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FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq (July 8, 2008) - Take a
platoon of deployed U.S. soldiers and add 100 Iraqi National Police
officers. Then mix in a mission to search 400 houses and temper it
with just one interpreter. The dynamic challenges speak for
themselves.
But blend in one motivated American soldier familiar with the
Arabic language, and everything comes out great.
Such was the case June 20, when Multinational Division Baghdad
soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division's Company C, 2nd
Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, aided
Iraqi security forces during a clearance mission in Hay Nassir, a
volatile district of eastern Baghdad.
During the mission, soldiers from the company's 1st Platoon
worked hand in hand with their Iraqi partners to search for illegal
weapons and explosives. With only one interpreter available, Army
Pfc. Joshua Ingraham's experience serving side by side with Iraqi
security forces proved invaluable.
Ingraham is a 19-year-old rifleman from Bradenton, Fla. For a
short time, he was assigned to "Team ISF" a platoon of Company C
soldiers dedicated to operating with Iraqi security forces
partners, at Joint Security Station Beladiat.
"I went over to JSS Beladiat for about two months, where we
could live next door to the national police," Ingraham said.
He credits his understanding of the Arabic language to the
extensive amount of time he spent with his Iraqi counterparts.
"We would go on missions with them at least twice a day," he
said. "We would eat chow with them, [and] we would watch movies
with them. For some reason, they like romantic movies."
During clearance missions, the platoon could not always have an
interpreter available to explain every situation between the
soldiers and policemen. Ingraham was able to use his understanding
of Arabic to position the national policemen so the American
soldiers could better assist them.
"It motivated them a little better," Ingraham said. "They want
to work with you more, because it's not just some guy yelling at
them and pointing in some foreign language."
The company's squad leaders have used Ingraham's abilities to
communicate on many different occasions during this deployment,
said Army Sgt. Kevin Pack, a Knoxville, Tenn., native.
During the Hay Nassir mission, Pack said, he was searching a
house with five national policemen when he sensed the occupants
were concealing something.
"[In] one house, we were having trouble with getting a weapon,
[and] Ingraham came over and helped me with the ISF partners to
find the weapon and confiscate it," Pack said.
Ingraham's ability to communicate with Iraqi citizens and
security forces is a key reason why his unit has had successful
clearance operations, Pack said.
The Hay Nassir mission was not the first time Ingraham's Arabic
speaking ability has helped his unit. Army Staff Sgt. John Roeder,
a noncommissioned officer from his unit who hails from Cottage
Grove, Ore., cited another situation that allowed the squad to
locate and maneuver on the enemy.
"We were taking contact and using Ingraham as [an interpreter],"
Roeder said. "I was able to determine from the [national police]
where the contact was coming from."
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