1st Battalion 22nd Infantry C Company Visits Orphans

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq — Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers witnessed
Iraqi orphans from schools throughout western Rashid perform patriotic folk songs and skits
for local community leaders and Iraqi Security Forces as a show of support and celebration
for Iraq’s growing independence and as part of an observation of the Islamic holiday of Ashura,
at the Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council Building Jan. 3.

Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
Multi-National Division – Baghdad, attended the special event hosted by local governance leaders
and Iraqi Security Forces, and brought a little morale of their own to the orphans gathered at the Jihad NAC Hall
in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad.

The Soldiers of Company C “Copperhead” hope that events such as the celebration will eventually build
a rapport between the Iraqi people, the local governance and the ISF, said 1st Lt. Jason Behler,
an armor platoon leader from Houston. “It is part of the transition of security responsibilities,”
said Behler, assigned to Company C, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt. “It’s a transition to get the Iraqi people
to not only trust their local government, because this is a joint operation between the Iraqi Army
and local governance, as they give to the kids, care for their own people.” The recent assumption
of responsibility for security operations in Iraq with the implementation of the Security Forces Agreement Jan. 1
also means providing stability and support for the Iraqi people, Behler explained.
Taking care of Iraq’s citizens will prove to be beneficial to the ISF over time, as Iraq’s soldiers
and police officers build upon the security gains made during the last year, he said.
“The experience, they have to learn on their own; it is going to be new and different for some of them,” he said.
“… but they are going to learn, and become comfortable in their new roles.”

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq — 1st Lt. Jason Behler, an armor platoon leader from Houston,
assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
Multi-National Division – Baghdad, gathers school bags and supplies to distribute to Iraqi orphans during a school play Jan. 3
at the Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. The Soldiers of Co. C,
working with local governance and Iraqi Army soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 53rd Brigade, 14th IA Division,
provided assistance in the form of gifts for the orphan children.

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Williams, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

2nd Lt. Yasir, a platoon leader from Mosul, assigned to the 1st Bn., 53rd Bde., 14th IA Div., said that events
like the celebration is another step toward the ISF taking real responsibility for their country and its people.
“Very soon, you will see us going to the people and interacting with them,” Yasir explained.
The transformation will take time, said Yasir, but the Coalition Forces will see good results as the ISF work
to endear themselves to the Iraqi people. “What we went through and what the Iraqi children
and women have gone through during the war has really devastated them – and almost destroyed us,” he said.
“This is what we see here: the very first steps to rehabilitate everyone. We are in the right place,
and these are the first steps in a very long journey.” The IA soldiers will do everything possible
to show the citizens of Rashid and Baghdad that the ISF are human beings capable of caring
and serving the Iraqi people, said Yasir.

The situation in Iraq has changed dramatically during the past couple years, which has changed the role
of the combat-arms Soldiers, said Sgt. William Thomas, III, who hails from Orange County, Va.,
and is assigned to 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt. “We set up local governance meetings, talk about problems
and fix problems, and we do this together with the IA, the Iraqi Police and the Sons of Iraq
to get everything unified and bring the country together,” said Thomas, who is currently on his third deployment
in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Combat units and company commanders are taking more of a lead role in civil military engagements
and are making an impact within the Iraqi communities, said Staff Sgt. James Ossipov, civil affairs team leader,
part of CAT 15, attached to the 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt.
CA Teams working at the company and platoon-levels enabled the maneuver units to be more proactive
in getting the ISF to take more responsibility within their communities, said Ossipov, who also said
that he is more optimistic about Iraq today than his previous deployment in 2005.
Events such as the makeshift celebration at the Jihad NAC Hall is an excellent opportunity for the NAC leaders
to provide for their people, build morale for the children and offer a helping hand to the schools and their teachers,
he explained. “It’s a feel-good kind of mission,” said Ossipov. “We’re obviously not going to solve any problems today,
but since we have the capabilities to do something nice, we do what we can.”
The CA Team of specialists, part of Company D, 404th CA Bn., a U.S. Army Reserve unit,
stationed out of Fort Dix, N.J., gathered the school bags and supplies, toys and foodstuffs for the armor company
to give to the Jihad NAC and Iraqi Army soldiers of the 1st Bn., 53rd Bde., 14th IA Div.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq — Staff Sgt. James Ossipov, a U.S. Army Reserve
civil affairs team leader from Newark, N.J., assigned to CAT 15 in support of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, loads up on school supplies
and snack foods, which were donated to orphan school children Jan. 3 from the western Rashid district in southern Baghdad.
The CAT, part of Company D, 404th CA Bn., stationed out of Fort Dix, N.J., assisted the armor company by coordinating
with Iraqi Security Forces to distribute clothes and school supplies with local governance leaders
at the Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council Building.

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Williams, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq —
Cpl. Teigan Crone, civil affairs specialist, assigned to
CA Team 15, Company D, 404th Civil Affairs Battalion,
a U.S. Army Reserve unit stationed at Fort Dix, N.J.,
ushers back packs, soda drinks and toys into the
Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council Hall Jan. 3
in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad.
The CA Team, attached to the 1st Bn., 22nd Infantry Regiment,
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
Multi-National Division – Baghdad, provided the gifts
to donate to Iraqi orphans from various schools
throughout the western Rashid district at the
request of the Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council.

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Williams,
1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq — Iraqi Army 2nd Lt. Yasir, a native of Mosul, assigned to 1st Battalion,
53rd Brigade, 14th IA Division, hands out brightly colored coats to Iraqi school children and orphans at the
Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council Jan. 3. The leaders from the local governance councils joined Iraqi Security Forces
and Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Div.,
Multi-National Division – Baghdad, at the Jihad NAC Building to distribute school supplies, clothes and toys to the children,
mostly orphans from various schools in the western Rashid district of southern Baghdad.

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Williams, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq — Iraqi orphans from the Rashid district sing patriotic folk songs
and verses from the Quran for members of the Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council, Iraqi Army soldiers and
Soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
Multi-National Division – Baghdad Jan. 3. The act was a show of appreciation for the local governance and Iraqi Security Forces,
who organized the event to donate clothes and school supplies to the children.

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Williams, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq — Iraqi orphans and school girls from the Rashid district take the Iraqi colors
while singing patriotic folk songs during a skit for members of the Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council, Iraqi Army soldiers
and Soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Williams, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq —
Fatheel, a Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council
security representative, hands out brightly colored coats
to Iraqi school children and orphans at the
Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council Building, Jan. 3.
The leaders from the local governance councils, joined
Iraqi Security Forces and Soldiers from Company C,
1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade
Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
Multi-National Division – Baghdad, at the
Jihad NAC Building to distribute school supplies,
clothes and toys to the children, mostly orphans
from various schools in the western Rashid
district of southern Baghdad.

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Williams,
1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq —
An Iraqi school girl, an orphan from the Rashid district
in southern Baghdad, recites a verse from the Quran
Jan. 3 during a series of skits put on by the
school-age children for members of the Jihad
Neighborhood Advisory Council, the Iraqi Army
and Soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion,
22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team,
4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.
The group of orphans acted out a series of
patriotic scripts and folk songs and read from the Quran
for the local leaders to show their appreciation
for donated clothes, toys and school supplies.

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Williams,
1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq — Iraqi children, orphans from several schools
in the western Rashid district in southern Baghdad, recite a verse from the Quran, Jan. 3 to celebrate
the Islamic holiday of Ashura during a series of skits put on by the school-age children for members of the
Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council, the Iraqi Army and Soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion,
22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.
The group of orphans acted out a series of patriotic skits and folk songs, and read from the Quran
for the local leaders to show their appreciation for donated clothes, toys and school supplies.

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Williams, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)