Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Thursday, March 17, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs

BALAD RUZ, Iraq — Sgt. 1st Class Jack Lowe and Staff Sgt. Blake Baxter used to work together in a downtown Chattanooga office.

Now the two Tennessee Valley Authority workers run a center together more than 6,000 miles away in this city east of Baghdad. The two members of the 1st Squadron’s Apache Troop with the 278th Regimental Combat Team head the Joint Coordination Center in this city of nearly 100,000 people. The center, known as the JCC, acts as a mini-U.S. Embassy and sits at one end of Balad Ruz’s busy market street, Staff Sgt. Baxter said.

"You never know what is going to walk though the door next," said Staff Sgt. Baxter, 49, of Ooltewah.

Lt. Col. Wayne Honeycutt, the regiment’s executive officer, said the center operates like a rudimentary 911 emergency call station where locals can go for fire, police or medical help.

The two-story brick-and-plaster structure also houses the mayor’s office in this northeastern Iraqi city.

Iraqi citizens stream in daily, many looking for jobs or medical treatment. Others arrive to file damage claims, provide intelligence information on insurgent activity or to report emergencies. "I almost want to put a sign up that says, ‘Rick’s Cafe,’" said Staff Sgt. Baxter, alluding to the movie "Casablanca." "Everyone comes to the JCC. It is the face of the Coalition (Forces) right to gauge Iraqi citizens’ morale. Others are sent to inspect the local jail to make sure prisoners are treated fairly but not released too early, a common problem in Iraq.

"We are trying to break them of old regime habits," said Sgt. 1st Class Lowe, 39, of Chattanooga. Local police conducting a raid once arrested a wanted man’s brother when they could not find the suspect, figuring family ties were sufficient cause for detention, Sgt. 1st Class Lowe said.

The two 278th soldiers also make suggestions on how to improve city life.

in the heart of the city."

The Hamilton Countians have been busy lately recruiting and screening new officers for the Iraqi police force and training the Iraqi staff of the JCC on how to keep city services running.

Inside one room of the crude, sparsely furnished building sits a JCC nerve center where Iraqis work using computers, faxes, maps, phones and printers, all under the eyes of Sgt. 1st Class Lowe or Staff Sgt. Baxter.

Some of the JCC Iraqi employees are sent into the street to gather intelligence and Staff Sgt. Baxter said the unending gasoline lines at the Balad Ruz pumps reminded him of the U.S. gasoline crisis in the 1970s. He told the mayor of Balad Ruz how U.S. officials in some areas eased the lines by having odd and even numbered license plates get fuel on alternating days.

"I mentioned this in a meeting, and the next day I find it is a new city ordinance," Staff Sgt. Baxter said.

Sgt. 1st Class Lowe and Staff Sgt. Baxter said they hope to encourage a work program where prisoners in the local jail would spend their days cleaning up the city’s often-filthy streets.

Mohamed Maroof Hussein, the mayor of Balad Ruz, said word has gotten out among the citizens that there are Americans nearby willing to help.

Sgt. 1st Class Lowe said the challenge of keeping multiple projects going while training Iraqis not familiar with city management is "like herding cats."

The difficulty, Sgt. 1st Class Lowe said, is compounded by the language barrier making translators a necessity.

"We have more interactions with Iraqis on a day-to-day basis than with our own soldiers," Sgt. 1st Class Lowe said. "So we are understanding a little enough Arabic and they are understanding a little enough English that we are communicating at a basic level."

Spc. Jason Baker, 24, of Red Bank, said during his assignments here he has had several talks with Iraqi police about such topics as religion, dress and marriage. He said the Iraqis ask about life in America and answer Spc. Baker’s questions about Iraq.

"I meet some of them that I feel like I can trust," Spc. Baker said. "They want things to happen here like the way we do it in the U.S. But some I wouldn’t even trust with my flashlight."

Staff Sgt. Baxter and Sgt. 1st Class Lowe rotate control of the JCC, with one staying a few days while the other rests and gets laundry done back at nearby Camp Caldwell. Sgt. 1st Class Lowe and Staff Sgt. Baxter’s radio code names are "zookeeper one" and "zookeeper two."

"We’ve always kind of been the perfect team," said Staff Sgt. Baxter, who has worked at TVA as a bulk power trader since 2000.

The two men used to work on the same floor at TVA, and Staff Sgt. Baxter’s wife often babysits for Sgt. 1st Class Lowe’s two children. Before coming to Iraq the two men served together in a tank platoon.

"We are intertwined," said Sgt. 1st Class Lowe, a 15-year TVA employee who helps monitor power plant emissions.

Apache Commander Capt. Dale Bradley said the men complement each other.

"I couldn’t have picked two better soldiers to work here," he said.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika - An Iraqi Army soldier talks with members of the 278th Regimental Combat Team’s 1st Squadron at the Joint Coordination Center in Balad Ruz, Iraq.

Blake Baxter

Jack Lowe

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