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Marines, Seabees Working Together Help to Employ Iraqi Ex-military

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS030822-21

Release Date: 8/24/2003 8:05:00 AM

By Journalist 1st Class Lisa Keding, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7 Public Affairs

AD DIWANIYAH, Iraq (NNS) -- July 7, Marine Lt. Col. Patrick Malay, commanding officer of 3rd Battalion 5th Marines, requested that Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 7 build a structure to support a payment operation for former Iraqi military. A crew of more than 20 men and women from the battalion began working the next day at the Ad Diwaniyah Textile Mill in central Iraq.

Within two days, the Seabees finished a long wooden building with 30 payment windows that Iraqi and U.S. officials used to pay monthly pensions to the former Iraqi military.

In addition to the payment building, the Seabees built several covered walkways inside and outside the gate of the textile mill that helped the Iraqi payment officials in organizing the operation.

"This is considered the most important thing taking place in Iraq. What these Seabees put together overnight provided a seamless transition. These guys' and gals' efforts were absolutely outstanding," said Malay.

"We're paying the Iraqi people through Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) funds," said Army Maj. John Hope, commander of the Government Support Team, Civil Affairs Augment to 3rd Battalion 5th Marines. He is the officer-in-charge of overseeing the operation, which is also paying the monthly salaries of police officers from the Ad Diwaniyah province, many of whom are former Iraqi military.

By the afternoon, the group had paid an estimated 300 former Iraqi officers. During the three-week long operation, the group estimated that they would oversee the payment of more than 60,000 former officers and enlisted men at the textile mill.

"Yesterday, we oversaw the payment of 1,000 Ad Diwaniyah police officers. We were testing the system that we are using today, and so far today, everything has run very smoothly," said Hope.

Later in July, the Marines requested another crew from the battalion build an additional building at the mill that was used as an administrative building to support the payment effort.

The Marines and Seabees have accomplished some major tasks together over the past two months. One of the first things the Marines from 3rd Battalion 5th Marines, who worked with Army Soldiers from the 977th Military Police Battalion, did to ensure success of the payment operation was help the Iraqi police department establish an effective police force. The police officers worked with the Marines to maintain security during the payment operation.

Hope said about 75 percent of the police force in Ad Diwaniyah is made up of former Iraqi military hired over the last two months.

"The police here were not effective a couple of months ago," said Hope. "So we began training in Ad Diwaniyah with the Iraqis at the police academy."

Hope said that a new police cadre starts each week at the academy, and the Marines and Army continue to oversee the enormous progress of the new Iraqi police officers.

The efforts of the Marines, combined with the efforts of the Seabees, have made progress here a reality. They have helped to reinvest more than $700,000 in the city, while working on several schools, banks and law buildings. The two groups are working together to help rebuild Iraq and re-employ Iraqis one community at a time.

Builder 2nd Class Jeffrey Schutz, a Seabee working at the textile mill, commented, "We're still here. We're still in Iraq, and we're still working."

To show support for his Marines and the Seabees working at the site, Malay visited the operations and building efforts at the textile mill in July. He praised the efforts of the Marines and Seabees who worked at the site.

"I would go with these Seabees and Marines anywhere," said Malay. If there was ever an example of Navy Seabees and the Marine Corps team working together to make things happen, this is it."