Mountaineer - BAGHDAD, Iraq —“Know your enemy.”

Story and photo by Pfc. Nathaniel Smith

4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs

BAGHDAD, Iraq —“Know your enemy.”

The adage seems as old as time, but Multi-National Division — Baghdad Soldiers in the Iraqi capital are applying the same principle today to battle the insurgency in Iraq.

The “Warriors” of 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, are currently deployed to southern Baghdad out of Fort Carson, are performing a census in their area of operations to get a feel for who is there.

Sgt. Eric Callahan, a team leader with Company C, 2-12th Infantry said while performing the census, Soldiers are able to perform background checks on civilians moving into the region to prevent terrorists from taking up residence the area.

“One activity we have seen has been insurgents moving from one neighborhood into other neighborhoods, trying to spread the insurgency,” he said. “This (census) helps prevent the spread of the insurgency.”

Three weeks into the census, which the battalion started from scratch, more than 600 houses had been catalogued.

Staff Sgt. Steven Quast, a fire support noncommissioned off icer with Co. C said Iraqis in their portion of the Rashid District have welcomed the census with open arms. sus has had other benefits to his company.

“In the past week, I’ve drunk a gallon of chai,” “We spend more time in the houses, and people Quast joked, referring to the strong black tea get more receptive,” he said. “People open up and frequently offered by residents to Soldiers. start giving (information) without even knowing it.”

“Anything we do to push insurgents out, they’re Quast said the census fits one of basics of happy with,” Callahan said. counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq — know who is in

Even with the people’s cooperation, cataloguing your area of operations. all the citizens in the area is no small task, Callahan “This is going to help our fight,” Quast said. said. To facilitate the completion of the mission, “How do you fight an insurgency if you don’t know “Chosen” Company has employed the Handheld who the insurgents are? We have to separate fish from Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, or HIIDE. the sea so we can spear them.”

The HIIDE, first used by the Marine Corps to keep track of civilians moving into Fallujah, feeds information into a national database that is accessible by other units and services across Iraq. This aids the units with tracking down criminals trying to spread violence into different regions of the country.

The HIIDE is complete with a retinal scanner, fingerprint scanner and a touch screen that allows the Soldier operating it to input different information about the residence, such as location and number of residents. While such technology may Staff Sgt. Michael Nash, a team leader with Company C, 2nd seem complex, Quast said the learning Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry curve is actually quite small. Division, scans an Iraqi man’s retina using the HIIDE program

“You can pick it up and know how to use in southern Baghdad’s Rashid District June 8. The HIIDE it in five minutes,” he said. Quast said the cen-records a retina scan, fingerprint and personal information.

MOUNTAINEER
June 22, 2007

Warriors don't let enemy 'HIIDE'