Multi-National Corps – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20070604-02
June 4, 2007

Construction complete on ‘Safe Neighborhood’ project in Adhamiyah
2nd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. Public Affairs, Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO

BAGHDAD — The thick chains attaching the “T-Wall” barrier to the crane
shuddered as the slab of heavy concrete was lifted into the air. The crane
operator worked his control stick, first swinging the barrier through the air, and
then slowly lowering it into place.

As the 14,000 pounds of concrete settled onto the ground with a grinding
crunch, the project to secure a neighborhood in Baghdad’s Adhamiyah District
behind miles of protective barriers came to an end in darkness of the early
morning May 28.

The project, overseen by the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, involved emplacing temporary barriers and checkpoints around a
three-mile area of Adhamiyah in order to protect the local populace from attacks
by insurgents.

“This was our biggest project to date,” said Lt. Eric Brumfield, of Visalia,
Calif., a platoon leader with the 2nd BCT’s 407th Support Battalion, which oversaw
the project’s construction. “It was a massive undertaking.”

Almost every night for two months straight, paratroopers from the 407th
BSB left their base and convoyed to Adhamiyah, emplacing as many as 70 of the
huge barriers each night alongside the main road ringing the neighborhood.

“It was probably more labor intensive than anything we’ve done,” said
Capt. Priscilla Smoot, of Miami, the commander of Company A, which did the
majority of the work for the project.

Brumfield said he was shocked to read early media reports criticizing the
project as a Berlin Wall-like partition dividing neighbor from neighbor. In reality,
the wall was a simple security measure, he said.

“It’s just like driving at home where you have barriers beside the highway.
It’s no different than that,” he said.

In some sections, the project simply improved on roadblocks that
residents had already emplaced themselves, said 1st Lt. Jacob Allen, of New
Kent, Va., a platoon leader with Co. A. Allen also pointed out that the wall hasn’t
restricted foot movement at all in the area.

“There are plenty of places to walk. What this has blocked off is movement
of (vehicle-borne) explosives,” he said.

Brumfield said that despite the criticism of the project, his paratroopers are
proud of what they accomplished.

“We’re exhausted. We’re tired of seeing the wall every night. But in the
end, we did it. We were able to fight through the IEDs and the publicity and
everything else and get it done,” Brumfield said.

“Now it’s time to step back and start looking at the statistics. We have to
let time tell if it’s going to work,” he said.

So far, the results have been positive. Murders are down 61 percent in
Adhamiyah between the beginning of April, when construction began, and May
28, when it ended, according to reports compiled by the 2nd BCT.

“Since we started building the wall, we’ve already seen a noticeable
decrease in violence,” said Capt. Jared Purcell, of Lake Orion, Mich., the public
affairs officer for 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, whose unit operates in the
area. Purcell said his unit will continue to closely track the effects of the safe
neighborhood project.

“We will be in the community with an ear open as to how people feel
about the wall, as well as how it is improving security,” Purcell said. “We’re
constantly going to be re-evaluating the wall to make sure it is providing
maximum security with minimum disruptions to people’s lives.”

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