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thedrifter
01-18-04, 07:36 AM
The few, the proud pucker up

BY T.M. SHULTZ, Staff Writer
Jan 14, 2004


It's tough being a war fighter these days.

First you have to win the war, then you have to win the peace.

Marines from across the country are training in Yuma for the next 11 days, readying for a spring trip back to Iraq where they'll continue the coalition "peace-winning" effort.

Not only are they refreshing their skills on .50-caliber machine guns and how to protect themselves while being shot at, they're also being taught the graceful art of the three-cheek kiss.

No kidding.

On Tuesday they lined up to practice the traditional Iraqi greeting.

The lesson comes under the heading of cultural considerations, said Capt. Greg Poland of Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

Poland is helping with Support and Stabilization Operations (SASO) training for Marines from Twentynine Palms, Calif., and Beaufort, S.C.

While air-kissing may seem silly, it's not, Poland stresses. Marines heading into the dangerous and uncertain Sunni Triangle area west and north of Baghdad must be ready for anything without overreacting and possibly escalating a situation to where people get hurt — even if it's just their pride.

Iraqis are big on preserving their dignity and honor, said one young Marine whose battalion recently returned from Najaf without losing a single person.

"These are the teachers of the rest of the 1st Marine Division," Poland said of the young enlisted Marines who had spent time in Iraq after the active war ended in May and who have been brought to Yuma as teachers for Operation Desert Talon.

The massive military training exercise began this week and lasts until Jan. 24. It's the last intensive training these units will see before they leave for Iraq. For many of them, it will be a second tour, but for just as many, it will be their first.

So the Marine Corps is making sure they get the information they need to stay alive and win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, if possible.

"Our goal is to arm the Marines with a little bit of confidence," Poland said. "To teach them first and foremost that not everybody out there is a bad guy."

Still, the bottom line for the Marines is getting the mission done. Support squadrons will travel in convoys, often out into the Iraqi desert, setting up small, makeshift airfields called Forward Arming and Refueling Points, or FARPs.

They'll deliver fuel, food and all sorts of supplies to the airwings that need them, Poland said, and for that, they'll have to learn how to get from Point A to Point B alive.

Trigger discipline — knowing when not to shoot — is also critical.

"That's what will lose the peace for us," Poland said.

In the coming days, these Marines will learn that their first engagement with any Iraqi should be verbal. Any escalation should be cautious and appropriate to the situation, Poland explained.

As he spoke, about 50 Marines gathered around a young enlisted "teacher" from the 1st Division who told them the typical Iraqi dress looks like a nightgown and comes in all colors.

But in a crowd, if a Marine sees an Iraqi with a black shawl-like covering "like a blanket sitting on top of his shoulders" he's probably some form of leader and he's the man to talk to, the enlisted Marine said.

Most important are the men who wear a "wrap that sits on top of their head," theMarine continued. "That's some kind of religious leader, and people will believe whatever that guy says. When you see a religious leader you're going to treat them with the utmost respect. Don't drag him out and flex-cuff him, don't demean him, don't throw him on the deck. If you need to search him, ask. And do it behind a Humvee."

Then the Marine said an Arabic word that sounded like "shukran." It means "thank you" in Arabic.

"Shukran," he repeated softly. "Save them their dignity and honor."

http://yumasun.com/artman/publish/articles/story_9142.shtml

Sempers,

Roger
:marine: