they are smart: it is far too hot to do anything during the day.
The evening meeting was exhilarating. Lieutenant Adams and I learned we would be the first guys on our team to get a piece of the action. Adams was assigned to 1st Iraqi Company with 1st Lt. Jesse Cope (the outgoing adviser), and I would be embedded with 4th Iraqi Company and Capt. Rodd Chin (also an outgoing adviser). The rest of our MiTT would be stationed with the mobile Iraqi COC on the outskirts of Bani Dahir. From there they would listen in on the action and direct support and logistics to the fight, if needed.
During the mission 4th Iraqi Company would be the cordon element during the Bani Dahir search and 1st Iraqi Company would be the search element. During the Kaffijiyah cordon and search, the roles would be reversed. We would be living, fighting, and bleeding with the Iraqi army. Excitement was on the horizon.
Chapter 5
The First Fight with the Iraqi Army
August 2006
L ieutenant Adams and I were set for our mission to clear Bani Dahir and Kaffijiyah. The intelligence brief claimed we should brace for gunfights. Donât gunfights only happen in the movies? I wondered. In any other scenario I would have been nervous, but I would be accompanied by flesh-and-blood Iraqi soldiers who had lived amid war and chaos their entire lives. These guys were willing to send every 7.62-mm round from their AK-47s into the hearts of the enemy. What could be more comforting than knowing I would be surrounded by thirty of these guys at any moment?
Bani Dahir
Captain Chin, thirty-five motivated Iraqis, and I set up perimeter security around the town of Bani Dahir. I spent the day moving from one Iraqi defensive position to the next, witnessing the glaring differences in how the Marines did things and how the Iraqis did things. The first position we visited consisted of five Iraqi soldiers, some breakfast chow, a full set of tea cups with a tea pot, and an Iraqi Humvee with a PKC 7.62-mm machine gun pointing down the southern road leading into town. The Iraqisâ priorities in their defensive blocking position were not what I expected.
When it comes to prioritizing efforts during defensive operations, the Marines follow a commonsense acronym: SAFE . It stands for security, avenues of approach, fields of fire, and entrenchment:
⢠  Security: Check surrounding buildings, check for IEDs underneath the Humvee, look for nearby booby traps, and so forth.
⢠  Avenues of approach: Make sure the machine gun is pointing in the direction from which the enemy will be approaching.
⢠  Fields of fire: Everyone needs to have a general idea of where to point their weapons to ensure the entire area is covered.
⢠  Entrenchment: In our scenario entrenchment meant setting out road blocks or posting signs a couple hundred meters in front of the defensive positions.
The Iraqis also follow a commonsense acronym when it comes to prioritizing efforts during defensive operations: REST . It stands for relax, eat, sleep, and tea:
⢠  Relax: Make sure everyone has a comfortable position in the Humvee or finds a nice shady spot under a building because of the extreme heat.
⢠  Eat: Always bring homemade chow from the campâfresh khubbis , oranges, and perhaps some rice and beans.
⢠  Sleep: As long as someone in the turret is partially awake, everyone else can sleep.
⢠  Tea: When everyone needs a pick-me-up, break out the tea set, complete with sugar bowl, teakettle, and teacups, and have a tea party in the middle of a combat operation.
From an Iraqi perspective, SAFE is for dimwits and REST is the way to go. Security? Why check for IEDs and booby traps in the middle of the street? Any IEDs or booby traps insurgents had placed would have ignited when we initially drove on the position. Avenues of approach? Why waste energy pointing the machine gun in the direction of the
The evening meeting was exhilarating. Lieutenant Adams and I learned we would be the first guys on our team to get a piece of the action. Adams was assigned to 1st Iraqi Company with 1st Lt. Jesse Cope (the outgoing adviser), and I would be embedded with 4th Iraqi Company and Capt. Rodd Chin (also an outgoing adviser). The rest of our MiTT would be stationed with the mobile Iraqi COC on the outskirts of Bani Dahir. From there they would listen in on the action and direct support and logistics to the fight, if needed.
During the mission 4th Iraqi Company would be the cordon element during the Bani Dahir search and 1st Iraqi Company would be the search element. During the Kaffijiyah cordon and search, the roles would be reversed. We would be living, fighting, and bleeding with the Iraqi army. Excitement was on the horizon.
Chapter 5
The First Fight with the Iraqi Army
August 2006
L ieutenant Adams and I were set for our mission to clear Bani Dahir and Kaffijiyah. The intelligence brief claimed we should brace for gunfights. Donât gunfights only happen in the movies? I wondered. In any other scenario I would have been nervous, but I would be accompanied by flesh-and-blood Iraqi soldiers who had lived amid war and chaos their entire lives. These guys were willing to send every 7.62-mm round from their AK-47s into the hearts of the enemy. What could be more comforting than knowing I would be surrounded by thirty of these guys at any moment?
Bani Dahir
Captain Chin, thirty-five motivated Iraqis, and I set up perimeter security around the town of Bani Dahir. I spent the day moving from one Iraqi defensive position to the next, witnessing the glaring differences in how the Marines did things and how the Iraqis did things. The first position we visited consisted of five Iraqi soldiers, some breakfast chow, a full set of tea cups with a tea pot, and an Iraqi Humvee with a PKC 7.62-mm machine gun pointing down the southern road leading into town. The Iraqisâ priorities in their defensive blocking position were not what I expected.
When it comes to prioritizing efforts during defensive operations, the Marines follow a commonsense acronym: SAFE . It stands for security, avenues of approach, fields of fire, and entrenchment:
⢠  Security: Check surrounding buildings, check for IEDs underneath the Humvee, look for nearby booby traps, and so forth.
⢠  Avenues of approach: Make sure the machine gun is pointing in the direction from which the enemy will be approaching.
⢠  Fields of fire: Everyone needs to have a general idea of where to point their weapons to ensure the entire area is covered.
⢠  Entrenchment: In our scenario entrenchment meant setting out road blocks or posting signs a couple hundred meters in front of the defensive positions.
The Iraqis also follow a commonsense acronym when it comes to prioritizing efforts during defensive operations: REST . It stands for relax, eat, sleep, and tea:
⢠  Relax: Make sure everyone has a comfortable position in the Humvee or finds a nice shady spot under a building because of the extreme heat.
⢠  Eat: Always bring homemade chow from the campâfresh khubbis , oranges, and perhaps some rice and beans.
⢠  Sleep: As long as someone in the turret is partially awake, everyone else can sleep.
⢠  Tea: When everyone needs a pick-me-up, break out the tea set, complete with sugar bowl, teakettle, and teacups, and have a tea party in the middle of a combat operation.
From an Iraqi perspective, SAFE is for dimwits and REST is the way to go. Security? Why check for IEDs and booby traps in the middle of the street? Any IEDs or booby traps insurgents had placed would have ignited when we initially drove on the position. Avenues of approach? Why waste energy pointing the machine gun in the direction of the
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