Photo By Sgt. Megan Angel | Sgt. Eric Currier, left, a combat engineer shakes hands with Lt. Col. G. M. Sarwar,...... read more read more
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CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh - The Bangladesh Interoperability Program 2011 engineering civil action project ended with a ceremony Oct. 4.
As part of the ceremony, Marines of Engineer Operations Company, Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, Marine Wing Support Group 17, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force, and soldiers with 18th Engineer Battalion, 24th Infantry Division, Bangladesh army, who completed the second floor of Salimpur Primary School during the ENCAP, received certificates for their presentation.
Lt. Col. G.M. Sarwar, the commanding officer of the 18th Engineer Battalion, began the ceremony by expressing his gratitude and commendation to the Marines and soldiers for all of their hard work.
“I am very proud of the troops and their work during the ENCAP,” said Sarwar. “This is the end of the exercise but the beginning to a strong relationship between our two militaries.”
In just under 30 days, the Marines and Bangladeshi soldiers extended the second story of Salimpur Primary School, which created four classrooms, allowing for an additional enrollment of 160 students.
Phase 1 of the ENCAP was completed in May by Marines with 9th Engineering Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III MEF, and MWSS-472, MWSG-47, 4th MAW, Marine Forces Reserve, based in Chicopee, Mass.
MWSS-172 was tasked with Phase 2, led by 1st Lt. Ruth Kelty, the platoon commander of EOPS Company. Kelty was designated the officer-in-charge, as ENCAPs are a big part of the combat engineer mission in Okinawa. However, this ENCAP proved to be very different with its own unique challenges, she said.
“Every day at the site was a challenge,” said Kelty. “We were dealing with completely foreign building methods, using materials most of us have never worked with before. There were definitely times when frustration levels were high, and it is a testament to the Marines’ professionalism that everything went as smoothly as it did.”
Staff Sgt. Jon Norris, a technical engineering assistant with EOPS Company, briefed the Marines on what the more than 240 hours of hard work included:
• The average daily temperature was 89 degrees Fahrenheit, with a heat index of 95 degrees.
• The second story of the school took more than 12,105 feet of rebar, cut 1,522 times, into 761 pieces, from four different gauges of steel, into 40 different lengths, including 1,708 precision, hand-bends made on two custom jigs.
• The rebar was tied together with 10,850 wire ties, with 664 welds supported by 300 on-site crafted sheave-support blocks in a massive form, buttressed by 454 bamboo piles.
• Each Marine passed more than 7,431 buckets of concrete up two stories, over two days, for a total of 993.48 cubic feet of mixed concrete.
• The Marines placed more than 2,000 bricks in the walls.
• The Marines consumed more than 1,000 gallons of water.
“These numbers are pretty impressive,” Norris said. “The Marines gave it 110 percent every day, all day, until the job was done.”
Kelty concluded the ceremony by thanking the Marines and Bangladeshi soldiers for their hard work and commanders for their hospitality.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better group,” said Kelty. “Throughout the ENCAP, the one thing I never had to worry about was the performance of the Marines. They stayed positive and professional, despite the less than ideal work and living conditions. At the end of the day, I know they set a good example for the Bangladeshi Army and represented our forces well.”
| Date Taken: | 10.04.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 10.13.2011 01:18 |
| Story ID: | 78409 |
| Location: | CHITTAGONG, BD |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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