IRAQ: From shelling to sewing

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Marine Lt. Colin Ricks of Cleveland, Ohio, is an artillery officer — trained in the science of firing explosives at targets miles away. But his recent assignment is somewhat different: finding sewing machines for women on the Iraqi side of the border with Syria.

Ricks’ transformation is a sign of the progress that the U.S. has made here, and also of the challenges that are ahead, according to Marine brass.

Once, Qaim was the scene of prolonged fighting between the U.S. and insurgent groups, who used hiding spots along the Euphrates River as command and control centers and as hiding places for weapons.

Those days are not gone altogether, but they have largely disappeared. And Ricks is taking some good-natured ribbing over his assignment.

‘Did you ever think you’d be distributing sewing machines?’ Col. Patrick Malay, commander of the Camp Pendleton-based 5th Marine regiment, asked Ricks at a briefing today. But Malay also is learning the importance of a few good Singers.

The Marines have formed support groups for the women of Qaim. Female Marines act as liaisons, and male Marines stay out of sight during the meetings.

For sewing machines, Ricks appealed to a U.S.-based charitable group, Beyond Orders. So far, he’s distributed 10, with another 10 on the way. This in a region where many families make their own clothes, and a sewing machine is a luxury.

True, sewing machines and artillery shells have little in common. But Ricks notes that, for this stage of the Marine mission, he’s providing something important, which puts him ‘at the point of the spear.’

‘It’s just a much less sharp spear these days,’ he said.

— Tony Perry in Qaim, Iraq