Iraq Journal: It's all Arabic to them
FALLUJAH, Iraq—An interesting experiment is going on in the northeast corner of this city. Members of the Iraqi Army and the U.S. Marine Corps are sharing living quarters on a small base. The intent of the experiment is to help the Iraqi soldiers learn more. But it has had an unanticipated side effect: Some marines are picking up new skills. Pfc. Mark Britton has learned Arabic.
There are a number of small Iraqi bases scattered around Fallujah where two to four marines live so they can train Iraqis. But Firm Base Blackfoot has a much larger number of marines because it is home not just to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade of the Iraqi Intervention Forces but also the Marine infantrymen of Bravo Company of 1st Battalion, 6th Marines.
Half of the firm base (the military term for a small, austere outpost) is occupied by the Marines, while half is for the Iraqis. Living and working together is nothing new. All over Fallujah, Iraqis and Americans are conducting joint patrols. But at Firm Base Blackfoot Marine grunts and Iraqi grunts also must share guard duty.
Guard duty is boring, but it is essential to stay alert—especially with rising violence in Fallujah. Talking with a fellow guard can keep a marine sharp. A problem arises, however, when your partner is an Iraqi, because communication is difficult. So over three months of guard duty, Private Britton got his fellow guards to teach him Arabic. "I wanted to talk to these guys without sounding like an idiot," he says.
Britton, who grew up in rural Pennsylvania, quit his job at a nursery and joined the Marines in January. Unlike a lot of kids, he never took Spanish or French in high school. He didn't know he had any facility for languages until he started chatting with the Iraqis. "I never really tried it before," he said.
Britton is so good he has become his squad's de facto interpreter. On a recent operation with marines in a rural area north of Fallujah, the noncommissioned officer of the squad had him tell the Iraqis in the camps and houses they searched what the military was doing there. Britton also let his fellow marines know what was going on with the family. When they approached two young boys sitting in front of a tent, Britton went up to them and began speaking in assured Arabic. "They say they think their father is dead," Britton told the other marines. "They say their father went away a few weeks ago and never came back, so they think he is dead."
At another nearby tent, Britton got in a lengthy conversation with an older man about the area and farming. When the noncommissioned officer asked him what they were talking about, Britton answered: "Oh, we are just talking about the weather now."
Although Britton's Arabic is the strongest, he is not the only marine at Firm Base Blackfoot to have learned some of the language. Lance Cpl. Joseph Wheeler, from Bumpass, Va., also has picked up a fair bit of Arabic. But, he says, he is not nearly as skilled as Britton. "As long as you treat these guys with respect, they will do anything for you," Wheeler says. Including teach a marine Arabic.
The Iraqi soldiers marvel at Wheeler and Britton's ability to speak Arabic. New Iraqi soldiers tend to flock around them, eager to talk with them, and ask them questions that they have trouble getting across in pidgin English.
Though Britton's newfound ability with Arabic might score him some high-paying jobs after his time with the Marines, he says when his enlistment is up it will be time to return to the nursery in Pennsylvania. "There is something satisfying about working in a nursery," he says. "When I get done I just want to go home. I will have seen enough of the world."