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October 11, 2004
[Have an opinion about the issues discussed in this article?
Sound
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By Juliana Gittler,
Stars and Stripes European Edition
 |
| 1st Lt. Thomas Hernandez, holding notebook,
talks to an Iraqi farmer about flooding on his land near Ash-Shumali,
Babil province. In the background are other members of the 1st
Battalion, 185th Armor Regiment's civil-military operations
team: Sgt. Brian Freeman, left, and Capt. Rafael Obieta. A translator
is at the far left.(Juliana Gittler / Stars and Stripes) |
CONVOY SUPPORT CENTER SCANIA, Iraq — A group of California
National Guard soldiers has assumed an unfamiliar job in southern
Iraq:
building bridges, buildings and culverts while helping to maintain
security in a small sliver of the war-torn nation.
Members of the 1st
Battalion, 185th Armor Regiment arrived in Iraq and assumed
security operations in an area 150 miles south of Baghdad. As part
of their security plan, they are working on civil-military operations
that help locals stay peaceful by rebuilding their communities.
“These folks are pretty coalition friendly, which lets us get our
projects off the ground quickly,” said team leader Capt. Scott R.
Moreland. “That’s why it’s remained peaceful. We really aggressively
pursued civil-military operations as a command-sponsored operation.”
The concept is an Army
standard. But the soldiers making it happen are unconventional.
They normally work with tanks and infantry. It’s their backgrounds
that made the difference.
“The beauty is we came in with some background,” said Sgt. Brian
Freeman, an electrical engineer, who previously did project management
in the Air
Force. “The only thing that changed for me is the body armor
and the scale of the projects.”
Also on the team is 1st Lt. Thomas Hernandez, who was in a civil
affairs unit as an enlisted soldier, and Capt. Rafael Obieta, a
civilian defense contractor for the Air Force.
Using their experience, they built a civil affairs program from
scratch.
“We had to kind of create it ourselves,” Moreland said.
They started smaller, less expensive projects that would be easier
to complete. They rebuilt battered footbridges over canals that
saved locals from walking miles out of their way. Cement water culverts
helped farmers with irrigation.
“Our credibility skyrocketed when we initiated our first project
in May,” said Lt. Col. James B. Sayers, the battalion commander.
“A lot of grandiose projects are great. But we stick to the basics.”
Doing small jobs, the Guard members have completed more than most
other battalion-size civil-military operations.
1st Lt. Thomas Hernandez, at right holding notebook, talks to
an Iraqi farmer about flooding on his land near Ash-Shumali,
while a translator, center, assists. Hernandez and other members
of the 1st Battalion, 185th Armor Regiment's civil-military
operations team spend time interacting with Iraqis, helping
to maintain peace in the area. (Juliana Gittler / S&S) |
The team uses local engineers to plan projects and hires local
contractors to build them. They work closely with local leaders
to prioritize.
“The bottom line is we’re getting the Iraqis involved,” Obieta
said.
The team of about a dozen people — some doing projects while others
conduct security and information gathering — has completed 31 projects
and is working on 11 more.
Their success is demonstrated by stability in the region, the Guard
members say. Local residents, pleased with their improved communities,
chased away insurgents over the summer and provide intelligence,
Sayers said. There have been few attacks in the area for months.
“I think our CMO program is a major part of our force protection,”
Sayers said.
The group’s success is filtering to other units with a similar
mission. A project database created by Freeman and the team’s operating
procedures are circulating in other areas where battalions hope
to re-create the results.
The team members, despite doing jobs the Army didn’t train them
for, are rewarded by the results.
“I can go home now and tell my son, here are the good things we
did for the people of Iraq,” Moreland said. “It’s like our own little
Peace Corps with guns.”
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