thedrifter
03-04-08, 05:13 AM
State Marines reach out to Iraqis
Troops gauge residents' feelings on issues including security, prices
By MEG JONES
mjones@journalsentinel.com
Posted: March 3, 2008
Sadiqiyah, Iraq - The questions were simple.
Were residents pleased with police protection?
Was their neighborhood secure?
What about food prices at the local market?
It was not unlike any survey in the United States, but what made this poll unusual were the poll-takers and their respondents.
On Sunday morning, a group of Wisconsin Marines fanned out in this community in Iraq's Anbar province. Although they were heavily armed, wearing body armor and driving Humvees, the Marines were here to get the pulse of the people.
On their second deployment to Iraq, members of the Milwaukee-based Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines are still looking for bad guys. But now they're getting help from residents fed up with the violence and turmoil in their country. Which is why Marines of the 2nd Platoon patiently walked up alleys, knocked on doors, asked to speak to the parents of the children excitedly following them and stopped at businesses to talk to shopkeepers.
"It used to be called census ops, but now it's called atmospherics - finding out how they feel," said Cpl. Brandon Neville, 26, of Cedarburg.
The questionnaire on half-size sheets of paper was written in Arabic on one side and English on the other and asked folks to rate their answers by a percentage. If someone was happy about how his or her city was being run, the respondent scribbled 75% or 100%; if the person thought food prices were too high, the respondent answered 0% or 25%.
While some elected to write their answers on the sheets of paper, most answered while Lance Cpl. Brad Ley, 22, of Racine listened to the interpreter and wrote down the responses. Ley is one of several in Fox Company who took advanced Arabic classes before his deployment.
Many complained about the lack of electricity and jobs and praised the Iraqi police for making Sadiqiyah safer. A barber stopped cutting the hair of a customer - a task that earns him about $2.50 - to write his answers and mentioned to Ley that his barbershop was stuffy because there was no electricity to run a fan.
"It was hot in there," Ley said moments after walking out of the shop, sweat beading his brow. He said everyone complains about the power shortages.
Children follow
The Marines continued walking down the dusty street past shops selling shoes, bed frames, tires, Pepsi and oil changes, collecting more children in their wake, mostly young boys yelling, "Mister! Mister!" and clamoring for souvenirs: Band-Aids, candy, money, pens. They didn't have any candy to pass out, which the Marines said was a good thing because if they did, the crowd would grow even bigger.
The interpreter gave packages of Big Red cinnamon-flavored gum to a boy and two girls. Within minutes, the kids grimaced and stuck out their tongues, asking in Arabic why the gum tasted hot.
Some residents asked for medical help, and others wanted to know about a family member who had been taken away months or even years earlier by coalition forces. Ley wrote down the names of the family members to check on their status and report to the Iraqis. Neville explained that sometimes the Marines look up names and learn that the detained people - who family members insist are innocent - were caught with bombs or bomb-making equipment.
Mostly, the Marines listened, took notes and promised to help get them more electricity and clean water. Sometimes residents will tell them about suspected terrorist activity.
"You have to talk to the people. Just like at home - you know who lives on your block, you know what's happening on your street," Neville said.
Fox Company and the rest of 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines arrived in Iraq in late January for a tour that's expected to last seven months. Most of Fox Company is based in Habbaniyah, west of Baghdad between Fallujah and Ramadi, though much of the 2nd Platoon is at a command outpost overlooking the city of Husaybah.
About Fox Company
Fox Company's headquarters are on Milwaukee's lakefront, and most of the few hundred Marines in the unit come from southeastern Wisconsin. They range in age from 19 to mid-40s and include an uncle-nephew combo. About one-third served in Iraq during the battalion's first deployment in 2004-'05.
Like many Reserves units, the Marines of Fox Company represent a wide range of professions - law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians, factory workers, tradesmen such as plumbers and carpenters, a commercial airline pilot, a funeral director and a nuclear engineer.
"It's a nice cross section of America," said Capt. Jeff Wong, the company's second-in-command.
"That's the one thing that's different about the Reserves. They've been together for a while and have deployed before. There's definitely a family feel to the group," said Wong, who is from California.
For the next five months-plus, Fox Company will be responsible for continuing the relationships the U.S. military has forged with the leaders of a dozen tribes along the Euphrates River in what's known as the Fallujah-Ramadi corridor.
Although Anbar province was once one of Iraq's most dangerous regions, it's now one of the quietest. That doesn't mean it's entirely silent. Fox Company was hit by an improvised explosive device its first week here, destroying a vehicle but causing no casualties. And the unit has found numerous weapons caches and bomb-making sites, said Maj. Guillermo Rosales, the company's commander.
The goal is to someday soon turn over all of Anbar province to Iraqi forces, which means helping bring stability to the region by "promoting good governance, economic development and a competent Iraqi security force," said Rosales, of Chicago.
Ellie
Troops gauge residents' feelings on issues including security, prices
By MEG JONES
mjones@journalsentinel.com
Posted: March 3, 2008
Sadiqiyah, Iraq - The questions were simple.
Were residents pleased with police protection?
Was their neighborhood secure?
What about food prices at the local market?
It was not unlike any survey in the United States, but what made this poll unusual were the poll-takers and their respondents.
On Sunday morning, a group of Wisconsin Marines fanned out in this community in Iraq's Anbar province. Although they were heavily armed, wearing body armor and driving Humvees, the Marines were here to get the pulse of the people.
On their second deployment to Iraq, members of the Milwaukee-based Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines are still looking for bad guys. But now they're getting help from residents fed up with the violence and turmoil in their country. Which is why Marines of the 2nd Platoon patiently walked up alleys, knocked on doors, asked to speak to the parents of the children excitedly following them and stopped at businesses to talk to shopkeepers.
"It used to be called census ops, but now it's called atmospherics - finding out how they feel," said Cpl. Brandon Neville, 26, of Cedarburg.
The questionnaire on half-size sheets of paper was written in Arabic on one side and English on the other and asked folks to rate their answers by a percentage. If someone was happy about how his or her city was being run, the respondent scribbled 75% or 100%; if the person thought food prices were too high, the respondent answered 0% or 25%.
While some elected to write their answers on the sheets of paper, most answered while Lance Cpl. Brad Ley, 22, of Racine listened to the interpreter and wrote down the responses. Ley is one of several in Fox Company who took advanced Arabic classes before his deployment.
Many complained about the lack of electricity and jobs and praised the Iraqi police for making Sadiqiyah safer. A barber stopped cutting the hair of a customer - a task that earns him about $2.50 - to write his answers and mentioned to Ley that his barbershop was stuffy because there was no electricity to run a fan.
"It was hot in there," Ley said moments after walking out of the shop, sweat beading his brow. He said everyone complains about the power shortages.
Children follow
The Marines continued walking down the dusty street past shops selling shoes, bed frames, tires, Pepsi and oil changes, collecting more children in their wake, mostly young boys yelling, "Mister! Mister!" and clamoring for souvenirs: Band-Aids, candy, money, pens. They didn't have any candy to pass out, which the Marines said was a good thing because if they did, the crowd would grow even bigger.
The interpreter gave packages of Big Red cinnamon-flavored gum to a boy and two girls. Within minutes, the kids grimaced and stuck out their tongues, asking in Arabic why the gum tasted hot.
Some residents asked for medical help, and others wanted to know about a family member who had been taken away months or even years earlier by coalition forces. Ley wrote down the names of the family members to check on their status and report to the Iraqis. Neville explained that sometimes the Marines look up names and learn that the detained people - who family members insist are innocent - were caught with bombs or bomb-making equipment.
Mostly, the Marines listened, took notes and promised to help get them more electricity and clean water. Sometimes residents will tell them about suspected terrorist activity.
"You have to talk to the people. Just like at home - you know who lives on your block, you know what's happening on your street," Neville said.
Fox Company and the rest of 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines arrived in Iraq in late January for a tour that's expected to last seven months. Most of Fox Company is based in Habbaniyah, west of Baghdad between Fallujah and Ramadi, though much of the 2nd Platoon is at a command outpost overlooking the city of Husaybah.
About Fox Company
Fox Company's headquarters are on Milwaukee's lakefront, and most of the few hundred Marines in the unit come from southeastern Wisconsin. They range in age from 19 to mid-40s and include an uncle-nephew combo. About one-third served in Iraq during the battalion's first deployment in 2004-'05.
Like many Reserves units, the Marines of Fox Company represent a wide range of professions - law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians, factory workers, tradesmen such as plumbers and carpenters, a commercial airline pilot, a funeral director and a nuclear engineer.
"It's a nice cross section of America," said Capt. Jeff Wong, the company's second-in-command.
"That's the one thing that's different about the Reserves. They've been together for a while and have deployed before. There's definitely a family feel to the group," said Wong, who is from California.
For the next five months-plus, Fox Company will be responsible for continuing the relationships the U.S. military has forged with the leaders of a dozen tribes along the Euphrates River in what's known as the Fallujah-Ramadi corridor.
Although Anbar province was once one of Iraq's most dangerous regions, it's now one of the quietest. That doesn't mean it's entirely silent. Fox Company was hit by an improvised explosive device its first week here, destroying a vehicle but causing no casualties. And the unit has found numerous weapons caches and bomb-making sites, said Maj. Guillermo Rosales, the company's commander.
The goal is to someday soon turn over all of Anbar province to Iraqi forces, which means helping bring stability to the region by "promoting good governance, economic development and a competent Iraqi security force," said Rosales, of Chicago.
Ellie