RTAF, US Army engineers take a break to break the ice

Photo By Chief Warrant Officer James Marchetti | U.S. Army Spc. Lucius Hoagland, a plumbing and pipefitting specialist with Washington National Guard’s 176th Engineering Company (Vertical), based out of Snohomish, Wash., performs karaoke for his soldiers and Royal Thai Air Force vertical engineers, who are participating in Exercise Cobra Gold 2015 as a detachment from the RTAF Civil Engineering Department, at Ban Sub Prik Elementary School, located in Muak Lek District, Saraburi Province, Thailand, the evening of Feb. 5, 2015. The U.S. soldiers and their RTAF counterparts, who are constructing a new multipurpose facility at Ban Sub Prik Elementary School together as part of CG15, contributed to an evening of feasting and singing to get acquainted on a more personal level. CG15 is aimed at increasing the cooperation, interoperability, and collaboration among its participating partner nations in order to achieve effective solutions to common challenges. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. James Marchetti)  

SARABURI PROVINCE, THAILAND

02.05.2015

Story by Cpl. James Marchetti 

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma

MUAK LEK DISTRICT, SARABURI PROVINCE, Thailand - Exercise Cobra Gold 2015 participants with the U.S. Army Washington National Guard’s 176th Engineering Company (vertical), based out of Snohomish, Washington, and Royal Thai Air Force Civil Engineering Department took a break from their construction at Ban Sub Prik elementary school the evening of Feb. 5, 2015 to get to know each other on a more personal level.

Both parties contributed to a feast for one another and were joined by Singdong Tomanit, the Director of Ban Sub Prik elementary school, which is located in Muak Lek District, Saraburi Province, Thailand. Tomanit provided karaoke for the troops, which made for an evening of laughs and entertainment to alleviate the stresses of work.

1st Lt. Kristap Birznieks, the officer in charge of the 176th Engineer Co. detachment, explained that this evening had been in the planning phase since the project began in late January and will be a recurring event based on the results he saw.

“It’s great to get to know everyone so well,” said RTAF Sgt. Sompasong Gerdsuk. “When the Americans sang we didn’t know any of the lyrics, but it helped us learn how to pronounce the words right and will help us communicate. We were also able to brainstorm and figure out how we’re going to go about the next steps of construction. We’ll come to work happy and it will be easier.”

The construction process is now more than halfway complete, and the new building is slated to open following its dedication ceremony Feb. 18. The external brickwork has been laid and the next key steps in progression entail setting up the plaster walls and filling the sidewalk excavations with concrete.

As the project winds down, Birznieks hopes his soldiers will continue to make the most out of their opportunity in Thailand and get to know their long-distance counterparts even better.

“The project comes first obviously, but getting opportunities to hang out with these guys like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Birznieks. “When this whole thing started we barely knew each other, but now you would never know we had just met a few weeks ago. These guys out here are so friendly and have so much to teach us about their culture.”

CG15 is a Thai-U.S. co-sponsored exercise. This year’s iteration marks 182 years of friendship between the Thai and American peoples.

• Date Taken: 02.05.2015
• Date Posted: 02.11.2015 11:55
• Story ID: 154202
• Location: SARABURI PROVINCE, TH