An Iraqi police officer fixes his equipment after trying on their new bullet-proof vest for the first time. Department of Defense photo by Army Sgt. Kevin McSwain.
Posted on 08/20/2006 10:07:19 AM PDT by SandRat
BAQUBAH -- Iraqi Police now have more protection thanks to the recent donation of 2,000 protective vests by a U.S. nonprofit.An Iraqi police officer fixes his equipment after trying on their new bullet-proof vest for the first time. Department of Defense photo by Army Sgt. Kevin McSwain.
The vests, presented during an Aug. 15 ceremony in Baqubah, were shipped overseas free of charge and delivered by the U.S. Army to the Iraqi National Police.
One e-mail between an Army officer deployed in Iraq and the nonprofit group Brotherhood of the Badge paved the way for the donation.
“When I received my mobilization order, I had a 5-month-old baby and a 3-year-old and I promised them that I wasn’t going to come to Iraq a just do my time … I was going to make a difference,” said Lt. Col. Jodee Kautzman, 40th Corps Support Group intelligence and operations officer.
She got the ball rolling with a message to Brotherhood of the Badge founder Mike Harris.
The three-year old organization based in California collects used police gear from across the United States and sends it to Iraq to help the national police force.
“My husband worked with Mike Harris when he was in Baqubah during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,” Kautzman said. “Brotherhood of the Badge shipped used police equipment to his military police unit.”
The goodwill gesture did not come without obstacles.
“It was like reinventing the wheel since 2004 … by the time the equipment arrives, the original point of contact is gone,” Kautzman said. “I am trying to forge an enduring path for shipment of donated equipment.”
Seeking help, Harris called his congressman, California Rep. George Radanovich, who made some calls to DHL asking for assistance with the shipping.
DHL paid the overseas shipping to Balad, and allowed the Brotherhood of the Badge to pay only $6,000 of the $197,000 charge to ship the equipment to New York.
“The donation from DHL made this delivery possible,” Kautzman said. “The Brotherhood of the Badge had already purchased the vests, which were worth approximately $2.5 million, and did not want to waste money they could use to purchase more equipment.”
On Aug. 15, Kautzman traveled to Forward Operating Base Warhorse to witness the presentation of the vests to Iraqi Police officers in Baqubah.
“This donation will help in their fight against terrorists,” said Lt. Col. William Benson, who works with the Iraqi Police as part of a 4th Infantry Division police transition team.
Gen. Ghassan A Al-Bawy, Iraqi chief of police for Diyala province, said that with the arrival of the vests his officers will be able to better train.
“We have over 10,000 officers,” Al-Bawy said. “We will make sure the new vests are inventoried and distributed to the officers that need them the most.”
Along with the military training, the Iraqi Police are mentored by a group of privately contracted U.S. police officers.
According to someone who has been in the Iraqis’ position, U.S. police officer Derek France, “As fellow police officers, we want to give them the best training and equipment possible.”
Won't do much against face-shots, IEDs or RPGs, but they're better than nothing.
Yeah, why aren't they buying them NEW up to date gear?
Wait, wai, wait a minute here! Something just doesn't seem right with this picture.
Why are the Iraqi police in need of donated equipment??? Each month we spend BILLIONS to support our troops and train & equip the Iraqis. Each month we spend BILLIONS for repairing & building their infrastructure.
All these expenses, we were told by our illustrious leaders, would be covered by Iraq's oil revenue!
So, if Iraq is not paying for our military, not paying for supplies for their military and police forces, are not paying to rebuild their infrastructure, then where ITF is all the money going???
Actually, there were several articles concerning the cost of the war and rebuilding. The DoD, CBO, and administration all have different numbers so no one is quite sure how much the war/rebuilding is costing, but they all agree that a lot of the money appropriated has not been spent.
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