FORWARD OPERATING BASE DANGER, TIKRIT, Iraq, May 12, 2004 -— As part of its efforts to help the Iraqi people become self-reliant, the 1st Infantry Division opened a Civil Military Information Center here in March.

The Big Red One’s two main objectives for the information center are to provide security for the region and help the local governments govern themselves, officials said. The center also addresses issues and locals’ complaints and serves as an employment office of sorts where military officials meet and hire Iraqi contractors.

“The Army has done a great deal to fix the civilian problems in the absence of (an Iraqi) government,” said Capt. Tim S. Crowe, head of operations at the information center and civil military operations officer for 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry.

“We are trying more and more to get Iraqis to help solve problems for themselves,” he said. “We want to make the police department better so they can police themselves so we don’t have to.”

The information center is comprised of four agencies: Task Force 1-18 Infantry, 415th Civil Affairs Battalion, 2nd Brigade Legal Team and the Coalition Provisional Authority. The Coalition Provisional Authority is charged with manning the civilian portion of the center.

“We work together if the other has issues,” Crow said of how the civilian and military sections at the information center complement one another.

Under the 4th Infantry Division, the information center was located within the city of Tikrit. The 1st Infantry Division, on the other hand, opted to open the center on Forward Operating Base Danger to allow for a more central location for soldiers and civilians assigned there. Security was also a factor in the decision to move, Crowe said.

Officials at the information center cannot solve everyone’s problems, but Crowe said he’s confident Iraqis can be “steered in the right direction". For instance, Crowe received a letter

concerning a pay problem at a local hospital. Instead of the matter being handled by the country’s Ministry of Health, the Iraqi man sought help from the information center.

Many Iraqis in the area also go to the center for compensation for damaged property, said Capt. Eric D. Magnell. The brigade trial counsel for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team settles claims. The majority of his cases are for vehicle accidents, he said.

While the United States is not required to reimburse the locals, the 31-year-old Woodbridge, Va., native said doing so strengthens ties between the people and coalition forces.

“We do it to show good faith with the locals,” Magnell said. Money used to compensate the locals and rebuilding comes from the 1st Infantry Division Commander’s Emergency Relief Program. It was established by the fiscal year 2004 Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations.

Future Commander’s Emergency Relief Program-funded projects include establishing regional vocational trade schools, improving basic industry structure and capability and lowering the unemployment rate.

“We like to say that everyone is a contractor in Iraq", said Crowe, adding that while unemployment in the country is a major problem, he hasn’t seen anyone who needs immediate help.

Those seeking assistance within the walls of the information center are run through a gauntlet of security. They are searched and escorted to their meetings within the center.

Bomb-sniffing dogs are employed to ensure extra protection from those bringing packages, bags and briefcases onto the military compound.

About 100 people are escorted daily along a 150 meter path lined with jersey barriers after being assigned badges, said 2Lt. Christopher J. Fiorentino, officer-in-charge of the search team.