Civil affairs Marines to be out front in Iraq

They will also try to patch things up when the combat forces' operations go too far.

"The task before us is huge," said Lt. Col. Frank Ricapito, deputy commander of "3rd CAG," as the unit is known. "We're going to try to keep them (Iraqis) as happy as possible. We want to be able to take the baton from our Army counterparts and continue all their progress there."

"There" for the Marines means the Al Anbar province, the volatile region west of Baghdad that includes the city of Al Fallujah, where Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander of military operations in the Middle East, was reported to have narrowly escaped an ambush Thursday.

"This is an area where there are plenty of former regime elements out there, willing to fight," Abizaid said after the attack, according to The Associated Press.

To win over the Iraqis in such a hostile place, Ricapito said the civil affairs reservists in his group will draw on their civilian experiences as they try to create good relations with the Iraqis.

He said that the unit includes teachers, attorneys, construction contractors and police officers who all were activated a year ago for duty in Iraq. Most of the Marines participated in the invasion and first six months of the occupation of southern Iraq last year.

Ricapito said a six-man team that trained Wednesday at a San Diego movie studio illustrated the unique mix of civil affairs troops. Among them were a drug enforcement agent, a trainer for customs and immigrations agents, and a social worker at an elementary school ---- a mix that Staff Sgt. Frank Ortega called a "big bowl of soup."

Ortega's team, which will be attached to an 800-man infantry battalion in Iraq, practiced dealing with various encounters they might experience in Iraq at an elaborate set at the Stu Segall Studio in San Diego.

Staged by Strategic Operations Inc., the training included professional actors dressed like Iraqis, some of whom spoke Arabic.

In the script, Ortega's squad was supposed to have been working to rebuild a school when it got a tip that a "terrorist" was hiding out in a local cafe.

The action began when the six Marines approached the set, which was dressed up like a cafe complete with a friendly proprietor, ambient Arabic music, and patrons sitting around covered tables.

At first they couldn't tell who was friendly and who might be a threat.

One man shouted at them to leave his country. Another accused a Marine of ogling his wife.

Wandering out of earshot of the patrons, however, a civil affairs officer persuaded the proprietor to point out the suspect, who was sitting alone at a table in the back.

They first pretended to leave, and then quickly returned and pounced on the man to haul him from the cafe.

"You've got to watch and listen to everything ---- be totally aware of your surroundings," Sgt. Beninno Ornelas said just after the exercise. "We're gonna be the eyes and ears of the military over there."

In another drill in which the civil affairs team was ambushed with simulated rocket propelled grenades and roadside bombs hidden in trash cans, the team "killed" an insurgent and another man who may or not have been involved in the attack.

Team leader Capt. Steve Coast said Iraq will require them to switch quickly from friendly specialists to aggressive Marines.

"We're trying to help the people," Coast said after the mock firefight Wednesday. "But there are still a lot of people who don't want our help right now."

Contact staff writer Darrin Mortenson at (760) 740-5442 or dmortenson@nctimes.com