Sisters Step Up to the Plate

Cpl. Rebekah D. Hall, combat engineer and female search team member with Combat Logistics Battalion 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, and a member of the 'Sisters of Fallujah,' search hand-bags for contraband at an entry control point. The group of Iraqi women came together in December 2007 to help U.S. forces stop the smuggling of contraband into the city of Fallujah. In the past, women and children have been used to smuggle forbidden items that can be used to make improvised explosive devices, as well as other items that are not allowed into the city for the safety of the citizens who live there. "Before, we did all the searching ourselves," said Hall, from San Diego. "Now, we work together and supervise the search techniques that have been taught to the Sisters of Fallujah."