Navy trains Iraqi water patrol

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Gailenes, of Riverine Squadron 3, mans a .50-caliber machine gun while patrolling the waters adjacent to Haditha Dam.


Navy trains Iraqi water patrol
By Jimmy Norris, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, October 24, 2008

HADITHA, Iraq — The Small Unit Riverine Craft pulls alongside a tiny fishing boat. Well-maintained and bristling with weapons, it makes the raggedy canoe look like a cheap toy. Fishermen lift up their shirts and pat themselves down to show they have no weapons before reaching for their identification and handing it to the Iraqi police who patrol Lake Qadisiyah alongside the Navy’s Riverine Squadron 3.

They chat with the police for a few minutes before the SURC pushes off to continue on its patrol. It’s those little chats, say members of the U.S. unit RIVRON 3, which have led to caches of explosives, weapons and insurgents.

And as Iraqis prepare to take over from U.S. forces in the area, they’re doing most of the talking.

"It’s good to have the Iraqi police out here," said Chief Petty Officer Robert Noe, one of two Riverine sailors who developed a training program for Iraqi river police. "A lot of them are from here so they know the locals. They know who belongs here and who doesn’t."

Training for the Iraqis began in early June. Since then, Noe said, 63 Iraqi police have graduated from a four-week course that taught them basic naval skills such as boat handling, navigation and knot tying.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58347