1-15 Inf. Regt. Leaders Hold First Security Council Meeting

Leaders of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, and the Iraqi security forces of Salman Pak meet during a security council meeting March 12 at Combat Outpost Cahill, Iraq.

Capt. Elizabeth Cain, from Wynnewood, Pa., commander of the 59th Military Police Company, from Fort Carson, Colo., currently attached to the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, talks with Lt. Col. Jack Marr, from Minneapolis, the 1-15 Inf. Regt. commander, after the battalion’s first security council meeting March 12 at Combat Outpost Cahill, Iraq.

By Sgt. Natalie Rostek
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

COMBAT OUTPOST CAHILL, Iraq – The 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment hosted its first security council meeting March 12 at Combat Outpost Cahill.

Leaders of the Iraqi security forces in Salman Pak sat down to discuss significant events from the past weeks with their U.S. partners.

“It’s important to have meetings like this,” said Lt. Col. Jack Marr, from Minneapolis, commander of the 1-15th Inf. Regt. “It gives leaders a chance to talk.”

Among topics discussed was the attempt to appoint more Iraqi policemen. Maj. John Cushing, from Rochester, Mich., operations officer for the 1-15 Inf. Regt., said Iraqi police leaders are trying to get more potential policemen through the academy.

One issue addressed by the council was that some of the policemen do not live where they work, said Cushing.

“Everyone in the area should be protected by people who are from that area,” said Maj. Razzat, the Salman Pak Iraqi police station chief.

The council also addressed recruiting Sons of Iraq members into the IP. Lt. Col. Jassem, the Mada’in patrol Iraqi police deputy commanding officer, said the idea has been brought to him in the past.

“When this topic was brought up,” Marr said, “there weren’t so many Sons of Iraq. We need to take the time to get the right people hired.”

Cain suggested SoI leaders, such as Sheik Ali, head sheik of Salman Pak and SoI leader, should identify recruits from their groups who would contribute to the safety and security of their area.

The SoI leaders could then bring their chosen individuals to the joint security station for evaluation by the IP and coalition forces.

Lt. Col. Ray Rinen, from Pasadena, Calif., a national police transition team leader attached to the 1-15 Inf. Regt., spoke about those members who continue on as SoI.

Rinen said they will assist the national police they work with in detentions of suspected extremists.

“They will not have the authority to make the arrest,” he said, “but they will be able to help by identifying the individuals.”

The 1-15 Inf. Regt. is assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, from Fort Benning, Ga., and has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March 2007.