37th Engineer Battalion (Combat)(Airborne) – Joint Task Force Eagle

Story by 1st Lt. Meghan E. Keefe

PALIWODA, Iraq – U.S. Forces and Iraqi district canal managers begin assessments of the neglected canal system that nourishes the Salah Al Din province of Iraq, Sept. 18.

Commanders Lt. Col. Paul Huszar, with the 37th Engineer Battalion, Joint Task Force Eagle, based out of Fort Bragg, N.C., and Lt. Col. David Hodne, with the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry, out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, are partnering with provisional reconstruction team subject matter experts and Iraqi district canal managers to begin the canal campaign. This is intended to refurbish southern Salah Al Din's preexisting canal system, which fails to adequately supply water to its people and vast agricultural land.

"The canal campaign is more than a Commander's Emergency Response Program project," said Capt. John Garcia, the 3/4 Cav. CERP project manager, and a Corpus Christi, Texas, native. "It's a plan to reinforce the Government of Iraq's priorities and laws, and to assist the farming community."

Agricultural experts such as Franklin Johnson, an agriculture adviser for the PRT, and a Morristown, N.J., native, advise U.S. forces, Ministry of Agriculture directors and Farmer Union representatives on programs geared toward enhancing production while improving irrigation procedures.

Johnson said he will support U.S. forces during the canal campaign by "interacting with the local directors of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministries of Water and Sewage, as well as the city councils."

Bicultural-bilingual adviser, Basil Sawa, an Iraq-born civil engineer, will advise both Iraqi and U.S. engineers throughout the canal campaign.

In the early 1970s, Sawa worked on the Is-haki project that improved the preexisting canal system throughout the Salah Al Din province.

Sawa said the project's completion was the solution to irrigation and water-flow problems.

Since then, the canal system has become less efficient. Blockages and taps along the canals, weed growth and poor maintenance were major contributors to the problem. Bomb damage sustained by improvised explosive devices also added to this complicated issue.

Hodne said he believes rebuilding the canal system will have a significant impact on civil capacity.

In his brief, Hodne outlined the overall effects of the campaign, which include growing the Iraqi partnership with U.S. forces and the PRT, as well as introducing new cost-effective technologies to Iraqi engineers.

The country's economy will also feel the change once crops begin to flourish and local labor is used to make the improvements. Once the campaign is complete, local laborers will continue to maintain the canals.

"The canal campaign is a huge step in building civil capacity in Salah Al Din," said Capt. Matthew Wagoner, commander of A Company, 37th Engineer Battalion, Joint Task Force Eagle, and a Clarksville, Tenn., native. "If we can help Iraq take a solid step in the right direction, then we have accomplished the mission."

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