LSA ANACONDA, IRAQ — To prepare for the Iraqi constitutional referendum, soldiers from the Hawai'i-based 227th Combat Engineer Company and 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment have been working to help the residents of villages near Logistical Support Area Anaconda improve security for the historic event.

To assist with a safe voting process, soldiers from the 227th set up concertina wire, a type of barbed wire, around polling sites in the villages of Albu Hishma and Bakr Village on Oct. 11.

During the elections, Iraqi police and Iraqi Army personnel will provide security at the polling sites while American forces provide area security.

"None of our forces will be in any of the villages during the elections," said Maj. Paul Takata of the 100th-442nd. Both Albu Hishma and Bakr Village are within the 100th's area of operations.

"We'll be playing a support role and will only respond to situations if we're asked to by Iraqi officials," Takata said.

Iraqi police provided security for the engineers as they laid out and staked-in hundreds of yards of concertina wire around the schools that will be used as polling sites. The Iraqi police were augmented by soldiers from Company E, 100th-442nd who used their gun trucks, (armored Humvees with turret-mounted weapons) to help provide security for the engineers as they worked.

"It feels good to be a part of a historic event," said Sgt. Glen Peneku, a squad leader with the support platoon of the 227th. "We're playing a role in helping the Iraqi people determine their own future."

During the convoy to Albu Hishma, the Hawai'i-based soldiers faced the dangers they endure each time they leave the wire. The patrol passed an improvised explosive device that didn't detonate.

Spc. Jeff Diaz, a turret gunner in one of the 100th vehicles, spotted the IED. "It was on the left side of the road," Diaz said. "I saw the typical way they (insurgents) hide them (roadside bombs) as we passed."

Diaz, a bank manager for the Bank of Guam, is from Saipan.

After completing their work in Albu Hishma, the soldiers moved on to Bakr Village. After they reached the Bakr Village entrance road, an IED detonated about 75 feet from the third vehicle in the patrol.

"I definitely felt the concussion of the explosion," said Maj. Neal Mitsuyoshi, the 29th BCT Staff Engineer. He was a passenger in the third Humvee.

"To me it doesn't matter if the Iraqis vote yes or no on the referendum," Mitsuyoshi said. "Just the fact that Iraqis turn out to voice their wishes in the form of voting demonstrates an important step in the right direction for the future of Iraq."

The only woman on the mission, Spc. Bobbi Brown, was excited about her role as an engineer. Brown, 25, a nursing student from Wisconsin, was "cross-leveled" into the 227th out of the Inactive Ready Reserve.

"They put me into the combat engineers because my name is 'Bobbi' and they assumed I was a guy," she said. "So when I got here, I got stuck in an office for two weeks while they decided what to do with me.

"Yesterday was my first time outside the wire and I was excited and worried. It took a while for the guys to get used to having a female around, but now they let me do stuff."