Civil Affairs troop aims to help Iraqis

Photo By Spc. Leith Edgar | BAGHDAD – Staff Sgt. Andre Alexander, civil affairs noncommissioned officer, 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Special Operations Command assigned to G9 Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Cavalry Division dials out of Baghdad Teaching Hospital Nov. 14. He utilized the phone as part of a public health assessment of the facilities.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

11.17.2006

Story by Spc. Leith Edgar 

7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By Spc. L.B. Edgar
7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAGHDAD - Helping people is all in a day's work for one Soldier deployed to Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Andre Alexander, a civil affairs noncommissioned officer with the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion operating with the 1st Cavalry Division said the civil affairs mission in the Iraqi capital is the same as anywhere else – to simply help people. .

Alexander is no stranger to civil affairs in Iraq. He previously deployed to Wassit, Iraq, where he worked to improve the city's infrastructure: roads, schools and hospitals. There, he helped the hospital improve security by transforming it into a compound where doctors and nurses could live and practice safely.

A mission Nov. 14 took Alexander, a Glasgow, Ky., native, along with a public health team, to the Baghdad Teaching Hospital to assess its medical training facilities by observing patients, nurses and physicians practicing and in training. He said part of the mission was to check the physical state of the facilities – its electricity, water source, medical equipment and overall cleanliness.

"We want to improve the overall state -- the number of patients being treated and the number of students being trained," Alexander explained. "We want to help them anyway possible to make it (Baghdad Teaching Hospital) run smoother."

After the assessment the team compiles information into a report, they make the appropriate recommendations and a nomination packet is sent up through the proper channels. If deemed worthy of funds, money is given from the paying agent directly to an independent contractor who completes the work.

Civil affairs specialists then review the work in quarters with a quality assessment and quality control (QAQC). Alexander, a seven-year Army veteran said the follow-up assessments ensure the contractor is making satisfactory progress toward the desired improvements.

"We (civil affairs specialists) help people anyway possible," he said. "(It's) ... all in a day's work."

• Date Taken: 11.17.2006
• Date Posted: 11.17.2006 13:21
• Story ID: 8311
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ