Task Force 2-7 IN Newsletters
ABLE 6 Sends (1 Jun 07):
Hello from Camp Hit where temperatures during the day have now broken the 115 degrees mark where we expect them to remain for some time! In fact, we expect temperatures to break 125 degrees before too long. Evenings, nights and mornings are still relatively comfortable and we're starting to see the local population retreat to the relative comfort of their homes during the heat of the day.... and we certainly understand why! We've been working hard to get air conditioners in every room and workspace to help make our down time bearable and the two air conditioner mechanics in the task force are very popular!
View to the west from the center of the bridge across the Euphrates in Hit.
Aerial view of the Euphrates River Valley from a helicopter above Camp Hit.
After establishing security in our population centers in February and March, we focused a great deal of effort on developing local governments and initiating reconstruction efforts in April. We established city councils, elected mayors, received a visit from the Al Anbar Provincial Governor (the first in over 2 years), assisted with the delivery of $5 Billion Iraqi Dinar to the newly opened Hit Bank, and directed a significant amount of U.S. and Iraqi money into various projects to restore basic services (sewage, water, electricity, etc,), clean up our cities and towns, and provide minimum wage jobs. We now have functioning city councils in most of our major population centers and are working hard to strengthen the ties between the Hit Regional Government and Al Anbar Provincial Government in Ramadi.
TF 2-7 Soldiers and local Iraqi Police unload sacks of money
for the Hit Bank.
Another major effort we've been pursuing lately is increasing the professionalism of our Iraqi Police Force. In order to achieve some basic levels of security, we initially focused on quantity, but lately, we've been focusing on quality. Lie many countries, Iraq has had significant corruption for years - even before 2003. We're trying to coach our Iraqi partners into doing things the right way understanding that there are some things we'll just never be able to change - and that their police forces and government systems will never look and function exactly like ours.
We've actually been fortunate to have had several hundred volunteer Iraqi policemen in many of the more rural portions of our area of operations for the past 2-3 months. These brave citizens grew tired of having insurgents intimidate and harass their friends, families, and neighbors and took up arms against them. More like a "neighborhood watch" force than a militia, these locals set up checkpoints and observation posts in their towns and were a deterrent to insurgent activity in places where we did not have a permanent presence from Coalition Forces, Iraqi Army, or Iraqi Police. Rather than tell these "unofficial policemen" they were not allowed to perform this critical function to securing these outlying areas, we partnered closely with them and appealed to them to help us secure their areas. We screened them with background checks, took their pictures and gave them temporary ID cards, helped them build more effective checkpoints, taught them basic police tactics, and treated them in much the same way we treated our official police The results have been incredible. Through a variety of methods, we've recently been able to secure official hiring orders from Iraq's Ministry of the Interior for a large portion of these volunteers. If all goes well, we'll add over 500 of these brave men to the Iraqi Police pay rosters and provide them with their first paychecks in early July. Eventually, they'll all attend a 5-week Iraqi Police Academy and become full-fledged policemen, but in the meantime, we'll put them all through a 7-day course we teach here on Camp Hit which give them what they need to be safe and effective in the short term.
Local Citizens near Abu Tiban provide security for their neighborhood initially without pay or government-provided equipment.
The Hit Market is the equivalent of a large shopping mall to this area. About 1 in 5 shops were open back in January and business was poor because most shop couldn't reliably receive good to sell and customers had limited ways to actually get money with no bank and few jobs. The photo of the Hit market was taken on 26 May 2007. There isn't a shop in the entire open air market that isn't occupied and open for business and most days it's as crowded as this photo illustrates. Men, women, and children of all ages now frequent the market - a testament to the level of safety the population feels. We've blocked the entrances with concrete barriers to prevent access by vehicle and we still patrol the area regularly, but the general feel among customers and merchants is that the "shopping mall" of Hit is back.
View of the Hit Market.
Though our daily lives continue to be busy, we've tried hard to add a little balance to our lives with some well-earned breaks as often as possible. We've managed a couple of volleyball tournaments and even enjoyed a visit from Toby Keith in late May. The Chaplain has a fully stocked "library" with donated books, and F Company recently started a DVD sign-out operation. A, B, and D companies living on their own smaller camps enjoy movies, dominoes, cards, internet access, and TV from Armed Forces Network. Though we don't have Baskin Robbins Ice Cream or Taco Bell or Burger King like some of the larger camps, our cooks do a great job making the most out of what we get - and we still have steak, shrimp, and lobster tail every Sunday night! CSM Coston and I were able to visit Charlie Company in Ramadi in their new home on Camp Blue Diamond in northern Ramadi in late April. Just as during our last visit, we found them to be in good spirits and all reports are that they continue to do great things with TF 3-69.
TF 2-7 IN Volleyball Tournament.
Toby Keith with members of TF 2-7 IN.
Congratulations to SGT Justin Reyes from Alpha Company who was selected as the 2006 Hugh Casey Award Winner for TF 2-7 IN. SGT Reyes was recognized (in absentia) at the annual reunion of the 7th Infantry Regiment Association in New Orleans, LA in May. The Hugh Casey Award recognizes outstanding performance as a non-commissioned officer.
SGT Reyes, winner of the 2007 Hugh Casey Award.
We've already had nearly 200 Soldiers enjoy their R&R leaves and look forward to sending about 100 per month through early November. Congratulations to all the new parents who have recently delivered babies and to a few couples who've gotten married while Soldiers were home on R&R leave!
I continue to be amazed at what the Soldiers, Marines, and Sailors of Task Force 2-7 IN do everyday. Their attitude, flexibility, focus, innovation, and compassion is making us successful in what was once an extremely dangerous place. Our collective ability to "connect" with the Iraqi population in our cities and towns has made a difference and is absolutely crucial to our progress. I remain humbled by their determination and am honored to serve with them.
Finally, thanks again to our wonderful Rear Detachment Leaders, FRG leaders, co-leaders, and POCs who are doing a great job taking care of our Soldiers and their families! We couldn't do what we do everyday with out the knowledge that our families are well cared for back home.
Until next month…
LTC Doug Crissman…Able 6
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