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Iraqis sign container contract with Joint Base Balad

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Thomas Trower
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq --  An Iraqi businessman, a local tribal leader and the commander of Joint Contracting Command - Iraq/Afghanistan, gathered here Aug. 21 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the latest contract for the Iraqi First program between Joint Base Balad and the Miran Co.

Hashim Abd Al-Amir Mahdi of the Miran Co. won the contract to repair shipping containers from JCC. Navy Rear Adm. Kathleen Dussault presented the contract, and Sheik Shihab Ahmed Saleh Al-Tamimi, a leader for five local tribes, was on-hand to represent many of his tribesmen who may be trained and employed for this or future contracts.

The purpose of the Iraqi First program is to encourage Iraqi economic expansion, entrepreneurship and individual development. The business site will be located in the Balad Iraqi-based Industrial Zone, a designated secure area on the base in which a company that has a land use agreement with Balad can establish an operation.

"The Iraqi people know best what the requirements of the new Iraq are. This is their country, and it's their economy that needs to be revitalized," Admiral Dussault said. "It's a pleasure working with Iraqi businesses. They're very responsive, they're very innovative, and they're great businessmen. During the past 30 years, that business acumen has been suppressed, but it's coming back in a big way."

Army Sgt. Maj. Paul Crabtree, command sergeant major for the Balad Mayor Cell Directorate of Logistics here, said the facility is a catalyst for continued progress in Iraq, providing jobs for members of the Sons of Iraq, who are transitioning to employment on the economy.

The SOI are local citizens hired as neighborhood guards to assist coalition forces and the new Iraqi government. They perform a variety of jobs including manning roadside checkpoints. The group has received considerable credit for supporting the Iraqi government's efforts to bring peace to the region. With hostilities on the decline, governmental leaders are trying to find new jobs for the SOI.

According to the statement of work, one objective of the contract is to employ about 70 Iraqis within the first six months. The company will establish an apprenticeship program with the intent to hire local labor.

Many of the local SOI are tribesmen of Hashim and look to him for guidance.
Sergeant Major Crabtree has worked with Hashim since arriving with the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in March.

"He's the local entrepreneur, the local guy you go to when you need to get something done," Sergeant Major Crabtree said. "He can work with coalition forces and local leaders."

While local leaders have worked to increase security, local businessmen and sheiks forged an alliance to move forward with economic development opportunities like the container repair facility. A secondary effect has been diminished recruitment for insurgents.

"By providing employment opportunities to locals through the I-BIZ project, we can deter (SOI members) from joining terrorist groups and carrying out attacks against coalition forces," Sheik Shihab said. "For so long, terrorists instilled a very negative picture of Americans. Nowadays, (Iraqis) have a more positive and true perspective of the Americans."

According to Sergeant Major Crabtree, the contract could save the U.S. government more than $1 million per year.

"We have more than 10,000 containers here, and when they needed to be repaired, we had to send them to Arifjan in Kuwait," Sergeant Major Crabtree said. "Then we had to ship them back."

"Iraqis have seen that Americans are providing humanitarian services to them," Sheik Shihab said. "We are able to show Iraqis the true face of al-Qaida, and this is a major step in Iraq."

(Army Staff Sgt. Leslie Newport, 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs officer, contributed to this article.)