Michael Gisick, Stars and Stripes
Michael Gisick / S&SFive days and no blogs - what's up with that? Well,the past few days have been quiet which is really good. No news means just that...no news.
Tonight the info hounds produced a number of photos and an article on the Fires Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment and the money man.
Say, haven't we seen this article before?
For the Sons of Iraq and the U.S. staff sergeant who delivers their pay, it’s all about the Benjamins
By Michael Gisick, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
Monday, March 10, 2008
AGAR QUF, Iraq — Back in 2005, when Army Staff Sgt. Dale Horn started wearing a dishdasha and hanging out with sheiks, close interaction with Iraq’s tribal society was somewhat of a novel idea in the military.
And if Horn was a trail blazer, he blazed in style, wearing traditional dress as many as four or five days a week by the end of his deployment. He even got himself named a real live sheik of the al Jabouri tribe, complete with a tiny plot of land near Mosul and a flock of five sheep.
Nowadays, engaging the tribes has become such a central part of the U.S. strategy in Iraq that the term “sheikfest” has entered the military lexicon. And now Horn, who is back at it, can offer quite a bit more in the way of social lubricant than cheap cigarettes and a warm, dry personality.
On Friday, he stepped off a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected combat vehicle carrying a nondescript nylon briefcase. It might have been a cheap bag, but it carried more than $340,000 in bundles of crisp, newly minted hundred dollar bills. It was pay day for the Sunnis, and Horn was the money man.
“That’s $8,400,” he said moments later, sitting in an office at a compound belonging to a leader of Sunni Sons of Iraq groups in this rural area northwest of Baghdad. He passed the stack of cash to one of the checkpoint chiefs, who sat counting his money as the next chief stepped in.
Over the course of the next two hours, Horn handed over more cash than the average American touches in a lifetime, but it was just another day for the 28-year-old Floridian. In two weeks, the Shiite checkpoints to the east would have their payday, and two weeks after that it would be time to come back here.
For all his work with the tribes during his last deployment — the result of a nascent outreach strategy and the sponsorship of an enthusiastic sheik — Horn is now able to hand out twice as much money as he was able to help the tribes procure from the military during 2005. And this was just one drop in the bucket.
Since arriving in Iraq in August, Horn’s unit, Fires Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, has handed out more than $2.7 million under what’s known as the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, a discretionary fund used by units across Iraq to pay for Sons of Iraq checkpoints and infrastructure projects. If his projections hold, by the end of the deployment Horn will have handled about $6 million.
He estimates that more than half that money has gone toward the program. The Agur Quf area, with a population of between 10,000 and 12,000, has more than 900 Sunni Sons of Iraq members, each of whom are paid $300 a month. Shiite checkpoints bring the Sons of Iraq total here to 1,794, he said. There are an estimated 80,000 members across Iraq, most of them Sunni.
Though officers here and elsewhere say the reins are tightening on emergency response program funding, the American money remains a critical backstop in Sunni areas where commanders say the Iraqi government is doing little to help.
“We could lay off all our Shiite checkpoints tomorrow and I don’t think we’d have a huge problem,” said the squadron’s executive officer, Lt. Col. Tim Hunt. “But for the Sunnis, this is just about all they’ve got.”
That makes Horn a welcome presence.
Still, keeping company with all those Ben Franklins doesn’t seem to have gone to his head. He still smokes Miami cigarettes, an Iraqi favorite that goes for $4 a carton. The money, after all, comes and goes.
“That’s that fresh-from-the-mint smell,” he said, grazing a thumb across the edge of a stack of hundreds and inhaling deeply. “Love it.”
As for the dishdasha, it’s barely left his closet this time around.
“I brought it,” he said. “But with all this pay stuff I haven’t really had time to break it out.”
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Finally, let me close with a few photos of the 2-2 SCR taken by Getty Images...see anyone you know?
Enjoy!
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MARCH 09: Soldiers with the 2nd Squadron 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment participate in a patrol in the destroyed village of Sheib March 9, 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq. The village, which was destroyed by Americans in 2006 due to a presence of insurgents, has started to rebuild with the assistance of the US Military and local partners. As the five year anniversary of the ground war approaches, neighborhoods like Doura have witnessed huge improvements in security with families returning and attacks on American soldiers significantly down from last year. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MARCH 09: Sgt. Jeremy Hare with the US Army 2nd Squadron 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment and of Buffalo, New York looks for hidden weapons in the destroyed village of Sheib March 9, 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Justin Blake with the US Army 2nd Squadron 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment and of Iota, Louisiana patrols in the destroyed village of Sheib March 9, 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MARCH 09: A soldier with the US Army 2nd Squadron 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment patrols in the destroyed village of Sheib March 9, 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MARCH 09: Sgt. Anthony Greene with the US Army 2nd Squadron 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment and of San Juan, Puerto Rico patrols in the destroyed village of Sheib March 9, 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MARCH 09: Sgt. Michael Brown with the US Army 2nd Squadron 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment and of Staten Island, New York patrols in the destroyed village of Sheib March 9, 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)Chris, I love you buddy - be safe!
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