Outlook Good For Salman Pak

Lt. Col. Jack Marr, looks at a map with Brig. Gen. Hassan, commander of
1st National Police Brigade, and Lt. Col. Lynn Wolters, commander of the
National Police training team, during a meeting Sept. 5 in Salman Pak.

SGT. NATALIE ROSTEK
3RD HBCT, 3RD INF. DIV.
COP CLEARY — Lt. Col. Jack Marr has a positive outlook on what has been a rough and bumpy road to a peaceful and successful Salman Pak community.

“It’s getting better every day,” said Marr, of Minneapolis, commander of 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. “There is no one solution that will completely solve this problem.”

Salman Pak is a town in the southern most portion of the Mada’in Qada, where the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team assumed control in early April. It’s a historic area where 1-15 Inf. Regt. Soldiers and leaders have fought adversity and controversy since their arrival.

The area has not always had such a dismal reputation. Marr said Salman Pak was a resort city in the beginning of Saddam Hussein’s rule over Iraq. Still in the area are old hotels and convention centers where 1-15 Inf. Regt. Soldiers have found various pictures and postcards of what once was.

Capt. Steve Schmidt, battalion fire support officer, said the area was a vacation area for high-society Sunni leaders. He said he believes years of sanctions and the initial invasion in Iraq broke down Salman Pak. “It was survival of the fittest,” he said. “People were stripping buildings and stealing just to survive.”

Before 1-15 Inf. Regt. arrived in Salman Pak, there was a National Police presence in the area. However, they were harsh in how they dealt with the local populace. There was also known corruption within the city, Marr said.

“The people of Salman Pak left and the government was not functioning,” he said. “The buildings were abandoned and the National Police moved into them. They really had no place to work. Since 1-15 arrived, the people have moved back to the area.”

Since the National Police do not currently have a headquarters building they can call their own, they take over buildings such as schools, libraries,and hospitals, thus shutting down some or all operation within the building, Schmidt explained.

To combat this problem, Marr said Soldiers are currently working with the Mayor of Salman Pak to choose a location for a new FOB where the National Police can set up their headquarters.

Another problem both Marr and Schmidt mentioned was that of security on the main route into Salman Pak. “Many males feel they can’t travel freely on the route,” Marr said. “They feel as though they will be killed or kidnapped if they travel on that route.”

This concern makes it difficult to get supplies and resources into the city. Marr said his unit is taking a bigger role in humanitarian assistance for Salman Pak.
Soldiers provide convoy escorts along the dangerous route so trucks bringing fuel, water, propane, kerosene, and other supplies and resources can reach the area safely. He believes these efforts will also prevent residents from migrating away.

Salman Pak, is currently not recognized as a Nahia, or local council, and cannot hold regular elections. Marr said before he leaves, he would like to see the council recognized and paid by the government of Iraq.

Although Salman Pak is in the beginning stages of building a self-reliant community where violence and chaos is scarce or nonexistent, Marr is hopeful and can see the ever-improving relationship with his Soldiers and the local community.

“It’s completely a matter of trust,” he said. “We are building and providing visible, tangible alternatives to the seditious rhetoric of the extremists in
this area.”