Photo By Chief Warrant Officer Jennifer Keefer | Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Talley (left), commander of 926th Engineer Brigade, Multi-National...... read more read more
By Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jennifer Keefer
926th Engineer Brigade
FORWARD OPERATING BASE INDEPENDENCE, Iraq – In the wake of the security agreement, leadership from 6th Iraqi Army Division Engineers, leaders from 926th Engineer Brigade, and leaders from 46th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) met at 6th IA Headquarters at Forward Operating Base Independence, Jan. 5, to discuss plans for the future of the engineers in Iraq.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Talley, commander, 926th Eng. Brig., complimented Iraqi Col. Saddam Khalifa Ahmed, commander, 6th IA Div. Eng., for all of their engineering successes achieved throughout Baghdad.
"This [mission] is all about the Iraqi flag, not the U.S. flag," said Talley.
Ahmed, who has been in command since 2005, appreciated all of the efforts and sacrifices that have been made by the 926th Eng. Bde. as well as all Americans. He felt these efforts have left a "lasting fingerprint on Baghdad and have changed engineering for the Iraqi army." In Ahmed's 28 years as an army engineer, the jobs completed usually consisted of emplacing and removing mines, now the job of an Iraqi engineer has grown to include route clearance, route sanitation and construction efforts.
During the meeting Ahmed briefed the 6th IA area of responsibility, which includes more than 140 square kilometers. Some of the successes included finding improvised explosive devices and weapon's caches, bridge reconnaissance, base construction and educating other Soldiers about IED identification and reporting.
This information prompted an offer by Talley on joint training opportunities between 926th Eng. Brig. and 6th IA engineers, which included the Task Force Iron Claw Academy.
Following the meeting, Ahmed led the group to the motor pool for a view of the organic equipment to include perfectly aligned trucks, loaders, and clearing vehicles along with the operators.
This walk sparked thoughts of conducting a joint maintenance training exercise and a joint training exercise focused on concrete construction. Both exercises would be conducted jointly with 46th ECB (H). Ahmed agreed with the proposals on future training and exercises for his Soldiers and felt it was very important for future successes.
The walking tour concluded with a demonstration of IA route equipment by their Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.
"Every day is a good day to be an engineer," said Talley. "We are making a difference with route clearance, route sanitation, and construction-effects missions," as the meeting concluded.
| Date Taken: | 01.17.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 01.17.2009 10:09 |
| Story ID: | 28964 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 426 |
| Downloads: | 401 |
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