Soldiers see another side of Iraqis at FOB Justice

A local Iraqi worker serves food for 10th Mountain Division Soldiers Sunday at the FOB Justice DFAC. Photo by Sgt. Antonieta Rico

For the past three months, Soldiers of 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment have lived at Forward Operating Base Justice, a small camp located in the center of the Kadhimiya neighborhood of Baghdad.

Although Soldiers might be separated from the rest of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, housed at Camp Al-Nasr (Camp Liberty), the split promotes another type of relationship: closer interaction with the people of Iraq.

“You are so divorced sitting at Camp Liberty,” said 4-31 Infantry Command Sgt. Maj. Sonny Mitchell. “(At Justice) we are not outsiders, we are from the neighborhood.”

Living in the middle of their area of operations helps Soldiers see another side of Iraqis. Because about 300 Iraqis from the area work on the base, Soldiers interact with them constantly. Iraqis serve Soldiers food at the dining facility, they do maintenance work on the base, they interpret on missions and they run Internet cafes. A local Iraqi even runs a diner on base.

Including the various Iraqi military units housed at the base, about 2,000 Iraqis in total are present at FOB Justice on a daily basis, said Lt. Col. John M. Spiszer, 4-31 Infantry Regiment and FOB Justice commander.

“People are forced to interact, so it opens people up,” said Staff Sgt. James Mastrodomenico, a section sergeant with C Company, 4-31 Infantry Regiment.

Through that close contact, Soldiers stop seeing all Iraqis as terrorists and instead notice the distinction between the average Iraqi and the insurgents.

“You see they actually have a personality,” said 1st Lt. Ian Perry, an information officer for C Company, 4-31 Infantry. “They just seem more human.”

About 20 of the interpreters for the 4-31 Infantry “Polar Bears” actually live inside the compound, in rooms along side the Soldiers.

“We love our interpreters,” said Perry. “They are a part of the team.”

Many interpreters move on base because they face death threats. Despite these threats, they continue to help Soldiers.

“Their lives are in danger, (as are) their friends, their families, their homes,” Mastrodomenico said. “Everything they have is in danger, and they work for us.”

Outside FOB Justice, some people in Kadhimiya also show their support of the troops, although in not so obvious ways.

Mastrodomenico recalled being on a foot patrol once when a local Iraqi approached him. Although the man was placing his life in danger by being seen talking to an American Soldier, the Iraqi said he had something to say. “Our wives, mothers and daughters cry for you whenever they find out something happens to Soldiers,” the man told him.

“It is nice to hear an Iraqi tell me that,” Mastrodomenico said. He said he knows that a lot of Iraqis like Soldiers, but they are afraid.

Although relationships built at FOB Justice foster a climate of understanding between two opposite cultures, the interaction and proximity of the base to 4-31 Infantry’s area of operations also leads to intelligence that advances their mission.

“The people tend to trust you,” Mastrodomenico said. “People will come to the gate and give information.”

“They are good people; the bad people are just a small number,” he said.