THE TENSION: Combat Camera: Warriors Battalion Helps Citizens of Doura Reclaim Freedom

Soldiers of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, help a resident of Doura push his car into his carport. The soldiers conduct daily dismounted patrols to assist Iraqi security forces in their efforts to protect the Iraqi people. The "Warrior" Battalion of the 2-4 Inf. Regt. will become part of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, who is replacing 4th BCT early next week. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

Sgt. Keith Fosmire, a team leader assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, part of Multi-National Division - Baghdad, registers a Doura resident with a biometric automated toolset system, April 5. Fosmire, who hails from Cloversfield, N.Y., enters the personal identification information into a computer database for Iraqi security and coalition forces records. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

Sgt. Keith Fosmire, a team leader assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, takes point, April 5, during a combined patrol with the 3rd Battalion, 9th Brigade, 3rd Iraqi Army Division. The Iraqi security and coalition forces patrolled Doura's industrial commercial 5th Street and surrounding areas as part of efforts to provide stability and security for the 1.2 million people in the Rashid District, located in southern Baghdad. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

An Iraqi army soldier assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 9th Battalion, 3rd Iraqi Army Division, mans a checkpoint, April 5, outside a Combat Outpost in Doura. Iraqi army, police and the Sons of Iraq, a volunteer-based neighborhood watch program, maintain a 24-hour presence in the community located the Rashid District in southern Baghdad. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

2nd Lt. Jay Parsons, a platoon leader assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, inspects a busted main spewing water into a Doura mulhallah, April 5. Parsons, a native of Wichita, Kan., conducts daily patrols and meets with local Iraqi residents to enhance relations with the local community and Iraqi people living in the Rashid District in southern Baghdad. Parsons reported the problem to his commander, who will work with local Iraqi leadership to ensure that the problem is fixed. (Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.)

Dispatches from the Front:

BAGHDAD, April 9, 2008 -- The Raider Brigade Combat Team has a new ally in its mission to help the government of Iraq and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers build upon the Doura beladiya, a predominately Sunni neighborhood located in Baghdad’s Rashid District.

The 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment “Warriors,” will be attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, next week, as part of its mission to assist the government of Iraq and the Iraqi people.

“It is our intent to create a safe and stable living environment for the people of the Doura District,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Watson, commander of the 2-4 Inf. Regt., which is part 4th BCT, 10th Mountain Division, which is based out of Fort Polk, La.

The battalion’s current mission is to work with Iraqi security forces and the local district councils responsible for the community, which is home to the Doura market, a social, cultural and economic center in southern Baghdad, explained Watson.

“This area has all the potential to flourish economically and contribute to the proud cultural heritage of the Iraqi nation,” Watson said. “Much of our time and effort has been devoted to facilitating the growth of the market complex while providing a non-intrusive yet highly effective security presence.”

The units of the 2-4 Inf. Regt. have partnered with the local Iraqi army and Iraqi police forces, as well as the Sons of Iraq (Abna al-Iraq), to better secure the Doura mulhallas, or neighborhoods, from criminal and terrorist activity.

Soldiers maintain a presence in Doura 24 hours a day to better assist local ISF in providing security for the approximately 5,000 homes in the local community, said 2nd Lt. Jay Parsons, a platoon leader assigned to Company B, 2-4 Inf. Regt.

Units conduct joint and platoon-sized operations with their Iraqi counterparts every day, operating out of combat outposts and joint security stations in Doura, he explained.

“I try to ensure that we conduct some type of combat operation every day,” said Parsons, who calls Wichita, Kan., his home. “Be it cordon and search, or dismounted and mounted patrols, it’s a constant thing. There are still a small group of criminal elements within the district that we are weeding out, but I do not see a major threat.”

Security is not the platoon’s only function, said Parsons, a graduate of Wichita State University with a bachelor’s degree in history and criminal justice. He said his Soldiers also conduct daily atmospherics meetings with the Doura residents and visit local community businesses.

“There is still a lot of potential for growth in there,” Parsons said. “There is a need for community services, and there are definitely capable people within the district to run all that.”

Company commanders of the 2-4 Inf. Regt. are also working to stimulate the local economy and assist local business owners with micro-grants, a small business loan to help revitalize areas such as the Doura market, he added.

Sgt. Keith Fosmire, a native of Cloversfield, N.Y., and a team leader in Parsons’ platoon, said that in the short time since his unit began working with the Doura residents, he has seen an improvement in the quality of life and an increase in the people’s respect for their community.

“We had a big problem with garbage,” said Fosmire, who describes himself as being devoted to the military and the mission.

“Now we’re actually seeing the guys in the yellow jump suits and garbage trucks going around picking up the trash,” he explained. “And, we’re seeing more jobs and more activity in the area than before.”

Fosmire, who is on his fifth deployment of his 11-year career, said that he accredits the unit’s success to the squared away and dedicated soldiers of the 2-4 Inf. Regt., as well as the extensive training the battalion conducted last year prior to its deployment.

He also attributed the progress made in Doura to the cooperation between the Iraqi people and coalition forces, as well as the work accomplished by previous units, such as the 2nd Bn., 12th Inf. Regt., 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., from Fort Carson, Colo.

The Warrior Battalion arrived at Baghdad in December to become part of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.

The 2-4 Inf. Regt. will attach to the 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., as the Raider BCT bids farewell to the outgoing unit and assumes responsibility of the Rashid District.

(Story by Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.)