Servicemembers supply aid to orphanage

3 July 07
By Pfc. Melissa M. Escobar
22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Backpacks jammed full with school supplies, soccer balls, teddy bears, toys, hygiene kits, sandals and shoes were delivered to an Afghan orphanage in Mahmud Raqi district by members of the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team June 27.

National Guard Soldiers with the 351st Civil Affairs Command from Mountain View, Calif., along with the 1175th Military Police Company, 205th MP Battalion from Mississippi geared up and armed themselves with humanitarian supplies.

In the three months that the team has been in country, this was the first time they visited the orphanage.

"The governor of the province asked us to visit the orphanage," explained Army Capt. Jordan J. Berry, team leader with 351st CACOM. "The mission was a good-will gesture to strengthen ties with the community."

"It’s a positive thing," said Army Maj. Jim E. Blashford, a native of Grass Valley, Calif., with 351st CACOM. "It shows our ability to make a high impact by giving to those who could really use this stuff and shows that we’re not the bad guys. These kids have none of this stuff and it’s an obvious example of the United States doing good and being put in a good light."

While supplying the children with humanitarian aid supplies was the main event, the team took the opportunity to observe the orphanage’s facilities and asked the director if there was a need for anything else.

The director of the orphanage and the on-staff doctor who runs the small health clinic inside expressed the need for certain medicines and supplies for the children. Another concern that the director had was the quality of water that was coming from the nearby well.

"Finding out about their additional needs such as the medicine shortages and who is funding them is good for us to know," said Berry, a native of Dallas.

During the visit, the team also learned the facilities being used by the orphanage are being rented and only temporary.

"I would like to see a permanent building built for the kids," said Army Sgt. Valentin DeLeon, a civil affairs specialist with the Bargram PRT, who spent the day handing children backpacks and pumping up soccer balls. "I hope we can influence the governor to take more interest in improving the orphanage."

The Bagram PRT routinely meets with the Kapisa governor to discuss changes they feel necessary to improve the quality of life for the people of Afghanistan.

"It was a perfect opportunity to give to those who have an obvious need," said Blashford. "We have plenty to give away. This was really just a way for us to get our foot in the door."

"Everyday we see improvements in Afghanistan," said DeLeon, from San Jose, Calif., who hopes to watch the development of the orphanage. "I like doing my job and it’s awesome to see your projects grow and progress. It’s a good feeling."

Photo - Army Sgt. Valetin DeLeon, a civial affairs specialist with 351st CACOM, opens up a soccer pump to inflate a soccer ball for a child at the Kapisa Orphanage in the Mahmud Raqi district of Afghanistan during a humanitarian aid drop on June 27. Photo by Melissa Escobar.

U.S., Iraqi Troops Rescue Malnourished Boys From Baghdad Orphanage

Jun 21, 2007
BY Multinational Corps Iraq Public Affairs.

BAGHDAD - U.S. and Iraqi army forces found an orphanage housing 24 severely malnourished and abused boys in Baghdad's Fajr neighborhood June 10, military officials reported yesterday.

The 24 boys, ranging in age from 3 to 15, were found naked in a darkened room without any windows. Many of the children were tied to their beds and were too weak to stand, officials said.

In a nearby locked room, the Soldiers discovered food and clothing that could have been used to aid the children. Three women claiming to be the caretakers, and two men - the orphanage director and a guard - were on the site when the Soldiers arrived.

The Iraqi Soldiers notified members of the Fajr Neighborhood Advisory Council and escorted them to the orphanage to assist the boys. Paratroopers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, and a 492nd Civil Affairs Team also arrived at the orphanage with medics to treat the malnourished boys.

"The council members were crying at the sight of the starving boys," said Navy Lt. James Cook, a civil affairs officer. The neighborhood council arranged for three ambulances to take the boys to the Iskan Hospital for care.

"We're very grateful that this story unfolded the way that it did - that none of these 24 boys lost their lives. This is a story of partnership, courageous action and compassion overcoming deplorable negligence," said Army Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, Multinational Division Baghdad's deputy commanding general.

"The role of the Iraqi soldiers and the community council was a key to this action being taken to save these young boys," Brooks said. "We're very fortunate to have the kind of Soldiers we have who are willing to take action, even at personal risk, to save the lives of others. These Soldiers, in a literal and figurative sense, are the best chance for Iraq, just as they were for these boys."

Photo - Staff Sgt. Kyle Richey cares for one of 24 starving boys in the back of an Iraqi army ambulance. Civic leaders escorted the abused and malnourished boys, found by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers in a Baghdad orphanage, to the Iskan Hospital for medical treatment. Photo by Lt. James Cook.

Patton's own embraces ex-Soviet state during info exchange

5-Jun-07
Staff Sgt. Alex Licea
Third Army/U.S. Army Central Public Affairs.

Fort Bragg, N.C. - Third Army/U.S. Army Central hosted a delegation of military police soldiers from the Kazakhstan national army during a two-day information exchange. This portion of the exchange is part of a week-long trip in which the Kazakh troops will received an inside look [at] how the U.S. Army operates and utilizes the military police in today’s global fight on terrorism. The exchange and lessons learned from the trip will assist the Kazakh army continue to revamp their own MP Corps.

The visit is part of the continued effort led by Third Army/U.S. Army Central's civil-military affairs “Theater Security Cooperation program” that hosts foreign soldiers and sends U.S. Soldiers to participating countries in the USARCENT area of responsibility to interface and train with their counterparts.

"The TSC program allows us [Third Army] to build a lasting relationship," said Lt. Col Dave Bennett, who is assigned to the Third Army/USARCENT CIMA as the central and south Asia branch chief. "This is the only program that allows the human factor of our nations to work together making it a more personal interaction between us.

He added that the Kazakh MP Corps, which was established in 1997, is still establishing itself in the national army. He said that TSC events such as this can only build a foundation and wiliness to work together.

The Kazakh soldiers received an up-close look at programs such as the urban MP operations, airborne refresher training, the military working dogs and the special reaction team, the military equivalent of the civilian force's SWAT team. All the events were coordinated by the Bragg-based 503 Military Police Battalion.

While Kazakhstan currently uses its MPs in a law enforcement capability, the hope is to continue to learn and gain experience in a more international capacity.

"We are eager to learn all these MP capabilities and continue to work with the U.S. in building a stronger relationship," said Capt. Tleukhan Baskhozhayev, a regional chief of the military police in Kazakhstan. "We are just still really young as an MP Corps."

The visiting soldiers, a total of seven soldiers, included senior Kazakh officials Col. Asylbek Zhumadilov, the first deputy to the main prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Lt. Col. Andrew Sys, military prosecutor for the Kazakhstan national army, and Maj. Bakhytzhan Mailinov, chief of the security and convoy director of Kazakhstan military police.

The Atlanta-based Third Army conducts TSC activities throughout 24 countries in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which spans from the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. This includes enhancing or establishing relationships with regional national militaries, which promotes bilateral and multilateral interoperability, strategic access and operational basing.

With these programs, Third Army helps its partner countries strengthen their defense relationships and improve their ability to effectively participate in coalition operations.

Third Army TSC events go beyond just MP operations. The program takes on many forms and conducts dozens of events in the United States or in the partnering country.

"The TSC program benefits both countries because we can work together to fight the global war on terrorism," said Capt. Gary Katz, Third Army/USARCENT operation protection operations and TSC officer. "It is all about learning from each other."

Bennett said that Third Army's TSC program benefits more than just the unit's mission requirements because it spreads diplomacy and increases U.S. national security.

"This is great way to not only meet our partners but increase U.S. national security," he said. "We work together so we can both improve. You only see that with things like the TSC program."

The exchange will continue until June 8 with the delegation visiting military police facilities in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and Fort Leonardwood, Mo.

Photo - Capt. Sean Doyne, commander of the 65th Military Police Company, give Kazakh Lt. Col. Andrew Sys, senior military prosecutor for the Kazakhstan national army, and other Kazakh officers a hands-on briefing about the different components of the M-4 rifle during the urban operations information exchange event, May 31. The exchange is part of the Third Army/U.S. Army Central's civil-military affairs “Theater Security Cooperation program” that hosts foreign soldiers and also sends U.S. Soldiers to participating countries in the USARCENT area of responsibility.

Surge improves security, quality of life

2-Jun-07
By Master Sgt. Dave Larsen
1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.

CAMP LIBERTY — The surge of Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces into Baghdad neighborhoods is aimed at improving the security situation in the Iraqi capital. Yet, there are other programs benefiting by having more boots on the ground during Operation Fardh Al-Qanoon.

“The surge has assisted civil military operations by putting more coalition eyes on the environment, so that we get a more responsive analysis of what essential services and economic development services are needed by the populace,” said Lt. Col. John Rudolph, the assistant chief of staff of civil military operations for Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

Rudolph said civil military operations in MND-B’s area of operation, which run the gamut from governance to agriculture to infrastructure to economic improvements, have already dedicated more than $163 million of Commander’s Emergency Relief Project (CERP) funds to projects all aimed at improving the quality of life for Iraqis living in and around Baghdad.

“This really is about improving the quality of life for the Iraqis,” said Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the deputy commanding general for support with MND-B. That “support” role not only touches the lives of the 50,000-plus troops working under MND-B, but also the Iraqi people. He said it’s challenging to move ahead with quality of life initiatives in the face of extremist efforts to stop them.

“There is a perception that I’ve seen in every sector of this region we have responsibility for - when I talk to the Iraqis - that the Americans have the ability to put a man on the moon, and yet they can’t provide us with electricity,” Brooks said. “That whole idea of an expectation that we promised and haven’t delivered causes a great deal of problems.”

Most westerners and Americans, for sure, cannot conceive flicking on a light switch on the wall and having it click with no effect. But, Baghdad has never had electricity flowing to its six million residents 24 hours a day. Electricity, or the lack thereof, was also tool used by the Ba’athist regime to reward or punish the population.

“You saw areas favored by Saddam and his regime see power longer throughout the day, but they still didn’t get power 24/7,” Rudolph said. “They still had to use what they called the ‘generator men,’ who were entrepreneurs who had their own generators and supplied power to local neighborhoods for the ‘off power’ periods - even during Saddam’s period.”

Rudolph said that providing power to Baghdad residents remains a priority, as witnessed by the 62 projects accounting for more than a quarter of the civil military operations funds dedicated this year – more than $44 million. The challenge to get the lights on throughout the Iraqi capital remains an ongoing issue.

“It was an inefficient system to begin with and what we have done is by our electrification projects, in general, we’ve improved distribution so that the power that comes in is distributed more efficiently,” Rudolph said. “However, the level of available power goes down. It goes out to more places, but it doesn’t last as long.”

Brooks said the provision of power to Baghdad neighborhoods remains a function of governance, and it will be the Iraqi government that will need to illuminate the Iraqi capital.

“Our effort here has to be more than a physical one - to not only find ways to improve those systems physically, but also have to work back through that governance effort to ensure that people who are in positions of responsibility in government are not sectarian and are not biased in the delivery of essential services to all people,” Brooks noted.

Improved security in some areas of the city has allowed life to flourish for some Baghdad residents. Temporary barriers erected throughout the city have created what military officials call “safe markets” and “safe neighborhoods.” Rudolph said the market areas have benefited from the temporary barriers, keeping suicide car bombers at bay while allowing commerce to continue.

The marketplace in the Rusafa District in what is known as “Old Baghdad,” on the east side of the Tigris River, is one of those success stories.

“Shoppers feel much safer going into the market now and they’ve actually seen an increase in the number of local citizens using that market,” Rudolph said. “It’s a perception, an attitude that the stigma of the random violence has lessened.”

The Doura Market is often a stop for visiting dignitaries to Baghdad in the southern Rashid District. The 1st Cavalry Division’s 2nd “Black Jack” Brigade Combat Team from Fort Hood, Texas, conducted the initial assessment of the area and started the revitalization project there.

Doura Market, Rudolph said, went from an unorganized street market of only a few dozen vendors to a thriving market place with more than 200 sellers now. He said the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan., now operates in Rashid, and even more improvements are underway.

“4-1st Infantry is following up in their footsteps with a barrier plan just like Rusafa,” Rudolph said. “The shoppers (there) feel much safer in that environment. They’ve got solar-powered lights to provide security in the area. They have host nation security forces doing random patrols of the area, and because of these security measures more shops have opened up.”

Haifa Street, in the city’s center, west of the Tigris River, was once known as a hot-bed of extremist activity. It was a battleground for the 1st Cavalry Division when they operated in Baghdad in 2004-2005, and again earlier this year.

The battleground is now a model neighborhood.

“We’ve turned that around,” Brooks said. “Now, we have a thriving market area that is starting to grow and a revitalization process that will make the Iraqis really proud and recognize that things have improved.”

All things start with security, Brooks said, but quality of life initiatives have been brought to life in areas of the Iraqi capital where the neighborhood and district advisory councils have worked in harmony for the good of their constituents.

“It’s where people in the neighborhood, people in the district recognize that they have needs and they’re the ones who should represent the people in that area,” Brooks said. “Mansour has a very active district council that is functioning very, very well, and our recent security operations have enhanced that, so they feel more and more secure.

“They still remain periodically threatened, though,” Brooks said. “You have to recognize that people who are performing well, especially in harmony, are often targeted by extremists who don’t want to see good governance to ever form here.”

CERP funds are a “band-aid,” Rudolph said. They are a way for coalition forces to provide immediate aid where needed. But MND-B, in conjunction with the State Department, is looking at long-term solutions to many of the issues facing the residents of the Iraqi capital.

“They use training programs for business practices and they also do micro-grants and micro-loans, but those are ‘payments in kind,’ Rudolph explained. “If a business needed, say, a cash register to be able to transact business activities, they wouldn’t get the money to buy it. They would get a cash register. It’s the items they would need, not the cash. As much as security has improved, we still don’t want cash-flow going into the hands of the wrong parties. That’s the best means of addressing it.”

Brooks said MND-B has shifted its focus to long-term investments, versus short-term “band-aids” over the past three months.

“There’s been progress, but the approach that has been taken over the last several years for divisions like the 1st Cavalry Division was to find problems and fix them, and do it quickly,” Brooks said. “We’ve had success in that. But the reality is that it doesn’t leave an enduring systemic effect; so we’ve shifted our focus here over the last three months to look at the holistic system sewage on the west side of the river, for example, and identifying where the pump stations are, where the lift stations are, where the pipes that may be broken are, where there is standing sewage. Then, applying the resources, within the city of Baghdad and the government of Iraq, where they really matter.”

By looking at the broader picture, and engaging the local, district and provincial governments, Brooks said long-term progress is possible.

“What’s changed, I think over that last few years, is how much the larger infrastructure has been revitalized,” Brooks said. “Water pipes have been replaced, electrical transformers have been installed, but it’s that last 100 meters worth of the service that really still has to become focused. Then people will really recognize a difference.”

While on one hand, extremist elements are attempting to create chaos in the city streets and deter progress and quality of life initiatives, Brooks pointed in the other direction, to the American Soldier, and attributes much of the progress made to date in the Iraqi capital to the dedication of troops putting their boots on the ground to interact with residents and local officials.

“We wouldn’t have any of these successes; we’d have no progress if it weren’t for the contributions of our troops who are out there,” Brooks said. “We ask an awful lot of our Soldiers who are deployed over here. Certainly, we know we put them into harm’s way to accomplish whatever mission we set out to do. But their energy, their passion, their willingness to keep trying in the face of deliberate set backs at the hands of the enemy or at the hands of sometimes the Iraqis themselves - they’re out there every day and they keep moving forward.

“In all these areas, not only security, but in governance, it may be that the first, best way for people to come together is because an American Soldier encouraged a district council member to sit in the same room with another,” Brooks added. “And governance begins, then, with the passion and the heart of the Soldier in this country.”

Photo - An Iraqi vender works on setting displays of fresh vegetables on Haifa Street in Central Baghdad. The area had been a hot-bed of violence and extremist activity, but is now returning to a peaceful normality of day-to-day living. Photo by Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl.

Civil Affairs Help Make a Difference for Iraqis

31-May-07
By Staff Sgt. Tony M. Lindback,
13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary).

LSA ANACONDA, Iraq – Rifles, pistols and tanks are a few tools of war. Active listening, patience and cooperation are a few of the tools used by Capt. Glen A. Stambone, a civil affairs officer with the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary).

Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, starting at 8:30 a.m., the Civil Military Operations Center (CMOC) lets the people’s voices be heard.

Most of those voices are speaking Arabic. In order to provide good customer service, the civil affairs office here uses two interpreters. Stambone said one is more of a “street smart” interpreter, the other is used for legal document translations.

“Tex” is the street smart guy. He’s called Tex to protect his identity.

Stambone said everything the civil affairs unit handles at the CMOC falls into two categories: claims and all other issues.

Under the claims category people can seek resolution for property damage, wrongful death, confiscated property and similar issues. If the responsible unit is under the command and control of the 13th SC (E), civil affairs will process it. If the unit does not belong to the 13th SC (E), civil affairs will collect information and turn it over to the appropriate unit.

In the other category, the civil affairs unit here has helped people get jobs, disclose intelligence to the proper authorities, seek medical attention, gain access to the on-post Iraqi bazaar and has facilitated construction contracts in the local area.

“There was a 5-year-old little boy, brought in by his dad, who was shot twice by terrorists,” said Stambone. “He had surgery in an Iraqi hospital before coming here. He wasn’t doing well and we got him into the Air Force Hospital here. The boy had a number of appointments here. His dad kissed me on both cheeks after each appointment.”

Though Stambone was able to get medical attention for that little boy, it was more of an exception than it was the rule.

“We’re not able to help everyone all the time. A lot of times, it’s the first impression they get of us (Americans),” Stambone said noting the importance of trying to make a good impression on the Iraqi people even when he’s unable to provide assistance.

“We’ll go out and investigate issues, see what people we can help. It’s a good impression we’re leaving and that goes a long way. We’re trying to establish a relationship with the local nationals and set up some kind of good rapport,” said Stambone.

Working with Iraqi people is all about customer service, said Stambone. “Just show that you care. You don’t want it to be like when you go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and get the ‘what do you want’ attitude. We want people to walk away with that good customer service feeling.”

As much as he tries to give good customer service and be courteous to people, there are occasions Stambone’s methods simply won’t conclude the meeting, explained Tex.

“It’s a different community between the U.S. and here,” said ‘Tex.’ “I often have to explain to people that just because he’s a captain doesn’t mean he has all the power.

“These are simple people. They believe a captain can control all things. For what I do, it’s all about explanation… Otherwise I tell them what the captain is saying over and over again and it goes in circles.”

Running the CMOC is approximately 70 percent of the civil affairs mission here, said Stambone. The civil affairs unit has built a database to track all visitors and their claims since their arrival here in September. Since then, they’ve processed more than 760 claims.

Photo - U.S. Army Capt. Glen A. Stambone (right), a civil affairs officer with 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) listens to a request from an Iraqi citizen through “Tex,” a translator for the unit. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Gary A. Witte.