Posted on 04/28/2009 6:10:58 PM PDT by SandRat
FORWARD OPERATING BASE BERNSTEIN, TUZ — Everyone was shooting, but no one was hurt when the Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police, the Sons of Iraq and Coalition forces fired AK-47s, M4 carbines, and Glock 9mm pistols together in a friendly shooting tournament here, April 19.
The event, hosted by Company A, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, helped the four groups strengthen relationships.
“This is a lot of fun,” said Pfc. Devin Nehring, a Co. A. “Shooting the AK-47 was really exciting, and they (the IA) have one guy out there who’s cash money – he’s hitting everything.”
“Some people are natural marksmen,” said Khalid Shwan Ibrahim, a Sons of Iraq member who competed against some of the best the Salah ad-Din province has to offer.
Halfway through the day, Soldiers from Co. A fired up a grill and started cooking traditional American barbeque fare for all the competitors.
“This food is very good,” said Mowlud Shakour, one of the Sons of Iraq’s top competitors. “The men on the grill are talented, because they can cook and be Soldiers at the same time,” he quipped.
The competition was a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, and each group took the lead at least once during the full-day event. After each iteration, scores were posted as eager competitors looked on. There were pats on the back and pep talks between each episode as the marksmen prepared to shoot again.
Spc. Mostafa El Saka, a linguist, was impressed by the accuracy of the Iraqi Security Forces. “If you look at the results, the Sons of Iraq are doing the best right now. For people who don’t get many opportunities to practice shooting, they’re all doing very well.”
Sgt. Shaun Maynard, who was one of the scorekeepers throughout the competition, was excited to watch new friendships blossom as the ISF members both teased and congratulated one another.
“This is a nice little get-together,” said Maynard. “We’re getting to interact with the ISF; we get to see how they are when they’re having fun instead of being all business.”
During the last event, the Suleyman Bek police department catapulted into the lead. Although they had no experience with the Americans’ M4 carbines, U.S. Soldiers coached them all the way to first place.
Immediately after the final event, Lt. Col. Chris Stenman, who commands the Special Troops Battalion, handed out certificates to the event’s top shooters and gave a short speech to the group.
“I’d like to invite you all to come do this again,” said Stenman. “We’ve started something today that should become a tradition, and I’m very impressed with both the results and your professionalism as Iraqi Security Forces.”
(Multi-National Division – North)
That’s great.
Little things like this are more important than many would assume.
Building a tradition of friendly competition is part of the foundation for long term cohesion.
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