FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Marines with Company C, 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, assisted by Iraqi Police, issued identification badges to civilians living in the Abuyuset area near Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 8.
The Abuyuset area is predominantly rural and many of its community members have been unable to travel and obtain ID badges, which are issued by Coalition forces and allow passage through Iraq’s entry control points where Iraqi Police search personnel and vehicles for contraband.
“The reason behind this operation is that it allows people that may not have a vehicle access to the IDs,” said Sgt. Daniel R. Mata, a 22-year-old mobile assault platoon section leader from Seguin, Texas. “The idea is to try and get to the poorer, rural areas and alleviate some of the stress caused by travel.”
Badges are issued to Iraqi male civilians between the ages of 15 and 60 and can allow Iraq-wide access or access to only a specific region.
Each ID card contains a photograph of the individual it belongs to, and can be scanned to display information including his birthday, job, and address.
The Marines also handed out food bags as an incentive to those who participated in the badge process. Approximately 125 food bags were distributed to the area’s citizens.
“This is the first time that the company has done a remote operation like this and I feel today was very successful,” said 2nd Lt. James P. O’Neill, a 28-year-old platoon commander from Sacramento, Calif., with the battalion. “We distributed a lot of food bags to people who got badges.”
The badge system is only one of the many ways Iraqi Police and Marines have combined forces in Fallujah to make the city safer.