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Photo, caption below.
Staff Sgt. Daniel McKim inspects a bag of tea at a smuggling village along the border of Iraq and Iran. McKim is noncommissioned officer-in-charge of a border team. Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division and Iraqi border agents conduct joint missions in search of illegal contraband in the area. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Sean Kimmons
Soldiers Support Iraqi Patrols on Iran Border
U.S. Army border teams help Iraqi agents of the Department of Border
Enforcement prevent smuggling along Iraq's border with Iran
By Spc. Sean Kimmons / 25th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
CHOARTA DISTRICT, Iraq, Oct 14, 2004 — In the past, smuggling and terrorist activity has plagued the mountainous terrain along the northeastern border of Iraq and Iran. The Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement was established in July 2003 to patrol the border and eliminate these illegal operations.

Border teams made up of soldiers assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's Headquarters and Headquarters Service Company, Task Force 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment, conduct six-day border patrol missions from Forward Operating Base Kalsu to support agents. The regiment has three border teams who support border enforcement units along the 292 miles of Iraq-Iran border.

"We evaluate what their needs are and inspect border operations in the districts. We then report any intelligence back to our task force, who then passes it on to the brigade," said 1st Lt. Drew Johnston, Border Team 1 leader.

Border teams usually conduct patrols with the Iraqi agents in search of illegal activity along the mountainous regions. The rugged mountain roads take them through small farming villages and sometimes beside mine-infested fields left over from the Iraq-Iran War about 20 years ago.

"We evaluate what their needs are and inspect border operations in the districts," 1st Lt. Drew Johnston, Border Team 1 leader.

In most cases, border teams stay overnight at random border control points within the districts, where they interact with Iraqi border guards and monitor border surveillance.

While staying at one border control point, soldiers and Iraqi guards observed a trader's village directly across from Iran. The individuals were packing loads of goods, such as sugar and tea, and then transporting them into Iran on donkeys. Staff Sgt. Daniel McKim, Team 1 non-commissioned-officer-in-charge, along with Iraqi border guards questioned one of the landowners to get to the bottom of the issue. McKim discovered that the operations at this particular village were legal, but that they could be illegal in Iran.
Rakout Nadir Aziz, an Iraqi border guard, checks the paperwork of an Iranian man entering Iraq at the Awi Curti border control point. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Sean Kimmons

"We went down there to check for any illegal items or contraband and to maintain relations with the guys along the border. If they hear or see anything illegal coming into Iraq, they'll hopefully notify the DBE," McKim said.

In addition to these types of operations, border teams often receive extra duties from higher echelons to complete while out on their patrol missions.

During their recent patrol mission, Team 1 was directed to scout out possible voting locations for the upcoming Iraqi election early next year. In order to do this, Team 1 drove many hours through the mountainous terrain to see if certain village schoolhouses could support a ballot voting site.

At the end of their long and tiring patrol missions, border teams travel back to Forward Operating Base Kalsu to rearm and refit. Four days later, border teams travel out to the mountains again.

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