thedrifter
08-17-05, 08:06 AM
1/6 eight-man team: Unlocking doors to Iraq’s future
2nd Marine Division
Story by Cpl. Mike Escobar
FALLUJAH, Iraq (August 17, 2005) -- The stone corridors that once housed bustling commuters and travelers lay ruined and empty under the scorching July sun. Piles of rubble, shards of plate glass, and walls riddled with bullet holes spoke of previous battles fought here. Only the sound of half-torn wallpaper that fluttered in the morning breeze gave any indication of those who once strolled these hallways.
Someone walking through the ruins of Northern Fallujah's abandoned train station might not see it for what it is; the proving grounds for the forces that will one day defend Iraqi’s security. It is inside these crumbling walls that service members from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. are helping the nation's security forces rise from the ashes.
This station is like a second home to Marines 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, who make up one of several Iraqi Security Forces training cadres across Western Iraq. The team is comprised of personnel ranging in experiences from teenaged Marines to seasoned combat veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq alike.
This group doesn’t wage war against insurgents by combing the city streets and the surrounding fields like their fellow brethren do everyday. They have a more permanent solution in mind; to train an Iraqi force capable of eliminating the insurgency within the country and continue to defend it afterward.
Day 1: Healing old wounds
"Welcome. My name is Sgt. Martins, and I will be your chief instructor for these next five days."
The 26-year-old instructor from Queens Village, N.Y. paused after addressing the 46 Iraqi soldiers as he waited for an interpreter to translate his introduction to the class.
The soldiers sat as a group much akin to what might be seen in any American high school on the first day of class; some slouched, a few dozed off and many sat staring curiously at their new teacher and unfamiliar surroundings.
But unlike the halls of a traditional academic institution, Martins had assembled his pupils in a makeshift outdoor classroom inside a walled-off compound of the train station. Each soldier sat behind old school desks under a canvas roof erected by the cadre's instructors to shield them from the blistering sun and temperatures frequently reaching 120 degrees.
Iraqi soldiers from the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 2nd Brigade had arrived just before 8 a.m. from several bases throughout Fallujah to attend this latest combat leaders’ course. Henceforth, these troops would not be distinguished by battalion, region or military background they came from. They would be known as one collective team: Class 7-05.
Martins peered out at the crowd before him. Some Iraqi troops wore desert camouflage caps; others used their uniform tops as hoods to further protect themselves from the raging sun. A few wore armbands, while fellow troops wore only an undershirt because they forgot their blouses at their base this morning.
The training cadre had only five days to transform this rag-tag bunch into a professional fighting force, and Martins wasted no time. He immediately began the morning by instructing a class on detainee handling and searching procedures.
"I teach the soldiers how to apprehend someone they see as a threat, or anyone who's acting a little suspicious," explained Martins, a former marksmanship instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. "I showed them the proper procedures to search people, and how to take them down to the ground if they start acting up."
Martins and his fellow cadre members supervised the Iraqi troops as they moved through the practical application stage of the course where they patted each other down for weapons and contraband while fellow soldiers simulated holding rifles at the ready, providing security for the searchers.
"We teach them to be polite and not treat the citizens they search like criminals," Martins stated. Security forces under Saddam Hussein's regime often brutalized and beat the people they supposedly protected. Cadre personnel teach the new Iraqi troops how to be 'firm but fair' with a populace that still often views them as corrupt and as contemptible as their predecessors. Martins told the troops that only by winning the trust of the community will the people continue providing them information about insurgent activities.
The soldiers and policemen broke away for lunch after having completed several hours of classroom instruction and practical application sessions on personnel handling. After chow, they returned to their desks for a class on combat lifesaving instructed by Petty Officer 2nd Class Phillip Jean-Gilles.
His assistant, Seaman Donald Martin, passed out sealed plastic bags containing cloth bandages, which the soldiers curiously prodded. As their studies moved into yet another practical application stage, they open them and practiced applying bandages to simulated injuries.
“Basically, we teach these individuals how to care for other soldiers under fire while the mission is still going on," said Jean-Gilles, a Miami native.
For the last part of this medical skills class, the corpsmen practiced the fireman and two-man carries alongside their students, as they showed the Iraqis how to hastily and safely evacuate a wounded man out of the line of fire.
The clock then struck 3 p.m., signaling the end of the day’s classes. The Soldiers chatted excitedly while they donned their bullet-proof vests and prepared to leave the training compound. They had learned valuable information, yet it was only a taste of what awaited them in the following days.
Day 2: On the offensive
The alleyways, rooftops and ruined multi-story buildings found in Fallujah's streets make for a challenging battlefield that 28-year-old Cpl. Brandon Connelly knows all to well. Insurgents find hiding spots within the city from which to engage military forces, as well as several potholes and rubble piles they can place roadside bombs.
At 8 a.m. sharp, Connelly commenced the second day's lessons with a lecture on these dangers and showing the students how to counter the threats.
"I teach the soldiers what squad formations are, and how to communicate using hand and arm signals while on patrol," the Toms River, N.J. native explained. "Every soldier learns what their job is while patrolling and conducting operations in Fallujah."
He made sure to give the troops plenty of five- and ten-minute breaks to refill their water bottles, as their entire morning would be spent gazing at Connelly and his patrol formation drawings on a chalkboard. After several hours, however, the soldiers had learned the specifics behind patrolling.
Coalition and Iraqi forces' squads learn to maintain several meters of dispersion in between each other, as to avoid a concentrated amount of damage should an explosive device detonate near one of them.
The Iraqi troops hastily ate lunch following this class and returned half an hour later, energized for a class and practical application session on conducting raid operation.
Lance Cpl. Peter Benson, another cadre instructor, drew out several chalkboard sketches on how the Iraqis must position themselves before assaulting an insurgent hideout. Minutes later, the troops had put on their battle gear and slung their AK-47 assault rifles to go after the insurgent, who was played by cadre instructor, Pfc. Philip Pepper of Tallahassee, Fla.
The soldiers surrounded the nearby building in trucks with mounted machine guns as fellow soldiers formed a protective perimeter. Others stacked up against the target building's walls before bursting in and apprehending Pepper.
This crafty insurgent, however, 'shot and killed' two Iraqi troops before going down himself. Now, the Iraqi troops put yesterday's medical training to use, as they bandaged and evacuated their casualties back to the classroom.
continued....
2nd Marine Division
Story by Cpl. Mike Escobar
FALLUJAH, Iraq (August 17, 2005) -- The stone corridors that once housed bustling commuters and travelers lay ruined and empty under the scorching July sun. Piles of rubble, shards of plate glass, and walls riddled with bullet holes spoke of previous battles fought here. Only the sound of half-torn wallpaper that fluttered in the morning breeze gave any indication of those who once strolled these hallways.
Someone walking through the ruins of Northern Fallujah's abandoned train station might not see it for what it is; the proving grounds for the forces that will one day defend Iraqi’s security. It is inside these crumbling walls that service members from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. are helping the nation's security forces rise from the ashes.
This station is like a second home to Marines 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, who make up one of several Iraqi Security Forces training cadres across Western Iraq. The team is comprised of personnel ranging in experiences from teenaged Marines to seasoned combat veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq alike.
This group doesn’t wage war against insurgents by combing the city streets and the surrounding fields like their fellow brethren do everyday. They have a more permanent solution in mind; to train an Iraqi force capable of eliminating the insurgency within the country and continue to defend it afterward.
Day 1: Healing old wounds
"Welcome. My name is Sgt. Martins, and I will be your chief instructor for these next five days."
The 26-year-old instructor from Queens Village, N.Y. paused after addressing the 46 Iraqi soldiers as he waited for an interpreter to translate his introduction to the class.
The soldiers sat as a group much akin to what might be seen in any American high school on the first day of class; some slouched, a few dozed off and many sat staring curiously at their new teacher and unfamiliar surroundings.
But unlike the halls of a traditional academic institution, Martins had assembled his pupils in a makeshift outdoor classroom inside a walled-off compound of the train station. Each soldier sat behind old school desks under a canvas roof erected by the cadre's instructors to shield them from the blistering sun and temperatures frequently reaching 120 degrees.
Iraqi soldiers from the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 2nd Brigade had arrived just before 8 a.m. from several bases throughout Fallujah to attend this latest combat leaders’ course. Henceforth, these troops would not be distinguished by battalion, region or military background they came from. They would be known as one collective team: Class 7-05.
Martins peered out at the crowd before him. Some Iraqi troops wore desert camouflage caps; others used their uniform tops as hoods to further protect themselves from the raging sun. A few wore armbands, while fellow troops wore only an undershirt because they forgot their blouses at their base this morning.
The training cadre had only five days to transform this rag-tag bunch into a professional fighting force, and Martins wasted no time. He immediately began the morning by instructing a class on detainee handling and searching procedures.
"I teach the soldiers how to apprehend someone they see as a threat, or anyone who's acting a little suspicious," explained Martins, a former marksmanship instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. "I showed them the proper procedures to search people, and how to take them down to the ground if they start acting up."
Martins and his fellow cadre members supervised the Iraqi troops as they moved through the practical application stage of the course where they patted each other down for weapons and contraband while fellow soldiers simulated holding rifles at the ready, providing security for the searchers.
"We teach them to be polite and not treat the citizens they search like criminals," Martins stated. Security forces under Saddam Hussein's regime often brutalized and beat the people they supposedly protected. Cadre personnel teach the new Iraqi troops how to be 'firm but fair' with a populace that still often views them as corrupt and as contemptible as their predecessors. Martins told the troops that only by winning the trust of the community will the people continue providing them information about insurgent activities.
The soldiers and policemen broke away for lunch after having completed several hours of classroom instruction and practical application sessions on personnel handling. After chow, they returned to their desks for a class on combat lifesaving instructed by Petty Officer 2nd Class Phillip Jean-Gilles.
His assistant, Seaman Donald Martin, passed out sealed plastic bags containing cloth bandages, which the soldiers curiously prodded. As their studies moved into yet another practical application stage, they open them and practiced applying bandages to simulated injuries.
“Basically, we teach these individuals how to care for other soldiers under fire while the mission is still going on," said Jean-Gilles, a Miami native.
For the last part of this medical skills class, the corpsmen practiced the fireman and two-man carries alongside their students, as they showed the Iraqis how to hastily and safely evacuate a wounded man out of the line of fire.
The clock then struck 3 p.m., signaling the end of the day’s classes. The Soldiers chatted excitedly while they donned their bullet-proof vests and prepared to leave the training compound. They had learned valuable information, yet it was only a taste of what awaited them in the following days.
Day 2: On the offensive
The alleyways, rooftops and ruined multi-story buildings found in Fallujah's streets make for a challenging battlefield that 28-year-old Cpl. Brandon Connelly knows all to well. Insurgents find hiding spots within the city from which to engage military forces, as well as several potholes and rubble piles they can place roadside bombs.
At 8 a.m. sharp, Connelly commenced the second day's lessons with a lecture on these dangers and showing the students how to counter the threats.
"I teach the soldiers what squad formations are, and how to communicate using hand and arm signals while on patrol," the Toms River, N.J. native explained. "Every soldier learns what their job is while patrolling and conducting operations in Fallujah."
He made sure to give the troops plenty of five- and ten-minute breaks to refill their water bottles, as their entire morning would be spent gazing at Connelly and his patrol formation drawings on a chalkboard. After several hours, however, the soldiers had learned the specifics behind patrolling.
Coalition and Iraqi forces' squads learn to maintain several meters of dispersion in between each other, as to avoid a concentrated amount of damage should an explosive device detonate near one of them.
The Iraqi troops hastily ate lunch following this class and returned half an hour later, energized for a class and practical application session on conducting raid operation.
Lance Cpl. Peter Benson, another cadre instructor, drew out several chalkboard sketches on how the Iraqis must position themselves before assaulting an insurgent hideout. Minutes later, the troops had put on their battle gear and slung their AK-47 assault rifles to go after the insurgent, who was played by cadre instructor, Pfc. Philip Pepper of Tallahassee, Fla.
The soldiers surrounded the nearby building in trucks with mounted machine guns as fellow soldiers formed a protective perimeter. Others stacked up against the target building's walls before bursting in and apprehending Pepper.
This crafty insurgent, however, 'shot and killed' two Iraqi troops before going down himself. Now, the Iraqi troops put yesterday's medical training to use, as they bandaged and evacuated their casualties back to the classroom.
continued....