stores iris scans, fingerprints, photographs and background information of military-aged males and links them to a major database both the FBI and the U.S. Army can use for security.

Upon input, the system alerts the team if they’ve come across wanted criminals or previous detainees.

In six months of working with the BAT system at the border, the team detained two high value individuals. One was wanted for making explosively-formed penetrators that injured three U.S. Soldiers and another was a terrorist group leader.

“If we can catch them on the BATs and take that one more person off the streets, that is our goal: helping the security of the country,” Cross said. “The more people we catch, the better it is for a country to build itself … that’s why we’re here.”

DVIDS
By Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret
Multi-National Division – Center