Multi-National Division – Baghdad “First Team.....Team First” Friday, April 3, 2009

See LAB, Pg 2

Iraqi investigators visit future forensics at crime lab

By Spc. Phillip TurnerMND-B PAO

VICTORY BASE COMPLEX, Iraq — Military and judicial members of the Iraqi Investigation Committee received a hands on tour of the Victory Base Complex Joint Expeditionary Forensics Facility (JEFF) here March 30 to help them better under-stand the benefits of scientific evidence processing in rendering convictions on ac-cused terror suspects.

The JEFF Laboratory uses cutting-edge technology and scientific analysis to find sometimes the most microscopic of fo-rensic evidence linking an individual to a weapon, crime scene, and any act of vio-lence against Iraqi and Coalition forces.

“We are extremely effective. One of the

reasons we are so effective is our expedi-ency, we have a very quick turn around from collection to analysis,” said St. Louis native, Maj. Kelby Blake, lab officer in charge for JEFF 3, Multi National Division-Baghdad. “DNA takes the longest because of the process it has to go through. But, for example, if we get a suicide vest bomber needing to be positively identified we can generally turn out a report in 24 hours.”

Forensic science and technology, often glorified on American television with such shows as the CSI (Crime Scene Investiga-tion) series, have placed forensic evidence

in the forefront of most state-side court cas-es as the most ‘reliable and accurate’ forms of evidence in violent crimes. However, here in Iraq, this technology has only been available for a few years and has not yet been relied upon ‘more than witness testi-monies, and evidence with a high percent-age of human error,’ explained Blake.

Hence the importance of this meeting between the judicial community and the personnel collecting and processing this scientific evidence.

“This is what we are looking for…we can reach out to [the judicial, investiga-tive community of Iraq] and showcase our capabilities, so they can see what type of evidence they will be receiving. [The more this leads] to someone being convicted in a trial based on Forensics rather than a wit-ness statement, the better,” Blake said.

Iraqi Investigation Committee Com-mander Gen. Hashim Shather works with a magnetic powder used to lift latent finger prints off numerous sur-faces at the Victory Base Complex Joint Expeditionary Forensics Facil-ity March 30.

By Spc. Phillip Adam Turner, MND-B PAO

A member of the Iraqi Investigation Committee gets hands on training with various shades of infrared light sources to find finger prints on differ-ent objects at the Joint Expedition-ary Forensics Facility.

By Spc. Phillip Adam Turner, MND-B PAO

Plantation Fla. native, Michael Thom-as Polermo Jr., a forensic scientist with the Joint Expeditionary Foren-sics Facility, examines an aluminum can for fuming reactions with super glue for fingerprints, or “feature rich detail,” March 30.

By Spc. Phillip Adam Turner, MND-B PAO

PAGE 2 April 3, 2009

Three arrested, explosive cache found north of Baghdad56th SBCT PAO

BAGHDAD — Three suspected insur-gents are behind bars and deadly weapons are off the street after joint Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division — Baghdad force’s operations March 27-28 in Tarmi-ya.

The 4th Battalion, 36th Brigade of the Iraqi Army, in conjunction with 1st Battal-ion, 111th Infantry Regiment, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, raided two homes north of Baghdad in the early morning, net-

ting suspected members of an RKG-3 anti-armor grenade cell.

Several local residents stepped forward to positively identify the three men who conducted recent attacks. The 4-36th IA is ensuring terrorists who target the Iraqi people, Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition forces are brought to justice.

In a separate action, Iraqi Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 36th Brigade discovered sev-eral explosive caches southwest of Rowad, Iraq, March 28.

U.S. Soldiers from 1st Bn., 11th Inf. Regt. immediately responded to assist their Iraqi counterparts with the cache seizures.

The caches consisted of 52 mortar shells of various sizes, two improvised explosive device shape charges and rocket-propelled grenades of various sizes. They also found assorted IED-making materials, to include wire, remote controls and a camcorder. The IA commander on the scene called in a Co-alition forces explosive ordinance disposal team to safely clear the cache.

“We are trying to bring them up to speed, we want them to see the process and realize that a conviction can be based on this evi-dence,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Layton, the MND-B provost marshal, who is a na-tive of Buck Valley, Pa. “Allowing the lead investigators to understand the science of forensics, law enforcement, and investiga-tion, is a huge opportunity.”

The chance to see and get some hands on explanations of the forensic process was an important step for these Iraqis to see just how in depth this science can be. With Iraqi-run labs being stood-up in the near fu-ture, any piece of this tour that was grasped by the Iraqis could prove to be a big step

toward convicting many repeat and future terror offenders.

“We saw how to gather evidence, and how to implement these operations on the evidence to benefit us,” said Iraqi Investi-gation Committee Judge, Ali Quhrama. “ It is more comfortable now, this will make my job easier, this is powerful evidence against the accused, and I hope it will continue to be developed more in Iraq.”

This partnership-focused event is just one small step toward the bigger picture of Iraq and Iraqis conducting their own investigations from start to finish — from evidence collection all the way to sentenc-ing and their American counterparts have the same goal and drive to see this process through to a reality.

“We need the assistance of the Ameri-cans, we have a lot of cases, and the Ameri-cans are giving us an advantage in getting convictions of previous offenders who were not convicted earlier because of a lack of evidence,” said Gen. Hashim Shather, Iraqi Investigative Committee Commander.

Learning the processes for which many fu-ture convictions could be based was an excit-ing opportunity that will shed light on Iraq’s future toward charging and convicting terror-ists for crimes against their forces and people. This brings Iraq one step closer to being a safe and prosperous country, added Shather.

“We hope that today will strengthen our relationship with the Iraqis, resulting in more terrorists being taken off [their] streets,” Layton said.

This partnership-focused event is just one small step toward the bigger picture of IraqLAB, From Pg 1

Security assessment stabilizes oil refinery defenses

BAGHDAD — The force protection section of the 1st Cavalry Division and the 225th Engineer Brigade assess security March 30 at Al Daura Oil Refinery to strengthen its resistance to attack. Located in southeastern Baghdad, Al Daura is one of Iraq’s largest oil refineries.

BAGHDAD — Marksville, La. na-tive Sgt. 1st Class Chad McNeal of the 225th Engineer Brigade stands guard at the Al Daura refinery.

By Scott Flenner, 225 Eng. Bde, 1st Cav. Div. By Scott Flenner, 225 Eng. Bde, 1st Cav. Div.

PAGE 3 April 3, 2009

Iron Brigade hosts Iraqi Army staff officers for professional developmentBy Pfc. Evan Loyd2nd BCT PAO, 1st Armd. Div.

BAGHDAD — A meeting between the professional Army staffs of the 47th Forward Sup-port Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Multi-National Di-vision-Baghdad, and the 17th Iraqi Army Division Military Transport Regiment was held at Camp Striker March 27.

The 47th FSB ‘Modern Pio-neers’ met with their Iraqi staff counterparts for the first time at the Pioneers’ headquarters to assist the professional growth of the Iraqi Soldiers and achieve awareness and coordination be-tween the Iron Brigade and the 17th IA Div. One of the goals of the staff-to-staff visit was to illustrate to the Iraqi staff offi-cers the importance of proper logistics planning in supply, maintenance, transportation and services for the unit.

Logistics planning is one of the challenges facing the Iraqi Army, but the Modern Pioneers have an existing program in which subject matter experts teach and train the IA Soldiers at their bases on maintenance, supply ordering and coordinat-ing all classes of supply.

The Iraqi Army Officers re-ceived an Operations and In-telligence briefing to give an overview of the rest of the day’s activities. The briefing also serves as a training tool for the Iraqi soldiers to take back with them to their units. The brief il-lustrated to the Iraqi soldiers a part of the U.S. Army military decision-making process which is a proven analytical process in developing estimates and a

plan.Maj. Duhmad, commander,

17th IA Div., MTR stressed to his staff members the impor-tance of the meeting. Duhmad reminded them to apply the knowledge gained from the vis-it to help shape the MTR into a more organized and efficient logistics battalion.

The combined staff meet-ing had breakout sessions for staff counterparts to discuss their particular staff specialty. The Pioneer staff explained to the Iraqis their sections’ differ-ent perspectives of how their

section fits into the battalion’s operations.

“Working with the Iraqi Army has been a great experi-ence,” said 1st Lt. Krystle Pe-naherrera, of Jackson Heights, N.Y., the intelligence officer of the 47th FSB. “I have enjoyed every moment working with them and this partnership will bring us one-step closer to go-ing home.”

After the staff counterpart break out meetings, Lt. Col. Michel Russell, of Brooklyn, N.Y., commander, 47th FSB, took Duhmad on a tour of his

battalion’s areas, including the M4 rifle qualification range, the Camp Striker aid station and the maintenance bays.

“When I was here at Camp Striker in April 2003 as the 47th FSB Support Operations Officer, the new Iraqi Army was not created yet. I wouldn’t have believed it if someone had told me that, in six years, I would be the 47th FSB bat-talion commander, back on Camp Striker, participating in a professional exchange with my Iraqi Army counterpart,” said Russell.

Maj. Duhmad (center) and the staff of the 17th Iraqi Army Division Military Transport Regiment (MTR) receives a briefing on the structure of the 47th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Multi-National Division- Baghdad, from Lt. Col. Michel Russell, of Brooklyn, N.Y., commander, 47th FSB, at Camp Striker, March 27. The 47th FSB met with their Iraqi staff counterparts to assist the professional growth of the IA and achieve awareness and coordination between the Iron Brigade and the 17th IA Div.

By Warrant Officer Julian Price, 2nd BCT PAO, 1st Armd. Div.

ARE YOU IN THE NEW EDITION OF THE CROSSED SABERS?FIND OUT. ON newstands NOW

PAGE 4 April 3, 2009

Ironhorse welcomes new ePRT leaderBy Maj. Brian Carlin1st BCT PAO, 1st Cav. Div.

BAGHDAD — The 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division welcomed Mr. Glen Keiser and the embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team 3 to the northern Rusafa area of Bagh-dad during a March 31 ceremo-ny at Joint Security Station War Eagle.

Although Keiser has never been to Iraq, his experience with the U.S. Department of State spans 20 years and he has great plans to assist the citizens of the Adahmiya, Sadr City, and Istaqlaal areas.

“At this time in Iraqi his-tory, we seek not to build out of mortar and brick, but to build the capacity of Iraqis to express their interests, to plan, and to put their plans into effect,” said Keiser.

His sixteen member team comes from different agencies within the U.S. government and the private sector, and has

“come to foster reconciliation and respect for the rule of law.”

“Living here, for the past few weeks, my soul has been refreshed by the smiles of those

I’ve passed outside of these gates,” said Keiser. “The safe and secure environment provid-ed by the Iraqi security forces, with the assistance of the Iron-horse BCT, allows us to do our job.”

Col. Tobin Green, the bri-gade’s commanding officer, hosted the event aimed to intro-

duce Keiser’s team to the local leaders and citizens.

“The Ironhorse Brigade’s contribution to support Iraqi Security Forces and rebuild the government of Iraq is complete today with the formal introduc-tion of Mr. Glen Keiser,” said Green.

Col. Tobin Green(right), commander of 1st Brigade Com-bat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, discusses opportunities with a local sheikh from the Rusafa district of Baghdad March 31.

Glen Keiser (right) meets with local leaders from around the northeast dis-trict of Rusafa March 31 during an event designed to introduce Keiser’s em-bedded Provincial Recon-struction Team.

U.S. Army photoU.S. Army photo

‘Lancer’ Soldiers keep tanks in running order

BAGHDAD — Milwaukee, Wis. native Cpl. Michael Or-wig, a tank gunner for Company B, 2nd “Lancer” Bat-talion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division completes his main-tenance checks on a M1A2SEP tank March 31 in Sadr City.

BAGHDAD — Hickory, N.C. native, Pfc. David Weiss, driver for Company B, 2nd “Lancer” Battalion, 5th Cav-alry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, conducts maintenance on his M1A2SEP tank March 31 in Sadr City.

By 2Lt. Stanley Olszewski, 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div.

By 2Lt. Stanley Olszewski, 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div.

PAGE 5 April 3, 2009

Iraq 3-Day

Weather Report Today

82° F | 60° FTomorrow 84° F | 62° F

Sunday80° F | 60° F

On This Day In Military History On this day in 1945, a Soldier’s courageous actions on the battlefield in World War II earned him the Medal of Honor. Pfc. Walter C. Wetzel, of Huntington, W. Va., served with the 13th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, in Birken, Germany. Pfc. Wetzel was acting squad leader with the Antitank Company of the 13th Infantry Regiment, guarding his platoon’s command post. Early on the morning of April 3, Pfc. Wetzel detected strong enemy forces moving in to attack. He ran into the house, alerted the occupants and immediately began defending the post against heavy automatic weapons fire coming from the hostile troops. Under cover of darkness, the Germans forced their way close to the building where they hurled grenades, two of which landed in the room where Pfc. Wetzel and the other Soldiers had taken firing positions. Shouting a warning to his fellow Soldiers, Pfc. Wetzel threw himself on the grenades, and as they exploded, absorbed their entire blast. Pfc. Wetzel was killed, but his supreme act of gallantry saved his comrades from death or serious injury and made it possible for them to defend the command post. Pfc. Wetzel was buried in a cemetery for American servicemembers in the Netherlands.

Wetzel

PAGE 6 April 3, 2009

Multi-National Division - BaghdadPublic Affairs Office

Commanding General:Maj. Gen. Daniel Bolger

Public Affairs Officer:Lt. Col. Philip Smith

Public Affairs Chief:Master Sgt. Nicholas Conner

Editor:Spc. Jon Soles

Staff Writers:Sgt. 1st Class Ron Burke

Sgt. 1st Class Joel QuebecStaff Sgt. Mark BurrellStaff Sgt. Jon CuppStaff Sgt. Peter Ford Sgt. Joshua Risner

Spc. Howard AlperinSpc. Laura Johnson

Spc. Phillip Adam Turner

The Daily Charge is an authorized publication for members of the U.S. Army. Contents of The Daily Charge are not official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of the Army, or the 1st Cavalry Division. The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Department of the Army, the 1st Cavalry, or The Daily Charge of the products and services advertised.

All editorial content of The Daily Charge is prepared, edited, provided and approved by the Multi-National Division – Baghdad Public Affairs Office.

Do you have a story to share?The Daily Charge welcomes columns, commentaries,

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Pvt. Murphy by Mark Baker

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“It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done.”

—Samuel Smiles 1812-1904Scottish autor, reformer

Quote For Today

Trigger’s TeasersThe objective of the game is to fill all the blank squares in a game with the correct numbers. There are three very simple constraints to follow: Every row of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order. Every column of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order. Every 3 by 3 subsection of the 9 by 9 square must include all digits 1 through 9.

Every Sudoku game begins with a number of squares already filled in, and the difficulty of each game is largely a function of how many squares are filled in. The more squares that are known, the easier it is to figure out which numbers go in the open squares. As you fill in squares correctly, options for the remaining squares are narrowed and it becomes easier to fill them in.

Yesterday’s Answers