Dec. 28, 2007
Story ID#: 200712281387

By Pfc. Brian D. Jones, 2nd Marine Division (FWD)

ZAIDON, Iraq (Dec. 28, 2007) -- “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.”

These are famous words by Frederick Douglas speaking about overcoming struggles in the progress for human liberty. More than a century later, these words may express the sensitivity of how Iraqis feel toward their struggle for a better future.

Iraqi Police students waited for their instructor’s commands to be translated by the interpreter. The instructions were to work as a team and depend on the cohesion of one another’s strength and cooperation to execute a physical exercise. This was a challenge set forth for the students to help them rise above their past of ill feelings toward one another that separated them, keeping them from working together to achieve a common goal.

“They’re civilians that have been guarding checkpoints for months and are looking for some recognition,” said 1st Lt. Todd Richardson, a platoon commander with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6. “They’re looking for some actual authority as opposed to just being civilian watch and they’re finally getting their chance.”

Marines with Weapons Co. graduated 59 newly trained Iraqi policemen in Zaidon, Iraq, Dec. 20, after they reconciled tribal differences among their students.

Early on in the training, the Marines realized they would have to put forth an extra effort in building camaraderie among the class. They needed their Iraqi students to overcome their social differences that were causing disruptions. They relied on teamwork building exercises that required their students to set aside their differences.

Arguments interrupted the first day of instruction, almost leading the instructors to immediately fail students, a loss neither the Marines nor the police force wanted.

“I don’t understand Arabic, but I understand complaining,” said 26-year-old Ocala, Fla., native, Sgt. David R. Dahl, a chief instructor.

“It started out with a few hitches in the beginning,” said Dahl. “There were tribal differences and things of that nature. They were put into situations where they were forced to be next to people they didn’t like. Either they were going to be a team or they weren’t going to be apart of this.”

“You’re still a member of your tribe and you’re still a member of your community, but you’re not going to worry about your tribe and community as much as you’re going to worry about the country as a whole,” Dahl told his students.

Throughout a period of six training days the Marines taught their students a wide range of professional security force skills from marksmanship and detainee handling to human rights and medical aid.

All the Marines agreed there were moments their blood pressure rose, but they were glad to be teaching the students things they may not get a chance to learn anywhere else.

“Training was condensed into long hours leaving them little free time, which was good because it kept them focused on what they were doing,” said Dahl. “They were physically training, studying or sleeping. They weren’t given anytime to think about anything else.”

Discipline was on display from the Marines. Proficient execution of technique was shown. The Marines hoped the Iraqis would pull together and emulate their actions.

“The Marines actually came together really well on it and worked hard,” said Dahl. “Every Marine was very professional on how they gave their class and they were very hands on with them. When it was their time to go in front of the Iraqis they were experts on what they were talking about.”

As Dahl taught a class in detainee handling, he showed the class techniques to use to take down a resisting detainee. One student challenged him saying the moves wouldn’t work on him. Dahl offered him the chance to stand before the class and demonstrate his resistance to what Dahl had shown them. In a short few seconds, the student found himself on the ground restrained with a surprised look on his face to be proven wrong. The whole class sat there, admiring the skills of their instructor.

Dahl said he and other instructors would sit the students down after a long day of classes and speak with them to make sure the students appreciated the magnitude of their situation and the new responsibilities the students would take on upon graduating as police.

“I had a lot of talks with them about the importance of what they’re training for and the responsibilities that come along with the job,” said Dahl. “The change in their life they will have to make now and how their going to have to set examples for their community. They’re going to have to hold themselves above everyone else and do what is right for everyone, not just for themselves and their family.”

Dahl said they seemed to fully understand what he was stressing. He wanted them to know that this job meant more than just a paycheck to support their families, it was a chance to unite as a stronger force for the protection that would serve a greater and less selfish cause.

Dahl admitted he didn’t really believe it was going to work at first because of how argumentative the students were among each other, but in the end he said he was satisfied with the result.

“We have seen a difference in them,” said Dahl. “They’re working together and they’re trying to accomplish everything without any arguments. I think it was good for them and they learned a whole lot from it. It gave them such a focused look at it that I think they’ve made a dramatic change.”

After completing the course, the students graduated as the newest addition to Zaidon’s police force. With diplomas in hand, they each extended heart felt congratulations to one another and thanked their instructors.


Iraqi police students march in their graduation ceremony in Zaidon, Iraq, Dec. 20. Marines with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, instructed the students. Over a period of six training days the Marines taught their students a wide range of professional security force skills from marksmanship and detainee handling to human rights and medical aid.


Iraqi police students line up for range exercises in weapons handling on a rifle range aboard Camp Fallujah, Dec. 18. Over a period of six training days the Marines with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, taught their students a wide range of professional security force skills from marksmanship and detainee handling to human rights and medical aid. After completing the course, the students graduated as the newest addition to the Zaidon’s police force.


Iraqi police students work together in a teamwork building exercise called squad pushups during training, Dec. 20. The instructions were to work as a team and depend on the cohesion of one another’s strength and cooperation to execute a physical exercise. This was a challenge set forth for the students to help them rise above their past of ill feelings toward one another that separated them, keeping them from working together to achieve a common goal.


Iraqi police students help one another prepare their rifles before going to a rifle range Dec. 18. Over a period of six training days the Marines with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, taught their students a wide range of professional security force skills from marksmanship and detainee handling to human rights and medical aid. All the Marines agreed there were moments their blood pressure rose, but they were glad to be teaching the students things they may not get a chance to learn anywhere else.


Iraqi police students take aim on their targets and fire a few rounds on a rifle range aboard Camp Fallujah, Dec. 18. Over a period of six training days the Marines with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, taught their students a wide range of professional security force skills from marksmanship and detainee handling to human rights and medical aid. All the Marines agreed there were moments their blood pressure rose, but they were glad to be teaching the students things they may not get a chance to learn anywhere else.


An Iraqi police student aims in on his target and fire a few rounds on a rifle range aboard Camp Fallujah, Dec. 18. Over a period of six training days the Marines with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, taught their students a wide range of professional security force skills from marksmanship and detainee handling to human rights and medical aid. All the Marines agreed there were moments their blood pressure rose, but they were glad to be teaching the students things they may not get a chance to learn anywhere else.


Iraqi police students intently listen to instructions before taking their weapons on a rifle range on Camp Fallujah, Dec. 18. “They’re civilians that have been guarding checkpoints for months and are looking for some recognition,” said 1st Lt. Todd Richardson, a platoon commander with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6. “They’re looking for some actual authority as opposed to just being civilian watch and they’re finally getting their chance.”

Labels: 3/3 Marine Regiment, Camp Fallujah, Good News, Iraq, Iraqi Police, photos, Regimental Combat Team 6, USMC

From Multi-National Force Iraq


Marines with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, patrol the city streets and alleyways of the Andaloos District of Fallujah. With the help of Victor (middle), the Co. K interpreter and Middle Eastern native, the “Darkhorse” battalion Marines maneuver through the city with the capability to speak with locals. Interpreters, such as Victor, play an integral role in the everyday fight. He helps the Marines make progress through communications while leading them through an unfamiliar culture. Photo by: Pfc. Brian D. Jones, Regimental Combat Team 6.


Sunday, 02 December 2007

FALLUJAH — Over the radio, a Marine’s voice was heard: “Yeah, this dude is crazy. We had Victor ask around and everyone confirmed it, over.”

An Iraqi man had told Marines rumors about insurgent activity in Fallujah. Victor, an interpreter with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, saved the time and effort of pursuing false tips from the bogus source, proving his worth to the Marines.

Victor plays an integrated role in the Marines’ day-to-day job in keeping the city safe and prospering. His skill in translating provides the Marines with the means to overcome the language barrier they face every day. He’s native to the Middle East and offers the Marines the ability to decipher the unfamiliar Arab culture.

Whether they’re patrolling the streets, training the Iraqi security forces or simply purchasing goods in the market, without the help of someone like Victor tasks would be much more complicated.

“Victor” was the name given to him by the Marines since no one could pronounce his Arabic name with any accuracy. He works, lives and endures the long days alongside the “Darkhorse” battalion Marines, who have taken him in as a friend and colleague.

“Victor is awesome,” said Sgt. Ysac M. Perez, a squad leader. “He’s always willing to help us out with anything we need to get done.”

Victor said he came to the job by replying to an advertisement in a newspaper from his hometown in a nearby Middle Eastern country. He said he then passed the required exam and was offered the position of a lower-level interpreter.

As they walked down the streets on a recent patrol, adults and small children alike called out Victor by name, and openly greeted him and the Marines as they passed.

“I feel like I’m doing a great job, and feel like I can help the Iraqi people and American people because I can speak English and I can make it easier for both,” said Victor. “I feel like I am one of (the Marines). They are my friends and they treat me good. They’re nice people until they know someone is not good.”

As they patrolled and stopped to speak with people in the city, Victor investigated how the people of Fallujah feel about the situation the war has brought on them in the past, present and future.

People told Victor about the hard times they have gone through in the city. They explained to him that for a long time, they could not sleep. They could not go outside. Things went missing from the market. Terrorists took their money. They had no power or water and the children quit attending school. Terrorists liked to kill and they killed by sword, not by bullet. They didn’t understand what the terrorists wanted exactly.

“The people feared that (having Coalition forces in the city) would be bad for them like it was before, especially Fallujah,” said Victor. “The people now understand that the Marines are here to help them, not control them. Nobody believed it would be as good as it is now.”

Victor recalled a story an Iraqi policeman told him about how he feared taking out the trash each day because he would find severed human heads in his trash can.

“The Marines were a gift to them from the sky,” Victor said. “For (Iraqis) it was hard times when the terrorists came. They were controlling them. They were not allowed to smoke, listen to music, eat certain foods or wear (Western) clothes and they were forced to go to the mosques and pray. They were not allowed to do this or that. They were not allowed to do many things. It was very scary for them. (Terrorists) killed a lot of people. When they woke up in the morning, they would find people lying dead in the streets and they did not know why the terrorists were doing what they were doing.”

Throughout the day, Victor is also tasked with translating prayers coming from the loudspeakers atop of mosques.

“Don’t worry about the struggles of today. There is a greater afterlife awaiting you where you can have all that you desire,” was just one of the messages resonating from the speakers through the streets as Victor translated.

“They felt that one day (terrorists) would come again, but now the Marines are here and have worked with them and trained them well,” said Victor.

Victor said he believes the Fallujah Iraqi Police (IP) have come along well for being so new.

“They need more training, but there are a lot of them, a good number,” said Victor. “Day by day, they are working and learning to function better on their own, and I think if something were to happen they could control it on their own.”

On a daily basis Victor maintains good working relations between the Marines and IPs, translating for both parties.

“(IPs) are happy, and I think the moment the Marines leave, they will be sad,” said Victor. “They know the Marines are here to support them. They have to learn to do the job alone because the Marines cannot stay here forever, but they feel safe now because the Marines have experience, and if anything happens, they know Marines can control it right away.”

Every day a smile was brought to Victor’s face as people expressed their gratitude to the Marines through him.

“‘Who would believe that Fallujah could be like this?’ the people would say,” said Victor. “You can go down to the market and see how good things are. (Iraqis) are so happy. The Marines have helped them a lot. They’ve made them a peaceful home with security, made them IDs, trained them and gave them jobs.”

Victor pointed out the cement barriers that block the streets as examples of the difficult but necessary adjustments residents have had to make in putting a halt to violence in the city.

“People know that everything is (secure) now and it must be like this,” said Victor. “I think everyone is happy now. No one complains.”

(Story by Pfc. Brian Jones, Regimental Combat Team 6)

In Other Recent Developments Here:

BAGHDAD — Coalition forces killed one terrorist and detained 16 suspected terrorists during operations Friday and Saturday to disrupt al-Qaida operations in the central and northern parts of the country.

BALAD — Iraqi Police from the An Nasiriyah Special Weapons and Tactics team detained a suspected high-level improvised explosive device facilitator during operations Nov. 30 to disrupt extremist networks operating in the area.

Labels: 3-5 Marines, Andaloos District, Darkhorse Battalion, Fallujah, Interpreters, Iraq, Regimental Combat Team 6, USMC

Marines with 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6’s motor transportation platoon and engineers platoon, secure the tow bar on a seven-ton truck, which transported the last remaining sandbags previously protecting Patrol Base Stafford, which is now being de-militarized, or “de-milled”, because of Company C Marines tremendous success in this area of Al Anbar, Iraq. The Company C Marines with the Bn., live in patrol bases, which are nothing more than a rented Iraqi houses, re-enforced by the battalion’s Engineer Platoon. Machine gun posts are located on the roof. Razor wire runs along the high, blast proof barriers that surround the home. They are designed to provide absolute safety to the Marines who live and work out of them. But here, they are going away.


Nov. 17, 2007
Story ID#: 2007111743518

By Cpl. Bryce Muhlenberg, Regimental Combat Team 6


HABBANIYAH, Iraq (Nov. 17, 2007) -- Marines with third platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, have dismantled and de-militarized the patrol base that has been their home for months.

The purpose of patrol bases such as these is to bring Marines as far into a troubled community as possible. This enables them to work closely with the Iraqi Security Forces and residents to improve the area and put an end to violence.

Such intimate integration into the neighborhoods has yielded such positive results that they have effectively worked themselves out of a job. The people have taken responsibility for protecting their community. Iraqi Police have developed into an effective law enforcement organization. Now that these landmarks have been reached, it is time to move out of Patrol Base Stafford.

“We’ve been working with the Iraqi Police in the area, making sure they can do their jobs and helping them with anything they need,” said Cpl. Jayson A. Pihajlic, a 21-year-old squad leader and native of Lake Orion, Mich. “At this point they have everything under control and can handle it all themselves.”

Pihajlic, a 2004 Lake Orion High School graduate, said this de-militarization and move from the area is a small example of the end goal for all of Iraq.

“This is just a model of what we, as Marines specifically, are doing over here, and its working,” he said.

The combat engineer platoon working to pull apart Stafford couldn’t agree more, said Sgt. Christopher G. Frame, a 25-year-old heavy equipment operator.

“We have built or improved over six patrol bases, which is great, but the ‘de-mil’ is also a positive thing, because this will free up Marines to head to another area and do the same thing,” said the Julesburg, Colo., native who is on his third deployment. “It is also good, because an Iraqi man is getting his house back. The platoon leaving means less military force is needed. You look, and there are less and less Coalition Forces and it’s not us doing all of the work. It’s a joint effort between us, the Iraqi Police and the neighborhood watch.”

Once the Charlie Company Marines move out of Stafford, the platoon will start conducting mounted patrols throughout their area of operation.

“We are now only going to be checking in on the IPs to make sure standards are being met,” said Pihajlic. “That’s the way we are doing it. Once we feel they can operate on their own and the area is secured, we move somewhere else to do the same thing.”

As the de-militarization wrapped up, the owner of the house was standing among the Marines and their equipment. The owner, Ahmed Muhsim, said while temporarily losing use of his property was difficult, it was satisfying being part of the solution to bringing stability to his community.

“I’m very happy because I am coming back to my home, but it is very good that the Marines could use my house,” said Muhsim, a farmer. “At first I didn’t think I would get my house back, but it is very well and good, because this area is safe now because of the Marines. I like that.”


1st Lt. David L. Tran, the officer in charge of 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6’s engineer platoon, watches as his Marines carefully lower the wooden side of a machine gun post here at Patrol Base Stafford, which was recently de-militarized, or “de-milled”, because of Company C Marines tremendous success in their area of Al Anbar, Iraq. The patrol base is set amongst the farms, fields and people of Iraq. It allows the Marines to get into the heart of the problems faced in the rural communities, which are the focus of the Bn. The purpose of a patrol base is to bring Marines as far into a troubled community as possible so they can work directly with the Iraqis to improve the area and put an end to violence.

Labels: 1-1 Marine Regiment, Al Anbar, Good News, Iraq, Patrol Base Stafford, Regimental Combat Team 6, USMC

MARINES ON PATROL — Marines with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, stationed at Camp Fallujah, patrol through a small village north of Karmah, Iraq, Sept. 10. The Marines aided the Iraqi locals in establishing an Iraqi Community Watch. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pfc. Brian Jones - Story

Labels: 3-3 Marines, Camp Fallujah, Iraq, Iraqi Community Watch, Karmah, Regimental Combat Team 6, USMC

SMALL TALK — A U.S. Marine with Regimental Combat Team 6 talks with a group of children in their apartment complex while members of the Iraqi police and neighborhood watch give food bags to families in Fallujah, Iraq, Sept. 7, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Samuel D. Corum

Labels: children, Fallujah, Iraq, photos, Regimental Combat Team 6, USMC