CAMP TAJI, Iraq – The second state-of-the-art medical clinic opened on Camp Taji March 25 at a ribbon cutting ceremony held on the combined base north of Baghdad. The medical clinics are now capable of taking care of the more than 12,000 Iraqi soldiers stationed on Camp Taji.

Soldiers from the 9th Iraqi Army Division and Iraqi Police conducted a medical operation with support from elements of the 4th Infantry Division at the Tarmiya medical clinic north of Baghdad March 27.

Eight civilian Iraqi medical professionals from the Tarmiya medical clinic, and two American military care providers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th ID, rendered medical care to 375 patients in about 3.5 hours, while the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police provided security for the event.

“We have a good relationship with Coalition Forces,” said Sheik Saeed Jassim Hameed Al-Mashadani, the Qada (city) leader. “I have a good feeling (about the medical operation) today because the people get free medical attention.”

The 1st BCT civil affairs team brought $4,000 worth of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals for the medical operation. The supplies were donated by charitable groups in the United States. Medicine and supplies not used during the operation were donated to the Tarmiya medical clinic. The combined team also provided those under their care blankets for warmth and toys for children.

In Taji, Iraqi Soldiers, along with their U.S. counterparts, unveiled the second $2.25 million dollar medical clinic in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the combined camp north of Baghdad March 25.

“The facilities’ progress was very good, and the development has changed for the better,” said Iraqi Army Maj. Adnan, the clinic director. “This clinic is so important to the Iraqi Army because there weren’t many medical clinics before. Now this clinic, along with the other new one, will serve all the Iraqi units on Camp Taji. It is much better than before.”

Iraqi medical personnel can now handle the medical needs of the more than 12,000 Iraqi Soldiers who are assigned to Camp Taji. The camp is home to the 9th Iraqi Army Division with its three brigades, a basic training school for new recruits and an engineering school.

“There is no comparison to how it was before,” Adnan added. “This is something that will really help the Iraqi army.”

As medical operations to promote good health to the citizens in Iraq continue, Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division have focused their efforts on developing the Iraqi Army’s noncommissioned officers.

Noncommissioned officers are responsible for the enforcement of discipline and the ground-level supervision of Soldiers. This has continued to evolve where NCOs act as supervisors, but their experience enables them to provide crucial advice and counsel to the Army’s officers.

Sgt. Ray Andrade and his fellow NCOs have been conducting professional development training designed to help Iraqi NCOs take ownership of the Soldiers assigned to them.

“The Iraqi NCOs are ready and willing,” said Andrade. “They just need the time and experience leading soldiers, and they’ll be ready to take the fight.”

Among the many exercises were demonstrations on how to conduct proper inspections and make Soldier corrections. U.S. and Iraqi NCOs checked on troops at various checkpoints, demonstrating techniques to ensure that Soldiers were wearing proper protective gear and searching vehicles in a safe manner.

One of the challenges Soldiers faced in helping develop the Iraqi Army was to build a corps of NCOs that would execute the myriad of tasks crucial to any successful army. According to military sources, many soldiers who joined the new Iraqi army were assigned the rank of sergeant based on previous service and experience; however, a significant number of these new sergeants had never served as an NCO or attended formal training prior to joining.

“We’ve been working hard to get slots to have our NCOs school-trained,” said Capt. Nelson Parrish, a member of the Military Transition Team that has been working with the soldiers of 4th Battalion, 6th Iraqi Army Division. “Right now, we have four slots for this next month, and we’ll keep sending as many as we can until they’re all school trained.”

Capturing Terrorists

Bastogne Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division killed two insurgents and detained eight suspected insurgents April 1 after they spotted six of the terrorists emplacing an improvised explosive device near a road the Soldiers frequently travel.

Soldiers spotted eight men leaving a suspicious truck alongside the road. The men dropped several artillery rounds before driving to a nearby village, where 10 more men gathered around the truck. Within minutes the truck drove off, and four insurgents started walking toward the IED.

The four terrorists split into two teams. One team positioned themselves off the road while the other team began laying wire through a field to the IED and then completed building the pressure-switch bomb.

Leaders of 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment called in air support from 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment. With assistance from the Soldiers who observed the emplacement of the IED, the OH-58 Kiowa Helicopters were able to identify and engage two of the insurgents in the field with machine gun fire and rockets. The 1st Battalion leaders ordered their men to fire at the targets.

Bastogne Soldiers drove to the village to conduct a cordon and search for the suspects. The Soldiers searched 10 different structures, detaining eight suspected insurgents for questioning; three of the detainees tested positive for explosive residue.

While the Soldiers conducted the cordon and search, another element from 1st Battalion secured the IED site until the explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) unit could arrive. While EOD examined the IED, Soldiers from 1st Battalion searched the field, confirming two of the terrorists had been killed.

Upon arrival, the EOD unit found two 130 mm artillery. After confirmation, the unit disposed of the IED with an on-site controlled blast.

(Compiled from official Defense Department sources)