The operation was designed to help secure the local village by documenting its residents. The operation consisted of a joint foot patrol, which allowed them time to interact with the local population.

Colonel Mohammed Karim Mohammed, the commanding officer of 2-3-1, explained the purpose of performing these patrols.

“In this new sector, we are doing a census and also sweeping for caches and looking for any bad guys in the area,” Mohammed said through an interpreter.

Responsibility for this sector of the village currently lies with 1st Bat., 11th Marines, but will eventually be turned over to the Iraqi Army who patrols most of the village.

The military transition team attached to the Iraqi army unit will often request to perform joint patrols in areas where battle space is overlapping, explained 1st Lt. Douglas J. Piller, a platoon commander with Battery K.

“The Iraqis are the key to success in our (area of operations),” said Piller, a Goshen, N.Y., native. “It bolsters their confidence to take over operations.”

During the census portion of the operation, they collected key data that includes ages of family members, the number of vehicles per household, the name of the male head of household as well as any standard of living complaints, Mohammed explained.

“In the future, we take the information and decide what the needs of the population are,” he continued.

The information is also taken to recruit members for the Iraqi army and police.

It also serves a tactical purpose by clarifying the Iraqi army’s picture on who is coming in and out of their assigned area, making it easy for them to watch for potential insurgents.

This area may be a familiar site to the Marines from Battery K, but they also learn from their counterparts in the Iraqi army.

“The nature of the war we are fighting now is more of a policing operation and this was very educational for my Marines,” Piller said.

Mohammed explained that coordination from the local people is what helped bring the violence in his area of operations to an all-time low.

“First, I give credit to coalition forces hand-in-hand with the Iraqi police and Iraqi army, but most importantly I give credit to the public. They have been very cooperative in helping us kick the bad guys out and provide good security for our area of operation,” he said.

This increased security in Anbar could be for many reasons but one that seems to hold the most weight with the local population is the presence of Iraqi Forces.