The Red Bulls

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE GARRYOWEN, Iraq - Iraqi Engineers from the 10th Iraqi Army Field Engineer Regiment Detachment have been conducting training with Engineers from “Eagle” Company E, 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regt. for the past three months.  On Oct. 18 they put their training to good use.

Eagle Co. and the 10th IA FER conducted a joint reconnaissance mission to evaluate a local bridge. This type of mission is equally important to both U.S. Forces and the Iraqi people.

“This is the only bridge for miles,” said Sgt. 1st Class Carl Rogers, a combat engineer from Boston, Mass. “If it has deteriorated to an extent that no one can use it, both (civilian and military) movement will be hindered.” 

For Staff Sgt. Fabio Herrera, combat engineer from Hawthorne, Calif., it was easy to get the Iraqi Soldiers involved in the mission.

 “On my last deployment to Iraq, I was able to learn a lot of Arabic,” said Herrera. “This gives me the ability to talk to and help guide the Iraqi Soldiers without the use of an interpreter.”

The Iraqi Soldiers helped with taking measurements of the bridge, pointing out weak spots in the bridge, and traffic control. Iraqi civilians find it easier communicating with an Iraqi Soldier than trying to communicate with U.S Forces through an interpreter.
Sgt. Michael Cohoon, an engineer from Rockville, Md. said, “The Iraqi Soldiers are very good at giving instructions to the civilians and at the same time concentrating on the evaluation of the bridge.”

At the end of the mission, there was a short good bye and thank you from both sides as everyone was pleased the mission was a success.

“We can tell that the past training events have been effective,” said Sgt. Ryan Loseby, a combat engineer from Rutland, Vt. “Each time the 10th IA FER Soldiers go on missions with Eagle Company, they show more and more confidence in their ability to get the job done without our help.”