Photo By Sgt. Ricardo Hurtado | U.S. Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 171, Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st...... read more read more
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KHOK SAMRONG, Thailand - Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron-171, Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, along with Soldiers of Mobile Deployed Unit-16, Royal Thai Army and members of the Malaysian Armed Forces began Humanitarian Civic Action missions in the district of Khok Samrong, Lop Buri province, Kingdom of Thailand, late January 2015.
The mission is part of the Engineer Civil/Humanitarian Assistance Program (ENCAP) portion of Exercise Cobra Gold 2015, a combined forces exercise taking place across Thailand from Feb. 10-20.
CG-15 is designed to advance regional security and ensure effective responses to crises in the area.
CG-15 includes a specific focus on human civic action, community engagement and medical activities to support the needs and humanitarian interest of civilian population around the region. The multinational force operating in CG-15 is made up by partner nations sharing common goals and security commitments in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Khok Samrong project is taking place on the surroundings of Ban Nong-plong, a school that services the children of the community. The plan consists of the construction of a 7.8-by-20 meter masonry, multipurpose building to provide a library and other assets to the community.
The community consists of near 570 villagers and has no central market or assembly area. The villagers spend most of their time off work traveling more than 10 miles just to purchase basic necessities. The multipurpose room will allow about 10 local farms to sell their products directly to the villagers, alleviating the need for them to make long and expensive trips on their days off.
“We’re [constructing] this general purpose building for the school,” said 1st Lt. Daniel Novotny, a platoon commander with MWSS 171 and officer in charge. “The building will be used not only as a school building and library, but also by the local community as a local farmers market and a meeting center for local officials.”
As CG-15 also focuses on interoperability, the project serves as a way to practice operating with partner nations, in this case Thai and Malaysian counterparts.
“This is really a joint project,” said Lance Cpl. Dakota Hazel, a combat engineer with MWSS 171. “Obviously we could build this [building] ourselves and they could build it themselves, but we’re working together. In every task there are two Malaysians, two Thais and two Marines working together and that’s how we are doing everything; through integration.”
Sergeant Gilbert Garcia, a platoon sergeant with MWSS 171 said that working with foreign counter parts is a “pull and push process.”
“They do things one way, we do things another way,” said Garcia. “But at the end of the day the pushing and pulling becomes a work out and our interoperability muscles become bigger and stronger. It’s all a learning experience.”
As the building gets taller, the multinational force leaves behind not just a concrete structure, but a statement of what they are capable of achieving when it comes to HCA, while also making a difference in this small community.
“It is a good feeling. It’s something I can say I did and impacted others, and years down the road they’re going to remember this,” said Garcia. “It’s fun going on patrols and doing that other high-speed Marine stuff, but doing things like building a school for kids on the other side of the world, and making a difference in their lives is way more rewarding.”
Side jobs for the project include providing and installing a water pump, and purification system, possible repair and water-proofing of the existing school building roof, and the installation of a 40-by-5 meter concrete driveway.
The team continues to work on the construction of the structure, which is scheduled to be completed and delivered by Feb. 19. The building will be handed over officially to the local community through a dedication ceremony, which will take place after the structure has been completed.
| Date Taken: | 01.31.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.12.2015 21:41 |
| Story ID: | 154393 |
| Location: | KHOK SAMRONG, TH |
| Web Views: | 120 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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