3ID NCOs Help Iraqi Government Get Rolling

[SR-25]

TIKRIT, Iraq - A full ensemble of cooks, infantrymen, supply clerks and other Soldiers from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division were put into a special unit known as the Iraqi Security Force Government Team, also known as ISFGT, at the beginning of their deployment to provide aid to the Iraqi government in Sal Ad Din Province. Six days a week, they have provided security for Iraqi government conferences and elections, operating out of the Provincial Joint Coordinating Center in downtown Tikrit.

Security, information drives the train

“The ISFGT’s main mission is to get the Iraqi government rolling,” said Sgt. Dominic Rangel. “We’ve been in country for 10 months carrying out our mission. We show up on the day of a big conference or meeting and help things run a little bit smoother.”

“Most of the time the team works with Iraqi government officials,” said Maj. Christopher Dicicco, 1st Bde. civil military officer, ISF government team officer-in-charge. “Soldiers have set up computers and internet lines in the Iraqi Government’s operation center for better communication. There’s a non-commissioned officer that sits in the operations center and teaches the Iraqi Government employees how to report to other branches of the government and how to track similar reports down.”

“This mission is something our Soldiers never trained for before and they are working with the Iraqis very well,” Dicicco said. “These guys have to work very closely with the local nationals on a daily basis and I have seen that a lot of Americans can’t do that. The team has a good attitude and the patience to get the job done.”

Access granted, access denied

The ISFGT provided humanitarian aid and critical security support to the citizens of Tikrit during the constitutional referendum Oct. 15.

“Another part of our mission here is to help establish a way for Coalition forces and the Iraqi security forces to work together,” said Sgt. Evens Belot. “The ISFGT security team mans checkpoints with Iraqi security forces during government conferences to ensure nobody that isn’t on a V.I.P. list makes it inside the walls of the compound.”

“We were at the PJCC for five days providing security and making sure that the votes for the October referendum elections were tallied correctly,” said Spc. Joshua Forman.

America’s support for Iraqi’s youngest citizens

“We do a lot of work with the community,” said Rangel. “We get a lot of care packages from different organizations and charities from the U.S. full of clothing, school supplies and personal hygiene products and what we’ll do is distribute those items to the Tikrit community, primarily to kids at Tikrit’s schools.”

“It makes me feel good to help out kids and families in need,” said Spc. Michael Bower. “Every now and then, Iraqi community leaders will invite us over to their houses for a luncheon to discuss solutions for problems the Iraqi people are having for whatever reason,” said Bower. “The faster the Iraqi people get a constitution, the faster Coalition Forces get out of Iraq. We are helping with that process.”

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