3/6 Weapons Company demilitarizes station

Story by Cpl. Chris Lyttle

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FUHAYLAT, Iraq (June 13, 2008) – Joint Security Station (JSS) Commanche, located in the Fuhaylat Village of al Anbar Province, closed its doors to Coalition and Iraqi Security Force operations after they completed an area demilitarization June 11.

The closure of the JSS is part of the transition of security to the Iraqi Security Forces. The security in the area has improved enough that the Iraqi Security Forces will take the lead and the JSS can be consolidated with another station.

JSS Commanche was located in 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team-1’s southern area of operations. Its closure will return the privately owned sites to its owners, said Staff Sgt. Douglas H. Newsome, platoon sergeant, 81mm Mortar Plat

oon.

“A de-mil takes a lot of coordination and a lot of effort,” Newsome said. “We broke down the JSS from the inside out.” Before the Marine platoon and IPs relinquished property use to local owners, Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces spent about a week removing military equipment and protective barriers that surrounded the area. Owners were compensated for the time and use of the buildings.

Master Sgt. Jesse Gray, operations chief, Weapons Company, said aside from the movement, the security in the area will remain the same.

“We made a full transition with the IPs, but the mission won’t change,” Gray said. “We’ll still be out there assisting the IPs with their patrols, with food bag (deliveries) and other operations.”