European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 25, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday March 25 2007 stars and stripes pages revived riverine Squadron to patrol Iraq dam by Sandra Jontz stars and stripes Laditha Iraq few things Are As humbling As making history said 21yearold fireman apprentice Jeff theissing yet Little More than a year into his us Navy career the Hull technician is among the first to make up the navys Brown water forces following a three decade void i cant believe i got Lucky enough to do this he said while taking a cigarette break atop the Mammoth Laditha dam Over looking the euphrates River theissing is one of 230 sailors who make up the navys newly formed riverine Squadron one which officially took control thursday from us marines of the Protection of the Laditha dam and patrol missions on the surrounding Waterways the eight month preparations for the water based Squadron could have been taken from train ing manuals for Marine and army units sailors attended in Fantry courses to learn to counter ambushes mortar fire and insurgent attacks said it cmdr Dou Glas Flannery the squadrons operations officer they also Learned to work the Small unit riverine crafts or surfs and had lessons in Mari time interception operations some even attended a monthlong arabic language course they trained at naval amphibious base Little Creek a and at Camp Lejeune no our primary Mission is to have a waterborne presence to Stop the insurgents from trans porting weapons and explosives across and Down the River flan Nery said the euphrates is a source of sustenance and Means of travel for iraqis but for years has been used by insurgents to ferry arms from Rural areas to cities such As ramada Laditha and Baghdad the dam itself provides critical Power to most of Anbar province photos by Sandra and stripes above Laditha dam provides a critical Power source for much of Anbar province the navys riverine Squadron one took Over Security at the dam thursday right Navy fireman apprentice Jeff theissing left of the new riverine Squadron and Marine corps pvt Brandon Quinnell with company f 2nd battalion 3rd marines take a break at the dam and has received constant Protection by us forces since the out set of the Iraq War in 2003 about a year ago the Navy began plans to train sailors to re sume River patrols after letting its riverine Force become dormant after the Vietnam War ultimately the Navy plans to have three riverine squadrons out Here were doing operations and missions not the be Hindt Hestenes kind of Job said Petty officer 2nd class Kevin Shofner 23 a gunners mate i feel like in serving my coun try in a direct Way said Shofner who previously worked at the Pearl Harbor naval shipyard in Hawaii Riv one As its commonly called has three detachments a Headquarters element and human exploitation team that will focus on intelligence gather ing Flannery said they also brought unmanned Aerial vehicles to help patrol from the air Flannery said that Way we can better see whats ahead of us and whats behind us mostly  take Over equip ment from the Marine corps dam Security units Petty officer 3rd class Rick Necamp 24 said he expected his Liv ing conditions to be much worse and was pleasantly surprised to learn hed be living not just at the dam but in it the dam has a gym Chow Hall social rooms and a soon Oberon line internet cafe i thought id be sleeping in the Sand Necamp said and when they said heres your rack i was pretty Happy email Sandra Jontz at its in the bag plastic sacks help gis take care of business est they did away with the meho nored i tradition of pit shining combat boots when Ley switched from scuff prone leather to suede now another proud military pastime is poised to become extinct stirring focal matter in a tub of flaming diesel fuel instead of relying on smelly Fly infested Burn barrels slipped under plywood outhouses us army troops in Remote out posts Are being issued special plastic bags for taking care of Busi Ness the plastic sacks called waste Allevia Tion gel or wag bags contain a special com Pound that looks like cat litter and turns human waste into a jell0like mass the bags which Are biodegradable and Seal like Freezer bags eliminate All Nasty doors and flies Best of All the bags Are simply tossed into the trash after use for Burn barrel veterans the develop reporters notebook ment is serious cause for Celebration these bags Are the Money said one enthusiastic first sergeant who recalls his Days of endless Burn barrel stirring during the first Gulf War finally the army got something right Honey Cache the lieutenant and the squad Leader approached the suspicious Box with caution their platoon had recently seized a Remote farmhouse South of Baghdad and now they were searching the compound for weapons stashes the squad Leader jerked the lid off the Box what he saw sent Monn him into a panic was it a bomb not quite bees yelled the squad Leader run bees he yelled the squad Leader and lieutenant raced through the farmyard to Ward their command Post waving their arms madly like a scene from the Chris Farley movie Tommy boy the suspicious Box was a Farmers Bee hive it contained trays of Honey and hundreds of the stinging insects the platoon started laughing As the officer and the squad Leader caught their breath after making it to safety the squad Leader was known As being the Type of sol Dier who rarely flinched at gunfire much less ducked for cover to see him running from a Cloud of insects was too entertain ing in not afraid of bullets the squad Leader said in exasperation but i am Aller Gic to bees Safe enough for lattes commanders in ramada May be having a difficult time convincing the Media that things Are improving in the notorious West Ern City but at least Treyve convinced Green Beans a Staple of both sprawling and sleepy for Ward operating bases throughout Iraq the gourmet Coffee Chain often is viewed As a sign that a combat base has gone Garrison while that May not be entirely True of Camp ramada commanders did manage recently to convince the Chain that the Camp itself was Safe enough to set up shop roughly two months ago War zone Barris tas began serving up lattes and Frappe from a trailer storefront near the Camps Post Exchange it took me a Good six months to get that Little trailer out Here said col Sean Mac Farland commander of the 1st brigade combat team 1st armoured division which recently redeployed to Germany everyone kept saying it was too danger Ous that ramada was Dodge City i told them we Haven been hit by indirect fire in ramada for months Macfarlande brigade has since been re placed by the 1st brigade combat team 3rd infantry division but the outgoing commander said that now Camp ramada has a Green Beans the sky is the limit i Hope they bring in a pizza hut and a Burger King too Macfarland said email Monte Morin at