Photo By Staff Sgt. Melanie Trollinger | Cpt. Matthew J. Painter, of Colorado Springs, Colo., is the company commander for...... read more read more
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CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq - As Iraqi forces take over security inside of the cities, and U.S. forces concentrate on the training and advisory role, Soldiers of C Company, 84th Engineer Battalion continue to work hard with their Iraqi counterparts to rebuild the country.
Cpt. Matthew J. Painter, of Colorado Springs, Colo., commander of C Company, 84th Engineer Battalion, and his company have worked extensively with Iraqi army engineers.
Painter and his Soldiers, stationed at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, near Tikrit, Iraq, have partnered with the 4th IA Field Engineer Regiment for the past eight months, teaching the Iraqis different construction techniques, and, at times, learning from them.
C-84th, from Fort Richardson, Alaska, is a Combat Heavy Construction company whose missions in Iraq have taken them from Al Sharqat, where they helped the IA build a bridge, to Al Fatah where they worked with 4th IA engineers to build emergency embankment protection to control fluctuating water levels on the Tigris River.
Painter said working with the Iraqis has been a good experience. As long as the tools and materials are available, he said, they get the job done.
"They are very helpful and they learn very quickly. There's not a lot of wood construction in Iraq. Most everything you see here is masonry and brick," he said. "We've shown them how build with wood, and together, we've worked with masonry. We've learned from each other."
Painter and his Soldiers worked side by side with the Iraqis to build the 4th IA training complex at Contingency Operating Location Spider, near Tikrit, Iraq. The training area consists of classrooms, a physical training field and a firing range. His Soldiers showed the Iraqis how to construct the first building, and then the Iraqis took the lead on the next construction project.
Using what the engineers term "vertical construction"-constructing buildings, plumbing, electrical work- and "horizontal construction"-bulldozing, placing barriers, making roads- C-84th and the 4th IA engineers completed construction at COL Spider faster than anticipated, Painter said.
Painter said his partnership with the Iraqis will continue. C-84th will continue to work and train with the 4th IA engineers until they redeploy home to Alaska.
| Date Taken: | 07.23.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 07.28.2009 04:32 |
| Story ID: | 36887 |
| Location: | TIKRIT, IQ |
| Web Views: | 310 |
| Downloads: | 213 |
This work, U.S., Iraqi engineers partnering to rebuild Iraq, by SSG Melanie Trollinger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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