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Have Things Improved in Iraq? Just Ask the Vets Who Have Returned
From Stars and Stripes:
Iraq like a new country to some on their second, third or fourth tours
USTAMIYAH, Iraq — Spc. Matthew McGinnis (pictured above)still has the scars from his first trip to Iraq in 2005.
The 23-year-old Army police officer from Kittanning, Pa., was returning to Forward Operating Base Rustamiyah in southeast Baghdad from a mission one day when his Humvee got hit by a roadside bomb just outside the gate. The blast sent shrapnel into the back of his head.
The wounds were not life-threatening, and he was stitched up at the base hospital.
Now with the 401st Military Police Company’s 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon at Camp Liberty on a second deployment, McGinnis says Baghdad’s streets aren’t as turbulent as they used to be.
“It’s quieted down a lot,” he said. “We don’t get engaged much anymore.”It’s a theme echoed by many military police in the country for a second or third tour.
Most say the security landscape has improved dramatically since they were last here and the Iraqi police they train and develop daily appear to be making strides.
Cpl. David Silva, 30, of Socorro, N.M., is on his third deployment with the 511th Military Police Company. He was in Mosul from 2003 to 2004 and Tal Afar from 2006 to 2007. In late November, the unit arrived at FOB Delta, not far from the Iran border in southern Iraq.
“Every time I’ve been to Iraq, there’s always been improvement with the IPs (Iraqi police),” Silva said. “There’s a lot of really, really good changes. They’ve built up their confidence. They know they can secure their stations. That makes the villages a lot safer.
“We see that. … That’s what we’re working for: make Iraq a better place to live.”Outside the wire, there have been good and bad days, he added. Now people have returned to markets and kids play soccer in the streets.
Violence against U.S. troops also has dropped since his first two Iraq stints. But Silva said the enemy is still lurking, with more sophisticated ways of carrying out attacks.
“It started out as small-arms fire and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), then went to IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and EFPs (explosively formed penetrators),” he said. “When we’re getting smarter to help this country, they’re getting smarter, too. They’re always a step behind us.”
Sgt. Melvin Kearney, 25, of Tarboro, N.C., spent 2004 at FOB Caldwell in Kirkush, right on the Iranian border. He’s back as a team leader with the 95th Military Police Battalion’s 1132nd Military Police Company at Rustamiyah.
The EFPs are far more deadly than the roadside bombs used four years ago, Kearney said.
“It’s a more concentrated blast that sends a slug through your armor like a hot knife through butter,” he added. “It tears off limbs. … Snipers are a bigger threat now, too.”
U.S. soldiers say Iraqi police are much more active and visible in their communities today. In the past, they’d often just sit in the station and wait for an incident to occur before reacting.
Or they’d run away and not fight, allowing a station to be taken, recalls Staff Sgt. Robert Capponi, 38, of Redding, Calif., a squad leader for the 511th Military Police Company’s 1st Platoon at Camp Echo in southern Iraq. Corruption was another problem during his first tour in Mosul from 2005 to 2006, he added.
“They just didn’t have the numbers before,” Capponi said. “We’re trying to get them beefed up, and get them the supplies they need to do their job.”
Kearney said Iraqi security forces have a deeper trust of U.S. motives and the two sides are forging a stronger bond.
“The IPs accept us in as kind of a brotherhood. They see we really care and really want to see them stand up on their own,” Kearney said. “I see major improvement in the ISF (Iraqi security forces). They’re taking pride back in their country.“Our hard work is paying off. It’s like planting a seed. You hope it grows. I come back over after a few years, and wow, it’s growing.”
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February 19th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
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