1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Jihad community puts on show for Soldiers

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

Jihad Community Puts On Show for Soldiers

Jihad community puts on show for Soldiers, local leaders
Community shows support during banner contest

Capt. Jeffrey Tounge
1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., Multi-National Division – Baghdad

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces and local leaders
organized a community event Oct. 17 at the Jihad Neighborhood Council building in the Rashid district
of southern Baghdad. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team,
4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, coordinated with local leaders and residents
to hold a banner contest for Iraqi adults and children in the West Rashid neighborhood.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Capt. Michael Garling, commander of Company E,
1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad,
stands with Iraqi Security Forces, community leaders and residents of the Jihad neighborhood together after an event Oct. 17
in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. The Iraqis competed in a banner contest to show their support for the ISF.

(U.S. Army photo contributed by the 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

“The banner contest was a great opportunity for the community to show its support,” said Capt. Michael Garling,
commander of Company E, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div. “The songs, prayers and play
were a welcomed addition to the day. It showcased the strength of the Jihad community.
The contest started as a small idea and grew into a complete production of song, dance and support
for local community strength and perseverance, said Garling, a native of Albany, N.Y.

The theme of the contest was community support for local Iraqi Security Forces.
Sid Wasil, a leader from the Jihad Neighborhood Council, invited many children and residents of Jihad
to participate in the contest with a reward for the individuals with the most creative and inspiring banner.
Staff Brig. Gen. Bahaa Noori Yaseen, commander of 5th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division,
and Staff Col. Ali, commander of 1st Battalion, 53rd Brigade, 14th Iraqi Army Division, attended the event
as judges in the competition. The morning started with a song and prayer from a group of community children,
followed by a poem written by a thirteen-year-old girl whose parents were killed during terrorist attacks.
The audience was emotionally touched by the poem and showed tremendous compassion
toward the young orphaned child.

The play performed by the children demonstrated a united Iraq, showing a Sunni group and a Shia group
arguing with each other. During the altercation, a child, acting as a terrorist, snuck up and planted an explosive device.
The group stopped their bickering and, together, they called the IA. The IA came running onto the scene
and arrested the terrorist. The children erupted into song and dance in a circle around an Iraqi flag.

It was a festive atmosphere, said 1st Lt. Casey Staker, intelligence officer assigned to Co. E, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt.,
1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div. “The kids did a play and sang some songs for the audience,” said Staker, a Cincinnati-native.
Children and adults of all ages created colorful banners depicting their support for the ISF.
The banners that placed in the top three won a monetary reward for their outstanding work, said Staker,
adding that all the participants in the contest received soccer balls and soccer jerseys.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Capt. Michael Garling, commander of Company E,
1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad,
attends a community event in the Jihad neighborhood to watch students put on a play and sing songs
at a banner contest Oct. 17 in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad.

(U.S. Army photo contributed by the 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Iraqi girls from the Jihad community act out a scene
during a play Oct. 17 in southern Baghdad’s Rashid district. Community leaders and Soldiers
from the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad,
attended the neighborhood event, which was organized to strengthen the bond between the citizens of Jihad and the Iraqi Security Forces.

(U.S. Army photo contributed by the 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

**********************

BACK