Linguists speak for team

  • Published
  • By Capt. Patricia Lang
  • Combined Weapons Effectiveness Assessment Team Public Affairs
Targeteers and engineers are obvious choices for a weapons-assessment team. However, often Arab linguists are the first to speak to the Iraqis about what happened, according to officials.

Linguists have been integral as the Combined Weapons Effectiveness Assessment Team travels to different impact sites, leaders said. The team is assessing how well weapons performed during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“We explain what we’re doing,” said linguist Capt. Brett Seiling, “and then usually there’s not a problem.”

Linguists help force protection by preventing misunderstandings, he said. “If there’s anything going on, we’re the first ones to help clear things up.”

At one of the Iraqi intelligence buildings, “kids came running down the hall hugging the wall and saying (they were) scared,” he said.

Seiling explained why the team was there, and the children were able to walk away reassured.

Iraqis often bring issues to the linguists, who said many locals expressed interest in getting to work.

They “wanted barbed wire to secure their buildings,” said fellow linguist 2nd Lt Anthony Langley. A shopkeeper asked for a shovel to help clear debris from the road outside his shop. His home is located near a military target and had been damaged in three wars.

Pointing to the target, the Iraqi said, “That building has got to come down.” Fortunately, he and his family evacuated before OIF began.

“Finally, they have someone they can talk with,” Seiling said. “We dispel a lot of rumors.”

The shopkeeper gave away cold drinks to team members and refused to accept payment. “You are our friend,” he said.

“Arab hospitality is a real thing,” Seiling said. His first day out in Baghdad, his team encountered a family who had moved into an abandoned building. Despite living next to a bombed-out building for 60 days, the family with more than six children asked him inside for tea.

Although they “had absolutely nothing, they would give you tea if it’s the last thing they had,” Seiling said.

Langley experienced similar kindness. While examining bomb damage, locals offered fresh pita bread, apple chutney and fruit from their farms.

What sticks out most in his mind, he said, is what happened during a vehicle breakdown. Several Iraqis came out to help, climbing right up into the Humvee in the hot afternoon sun.

“There was no way I could get those guys not to do it, because they were so intent on helping us,” he said. “They cut a piece of inner tube to cover a tear in the radiator hose, duct-taped the ends down firmly and wrapped it with wire.”

Langley said a sheikh invited the team into his house for refreshments.

On a wall, Langley said, was a picture of the sheikh’s “favorite mullah whom he said Saddam had killed.” The sheikh “wanted pictures of President Bush and Ambassador Bremer to hang on his wall.”

Langley said most of all he was impressed with “how quickly all the kids hopped to what (the father) had to say.”

Families are one of the first things Iraqis ask about, Seiling said. They ask “Are you married? Do you have kids?”

Langley said he specifically carries pictures of his wife and children to show. “That’s a big deal,” he said with a smile. “I know my kids are cute, now all the Arabs know it too.”

“The kids all want to tap on our chest plates,” Langley said. “They want to try on our sunglasses.”

Some have been told, he said, that wearing sunglasses allows them to see through clothing.

“Letting the kids try them on shows that you can’t ‘see through’ anything,” he said.

“Iraq is a modern, secular and educated country,” Seiling said. “There is a foundation to build from for sure. They know their language is hard, and they take pride in it.”