Capt. Irvin Oliver on patrol in Iraq. (Courtesy of Caleb Schaber)
Posted on 08/22/2006 10:09:15 PM PDT by SandRat
MUSAYYIB, Iraq—Fighting insurgents with tanks and guns is only half the battle for Sierra Vista native Capt. Irvin Oliver. As a Company Commander in the 2nd Brigade of 4th Infantry Division, Oliver learned that in Iraq it requires more than bullets to defeat insurgents.
On July 22, during a routine patrol in Musayyib, Oliver’s soldiers came under fire. The fight lasted an afternoon and escalated to point where most of his battalion was called in. When the fight was over, 33 insurgents were killed. U.S. soldiers received only minor injuries. Oliver, 32, was assigned Musayyib as his company’s area of operation. The area of operation covers the South end of Iraq’s triangle of death. The name originates from the fierce sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia militias between the towns of Yusufiyah, Muhmadiyah and Iskandariyah, forming a triangle South of Baghdad. Musayyib is near Iskandariyah.
“This is where the shooting started,” Oliver said, pointing out a tower in Musayyib with a big hole in it from a tank round. Trash blows through the streets of Musayyib and many of the concrete buildings are still marked by bullet fire.
“We were getting shot at the whole way, I mean the whole way,” said Oliver, as he drove through Musayyib to meet with a local police chief.
This was the first major fight for Oliver’s company in this area. Most of the attacks previous were in the form of improvised explosive devices and random small arms fire. The insurgents on the 22nd were all locals to the area and are now dead, with the exception of one captured.
“We are sitting right on the Shia/Sunni fault line,” said Oliver. “We have been able to prevent a lot of sectarian violence.”
For the last eight months, Oliver’s soldiers work maintaining security in Musayyib, while Oliver picks projects to fund, such as schools to repair and other war damaged infrastructure. The strategy the U.S. Army is taking shows the Iraqi people that we are here to help.
“I think most of them are good people,” said Oliver of the Iraqi people. “They want to get on with their lives.”
Lt. Colin Pascal, 24, from New York City, handles much of the finances for work in the area between the U.S. Army and the Iraqi contractors. Less than two weeks after the battle he and Oliver were finishing the contracts for the repairs and also planning for a park and new dump for the area.
“One thing I have learned is everything is based on a personal relationship,” said Oliver, about why he is in the city of Musayyib almost everyday meeting with officials.
After one meeting, where plans for the repairs to the buildings that were damaged in the firefight were put in effect, a woman arrived to discuss the death of her husband. Their house was used by insurgents to fire on Coalition forces in the battle. He was killed in the cross fire, but not a part of the insurgents.
At first the woman, who was wrapped completely in black with her entire face covered, and her family denied that the insurgents were at their house, but the evidence and witnesses were such that they eventually admitted that their house had been overrun by insurgents who were firing on Coalition forces.
She wanted a lot of money and her house repaired. Because it was known that her husband was not part of the insurgents, Oliver meet with her. For about 20 minutes, the woman and then another man in her family argued for monetary compensation.
Oliver told her that he could offer her some money for her husband’s death — about $2,500, which is about what an unskilled worker in Iraq makes in one year, and “his sincerest apology.”
“Until this fighting stops, people will die and mothers and wives will cry,” said Pascal, to the woman, through an interpretor. “I’ve seen American mother’s cry just like you have — and ask why.”
The widow did not have to be compensated at all.
“We are not trying to make new enemies,” said Oliver. “I think of the son. We would rather not have him become an insurgent.”
“The insurgents don’t care,” said Pascal. “We do.”
This is Oliver’s second tour of Iraq. He was in Operation Iraqi Freedom I. This time he interacts more with the Iraqi people, and directly helps them rebuild.
Oliver graduated Buena High School in 1992. He said he joined the Army because he did not want to go to college and needed a job. Later, he attended Prairie University in Texas, getting a degree in Political Science and becoming gaining commission as an officer. He is married with two children.
As for Iraq, he said, “It’s OK. There are worse places we could be.” After leaving Musayyib for his base, he saw some Iraqi children playing in the street.
“We need to get some more soccer balls,” he said.
CALEB SCHABER is a writer traveling overseas with the U.S. military.
Local Grad Tells what life is like in Iraq.
good article
We live fairly close.
>Oliver graduated Buena High School in 1992.
This '64 graduate of Buena salutes CPT Oliver and all the great men and women from Sierra Vista who are serving or haved served their country.
GO COLTS!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.