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

Iraqi Security Forces will partner with the 41st Fires Brigade and occupy several checkpoints and patrol bases previously manned by the 1st Georgian Brigade.

“We want to train and work with the U.S. Army,” said Sergeant Namel Watak, 32nd Iraqi Army Brigade.

Namel is with a contingent of soldiers from the 32nd IA Bde., who are working together with soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment at checkpoints in Wasit to keep the province stable and secure.

“We like our job here of running the traffic control point and providing security at the entrance of the patrol base,” he said.

The plan is to have a complete partnership with the Iraqi Soldiers, said 2nd Lt Charles Hines, with the 2-20 FA Regt., and the IA liaison at the patrol base.

“Right now, the Iraqi soldiers have taken over the responsibility of the traffic control point, but we are going to train them to be able to take over the entire patrol base, go and do presence patrols and set-up temporary traffic control points in our area,” he said.

The 41st Fires Bde. established a very good working relationship with both the Iraqi Police and the IA, said Col. Richard M. Francey, Jr., 41st Fires Bde commander.

“We are integrating with the ISF to make us a better fighting force,” he said. “They have stepped up to the plate, and their partnership is why we are able to take over the mission that the Georgians had to leave behind, with no change in the security and safety of the Iraqi people.”

For Namel, working with the Americans is a chance to get better training, and learn as much from the U.S. Soldiers as he can.

“I want to fight fiercely alongside the U.S. Army,” he said. By working with the Americans, “I get more training to be able to do the job.”

MNF-I

Corporal Sam Weaver, from Fayetteville, N.C., an assistant team leader with Company B, 13th Psychological Operations Battalion, talks to residents of the city of Suwayrah in northern Wasit province. As part of a patrol with Soldiers of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment. Weaver spoke with citizens to learn about their views and concerns on several issues.

Walking down the busy streets of Suwayrah at sundown, the city’s residents met Soldiers with handshakes and friendly smiles. Children gathered everywhere the Soldiers stopped to talk to residents.

As the patrol of Soldiers from 1st Platoon, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment continued on its way, the children followed, practicing their English and enjoying the early evening stroll.

“Wherever we roll, it’s like a parade,” said Sgt. Robert Delong, an infantryman from central Minnesota, whose previous deployment to Iraq was in Ramadi. This time around, he said, things are different.

Soldiers of Co. B, 2nd Bn., 6th Inf. Regt. conducted joint patrols with their Iraqi army counterparts in the northern Wasit province, July 10. The patrol was not only a way of showing their presence, but to gather information on local businesses and to hear local citizens’ concerns.

Soldiers of Co. B’s 1st Plt. began their day with an early morning patrol in Raminiyah, along the west bank of the Tigris River, visiting Sons of Iraq checkpoints and talking with local citizens and community leaders. In the rural parts of Co. B’s area, where there are few police, the SoI help keep the roads safe and prevent insurgents and weapons from coming into the area. It’s an around-the-clock task, and many of the checkpoints have tents or shelters nearby where SoI members rest between shifts.

The Soldiers of Co. B, attached to the 1st Bn., 76th Field Artillery Regt., 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, make sure the checkpoints are manned and the SoI have what they need as part of their patrols.

Later, they met up with IA Soldiers of the 3rd Bde., 2nd IA Div. in the city of Suwayrah. After pairing up with their IA “battle buddies,” the Soldiers conducted a joint patrol on foot, taking them through the city’s main streets.

“At this stage we try to get the population on our side,” Delong said. “We try to maintain their happiness and give them things that they need. Basically, we ask them what they need, and we take notes.”

“It’s been unusual for me, because I’m not used to working with the population. This deployment, it’s candy and sunshine every day. People come out of their houses to see you. It’s been difficult for a lot of us vets to get used to. It’s just like talking to friends back home.”

Another difference Delong noted is the quiet.

“When I go to sleep, I don’t hear bombs going off. I don’t hear gunfire,” he said.

In recent years, Suwayrah has been a relative island of peace in comparison to its neighbors to the north and west. Since Company B arrived here more than two months ago, there have been no attacks aimed at coalition forces, said Capt. Dustin Ornatowski, commander of Company B. With little insurgent or criminal activity in the area, his company’s main mission now is to help local citizens repair damaged infrastructure and build their economy, he said.

“Economics and infrastructure are the biggest problems in this area,” said Ornatowski, of Edwardsburg, Mich. “You’re always going to have leftover insurgency elements and criminal elements wherever you go. Right now, those elements are not actively fighting against us in this area,” he said.

Company B Soldiers are working to identify key leaders and find out what the communities in their area need the most. Currently, they hear mostly of the need for reliable electricity and water pumps to keep the region’s irrigation canals flowing, said Ornatowski. Many pumps are damaged or missing, and getting them running again is necessary to supply farmers in the area.

“The [citizens] are expecting us to come in here and help them get infrastructure working,” Ornatowski said. “That’s going to be the hardest thing.”

Gathering information on local businesses, schools and hospitals is a vital part of their patrols, said Ornatowski. Working with the IA helps them to get that information, as well as puts an Iraqi face on the mission, he said. Partnering his Soldiers with IA Soldiers also helps to foster mutual trust and cooperation. One thing Company B Soldiers took note of was the number of businesses owned by women, something they hope to encourage with micro-grants and working with community groups.

“Now that we’ve been working with them a little more, they’ve started to get to know my Soldiers and see how my Soldiers interact with the people, and they’re more willing to do joint projects,” said Ornatowski.

“They’re feeling us out as much as we’re feeling them out,” he said.

Though Company B is committed to helping residents in their area help with projects, Delong said establishing trust is the first priority.

“The IA absolutely love going out on missions. They tell us what buildings are what. They like working with us and we like working with them,” he said. “We don’t promise anything, but we always tell them we will do the best we can, and they appreciate everything we do,” he said.

Besides helping to get reconstruction projects going, Ornatowski said establishing trust has direct benefits for his Soldiers as well.

“That’s the best thing we can do,” he said. “Then, if criminal elements move into the area and attempt to fight us or take direct action against us, the populace will be the first ones to let us know about that.”

DVIDS
By Sgt. David Turner
4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

Pfc. Takeysha Washington, a medic assigned to 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, measures an infant’s vital signs—pulse, temperature and blood pressure—during a medical civil action program in Abu Amer, Iraq, March 28. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Tami Hillis)

Residents of Abu Amer, a small village in the Wasit province of Iraq, received medical assistance March 28 from Coalition forces during a medical civil action program designed to provide basic primary care.

Using a school as a makeshift clinic, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, attached to 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, secured the area before announcing, via loudspeaker, the opportunity for residents to receive health care and humanitarian assistance.

Once word of the MEDCAP was broadcast, people began to pour in from the streets, forming a line just outside the school.

Maj. Howard Curlin, 703rd Brigade Support Battalion surgeon; Capt. Jacob Turnquist, 4th BCT surgeon; and Maj. Marilyn Lazarz, an Army public health nurse with Company B, 415th Civil Affairs, led the team examining, diagnosing, treating and advising the patients, along with the help of nine medics.

At the initial screening station, combat medics, assisted by translators, interviewed each patient for medical history and previous treatments and noted his or her ailment on a slip of paper. Then the medics measured each patient’s vital signs—pulse, temperature and blood pressure.

“The locals who were seen at the medical event were grateful for the medical care provided to them by the doctors, medics and nurse,” said Lazarz, who has been a public health nurse for 18 years. “Coalition forces continue to build relationships with the locals and continue to make a difference in their everyday lives.”

As the day continued, medical personnel saw 212 patients, ranging from infants to elderly, with various ailments. Medical issues ranged from common joint and back pain to infections and gastrointestinal disorders.

“We’re only equipped with a limited supply of medications,” said Turnquist, a pediatrician by trade. “We know going in there that we’re potentially going to see hundreds of people.”

Most of the medications handed out were over-the-counter medicines, said the Rockford, Ill. native. Cold medicines, multivitamins, antibiotics and topical medicines for rashes were also distributed.

Each patient received an evaluation, treatment, medicine if needed and humanitarian assistance—food, soccer balls, beanie babies, candy—donated by various Soldiers in the support battalion, said Capt. Casey Woody, commander of Company C, 703rd BSB.

“We went in there assessing what the people were coming in with, what complaints they had, what their age range was and what their demographics were,” Turnquist said. “That information itself is helpful hopefully down the road when we can provide that to the Ministry of Health to see if they can get more long-term medical support to that area.”

Overall, Woody felt the MEDCAP achieved its objective.

“I’m proud of my Soldiers and how they conducted themselves,” said the father of two from Plymouth, Mich. “If you can help a person, it’s a good feeling. I think we’re doing a lot of things, and we’re working in the right direction with the ePRT (embedded Provincial Reconstruction team) and civil affairs … We know we’re not going to fix this problem in a year, but we want to get them on the right start.”

Task Force Marne
By Sgt. 1st Class Tami Hillis