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CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, July 27, 2009 – Most field artillery troops don’t expect to work in civil affairs support, but that’s the way it is with the quickly changing role of U.S. forces here. For many field artillery units, nonstandard missions have become a way of life, and the 2nd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery, Task Force Pathfinder, is no different. As part of the Army’s first Advise and Assist Brigade, the Pathfinders provide military support to developing civil capacity across three provinces in southern Iraq. Christopher R. Hill, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, discusses the role of Task Force...

BAGHDAD, July 14, 2009 – U.S. forces apprehended a wanted man suspected of being the leader of a bomb-making cell during a July 12 civil affairs mission west of Baghdad. Civil affairs officers from C Troop, 150th Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, went to the man’s house July 12 to pay for damages to his front door caused during a previous attempt to capture the known criminal. The man attempted to flee through a field behind his house, but surrendered to pursuing C Troop soldiers, who transferred him to Iraqi army custody. The suspected criminal admitted he is a member of an...

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2009 – As security continues to improve in Iraq, civil affairs units and provincial reconstruction teams become more effective, the commander of the Army reserve’s 304th Civil Affairs Brigade said today. Army Col. Daniel R. Ammerman, commander of the Army Reserve’s 304th Civil Affairs Brigade, listens to an Iraqi officer lecture on his division’s military operations capabilities at Al Faw Palace in Baghdad, March 12, 2009. The brigade assisted the Iraqi army in hosting the event, which allowed civil military operations representatives from all over Iraq to brief Iraqi and coalition forces on their projects and...

FALLUJAH — 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, augmented by Civil Affairs teams, are continuously working with Fallujah City Council members, local tribal leaders and local citizens to carry out projects in an effort to improve the city’s infrastructure. Civil Affairs and Army Corps of Engineers leaders met with the city council’s director generals recently, to talk about projects that will provide key services throughout the city, such as improving the water distribution systems. The city is now in the planning stages of establishing a new water distribution network. 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines recently approved a project to purchase needed parts for...

Gulf Region South district A student practices his welding skills in one of the newly renovated shops at the Al Khaseeb Vocational Technical Center in Basrah. Students there can choose between a variety of classes including carpentry, electric installation, auto mechanics, air conditioning and refrigeration, masonry, painting, computer basics and plumbing installation. USACE photo by Norris Jones. BASRA — Students in Basra are now attending a newly refurbished vocational technical school as they acquire important job skills.The school’s headmaster, Mohammed Hassan Al Hassani, said he is very pleased with the $1.24 million rehabilitation of the Al Khaseeb Votech Center that...

Displaced families and Soldiers from Company B, 415th Civil Affairs, currently attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, distribute humanitarian aid bags filled with food at the Hateen apartment complex in Iskandariyah, Iraq. Photo by Spc. Amanda Mcbride, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs. FOB KALSU — Coalition forces recently participated in a 200-bag humanitarian aid drop to more than 20 displaced families in Iskandariyah, approximately 30 miles south of Baghdad. Soldiers from Company B, 415th Civil Affairs (CA), currently attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, distributed the aid in the Hateen...

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HABBANIYAH — One Civil Affairs Group (CAG), although only recently arriving to Iraq, is already making improvements to the quality of life of the Iraqi people. During a routine mission March 17, CAG, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, stopped by the Habbaniyah mayor’s office for a meeting. They intended to discuss the quality of the water treatment facilities in the Coolie Camp area. “Unfortunately, the mayor wasn’t available. We were supposed to pick-up some documents from him, but he was called to Ramadi by the governor,” said 2nd Lt. Matt R. Ashton, the officer in charge....

BAGHDAD, Dec. 7, 2007 – Troops from Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, and a civil affairs team from 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion handed out $10,000 in micro-grant funds to an Iraqi small business and a home for mentally handicapped children. A baker whisks hot bread out of an oven while troops from the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, get ready to hand $5,000 to the bakery's owner as part of a micro-grant program in Baghdad’s Qadisiyah neighborhood, Dec. 1, 2007. Photo by Spc. Alexis Harrison, USA  (Click photo for...

HADITHA, Iraq (Feb. 14, 2007) -- “I need kerosene.” “Do you have any information about my son who was detained yesterday?” "Can you fix the damage that was done to my house when Marines were fighting ali-baba (what locals call insurgents)?” Citizens from this western Al Anbar city come to the Marines of the Virginia-based 4th Civil Affairs Group seeking answers for their many questions. Whether the CAG Marines were able to accommodate all the requests or not, they have built a strong rapport with the local population in the four months since their arrival through their tireless effort to...

MOSUL, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 21, 2006) – Three towns west of Mosul in northern Iraq are benefiting from several newly completed projects as a result of cooperation between local leadership, and members of the 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion. Local contractors completed construction of a new courthouse for the citizens of Sununi on Aug. 7. The month-long project employed 35 local workers and is expected to make the adjudication of laws easier for the judges in the Sunini sub-district by providing a place for judges to meet and hear cases. When inspecting the work, coalition force personnel assessed the...

DOHUK PROVINCE, Iraq (USASOC News Service, Feb. 07, 2006) – The 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion, a civil affairs unit based out of Greensboro, N.C., and the residents of Nerimerki and Tilisquif celebrated the completion of three water projects. The successful completions are three more successes that underscore the positive changes that are happening in Iraq. With help from Mr. Ziyad Abdullah, head of the Department of Water in the Dohuk Province, the 422nd was able to identify the needs of these villages. In Nerimerki, villager’s braved cold weather and strong winds to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “Really, they are very,...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Jan. 18, 2006) -- Marines assigned to the 6th Civil Affairs Group, 2nd Marine Division, prove there is another side of the story to tell as they continue to carry out their missions to provide guidance within Al Anbar province, the largest province in Iraq. “The stories that we don’t hear enough about – the good news stories about making lives better and a nation stronger – that’s what the civil affairs Marines do every day in Iraq,” said Col. Paul Brier, commanding officer, 6th CAG. The group arrived in September to help rebuild the infrastructure and...

FALLUJAH, Iraq (Feb. 14, 2005) -- The Marines of Civil Affairs Detachment 4-4, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st Marine Division, visited several facilities during a civil military operation in the city of Fallujah, Iraq, Feb. 14, passing out Valentine's card and candy. The Marines were able to speak to several contractors to assess the damage and the necessary steps to rebuild and reopen several needed structures. The CMO is part of an ongoing operation to evaluate the progress of the city’s schools, medical clinics, fire stations and other major installations. Rahma Katheer, 8, a native of Fallujah, Iraq, gives Cpl....

  Michigan-based civil affairs unit transfers authority in Tikrit Lt. Col. Gregory Fischer, commander of the 415th Civil Affairs Battalion, salutes during the playing of the national anthem during a turn over of authority ceremony Oct. 10. The battalion, replaced by the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, supported the 1st Infantry Division for a little less than a year. (Photo by Spc. Ismail Turay, Jr., 196th MPAD) FORWARD OPERATING BASE DANGER, TIKRIT, Iraq – In a 30 minute ceremony held on the stairs of the 1st Infantry Division’s headquarters Oct. 10, the Michigan-based 415th Civil Affairs Battalion transferred authority to...

Civil Affairs Mission A villager leads Marine Chief Warrant Officer Dwight Torres, right, 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment's information operations officer, and an Arabic translator to the location of a wounded girl during a civil affairs mission in a northern village of Al Majarrah, Iraq, Oct. 3, 2004. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Luis R. Agostiniopfopfopfopfopfopfopfo A young Iraqi girl watches as her relative receives medical treatment for a three-week-old gunshot wound to the foot during a civil affairs mission by 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, in a northern village of Al Majarrah, Iraq, Oct. 3, 2004. U.S....

RELEASE NUMBER: 040819-02DATE POSTED: AUGUST 19, 2004Civil affairs teams help build relations with AfghansBy Sgt. Jennifer S. Emmons17th Public Affairs Detachment FORWARD OPERATING SITE CARLSON, Afghanistan (USASOC News Service, Aug. 19, 2004) — Building relationships with the local population is essential to the success of missions in southeastern Afghanistan. Soldiers of the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) and the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne) convoyed north of Forward Operating Site Carlson Afghanistan to a small village.  It was the first time they had gone so far from the in base camp. “We pushed out a little bit north of...

http://www.defendamerica.mil/images/photos/jun2004/articles/ai062504b1.jpg Sgt. Charles Bohner, a squad leader with Battery C, Task Force 2-11 Field Artillery, hands out candy to Kharabrud children at the conclusion of the health clinic and school ground breaking ceremonies, May 31, 2004. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Sean Kimmons Task Force Improves Life in Iraqi Village By U.S. Army Spc. Sean Kimmons / 25th Infantry Division KHARABRUD, Iraq, June 25, 2004 — It had to be an exciting day for the people of this small village when soldiers of Task Force 2-11 Field Artillery, 96th Civil Affairs Battalion and the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps came here...

BAGHDAD — The ideal, soldiers say, is that no one in Iraq should have to go outside the wire in anything less than M-1114 factory up-armored Humvee. The reality is, little more than 20 percent of Humvees in Iraq are armored, and some soldiers trust their survival to a few sandbags and steel sheets. Until the ideal is attainable, Master Sgt. Dennis P. Lichtenberg is striving to create the best-protected Humvees short of an M-1114. Lichtenberg has invented a system he calls “The Lick Kit,” a play on his nickname “Lick,” pinned on by fellow reservists from the Pensacola, Fla.-based...

<p>BAGHDAD On June 6, Lieutenant Eduardo Plascencia of Alpha Company, 2-5 1st Cavalry Division, was on an assignment to improve relations between U.S. forces and local Iraqis in Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City slum. Though his mission was civil affairs, he wasted no time on pleasantries.</p>