215th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Courtesy Story

By Spc. Anthony Hooker
215th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

ABDUL RAZAQ, Iraq – Soldiers from the 7th Sustainment Brigade gathered with local Iraqi leaders in Abdul Razaq to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the village's water purification unit, Sept. 30, 2008.

Col. Mark Barbosa, 7th Sus. Bde. commander, met with Iraqi government, military and tribal leaders to celebrate the combined effort between Iraqi and coalition forces to improve clean water production.

Within the past two months, the brigade, deployed from Ft. Eustis, Va., has worked with Dhi Qar officials to refurbish two reverse osmosis water purification units within the province.

Barbosa and the local dignitaries were given a short demonstration of the facility along with its basic features. The unit, which has an overhead delivery system to rapidly fill water trucks, is capable of producing 700 gallons of clean water per hour.

Resan Meqdad, the mayor of nearby Ur who initiated the project with 7th Sus. Bde. leaders, said the assistance was sorely needed. He recalled how, previously, many children drank directly from canals resulting in a number of health problems.

"The water system here was so bad," said Meqdad through a translator. "People could not get fresh water for drinking . . . it could not be used for consumption."

Meqdad said the Sustainment Soldiers' work on the water purification systems was greatly appreciated.

"We are so happy and this will give [citizens] more high spirits," he said. "We hope this project can lead to more advanced, bigger projects."

Local Iraqi enthusiasm over the project was matched only be the ingenuity of their U.S. partners. Chief Warrant Officer Chris Gauthreaux, a member of the brigade's civil-military operations office, served as lead engineer. Gauthreaux used his skills to troubleshoot and restore existing units - proving more cost-effective than buying new systems. Gauthreaux stated small measures like the purification unit help curtail suffering for the Iraqi people.

The purification unit is one in a series of 7th Sus. Bde. initiatives designed to build Iraqi civil capacity while also contributing to overall security.

"Our goal is to build viable systems that add value to the local communities and strengthen the Iraqi governing systems so we can eventually leave," Barbosa said. "We want to go home but we can't do that until the Iraqi government is stabilized and has a full handle on things."

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