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    Ribbon cuttings mark week of grand openings for 5-25 FA Regt. Soldiers

    Ribbon Cuttings Mark Week of Grand Openings for 5-25 FA Regt. Soldiers

    Photo By Jeremy Todd | Lt. Col. Dennis Yates (center), and Maj. Keith Machen (far left), talk with Dr....... read more read more

    BAGHDAD, IRAQ

    08.13.2008

    Courtesy Story

    4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs

    By Sgt. Christopher Soto
    4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division

    FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq - For some field artillery Soldiers deployed to eastern Baghdad, the first week of August was accented with ribbons.

    The ribbon-cutting ceremonies commemorate the completed projects that have been underway since the beginning of August and were attended by the effects staff section of 5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light), Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

    The first ribbon-cutting ceremony was, Aug. 3, 2008, for a micro-power generator that brought much needed electricity to Muhalla 966 residents in Zafaraniyah. There were two additional ribbon-cutting ceremonies, Aug. 7, 2008: one for the historic Mesbah pool reopening and the other for a grand opening of 54th Street in Zafaraniyah.

    The Muhalla 966 micro-power generator is one of several generators recently installed in muhallas within 5-29 FA's operating environment. The effects staff tagged the project with the slogan "A generator in every muhalla." Their goal is to provide every muhalla they patrol with a stand-alone power source in addition to what the city power grid generates.

    Micro-power generators are a backup solution to power problems the country is facing. The backup generators not only provide power for families in their homes, but they help provide for the essential needs of the people in the area and power, sewer and water pumps vital to the community.

    "The synergistic efforts of civic and military leaders will get us over the hump," said Maj. Keith Machen, a San Antonio native, who serves as battalion executive officer for 5th Bn., 25th FA.

    The project is only one of many projects in which civic and military leaders have worked together to provide Iraq a better and safer future. As with many other projects, Iraqis coordinated and executed the micro-power generator project with the support of coalition forces, explained Machen, and serve as an example of the government of Iraq helping its people.

    Iraqi civic leaders are not the only ones helping their fellow countrymen. The Iraqi army has become increasingly involved in civil-military operations in coordinating some of these projects, he added.

    In celebration of the new micro-power generator in Muhalla 966, following a short ceremony, the parties met at the Zafaraniyah government center to celebrate with a lamb and rice lunch.

    Dr. Mohammed Al-Rubeiy, Karadah district council chairman; Lt. Col. Dennis Yates, 5th Bn., 25th FA battalion commander; Machen; and several other key battalion staff members attended the celebration.

    At the Mesbah Pool grand reopening, Aug. 7, 2008, Iraqi citizens literally jumped with joy – off of diving boards that is. Iraqis were overjoyed upon the occasion of the reopening of such an iconic pool. This was the first community swimming pool ever opened in Iraq and was built in 1927, said Mr. Nibras, the pool renovation project manager.

    "Social projects like these are important because the average Iraqi [citizen] can see and participate in the progress that Iraq has made in its return to normalcy," said Sgt. 1st Class Raymond Allen, who is from Daytona Beach, Fla.

    Several Arabic news agencies attended the reopening of the historic landmark to report about the joyful occasion that offered citizens a healthy way to have fun beating the heat in Baghdad.

    A ribbon-cutting ceremony at 54th Street in Zafaraniyah followed the Mesbah pool reopening, Aug. 7, 2008. The event was covered by the same media outlets. The road opening marked one of several construction projects in the immediate area. The projects included installing a sewer line, creating new sidewalks and repaving the entire route to be opened, known to 5th Bn., 25th FA Soldiers as Furniture Road.

    "This is because of the large number of furniture makers along this road," explained 2nd Lt. Terence Holmes, a native of Fayetteville, N.C. "The road is also a major business area."

    Holmes said the high volume of business along Furniture Road makes it vital to the area's economy.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 08.13.2008
    Date Posted: 08.13.2008 10:31
    Story ID: 22435
    Location: BAGHDAD, IQ

    Web Views: 324
    Downloads: 260

    PUBLIC DOMAIN