Army Engineers Help Beautify, Build Up Neighborhoods in Iraq
November 17, 2008 at 03:05
by DVIDS
By 2nd Lt. Janeene Yarber
For more military stories:
Click to View
|
|
Click to View
|
|
Click to View
|
|
Click to View
|
|
926th Engineer Brigade
BAGHDAD – Army engineers are making things a lot easier for Iraqi contractors to clean up trash on the streets of Baghdad.
The project, in conjunction with 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment’s Task Force Iron Gimlet, calls for engineers to remove large rubble and debris so that Iraqi contractors are able to clean up trash.
The 955th Engineer Company, a U.S. Army Reserve unit based our of Missouri, which is attached to the 46th Engineer Combat Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, serving with Multi-National Division Baghdad, has been assigned the vital job of picking up what can’t be done efficiently without the use of the heavy engineer equipment.
The 1st CAB, 21st Inf. Regt. is part of 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, which is based out of Hawaii.
“We’ve brought in 20-ton dump trucks, bulldozers and other heavy equipment in order to remove the large rubble and debris piles from the Baghdad area,” stated 2nd Lt. Christopher Smiley, officer in charge of the haul mission, who is a native of Independence, Mo. “These piles of rubble cannot be easily removed with a mere shovel.”
The engineers from the 955th Eng. Co. were tasked with helping to beautify some Baghdad areas and have just completed phase one of the operation.
“The first phase consisted of removing more than eighteen 20-dump truck loads of debris from a parking lot at the temporary government center,” said Capt. Crysal Lauver, commander, 955th Eng. Co., who is a native of Kansas City, Mo. “We then leveled and expanded the parking lot to accommodate more traffic.”
Smiley says the next phases will consist of removing large bundles of barbed wire that remained on some streets as well as hefty piles of rocks.
“We still have several more points that need to be sanitized over the next week or two,” comments Smiley. “We are providing sanitation efforts in order to present a visible sign of change in the area while TF Gimlet works on establishing local contracts to continue the clean-up process.”
It’s a win-win situation as the community will benefit from both the Iraqi contractors working in their neighborhoods and the continued beautification of the streets of Baghdad.
1 Comments | Post Comment | Email This
Deadline: OVERSEAS HOLIDAY MAIL 2008
November 2, 2008 at 02:09
by US Military News
The 2008 Christmas holiday mailing deadlines have been announced. If you want your cards, letters, and packages to arrive to a military member overseas, or deployed on a Navy ship by Christmas, be sure to mail them by the following dates:
For military mail addressed to APO/FPO AE zips 090-098 (except 093); AA zips 340; and AP zips 962-966:
* Express Mail: Dec. 18
* First-Class Mail (letters/cards and priority mail): Dec. 11
* Parcel Airlift Mail: Dec. 4
* Parcel Post: Nov. 13
For military mail addressed to APO/FPO AE ZIP 093:
* Express mail Military Service: N/A
* First-Class Letters/Cards/Priority Mail: Dec. 4
* Parcel Airlift Mail: Dec. 1
* Space Available Mail: Nov. 21
* Parcel Post: Nov. 13
0 Comments | Post Comment | Email This
Captain Stephen P. Ward: Hero in the War on Terror
November 1, 2008 at 12:59
by Army News
Hometown: Millersville, MD
Awarded: Bronze Star
Sgt. 1st Class Drew C. Kimmey, Capt. Stephen P. Ward and Staff Sgt. Carlo A. Alcazar, members of Civil Affairs Team 745, were recently recognized for their performance during an Afghanistan mission last November. The three soldiers were recognized for their efforts in rescuing a Special Forces team leader, who was also the ground forces commander that day.
CA Team 745 was stationed at Firebase Cobra in Oruzgan, Afghanistan, with special operations detachments from the 3rd Special Forces Group, members of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. On Nov. 2, 2007, the teams and their Afghan counterparts left the firebase to visit the village of Sarsina to conduct medical capabilities mission as well as a humanitarian aid drop. Once they arrived at the village, they discovered it had been evacuated and that Taliban fighters were entrenched into several fighting positions in an attempt to ambush forces in the area.
Alcazar reported only three families came in for medical treatment. The families told the soldiers the Taliban made the other people leave the village, but that having nowhere to go. they stayed. “What was alarming,” Ward said later, “was the buildings had locks and barricaded doors, which was a clear indication that the village wasn’t abandoned, but had been turned into a defendable position.”
All three quickly figured it was only a matter of time before the firefight would begin.
The teams were quickly engaged by 300 Taliban fighters. According to Army documents, after an hour of fighting, two vehicles were pulled to the rear of the fight after being disabled. This left the ground forces commander to the front of the coalition lines and in jeopardy of being overrun. At this point, Ward, the team leader for 745, radioed to the ground forces commander, who was pinned down in a vulnerable building, that his was on its way. Ward later said he and Alcazar went because they were the closest truck and the others were busy providing cover. Unfortunately, the team’s vehicle crashed into an enemy fighting position and became immobile, knocking Ward and Alcazar momentarily unconscious.
After they regained consciousness, Alcazar took to reloading ammunition belts, enabling Kimmey, the gunner, to continue to engage enemy forces. Ward exited the vehicle and directed his team to dismount and move to cover. Kimmey remained in the turret, providing cover for the team and allowing them to reach the ground forces commander. He stayed even though he knew the enemy was setting up mortar positions to destroy the truck he was firing from.
Kimmey was able to keep the Taliban from overrunning the soldiers with the .50-caliber gun. In the process, he was drawing a majority of the enemy fire. Ward reported the enemy was about 50 to 100 meters away at this point.
Team 745 moved to the ground commander’s position and helped in the recovery of the commander and the casualties. All of this was done, while under “continual, accurate and effective” enemy fire.
Since the team’s 745’s vehicle was immobile, it was stripped of all sensitive equipment, and its gun was dismantled to prevent the enemy from gaining off of the team’s loss. Once team 745 sterilized their truck, they had no choice but to run beside the Special Forces vehicle, using it as cover, until they reached safety, because there was no room for them on the truck. All three of them ran alongside the truck until they reached a checkpoint and mounted up into another vehicle for the ride back to firebase Cobra.
During the civil affairs award ceremony honoring all three for their heroic acts, Maj. Gen. John F. Mulholland, said, “The words can’t do justice, nor can the medal on your chest convey what they went up against.”
Source: Defense Link
3 Comments | Post Comment | Email This
DoD Revises Purple Heart Policy
October 10, 2008 at 01:20
by US Military News
The Department of Defense announced today it has expanded the Purple Heart eligibility criteria allowing prisoners-of-war who died in captivity to receive the award.
The revised department policy presumes, for service members who die in captivity as a qualifying prisoner-of-war, that their death was the "result of enemy action," or the result of wounds incurred “in action with the enemy” during capture, or as a result of wounds incurred as a “result of enemy action” during capture, unless compelling evidence is presented to the contrary.
The revised policy allows retroactive award of the Purple Heart to qualifying prisoners-of-war since Dec. 7, 1941. Posthumous award will be made to the deceased service member’s representative, as designated by the secretary of the military department concerned, upon application to that military department.
Each military department will publish application procedures and ensure they are accessible by the general public. Family members with questions may contact the services: Army: Military Awards Branch, (703) 325-8700; Navy: Navy Personnel Command, Retired Records Section, (314) 592-1150; Air Force: Air Force Personnel Center, (800) 616-3775; Marine Corps: Military Awards Branch, (703) 784-9340. For further information, media representatives should contact Eileen Lainez, (703) 695-3895
Source: Defense Link
0 Comments | Post Comment | Email This
Capt. Tim Reynolds: "a Little PEACE of Home"
October 5, 2008 at 03:22
by Army News
Capt. Tim Reynolds, a native of Beaumont, Texas, who serves as a chaplain with 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, sits in his chair at the Soldiers’ Blessing Store, Oct. 2, 2008, where he has facilitated and consolidated donations from many people and organizations for Soldiers living at Forward Operating Base Prosperity in Baghdad. The facility is stocked full of donated items – and provides the erstwhile visitors with “a little PEACE of home.”
Date Taken: October 2nd, 2008
Location: FORWARD OPERATING BASE PROSPERITY, Iraq
Photographer: Sgt. Whitney Houston
Multi-National Division Baghdad
Read Full Story Here: Capt. Tim Reynolds: "a Little PEACE of Home"
0 Comments | Post Comment | Email This
Last Page | Home | Next Page
You are invited to join the conversations in
the:
|
Content found on this site, unless otherwise noted, is provided for informational and discussion purposes only and does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, its Departments or Posts.
|
Army WebCOM Network is proudly produced by Policlicks 2008
