New living quarters at JSS Rasheed

Photo By Sgt. Joshua Risner | Spc. Josh Thomas, from Maple Rapids, Mich., cuts plywood with a circular saw during construction at Joint Security Station Rasheed, here, Nov. 4.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

11.04.2009

Story by Sgt. Joshua Risner 

Multi-National Division Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq —Whether it's repaving roads or constructing buildings, engineers are right in the thick of things; swinging hammers and operating equipment.

Engineers of 1434th Engineer Company,101st Engineer Battalion, 16th Engineer Brigade, began construction, Nov. 4, on living quarters for the Soldiers stationed at Joint Security Station Rasheed.

"We have two rooms that we are constructing barracks in," said Staff Sgt. Lance Miller, from Diorite, Mich. "Each room will have 16 seven foot by seven foot barracks in it along with a bunk and a desk to make the Soldiers a little more comfortable."

What started as a large empty room quickly became a corridor of small rooms. Eventually stairs were built and a second floor began to take shape.

According to Miller, the construction is projected to take two weeks but the efficient Soldiers have already moved ahead of schedule.

"They had the first floor framed by the first day and the second floor was already in place by day two," he said with a bit of pride. "My guys are doing really well."

Operating ahead of schedule has given the Soldiers of the 1434th a sense of pride in what they're doing, according to Spc. Aaron Pepin, from Escanaba, Mich.

"Every day we finish what we planned to do and that makes us feel good," he said. "It's actually going way better than we planned — we're going pretty quickly."

Though things have been moving faster than originally planned, the Soldiers are still very aware that what they do is still potentially dangerous work, Pepin added.

"A lot goes into what we do," he said. "You can't slack off; you've got to watch what other people are doing while you're working. You can't goof around because there's stuff that can happen that you don't think will and somebody could get hurt."

The project is one of many the Soldiers of the 1434th can be proud of. For the Soldiers that will be moving into these rooms, they can sleep at night knowing that their quarters were soundly constructed by professionals.

• Date Taken: 11.04.2009
• Date Posted: 11.06.2009 07:02
• Story ID: 41183
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ