Sons of Iraq attempt to join Iraqi Security Forces

Sons of Iraq screened for Iraqi Security Forces
Spc. Amanda McBride, 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. PAO

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – Sons of Iraq eager to join the Iraqi Security Forces participated in an initial screening April 7 in Muellha, Iraq.

Iraqi Security Forces, Coalition forces and local leadership held the screening, designed to gauge which SoI members are eligible to continue forward with the transition process into the ISF.

“We were doing a Sons of Iraq screening so we can transition the SoI into the Iraqi Security Forces,” said Capt. Kaiwan Walker, commander of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment. Leadership from 2-502nd Inf. Regt., attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police leadership and the Mayor of Iskandariyah evaluated the applicants. “Prior to the screening, each SoI had to fill out an application that had his fingerprints and picture on it,” Walker said.

More than 300 SoI lined up outside the Muellha Agriculture Building where the event was held. Once inside, they waited to be called in one by one to be reviewed by the leadership.

After turning in their application to the mayor, Walker said, they took a literary test. Following the test of basic reading and writing skills, the applicants’ identification cards were verified. “The ID manager checked to make sure that they are of age and to check that they live in the region or city that they were filling in the application for,” Walker said.

After completing the process, Walker said all the commanders reviewed the packets to determine whether the SoI met the criteria to get into the ISF program. More than 60 percent of the SoI applicants were approved to move forward for further screening.

The 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. area of operation has approximately 10,500 SoI members, all of whom will be screened, said Lt. Col. Michael Getchell, commander of 2-502nd Inf. Regt. Up to 5,000 of those packets will go to the Government of Iraq, which will screen and evaluate them during a 90-day period.

“There is a phenomenal interest in the ISF,” said Getchell, a native of Bridgewater, Mass. “Those who have been in the Sons of Iraq program are our priority over those who are not part of the Sons of Iraq program. They stepped forward to defend and protect their areas, so they’ve already shown the propensity to be part of the security process.”

Those who didn’t qualify during the screening will continue to work in the SoI program, Walker said.

Future SoI screenings are planned throughout the Babil province to continue their transition into the ISF