Soldiers Deliver Food, Toys to Gurtan Village

A child from the village of Gurtan inspects a soccer ball he received from coalition forces during a food and toy delivery operation, March 18. Soldiers from Task Force Petro, consisting of Soldiers from 13th Georgian Army Light Infantry Battalion and 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, conducted the mission after a March 7 operation identifying the village's needs.

A team leader from the 13th Georgian Army Light Infantry Battalion watches as residents of the village of Gurtan unload a trailer during a food and toy delivery operation, March 18. Soldiers from Task Force Petro, consisting of Soldiers from 13th Georgian Army Light Infantry Battalion and 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, conducted the mission after a March 7 operation identifying the village's needs.

By Staff Sgt. Sean Riley
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – U.S. and Georgian Soldiers helped get food and toys to a small village in need near al Lej, March 18.

Leaders of Task Force Petro, consisting of Soldiers from 13th Georgian Light Infantry Battalion and 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, discovered Gurtan after the completion of Operation Sukihumi, March 7. During the operation, Task Force Petro Soldiers searched and cleared al Wehda, near al Lej. Now, with the area secured, the task force is planning for its revitalization.

Soldiers assigned to Civil Affairs Team A, attached to 3rd HBCT, delivered the toys and food to citizens of Gurtan, near al Lej, after assessing the needs of the village.

Company E, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, and Georgian soldiers from 13th Georgian Light Infantry Battalion provided security.

“Most of the villages in the al Wehda area are in desperate need of medical attention and food, Gurtan was no exception,” said Capt. Jimmy Hathaway, the 3rd HBCT liaison officer for Task Force Petro. “With the securing of al Wehda and al Lej, coalition forces are now able to travel along the routes to assess the infrastructure of the neighboring villages.”

Coalition force presence has been nominal in the area since 2006. Hathaway and Task Force Petro hope to turn that around.

“In the past, the village of Gurtan was a mixed society with Shia and Sunni living next to each other,” said Hathaway. “Starting around three years ago, the younger adult males were taken from the village by al-Qaida and other insurgent groups. As a result, the village is composed mostly of women, children and the elderly.”

The village sheik’s cousin, Rumdan Latef Ali, says the people of his village rest easy at night with the added security Task Force Petro Soldiers are bringing to the village.

“My family is able to sleep peacefully at night now that coalition forces are running constant patrols in the area,” Ali said.

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