BAGHDAD – An Iraqi firefighter feigns death and lies on the ground inside of a mock building to simulate a smoke-inhalation victim. His teammates, their vision obscured to simulate smoke-blindness, crawl along the ground with oxygen tanks strapped to their backs.
All of a sudden, Soldiers from 2nd Bn, 5th Cav Regt scream at the trainees to recreate the chaos inside in a burning building. "You gotta respect the fire," admitted Spc. Kevin Fregia, a hazardous materials specialist. "Yeah, you're going to be scared, but you gotta have confidence and the knowledge to do what you have to do."
"Some of the things we taught them, like the technical stuff, they weren't too comfortable with," said Cpl. John Curtis, a combat medic. "But after running through some scenarios a few times, they were good." Curtis, the lead instructor for the course, added that even though these Iraqis have been working as firefighters for a few years in some cases, he wanted to focus on their equipment first. "You want to make sure they know how to use it and how it works," he continued. "Then run them through a few scenarios and let them problem solve before we make corrections."
The Iraqis were eager to learn and jumped in at every opportunity to ask questions and display what they've learned in the past. "Actually, being able to see them use their own gear and knowledge, with me just pushing them along the way is a great feeling," said Curtis. "I've seen a lot of improvement today. If you get the tactical and technical aspects down, then you're going to have confidence to go in there and save some lives."
Hussan Hussein and his fellow firefighters agreed that the U.S. Soldiers taught them all something helpful. "I think they were having a lot of fun and learning a lot. They would have stayed all day if they could have," said Fregia.
