I fled Iraq in 1991 to escape from the Saddam Hussein regime and stayed at the (Rafha Camp) in Saudi Arabia for a year and a half. I volunteered for the International Red Cross , American Red Cross and the United Nations to assist the Iraqi refugees. I received awards and recommendations from all three organizations.
I arrived to the USA at the end of 1992 and became a permanent resident. In 1995 I earned my Cosmetology Degree and I have excelled in my career.

In 2003 I joined Stu Segall Productions dba, Strategic Operations, a film company in San Diego, to train the US Marines, Navy and Army personnel's. I conducted classes in the language, cultures, customs and the Islamic religion of the Arabic Nations preparing the troops for their deployment.

I am an actor and have been a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) since 1999.

My ultimate dream is to establish a non-profit organization focusing on healing Iraqis and wounded American Military and to build a bridge between heart and mind. My plan is to walk across the USA to raise money for this purpose and I would greatly appreciate anyone who is willing to assist me in fulfilling this dream.





1-Military Training

ACTOR SALAH SALEA / Military Training
Report
Published on Aug 11, 2012
CBS -NEWS
Every day, as bombings and gun battles erupt in Iraq, American soldiers risk their lives as targets of insurgents who hide among civilians. How do you prepare troops for this kind of battle?

CBS Evening News Saturday anchor Thalia Assuras reports from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where a a model of an Iraqi town — created by a Hollywood producer — trains troops for the dangers ahead.

"Mostly the goal is the atmosphere," says Col. Ronald Johnson of the U.S. Marine Corps. "It's just trying to replicate the same sights and sounds that we hear in Iraq with those that the marines will experience when they get over there."

Col. Johnson has served two tours in Iraq, Assuras reports. His unit will be deployed again this summer. Before they leave, Johnson wants his marines — especially the rookies — to have more realistic training.

And Johnson thinks the model town gives a pretty good feeling for what it will be like for the troops when they reach Iraq.

"I think if you close your eyes for a minute and you hear the music and you hear the sounds, you almost feel like you're back in it," he says.

When the War on Terror began, the marines called upon California television producer Stu Segall for help. Segall turned his San Diego television lot into a marine training ground where he estimates more than 20,000 marines have passed through. This village at camp Lejeune is his most elaborate effort to date.

"The only thing that they tell me that this is not like is the smell," Segall said. "It doesn't smell the same."

He added that creating these sets — which will never hit the small screen — has been particularly fulfilling. "Being in the television-entertainment side of things, realism is what we try and do. When we can bring it to training and have the marines respond to it, that's the real rewarding part of it," he said.

It's a full-fledged production. Set designers created a realistic village complete with a signs in Arabic, a mosque and a marketplace. Makeup artists create wounds and injuries, and pyrotechnic specialists make simulated "IEDS," the improvised explosive devices that have killed so many in Iraq. But no one gets hurt here — the shrapnel is made of cork.

And — like any other Hollywood set — there are actors. Among them are amputees, whose missing limbs make injuries appear all too real.

The cast also includes Iraqi-Americans like Salah Salea who help the marines practice speaking Arabic and also offer insights into their culture.

"I teach them a good way to build relationship with Iraqis. To build relationship that's my heart and mind," said Salea.

The hope is young marines will be ready for the chaos they'll most likely face in the real Iraq.

And troops approve. "So far, it's been the most realistic training I've had," said Pvt. 1st Class Jordan Kinal. "There's a lot going on and a lot to pay attention to and I know it's not the real thing, but it was pretty intense."

Historically Hollywood has helped on the home front with patriotic wartime films — but this time their efforts may help on the front lines.
Category
News & Politics
License
Standard YouTube License





2-Military Training
KFMB -CBS8 Chanell 8 News ( Salah Salea )
Marines Train At Miramar Before Leaving For Iraq

Updated: Jun 28, 2006 3:28 PM PDT
Local Marine reservists got a taste of the front lines today, during a realistic training exercise with a Hollywood twist.\r\n\r\nWith an Iraqi flag flying overhead, something that closely resembles a functioning village that's about to become a war zone. \r\n\r\nWith screaming villagers and insurgents on the attack, Marines learn how to drag their wounded off to safety, and all of this is just a drill. Most of these Marine reservists have never been to war, so they consider this a sneak peak at the battlefield.\r\n\r\n"Look at the buildings here, look at all this stuffÖ this is what we are going to be seeing when we get over there," Sergeant Harvey Galbreath said.\r\n\r\nPaid actors from Stu Segall's TV and movie studios teach Marines about Iraqi culture.( Salah Salea ) was born in Iraq, and he still has family there.\r\n\r\n"We try to help the Marines about how to treat Iraqis when they go back home," he said.\r\n\r\nWith the studio's help, the training is more realistic than ever, because with Hollywood props, almost anything is possible. In one scenario, a convoy gets hit by a roadside bomb. \r\n\r\nMarines also go inside what's called a 'shoot house.' Just beyond the kitchen, there's a hookah pipe in the living room. All of it is here to look like the real deal, and to keep the Marines on their toes.\r\n\r\nThe studio has movable walls and commanding officers looking down and videotaping the action below. \r\n\r\n"It's better to make the mistakes here and learn from them, than over there," an unidentified Marine said.\r\n\r\n The Marines that News 8 filmed are mostly from Ohio. They are scheduled to go to Iraq in September for a seven-month deployment.\r\n