New beginnings in Iraq

Soldiers Magazine, April, 2005 by Jack Gordon

IRAQIS in the ancient city of Mosul are continuing to rebuild their city s infrastructure with the help of Soldiers from the 416th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve unit from Norristown. Pa.

CPT Felix Acosta is the public-safety team chief, working with the Iraqis to overcome some of the shortfalls in their city, in areas that include emergency civil response and correctional facilities.

Acosta said the 416th has made substantial progress in the province of Nineveh.

Iraqi Brig. Gen. Mohammed Mahoud, chief of civil defense for Nineveh Province, praised Acosta s team for its efforts in helping his civil-defense team acquire a renovated fire track with a hydraulic extension ladder, an emergency first-aid vehicle and a heavily armored bomb-disposal vehicle.

"All this was made possible through the cooperation between Acosta's team and our team. We re proud to work with him, and we will continue working together," Mahoud said.

"The Iraqis we're working with are people who stayed on in civil service after Saddam's regime ended," said Acosta. "They received no pay for months, and there was no guarantee they'd keep their jobs, but they continued responding to domestic emergencies, preventing looting, as an example. So the people of Nineveh Province respect them."

When Acosta and his team first arrived, they studied various aspects of the city to best determine how they could help.

"If you don't have a good relationship with the people, you don't know their needs and priorities, and you won't get much cooperation." Acosta said. "We're trying to achieve common goals here. which include public safety and the security of this area."

After the locus areas were jointly developed between Acosta and the chief representatives of Nineveh's agencies, the work began--plans were made, equipment was acquired and training began.

"We had the Iraqis do practical training on vehicle extrication," said Acosta." They're proud of their new resources."

Acosta said new uniforms provided to the rescue and fire crews help identify them to the Iraqi people, and such recognition raises awareness that Iraq is addressing the need for civil services.

Among those are the teams that respond to improvised-explosive-device incidents. Acosta said Mosul has a higher rate of IED explosions than anywhere else in Iraq.

That may well be why his team was given a specially designed truck that is intended to remove bombs, rockets and other ordnance to safe areas while blending in with everyday traffic.

The U.S. team heavily reinforced a large track, building a thick steel blast container in the truck bed.

"They are targeted because of the work they do," Acosta said of EOD response teams. "They often respond to bomb alerts while they're in civilian vehicles and wearing civilian clothing, to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Ports cut into the truck walls are not intended to provide ventilation, but allow the response team to return weapons life."

Acosta said "bad guys" would attempt to hijack a truck containing any type of explosives they can use against coalition forces and those who support them.

So the special truck provided to Nineveh Province responders "is strong enough to withstand an AK-47 round," said Acosta. "We tested it." The truck also carries an ample supply of sand bags to contain an unexpected detonation of any ordnance within the truck's sale area.

"Before, we would always have to call the American team to respond to a report of an IED, but since we got the bomb truck we can respond ourselves," said Taha Haji Taha, chief of Nineveh's EOD squad.

Acosta said the Iraqis he's working with are eager to assume responsibility for their own civil-response operations, but are equally receptive to the assistance and training the Soldiers are able to provide. For instance, in unusual or more sophisticated bomb-disposal situations, U.S. forces will closely monitor the Iraqis' actions.

"I'm very proud of what we've been able to do here," said Acosta, referring to the equipment and on-the-job training Soldiers have provided to the Iraqis.

Another major locus in Nineveh Province is Iraq's prison system. The 214th's Soldiers have worked closely with officials in the province to train guards and special-response teams, improve living conditions and prevent potential incidents of inmate abuse.

The 214th's SFC Ron Miko oversees the training and day-to-day operations at prisons in Nineveh Province.

He said the skills of the Soldiers of the public-safety team are unequaled. "Our firefighter, for example, has 20 years of experience, and most of us have five to 10 years of experience in police work or corrections."

In Nineveh Province, Miko has focused on training a disturbance-response team to quell problems in the prison. His primary liaison is the Iraqi head of the Correctional Officer Academy, Capt. Azhar Ibrahim.

The coalition's civil-affairs program has allowed gear things to happen for Iraqis, Ibrahim said. The U.S. Soldiers bring equipment and, most importantly, he said, "they teach us how to treat prisoners without violating their human rights."