FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Pfc. Paul Spinelli was a junior in high school when it started happening, and even then, he knew he would play a role in its development.
“I remember watching the stuff on the news back then, and my teachers telling me ‘One day, it’s going to be you that they’ll be interviewing and seeing on the news,’” stated the 18-year-old Easton, Mass., native. “Two years later, here I am.”
The 2004 Oliver Ames High School graduate referred to his involvement in the Global War on Terrorism, particularly, Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Spinelli now serves his country overseas as part of a security detachment; 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment’s Personal Security Detail Platoon.
Daily, the Marines and their lone Navy corpsman protect high ranking military leaders and patrol Fallujah’s streets and alleyways.
Spinelli’s unit is comprised of Marines with skills as infantrymen, cooks, and motor transport mechanics. Late last year, the troops came together and began training for their mission in Iraq.
“PSD came together in December, and we really started training after the holidays,” Spinelli explained.
Regardless of occupational specialty, Spinelli said the unit quickly learned how to perform their security tasks as a team during their pre-deployment training.
To prepare for these missions, his battalion trained and were evaluated during a Revised Combined Arms Exercise and a Security and Stability Operations Exercise during January in California.
“Our platoon commander is a master of CQB (Close Quarter Battle skills, tactics that teach Marines how to operate in tight spaces to clear rooms of insurgents), and he taught us a lot of stuff when we were over there,” Spinelli stated. “We learned a lot during those weeks in California by going to places like the ‘shoot house’ with the Riverside Sheriff’s Department.”
There, the PSD members practiced their CQB tactics as they navigated through the building, shooting each other with paintball rounds.
Spinelli said the PSD also received training in convoy movements and emergency reaction drills to roadside improvised explosive device detonations.
In March, the unit deployed to Iraq and began field testing their infantry training on the ultimate proving ground: the city of Fallujah.
“Our mission here deals mostly with guarding the battalion commander,” Spinelli explained. “We provide security for him while riding in convoys around town, and whenever he dismounts.”
The unit’s training extends to more than personal security and escort, however.
“We also do a lot of patrols out in town,” Spinelli continued.
These security patrols typically consist of ‘walking the rails,’ a combination of vehicle mounted and foot patrols. PSD personnel’s Humvees roll around Fallujah’s streets, driving alongside Marines on foot, called ‘dismounts.’
The unit is also equipped with night-vision goggles and spotlights to conduct operations after sunset.
Additionally, Spinelli’s unit assists the battalion’s infantry companies by providing them security during missions such as raids.
Amidst all these combat-oriented missions, the PSD members still find time to enjoy the human side of their operations.
“It’s not all about escorting missions and things like that,” Spinelli explained. “We stop at places, talk to the people, and give candy and Power Bars to the little kids. People back in the States say that this war is all about oil, but it’s about making a difference.”