The Pump House

Iraqi boys enjoy water that cascades from the overflowing cistern at the Pump House.

In an earlier posting (Letter from Northern Iraq) I mentioned that Contingency Operating Base Q-West draws its water from the Tigris River. Securing and maintaining the Pump House are important missions, obviously.

What is more, these missions provide a unique glimpse of Iraqi youth culture. Children and young adults flock to the site, partly to swim near a small island just off shore and partly to socialize with the American Soldiers.

The local Iraqis distinguish between the Soldiers who sustain the Pump House and others who patrol the area. First, the Pump House Soldiers drive different vehicles--maintenance trucks and smaller gun trucks--while the patrol units drive larger, more intimidating vehicles. Also, the Pump House Soldiers are mostly Army National Guard and, thus, wear different unit patches from the patrolling Soldiers, who are Regular Army.

We all know the general demographics of the National Guard--the Soldiers tend to be much older and more varied in their life and work experience than the Regular Army Soldiers. These characteristics may also influence the opinions of the locals. However that may be, hostile Iraqis tend to tolerate the Pump House Soldiers, mainly because these Soldiers keep the water flowing--and every town, village, and hamlet in the area depends on that water.

So Iraqi boys and young men hang out near the Pump House, and when the Americans have the time, they visit, offering cold water or drinks, candy, field rations. All of this is good for local US-Iraqi relations, and one hopes that it continues.