Walking the Beat in Salman Pak
Cpl. Aaron Watts, from San Antonio and a rifleman with Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, escorts a young girl across the street during a dismounted foot patrol in Salman Pak, June 20.
By Spc. Ben Hutto, 3rd HBCT Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment stationed at a combat outpost in Salman Pak are getting to know the town’s citizens up close and personal.
Soldiers from 1-15th Infantry are spending more time interacting with the Salman Pak citizens during dismounted patrols.
Maj. Steve Delgado, the executive officer for 1-15 Infantry, explained that Soldiers live amongst the people they are trying to assist, and are able to respond to threats quicker than if they were living on Forward Operating Base Hammer – miles away. Living in Salman Pak also helps the 1-15 Infantry Soldiers understand their environment better.
“This helps us in two ways,†said Delgado. “One, we become closer to the populace by sharing some of the same experiences and trials as they do, and it helps us think like the threat force. We now know where they live, hide, run to and attack.â€
All of this information has been very helpful to 1-15 during Operation Marne Torch, a Multi-National Division-Center operation which aims to eliminate insurgent sanctuaries southeast of Baghdad.
“We have been extremely successful in accomplishing our purpose for this operation, disrupting the extremists’ activities and denying them safe havens,†said Delgado. “We have accomplished this by conducting numerous operations which have uncovered a plethora of caches and we have detained numerous individuals.â€
All of the operations, according to Delgado, will help secure the area, making it safer for troops operating in the area and the people who live there.
“Generally, the response from the populace has been positive,†said Delgado. “The good people of Iraq know we are conducting operations to secure them and disrupt insurgent activities. They want to help us and try to provide assistance by giving us information. This operation is another opportunity to demonstrate to the populace how we are here to help.â€
I am the wife of the soldier in this photo and I would greatly appriciate it if you wouls spell his name right so that he can get the recognition he deserves. His name is Cpl. Aaron Watts, soon to be Sgt. Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you for service. Thank you for this great picture. It’s something that the stupid media continues to overlook. You guys are the best that America has to offer. Some people don’t deserve you. God Bless and Keep safe!!!