Operation Iraqi Freedom
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Hundreds line up to join Iraqi Army.

 

USMC Capt. Seldon B. Hale
Amarillo, Texas


CAMP AL QA'IM, Iraq (Mar. 24, 2006) - They came from far and near and waited hours in long lines under a hot Iraqi sun in hopes of joining the Iraqi Army.

 Nearly 400 Iraqi males - some as young as 15 - showed up for an Iraqi Army recruiting drive held at the Marines' battle position in this region along the Euphrates River in western Al Anbar Province.

Of the 400 men who showed up to enlist, 179 were accepted - a substantial number, according to Coalition and Iraqi Army officials.

Literacy is a new requirement for enlistment in the Iraqi Army "Illiteracy is a big killer," said Capt. Seldon B. Hale, recruiting advisor for the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq.

"Most of the people showing up today can't read or write . . . So far, it's working, and the Iraqi Government is putting men in uniforms." "We are just here to help escort the Iraqis . . . they are the ones who make the decisions." said Hale, a 31 year old from Amarillo, Texas.