Concerned citizens help protect Iraqi, U.S. lives

By Pvt. Mary Gurnee
3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq – Iraqi citizens in southwest Baghdad are securing their communities from terrorists with the help of Rakkasans.
Soldiers in the 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), participated in a flag-planting ceremony at the future site of a Concerned Local Citizens checkpoint Nov. 1.
“We work with the local Iraqi leaders, their sheiks, their military advisers, and we provide reflective vests as well as an Iraqi flag,” explained 2nd Lt. Bronson J. Hayes, medical service officer for the 626th Brigade Support Battalion, attached to 3-320th FA Regt.
The individuals working at the checkpoints were given identification cards and uniforms. The U.S. Army does not provide firearms or ammunition, Hayes said.
Before Iraqis can man the checkpoints, Hayes said that retinal scans and fingerprints are taken to ensure that the individuals are not associated with terrorist activities.
The Iraqis who will work the future checkpoint were briefed on operation procedures by Capt. Benjamin Torpy, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3-320th FA Regt. commander.
Torpy said the concerned citizens take their positions seriously and seek out ways to improve the checkpoints on a daily basis.
“I think the people in the surrounding areas notice it,” Torpy said. “And that’s how you get new sheiks coming up to us and asking, ‘is there any way we can get something like that in our area?’”
“The CLCs seem to be working right now,” Hayes said, adding that incidences of improvised explosive devices have gone down in the area. “In my opinion it's a good program. Anything we can do to save Soldiers’ lives is well worth it.”
Torpy said the CLCs are instrumental to the Coalition Forces’ counterinsurgency mission and setting the local citizens up for success.
“It puts the fate of the Iraqis in the hands of the Iraqis, and they are more than happy to do that from what I see,” Torpy said.
“I’ve talked to the guys out on the checkpoints — they’re not happy to be standing out in the sun, but they are happy to be doing something to help protect their families,” Torpy said. “They provide a local security to the people they love.”
“Its important to understand that these guys are putting their neck out on the line when they go out and stand on these checkpoints,” he added. “They’re brave guys who are taking a stand. That’s a commendable thing to do and we want to help them as much as we can.”