FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq — The 127th Military Police Company has spent more than $3 million on infrastructure and force-protection improvements during the past 10 months at the 19 Iraqi police stations it monitors in northwest Baghdad, said Army Capt. Kevin Hanrahan, the unit’s commander.

An effective, stable Iraqi security force is key to a withdrawal of U.S. forces, he added.

“This country has to be secured by Iraqis. Iraq will never be truly secure unless it has a strong Iraqi police force, Iraqi army and Iraqi National Guard,” said Hanrahan, 30, of Whitman, Mass. “That’s our ticket out.”

The 127th Military Police Company, which works for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division, will return to Hanau, Germany, next month after a year of day-and-night patrols in a highly volatile sector of Baghdad that lies north of the infamous Airport Road and east of the Euphrates River.

During the year, the MPs made steady progress developing and training the Iraqi police, Hanrahan said. He credited the progress to upgrades in facilities and equipment delivered by the U.S. Army.

Fortifying those 19 stations was a top priority. The buildings had to be capable of withstanding terrorist attacks so the Iraqi police could conduct business.

“The streets of Baghdad have no equal in the U.S., so they can’t do normal police operations,” Hanrahan said. “We have to enhance their capabilities so they can fight this insurgency — and become an effective security apparatus for the Iraqi people.”

The stations once had a single wall of Constantine wire — also known as razor wire. Most now feature 9-foot-high concrete walls, sturdy enough to withstand heavy-caliber machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

Flat rooftops were given 3-foot walls with fighting positions at every corner and overhead cover. That allows Iraqi police to move around and properly defend the facilities, he said.

Gates have been installed at each location, manned by guards toting AK-47s around the clock. The entrances are lined with zigzagging roads that weave through barriers, designed to prevent direct penetration by insurgents.

Iraqi police officers also received additional body armor.

Hanrahan said the 127th MPs aimed the improvements at the most vulnerable stations first and proceeded from there.

“We also built them so they’re user-friendly, to make the public feel safe to come in and file complaints,” he said. “We think it’s really worked.

“I wanted to harden my sites up as best as possible to make it very costly for insurgents to attack our stations.”

That was put to the test in August, when about 85 terrorists attacked the Al-Shoula Police Station with RPGs and heavy-caliber machine guns. Not only did the Iraqi police stay and fight alongside the 127th MPs, he said, they kept the insurgents from breaching the gate.

Three months later at the Al-Hurriya Police Station, where updated force-protection work was still being completed, the Iraqis repelled an assault by 15 terrorists, without assistance from military police.

“Confidence in yourself and the equipment you have is pretty important,” Hanrahan said. “It was significant in my mind to see them do that.”

The Iraqi police within the 127th Military Police Company’s sector routinely carry out dismounted patrols, vehicle and personal searches, checkpoints, community policing and the hunt for suspected terrorist.

Hanrahan said it’s proof the efforts of his soldiers are paying dividends.

“That’s definitely a key to us going home, and it motivates my soldiers every day,” he said. “We’ve made a difference.”

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