WENATCHEE — In parts of Baghdad, squads of soldiers from north-central Washington communicate on the battlefield with walkie-talkies.
But insurgents in Iraq’s capital have them, too, and are listening to U.S. communications on common frequencies, Wenatchee police Sgt. John Kruse said.
Wenatchee officials have started a drive to raise $4,000 for 18 radios for the Washington Army National Guard soldiers that are more secure, Kruse said.
“It will make things safer for them,” said Kruse, a former U.S. Army captain.
Officials also are seeking donations of socks for the 145 soldiers of C Company, made up of the Wenatchee and Moses Lake detachments.
Sgt. First Class Ocie Thiele, a recruiter for the Wenatchee detachment, said the new radios will have more secure frequencies and longer range.
“The bottom line is the military has good radios but they want radios that not anybody can listen to,” Thiele said.
The soldiers, members of the National Guard’s 81st Armor Brigade, left in November and were to be gone for up to 18 months, including a 12-month stay in Iraq.
“This is not an indictment of the Army at all,” Kruse said. “We don’t know how easy the Army may or may not be able to supply them.
“What I do know is this is a need they haven’t been able to meet at their level, and we’re going to help them,” he said.
The radios and socks will be shipped to Iraq on June 2, he said.
Kruse said the soldiers do patrols and police-style work in the Baghdad area. They also have taken and returned fire, he said.
Kruse said Sgt. Steve Corter, 31, Wenatchee, called him from Baghdad on Saturday and discussed the need for better radios. Corter is a corrections deputy at the Chelan County Regional Justice Center.
Platoon Sgt. Shaun Hayes, another corrections officer at the Wenatchee jail, wrote in an e-mail to Kruse that “the radios will be a godsend, especially in these urban environments.”
The radios will benefit patrols of eight to 10 soldiers who now have only the walkie-talkies. The new radios can scramble voices.
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