CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq – Sunlight glared through the entryway of Basrah Operation Center, cascading off a crowd of Iraqi men, women and children seeking help for a variety of minor ailments such as chronic back pain, burns and allergies.
The Soldiers of 17th Fires Brigade and 14th Iraqi Army Division conducted their first joint Medical Military Civic Operations clinic at Basrah Operations Center Oct. 8, drawing approximately 150 people.
“The purpose of an event such as this is to provide treatment for minor illnesses and teach these people how to better care for themselves,” said 1st Lt. Jennifer L. Leathers, 1314 Civil Affairs Company, 17th FB, operations manager and native of Omaha, Neb. “With the right teaching and instruction, a lot of the illnesses and injuries that we saw here could have been treated at home or prevented.” The patients were comfortably seated on couches as they awaited their turn to be seen at one of the nine stations set up to treat and assess the needs of the community’s members.
Iraqi civilian and medical personnel and U.S. Soldiers evaluated the patients and offered analysis and guidance on treatment and preventative care. In addition to providing medical attention, the Soldiers dispensed food, medicine and personal hygiene items.
While conducting medical screenings and providing humanitarian assistance packages Iraqi Soldiers provided security. The purpose of the mission was to allow Iraq to take the lead and to showcase their civil-military role in helping its country’s citizens.
The Iraqi and U.S. medics were fully prepared for the event and had plenty of supplies on hand to treat each patient and were successful in ensuring each person was seen and evaluated. Besides showing the lead in security and medical treatment at the event, the clinic allowed 17th FB Soldiers the chance to evaluate and train their Iraqi counterparts.
“The Iraqi Army met their goal, which was to provide the barest of necessary equipment needed to treat and teach the local populace how to better care for minor injuries and illnesses that could progress if not assessed early on,” said Leathers. “Our role was to evaluate the Iraqi Army’s procedures during the event and make on-the-spot corrections as needed. This is so they could learn while doing, making them much more efficient and effective when they conduct other events like this in the very near future.”
The Soldiers at the clinic recognized its value toward providing care for the city’s citizens. According to Iraqi Col. Abbas Abdul Ghafar Altmymy, 14th IA Div., BaOC, public information officer, the event’s large turnout indicated the people’s desire for coordinated healthcare in the Basrah Province and the need to implement and sustain such operations.
“Today we did something that was extremely positive and progressive for the people of Basrah,” said Abbas. “We were able to take care of the needs of 150 patients, which is no small task. With the help of our partners from the 17th Fires Brigade, we’ll conduct an evaluation to see how we can improve to make our next community outreach project an even bigger success.”
The 17th FB Soldiers were proud to be a part of the event, not only for the opportunity it provided to help the citizens of Basrah, but to see firsthand the united IA and U.S. efforts in working toward a worthwhile cause. “Having done similar events before, by working side by side with them we’ve given them a template in which to measure their progress by,” said Sgt. 1st Class Maryfaith B. Payne, brigade medical operations noncommissioned officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 17th FB, and native of Honolulu.
“It’s really good to see the people of Basrah receiving the help and assistance that they need from the Iraqi Army,” said Spc. Christina R. Kreite, 206th Military Police Company, 17th FB and native of Long Island, N.Y. “We’ve been training them to handle these types of situations and there was a time when a crowd this large would have been a bit overwhelming for the Iraqi Army. But this shows just how far they’ve come.”
Medic Pfc. Leah K. Brook, healthcare specialist, 17th FB’s 206th MP Co., considered the event similar to humanitarian missions in which she’s participated. The Syracuse, N.Y., native said she felt moved by the faces of the people seeking treatment and impressed by the level of care given by the Iraqi military and civil medical community. She felt honored to be a part of such a fulfilling experience, even if her role was limited to an advisory capacity.
“As a medic, I find humanitarian missions to be undeniably fulfilling,” she said. “So to be here in an observation role as opposed to helping the people first hand is a little difficult, but seeing the Iraqis helping their own people lets me know that we are really making a difference.”
