Capt. Richard Thompson, from West Palm, Fla., the commander of Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, talks with civic leaders in Salman Pak to discuss the Concerned Local Citizens program and its success in Al Ja’ara, Nov. 8.
Civic leaders from Salman Pak meet with Concerned Local Citizens from Al Ja’ara and leaders from the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment to discuss the program and its success in Al Ja’ara, Nov. 8.
Capt. Richard Thompson, from West Palm, Fla., the commander of Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment (left), and Lt. Col. Jack Marr, Minneapolis, the commander of the 1-15th Inf. Regt., talks with civic leaders in Salman Pak to discuss the Concerned Local Citizens program and its success in Al Ja’ara, Nov. 8.3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division
FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – The Concerned Local Citizens program in Al Ja’ara continues to add members as Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, and the Iraqi national police assist the community with security.
“We have 362 registered members in Al Ja’ara and we expect that 100 more will be joining next week,” said Capt. Richard Thompson, from West Palm, Fla., the commander of Company B. “The program is doing really well.”
Thompson said he is using the group as an example to other towns in their area of operation. On Nov. 8, he set up a meeting between leaders in Salman Pak and the CLCs so his concerned citizen partners could explain how the program has benefited the people in Al Ja’ara.
“We wanted the local Iraqi leadership to talk amongst themselves and see the benefits of the program,” he explained. “We want to help the guys over in Company A, who are working in Salman Pak, because we see how the program has made our area safer.”
Capt. Steve Hemmann, from Des Peres, Mo., the executive officer of Company B, has watched the program grow from its beginning stages.
“We started with 25 people with reflective belts standing at checkpoints,” Hemmann said. “We now have over 300 men in full uniforms. The people there (Al Ja’ara) are excited.”
Thompson explained that before Company B started operating in Al Ja’ara the area was plagued by al-Qaida and extremist activity. The two elements used kidnappings and shootings to control the area.
“There was a lot of Sunni and Shia sectarian violence,” Thompson said. “Along the river (the Tigris River) was really bad and many of the routes were littered with IEDs (improvised explosive devices). There were constant small arms battles between extremist factions. It was just a bad area.”
With the help of the NP, Company B has worked to steadily improve the area and make it more secure.
“We have slowly worked through all the problems here,” Thompson said. “We started giving food and water to some villages and started our first Concerned Local Citizens group. Gradually, the other villages in the area wanted the same things. It just grew from there.”
In addition to more security, the program is also helping the local economy by providing more jobs.
“We are paying independent contractors to help build up force protection at the checkpoints,” he said. “The contractors we are hiring will be using labor from the villages and the concerned citizens will be guarding them. This is a good example of how the economy of the area will benefit from the group. Everything is going back into the community.”
As the area becomes more secure, Hemmann believes that local citizens will go out and do more shopping.
“We just need to keep the area secure so they have freedom of movement,” Hemmann said. “When people aren’t worried about their safety they can concentrate on things like shopping and their businesses. Everything builds off security.”
Tips provided by the CLCs have led to more security. Hemmann explained that the locals’ knowledge of the area has been invaluable in helping Company B track down extremist elements.
“The people there know the area better than we do,” he said. “They know when insurgents are moving in and out of the area before we do. As we continue to build up the force protection down there, we will see an even bigger concerned citizen contribution.”
“Insurgents don’t have sanctuary down there anymore,” Hemmann continued. “There are eyes out there watching their movements and disrupting their plans.”
In Thompson’s mind, the number of arrests in Al Ja’ara speaks volumes on how much security has improved thanks to the group.
“We have arrested 30 to 40 Shia extremists and at least five al-Qaida extremists,” Thompson said. “The information we are getting to get these guys is coming from concerned citizens.”
Thompson explained that as security has improved, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team has worked to provide Al Ja’ara with more essential services.
“When we first started going into the area, one of the first things they wanted was a medical clinic,” Thompson said. “We explained we had to secure the area or it would just become a target. We are now working to get it set up. Our goal is to provide more essential services. Once the citizens here get those, they won’t want to give them up and it will feed itself and grow.”
Another ongoing Company B project is digging more wells for the villages in Al Ja’ara.
“We want to give them wells, rather than continually giving them bottled water,” Thompson said. “When we leave, we want the people here to still have a permanent water source. We have one well project approved and we have more in the works.”
Thompson believes that Al Ja’ara has turned a corner in its development and is improving because of the CLCs.
“We always go out on patrols together,” he said. “Thanks to them, we get at least one extremist arrest a week. They are working hard to help clean up this area. As bad as Al Ja’ara was when we got here, the program has helped us improve the area and made it more secure.”
The 1-15 Inf. Regt. is assigned to the 3rd BCT, 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Benning, Ga., and has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March.
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