1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Alpha Company assists ISF

By Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Soldiers of Company A “Gators,” 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, take to the shadows
to provide security over watch for the Iraqi security volunteers manning a hasty checkpoint, June 1, in Baghdad’s Bayaa community.

Meanwhile, national policemen from the 2nd NP Division, patrolled the darkened streets renowned for improvised explosive devices
and violent attacks against Iraqi security and coalition forces.

Spc. Robert West, an infantry man from Sioux Falls, S.D., assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad,
uses the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment system, June 1, to record the personal identification information
of a future Son of Iraq at a Combat Outpost in the Bayaa community of the Rashid District in southern Baghdad.
Soldiers of the 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., are supporting Iraqi security forces and volunteers providing security
and stability to the estimated 1.2 million residents of the Rashid District.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

The Soldiers of the 1st “Regulars” Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, recently began missions such as this one
to assist Iraqi security forces and provide security and stability to the Bayaa, Aamel and Jihad communities in West Rashid,
said 1st Lt. Jeffrey Oben, a platoon leader assigned to Company A, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt.

“The ISF are the mission,” said Oben, an infantry officer from Flushing, Mich. “Improving the Iraqi security
and allowing the Iraqis to take ownership of their own destiny and their own security really is our mission in Iraq.”

Staff Sgt. Robert Brown and Staff Sgt. Harold Rodriguez,
both infantry men from Lowell, Mass.,
assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,
complete detainee packets May 31 to process suspected criminals
who were arrested or detained by Iraqi security and coalition forces
for crimes and acts of terrorism. The act of completing the packets
is necessary to ensure that the rights of both the suspects
and the Soldiers are protected during the due process,
and the details of the arrest are accurately recorded, said Brown.

Date Taken: June 1st, 2008

Location: FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, IQ

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

The Soldiers conduct combined patrols with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd NP Division every day
and continue to assist the national police forces as it takes the lead in ongoing security efforts in Rashid, he said.

“Capable, well-led, organized, ambitious, and well-disciplined,” were just a few of the words Oben used
to describe the National Policemen of the 2nd Bn., 5th Bde.

The ISF is not quite ready to assume control of its area, but it is well on its way to taking over, said Oben,
who went on to explain that the 2nd Bn., 5th Bde., is “more than capable, and the way ahead
is the NPs operating independently without any coalition presence.”

Sgt. Joe Hudson, an infantry team leader
from Charleston, W.V., assigned to Company A,
1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,
removes fluorescent lights, June 1, to conceal Iraqi security
and coalition forces conducting clearing operations
in the Bayaa community of Southern Baghdad.
The Soldiers of "Gator" Company observed new volunteers
of the Concerned Local Citizens program, the Sons of Iraq,
maintain a traffic control point on a street
that is renowned for improvised-explosive device attacks
and violence against the ISF and MND-B.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team,
4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

The national police operate checkpoints, conduct security patrols and clearing operations,
while talking with local Iraqis in the Aamel and Bayaa communities, looking for weapons and checking identification cards,
said national policemen Sgt. Areef Nawr, 2nd Bn., 5th Bde.

Nawr said he wants security, peace and something better than what he has seen in his country
during the past three years of his service as an NP, and he will continue to work
until the ISF gains the trust and understanding of the Iraqi people.

“This is my country,” explained Nawr, as to why he serves in the ISF.

An Iraqi citizen opens his apartment to National Policemen from the 2nd Battalion, 5th Brigade,
2nd National Police Division, May 31, during a combined patrol in the Bayaa market of the Rashid District
in southern Baghdad. The NPs conduct patrols daily in the Bayaa and Aamel communities in Rashid
to enforce Iraqi rule of law and protect the Iraqi people. Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion,
22nd Infantry Regiment, conduct combined patrols with the Iraqi security forces and volunteers two to four times per day.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

Staff Sgt. Robert Brown, an M2 Bradley section leader, from Lowell, Mass.,
said he believes the national police are almost to the point of taking over from U.S. Forces.

“I would like to see the (militants) reduced to a level where they cannot operate, which I believe we are starting to do,”
said Brown, an infantry men on his third deployment with Co. A, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“With that, I believe the NPs are a big help,” Brown explained.
“They know who a lot of the special groups criminals are, where they operate, where they hide out.
It makes the NPs a good asset to have out there because they detain guys we would not expect to be doing bad things.”

Brown also said that the improving security situation in southern Baghdad is due to the Concerned Local Citizens program,
the U.S.-backed Sons of Iraq, who are working to reintegrate the Sunnis back into the Aamel and Bayaa communities.

“The SOI will help move the Sunni families back into their homes and hopefully limit the sectarian violence,
where (the communities) can be Shia and Sunni again,” Brown said.

The Soldiers of the 1st “Raider” BCT, working with the local ISF, are going to see the area become more stable
with the continued support of the Iraqi community, said Staff Sgt. Harold Rodriguez, an infantry squad leader,
also from Lowell, Mass., and assigned to Co. A, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt.

“When we first got here, we couldn’t see the SOI, but now they are building up their checkpoints
and working alongside the Iraqi police and national police,” he explained.

The “buzz” on the streets is that the militant group members are quitting, said Rodriguez.

“We have been finding a lot of their caches and arresting a lot of people,” he explained.
“The (special groups) leadership is telling the militia to attack, and they are not doing it. They are coming to us for reconciliation.”

1st Lt. Jeffrey Oben, a platoon leader from Flushing, Mich., assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion,
22nd Infantry Regiment, meets with Sons of Iraq leaders during the late night hours, June 1,
at a checkpoint in the Bayaa community of the Rashid District in southern Baghdad.
The "Gators" of Company A are providing security over watch for the members of the Concerned Local Citizens program
to help integrate them into the local communities and Iraqi security forces
in their ongoing efforts to provide security and stability to Baghdad.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

In recent months, the Iraqi security volunteers, or Sons of Iraq, in the Bayaa and Aamel communities
increased to almost 2,000 volunteers – nearly double the numbers from seven months ago, said Spc. Marc Miller,
an infantry man, assigned to Company B, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, currently attached to Co. A, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt.

“They have been really great as far as giving us tips and helping us out,” said Miller,
who hails from Zanesville, Ohio. “We haven’t really seen many improvised-explosive devices
or explosively formed projectiles emplaced, and I think a lot of the credit goes to these guys because they help us out and give us tips;
and a lot of times, the tips are even before the IEDs or EFPs get placed.”

Security in the area has improved greatly since the “Regulars” Battalion arrived, said Miller,
who has seen several special groups criminals and significant weapons caches taken off the streets in recent weeks.

“I credit it to … the non-stop patrolling,” Miller said.

Gator Company maintains a presence in the Aamel and Bayaa communities 24 hours-per-day, explained Miller.

“We constantly have someone out in sector … for every platoon that is out in sector, as soon as they come back,
we have another platoon that is ready to go,” he said.

Working with the ISF increases the unit’s ability to act on tips from concerned citizens
and doubles the security forces operating in Baghdad, added Miller,
who used a recent operation that resulted in the capture of more than 40 “bad guys” in one day
as an example of Regulars recent successes.

“The Soldiers are on top of it,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Guden, who hails from Medford, Wis.,
and is the senior enlisted leader for the “Regulars” Bn. “They are doing an outstanding job of coaching,
mentoring and teaching the ISF while working for the safety and security of the Rashid district,
which contributes to the overall stability of Baghdad.”

The 1st “Regulars” Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., is currently deployed to the Rashid district of southern Baghdad.

1st Lt. John Klein, a platoon leader assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion,
22nd Infantry Regiment, observes national police from the Iraqi ministry of interior's
2nd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, May 31, as they conduct a security patrol
in the Bayaa community of the Rashid District in southern Baghdad. The NPs searched various business
and apartments in the Bayaa market, stopping to talk with local shop owners and concerned citizens
in the predominately Shia community.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs