FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARRIOR, KIRKUK, Iraq - Several hundred Sons of Iraq came to receive payment during a SoI payday July 23 at the headquarters of the 4th Battalion, 15th Iraqi Army Brigade, near Patrol Base Doria in Rashad, Iraq.
Payment delays have occurred since responsibilities for SoI payment transitioned to the Government of Iraq in Kirkuk in April 2009, but local officials are working with the GoI to resolve the issue.
Lt. Col. Arifan, the 15th IA Bde's training officer, was present to oversee the payments in July. "This payment is for May," Arifan said. "We [GOI] have to work on solutions to the pay problem."
According to Maj. Ian Palmer, the Operations Officer for 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, who was present during the payday, the SoI program is now under a centralized cash-based system in Baghdad. Until the transition, U.S. forces paid contractors who managed all of a region's SoI electronically, who then paid each of the SoI in cash.
"One of the issues during the SoI transfer was getting the right list of names of SoI to the IA," Palmer said. During the April transition, many of the packets filled out by SoI were transliterated into Arabic, which led to minor discrepancies in the names.
Capt. Jesse Prince, Woodbury N.Y. native and A Troop, 4th Sqdn. 9th Cav. Regt. commander, whose unit operates out of PB Doria and is partnered with 4th Bn, 15th IA Bn., says this hasn't disrupted SoI operations in his area.
"They [SoI] are always where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there," Prince said.
Prince explained that the first few SoI payments resolved many problems, even if some continue to occasionally appear.
Prince's Soldiers augmented IA security forces during the recent payment. Security at pay sites are a concern since May, when 10 Sons of Iraq were killed by a suicide bomber while waiting in line to be paid.
"The IA rarely asks for anything, so I was happy to help," Prince said. "We provided a small security detachment to augment IA security during the payment."
The GoI plans to transition 20 percent of all SoI into the Iraqi Security forces like the army or police. However, for now, all 8,801 SoI currently registered in Kirkuk are still under the SoI program.
"We must transfer them to the IA and Iraqi Police because they need jobs," Arifan said. "Even though this transfer has begun, it will take time."
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