| Kirkuk, Iraq, March 23, 2006 — Bastogne soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne have a mission with the duality of destroying the insurgency and rebuilding the nation by garnering trust from the local populace. Many times, these missions go hand-in-hand, but can be reflective of each other. Destroying the insurgency can build the trust of the people, but the trust of the people is necessary in many cases to defeat the insurgency. Soldiers with Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment patrolled with both of those missions in mind, building a rapport with the locals while searching for a known insurgent.
“Right now we’re trying to kill two birds with one stone. We’re conducting community policing with the Iraqi Army, at the same time, we’re talking to shopkeepers to search for a name.”
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Tim Bonarski |
“What we got here is kind of a ‘deception op’,” said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Tim Bonarski, 2nd platoon “Mandingo” leader and Pittsburgh, Penn. native. “Right now we’re trying to kill two birds with one stone. We’re conducting community policing with the Iraqi Army, at the same time, we’re talking to shopkeepers to search for a name.” Second platoon is searching the name of an insurgent who set an improvised explosive device alongside a nearby road intended for coalition forces. Intelligence also noted he could possibly be a shopkeeper in the village that 2nd platoon is patrolling. As with most patrols recently in Iraq, the Iraqi Army led the way through the streets of the village handing out flyers and talking with the locals, focusing on shopkeepers. The Iraqi Army is slowly building legitimacy in Iraq with the citizens, and merely visiting the people and talking with them is a path toward attaining that legitimacy. This is what Bonarski means when he says “community policing.” |
