Photo By Capt. Ray Ragan | Engineers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, 51st Engineering Brigade with...... read more read more
PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN, Philippines – Service members from the Armed Forces of the Philippines with their joint U.S. military partners poured concrete as a foundation for a new school building as part of the upcoming Exercise Balikatan 2012, in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines, on March 22.
In its 28th iteration, Exercise Balikatan, which will officially begin April 16, is an annual bilateral training exercise that works to build Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military joint planning, contingency operations and humanitarian assistance capabilities. BK12 consists of three simultaneous events, the first of which begins prior to the official ceremonies due to the amount of time needed to complete the engineering projects by the time all parts of the exercise are complete on April 27. The three events include a series of humanitarian civic assistance projects, a natural disaster response command post exercise and field training exercises, which all build joint interoperability between Philippine and U.S. military members.
Located at Tagbarungis Elementary School, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines, this construction project represents one of five engineering civic assistance school building projects that Philippine and U.S. military members are working together to complete in order to enhance joint interoperability and help both nations build lasting relationships while assisting local communities.
“Our work together is very harmonious,” said AFP Army Capt. Roy Tapat from the 51st Eng. Brigade. “We exchange ideas, the way we do the project and the Filipino way to construct this school building.”
One of greatest benefits noticed during joint humanitarian assistance is the opportunity to learn from each other, therefore building both countries capabilities. During this project, the Philippine military members have educated several U.S. military members on new and more efficient construction techniques. For example, the construction teams are using reinforced concrete for the footers and columns with block walls. "In the Philippines, the bars from the footing of the reinforced concrete are not capped off, instead, the bars go straight up to the roof," said Tapat. This technique increases the strength of the structure, something that is vital due to tropical storms that frequent the area.
During this particular project, the AFP is working Balikatan, which means “shoulder to shoulder,” with 643rdEng. Co., 84th Engineering Bn. at Scholfield Barracks, Hawaii. "The 643rd Eng. company is a vertical engineering company that constructs buildings with soldiers trained in skilled trades like electrical, plumbing, and carpentry," said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Kendall, platoon sergeant, 643rd Engineering Company, 84th Eng. Battalion.
“Our mission is mainly to build buildings [like] schools, things with walls,” said Kendall.
Happening only three days after the groundbreaking, the concrete pour is an important step for constructing the building, as the concrete will be the foundation for what will eventually be a two-room school building, said Kendall.
As part of the construction, the engineers will install a new septic system for the building to keep up with the growing needs of the community. The school will also feature a water catchment system that will allow the students and faculty to use the rainfall for purposes such as flushing toilets.
Additionally, local expertise and labor are contracted for the engineering civic assistance projects as well as local materials to build the schools.
“We have our local national contractors that we contracted our equipment through and they are providing our building materials,” said Kendall.
All five ENCAP sites are scheduled to be completed by the last week of April 2012.
“I know we can finish this on-time or even earlier than the target date,” said Tapat. “I hope our troops, especially me, can gain knowledge and skills to share.”
| Date Taken: | 03.22.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 03.31.2012 04:43 |
| Story ID: | 86057 |
| Location: | PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN, PH |
| Web Views: | 245 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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