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ISF, MND-B Soldiers patrol Abu Ghuraib

Dec-16-2008 » Filed Under: 2/25 SBCT

Multi-National Division – Baghdad

BAGHDAD – Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad patrolled streets in Baghdad’s Abu Ghuraib district Dec. 13.

IA soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 24th Brigade, 6th IA Division searched houses in the district’s Abu Nasir neighborhood with Coalition force Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, MND-B.

Increasingly, Coalition forces have begun to step back and assume more of a support role as the ISF step towards operational independence.

“We have been working with this unit for several months, but we haven’t been working this close until recently,” said 1st Lt. Maxwell Pappas, platoon leader for Company B, 1st Bde., 21st Inf. Regt., 2nd SBCT, 25th Inf. Div., MND-B.

The ISF have been learning their role and through the training provided by the MND-B Soldiers they are gaining confidence in their ability to maintain a secure and prosperous future.

“When I first came over here, I was worried about working with the Iraqi soldiers,” said Spc. Jonathan Gomez, communication specialist with Company B., 1st Bde., 21st Inf. Reg., 2nd SBCT, 25th Inf. Div., MND-B. “But now I am confident as ever that when we leave they will be able to do their job successfully.”

Operations like a combined patrol have been a vital opportunity for the Iraqi army to gain education and experience.

Combined operations alone are not going to make the ISF successful, said Pappas. Getting the GoI being capable of managing the personnel and equipment supply system is going to be a long term process.

“If you build a medical clinic, all it is, is a building unless you have the supplies for it; the doctors who work in it and the logistic exchange for it,” he said. “You have to make sure it’s re-supplied with medicine and make sure there are roads so the people can get to that place. It’s not just constructing a building – it’s making sure the whole system works.”

As the ISF move forward to be self sustaining, working with Coalition forces and having their support will give them the best chance for success.


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