Omar Altalib (left), and 1st Lt. Steve Albeita, both members of the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division’s Human Terrain Team, analyze data that will be put into a report for brigade leaders. The team helps Soldiers to understand the Iraqis they work with better. Photo by Staff Sgt. W. Wayne Marlow, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division Public Affairs.

The HTT advises brigade Soldiers, usually leaders, on how Iraqis think and operate, to give U.S. forces a better understanding of how to act with residents. Besides Altalib, the other team members are 1st Lt. Steve Albeita of Isleta Pueblo, N.M., and Master Sgt. Richard Howard of Orange, Texas. Albeita has a masters in public health, while Howard has a criminal justice background.

Altalib said his family expressed concerns about his return to Iraq, but still encouraged him.

“They’re excited about me using my background in social sciences to create a better situation in Iraq,” he said. “They’re very supportive of me.”

HTT members advise 2nd BCT Soldiers on a wide array of topics, from economics to religion. The latter has proven especially important.

“Many Americans are used to ignoring religion,” Howard said. “Here, that doesn’t work.”

The team breaks down the complexities of Islam and explains it to brigade leaders so that knowledge can be useful in forging U.S.-Iraqi cooperation.

“The biggest thing for us is breaking down Western cultural bias,” Howard said. “We’re trying to come up with innovative ways of reconciliation.”

“Everything comes with a bias,” Albeita added. “And not everybody can know everything, but we get the answers the brigade needs.”

Albeita points out that dental care is mentioned in the Koran, and that this is one of the many elements of Islam and Arabic culture most people don’t know about. It is the team’s role to present information like this to brigade Soldiers if it is relevant to a mission.

“My role is the social structure, data collection, and analysis,” Altalib said. “I learn what is on the mind of locals and present my findings to the brigade.”

The far-reaching knowledge is especially important in eastern Baghdad, according to Howard, because in that area, he said, “You have a broad spectrum. It is a microcosm of Iraq.”

Altalib noted that Iraqi suffering goes back decades, and that has to be taken into account.

“There’s been a lot of trauma, so there’s a lot of need,” he said. “We try to get a better feel for what is influencing local communities…and how the government is servicing their needs.”

While Altalib received encouragement from his family, some in his academic circles were less enthusiastic. But he said their concerns were unfounded.

“I recognize and respect the ethical boundaries of the social scientist,” he said. “I have to remain within those boundaries. I’m not involved in intelligence or psychological operations. I’d like to make the world a better place…through better understanding.

“We fill the gap between civil affairs and public affairs,” Albeita added. “A lot of people criticize this and say it’s a bad program, that academics shouldn’t be involved in this. But we want people here to get along. We’re here to make a better understanding, to quell violence.”

As such, the team, according to Altalib, “gathers information on the Iraqi population to help develop a stable Iraq. We recognize what mistakes have been made and make improvements.”